Theme: The Puzzle That Keeps On ..
1A. Giving __ : ADVICE
17A. Giving __ : PERMISSION
40A. Giving __ : CONSENT
63A. Giving __ : DIRECTIONS
71A. Giving __ : THANKS. I assume this is the reason for all the "giving" today.
11D. Giving __ : ASSISTANCE
25D. Giving __ : LESSONS
27D. Giving __ : BLOOD
29D. Giving __ : ABSOLUTION
33D. Giving __ : BIRTH
Happy Turkey Day!
A thumping 74 theme squares in this one. With themage this heavy in a 15x15 with 36 blocks, that leaves a challenge to fill the remaining white squares cleanly without the whole thing feeling forced. I confess I didn't really enjoy this experience. There's nothing to relate the theme entries to each other except for the fill-in-the-blank clue unless there's some meta-element to the puzzle that I've missed.
Given there are ten fill-in-the-blank clues in the theme, I'd have tried very hard not to have any more of those in the puzzle, but there are another three in the across set.
Throw in an unhealthy dose of IT A/EWW/OHO/AS I/PHI/PSIS/TNPK/EPI/ISM/OTS/PYS and I'm feeling more BLAH than anything else. I'm not sure the "Thanksgiving" payoff was really worth the stuffing that went into this.
Alrighty then! I got that off my chest. I'm having a few days of downtime in Mexico this week. Here's the sunrise this morning while I was walking on the beach - now I know where the namesake tequila cocktail got its name. Cheers!
Let's see what else we've got going on:
Across:
7. High ick factor reaction : EWW
10. "Misery" co-star : CAAN
14. Title teen in a '90s-'00s sitcom : MOESHA. Passed me by. Thank you, crosses. The last episode aired back in 2001.
15. Key letter : PHI. The symbol of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity is a key. Of course it is.
16. Regarding : AS TO
19. General __ chicken : TSO'S
20. Actor who gave up wearing his trademark gold jewelry after Hurricane Katrina : MR T.
21. Kingston Trio hit with the line "He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston" : MTA. Fresh in the memory from 1949.
22. Stew : AGONIZE
24. While : SPELL
26. Places to unwind : SPAS
27. Boring : BLAH
30. Eggs from the sea : ROE
31. Can opener : POP TAB
34. Chad neighbor : LIBYA
36. Coveted award : OSCAR
38. "__ said earlier ... " : AS I
39. Brief game deciders? : OT'S. Overtimes. Just one in the NFL, as many as it takes in college football until there's a winner.
42. "Morning Edition" airer : NPR
43. "So that's your game!" : OHO!
44. Williams of "Happy Days" : ANSON. "Potsie" portrayer.
45. Ref. to a prior ref. : OP. CIT. "Opere citado" - "In the work cited"
47. Put one over on : DELUDE
49. '60s-'70s protest subject : 'NAM
51. __-savvy : TECH
52. "Battle Cry" author : URIS
53. A lot : SCADS
55. Make a pretrial determination : SET BAIL
58. Sch. with a Shreveport campus : L.S.U. Louisiana State.
59. Longtime Richard Petty sponsor : STP. The second-longest sponsor-driver relationship in motorsports.
62. Samoan port : APIA
66. Sign gas : NEON
67. Outback bird : EMU
68. They have many arms : OCTOPI
69. Trait transmitter : GENE
70. Hound : DOG
Down:
1. Clock radio toggle : AM/PM. Not AM/FM.
2. Evil end? : DOER
3. Dial on old TVs : VERT. Vertical Hold. I couldn't find an image of the control, but I did find the packaging for a spare.
4. Believer's suffix : -ISM
5. Congo River area denizen : CHIMP. Not worthy of the full "chimpanzee" today?
6. Spring festival : EASTER
7. Center opening : EPI-
8. "Hold on!" : WHOA!
9. Flying statistic : WINGSPAN
10. Afternoon refresher : CATNAP
12. Including everything : A TO Z. The London street atlas was the A-Z. Everyone had an A-to-Zed before Google Maps made it all a little, sadly, obsolete.
13. Difference in a close race : NOSE
18. Oater settings : SALOONS
23. Iberian coastal city : OPORTO. From whence "port" wine.
24. Retiring : SHY
28. Like ballerinas : LITHE
32. Cold mold : ASPIC
35. New England's only National Park : ACADIA. OK, now I know.
37. Traditional Jerusalem site of the Last Supper : CENACLE. New to me. It doesn't look like it's ever been used in the LAT crossword before (nor the NYT), so I imagine it might be new to a few of us.
41. Not close at all : ONE-SIDED
46. Bookie's spread units: Abbr. : PTS. Points. The points spread in gambling to even out the betting on the favorite and the underdog.
48. Suave : URBANE
50. Michigan State's Sparty, e.g. : MASCOT. Imagination at work in the mascot-naming stakes. Not.
54. How a couple might go for dinner? : DUTCH.
55. Squealed : SANG
56. Olympian's blade : ÉPÉE
57. Prom rental : LIMO
59. "It's next on my list" : SOON
60. East-west Mass. artery : TNPK
61. Penultimate Greek letters : PSIS. Right before Omegas. I suppose.
64. Decorator's suggestion : RUG
65. Call-day link : IT A
And .. I'm calling it a day with this one. My Tequila Sunrise awaits! If you are celebrating Thanksgiving today, I hope you have a happy and safe one!
Steve
1A. Giving __ : ADVICE
17A. Giving __ : PERMISSION
40A. Giving __ : CONSENT
63A. Giving __ : DIRECTIONS
71A. Giving __ : THANKS. I assume this is the reason for all the "giving" today.
11D. Giving __ : ASSISTANCE
25D. Giving __ : LESSONS
27D. Giving __ : BLOOD
29D. Giving __ : ABSOLUTION
33D. Giving __ : BIRTH
Happy Turkey Day!
A thumping 74 theme squares in this one. With themage this heavy in a 15x15 with 36 blocks, that leaves a challenge to fill the remaining white squares cleanly without the whole thing feeling forced. I confess I didn't really enjoy this experience. There's nothing to relate the theme entries to each other except for the fill-in-the-blank clue unless there's some meta-element to the puzzle that I've missed.
Given there are ten fill-in-the-blank clues in the theme, I'd have tried very hard not to have any more of those in the puzzle, but there are another three in the across set.
Throw in an unhealthy dose of IT A/EWW/OHO/AS I/PHI/PSIS/TNPK/EPI/ISM/OTS/PYS and I'm feeling more BLAH than anything else. I'm not sure the "Thanksgiving" payoff was really worth the stuffing that went into this.
Alrighty then! I got that off my chest. I'm having a few days of downtime in Mexico this week. Here's the sunrise this morning while I was walking on the beach - now I know where the namesake tequila cocktail got its name. Cheers!
Let's see what else we've got going on:
Across:
7. High ick factor reaction : EWW
10. "Misery" co-star : CAAN
14. Title teen in a '90s-'00s sitcom : MOESHA. Passed me by. Thank you, crosses. The last episode aired back in 2001.
15. Key letter : PHI. The symbol of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity is a key. Of course it is.
16. Regarding : AS TO
19. General __ chicken : TSO'S
20. Actor who gave up wearing his trademark gold jewelry after Hurricane Katrina : MR T.
21. Kingston Trio hit with the line "He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston" : MTA. Fresh in the memory from 1949.
22. Stew : AGONIZE
24. While : SPELL
26. Places to unwind : SPAS
27. Boring : BLAH
30. Eggs from the sea : ROE
31. Can opener : POP TAB
34. Chad neighbor : LIBYA
36. Coveted award : OSCAR
38. "__ said earlier ... " : AS I
39. Brief game deciders? : OT'S. Overtimes. Just one in the NFL, as many as it takes in college football until there's a winner.
42. "Morning Edition" airer : NPR
43. "So that's your game!" : OHO!
44. Williams of "Happy Days" : ANSON. "Potsie" portrayer.
45. Ref. to a prior ref. : OP. CIT. "Opere citado" - "In the work cited"
47. Put one over on : DELUDE
49. '60s-'70s protest subject : 'NAM
51. __-savvy : TECH
52. "Battle Cry" author : URIS
53. A lot : SCADS
55. Make a pretrial determination : SET BAIL
58. Sch. with a Shreveport campus : L.S.U. Louisiana State.
59. Longtime Richard Petty sponsor : STP. The second-longest sponsor-driver relationship in motorsports.
62. Samoan port : APIA
66. Sign gas : NEON
67. Outback bird : EMU
68. They have many arms : OCTOPI
69. Trait transmitter : GENE
70. Hound : DOG
Down:
1. Clock radio toggle : AM/PM. Not AM/FM.
2. Evil end? : DOER
3. Dial on old TVs : VERT. Vertical Hold. I couldn't find an image of the control, but I did find the packaging for a spare.
4. Believer's suffix : -ISM
5. Congo River area denizen : CHIMP. Not worthy of the full "chimpanzee" today?
6. Spring festival : EASTER
7. Center opening : EPI-
8. "Hold on!" : WHOA!
9. Flying statistic : WINGSPAN
10. Afternoon refresher : CATNAP
12. Including everything : A TO Z. The London street atlas was the A-Z. Everyone had an A-to-Zed before Google Maps made it all a little, sadly, obsolete.
13. Difference in a close race : NOSE
18. Oater settings : SALOONS
23. Iberian coastal city : OPORTO. From whence "port" wine.
24. Retiring : SHY
28. Like ballerinas : LITHE
32. Cold mold : ASPIC
35. New England's only National Park : ACADIA. OK, now I know.
37. Traditional Jerusalem site of the Last Supper : CENACLE. New to me. It doesn't look like it's ever been used in the LAT crossword before (nor the NYT), so I imagine it might be new to a few of us.
41. Not close at all : ONE-SIDED
46. Bookie's spread units: Abbr. : PTS. Points. The points spread in gambling to even out the betting on the favorite and the underdog.
48. Suave : URBANE
50. Michigan State's Sparty, e.g. : MASCOT. Imagination at work in the mascot-naming stakes. Not.
54. How a couple might go for dinner? : DUTCH.
55. Squealed : SANG
56. Olympian's blade : ÉPÉE
57. Prom rental : LIMO
59. "It's next on my list" : SOON
60. East-west Mass. artery : TNPK
61. Penultimate Greek letters : PSIS. Right before Omegas. I suppose.
64. Decorator's suggestion : RUG
65. Call-day link : IT A
And .. I'm calling it a day with this one. My Tequila Sunrise awaits! If you are celebrating Thanksgiving today, I hope you have a happy and safe one!
Steve
53 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks, Nora and Steve!
This was a real corker. Didn't know site of Last Supper nor MTA. Otherwise OK. (Struggled a bit with the multitude of theme entries, though.)
Hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving!
Good morning all. Happy Thanksgiving.
I think we should nominate NORA for an OSCAR for (what must have been) a compelling performance to convince Rich to allow so many partials in a single puzzle. Oh, wait. Never mind.
Couldn't quite bisect this puzzle from SW to NE, but had a pretty good start. ASSISTANCE became my first GIVING fill. Soon discovered that POPTop was wrong.
It was iffy for a SPELL, but I got 'er done under a half hour and with a clean grid. I'll take that every Thursday.
Steve, your Eagles vid got blocked. Re: Pop Top earlier... Jimmy Buffet SANG, "I blew out my flip flop, stepped on a pop top" in Margaritaville. How about a little
Pop a Top Again by Alan Jackson ?
Had to be CAAN because Bates didn't fit. She was interviewed by WGN's Dean Richards just two days ago. Glad she's not really like her Misery character.
Name the company that had this slogan: "The quality goes in before the name goes on."
Yes, CENACLE was new. OPORTO also filled with perps.
I still generally recall the words of ADVICE my FIL gave me with PERMISSION to marry his daughter after I asked for his CONSENT. THANKS !
Sparty almost upset the Buckeyes last weekend. Next on tap ? Number 3 Michigan Wolverines travel to the 'Shoe to take on # 2 Ohio State. I don't know how many PTS the bookies have as a spread, but the Buckeyes will be favored at home.
Took a while, bits and pieces, but got it all! Appropriate theme for today!
All Sci-Fi poems today! {A-, A-, B, C.}
If a guilty conscience wants ABSOLUTION,
Here's my ADVICE to one certain solution:
A time travel machine
Can wipe your slate clean --
Just shoot yourself 'fore the deed's execution!
The invasion came out of the sky!
We assumed that the aliens were SHY.
Their huge Robo-mech
We thought fearsome TECH --
Turned out they were cute two-inch OCTOPI!
A pterodactyl is as LITHE as can be!
Its WING-SPAN is something to see!
But when the toilet they flush
You'll just hear a hush --
Because pterodactyls all have silent pee!
An astronaut walked into a U.S. SALOON.
Said, "I've just come down from the Moon!
The moonshine up there,
Brewed sans atmosphere,
Is so BLAH that they'll sell it here SOON!"
Good morning!
Between AMFM and IST, PERMISSION was slow to creep in. Once I got out of the NW, things went smoothly. I gave thanks for perps when CENACLE muscled in. Thanks for the workout, Nora (not a real person) Pearlstone.
Steve, I was going to take you to task for claiming the MTA song was from 1949. Good thing I kept my keyboard shut. I didn't realize the original was a political song that the Kingston Trio adapted in 1959.
No turkey for me today -- but lobster is on the menu. Hope everyone has a happy thanksgiving.
I thought about GIVING up because the NW was driving me crazier than I already am. I had AM-FM and had never heard of MOESHA before FM changed to PM. I had tried ITE and IST before ISM finally stayed. Not knowing MTA didn't help either. The only other change was NIGER to LIBYA.
Did anybody else commenting her go to LSU-Shreveport? I did. I went for three years in 1968-71 before finishing in New Orleans. I was very lucky because all my Chemistry, zoology, and calculus classes were very small (less than 10 students), all by PhDs. No grad assistants. And they believed in flunking students too. I knew a lot of guys that flunked out and got drafted immediately and were sent to 49A-NAM. So what did all the colleges in the USA do? They lowered the minimum course level for a full time student from 15 semester hours to 12 semester hours and starting inflating grades. So now everybody is 'above average' when it comes to grades. My 3.7 GPA was great back then but everybody gets it now.
Happy Thanksgiving
TTP- NORA is Rich Norris.
A WING SPAN is a measure or a dimension, not a statistic.
AM/PM is any digital clock's toggle, not just a clock radio's. The unique toggle of a clock radio is AM/FM.
It's a pop TOP or a PULL tab, not a POP TAB.
ISM is the belief's suffix, not the believer's.
OCTOPI have many arms? How 'bout eight?
And since when is TNPK an abbreviation for turnpike?
I was stationed at Pease AFB, Portsmouth NH in 1962. (Charlie on the) MTA and Monster Mash were the 2 big hits.
OwenKL sez
"A pterodactyl is as LITHE as can be!
Its WING-SPAN is something to see!
But when the toilet they flush
You'll just hear a hush --
Because pterodactyls all have silent pee!"
Ha, ha, ha ha!!!
"Puzzling thoughts":
On this day when "giving" is the operative word, I enjoyed the puzzle and its theme. Despite its being a bit chunky in spots.
I fell into the same traps as others: AMFM; IST; IN RE before AS TO; a different abbr for Turnpike (if I can read through the scribble, I think I put TPKE in first). I also had LOADS before SCADS in 53a. Lots of WAGS and PERPS.
How about the CSO to my little sister MOEsha??!
Happy Thanksgiving all
Good Morning, Steve and friends, and Happy Thanksgiving to all. I had a bit of trouble in the Northwest, but was grateful for a Thankful theme.
Hand up for wanting AM/FM in stead of AM/PM.
Leon URIS is probably best known for his novel, Exodus.
A nice shout out to Louisiana folks with LSU-Shreveport.
Bob, Pease AFB is now a trade port.
Wishing everyone a safe Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family.
QOD: The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak. ~ Baruch Spinoza (Nov. 24, 1632 ~ Feb. 21, 1677)
Nora is in CC's list of aliases for Rich Norris. Nora Pearlstone - Not a real person.
Agree with Steve's take.
Got Permission wrong because I insisted on staying with AMFM.
We abbreviate turnpike as Tpke. Have not seen TNPK, but I guess it's OK for a Thurs. puzzle.
Happy Thanksgiving.
He knows.
Good Morning:
Little Miss Smarty Pants threw in Thanks at 1A, apropos of the day but was soon taken down a peg. Hand up for AM/FM and I, for one, never heard of Moesha. And, in all my years, I never heard the word Cenacle. Learning moment for the day! I liked the many theme answers that led up to the most important thing we give, especially today, Thanks!
Thanks, Nora/Rich, for a Thursday/Thanksgiving treat and thanks, Steve, for the breezy review and the beautiful sunrise shot. Enjoy your vacation!
Owen KL, someone is using your email address (again) to send spam.
DO, do you not like turkey? I'm a lobster lover but I couldn't imagine not having turkey on this day.
Bill G from yesterday, I was sorry to see "The Durrells in Corfu" end, also. I knew it was a short series but I thought there was one more week to go and, alas, there isn't. I never heard anything about more episodes so I hope you're right and we'll see if Spiro and Louisa get together. I miss Gerry already! 🐭🐛🐢🕷🐙🐸🐌🐛🐠
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Don't get too "stuffed!"
Happy Thanksgiving!
This was a bit tough as Thursday should be and I managed to fill all the giving spaces. Thank you, Nora Pearlstone, AKA, Rich Norris.
Thank you, also, for omitting unfamiliar names. CAAN I knew but MOESHA was perped.
W/Os were LIBYA/KENYA, AGILE/LITHE. After erasing the whole lot, BLOOD flowed in and all the rest, too.
It was a nice workout.
Thank you, Steve, as well.
Have a joyous Thanksgiving feast, everyone!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
The NW was the last to fall. Had AMfM before AMPM and ISt before ISM, and needed 100% perps for MOESHA. Learning moment was CENACLE. Thanks for taking the time to blog while on vacation, Steve.
Enjoy the day!
I like the theme because the great number of giving clues was impressive. CENACLE was new to me, even with my major in Religion (really Christianity). All perps. We call it the Upper Room. My only trouble spot was in the middle of the west coast. What kind of --solution? SHY gave ---YA. I went through many countries mentally, until LIBYA arose. So then -L-H became BLAH and the solution was AB. Fun and just enough challenge.
I am awaiting my company,
Happy Thanksgiving to all. I'll check back this evening.
Lots of white spaces after the first pass. After completing, wondered if it was a "Rich" alias that constructed it. Enjoyed the "Giving" theme, as they fell into place with some work. Thanks, Nora, for the workout.
Steve, enjoy your vacation..... thanks for the Sunrise Pic.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Musings
-I enjoyed the puzzle AND Steve’s articulate summation
-A great lyric from Ernie K-Doe – “She thinks her ADVICE is a constitution, but if she would leave that would be the solution.” Of whom does he sing?
-I really needed Siri DIRECTIONS to find a Lincoln church Monday
-”LESSONS are extra” - at the end of this scene (2:00)
-Every morning of a write-up, I STEW over what I might have gotten wrong
-Putting KENYA first bespeaks of my African geography ignorance.
-ANSON and four other cast members sued CBS for millions for failing to pay them for revenue from Happy Days show-related items. They won.
-A tedious skill made much easier
-I adjusted many a HOR and VERT knob in my yute
-Ham the astroCHIMP
became the first hominid in space
-Basketball players are sometimes noted for their WINGSPAN
-Did you ever wonder about Kitty and her girls in the Long Branch SALOON?
-The 1985 Oregon State/Washington football games had OSU a 28 PT underdog and they wound up winning by one. Biggest PT spread upset ever.
-Otto, I’d trade you a drumstick for a claw any day!
-Happy Thanksgiving to all my puzzling friends!
Steve: Thanks for the informative write-up ... explaining my "blank-spaces."
D-N-F ... not even close. Oh, well ... at least I got to Give THANKS.
Fave today was the theme "Giving BLOOD" ... something I've been doing, every 8 weeks, for over 46 years ... I'm nearing the 300 pint level.
Hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving Day.
Well the SUN is Over the Yardarm!
Cheers!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm just taking a little break from cooking to comment on the puzzle and extend my best wishes to everyone involved in this blog. Steve's comments on this puzzle mirrored my feelings exactly, i.e. there was a ton of good themage fill, but possibly to the detriment of the rest of the puzzle. I guess compromises must be made sometimes. I solved this in a little better than usual Thursday time, with many of the missteps/write overs that every one else has mentioned. CENACLE was a learning moment. I wonder if I'll remember it tomorrow.
Who knows. Some afternoons I can't remember what I had for breakfast.
Well, gotta wrap up the meal prep before the games start. Cya tomorrow!
I love to read "Anonymous's comments. Are you a teacher? Happy Day to all.
Husker, I think mother-in-law thinks her advice is a contribution.
IM, I don't really care for turkey. Chicken, either. Nor duck. They're all fowl. And DW's away, so I'm cooking for myself. Ergo: I get to pick.
Dave is busy making Thanksgiving preparations,
So we give you this rerun of an old post...
(Hey, it worked for Johnny Carson..:)
HappY Thanksgiving everyone!
(I'll be back when things calm down a little...)
Thanks for the fun today, Rich and Steve. NW was the last to fall.
Like IM, I quickly entered THANKS for 1A and had to reach the SE corner before the duplicate appeared and proved me wrong.
WEES about AM/FM, CENACLE, MOESHA.
Loved the A TO Zed comment, Steve. Fellow Canadians would appreciate (are there any here following the blog?). Enjoy your holiday.
I have been too late to the party to comment for the last few days but I did want to add my thanks to C.C., all the daily "explainers", and fellow bloggers.
Happy Thanksgiving Day to my American friends. It's just a normal dreary November day here in this part of Canada.
Happy Thanksgiving Puzzle Pals!
2 lookups and I still FIW - I should have swapp'd my O & A (APIo and aPCIT)
Thanks Steve for the writeup and the cocktail at dawn. Thanks Nora/Rich for a fun outing - it was "too easy!" for some fill and then you pulled the RUG from my confidence @others. Needed ASSISTANCE for which the Google Gave.
Lookups: URIS and Chad neighbors. The latter was nearly pointless as there were 3 5-letter Chad neighbors (Sudan, Niger, and LIBYA).
WO: WEES AM/FM & POPTop; aHa b/f OHO; Wait b/f WHOA; and I tried to stuff Debonair into 48d [Deboné? (@40) :-)]
ESPs: CAAN, MOESHA, _PCIT, API_, CENACLE, ACADIA
Fav: CAT NAP. Apropos for today, eh?
The WHOA! c/a of the day - I don't even want to think about Christmas yet much less EASTER! :-)
{A, A-, A++, A}
BigE - many friends started at LSU-S b/f heading to LSU, LA Tech or Grambling. I started at TECH Barksdale. Lucky me - I took Fortran there and got an A. I found out later that at Tech, in Ruston, Fortran was the Engr. weed-out class where 80% flunked.
Anyone listening to NPR right now? They have Lynne Rossetto Kasper on providing live last-minute turkey ADVICE to AGONIZing cooks who call in with CONSENT to be on the air.
Have a wonderful day everyone!
Cheers, -T
We all knew.
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!
Hi everybody. Happy Thanksgiving!
I agree with Anon (7:56). I think AM/PM and ISM are not clued appropriately. Nevertheless, thank you to Rich and Steve.
Because of Barbara's health problems, our son (Tim) and daughter (Bonnie) are taking over much of the preparation. We always had great luck cooking the turkey breast down for very tender and moist white meat. Tim is cooking the turkey in a bag. We'll see. Bonnie knows not to mess with the pumpkin pie recipe, a long-time family favorite with only sugar and vanilla as flavorings.
Best wishes for you all!
Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving.
Thanks, Nora and Steve. Finished making the stuffing/dressing, and took some time to puzzle.
CENACLE was easy for me. The Cenacle Retreat House in Chicago is run by the Sisters of the Congregation of the Retreat in the Cenacle. It's a retreat center and the Sisters offer prayers for requests they receive. I looked up the meaning of Cenacle long ago. Still in the old brain.
Interestingly, Zenith--where the quality goes in before the name goes on--was a Chicago Company--one of those old neighborhood factories/offices that offered lots of job opportunities in America. Most of my cousins who lived nearby worked there. It's not far from the Mars candy factory. Mmmm. Always smells good there. M&M's these days.
My MIL (from Manchester NH) met my FIL (from Chicago) at a dance at Pease when he was in the Army Air Corps. Hence our family connection to New England.
HG: Are we puzzling or puzzled? ;>) Have a wonderful day.
Is Aretha done yet? #turkeyiscold
Interesting, but not too difficult.
DO - I think you made an excellent decision to have lobster. Yum. And, as an added bonus, you avoid being a torturer and murderer of innocent and beautiful creatures. Of course, the lobster might have a different opinion on your choice! 😈
The only thing that threw me off was 4 down, "Believer's suffix", which I filled in as "ist" (correctly I believe). Had I filled in "ism" (the belief, not the believer) I would have more quickly recognized the trap laid in 1 down, not AM/FM, but AM/PM. Persisting to the bitter end, I doggedly searched Google for words beginning with 'FERTISS' until I was forced to come here, giving my forehead a slap with a 'DUH' the second I saw the second theme fill in, PERMISSION. Very disingenuous if you ask me! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Anon @ 11:37, if God didn't want us to eat animals, then why did he make them out of meat?
LOL BlueHen! I have a shirt from a BBQ joint that says: "I didn't claw my way to the top of the food-chain to eat salad" :-)
happy thanksgiving all!
Rich was giving everybody the day off
Enjoy!
This was fun, thinking of all the ways we "give" besides the obvious THANKS. THANK you, Ms. Pearlstone, for the enjoyable workout!
A BUSY DAY at the Fowlers. It is a rare Harmonic Convergence, as my wife's birthday coincides this year with our national day of Thanks. She still has the main responsibility for preparing the feast (due to my culinary ineptitude--a strange admission for this Fowler who is unable to prepare a fowl). But I compensate by contributing an extra load of birthday presents under this year's Birthday Tree*. We already had our ceremonial opening of the gifts this morning, and all went happily, with our dogs romping through the discarded wrapping papers! (The Westminster Dog Show was running in the background.)
All is off to a fine holiday at our home. We wish you the same for YOURS!
*The "Birthday Tree" is an artificial Xmas tree -- not our real, real tree, but one that's easier to set up well before we make the trek to the real tree lot. We find it handy to place it on the 2nd floor landing in time for Janice's Nov 24 b'day, an easy way to start our holidays before tackling a big tree downstairs.
Much to give thanks for. I am thankful that I have had decent jobs, a livable income, pretty good health, and a terrific family. Keith, my wife's birthday is today also, so we are doubly celebratory. I am helping to cook a duck, sweet potatoes with apple and cinnamon, and green beans. We'll be opening a bottle of pinot noir to go with.
TTP, I love your "Oh, wait. Never mind." comment.
Irish Miss (who's intelligence, wit, common sense, and kindness I greatly admire), your response to that anon was genius.
Bill G, your pumpkin pie recipe sounds delicious.
Best wishes to you all, and may your tables be well-laden with meat!
Jayce,
My felicitations to your wife for sharing a birthday with mine! And good for you, contributing such a lovely meal to celebrate. My ineptitude leaves me with only one dish--the mashed potatoes. As it turns out, I'm the only one who likes softened potatoes (on top of the traditional stuffing), so I get to do them, from scratch.
"Scratch" in this context means pouring the freeze-dried flakes into the pan of milk & butter. But I try to add a little spirit to them with various herbal combinations.
Maybe I can tempt another adventurous soul to try Keith's mashed 'taters...
Good theme on "Turkey Day"! Don't like calling Easter a "festival" (demeaning to the faithful). Never heard of Moesha, but then, I watch little commercial TV. PHI for "key" is a real stretch. Guess Nora was an "EVILDOER" on those clues, right?!
I was facing a lot of white too, then the GIVING started. Catholic parishes often have CENACLES. There's one in Clearwater.
I thought that author might be an alias.
I always post so late but I thought you MadMen devotees might have been interested in my PFC Dinkin(s) post yesterday
WC
Ps Owen I always grade your Bs and C's as As. Thanks Steve for the write-up.
Bobbi,
I would agree with you if the word festival had only pagan connotations, but many Christian authorities mention Easter using exactly that term. The Catholic Encyclopedia refers to it as the "Easter festival" and lists it as one of the "high festivals" along with Epiphany.
When I first read the clue "Spring festival," I had a reaction similar to yours. But I think it is because I initially connected the phrase with a blow-out party, a real teen blast, we used to have in high school. But I realize the association was in my head, not Ms. Pearlstone's.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Anon@7:56 : Most of your comments would be valid for a SAT, but late-week puzzle clues are expected to be misleading, using synecdoche, metonymy, unusual formations, etc.
"Believer's suffix" isn't a suffix of a believer, but a suffix a believer would use!
IM: no need nor use to mention the phishing spam to me. Someone once got my eddress and eddress book, and from that point I had absolutely no connection or control over how they used it. I'm sure somewhere they're also using your eddress to spam other people. The only way to keep your address book totally private is to not use Facebook, or Google, or gmail, or yahoo.mail, or Blogspot, or Blogger, or any other social website. In other words, go completely off the grid, and just use your 'puter for playing solitaire. True, I could have a virus or have been hacked, but since I have my own domain, it's slightly less likely. Besides, just spoofing my (or anyone's) eddress is easy, and doesn't need to involve me in any way.
Tin: 300 pts, Wow! What proof is it? :-)
mesewpretty & Tony: Glad you like the pterodactyl, but I gotta admit I stole the joke from "Death In Paradise", so I only get credit for poetically "weaponizing" it.
OwenKL
Well I have to admit ... approx. 3 or 4 days after I Give BLOOD ... I always think ...
Gee, someone receiving is going to be smiling ...
It is my habit to have at least 3 Scotch's the night before donating ...
But I have NEVER received a notice that my BLOOD had a problem ...
Just a nice "Thank You" for donating.
(OK, at least 5 or 6 "Proof" ... LOL!!!)
Cheers!
[burp] It was great!
Better-late-than-never Happy Birthday wishes to Mrs. Keith and Mrs. Jayce. (Jayce, thank you for those gracious words.)
Owen, message received. I'm sorry you've been subjected to these invasions. (My address book was hacked twice before but not recently.)
Owen KL, in re your first paragraph @ 5:34, well said.
I guess "beauty" is in the eye of the beholder.
Any one still get their Holiday Turkey The old fashion way?
Thanks, Irish Miss! Janice appreciates your greeting.
So I'm completely stumped: What is an AM/PM toggle switch used for on a clock radio? Do you have to remember to flip the switch every midnight and noon?
You use it to set the alarm.
Good evening, folks. Thank you, Nora Pearlstone, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
Well, I started this puzzle about 7:30 this morning. Just finished it about a half hour ago. I did not work it straight through the day, but off and on between eating turkey and all the trimmings. This puzzle was justas tough as a Saturday, IMHO. I did like it, though. My newspaper looks like a big inkblot.
First off I blatantly wrote in THANKS for 1A. Well that corner never went anywhere, so I kind of worked up to that corner and got a couple words that lead me to ADVICE.I had RESOLUTION before ABSOLUTION became obvious.
Had STOP before WHOA jumped in.
HAD NBC before NPR became obvious.
Many were just slow in coming.
Anyhow, now I am tired and heading to bed. see you tomorrow, for an easy puzzle.
Abejo
( )
"From whence" is incorrect English. "Whence" means "From where". "Whence" suffices. Interestingly, I learned this in high school Latin class.
I learned in college that "OCTOPI" is incorrect, too. The correct plural is OCTOPODES. But apparently OCTOPI is reluctantly accepted now, too.
The cross of ANSON and CENACLE was a total Natick for me. But I did get it with a WAG.
Despite those nits, I enjoyed the puzzle. AM/FM did hang me up for awhile.
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