Theme: Whaddya know? Synonyms in the Circles, as the reveal tells us:
55A. Privileged information demonstrated by this puzzle's circles : INSIDE KNOWLEDGE
17A. Producer of lavish revues : FLORENZ ZIEGFELD (LORE). The Ziegfeld Follies. I never knew the first name until today. When it appeared, I was surprised as I thought the impresario was a guy, so I went to look and ... "Flo" and behold, he was a guy.
25A. Where everything turns out all right : STORYBOOK ENDING. (KEN) Depends on what kind of story you're reading.
42A. New Orleans spectacle : MARDI GRAS PARADE. (GRASP) Here's a part of one on St. Charles:
Thursday already? And three more days until the New Year? Tempus fugit, for sure. Nice clean puzzle from Roland today, four grid-spanning theme entries and a tidy grid. Let's see what else jumps out.
Across
1. Little bit of progress : DENT. STEP went in, then came out to be replaced by INCH. Not a clean start for me today.
5. Mike supports : BOOMS. Had me wondering what on earth another name for a STAND could be.
10. Capitol cap : DOME
14. Zeno's home : ELEA. Crosses all the way. Zeno of Elea, a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. I never studied philosophy.
15. Great-grandfather of Noah : ENOCH. Nailed it. Learned from crosswords.
16. Struck (out) : EX'ED. Now then, you constructors and editors, pay attention. You can have X'ED or you can have EX'ED, but you can't have both. Pick one or the other. Thank you.
20. Catch some rays : TAN
21. Chop __ : SUEY. Food! Chinese-American cuisine, and the title of a song from alternative metal band System of a Down. Raucous Music Advisory.
22. More than enough : PLENTY
23. Pollutant concentration meas. : P.P.M. Parts Per Million
24. Splint site : SHIN
33. Part of Great Britain : WALES. The bit on the left across from Ireland. The place names can be baffling if you don't know the Welsh language. Try "Pwllheli" or "Pencaennewydd" before tackling "Llanfairpwllgwyngyll".
34. Jersey, for one : SHIRT. Because "Channel Island" doesn't fit. I've got quite a collection of soccer jerseys; both from games I've seen around the world and bought the home team's jersey as a souvenir, and quite a few of my own team, Chelsea FC.
35. "The Purloined Letter" writer : POE
36. British tennis star Murray : ANDY. He's a good sport - he sold ice cream at a tournament in Cincinnati last year.
37. Internet greeting : E-CARD
38. Lawyer's job : CASE
39. Ham may be seen on it : RYE. It's funny, but thinking about it, I'd never put ham on rye. Wheat would be my choice.
40. "What I dream of is __ of balance ... ": Matisse : AN ART. He goes on to say "... of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue." Sounds nice.
41. Track divisions : LANES. Athletics tracks.
45. Spring bloom : IRIS
46. Recede : EBB
47. International economic bloc : G-SEVEN. Quickly - name them off! (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA.)
50. Sheltered at sea : ALEE
52. Epitome of slipperiness : EEL
58. Advance : LOAN
59. Start of a kid's rhyme : EENIE
60. Boil over : RAGE
61. Irish Rose's guy : ABIE. Thank you crosses, no clue. I discover that he is from an Anne Nichols play first performed in 1922.
62. Bring up : RAISE
63. Out of control : AMOK. I can't think of ever seeing this word used without being paired with the verb "to run".
Down
1. Like a magician's hands : DEFT
2. "__ and Louis": 1956 jazz album : ELLA
3. Element #10 : NEON. This chap: [He] 2s22p6
4. Smelly sealant : TAR. I love the smell of fresh tar. I remember as a kid being bewitched by the road crew laying fresh blacktop on our street.
5. Render senseless : BENUMB
6. Number after dix : ONZE
7. Seeping slowly : OOZY. Oozy? OK, I'll let this one go.
8. Old Sprint rival : MCI. Part of Verizon now.
9. One often seen with a crook : SHEPHERD. It never ceases to amaze me how many dog owners have a German Shepherd, but don't know how to spell it.
10. Stand up for : DEFEND
11. Ground-breaking team, at times : OXEN. Enjoyed this clue.
12. Lunch order : MELT
13. Drain swirl : EDDY
18. Best Championship Performance and Best Team : ESPYS. The annual ESPY sports awards on ESPN.
19. Sparkle : GLINT
23. Carnivore's target : PREY
24. Goes around : SKIRTS
25. Buzzing cloud : SWARM
26. Self-named 2002 country album : TANYA. Thank you, crosses.
27. From an earlier time : OLDER
28. Statuettes that were made of painted plaster during WWII : OSCARS. That's a learning moment. I didn't hesitate to put it straight in though.
29. 1939 Leigh role : O'HARA
30. Bucky Beaver's toothpaste : IPANA. What happened to this stuff? It looks like it's still sold in Turkey: "Healthier and Brighter Teeth from the First Day"
31. Edged (out) : NOSED
32. Former goslings : GEESE
37. Mastermind : ENGINEER. The verb, not the noun. Nice clue/answer combo.
38. Certain dieter's concern : CARB-ohydrate
40. Made public : AIRED
41. Shop tag : LABEL
43. Godlike : DIVINE
44. Hall of Famer Reese : PEEWEE
47. Coolidge Dam's river : GILA. I really need to remember this, I was almost Natick'ed at GILA/ABIE.
48. Highbrow, perhaps : SNOB
49. Morales of "NYPD Blue" : ESAI
50. Years in Rome : ANNI
51. "Family Guy" mom : LOIS
52. Dutch export : EDAM. They do make other cheeses, but Edam always gets top billing.
53. French Toaster Sticks brand : EGGO
54. One of 33-Across' national emblems : LEEK. "Ydych chi eisiau benthyg fy cennin?" (Do you want to borrow my leek?)
56. Mauna __ : KEA. It's a big bugger too, 13,802 feet, the highest point in the state.
57. Starter's stat : E.R.A. The baseball pitcher's Earned Run Average. Lower is better.
I think that's my journey done for the day. Let's make sure I've got everything - keys, wallet, passport ... oh wait, the grid. Here it is:
Steve
55A. Privileged information demonstrated by this puzzle's circles : INSIDE KNOWLEDGE
17A. Producer of lavish revues : FLORENZ ZIEGFELD (LORE). The Ziegfeld Follies. I never knew the first name until today. When it appeared, I was surprised as I thought the impresario was a guy, so I went to look and ... "Flo" and behold, he was a guy.
25A. Where everything turns out all right : STORYBOOK ENDING. (KEN) Depends on what kind of story you're reading.
42A. New Orleans spectacle : MARDI GRAS PARADE. (GRASP) Here's a part of one on St. Charles:
Thursday already? And three more days until the New Year? Tempus fugit, for sure. Nice clean puzzle from Roland today, four grid-spanning theme entries and a tidy grid. Let's see what else jumps out.
Across
1. Little bit of progress : DENT. STEP went in, then came out to be replaced by INCH. Not a clean start for me today.
5. Mike supports : BOOMS. Had me wondering what on earth another name for a STAND could be.
10. Capitol cap : DOME
14. Zeno's home : ELEA. Crosses all the way. Zeno of Elea, a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. I never studied philosophy.
15. Great-grandfather of Noah : ENOCH. Nailed it. Learned from crosswords.
16. Struck (out) : EX'ED. Now then, you constructors and editors, pay attention. You can have X'ED or you can have EX'ED, but you can't have both. Pick one or the other. Thank you.
20. Catch some rays : TAN
21. Chop __ : SUEY. Food! Chinese-American cuisine, and the title of a song from alternative metal band System of a Down. Raucous Music Advisory.
22. More than enough : PLENTY
23. Pollutant concentration meas. : P.P.M. Parts Per Million
24. Splint site : SHIN
33. Part of Great Britain : WALES. The bit on the left across from Ireland. The place names can be baffling if you don't know the Welsh language. Try "Pwllheli" or "Pencaennewydd" before tackling "Llanfairpwllgwyngyll".
34. Jersey, for one : SHIRT. Because "Channel Island" doesn't fit. I've got quite a collection of soccer jerseys; both from games I've seen around the world and bought the home team's jersey as a souvenir, and quite a few of my own team, Chelsea FC.
35. "The Purloined Letter" writer : POE
36. British tennis star Murray : ANDY. He's a good sport - he sold ice cream at a tournament in Cincinnati last year.
37. Internet greeting : E-CARD
38. Lawyer's job : CASE
39. Ham may be seen on it : RYE. It's funny, but thinking about it, I'd never put ham on rye. Wheat would be my choice.
40. "What I dream of is __ of balance ... ": Matisse : AN ART. He goes on to say "... of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue." Sounds nice.
41. Track divisions : LANES. Athletics tracks.
45. Spring bloom : IRIS
46. Recede : EBB
47. International economic bloc : G-SEVEN. Quickly - name them off! (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA.)
50. Sheltered at sea : ALEE
52. Epitome of slipperiness : EEL
58. Advance : LOAN
59. Start of a kid's rhyme : EENIE
60. Boil over : RAGE
61. Irish Rose's guy : ABIE. Thank you crosses, no clue. I discover that he is from an Anne Nichols play first performed in 1922.
62. Bring up : RAISE
63. Out of control : AMOK. I can't think of ever seeing this word used without being paired with the verb "to run".
Down
1. Like a magician's hands : DEFT
2. "__ and Louis": 1956 jazz album : ELLA
3. Element #10 : NEON. This chap: [He] 2s22p6
4. Smelly sealant : TAR. I love the smell of fresh tar. I remember as a kid being bewitched by the road crew laying fresh blacktop on our street.
5. Render senseless : BENUMB
6. Number after dix : ONZE
7. Seeping slowly : OOZY. Oozy? OK, I'll let this one go.
8. Old Sprint rival : MCI. Part of Verizon now.
9. One often seen with a crook : SHEPHERD. It never ceases to amaze me how many dog owners have a German Shepherd, but don't know how to spell it.
10. Stand up for : DEFEND
11. Ground-breaking team, at times : OXEN. Enjoyed this clue.
12. Lunch order : MELT
13. Drain swirl : EDDY
18. Best Championship Performance and Best Team : ESPYS. The annual ESPY sports awards on ESPN.
19. Sparkle : GLINT
23. Carnivore's target : PREY
24. Goes around : SKIRTS
25. Buzzing cloud : SWARM
26. Self-named 2002 country album : TANYA. Thank you, crosses.
27. From an earlier time : OLDER
28. Statuettes that were made of painted plaster during WWII : OSCARS. That's a learning moment. I didn't hesitate to put it straight in though.
29. 1939 Leigh role : O'HARA
30. Bucky Beaver's toothpaste : IPANA. What happened to this stuff? It looks like it's still sold in Turkey: "Healthier and Brighter Teeth from the First Day"
31. Edged (out) : NOSED
32. Former goslings : GEESE
37. Mastermind : ENGINEER. The verb, not the noun. Nice clue/answer combo.
38. Certain dieter's concern : CARB-ohydrate
40. Made public : AIRED
41. Shop tag : LABEL
43. Godlike : DIVINE
44. Hall of Famer Reese : PEEWEE
47. Coolidge Dam's river : GILA. I really need to remember this, I was almost Natick'ed at GILA/ABIE.
48. Highbrow, perhaps : SNOB
49. Morales of "NYPD Blue" : ESAI
50. Years in Rome : ANNI
51. "Family Guy" mom : LOIS
52. Dutch export : EDAM. They do make other cheeses, but Edam always gets top billing.
53. French Toaster Sticks brand : EGGO
54. One of 33-Across' national emblems : LEEK. "Ydych chi eisiau benthyg fy cennin?" (Do you want to borrow my leek?)
56. Mauna __ : KEA. It's a big bugger too, 13,802 feet, the highest point in the state.
57. Starter's stat : E.R.A. The baseball pitcher's Earned Run Average. Lower is better.
I think that's my journey done for the day. Let's make sure I've got everything - keys, wallet, passport ... oh wait, the grid. Here it is:
Steve
60 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Roland and Steve!
Nice Thursday offering.
BENUMB filled itself in so that I got the TADA without thinking about it.
Have a great day!
DNF. Stopped cold in top center. With Steve, could not come up with another name for "stand", and didn't know ENOCH. I knew it was ZIeGFELD, didn't know the "e" was in there and didn't know first name. So top center stayed white and I ran out of time and patience. Oh well.
Googled, then dope-slapped, over GILA (pronounced HEEL-a). One bad cell - the cross of FLORENc and ONcE. Knew him as FLO, but don't remember his full name. I know a tiny bit of Spanish, so stabbed at that spelling of eleven.
Other total unknowns were ELEA and AN ART of balance. Sorta knew KEN (as used in the theme) and ABIE. Erased GTE for MCI, Jersey Shore for SHIRT, ham and egg for ham on RYE, GLeam for GLINT, Mauna Loa for KEA and Etta and Louis for ELLA.
This seemed like a Friday puzzle on Thursday, for the second week in a row. It was tough but fun, at least for my skill level. Thanks Roland and Steve for a real workout.
Good morning!
Nice puzzle, Roland. No Wite-Out required. 23a -- PPM: Peter, Paul and Mary? KEN -- Never heard it in that sense until The Sound of Music:
"Totally unprepared are you
To face a world of men
Timid and shy and scared are you
Of things beyond your ken"
Charmian Carr sang it in the movie. She died this past September.
Funny, I would have sworn it was Flo Zigfield rather than ZIEGFELD.
We've been to the Coolidge Dam on the GILA river. Also to the Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River. I guess we've explored more of Arizona than any other state.
Good morning all. Thank you Roland and thank you Steve.
Having a great night's sleep makes a world of difference.
Thought for sure that I was going to finish under 20:00, but the NW and SW slowed me to a crawl. Still made it under 30:00, and I'm ok with that.
Eventually, trying the probable ELLA made me think of words other than SUN for catch some rays, but it seemed to solidify FAST for Magician's hands, which didn't feel right. ELLA also made me ditch any idea that ikEA was correct for Zeno's home. Besides, Zeno just doesn't sound Scandinavian enough. with the -ENT in place, DENT became a no-brainer, and DEFT fell. ELEA ? Reminds me of Ah Leah (Donnie Iris).
Anyway, that left me with the unlikely FLOREDZ for ZIEGFELD's first name. Given some of the other "En" and "Be" words we've had, my original answer for Render senseless was BEDUMB and it seemed like it might be crossword acceptable fill. But FLOREDZ didn't sound legit, so I changed that D to an N.
In the SW, it was a bit easier figuring out the river must be GILA after settling on ABIE. Just before that, I caught my inane error of typing MARTI GRAS. Hi MARTI ! We all miss you. Stop in once in awhile.
This was a fairly easy, though not clean, solve. I also knew FLOZIEGFELD but could not recall his entire first name, and since dix isn't Spanish took a stab at ONZE, Italian I think.
ABIE appears many times in CWs as does Zeno of ELEA and I've certainly heard of PEEWEE Reese but not Family Guy's mom, LOIS.
MCI was my first ever service provider.
Thank you, Roland Huget and Steve for DEFTly entertaining us today.
Have a splendid day, everyone!
Just dawned on me -- Charmian Carr couldn't have sung those words. They were being sung to her (Liesl) by Daniel Truhitte (Rolf) who was "older and wiser." D'oh!
Neat Thursday puzzle. After I finally got my toehold in the SW from there everything flowed easily. Steve, interesting write-up.
Only ELIA was all perps and my last fill. I thought it was ILIA. I wanted ENOS for 15A, but CH perps led me to ENOCH.
I have seen Abie's Irish Rose on Netflix. Good movie.
I searched for examples of AMOK used without a form of run. It seems the only alternatives are GONE or WENT.
From the NYT:
"At the trial, his lawyer suggested that what was meant to be a simple warning went badly amok."
"That plays right into dystopian visions of cancer as a horror inflicted by a civilization gone amok."
It is snowing, but the cars passing by our lane seem to be going at almost full speed. I'll try our commute at 9:30.
TANYA is not a "self-named . . . album." Ms. Tucker may have named it after herself (more likely her producer or her agent named it after her), but albums do not name or title themselves. You might call it "eponymous," but even that would be a stretch. . . .
No nit with self named. Eponymous would have been more common and self titled would have been best. Crosswording allows a bit of latitude and flexibility.
Dictionary: "Self titled: of an album, CD, etc.) having a title that is the same as the performer's name."
17A was an easy fill, except the correct spelling. FLORENZ ZIEGFELD. Like 'Unclefred' and D-O, I wanted 'Zigfield' and 'Florence' but the perps and space allotted wasn't big enough.
I saw the circles with the words not even scrambled but I couldn't GRASP the theme.
Coolidge Dam-learning event today as GILA was perped, along with LOIS.
IPANA- my wife goes around singing "brusha, brusha, brusha, here's the new Ipana" when the grandkids come over.
I've also learned a few things from crosswords- ABIE of Irish Rose's fame, Zeno's home ELEA, ESAI Morales in this puzzle-that I've never seen elsewhere. LUCINA and I are on the same wavelength this morning. I wouldn't say that it's AN ART to remember them. They just show up so often, just like JAI ALAI in years past.
Good Morning:
I must have been distracted or disgruntled when I solved this because I like it a lot better now after reading Steve's comments and seeing the completed grid by light of day. (Maybe "benumb" was the culprit, even though it's acceptable.) In any event, I have learned I have an open mind so there's that. Florenz Zeigfeld was an absolute gimme due to numerous viewings of "Funny Girl" in which he played a major role in Fanny Brice's rise to stardom. He was played by the urbane and charming Walter Pidgeon. I did need perps, however, for Alea and Gila. Otherwise, smooth sailing.
Thanks, Roland, for a Thursday treat and thanks, Steve, for the positive, spot-on review.
There was a dusting of snow this morning but our forecast was for 3-6" later in the day. Perhaps that has changed; I haven't heard any weather reports yet today.
How sad the passing of Debbie Reynolds just one day after losing her daughter. They both had indomitable spirit. RIP.
Aha, just looked out and it's snowing right now.
BTW, CED, being on vacation is no excuse for not providing us with our daily dose of wacky pictures and links! 😎
Have a great day.
Musings
-A real challenge whose theme was a little “out there” but made for a fun Thursday.
-DO, I had never heard KEN in those lyrics. Cool!
-FLO ZIEGFELD would have fired Fanny Brice on the spot if she actually did this
-How long could you hold this MIKE BOOM?
-“I got PLENTY of nuttin’ and nuttin’s PLENTY for me” – Porgy and Bess. Here sung by our jazz duo mentioned today
-E-CARD or Greeting Card? If I’m only going to look at it for 10 seconds and never look at it again, let’s save a tree and a stamp
-Like ANDY, Nebraska’s U.S. senator Ben Sasse is a good sport
-Good advice off the track as well – “Pick a LANE and stay in it!”
-Steve, that TAR event was a big deal in my small town too
-The bypass that now SKIRTS Wahoo, NE takes 8 minutes off our Lincoln trips
-The SWARM is one of several movies inspired by Jaws
-EGGOS supply a bland platform for consuming syrup and butter
-What fake holiday begins with “an AIRING of grievances?”
I always thought the British spelling of German Shepherd was Alsatian? Or has that changed?
Good day to all!
Fun puzzle today, with the NW and SW proving challenging for me. Favorite clue/answer was "One often seen with a crook"/SHEPHERD. Thanks for the expo, Steve. Informative, as always.
Jinx and Lucina, I believe dix/ONZE is French for 10/11, but it's been 50 years since high school French class so I may be wrong.
Enjoy the day!
A bunch of lucky wags today although not enough of them. Hence, another. North was the culprit. Knew ZIEGFELD, but only as Flo. Can't ever remember hearing his complete first name. OOZY??? right. I had Ooze. ONZE another "never heard of" as was GSEVEN. ANART & ELEA were 100% perps.
I thought 9D was a terrific clue/fill once I figured it out.
I agree with Jinx in Norfolk about the recent difficulties on Thursday's, but I do enjoy being challenged. BTW Jinx, is your Norfolk in Ct, VA, or some other place?
We are supposed to be getting some meaningful rain today. Drought stricken Ct. sure needs it.
I guessed dix was 10 and 11 in Spanish is ONCE (pronounced ohn-seh).
Often seen with crook / SHEPHERD is a great one!
Sorry Irish Miss,
It is not that I am being lazy
On vacation, it's the Internet interface
(iPhone) that is the problem.
Let's see, maybe I can manage a link
That will tell you what inside knowledge
I learned today.
FIR! The puzzle was fairly easy, but I did it on Mensa, so no circles. Spent more time trying to ken their location then I had on the puzzle, but eventually found LORE, KEN, GRASP, DIG (also in 42a), and HEP (in 9d). For 9d's mirror 37d I thought maybe GIN ("I can GIN UP a replacement part" / "I can jury rig a replacement part") or IN ("I was IN ON the secret"). I can brag about cracking the theme, but I'm afraid I wasn't able to crack a writer's block. :-(
Hand up for ZIgfieLD, though I knew FLORENZ, inch > DENT, isLES > WALES.
I thought KEN was Scottish, interesting it shows up in a "German" song.
Classic Star Trek episode: AMOK Time (Spock goes into Pon Farr).
Steve: thanks muchly for that entire AN ART quotation! The Welsh quotation, well, it was, uh, interesting¡
Zeno of ELEA fascinated me when I was in high school, and a math nerd.
{D.}
Paradoxes are ascribed to Zeno of ELEA,
Achilles and Turtle nither there nor here-a!
Infinitesimal
Incremental --
Diminishing returns for any panacea.
Hi gang -
Made it through with a bit of G-spotting. BENUMB, ONZE [clearly not Spanish) and OOZY made for a really awful north central section.
Everything else is OK. Always nice to see grid-spanners.
Back in grade school there was a girl with a bit of an over bite; she got called Bucky Beaver. Kids can be cruel.
ELLA has such a pure, sweet voice, Since Gary already covered Louis, ELLA and PLENTY, I'll give you another connection
Or two.
Cool regards!
JzB
OWEN -
Actually, KEN is a good old Anglo-Saxon word, related to the modern German KENNEN, meaning to know.
Cheers!
JzB
Hello Puzzlers -
I bet the constructor really, really tried to find a fourth theme sequence buried in that fourth grid spanner! Either way, it's impressive.
Had a few sticky spots but perps came to the rescue.
Morning, Steve, let's just say I haven't mastered Welsh and probably never will. That said, it was interesting to listen to the language on a radio program in a Caernarfon tea shop.
From yesterday: I was always surprised that John Denver came to a bad end in a plane crash. For one thing, he was an accomplished pilot, as evidenced by his having held a type rating in the Lear 35. That is a non-trivial attainment by itself, and not the sort of thing that fame or wealth would get you - you have to demonstrate real ability. For another thing, with his money, it's a surprise that he chose that particular Long EZ as a recreational platform. I suspect it was a poor example of the breed (in Experimental aircraft, there is no mandate for strict conformance to design - that's the point of their being experimental). On top of that, he apparently got insufficient instruction in that odd, unfamiliar airplane before taking it up. It just does not make sense, to the piloting community.
It was mentioned that Denver's pilot's license had been revoked. That isn't correct. What really happened is that he did not hold a current medical certificate, one of the things you must have to act as pilot in command. It's not clear whether a once-valid medical certificate was revoked, or whether his doctor chose not to issue one based on regulations. If the former, it is entirely possible that he did not know of the revocation, because there is no big ceremony attached to it. There's just a letter in the mailbox. If the latter, then that means he had to know he could not legally operate.
Hi all!
I must still be ill.* I FUBAR'd Roland's offering but good. Thanks Roland for the fun. Thanks Steve for stopping the clock.
1d was fasT; 8d GTE; 9d SHEPpERD is spelt wrong (and no I don't have the dog Steve :-)); I have no idea who FLO is; 47d is not OHIO and faiRY BOOK ENDING (wtf is that?) is right out [SWARM finally fixed that].
5d - I have BE DUMB; I guess that's me today :-)
Was this your introduction to Asian food? For a Midwest kid - that was as exotic as it got until moving to Shreveport.
Fav: MARDI GRAS PARADE. I'm going again in Feb!
Runner-up Ham on RYE; I kept thinking "set." OXEN c/a was pretty good too.
{D :-)}
Tawnya - my brother recommended the book "I Want My MTV." I'm reading it and I think you'd enjoy.
CED - Gems both days! Thx.
DEFT magician's showing how it's done...
Have a wonderful day all!
Cheers, -T
*yeah, that's the ticket.
"Puzzling thoughts":
Still kinda sorta on vacation but I found time (albeit about an hour) to slog through the puzzle. PLENTY of write-overs; too numerous to mention. Had to cheat once or twice with lookups but ended up with a filled in sheet. Great puzzle and theme and recap.
Also, there are a plethora of good words to use as puns today (for a limerick, of course); I will "regale" you with but one:
There's a thief (who's a bit of a schnook)
Who delights in the things that he took.
When he stole SHEPHERD's staff,
It gave him a big laugh!
(As a robber, but not as a crook)
CED @ 11:00 - Just teasing but I do miss your funny posts, links, etc. (Even though they're too feline-centric 🐈 🐱 at times! Woof, woof! 🐩!). Enjoyed today's peace-offering! 🛌 🛏.
@Anon 10:07 - yep, they're still called Alsatians in the UK as far as I'm aware.
@Dudley - a friend of mine used to have a weekend cottage near Caernarfon in a little village called Morfa Nefyn where Welsh was the first language. There was a quite spectacular golf course on the headland and because the place was quite remote, very empty. A real pleasure to play there.
Want more inside knowledge?
Between my wife and three daughters,
I am the only one who is afraid to go over our phone data plan.
also
also
and in the end...
How many of you are familiar with American chop suey? I saw it in the supermarket Tuesday for the first time. I had never heard of it before.
Please HELP!! Got most of this entry with ease, but still don't get the theme. What do LORE, KEN, and GRASP have to do with
"Inside knowledge" ???????
Argyle - that was my link @12:13p. Chop SUEY and Chow Mein from a can was all I knew of Asian food growing up. Being a 5 or 6 yro, I associated both w/ Hong Kong Phooey :-)
Anon @1:31 - I had to lookup KEN, but it too means knowing. They're all stuff you know inside the spanners. Cheers, -T
Hello everyone.
Solved it in due course without look-ups. Fortunately remembewred the French for eleven, ONZE, Kinda guessed it could be ZIEGFELD, knew Flo, but perps helped with full first name.
EDDY brings joy to a hydrodynamicist's heart. Could have been clued as a Coriolis effect.
JERSEY - We had the other day as a bovine. Today a shirt. What's next, a state or an isle, or fiefdom?
Good job Steve. Always enjoy your intros.
CED @ 1:23 - That's more like it! Thank you.
Argyle @ 1:27 - I believe American Chop Suey is a casserole-type mixture of beef, tomatoes, and elbow macaroni. Is this what you saw?
Still snowing onto a pretty Winter Wonderland landscape.
You can Google Image for American chop suey. And while you're at it, Google maps, street view, can give you a tour of Morfa Nefyn.
Yes, Irish Miss, although some recipes do not have any meat.
Our beefaroni seems similar to your American chop suey, although I had never heard of that kind of chop suey, except on this blog. Since then I found many Internet recipes for it. Our beefaroni contains onions, sometimes bell peppers, ground beef, tomatoes, elbow macaroni and herbs. We have no recipe, just a "by guess and by golly" effort.
Since childhood I have been familiar with the Chinese restaurant type of chop suey, similar to chow mein. Wiki has an interesting article about the origin of chop suey.
Argyle - when you said American Chop SUEY I thought you were referring to the bastardized Asian cuisine I linked. I Googled (it looks like ChiliMac) and now I KNOW what you meant. Thanks.
YR - thanks for the Wiki direction. Here's the link to it.
Cheers, -T
There's a few funny things about Nefyn Golf Club. That part of Wales is dry on Sundays, so the pubs are all closed (including the one on the beach at the 14th tee) but private clubs are exempt, so pretty much everyone in the district is a non-playing member.
The clubhouse is relatively peaceful during the week, but on Sunday it's jammed, you can hardly get inside the door with all the locals drinking and playing the slot machines. The club is quite wealthy because of all this, so one year they decided to replace the sand in the bunkers with that super-fine white micah sand they use at Augusta. The first winter storm that came in blew all that expensive white sand straight out into the Irish Sea.
I played there at Easter once when it was sleeting - by the time we got the 14th tee my hands were so cold that the driver flew out of my hands and went helicoptering over the cliff. I abandoned my group at that point and went back to the clubhouse. I was thawing out in front of the fire with a whisky when, two minutes later, my buddies came trooping in having decided I was the sensible one. I got my driver back the next day.
Hello, everybody! I'm back from my wonderful trip to see family in Austria. The biggest treat was seeing 92 year old Aunt Paula in such great shape, still talking and laughing and cheerful. And catching up on news with the rest of the family. But it was also wonderful to come back to a sunny day in California, and to be back on the blog! Hope you all had a beautiful holiday!
This morning's puzzle was a Thursday treat, which means I didn't quite finish it (trouble at the top) but got most of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Many thanks, Roland and Steve! I especially liked seeing the whole Matisse quote.
Have a wonderful day, everybody!
Hand up for no circles at Mensa but not needed for the solve. Thanks Roland and Steve.
NW was the last to fall but there was some familiar crosswordese like ABIE and ESAI.
French Annee yesterday and Italian ANNI today. But French ONZE!
I have sent ECARDS for Christmas for the last two years and donated an amount corresponding to cost for cards and stamps to charity. Most recipients seem to like the idea. Only a few snail mail cards to those who don't have computers.
Woke today to pretty wet snow stuck to all the trees.
If I don't get back here this year (with family celebrations and babysitting grandchildren), I want to wish all my Corner friends a very Happy New Year!
Welcome back Misty. Glad your trip was wonderful and Aunt was well.
NART?
For a ridiculously long time, I remained nonplussed and slightly mind-blown by the question, What is A NART? NART was the only acceptable answer I could find for 40-A, and I was stymied by it. It was holding up my Ta-DAH moment--even after I had straightened out my answer to 24-D. (I believed SWIRLS was really a fine response to "Goes around," but SKIRTS insisted on pride of place.)
Finally--Doh!-- the old grey walnut clicked its folds into alignment, and I reached my big finish at last.
~ ta- dAh ...?
A Nart is a close relative of a Lert. Be a Lert....the world needs more Lerts!
Hand up for growing up with American Chop Suey in my grade school cafeteria. Frankly, it was tasty comfort food! As for more realistic Asian food, I only knew of the stuff sold by La Choy in my local grocery.
Steve, smiled right out loud at the airborne driver story! I'm quite sure you chose properly, going directly from the 14th to the 19th. Glad you got your driver back.
Thanks for the Google map hint Argyle!
Hello Misty, and welcome back. While you were in Österreich, did you learn about Bundespraesidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung? It's the word of the year there...
Welcome home, Misty. Glad your trip and visit went well; we missed your daily grace and humor.
I'm not sure about any of the other PBS stations, but our local one is airing a "Downton Abbey" marathon starting tonight at 7:30 and, if I heard the promo correctly, the entire series will be shown. As I missed it the first time around, I'm DVRing it. It's good timing because all of my favorite shows are on hiatus (or reruns) until the new season starts in a couple of weeks.
One of my trivial wishes for the New Year is for Flo (Progressive Insurance) Mike (MyPillow.com) All Time-Warner spokespeople, and the Verizon/Sprint, Can you hear me now? Guy to all disappear! End of rant.
Wow, who else would-a thunk it would-a been Yellowrockhead to come up with a dumb dictionary to include the dumb malaprop "self-titled"? The OED is one of the dictionaries that have it, of course; and, as we all know, the OED is merely reportorial – i.e., descriptive and inclusive – not authoritative.
Descriptive language is fair game for crosswords answers. By whose authority is self titled a malaprop? Crosswords do not need to use only formal language You seem to be the type who would wear a tuxedo to a ballgame.
BTW your name calling breaks the rules of this blog.
Please Google "self titled albums." There are plenty of references to its widespread use.
A@4:55 - I've never listened to TANAY's self-titled record (and I wanted REBA? there anyway... oops)... But:
Self-titled is industry parlance that has been around forever and has been widely adopted; I've heard it many-a-times. See Top Ten. It is funny, though, the guys in tuxes at Wikipidia use eponymous for KISS's debut album. So far, I've read neither in I Want My MTV (though, I confess, I wasn't looking for it during the Madonna chapter).
Cheers, -T
See how we learn?
The mythology and actual origin of Chop SUEY became clearer today thanks to Mr. Huget's pzl and the follow-on reactions of our bloggers.
As a kid I was told the common tale by my mom--that the dish (that she introduced me to in a faux-Chinese establishment on Chestnut Street in San Francisco) was made up in America by Chinese railroad workers. I guess it never occurred to anyone, as Wikipedia would have it, to check the story before the anthropologist Anderson learned about tsap seui (杂碎), the dish native to the Chinese county of Toisan.
One never knows how accurate Wikipedia is, but this feels right. I suppose the American-origin tale came from non-Toisan Chinese who hadn't encountered chop suey in their home provinces and so assumed it was invented in the land where they first tasted it.
Imagine German immigrants tasting frankfurters for the first time in Milwaukee. Wouldn't they think hot dogs were American?
A nit that I will lay at the feet of the editor. All pitchers in baseball have an ERA whether they start or not (provided they have retired at least one batter), and all players that take field (or in the abominable case of the American League appear in the lineup) as the game begins are starters, so "starters stat" is an imprecise clue for ERA.
Thank you for your kind welcome back greetings, Irish Miss, Canadian Eh, and Dudley!
My goodness, Dudley--that is some German word! I can't even seem to finish counting all the letters! Good thing I didn't hear it while I was in Oesterreich--it would have made me dizzy.
Bundespraesidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung = postponement of the repeat of the runoff of the presidential election
I meant, woohoo Misty's back. Missed ye.
This was sticky enough that I worked diagonally and saw the theme. I had Jersey as SHIRE and the portmanteau GLINE as in Shine and Glow. Then I realized Roland wanted a SHIRT to go with the SKIRT.
Thanks Steve for patiently monitoring this nit factory. All in fun.
Ironically, the self named album TANYA had the likes of me wondering what her last name was. I figured it out, all by myself. Tucker.
But I sure knew Pee Wee Reese. I did need perps for Zeno of ELEA.
Owen, I started to grade you as a D but kept thinking about it and incrementally adding D/n. I've been at it since your post but it's all in my head so my best guess is B+ and counting.
Good night Irene
WC
Hondo - "my" Norfolk is in VA. Here it is pronounced NAW-fick, or NAW-(the word you can't say on TV).
An aged acquaintance of mine went to private schools in Connecticut, where he learned a mock school cheer about Norfolk (hereabouts pronounced Nor-fuk):
We don't smoke, we don't drink,
Norfolk, Norfolk, rah, rah, rah!
We were all young once.
Misty, I can't claim to know much about Austrian politics. It just happens that WGBY's radio program "The World" had a feature yesterday about Bundespraesidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung. The host, Marco Werman, doesn't speak German, but he had the assistance (by telephone from Graz) of an Austrian linguist who got through it with apparent ease. I've heard people say that German sometimes sounds harsh, but this fellow sounded light enough.
Wow! Spitzboov, vielen dank fuer die Erklaerung!
What a nice welcome, Wilbur--many thanks.
Dudley, how interesting to hear about the radio program!
Have a good night, everybody! It's great to be back on the blog!
Have we tried unplugging 2016 waiting ten seconds and plugging it back in?
LOL Bill G.!
I think I found an Easter Egg in the iPhone. Send someone a text "Happy New Year." And watch. Confused the heck out of me for a second. Pretty cool.
Cheers, -T
Glad you are also a Zeno of ELEA fan OwenKL! I majored in physics and math with a minor in philosophy, so this was a gimme. Performers and sports stars are the ones that I don't know.
Learning moment for me, too, for ZIEGFELD's first name.
I spent a good long time along the GILA River not long ago going to a convention in Tucson. I had hoped to see a GILA Monster out there. Plenty of warning signs, but never got to see one.
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