Theme: OUT OF SIGHT, MAN. Five two-word theme entries all relate to someone or something whose identity or existence is covered up. The non-reveal is in the first word of each phrase.
17. Old-time bandits : MASKED MARAUDERS. I'm not sure this is a generic expression. Specifically, there is a so-named villain in the Marvel Comics universe who is the main antagonist in the Daredevil title. Also, this.
26. Narc's quarry : HIDDEN STASH. Some quantity of drugs that narcotics agents want to confiscate. But where is it?
38. Special forces mission : COVERT OPERATION. This is a military or espionage action that is planned and executed in such a way that the sponsor's identity is not revealed, or plausible deniability is maintained.
46. Anonymous holiday gift giver : SECRET SANTA. A community or other group of people randomly choose individuals to whom they will give a Christmas present.
60. Air marshal's possession : CONCEALED WEAPON. Air marshals are highly trained marksmen who blend in with other passengers and serve to deter terrorism and protect the flying public.
Pretty straight forward concept in this thematically rich entry, built with three grid spanners and two more theme fill checking in at 11 characters each.
Hi gang, JazzBumpa here to uncover the secrets of today's puzzle. Let's have a peek behind the curtain.
Across
1. Gain experience (from) : LEARN. Always important; not always pleasant.
6. Leg muscle : CALF. The back of the lower leg.
10. World Golf Hall of Famer Karrie : WEBB. [b 1974] Australia's most successful female professional golfer.
14. First host of "The Tonight Show" : ALLEN. Steve, [1921 - 2000] an American actor, writer, comedian, composer and musician.
15. Like some history : ORAL. Not written down.
16. Original thought : IDEA.
20. "The Time Machine" race : ELOI.
21. Goes out : EBBS. Like the tide.
22. First extra inning : TENTH. A regulation baseball game lasts for 9 innings. If the score is tied, they keep playing until one team wins.
23. Dallas Mavericks org. : NBA. National Basketball Association.
25. Old Mideast alliance: Abbr. : UAR. United Arab Republic. A political union between Egypt and Syria that lasted from 1958 until 1961. Egypt continued to use the name for another decade.
32. Nova Scotia hrs. : AST. Atlantic Standard Time. This time zone is one step to the east of the continental United States, 4 hours off Greenwich Mean Time. It includes New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia in Canada, as well as Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands
35. City SW of St. Augustine : OCALA. At ca. 57,500 [2013 census] it ranks as the 45th most poplous city in FLA.
36. Young boys : TADS. Or LADS, but SLOIC ruined that concept.
37. Place for a pedicure : SPA. A commercial establishment offering health and beauty treatments.
42. Bi- halved : UNI-. Bi- is a combining form meaning two or twice. Except when attached to time units, when it might mean either "every two" or "twice per." Back on topic, consider bi- and uni- -cycles or -valves.
43. Cambodian cash : RIEL. Most Cambodians prefer foreign currency.
44. Polar explorer : PEARY. Robert [1865-1920] might or might not have been the first person to reach the north pole in his 1909 expedition, if he even got there at all. He might have missed by 60 miles. Nothing about this is certain.
45. Butter-on-hot-griddle sound : SSS. Sizzle.
48. Bowl-shaped cookware : WOK. A versatile round-bottomed cooking vessel of Chinese origin.
49. __ in: surround : HEM. Specifically to surround in a restrictive manner.
50. Delta rival, as it was once known : USAIR. Since merged with American Airlines. The USAIR brand name was discontinued on Oct 17, 2015.
53. Tosca's "Vissi d'arte," e.g. : ARIA. A vocal solo in the context of a larger work, such as an opera or oratorio.
56. Magic charm : MOJO. Or spell.
63. "The Mod Squad" role : LINC. Lincoln "Link" Hayes, portrayed by Clarence Williams III.
64. Automation prefix : ROBO-. As in ROBO-call. So looking forward to November 9.
65. Superman's makeup? : STEEL. He's known as the "Man of STEEL," but this is probably hyperbole. I suspect he really made of bronze.
66. __ code : AREA. The regionally assigned 3 digit [in North America] prefix to your telephone number.
67. Mess offering : MEAL. Through Middle English via Old French this word traces back to the Latin missum, meaning "something put on the table." In modern times it most typically refers to a location where a specified group of people, such as in the armed forces, take their meals together.
68. Brits' boob tube : TELLY. Teevee, stateside.
Down
1. Pathetic, as an excuse : LAME. Or as many of my jokes.
Down
1. Pathetic, as an excuse : LAME. Or as many of my jokes.
2. Airline to Jerusalem : EL AL.
3. In addition : ALSO. Too
4. Put the spark back into, as a relationship : REKINDLE.
5. Salem-to-Portland dir. : NNE.
6. It may help with a mop : COMB. For an unruly head of hair. Good luck.
7. Many a Syrian : ARAB. Ethnicity inhabiting several middle eastern countries and many cross word puzzles.
8. Metallica drummer Ulrich : LARS. I have no idea how I know this. I think their music is ghastly.
9. St. with a panhandle : FLA. Florida. Other states with panhandles, formally called salients, are Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia, which has two of them.
10. Three-lane, vis-Ã -vis two-lane : WIDER. Larger in the lateral dimension.
11. "I Dream of Jeannie" star : EDEN. Barbara [b 1931] star of the show which ran for 5 seasons starting in Sept, 1965.
12. Buddy of Kermit : BERT. Muppets. I can't find a vid where they appear together, so I'm not sure how this buddy thing is working.
13. Big party : BASH. Seems like the word BEER belongs in there somewhere.
18. Leader with a .edu address : DEAN. The faculty head of a department.
19. Beehive State : UTAH. This emblem was chosen in 1848 to symbolize the pioneer virtues of thrift and perseverance, long before UTAH became a state in 1896.
24. Animal symbolizing the 25-Down : BEAR. This symbol of Russia [and by extension the USSR] has been used in cartoons, articles and drama since the 16th century.
25. World power inits. until '91 : USSR. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, aka the Soviet Union.
26. Magical start : HOCUS. Pocus. Feel the magic.
27. Tappable cellphone images : ICONS. Used to launch various apps.
28. "Miles Smiles" trumpeter : DAVIS. I can find the whole album on YouTube, but not just this song, as played by Miles, so no link. There are covers, but that just feels wrong.
29. Poker-faced : STOIC. Indifferent to either pleasure or pain, referring to the Ancient Greek philosophy of Stoicism, founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium. The IDEA is that the highest good comes from knowledge, and living in harmony with divine reason allows one to disregard fortune, pleasure and pain.
30. Come to a point : TAPER.
31. Fred's dancing sister : ADELE. Astaire siblings. Sadly, I can't come up with a video of her dancing.
32. Chinese or Japanese : ASIAN. Originating in that continent.
33. Hurling or curling : SPORT. Hurling, similar to field hockey, is the regional game of Ireland and is thousands of years old. Curling is played with flat stones slid on an ice surface into a target circle.
34. Tucker of country : TANYA.
39. Taxing trip : TREK.
40. Semicircular church section : APSE. Traditionally, the dome covered recess where the altar is located.
41. One who might go to bat for you? : TEAM MATE. Baseball reference.
46. Achy : SORE. Hurting.
47. January warm spell : THAW. When the ice melts, for a while.
48. Modern witch's religion : WICCA. A modern pagan belief system with no central authority that exists in many variations, generally based on a god and goddess duality.
50. Home of the NCAA's Bruins : UCLA. College sports.
51. Evening in Quebec : SOIR. French.
52. Klein of fashion : ANNE. [1923 - 1974] Clothing and accessories.
53. Lotion additive : ALOE. Ubiquitous in skin care products and cross word puzzles.
54. Singer McEntire : REBA. [b 1955, McAlester, OK ] While in high school, she and her siblings sang on local radio and at rodeos. Her performance of the National Anthem at the Oklahoma City rodeo in 1974 got her invited to Nashville, where she signed with Mercury records. In 1984 she signed with MCA Nashville, and took over creative control of her recordings.
55. Star adored by many : IDOL.
57. Autobahn auto : OPEL. German subsidiary of G. M. headquartered in Rüsselsheim.
58. "Piano Man" man : JOEL. For six months in 1972, William Martin JOEL [b 1949] worked at the Executive Room piano bar on Wilshire Blvd in L. A. This sad song, released in 1973, commemorates that time.
59. __ child : ONLY. My sister and I are 6 1/2 years apart. It's almost as if our parents had 2 ONLY children.
61. Branch : ARM. Extension.
62. Approx. repair cost : EST. Who establishes this ESTimate?
Well, that wraps it up, but does not put it under wraps. Hope you enjoyed unraveling all the mysteries.
Cool regards!
JzB
Note from C.C.:
62. Approx. repair cost : EST. Who establishes this ESTimate?
Well, that wraps it up, but does not put it under wraps. Hope you enjoyed unraveling all the mysteries.
Cool regards!
JzB
Note from C.C.:
Our own Peg
(C6D6 Peg) made today's WSJ. You can click here to print out the PDF. Congratulations, dear Peg!
 |
| Peg and her husband Steve |
45 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Timothy and Jazz!
Liked the theme!
Didn't know WEBB and NNE, but no problems!
I watch the shows that you mentioned, Irish Miss. Pretty good. But I feel so sorry for one of the actresses.
Have a great day!
My two half-sisters were in their teens when I was born, so I was essentially an ONLY with two doting aunts!
{B, R, C+, B-.}
People were rushing, on the highway they'd cram!
The black-MASKED MARAUDERS were creating a jam!
They could be deadly danger,
Till locked up by a Ranger --
You can see for yourself, tune in panda-cam!
Fashions have changed, they're not like the past
When a man's codpiece announced his HIDDEN STASH!
Loose trousers mention
No CONCEALED WEAPON --
So how come superheroes have no lycra-clad mast?
To reveal a SECRET, SANTA Fe is a locus
For turquoise talismen to keep MOJO in focus!
An amulet with silver
Will protection deliver
From hexes and evil eye and all such HOCUS pocus!
Our assignment was laying some 6-foot drain pipe,
But under a roadway, so margins were tight.
To make it even tougher,
No traffic was to suffer!
Yep, a COVERT culvert OPERATION, that's right!
Easy for a Wednesday. After placing ELOI in so many crosswords, I should read the book.
Good morning!
Nice outing; thanx, Timothy. Got the theme early on, and the only write-over was ALOE -- mistakenly wrote it where ANNE was supposed to go.
When I moved to Houston back in '79, 713 was the only AREA CODE. Now there's also 281, 346 and 832 -- all over-lapping. I understand there are still some places in this country where you can place a 7-digit local call. Not around here.
I thought "Hurling" was a sport restricted to college freshmen.
My dictionary doesn't like "Tappable." It also doesn't like "tapable" or "tap-able." What to do?
No ROBO political calls around here. Texas is dyed so deeply red that the pols don't bother. I'm greatly grateful for that small favor.
Hi Y'all! I sorta got the theme, but I was looking for a CONCEALED WEAPON in all of them like gun or knife snuggled in among the other letters. Never know what you are going to get with these cws. Great puzzle, Timothy! Great expo, JzB!
For leg muscle I was trying to dredge up a muscle name like pecs or abs. I looked in my anatomy book and CALF muscles are gastro-something or other. Too early to try to spell the whole thing. Didn't fit anyway. When CALF perped in I was shocked at the simplicity.
Didn't know WEBB. Don't follow women's golf.
Didn't understand Bi/2 = UNI. ESP
49a I wanted to "pen in" before HEM in.
Saw REBA in concert in the '80's. She put on a good show. Her brother Pake McIntire opened for her. Never heard of him before or after that night. Didn't hear him because we were late, arriving just before Reba went on. My husband could seldom get anywhere on time and the venue was an hours drive from home.
Congrats, Peg on your WSJ debut!
Easy peasy for Wednesday. No real unknowns for me today, but I'm kind of spelling-challenged so the perps helped me with PEARY and RIEL. Had lads for TADS, panam for USAIR and audi for OPEL, but the perps saved me in those places too.
Thanks Timothy and Jazz for a good morning warmup.
Where is everybody this morning? It's late and only 6 others have commented today so far. Sleeping in I guess.
Nice Wednesday puzzle today from Tim and JzB's expo was very good and entertaining.
I didn't know LARS, WEBB and ADELE and I wanted LADS vs TADS. Perps took care of the few stumbling blocks today. So for the most part it was a speed run.
The Tonight Show reruns with Johnny Carson have been running on the MEtv Network since January and some of them are really funny. Lately they have been running shows that were running during former Presidential election years and they were about as ridiculous as the current one. I know were not supposed to talk about politics, but this is about humor.
FYI: Today is National Ask a Stupid Question Day. Have fun with it.
Jazz: Great write-up. Timothy: Thank You for a FUN Wednesday puzzle.
Enjoyed the CSO to Argyle at SECRET SANTA.
And the two CSO of my beloved state with OCALA & FLA.
When I first started solving crosswords (about 45 years ago) I remember asking my Mother why I should know that Fred Astaire's sister was named ADELE.
She explained to me that they were a huge dancing act before he hit stardom in the movies.
oc4beacch, OK. I'll play ... "Why do I "toast-the-Sunset" every night???"
Cheers!
Good morning everyone.
Nice intro, JzB. Thanks.
A fairly easy solve, today. Got the gist of the theme but I think JzB termed it well. Couple unknowns like JOEL and LARS were gotten from the perps.
TREK - An Afrikaaner word.
MESS - Our destroyer had 3 of them. Crew's mess, Chief's mess, and Officer's mess. A larger ship like an aircraft carrier would have more. For example: A First Class mess for E-6's and an Admiral's mess if the Flag staff is embarked.
AST - There's also Bermuda.
Well. a DNF for which I blame Lucy....a bit. She had cataract surgery yesterday and a follow up visit today so I tackled the puzzle while waiting. I thought leaving the Docs office I was finished, but neglected to review the grid until coming here and lo and behold I discovered an unfilled square. The crossing I for 43A & 29D was missing. In addition 36A I was lads, not TADS. Otherwise, I was dead on.
At least my better half has much improved eyesight, so a DNF is worth it. She'll be given a few nights from preparing supper, so the local eateries will have our patronage. She's worth it, has put up with me for 55+ years.
Greetings to all!
Fun puzzle today. The wide open grid with three grid spanners looked daunting at first, but filled easily. Thought "It may help with a mop" for COMB was cute. Thanks, Timothy, for a great puzzle.
Did anyone else have STOny before STOIC at 29D?
Congrats, Peg, on your WSJ puzzle. I have printed it out and look forward to working on it later today.
Enjoy the day!
Oops! Forgot to say thank you to you, Jazzbumpa, for an excellent write-up and lotsa great links!
At first I thought this would be a BEAR to solve but after a few cells were filled it moved right along. For some reason I had CANCELLED so CONCEALED was HIDDEN from me for a long while until the light bulb turned on and ARM corrected it. Hand up for LADS/TADS and PERRY/PEARY. Luckily the perps kindly corrected those.
Thank you, Jzb, for explaining COMB. I see that now. And I should remember LARS Ulrich as we've seen him in CWs before. The same with ELOI.
Thank you, Timothy L. Meaker and Jazzbumpa for your MOJO today.
Have an exceptional day, everyone!
This was a real breeze, today, for some reason. I must have been on Timothy's wavelength. Got SECRETSANTA right off, and the rest filled in quickly. Thank you, Timothy, for a very nice puzzle!
Thanks, JzB, for your write-up and musical links. All were good!
Straight-forward puzzle today. Thanks Timothy and JzB.
Hand up for Lads before TADS. I also toyed with Gala before BASH.
Smiled at Comb clue (I was wanting Pail at first).
I had Tania before TANYA but PEARY fixed that.
I agree that Kermit is not the first buddy you think of for BERT. Buddy of Ernie is probably a better clue.
EST and AST today. Newfoundland has its own time zone (NST) and is 1/2 hour ahead of AST.
I noted the Quebec and Nova Scotia clues. Is there a Canadian connection to Mr. Meaker?
Have a great day.
I have printed your puzzle, Peg, and will try it later.
FIW,
51d evening in Quebec,
(I put Noir without thinking about it.)
When 50a appeared, "UnAir,"
the only thing that came to mind was:
"hmm, must be affiliated with Wing Wobble Airlines..."
You are right, there are no videos of Kermit and Bert together!
(I guess he did not want to be associated with him...)
However there are lots and lots of Bert and Ernie vids out there
LINC was new to me. File away for future reference.
Very nice puzzle, loved the long downs also.
JzB - that "Hocus Pocus" link was awesome - I bought the single when it came out in 1970, it didn't sound anything nearly as maniacal as your live version. The keyboard player (Thijs van Leer) looks to be on some quite spectacular drugs. Here's a slightly calmer version of the band and their single "Sylvia". Van Leer seems just a tad less excited :)
Hi Everone:
Enjoyed this mid-week offering and breezed right through it with only one w/o, lads/tads. Theme was evident early on so that made the solve easier and faster. Nice CSO to Santa. JzB, I can't believe that there are 35 cities in Florida larger than Ocala; is that really the case?
Thanks, Timothy, for a fun romp and thanks, Jazz, for the usual entertaining and enlightening expo.
Ferm, I think I know the actress you're referring to and I agree with you.
Peg, congrats on your WSJ appearance. I'll tackle it later.
Have a great day.
Congratulations, Peg, on your WSJ puzzle! And thank you, C.C., for providing a link.
Fun puzzle, nifty theme. I balked at CALF as a muscle; to me the calf is where that gastro-something muscle is located but is not itself a muscle. WEES about Bert's buddy. To say he is Kermit's buddy is like saying he is Elmo's buddy; their only connection is that they are characters on the same show. I did like the clues for COMB and TAPER.
Around here, to make a call, even a local one, you always have to dial all 11 digits, including the leading 1. Well that's true for the landline anyway; I think maybe you don't need to do that on a cell phone but I'm not sure.
Who is buried in Grant's tomb?
Best wishes to you all.
It was a TAD ease today and my only bump was SLOIC crossing LAD. So L became T. The theme was obvious after MASKED and HIDDEN.
'Hurling and curling'- my first thought was some teenager who had way too much to drink. It's never pretty. Watch 'American Graffiti' and see Terry the Toad at his best.
US AIR- a good friend was a captain with 6 months to go before mandatory retirement when US AIR and American Airlines merged. Can you believe that American (which took over) sent him for training on the large Airbus just so he could fly it for the last two months. He flew to Barcelona and back for that time and then was forced to retire. He said it was a complete waste of money training him, paying him all the time.
Musings
-A true piece ‘o cake with a wonderful write-up by my favorite trombone player
-HIDDEN STASH – “No mom, that’s just oregano from Home Ec class”
-As the only male among many SECRET SANTA women, I got my share of candles. I hope they liked the screwdriver sets! ☺
-When will people LEARN to quit doing this?
-Oh the BHAT is in Thailand not Cambodia
-I can’t hear the bacon SIZZLE in the microwave but that IS the way to cook it!
-He’s really got his MOJO workin’ here! (4:31)
-Some Manhattanites are worried about getting their iconic 212 AREA Code changed to 332
-Some in the sparsely populated PANHANDLE of Nebraska have IDEAS about seceding to join more similar Wyoming
-The exposition of Barbara EDEN’s genie naval was a big issue in the 60’s
-Greiving TEAM MATES show respect around the mound for Jose Fernandez who died this week
-Does England have a Fourth of July?
-Congrats C6D6 Peg!
WRT National Ask a Stupid Question Day:
Tin: I don't know what your reason is, but I think "it wouldn't make sense to do it at dawn" is a possible answer.
Jayce: I guess most people would take the answer for Grant'ed.
HG: Yeap, England has a Fourth of July and a Fifth and a Sixth etc. It's just not a holiday there.
oc4beach @1:04
re: "Why do I "toast-the-Sunset" every night???"
Answer, on "National Ask a Stupid Question Day" ...
What else are you going to do at that time ...
Cheers!
With my cell phone, I can make local calls with just 7 digits. Mostly people I call are on my speed dial, including yardman, plumber, HVAC man, and of course my relatives. (How do you spell digits? My spell check didn't like "digits". Wanted "dijits". Googled it and it seems to be an alternative spelling. When I typed in "dijits" the second time, spell check didn't like it either. Fickle app.)
HondoH: Best wishes to Lucy with her new eyes. You are both so lucky to have 55 years together.
Does anyone know if Decon looses strength when stored for a year? Mouse/mice are eating it regularly like it's good for them. If they are dying, their relatives are coming for the funeral and free eats. Nothing else food-like they can get to.
Great Wednesday puzzle, Timothy--many thanks! My first one this week where I got the whole thing! Yay! Wahoo! And great pics, JazzB--many thanks to you too!
I had a couple of anxious moments. Was sure the Polar explorer was PERRY, but it just wouldn't fit and so finally nervously went with PEARY, sure it was going to be wrong. Great relief that it was okay. My other total pure guess was LINC and WICCA (never heard of either one). Debated whether to go with LINK, but I'm glad I took the "c".
Well, in my experience the head of a university department is a Chair, while a DEAN is the head of a group of related departments like Humanities, or Social Sciences, or Physical Sciences. My apologies for being a little pedantic--an embarrassing trait.
Have a wonderful day, everybody!
Nice ink, Peg!
No probs today. I missed the theme, but what else is new? No need for any cheats or lookups, but I did have to forego my preferred diagonal solving - in favor of just going wherever openings would take me. This meant jumping to the end after a strong start in the upper left corner, but only because I couldn't be sure at HIDDEN STASH and OCALA. They were easy enough when I came back, but I didn't want my momentum to suffer on the first go-through.
You're correct, Misty. (But you knew that!) On our campus, a dean usually heads a school. There are a few administrative deans, but most top admin positions are held by associate chancellors and asst. provosts. A school is composed of several departments, each headed by a "chair." And each sizeable area within a department is headed by a "head." When I taught at another campus, the area heads were "chiefs."
On our multi campus University of California, the top official of the system is the "president," while each campus is led by a "chancellor."
Congrats to Peg! When will puzzle appear?
PK, is it time for a pest control pro? You can find some who will return free of charge if the problem is not solved.
Tinbeni - I also love the Ocala area. We try to spend at least part of January and February there every year. This year we'll be in Silver Springs. Can't wait for burgers at MOJO Grill in downtown Ocala.
Pretty smooth sailing for me today. Hand up for lAD/TAD but, working across and down together, things filled in nicely. Like PK, I was looking for a weapon in the theme answers.
Thanks for the puzzle and write-up, Tim and JzB. I enjoyed the links.
DH has his second cataract surgery tomorrow morning. I hope the paper is here so I can solve the puzzle while I wait.
After all the hot/humid weather we've had, the high temp the past couple days has been in the low 70's, and today, with rain, it's staying in the 60's. Such a refreshing change.
Happy Hump Day!
Pat
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Timothy Meaker, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Jazzbumpa, for a fine review.
Nice links, Jazzbumpa. I am guessing that is a lot of effort to do.
Congrats, Peg, on your WSJ puzzle.
This puzzle worked quite easily. Liked it. No inkblots today.
Theme was fine. Three grid spanners.
AREA code was easy. As a former telephone man I was involved in that stuff. FYI, all the original Area Codes had either a 1 or a 0 as the second digit. This identified the number as an Area Code. No Office Codes had that. The original Area Codes also were assigned with the ones with lower numbers (smaller digits) to the larger populated areas, i.e.: 212 for NY City, 312 for Chicago, 213 for LA, etc. The smaller areas population wise, were given larger digits, i.e.; 801 for Utah, 605 for South Dakota, etc. The reason was that all the phones at that times had dials. The telephone companies wanted to process the calls as quickly as possible, so assigning the smaller numbers to high traffic areas made sense. It took less time to tie up the common equipment when dialing a call. However, with touch call telephones and digital exchanges, it makes no difference what digit is dialed or keyed in. And, virtually any number can be used as an Area Code. They ran out of combinations with a 1 or a 0 as the second digit anyhow.
Too bad you could not find Adele and Fred, Jazz. I remember seeing them on TV years ago.
Anyhow, see you all tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
fermatprime - puzzle is in the WSJ today. It's entitled "No Way Out", and you can go to www.wsj.com/puzzles and print out a pdf copy.
I liked this puzzle just fine, and I liked the write up even better.
I flew on Allegheny Airlines flights before they became US AIR.
There used to be a bar on Fort Myers Beach that handed out shooters at sundown. You had to toast the sunset "To make sure the sun comes back up tomorrow morning"
C6D6Peg
I liked your puzzle! Clever cluing, especially "fixes clogs".
Hello Everyone,
It has been a while since I've had the time to log on and even read the entries here. I miss the puzzle as we don't subscribe to the paper and with our Sunday only paper, the puzzle is not the same.
My husband is doing ok. Just very tired and no appetite We've had a lot of Dr.'s appointments and since he isn't driving right now, I'm doing that as well as the yard work, etc.
I enjoyed "seeing" everyone today.
Chickie
Dear Peg: Congratulations on your WSJ puzzle. I'm about 90 percent finished. I've got a couple of questions. First, it seems harder than I'm used to. Lots of especially tricky clues. Is that level of difficulty typical of WSJ puzzles? Do they increase in difficulty during the week? Did you create all of those tricky clues or was Mike Shenk responsible?
Congratulations again!
C6D6 Peg - i did your puzzle this afternoon. Got most of it early on, but got stuck in the SE. A while later my brain cleared, got the POLENTA / RESOLE cross and wrapped it up. Typical difficulty for a Wed. WSJ, which seems harder than a Wed. LAT.
Favorite clue: Charge for hand delivery? - - ANTE. Kudos.
I once toured our nation's professional theaters on a pass I purchased from Allegheny Airlines - well before they became US Air. That's how long ago it was, when Allegheny was Allegheny. I think it was called a Liberty Pass, but can't be sure now.
I remember having to fly all sorts of circuitous routes just to get from A to B, but I always managed to get there.
Thanks to all who commented on my WSJ puzzle. Yes, the WSJ becomes much more tricky from Wednesday on..... Mike Shenk is responsible for many of the tricky clues (Fixed a Clog, Bud Holder, Hand delivery. He notches it up and makes it more like a LAT Saturday cluing.
Have a great evening! See you tomorrow!
Abejo @ 4:11 - Thanks! I've always wondered how area codes got assigned numbers way back when but never bothered to google. Makes sense! (The sometimes off-the-wall or arcane things we learn about here on the blog!)
Chickie! It's great to see you. I'm sorry about your DH and the extra work it makes for you.
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