20 A. Gathering for February's big game : SUPER BOWL PARTY. A group of friends might get together to watch the game, and there is a certain culinary item, to be identified in good time, which might be consider traditional for the event. It is related to the city of Buffalo, though their team is about as likely to show up there as the Lions. At least the Lions squeaked into the play-offs this year. Fivethirtyeight.com gives them a 29% chance of getting past the Sea Hawks and <1% chance of winning the SUPER BOWL. I love their optimism.
38 A. George Washington never slept there : THE WHITE HOUSE. This has been the presidential residence since John Adams occupied it in 1800. George Washington was the first president after the adoption of the Constitution, serving from 1789 to 1797. The interior of the original structure was destroyed by the British during the war of 1812, but reconstruction began almost immediately. An addition on the western side of the building was completed in 1901. An addition on the east side, now used as the visitor's entrance, was completed in 1942. More on these later.
58 A. Heavenly protectors : GUARDIAN ANGELS. Since antiquity, ANGELS have been believed to be spiritual beings that are superior to humans in power and intelligence. The Christian concept of their hierarchy and duties was largely developed in the 5th century. A GUARDIAN ANGEL is presumed to watch over and guide a specific person, group, or nation. When anthropomorphized in art and literature, they are generally conceived as having certain anatomical features that are not characteristic of human kind. So ---
The WHITE HOUSE east and west WINGS,as mentioned above.
ANGELS are generally pictured with enormous WINGS sprouting from where their shoulder blades ought to be. How they get into those robes is a bit of a mystery.
Hi gang, and happy New Year. JazzBumpa here to take you soaring through Ed's entry. This is pretty much my kind of theme, with a common word displaying a few different meanings. Let's launch into it!
Across
1. "Scrubs" nurse married to Dr. Turk : CARLA. TV show that ran from 2001 to 2010. I only watched it a few times.
6. Suddenly became attentive : SAT UP. And took notice.
11. Letter addition letters : PPS. Post Scripts. I wanted PS'S.
14. They may be gray : AREAS. Found in many regions of thought and philosophy.
15. Make one of many : UNITE.
16. __ polloi : HOI. Ordinary folk . . .
17. Brown bread : TOAST. S/B browned bread.
18. Files in a recycle bin : DELETIONS. Computer files.
22. Exploit : USE.
23. Flooring choice : OAK.
24. Irish lullaby syllables : LOORA.
26. Colombia neighbor : PERU. South American countries.
28. Lead-in for jet or prop : TURBO. Airplane propulsion systems.
32. Gritty genre : NOIR. Crime fiction characterized by fatalism, cynicism and moral ambiguity.
33. Second of three O's : TAC. In the game of noughts and crosses, aka tic-tac-toe, played on a hash tag grid.
35. Job rights agcy. : EEOC. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
37. Adobe file format : PDF. Portable Data File
42. Singer Carly __ Jepsen : RAE. Canadian singer/song writer who has won many awards.
43. Sainted fifth-century pope : LEO I. Pope from 440 t0 461. An Italian aristocrat who persuaded Attila the Hun to not attack Rome in 452.
44. Novelist Deighton : LEN. Acclaimed spy novelist, military historian, cookery writer and graphic artist.
45. Publication sales fig. : CIRCulation.
47. 1983 60-Down winner Tom : SNEVA. Also known for his several crashes, holding the record for the most crashes during the Indianapolis 500 race. The most notable was in 1977, when his car got ripped in half.
49. Siouan tribe : OTOE. A semi-nomadic people who lived along the Missouri River, farming and hunting buffalo. With or without the terminal E they populate far more crossword puzzles than do the Iroquois.
53. Big aluminum producer : ALCOA. Foiled again!
55. Yale Blue wearer : ELI. The nickname for the Yale student.
57. Took cover : HID.
63. Fleeting affair : DALLIANCE. A fling.
64. "The Maltese Falcon" actor Peter : LORRE. Speaking of film NOIR - this 1941 adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel stars Humphrey Bogart as detective Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his femme fatal client.
65. French season : ETE. Summer.
66. Pianist Watts : ANDRE.
A short excerpt
67. Bubbling hot : ABOIL. A dreaded A- word. Dreaded because they are almost never used in actual conversation, thus not really in the language, except perhaps at the fringe.
68. Director Anderson : WES. Known for The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and several others.
69. Seven-__ cake : LAYER. Rich desert. Have a narrow slice.
Down
1. Takeout packet : CATSUP. Side vegetable to go with your happy meal.
Down
1. Takeout packet : CATSUP. Side vegetable to go with your happy meal.
2. Stir to action : AROUSE. Excite or incite.
3. One with a sickle : REAPER. He can be grim.
4. Operate using a beam : LASE. Using a LASER in a surgical or commercial operation.
5. Houston pro : ASTRO. Baseball - many long and dreary months away.
6. Daily paper logic puzzle : SUDOKU. Numbers in a box.
7. From the beginning : ANEW. All over again. Devja vu, anyone?
8. Dough drawer : TILL. Cash register drawer; dough, as in bread, so to speak.
9. Sch. near the Rio Grande : University of Texas at El Paso.
10. Iris part : PETAL. Flower, not a portion of the uvea. Anyway, I went into a blind ally with sepal.
11. Occasions that usually elicit big smiles : PHOTO-OPS. Chances for publicity pics. Say cheesy.
12. Fair activity for kids : PONY RIDE. Activity at the fair, not necessarily in a fair way, which would involve golf. This is getting rough.
13. One of the fam : SIS. I have one. No bro, though.
19. Waffle maker : IRON. Batter up!
21. Baker's units : BATCHES. As, frex, of cookies, from my SIS.
25. "Walk me!" : ARF. Dog speak.
27. 4 x 4, briefly : UTE. Sports Utility Vehicle.
29. Tighten, as laces : RETIE. Shoe business.
30. Nectar eater : BEE.
31. French "Wowza!" : OOH LA LA.
34. Leather punch : AWL. Small pointed tool used to pierce holes.
36. Miler Sebastian : COE. British inner of 4 Olympic gold metals in 1980 and '84, who went on to be a member of parliament from 1992-97. Now he is a chancellor at Loughborough University and chairman of the British Olympic Association.
38. Follow too closely : TAILGATE. Alternatively, a pre-game outdoor party that might involve WINGS.
39. Mythical hero with a labor force? : HERCULES. He was forced to perform 12 labors, involving a great deal of murder, theft and mayhem. Sneaky clue.
40. Electrified particle : ION. An atom or molecule either having or lacking one or more electrons from its neutral state.
41. Colorful card game : UNO.
42. LG rival : RCA.
46. Early steam engine fuel : COAL.
48. Facade : VENEER. This is a stretch. A VENEER is a thin layer of fine wood applied over a not so fine wood, while a facade is the front of a building. Either might also indicate an outward appearance designed to conceal something that is probably dishonest or unpleasant.
50. Charlize of "Monster" : THERON. A movie about that rare aberration - a female serial killer. Quite a transformation for this role.
51. Coastal fuel extractor : OIL RIG. We won't talk about the spills.
52. 1950s disasters : EDSELS. This classic car a disaster?!? Oh, come now.
54. Easy-to-read font : ARIAL. Like this.
56. Marriage acquisition : IN-LAW. Relatively speaking.
59. Perfumery that created Tabu : DANA. House of DANA perfumery was established in Barcelona, Spain in 1932. the headquarters moved to Paris, then to the U.S. during WW II
60. 200-lap race, briefly : INDY. The Indianapolis 500.
61. 43,560 square feet : ACRE. Or, 1/640 Sq. Mi.
62. Asian desert : GOBI. Spanning northwestern China and southern Mongolia.
63. Grass coating : DEW. Droplets of condensed water.
As you have probably guessed by now, I usually just WING it on these write-ups. Hope this one didn't ruffle your feathers.
Cool regards!
JzB
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Ed and Jazzbumpa!
Did not get the theme, was in a rush . COE and SNEVA were perped.
Took 5 days to get antibiotics for swollen elbow. The wrong weekend.
Designated Survivor was worth watching. No more 'til March. Cliffhanger.
Have a great day!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteWide awake in the wee hours, at least I have JzB's witty write-up to help pass the time. Sneva was 100% perps, and even then it looked wrong, never heard of the guy. Coe was the last to fall, but ultimately his name popped out from some little-used memory location, probably put there by an earlier crossword. Both had to be forced past Autocorrect.
Smiled right out loud at the inevitability of wings at a Super Bowl Party. I've never been to one myself, because the Universe designed me with exactly 0% interest in football.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Ed Sessa, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Jazzbumpa, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteWell, I could not sleep well, so I got up and did the puzzle with a few cups of Earl Grey.
Puzzle went fine. Caught the theme after I had all three answers. And, I do love chicken wings.
Unknowns were: CARLA, RAE, LOORA, ANDRE, THERON, and DANA. Perped and Wagged them all.
EDSELS, for being a disaster, are worth a fortune now.
SUDOKU is kind of a competitor for the Crossword. I have done SUDOKU but usually do not because of the lack of time I have to do puzzles. I focus on the Crosswords, which i love.
I always watch the SUPERBOWL, but seldom attend a PARTY. The Shrine Temple always has a SB Party. Maybe I will go this year. We will see.
I might go back to bed and see if I can catch a couple Z's.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
FIR! Couldn't get the theme until after the reveal, though. BTW, George Washington did live in THE WHITE HOUSE!
ReplyDelete{B+, A-, B+, B-, C+, C, C+.}
There was a sweet lady named CARLA
Who would entertain men in her parla' --
And the bedroom upstairs,
And across kitchen chairs,
And was cheered for her acts in the LOO -RA!
There was a new ANGEL named ANDRE
Thought for seraphs a DALLIANCE was okay.
But one of his flings
Cost him his WINGS,
And for imp support, he had Hell to pay!
BATCHES of batter WES baked by the ACRE.
With a stripper inside, the cake would convey her.
To keep the girl looser
Wes would seduce her --
When it came to sweet-cakes, he knew how to LAY'ER!
There was a race driver from INDY
ReplyDeleteWhose lover was (OOH LA LA) Cindy!
When in bed they'd hop,
It was like a pit stop --
It happened so fast all she felt was windy!
Sherlock Holmes, a creation of Doyle
Had need for Doctor Watson as foil.
Else he couldn't explain
What flew through his brain
Or have a flunky when the game was ABOIL!
The family sat for a PHOTO OP
SIS sat down and mom SAT UP
The dog just sat
Right next to the cat
Little brother sat on the CATSUP!
Good Morning, JazzBumpa and friends. This was a fairly easy Wednesday puzzle. I thought that the SUPER BOWL PARTY was a bit of a stretch, however, for the WINGS theme. Are chicken (i.e., PARTY WINGS) really a big thing at such a party, or is that just advertising hype?
ReplyDeleteUTEP has become a crossword staple.
WES Anderson makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.
Carly RAE Jepson reminded me of CC. CC introduced me to the song via the puzzles a few years ago.
QOD: The oil can be mightier than the sword. ~ Everett Dirksen (Jan. 4, 1896 ~ Sept. 7, 1969)
Oops. I graded one poem twice. The B- is the redundant grade.
ReplyDelete{B+, A-, B+, C+, C, C+.}
Terrific fun CW, thanx, Ed! A few head scratchers in there, and, like JzB, PSS:PPS. Excellent write-up, thanx, JzB! Very prolific lately, Owen, u getting u morning caffeine I guess! Thanx for the limericks. I still sick with bad cold, hafta try to sleep sitting up = not much sleep, between sitting up and coughing and nose blowing. Once again, I'm amazed at how much mucous a body can produce! Seems like I should be losing weight like crazy, we'll see. See the doc tomorrow if I don't suffocate first. Oi.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteStumbled out of the gate with SODUKO [D'oh!] and PSS. Fixed the former, but failed to fix the latter. SONY-RIDE sounded like something you might see at a science fair. Bzzzzzt! DNF.
Yes, Hahtoolah, buffalo WINGS are often the "main course" at a TAILGATE party, and the beverage of choice is...wait for it...34D Leather punch.
Good morning all. Thank you Ed and thank you JazzBumpa.
ReplyDeleteWell, I was completely focused and flew right through Ed's puzzle in record time to a FIW. Don't know why I have this urge to solve them as fast as possible. Maybe it's just a competitive thing. Anyway, my font turned into a Disney mermaid due to the rush to get the TADA. Foiled again, indeed !
I know I didn't pause to think about the second of three Os clue. Just worked the perps and thought it clever when it was revealed. Same with French Wowza.
Loved all of the Call Me Maybe videos back in the day.
Gotta run. CYA !
Musings
ReplyDelete-A fun puzzle where the theme escaped me but I am on my way to a funeral 2 hrs from here where graveside services will be in 9˚F weather. Talk to you later if my fingers still work!
Clever puzzle - the theme reminded me of the TriBond game where you try to think of a common link. I didn't get it before the reveal this time, but always a fun exercise.
ReplyDeleteThanks JZB for all the fun links and Ed for the puzzle!
Hahtoolah - Last year's estimate was 1.3 billion chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday. Enough for every man, woman and child in the United States to have four wings each (per al.com). Great QOD, by the way.
ReplyDeleteUnclefred - get well soon. Been there, done that, snotted all over my tee shirt.
DW and I do the LAT sudoku every morning. I try the crossword first; she often just does the sudoku. We also do the xws and sudokus from King in our local paper.
I really enjoyed today's puzzle. I narrowed my favorites to "second of three o's", "dough drawer", "iris part" (I was thinking of parts of the eye), "1950s disasters" and "marriage acquisition". Thanks, Ed. The narrative was nearly as entertaining and verrry punny. Thanks, JazzB. If a certain commentator were writing today we would have had a picture of Victoria Secret angels, not the, well, angelic angel we saw today.
My only WAG was DANA and ANDRE, easy enough for a confident assumption. Other unknowns were CARLA, LOORA, Carly RAE Jepsen, and I don't get Hercules' labor force. Hand up for PsS. My other erasure was pepper for CATSUP. I love pepper and, even as a kid, have never liked catsup except on top of meatloaf.
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteCold snap here today, but not as dark and gloomy as yesterday, nor as cold as what Gary will be experiencing. Windy, though.
We're having lunch with several of the grand-kiddies today, since they are out of school until next week.
Fun puzzle. I also like WINGS - well, food, in general, to be honest.
Cool regards!
JzB
JzB, you WING it on write ups and I WING it for everything I do. I hate appointments and having to plan to do anything at a certain time. I really had to WING it from the beginning becasue 'Scrubs, Dr. Turk', & CARLA were unknowns. DANA-I didn't know what Tabu was. But those were the only fills solved by perps today. Easy Wednesday fills.
ReplyDeleteSUDOKU was an easy one because the it's on the same page, about 6 inches away, as the crossword puzzle in newspaper.
TAILGATE- don't you hate the drivers that TAILGATE so closely that you can't even see their headlights.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful Wednesday treat from Mr. Sessa, who happens to be one of my favorite constructors. (I so miss Barry Silk.). I had no clue what the theme was until I filled in Wings and that was an actual AHA moment, smile and all. A simple theme but elegantly executed. My favorite was "Walk me"=arf! Maybe I'm a sissy but, for the life of me, I fail to see how one could enjoy eating 3-alarm sauced wings. The heat alone would render the meat tasteless, I would think. Ah well, to each his own, I guess.
Thanks and bravo, Mr. Ed and thanks and bravo to Mr. JazB for an outstanding write up and soothing musical links. It's nice to have you back, Jazz, but HG held the fort quite nicely during your hiatus.
Has any one seen the movie "An Irrational Man" with Jaoquin Phoenix and Emma Stone? It was a strange and disturbing premise made even more so by seeing Miss Stone (Miss Bright and Bubbly) cast opposite Mr. Phoenix (Mr. Dark and Dreary.). Anyway, it was thought-provoking, if a little unsettling.
Have a great day.
PS - I hope the resident insomniacs get a visit from Mr. Sandman soon!
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteLiked Ed's contribution today. A little gritty (NOIRish?) for a Wednesday, but with patience, doable. Liked the theme, but didn't see it until the reveal at 70a.
Have a great day.
Good morning all! Thanks to Ed and JzB for a great offering today.
ReplyDeleteSeveral perps for me : Only watched Scrubs a few times so didn't know CARLA; ANDRE, COE and LOORA. DANA was fun to learn - my Mom used to use Tabu perfume for years :)
SNEVA was perped but did ring a bell - our family used to attend the Indy 500 every year when I was growing up. I was more interested in people watching and eating the yummy food we packed.
fermatprime - I also watch Designated Survivor and was disappointed yesterday to learn it won't be on again until March.
Jinx - I do the SUDOKU daily. Or at least the level 1 & 2. Level 3 is a stretch and I've only solved one level 4. I suspect it was total luck ;)
unclefred - my DH is also down with a nasty cold. He rarely gets sick but when he does, it's always a doozy! We suspect he caught it from his brother- he was sick at our final family Xmas gathering on Friday. Nice gift, huh? I may have to drag him to the doc tomorrow. Hope you feel better soon!
TTP - I also thought ARF was clever. Total aha moment though ( should have known it, as my dog isn't a barker unless he wants to go out)
My favorite "Call Me Maybe" video is off the cast and crew of The Big Bang Theory performing it.
Hope the link works https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pfE-_Kf344w
Have a great day everyone :)
Very easy, thanks to a few perps. SNEVA was all perps and looked odd.
ReplyDeleteMy older son makes very hot wings every Sunday for football watching and for every party. Delish.
I don't have the patience or sustained interest for Sudoku. If the final numbers don't fit I am through after the first round, but I will spend an hour on a difficult crossword. My older sister is very methodical and makes charts etc. to solve Sudoku. She has little patience for crosswords.
I have many butterfly decorations and much butterfly jewelry. I have an extensive angel collection which I set out at Christmas time. There is something about wings! I guess I just want to fly free.
We have played countless rounds of UNO at inter generational family gatherings.
When I am in the slow lane at night and someone tailgates in the hope of speeding me up, it slows me down because their headlights reflecting on the mirrors blind me.
ABOIL is used in literature and novels, more so than everyday speech. The sea is aboil. The pots are aboil. Emotions are aboil. It seems common enough to me.The antipathy on the Corner to A words always catches me by surprise. Although they are not common in speech, they seem to me to be very common in writing.They add variety.
VENEER and FACADE are given as synonyms. Remember there are first, second and third order synonyms. It doesn't seem to be a stretch for the decorative veneer of stone or brick facing on a building to be called a facade.
ReplyDelete12/11/2015 Fri 11 Dec, 2015
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4/13/2006 Thurs 13 Apr, 2006
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12/6/2004 Mon 6 Dec, 2004
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1/21/2004 Wed 21 Jan, 2004
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Bunny M - thank you for the clip! Loved it, as TBBT is one of my very favs.
ReplyDeleteTX Ms - you're welcome! TBBT is one of my favorites, too. Esp loved the "Bazinga" at the end of the clip :)
DeleteA nice straightforward Wednesday puzzle, little trickery involved.
ReplyDeleteDid I miss something re Barry Silk? I'm hoping he's just on a sabbatical or whatever…please inform further. Thanks.
Just before publishing my post took flight! I don't know what happened.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ed Sessa, also one of my favorite constructors.
The unknown CARLA was perped so that started me on a downward swing to better known AREAS. LES, WEN and THERON are more familiar to me. SNEVA seeped out of some long forgotten hideaway.
WINGS are often a popular fare at our family parties and you have to act fast to get your share. My sister makes a tasty recipe, not hot, just delicious.
I'm always mystified by the continued dislike of a-words at the Corner. As YR noted, while not in the spoken language, they abound in written works. Often they help balance the ebb and flow of the story. I may start to list them every time I come across one.
Thank you again Ed and special thanks to JazzB. You really make me laugh.
Have a superb day, everyone! It's finally sunny here after some rainy days.
AnonymousPVX, Barry Silk sorta "burned out" on creating puzzles. He hasn't said he won't be back...nor that he will.
ReplyDeleteMr. Sessa's pzl is well matched to hump day, a fine Wednesday challenge. Not too hard, not too soft, but ju-ust right.
ReplyDeleteI like the type of cluing represented by 33-A, "Second of three O's." It reminded me that a good 50% (or more?) of the cruciverbalist art is in the concocting of clues. This one is clever and cannot be understood until a solver breaks through to the answer.
Enjoyed todays puzzle. Got the theme right away. I used to use Dana cosmetics, it was great, sorry they went out of business.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't figure what "Wings" had to do with the Super Bowl, but then I only follow soccer.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one so far to catch JazzBumpa's faux pas in the "headline" for his recap? He shows the constructor's name as "Sessna" - which is actually quite funny when you consider that that spelling of his name is "homonymous" with Cessna (the airplane), and considering that the "theme" is wings . . .
And speaking of the Detroit Red Wings' hockey team, JzB, I think that this year will mark the end of their current 25-season, post-season appearance streak, which is the longest active streak of any of the four major North American professional sports leagues (NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB). Just don't think that their goalies are good enough to make up for their lack of scoring.
I FIW today as I couldn't see PHOTO-OPS / PPS (it was my "Natick") and I misspelled HERCULES (had a U, second letter). My only two "write-overs" were at 14a when I first chose HAIRS, and at 59d when I put COTY in before looking at the perps. Once I knew LAYER was 69a, I let the puzzle fill itself in and reveal "DANA". Perhaps if the editor had changed the clue for 59d to read: "Actor Bill whose character was Jose Jimenez", I would've solved it sooner. Of course in today's PC world, characters such as this are no longer "welcome", but some of his bits were quite funny.
Speaking of funny, and it's sort of on theme, here is another limerick I "borrowed" (it's not of my hand):
At chicken coop there was some mayhem,
And the cause of the chaos did stem
From the fact that a hen
Could not find her eggs when
She had searched, because she mislaid them.
Fun write up JzB, good to have you back. There really is no business like shoe business ask AL BUNDY . I too remmeber Bill DANA well.
ReplyDeleteLINK
Delightful Wednesday Ed Sessa puzzle, though I did have to cheat just a little (never heard of 4 x 4 so had to guess at UTE and didn't get that the 3 Os were Tic TAC Toe). But still great fun, and an impressive write-up this morning, JazzB. Thanks for explaining so many things--much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteLoved seeing SUDOKU--my second favorite kind of puzzle. I also do KENKEN, and lately discovered JUMBLE at the back of the Business section of the paper, which I never read.
A former graduate student of mine had a job at the university in El Paso for a number of years and invited me to give a talk there once--so I got UTEP without any problem.
Most embarrassing moment: I first put HAIRS for gray (that's what happens when you're over 70).
Fun morning! Have a great day, everybody!
Misty, I had 'Hairs' at first too for "They may be gray".
ReplyDeleteLucy, I thought of you yesterday. Our Guatemalan housekeeper brought a couple of Christmas tamales for us. She always includes an olive in the filling, sort of a little extra prize.
I think the Es Sessna is more a Freudian slip than a faux pas....
ReplyDeleteLate posting today. Enjoyed this puzzle and wanted to thank Ed & JazzB.
ReplyDeleteHand up for Hairs for grey areas and thinking of the eye before the flower with iris.
I had Tra La before LOORA.
I am getting used to A words like ABOIL. We had a different pope today, not PIUS.
I smiled at the Tic, Tac, Toe clue and filled in Carly RAE immediately.
China uses so much COAL especially in cold weather that smog was terrible yesterday.
I have a vintage Sunbeam waffle maker that I still use frequently. I don't call it an IRON.
Enjoy the rest of the day. We have turned colder and snow is coming. Brr!
Fun puzzle; enjoyed it. Smiled at Jazzb's spelling of Sessna and thoroughly enjoyed his writeup. I also thought of C.C. upon coming across Carly RAE Jeppson.
ReplyDeleteHeck, I have always liked the Edsel and thought it was quite a well-made and classy car.
Atom: Are you sure you're missing an electron?
Ion: Yes, I'm positive.
I don't care much for sudoku; don't have the desire or patience. I wouldn't be able to tell if they repeated the exact same puzzle a week later.
I was driving to the dentist this morning when a car rapidly passed me on the right, zoomed up awfully close to the car ahead of him, tailgating it closely. I thought he would move to my lane in front of me, as there was plenty of room, but he continued to tailgate the car in the lane to the right of me. I was going faster than them and was about to come up even with them when suddenly the tailgater veered into my lane in front of me (by now there wasn't much room to do so) and accelerated away. Don't know why he waited so long, tailgating, before passing that car. My spidey sense, fortunately, anticipated his sudden move, so I was ready to slow down and ease back and give him room. Sheesh.
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ed for a PP(S) [perpable puzzles :-)]. I was a bit worried with all the names I didn't know that it was going to be a DNF. Nope and it was fun. Thanks JzB for a Sparkly writeup - loved the Blazing Saddles clip.
WOs: Hand-up for PSS; Eggo b/f IRON.
ESPs: Names, names, and names [I did know LORRE]...
Lots o' Texas: OIL RIG, ASTROS, SUPER BOWL (Houston hosts LI).
Fav: OOH LA LA. It's just fun to say.
While TAIL GATing on Houston Freeways is dangerous enough, there was a guy in a beater doin' 35 MPH in the center-freeway lane this eve... Everyone else was doing 50 and doing their best to get around him.
{B,A,B,C,C+,C+}
Get well unclefred.
BOC's Don't Fear the REAPER. Do you think In needs More Cowbell?
Cheers, -T
Good Evening!
ReplyDeleteHad a late go at the puzzle tonight and enjoyed despite the various unknowns - 1983 Indy winner? Really now! The author crossing with the miler was evil. Whatever, got it done and enjoyed the punnies too.
FWIW, I miss Barry Silk too. Didn't realize he was on sabbatical...actually felt a little smarter when I could complete 75% of his Saturday puzzles.
I loved Scrubs so CARLA was a given - I actually own all the DVDs but it's on Netflix now. You will laugh and cry and maybe learn something. The medicine is surprisingly accurate. And it has a great soundtrack including Polyphonic Spree.
I did SUDOKU puzzles for years before I started crosswords. The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, CA published a 16x16 every Sunday that was a bear. It took hours but I always got it done. I still enjoy them but not as much as my crosswords.
@Anon-T - I've got a fever...LOL!
@Owen - great job today! Glad to see you so inspired :)
@YR - For fun I like to use common crossword words in normal sentences...AMPLE is easy to throw in to a normal conversation. I will try using ABOIL to the chef DH and see how it goes...
Lovely writeup, btw. Favorite was the Blazing Saddles, naturally!
Happy Wednesday everyone!
Finally got to today's entry after a computer crash, a lunch date, an extreeeemly loooong meeting and a long trip to the computer repair shop. At first I had the theme as WINES. Guess it was the "hangover" from Saturday night's celebration.
ReplyDeleteBillG::
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that you got to eat some tamales! For me of course, they are essential for the holidays. I hosted two dinners with them as the centerpiece and took some to a holiday lunch. Everyone seems to enjoy them. Since as many varieties of tamales exist as there are Hispanic countries, it's not unusual to find olives or other ingredients in them.
Bunny 9:18 AM - that Big Bang Bazinga was a hoot!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it :)
DeleteJayce, I used to do Sudoku puzzles but I got bored with them; not because I found them easy but for the same reason you gave. It was just a grid full of numbers and they all began to look alike. It always seemed funny to me when people referred to them as 'math' puzzles. There's no math involved at all. Kenken has a little arithmetic involved at least.
ReplyDeleteThe Edsel seemed like an OK car to me though there really wasn't a niche for it. It was just average in performance and features. Its only out-of-the-ordinary feature was its vertical grill which just looked odd, not stylish.
ReplyDeleteBill G, I seem to remember that in order to change gears on an Edsel you would have to punch a button on the steering wheel. Or is my memory failing me again?
I wonder if Ed Sessa was drinking Red Bull when he constructed the puzzle? Everyone knows it gives you wiinngs! 😜
ReplyDeleteHondo, I never owned an Edsel but my memory agrees with yours. I seem to remember that feature from some old advertisements. They were trying to make the Edsel innovative but that was just a weak drop in the bucket that didn't really inspire much excitement.
ReplyDeleteBusy day, so I came late to the puzzle, hence late to the blog, mainly to wish everybody Happy Perihelion (a little after 6 AM yesterday). Feel the burn, anyone?
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in the thirties, we definitely had a waffle iron. Waffles for Sunday breakfast were a real treat.
I won't whine anymore, about nobody reading my late posts.
Easy puzzle for Wednesday. Thanks to all involved. On to tomorrow, or is it today?
My first car, a '47 Dodge, had push-button shifting. The car's principal claim to fame was having Enrico Fermi and Richard Feynman in the back seat, when I drove them from a party back to Caltech, where they were staying.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been a wild party, RetF.
ReplyDeleteReckless is the new normal. As the MadMen folks might say, not only can we instill the idea that they need high performance the added bonus is they'll wreck 'em and have to buy another.
Now, in addition to owning the outside lane they want the middle lane. YR is right. Immediately slowdown when TAILGATED.
Owen, liked them all. Genius. Thanks, C-Moe for that APT lick. Layers ultimately provide WINGS.
Had a smooth but sticky run but pooped out and just finished my first pass at the blog. And Thur awaits.
WC
RetFizz, I think you must have had a '57. Mopar didn't have push buttons until early '50's.
ReplyDelete