Theme: Clecho Collection - the theme entries all have the same clue.
18A. Strike site : FRONT LINE. A military place you don't want to be when the artillery strikes come in. My Dad was a gunner in the Royal Artillery until he discovered he could earn an extra sixpence a week if he transferred to the Medical Corps. I don't think he factored in the reality that he'd be a lot closer to the other lot, and duly spent quite some time in North Africa and Burma dodging bullets (successfully, thank you, otherwise it'd be someone else writing this blog today).
27A. Strike site : BASEBALL PARK. Some more than others, depending on the pitcher. My local team of the moment, the Colorado Rockies, play at a mile high, so the pitch comes at you pretty fast, but there's not a lot of movement on the ball. If you connect, it's gone.
47A. Strike site : BOWLING ALLEY. Not if it's me that's bowling. Suffice to say it's not my signature sport. Boomer's a lot more likely to be bowling strikes.
60A. Strike site : UNION SHOP. I wanted PICKET LINE until I ran out of squares.
Greetings (from Denver) today. Al is Spitzboov, one of the regular commenters on the blog if you missed his debut back in October. I'm not sure who this C.C. Burnikel character is though.
Neat theme, some Thursday-level cluing (wait for it .... SETS or ACTS? THIRD or TENTH?). Plenty of baseball and some long stacked downs to sense a C.C. presence too. Good job, people.
And ... let's see what else.
Across:
1. Stage segments : ACTS
5. Apiece : EACH
9. Fur fighters, initially : P.E.T.A. Let's have a little music courtesy of the closely-related Foo Fighters.
13. Revealed : BARED
15. Slushy treat : ICEE
16. Lumberjack : AXER. I think this is one of my least favorite crossword words. I've just never heard it or read it anywhere else. Maybe I just don't read "Logging Monthly" often enough.
17. "Lone Survivor" actor Hirsch : EMILE
20. LBJ, for one : DEM. Like the liberal Irishman, Dem O'Crat
21. Champs-Élysées sights : CAFÉS. It really is one of the great pleasures in life to sit out on the sidewalk in Paris with a coffee or an Ricard 75, or a beer, or all three, and people-watch. It's also fun to pretend to the waiter than you don't speak any French and watch his Parisian blood start to boil.
23. Shady garden denizen : HOSTA. They don't like a suntan.
24. Go through again : RE-LIVE
26. Counter alternatives : BOOTHS. Ah - at the diner! This was slow to come to me.
30. Signature scent since 1968 : ESTÉE
31. Place for an anvil : EAR. Because BLACKSMITH'S SHOP doesn't fit.
32. Works at Museo del Prado : ARTE
36. Sailor's pronoun : SHE. Thar she blows!
37. Company with a crocodile logo : LACOSTE. My friends and I often used to vacation in Turkey when I was in my twenties, and always bought knock-off polo shirts to bring home. We called them Low-Cost Lacoste.
41. Pitching stat : E.R.A.
42. Banks on some magazine covers : TYRA. Elle, Cosmopolitan, Vogue and I'm sure a bunch of others.
44. Golfer Woosnam : IAN. He's getting a little long in the tooth now, and is surely approaching the time when he'll politely decline the "previous winner" invitation from Augusta National for the Masters.
45. Spikes : LACES. Wha'? Oh - Mickey Finn. You don't want one of those in your drinks.
51. Insect that may live for 17 years : CICADA
54. Live-in helper : AU PAIR. I dated a Danish au pair in London in the late seventies. She was petite, blonde and pretty. She also drank pints of Tubörg and smoked a Meerschaum pipe with a lid. That caught some stares in the pubs of the time.
55. Psychologist May : ROLLO
56. Date bk. listings : APPTS
58. Peeples of "Walker, Texas Ranger" : NIA. Thank you, crosses.
62. Unspoiled spots : EDENS
64. Vikings' home: Abbr. : MINN. C.C.'s football team?
65. Opinion : TAKE. "My take on that is ..... [insert opinionated statement here]"
66. Mournful music : DIRGE
67. Get too much sun : BAKE. Had BURN, was wrong.
68. Hand-me-down : USED
69. It's often spoken with one hand at the edge of one's mouth : PSST!
Down:
1. Retired : A-BED. Here's one famous usage:
2. Resisting being taken? : CAMERA SHY. Squirrelly clue.
3. Academic term : TRIMESTER. One-third, basically.
4. Poivre's tablemate : SEL. I wonder if a French sailor is called a "Vieux sel"? Old salts should tell us.
5. Statue of Liberty architect : EIFFEL. The amazing Gustav. This is the statue being fabricated in a Paris suburb. I love this picture.
6. One of 640 in a square mile : ACRE
7. Top suits : CEO'S
8. Tom's mate : HEN. Now we're talking turkey, forget the cheap polo shirts from Turkey.
9. Lummox : PALOOKA
10. Live and breathe : EXIST
11. Mahler's last symphony : TENTH
12. Fields : AREAS
14. Loudness measure : DECIBEL
19. God with a hammer : THOR. Not sure what the dB rating of the hammering was, but I'm sure it had the neighbors yelling "Do you know what time it is?".
22. Co-star of Burt in "The Killers" : AVA
25. Author Harper : LEE
26. D.C. : Metro :: S.F. : __ : B.A.R.T. Bay Area Rapid Transport acronym. METRO is an acronym for .... hmmm, what? The idea nonpareil (see what I did there?) from the Corner wins the Internet.
27. Nonpareil : BEST
28. Téa of "Madam Secretary" : LEONI
29. Strasbourg step : PAS. E.g. pas de deux, two step.
33. They're often found in dens : RECLINERS. My last fill; a couple of tricky crosses left some vital squares blank. Very nice.
34. Forest age indicators : TREE RINGS
35. "Duck soup!" : EASY
38. Electronics brand relaunched in 2015 : AIWA
39. 19-time All-Star Ripken : CAL
40. Went by : ELAPSED
43. Rock-clinging mollusk : ABALONE
46. __ carte : A LA
48. Have too much, briefly : O.D. ON
49. Took a snooze : NAPPED. I know this is a word, but it looks so odd when it is spelled/spelt out.
50. Inner, as a feeling : GUT
51. Bit of Hansel's trail : CRUMB
52. Land of ancient Asia Minor : IONIA. More Turkey! A very hidden theme is emerging!
53. Toast-making sound : CLINK. Not the sound of the toaster popping up your bread. We need a sniglet for that, because it's such a happy thing. Cheers, Tinbeni!
56. Cries of discovery : AHAS
57. Elbow : POKE
59. "I'd hate to break up __" : A SET. Really? Then why don't you just go away and find someone else to annoy?
61. Good name for a cook? : STU
63. Guacamole, e.g. : DIP
That's probably enough from me today. 'Til we meet again - heeeere's the grid.
Steve
Anon T to Jerome:
18A. Strike site : FRONT LINE. A military place you don't want to be when the artillery strikes come in. My Dad was a gunner in the Royal Artillery until he discovered he could earn an extra sixpence a week if he transferred to the Medical Corps. I don't think he factored in the reality that he'd be a lot closer to the other lot, and duly spent quite some time in North Africa and Burma dodging bullets (successfully, thank you, otherwise it'd be someone else writing this blog today).
27A. Strike site : BASEBALL PARK. Some more than others, depending on the pitcher. My local team of the moment, the Colorado Rockies, play at a mile high, so the pitch comes at you pretty fast, but there's not a lot of movement on the ball. If you connect, it's gone.
 |
| Yeah, that's gonna land somewhere in Broomfield! |
60A. Strike site : UNION SHOP. I wanted PICKET LINE until I ran out of squares.
Greetings (from Denver) today. Al is Spitzboov, one of the regular commenters on the blog if you missed his debut back in October. I'm not sure who this C.C. Burnikel character is though.
Neat theme, some Thursday-level cluing (wait for it .... SETS or ACTS? THIRD or TENTH?). Plenty of baseball and some long stacked downs to sense a C.C. presence too. Good job, people.
And ... let's see what else.
Across:
1. Stage segments : ACTS
5. Apiece : EACH
9. Fur fighters, initially : P.E.T.A. Let's have a little music courtesy of the closely-related Foo Fighters.
13. Revealed : BARED
15. Slushy treat : ICEE
16. Lumberjack : AXER. I think this is one of my least favorite crossword words. I've just never heard it or read it anywhere else. Maybe I just don't read "Logging Monthly" often enough.
17. "Lone Survivor" actor Hirsch : EMILE
20. LBJ, for one : DEM. Like the liberal Irishman, Dem O'Crat
21. Champs-Élysées sights : CAFÉS. It really is one of the great pleasures in life to sit out on the sidewalk in Paris with a coffee or an Ricard 75, or a beer, or all three, and people-watch. It's also fun to pretend to the waiter than you don't speak any French and watch his Parisian blood start to boil.
23. Shady garden denizen : HOSTA. They don't like a suntan.
24. Go through again : RE-LIVE
26. Counter alternatives : BOOTHS. Ah - at the diner! This was slow to come to me.
30. Signature scent since 1968 : ESTÉE
31. Place for an anvil : EAR. Because BLACKSMITH'S SHOP doesn't fit.
32. Works at Museo del Prado : ARTE
36. Sailor's pronoun : SHE. Thar she blows!
37. Company with a crocodile logo : LACOSTE. My friends and I often used to vacation in Turkey when I was in my twenties, and always bought knock-off polo shirts to bring home. We called them Low-Cost Lacoste.
41. Pitching stat : E.R.A.
42. Banks on some magazine covers : TYRA. Elle, Cosmopolitan, Vogue and I'm sure a bunch of others.
44. Golfer Woosnam : IAN. He's getting a little long in the tooth now, and is surely approaching the time when he'll politely decline the "previous winner" invitation from Augusta National for the Masters.
45. Spikes : LACES. Wha'? Oh - Mickey Finn. You don't want one of those in your drinks.
51. Insect that may live for 17 years : CICADA
54. Live-in helper : AU PAIR. I dated a Danish au pair in London in the late seventies. She was petite, blonde and pretty. She also drank pints of Tubörg and smoked a Meerschaum pipe with a lid. That caught some stares in the pubs of the time.
55. Psychologist May : ROLLO
56. Date bk. listings : APPTS
58. Peeples of "Walker, Texas Ranger" : NIA. Thank you, crosses.
62. Unspoiled spots : EDENS
64. Vikings' home: Abbr. : MINN. C.C.'s football team?
65. Opinion : TAKE. "My take on that is ..... [insert opinionated statement here]"
66. Mournful music : DIRGE
67. Get too much sun : BAKE. Had BURN, was wrong.
68. Hand-me-down : USED
69. It's often spoken with one hand at the edge of one's mouth : PSST!
Down:
1. Retired : A-BED. Here's one famous usage:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
Henry V, Act IV Scene III, William Shakespeare
2. Resisting being taken? : CAMERA SHY. Squirrelly clue.
3. Academic term : TRIMESTER. One-third, basically.
4. Poivre's tablemate : SEL. I wonder if a French sailor is called a "Vieux sel"? Old salts should tell us.
5. Statue of Liberty architect : EIFFEL. The amazing Gustav. This is the statue being fabricated in a Paris suburb. I love this picture.
6. One of 640 in a square mile : ACRE
7. Top suits : CEO'S
8. Tom's mate : HEN. Now we're talking turkey, forget the cheap polo shirts from Turkey.
9. Lummox : PALOOKA
10. Live and breathe : EXIST
11. Mahler's last symphony : TENTH
12. Fields : AREAS
14. Loudness measure : DECIBEL
19. God with a hammer : THOR. Not sure what the dB rating of the hammering was, but I'm sure it had the neighbors yelling "Do you know what time it is?".
22. Co-star of Burt in "The Killers" : AVA
25. Author Harper : LEE
26. D.C. : Metro :: S.F. : __ : B.A.R.T. Bay Area Rapid Transport acronym. METRO is an acronym for .... hmmm, what? The idea nonpareil (see what I did there?) from the Corner wins the Internet.
27. Nonpareil : BEST
28. Téa of "Madam Secretary" : LEONI
29. Strasbourg step : PAS. E.g. pas de deux, two step.
33. They're often found in dens : RECLINERS. My last fill; a couple of tricky crosses left some vital squares blank. Very nice.
34. Forest age indicators : TREE RINGS
35. "Duck soup!" : EASY
38. Electronics brand relaunched in 2015 : AIWA
39. 19-time All-Star Ripken : CAL
40. Went by : ELAPSED
43. Rock-clinging mollusk : ABALONE
46. __ carte : A LA
48. Have too much, briefly : O.D. ON
49. Took a snooze : NAPPED. I know this is a word, but it looks so odd when it is spelled/spelt out.
50. Inner, as a feeling : GUT
51. Bit of Hansel's trail : CRUMB
52. Land of ancient Asia Minor : IONIA. More Turkey! A very hidden theme is emerging!
53. Toast-making sound : CLINK. Not the sound of the toaster popping up your bread. We need a sniglet for that, because it's such a happy thing. Cheers, Tinbeni!
56. Cries of discovery : AHAS
57. Elbow : POKE
59. "I'd hate to break up __" : A SET. Really? Then why don't you just go away and find someone else to annoy?
61. Good name for a cook? : STU
63. Guacamole, e.g. : DIP
That's probably enough from me today. 'Til we meet again - heeeere's the grid.
Steve
Anon T to Jerome:
58 comments:
Great Write-up, Steve & very enjoyable puzzle Al & C.C.
Didn't need my eraseR too much this morning. REHASH before RELIVE & BURN before BAKE.
I know what you mean about AXER, but it could have been worse. The clue could have been FIRER.
Greetings!
Thanks to Al, CC and Steve! Nice theme.
LACOSTE and IAN were perped. Otherwise OK.
Will sure miss Rizzoli and Isles.
Have a great day!
Cottontail, Cottontail!
Morning, all!
Delightful theme. A few missteps along the way (hand up for BURN before BAKE and also PROD before POKE), but nothing too bad. Needed all the perps to get EASY, which is a little embarrassing, and ROLLO, which isn't.
V V
FIW. Got to within three cells, but those last three I just wagged, and only got 2 out of 3. SE* + EMI*E, *IWA + L*CO*TE + PA*.
{C+.}
STRIKE while the iron is hot, he was told,
You'll never succeed unless you are bold!
He vowed he would do it,
He'd get right to it! --
And he BOWLED the best that he ever had BOWLED.
VAN Winkle made like a carpet and NAPPED,
Conked out as deep as if he'd been sapped!
He learned that most trolls
Are poor losers at BOWLS,
And when he woke up, twenty years had ELAPSED!
The changes were stunning, Rip's toddler was grown,
It seemed like everything had changed in his home!
We feel the same way,
Technology today
Can confound us like that in one week alone!
V V vvvvvvv
Good morning!
Here we go into the final third of the year. Where has the time gone?
This seemed to be a perfect theme for C.C. with baseball, bowling and MINN involved. Congrats, Spitz and C.C., on a second collaboration. Wite-Out was required for APOP (each), FRONT GATE (Line), SONY (Aiwa) and RECEIVERS (recliners). What a mess!
Had to take the trusty pickup to the shop. The airbag warning light was flashing code 34, an expensive code as it turns out. Anybody know what replacing a seatbelt retractor assembly should cost? I suspect it's less than what I'm gonna have to pay. I toyed with the idea of just letting it go, but finally opted for a working driver's-side airbag.
Good Morning, Steve and friends. Relative easy puzzle for a Thursday.
Hand up for Burn before BAKE.
I was eating my morning Toast, when I read the clue for the Toast-Making Sound. Since Crunch didn't fit, I went with Cheer, since sometimes people cheer when a Toast is being made. I soon realized the error of my ways.
Stay Safe, Tinbini. It looks like Ms. Hermine might be headed a little north of you.
QOD: If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in the library? ~ Lily Tomlin (Sept. 1, 1939)
Easier for me than yesterday. Congrats, Al, on your second collaboration with CC. Fun puzzle and blog. Great theme, cute puns. The H in BOOTHS was the last to fall. I didn't have diners on my mind and I was looking for a symphony name like Beethoven's Eroica. I ran the ABCs in my mind and came up with H.
I believe "pas de deux" means dance for two rather than a two step. In ballet it is a specific form of a dance for two. In this puzzle PAS is just the French word for STEP.
It's back to the GP with Alan. He takes an antibiotic and his pneumonia is said to be under control. Soon after the medicine is used up there is a relapse. This is the third go-round.
Happy September.
An easier Thursday for me. I hadn't seen PALOOKA for a while; it brought to mind the days when I read the "funnies" in the newspaper. I used to start with sports, then funnies, then news. Now I read the paper straight through and then get to the puzzle(s).
FRONT tried to lead me to the FRONT GATE where picketers march.
Since I was at breakfast I couldn't get the toaster out of my head, CLINKKing glasses is for a different time of day, ROLLO is unknown to me.
Sad to say yet another big DNF. I guess I'm losing it, just couldn't even get a foothold. Nice write up, Steve! Owen, A, A, A-.
Good Morning.
Thanks Spitzboov and C. C. for a nice challenge this morning. I wanted BOWLING ALLEY in there somewhere, but I struck out looking for a spot to include home plate. Ha! My favorite today was CAMERA SHY. Fun. I can only plant HOSTAs next to my patio. I became a very happy camper once I decided to plant several varieties and stop fooling around with everything else.
Thanks, Steve, as ever, for your informative tour.
Steve, nice write-up. Al & C.C. Thank you for a FUN Thursday puzzle.
Fave today, of course, was that "Toast-making sound" CLINK.
Though "Resisting being taken?" CAMERA SHY was a close second.
A CLINK-to-ALL at Sunset.
Cheers!
Good morning to all!
I had generally smooth sailing on this delightful Thursday offering. Thanks, Al and C.C. My favorite clue was "resisting being taken" for CAMERA SHY. Hand up for Burn before BAKE.
We spent some time at the BASEBALL PARK yesterday watching the Angels best the Reds.
Thanks for the great expo, Steve.
Enjoy the day!
Duh! I must still be sleeping. Looked at CAMERASHY, scratching my head and wondering what the ____ is CAME RASHY?
I, too, wondered about CAME RASHY.
Really fun puzzle today. Me too on BURN. Had to erase RECEIVERS and OHOs. I got conditioned to OHOs for "cries of discovery" when I first started working crosswords a couple of years ago, now I'll have to retrain myself. Next the constructors will be using a Columbus ship other than the Nina, which will totally throw me off my game.
New vocabulary today included ROLLO, nonpareil and PAS.
Watched my grandson play baseball in the Cal Ripken baseball complex in Aberdeen, MD last month. What a fabulous facility. Also a great camping opportunity at nearby Bar Harbor RV park. The team went 0-4, but the kids were just happy to be there playing.
White Rabbit white rabbit. How fun anther Corner collaboration.
Steve Station 26 brewing where my son works in Denver has won many prizes. Worth a taste. Say hi to Devin.
This was fun but challenging, no Tree Ring Circus.
ROLLO did not come easily, Spikes:LACES andpicture getting taken also resisted.
Thanks all
Sometimes I'm saved by my French knowledge, but today nonpareil gave me pause: literally in French it means "not equal", but it's also used for those little sugary sprinkles we put on cookies to decorate them.
I also had a problem in the center of the grid because I didn't know LEONI, CAL, IAN, and had forgotten AIWA as well as not knowing of its rebirth. I do remember eons ago a friend returning home to Oz with a new AIWA stereo set bought overseas duty free and boasting about how much he'd saved. I wonder if it was a knockoff?
Musings
-An excellent puzzle as Al sets sail with C.C. on the puzzle waters today! Boat, ship? Who knows?
-England lost many officers in WWI because it was the custom for them to be on the FRONT LINE and lead the charge. That greatly diminished the WWII pool of military leaders.
-Me too, how long can you look at CAME RASHY before you see it correctly?
-Hilarious BASEBALL PARK v Football Stadium and other differences (4:51)
-Does Dem O’Crat play golf with my tree-hitting partner Rick O’Shay?
-The CICADAS have a huge chorus here every night
-The Vikings lost their QB for at least a year recently.
-Everyone has a TAKE on Colin Kaepernick these days
-DIRGE? Oh, you’ve heard our church organist.
-How old are you, Gary? Well, I remember this PALOOKA
-I need more DECIBELS since my ANVIL, etc. don’t work like they used to
-TREE RING humor
-I wonder if those CRUMBS would work in an airport parking lot
I was sitting here reading the blog comments and listening to an old Limeliters album when I wondered what ever happened to Glenn Yarborough? He was the group's lead tenor before breaking off for a solo career. I was surprised to find out that he died three weeks ago today on August 11th. I never heard any mention of it...not here...not anywhere else. RIP, Glenn.
Good morning, Cornerites! DH had an appointment for cataract surgery this morning so we were at the surgical center at 6:45 am as directed. I took the puzzle with me for entertainment. He got called back at 7:10, came back out about 10 minutes later, no eye patch, no paperwork. All the prep instructions were for his left eye; the surgeon had a replacement lens for his right eye. Since the prescriptions are different, they couldn't do surgery. The surgeon said the employee who scheduled him is no longer employed there and this is one of the reasons why. What a total waste of so many people's time. We came home and I finished the puzzle here. Some of the answers I was having trouble jumped right out at me after that break.
Thanks, Al, C.C. and Steve! This was a challenge, but it was a fun one! Steve, thanks for explaining spikes/laces.
Hand up for Burn b/f BAKE.
Kazie, I had the same issue with nonpareil.
Happy first day of September!
Rabbit Rabbit
Hello Puzzlers -
Other than trouble with the unknown Palooka, I managed to zip right through this clever collaboration. Guessed at Pas from having read "Pas de Deux" so many times on the Nutcracker CD label.
Morning, Steve, your mention of the artillery risk reminded me of the stories told to me by a civilian contractor who repaired military helicopters in Iraq. Apparently, random small artillery fire would shower all sorts of stuff down on their compound, usually doing little damage but definitely causing a nuisance. They had a saying, "Don't go outside when it's raining."
About Lacoste shirts: they were certainly popular around here, what with all the prep schools and colleges. Fortunately, there was an outlet store at the nearby Ware Knitters factory in Ware, Ma. It was possible to get irregular shirts well below retail, ideal for us locals who didn't have trust funds. Local women preferred to buy men's shirts, apparently for their roomier fit, but the proportions were such that the alligator logo landed right smack in the middle of the left breast - earning them the nickname Nipple Nippers.
I usually start (really always start) the puzzles in the NW and by the time I got to 27A, I smelled a C.C. puzzle with the BASEBALL PARK. I had trouble in a few places with the unknown people-EMILE Hirsch, ROLLO May or is it May ROLLO, AIWA ????,. I've heard the term "duck soup' but never knew it meat EASY.
The Spikes clue had me thinking shoes and only after I filled LACES did I realize the old spiked punch at wedding receptions from years ago. Last year at a Bourbon Street bar someone spiked a few drinks that my neighbor and two girls were drinking and all three woke up in the hospital. They had just graduated from college. At least that was their story.
Hi gang -
I liked this puzzle a lot. Wish I would have thought of this theme. Wanted HOME PLATE, of course. Tigers called up Jacoby Jones from the hens. In two games he's 4 for 8, and SLID in for the winning run on a sac fly in yesterday's walk off. Very exciting player.
C. C. does it again. WOW ^100. Nice job, you and Spitz!
Worked it from the bottom up. Had TARA for TYRA, so CAMERA SHY was the last to fall. I do have a hard time parsing the downs. The imbedded word CAME did not help
Some tricky clueing, and long fill. Just right for a Thursday.
Granddaughter sisters Rebekka and Samantha go to different high schools, and they play each other in football tonight. Home game for Bekka's squad, and she is in the marching band. We're going, and I will root for the clarinets.
Big change in the weather yesterday. Cooled way off, and today is sunny and very pleasant. Should be a great football night.
Tigers swept the ChiSox at home. Now off to KC. They have 6 games left with them and 7 with Division leading CLE. Both those teams have dominated the 2nd place Tigers this year. So the whole season comes down to those 13 games.
Cool regards!
JzB
Greetings, friends! What a joy to return home to a C.C. and Sptitzboov collaboration! Congratulations!
Several of the clues caused me to RELIVE some recent experiences; BOOTH or table? TREE RINGS. Never in my life had I seen so many ACREs of TREES!!! We drove over one thousand miles, all of them lined with towering TREES. That, toll roads and cool temperatures will linger forever in my memory. But the best part was the NICE people we met everywhere in New England.
BOWLINGALLEY is the only place we could find when one of my sisters desperately needed a pit stop! It was clean and available then farther on down the road we came across The Coffee Mug, a tiny roadside diner where we had a delicious lunch.
On Thursday as I was desperately searching the Islander newspaper in Bar Harbor for a puzzle, there was a Don G and C.C. grid!! On coming home I discovered it was Sunday's puzzle and was I ever glad to see it.
Thank you Al and C.C. for this lovely start to my return. It was a great ten minute romp.
And thanks, Steve, for your always entertaining commentary.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Easy for a Thursday. Glad I could get the words around "Rollo". Never heard of her.
Paul in Montebello,
Dr. May was a prominent psychologist and the author of Love and Will. He was also of the male persuasion, though I can see how his unusual name might mislead.
Thanks, Steve, for that eye-opening photo of Liberty being fabricated in France. A good thing that this construction pre-dated by many decades the popularity of GODZILLA movies and similar fare! Imagine if the Parisians had been inspired to defend their suburb.
This was a slow but steady slog for me. I got 'em all w/o any cheats and enjoyed decoding each part of this Hollmer/C.C. creation. My only hesitation was at 1-Down, to which I returned several times before seeing the light.
I don't know why, but I kept reading it as the past tense of ABE. You know: "I ABE; tomorrow I will ABE; yesterday I ABED." Sometimes I just wish we would add parts of speech to clues, as we do "abbr" for abbreviations.
I, too, wondered what CAME RASHY meant... I'm so glad I'm not the only one with a duh?? moment!
Thanks, Al & C.C. for a fine puzzle. A bit slower to start, but FIR! Loved the clue for CAMERASHY.
Thanks, Steve, for the great write-up. Also liked the pic of the Statue of Liberty. LOL on your LaCoste story!
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Al & C.C.!
Great expo, Steve! Liked the picture of the statue. Somewhere once I saw a picture of the statue's arm sticking up in New York's Central Park while they were installing the rest. Helps then to realize the true size. I couldn't remember how to spell EIFFEL. It has two "F's"? Duh! Couldn't spell AU PAIR for a while.
Steve had to explain why Toast = CLINK to me too. I don't think I've ever participated in a champagne toast in my life. Just not a big thing out here, I guess. We went to 13 weddings in a two-year period many years ago. Two of the weddings were our own kids. Don't remember any toasts. No wonder I didn't know they CLINKed.
I had all of CAMERA first so never CAME RASHY. I SHYed around the last bit a long time.
ANON T: Great cactus pictures. You had to stay up late to get that! I had one of those cacti for many years in my kitchen window. Didn't bloom for about 15 years then had one bloom a year for several years then advanced to two. Smelled great. Bloom gone with the dawn.
D-O: good choice on the air bag/seat belt repair. If the cost stings a bit, just remember a funeral costs a lot more.
Thought I had a burglar the other night. Turned out to be CICADA's hitting the big window by the back patio light.
Hi Everyone:
Late to the dance due to an errand-filled morning including a trip to the Madhouse, AKA, the supermarket which was in high gear for the holiday weekend. High gear as related to shoppers as opposed to molasses-mode as related to only two open registers! On the plus side, my watermelon was free plus the cost was credited because the label was too soggy for the scanner to read it.
This was a very enjoyable offering with CC's signature touch of baseball fill, plus Boomer's bowling and Minnesota, to boot. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who wondered what the heck came rashy was! Leoni was easy as "Madame Secretary" is one of my favorite shows.
Thanks, Spitz and CC, for a delightful start to September and thanks, Steve, for the striking summary. 😉
Have a great day.
Hi All!
What Kazie said sans French helping. Ultimately a DNF :-(
Congrats Spitz! To you and C.C. - well done and enjoyable. Steve - you vying for Boomer's job? Fantastic expo & commentary. Thanks.
I got going OK but had to WAG name xing. 17a x 4d was successful as was IAN w/ LEONI. The SW WAGS - not so much. I wasn't even sure if a vowel was called for at 52d x 55a. ABA?ONE is also un-fin [there's my French :-)].
Anyone else read Nonpareil as non-parallel? Good thing askew didn't fit...
WOs: Hand-up - BAKE after I got burn'd
Fav:. Toss up - After FLN w/ Jerome... c/a for Vikings' home is LOL. Too, there's my CAMERA SHY cactus.
[btw - go back to the expo page if you missed the elusive flowering C.C. kindly posted. Today the 'bud' has closed back up and getting ready to fall off. I hope the other bud flowers tonight or tomorrow]
Spikes / LACES also took to long for the V-8 to hit; but I love it. Who's clue was that?
{B+}
Pat - Arggg! I feel you! I hate wasting time, They had me wait yesterday 1h30m for the needle. Then, when the nurse was ready to anesthetize, he was going for the wrong eye. Worse, he asked someone else "how much" to use...
HG - I was hoping it was Carlin! Thanks.
LaCoste - Costly and reminded me of Buy Me a Condo (Weird Al @:40)
Cheers, -T
I liked this puzzle tons! Excellent theme. Some terrific clues, including Place for an anvil and Spikes. I do have a nit with the comparison of the METRO and BART; the METRO is basically a subway while BART is a "high-speed" train totally above ground (except for the tunnel under the bay). But for crossword purposes, the clue works for me. As you like to say, Spitzboov, BZ!
Pretty cool to get a hello from grandpa, Anon T.
Thought PALOOKA, CAMERA SHY, and TREE RINGS were superb.
In CICADA are two famed crossword people- C.C., AIDA.
Oh yeah, and the singer Neil CIDACA.
Jayce - I only visited SF 3x - but I thought BART also included the ferry and the street-cars. Please inform.
PK - I missed your post while drafting. Amazing plants aren't they? And the snow-white flowers w/ PURLPLE accents - just WOW. Lucina's gotta have native ones about - grandpa stole his from AZ b/f you couldn't do that :-)
That's where my cutting came from.
Cheers, -T
Jerome -- Neil [groan].
Many years ago while we were visiting the folks south of Tucson a neighbor came to the door at 7AM to let us know that her cactus was blooming and we should come and see it. We finished our breakfast and ambled over there. Yup. It had already closed up. We didn't realize there was an urgency to the invitation.
first..to Jazz..GO TIGERS. My favorite team since '84, No renta players. One peeve why does "axer" work fine in crosswords but not in SCRABLLE ? Or at least the site I played on. ROLLO was I real reach as a clue. May as well just say "get this one from the perps"
Wonderful Spitz and C.C. puzzle this morning--many thanks to you both for a neat way to start the new month! Also very funny and entertaining expo, Steve!
It took a while, but I got everything except for a goof-up on the cross of IAN/AIWA (I guessed DAN and ADWA}. Was as puzzled by CAME RASHY as others--glad I wasn't the only one. Never heard of ROLLO May--thanks for explaining the gender.
Pat, sorry to hear about your frustrating morning.
Have a great day, everybody!
Anon-T, as far as I can determine, BART only includes the trains. The buses, cable cars, and ferries are run by different organizations. They all coordinate their schedules with each other to optimize connections from one to the other. There's also the regular train line for commuting up and down the SF peninsula.
Steve - 26d - METRO = Metropolitan Environs Transit (Rapid Occasionally)?
As others, knowing some French, nonpareil= not parallel, but usually used in English to mean unparalleled.
Tony, that cactus blossom is amazing.
Re 43-Down, my grandfather tried for years to cross an ABALONE with a crocodile, hoping for an abidile but all he got was a crock-o-baloney.
Yes, thank you, Jayce. I failed to mention the difference between BART and METRO, one is above ground and the other is underground. I rode the METRO for the first time last week. BART is a stupendous system to get around the Bay area and beyond now that they have extended it farther inland.
AnonT:
That's a splendid night blooming cereus! I have seen one only once.
IrishMiss:
Our super market was not too crowded today. Usually that's on Wednesday's and weekends.
Using my phone, so here goes...
Strike site?
On the front lines...
Cont...
What happens when you go on strike at home...
Bringing home to the union shop...
Lucina - I woulda thunk you'd have seen a Plethora of blooms. <- Gratuitous 3 Amigos link
Jayce - My confusion came from getting BART cards that were good pretty much everywhere. Thanks; the penny-dropped - Rapid Transport - D'uh. For comparison: Houston's mass-area-transport is TRIther :-)
Disappointment ensued - I checked on the other bud... apparently I missed it's bloom - it's already hanging by the string... Oh well, I got a good shot of one- that's .500 in BASEBALL :-)
Tin - I saw the H-storm on CNN. Not nice. I assume villa incognito is well stocked. Stay safe - First Toast to you [CLINK]
Cheers, -T
Good Evening Everyone.
Thanks for all the fine comments.
I, too, was flummoxed by CAME RASHY. The puzzle was first submitted almost a year and a half ago, so many of the details and nuanced clues have been forgotten or not easily recalled. So I stared at it for several minutes and then recalled CAMERA SHY and its cluing.
It was a great experience and a special treat to work with C.C. on the puzzle's development. I learned a lot and have developed a new respect for the editing aspects.
Have a great evening.
AnonT & Lucina: J.A. Jance had a novel out a few years ago about the night blooming cereus in a murder case called "Queen of the Night". Good book. I wondered if that was the cactus I had but wasn't sure. Mine got about 3 ft. tall in a pot. It had lots of babies that I transplanted but never grew much. Eventually it developed an inner rot and died. I was sad. I think a helpful kid kept watering it. I only watered it a little every month or so.
Great puzzle! Alas, I failed. I just could NOT squeeze Valhalla into 64 a... Vikings home. I did get CAME. RASHY but like others didn't get what it meant.
Thanks Spitz and C.C. And Steve for the fun write up.
Tinbini, Hermine will miss you in the official version...but you are on the bad side for rain and yukky stuff. Keep in touch!!
me-sew-pretty-one-day
I was also scratching my head over CAME RASHY. I'm so glad the constructor-Spitzbov with C.C.'s help, had the same problem.
As I write this I am watching Hurricane Hermine on my split screen moving into Florida directly south of Tallahassee. On my bike ride this morning the wind in LA switched from the NE to the SW and now it's back to a northerly wind. And the hurricane eye if over 300 miles away.
Anon-T @6:26
A "feeder-ban" went by, between 5:50 pm until 6:16 pm, and in that brief time
Villa Incognito probably received 4 inches of rain (I am NOT exaggerating!) ... it was raining sideways!
(The last two days, my rain total was probably in the 12 to 15 inches range).
Wind was "Out-of-the-South" at around 50 mph ... then the "feeder ban" passed ... and I poured another Pinch.
When Hurricanes come by, I become a Weather Channel binge watcher.
I cannot understand how many idiots ... "You can't teach stupid!" ... do not listen to the "Pro's" who tell them to not drive down streets covered with water ...
Geez, are Gal-Pal and I the only two people who have 2 days of grocery's in the pantry???
And, of course, there are those they interview, for the news, who say: "It has never rained this hard before ...
I've been here 64 years ... and it has been worse than this ... before.
Just glad I have plenty of libations ... and a "small 7-up" in supply ... LOL/
Cheers!
PS By the time I wake-up tomorrow ... Hermine will be in Georgia.
May even see the Sun come out later in the day ...
A lot of people don't like AXER, but I'll bet that most of them loved the movie about axers... "Good Fellers"
AnonT:
Most of the time I could not see the flowers for the trees, millions of them! The most plentiful were in hanging baskets and brightly adorned wherever they hung.
Monsoon season is still upon us and this evening we had about 5 minutes of rain. It's so welcome!
TIn & Lucina - The juxtaposition is funny.
TIn I believe 4" in an hour - dad always thought I was full of it until he witnessed real rain in Houston.
Put that up against Lucina's 'monsoon' of 5 minutes of rain... :-)
Y'all have a good night and, Tin, TWC showed only about another hour - it's the surge to worry about. Stay dry, er, wet (IM's quip is still cracking me up). Cheers, -T
Yes, feeder-ban is the word of the week. Can't wait for CC to clue it in.
I did the print version last night about two am but when I went to the blog it put me to sleep. But I enjoyed Steve's write-up. And as always, Owen's stuff.
IAN Woosnam actually contended in the senior open.
Jayce BART is indeed a subway in downtown San Francisco and in downtown Oakland and Berkeley.
But I considered MUNI as that is more of a San Francisco subway.
Considered NINTH before TENTH for Mahler's last symphony.
I had an even harder time getting CAMERA SHY. I thought she was TaRA not TYRA. I kept staring at "RASHa" trying to figure out what in the NW could make that work.
Eventually figured it all out just right!
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