Today we have our third LAT puzzle from Alex who had his debut here in NOVEMBER and this month he had his NYT debut (2-2-17) and WSJ (2-4-17). I have read his constructor notes for the NYT, LINK, but he gave no personal information. He did show an incredible amount of work and attention to his creative process. My research suggests he is an attorney in California working as in house counsel specializing in intellectual property. I guess words are his business and his pleasure.
For someone new to creating puzzles, he includes lots of fresh fill such as HALOGEN, OCARINA, MAGELLAN, EQUALING, SHOT CLOCK, BERING SEA, NEAT AS A PIN and ATTENDANCE
The theme is deceptively straight forward as the clue continuity of each being a play by Shakespeare leaves the solver only needing to find a literal definition of the title.
18A. "As You Like It"? : ACCORDING TO TASTE (15). Or as Splynter would say, "chacun à son goût."
28A. "Hamlet"? : SMALL VILLAGE (12). I think of the Pied Piper.
47A. "Twelfth Night"? : JANUARY FIFTH (12). This is outlier, as this play deals with January 5 frivolity and the other fill has nothing to do with the play..
60A. "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? : AIR COOLING SYSTEM (15).This was the hardest for me but the perps got me in the right direction.
Across:
1. New : FRESH. A nice way to begin, making us all happy.
6. Word on a movie ticket : ADMIT.
11. Great white cousin : MAKO. You need to be up on your SHARKS.
15. Like a gymnast : LITHE. Hard to find anything that is not inappropriate.
16. In perfect order : NEAT AS A PIN. An old timey phrase.
20. Thai currency : BAHT. Married to a Thai woman. this is a complete gimme. They are currently about 35 to a dollar.
21. "Night" author Wiesel : ELIE. A survivor and a man to admire. LINK. He died last year.
22. Summertime treats : ICEES.
23. Berkeley sch. : CAL. An abbreviation clue begets an abbreviation fill. I beleive this is Alex's Law School Alma Mater..
25. Moby-Dick, e.g. : ALBINO. The white whale! Sharks and whales-cool.
32. Bing provider : MSN. Part of the Microsoft family.
35. Fluorine or chlorine : HALOGEN. The dictionary tells us any of the elements fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine, occupying group VIIA (17) of the periodic table.
36. Santa __ : ANA.
37. State tie of New Mexico : BOLO.
38. Name on the cover of "Fear of Flying" : ERICA. The BOOK. It is the Fifty Shades of Gray of my generation.
39. __ shui : FENG. Also popularized in he 70s.41. Fix, as a road : RE-TAR.
42. Bill : BEAK. Bird.
43. Web help source : FAQ.
44. Simple wind : OCARINA.
46. Animal in some fables : ASS.
49. What a round increases : BAR TAB. Fun clue, very Friday.
50. Vied (for) : RAN.
51. Diarist Nin : ANAIS. Her name assures her crossword immortality.
54. Island festivity : LUAU.
56. Great Sphinx site : GIZA.
64. It's taken in schools : ATTENDANCE. More good clue/fill.
65. Take care of : SEE TO. It always reminds me of Jean Luc.66. Go slowly : SEEP.
67. Some expirations : SIGHS. A $20.00 word as the clue.
68. High priests : LAMAS.
Down:
1. Lipo target : FLAB.
2. Costa __ : RICA.
3. Drawing toy in "Toy Story" : ETCH.
4. One keeping track of court proceedings? : SHOT CLOCK. Excellent deception, I was listening to a basketball game on the TV in the other room, otherwise this might have been too hard.
5. 2013 Spike Jonze movie : HER. I enjoyed the film. And the parody:
6. Deep blue : ANIL.
7. Stage of grief : DENIAL.
8. Explorer who named the Pacific Ocean : MAGELLAN. Read all about it. LINK.
9. Tech sch. that filed for bankruptcy in 2016 : ITT. ITT Technical Institute was a for-profit technical institute with approximately 130 campuses in 38 states of the United States. All ITT Tech campuses were closed as of September 6, 2016, and on September 16, 2016, ITT Tech filed for bankruptcy. Wikipedia. Is there more to the STORY?
10. Eastern way : TAO. Last week Yao.
11. Collision repair franchise : MAACO.
12. Alcove near the chancel : APSE.
13. Tool in a legendary electricity experiment : KITE. An interesting Ben Franklin reference.
14. Singles : ONES.
17. "Goosebumps" series author : STINE. R.L., he had a cameo in the movie.
19. Dig : DELVE.
24. Simple marine plant : ALGA.
26. City on the Penobscot River : BANGOR. A CSO to Hahtoolah - our quotation queen.
27. Food chain letters : IGA. Very popular in rural Alabama and Georgia this was founded in the United States as the Independent Grocers Alliance.
28. Biblical queendom : SHEBA. All perps and much confusion. .
29. Chincoteague females : MARES. My LEARNING moment.
30. Jennifer Garner spy series : ALIAS.
31. Swaddled one : INFANT.
32. Theme : MOTIF. Cool, next puzzle idea I have I will think of it as a motif.
33. Pitch : SLANT.
34. Singer Jones : NORAH.
37. Pribilof Islands locale : BERING SEA.
40. Totaling : EQUALING.
41. Tennis nickname : RAFA. Nadal lost to Federer in the Australian final. It has been an awesome rivalry. LINK.
43. Remote : FAR.
45. Montana player : CYRUS. Hannah - Miley. I get her as fill often.
47. Fleece finder : JASON.Well hello Alex- a full fledged major CSO!
48. Lots : A BUNCH.
49. __ curls : BICEP.
51. Some batteries : AAAS.
52. When to call, in ads : NITE. Really? NOW, now now!
53. Commedia dell'___ : ARTE.
55. A long time : AGES.
57. Newsworthy couple : ITEM.
58. Sixth in a series : ZETA.
59. Israeli author Oz : AMOS.
61. Takes too much, briefly : ODS.
62. "Love Story" composer Francis :LAI. This COMPOSER.
63. Fashionable initials : YSL. We leave on a fashion note. Please stop by and chat Alex and thank you for your work. YVES was an interesting man. YSL embraced his work even after being fired.
Lemonade out.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Alex and Lemonade!
Some real grit in this one, but managed to finish w/o cheating. (Not so with NYT.)
Perped and WAGged were: SHOT CLOCK, ITT, MAACO, BANGOR MARES, RAFA and LAI.
Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteGood morning ! Thank you Alex and Lemonade.
What day is it ?
Never paused enough to notice that the theme clues were related to Shakespeare. In fact, never even considered a theme. Too busy filling in all the gimme answers. No coffee required.
Did need perps. Don't think I've ever solved a puzzle without needing perps. Paused a bit and waited for perps with BERING SEA clue. Assumed Spitzboov would have known that one right away. Same with ALBINO. Never was much into fiction.
Couldn't think of Montana's team name at first. Knew it wasn't Cowboys. That's Wyoming. Then it hit me with a little perp help from rhe R in RAN and the U in LUAU. Hanna Montana. Miley Cyrus.
Tried to see what the snowfall total in BANGOR was, but the Weather Channel was alternating between NYC and Boston live coverage. The crawler showed Plymouth got something like 16.5"
Chincoteague answer was a gimme. An old girlfriend's father took her and her sister almost every year when she was little.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle with lots to like and a minimum of 3-character dreck. Definitely Friday-worthy. Thanx, Alex and Lemon.
What makes a pin so neat, anyway?
R.L. Stine was a guest on WWDTM last year. Funny guy!
Learning moment: RAFA So is that Nadal or Federer? Maybe not a learning moment, after all.
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Fun theme. Expected to see Willie the Shakes actually appear as an answer, but that didn't prevent me from laughing at the answers to the titles of his plays. My only slip was to try Little VILLAGE instead of SMALL VILLAGE.
ReplyDeleteI liked the crossing of MAKO and MAACO. Same pronunciations?
There's an app for turning your iPhone into an OCARINA.
ANAIS Nin is known for her erotica.
I met AMOS Oz when I was in Israel.
BANGOR is only 8 miles south of a crossword staple Orono, home of the University of Maine.
CYRUS was filled in by the perps. I scratched my head over that answer and didn't make the connection with the television show. I couldn't think of any sports teams that went by that name.
Stay safe everyone.
Who is this lemony fellow? My research suggest he resides in Florida as a disbarred attorney scamming people out of thir money. His largest sting was to embezzle a very large amount of money from bank depositors. Almost got away with it but ultimately spent 4 years in a federal penitentiary. Cool.
ReplyDelete"Tech sch. that filed for bankruptcy in 2016 : ITT. ITT Technical Institute was a for-profit technical institute with approximately 130 campuses in 38 states of the United States. All ITT Tech campuses were closed as of September 6, 2016, and on September 16, 2016, ITT Tech filed for bankruptcy. Wikipedia. Is there more to the STORY?"
ReplyDeleteYes. Michael Corleone held stock in them. IBM too.
Clever theme. Easy for a Friday. At SHOT CLOCK I was looking for a person. I loved BAR TAB.
ReplyDeleteMy students liked R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps."
RAN was my last fill. CYRUS needed every single perp and then I still didn't get it until Lemon explained. RAFA was also all perped.
CSO to Montana. Miss you. Please check in soon.
I also miss Barry. He did post once last week. I am hoping for a weekend note from him. I also miss Hondo and PK. PK, I hope you can resolve your computer problems soon.
I suppose I am out of sync with most. I couldn't care less about the celebrity ITEMs in the news.
I believe in forgiveness instead of life long retribution.
WLS: When to call, in ads, is NOW, not NITE. TONITE, maybe. . . .
ReplyDeleteWhy is Hamlet in quotation marks? (Or As you like it or Twelfth Night, for that matter?) For cluing they are required only for "Midsummer Night's Dream."
Have others been frustrated by the new puzzle format on line? It seems they do not have enough screen to show the entire horizontal of the grid. To whom to complain?
Bad link in 41D.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a worthy Friday challenge that offered lots of fresh and interesting fill, as noted by Lemony. I got hung up by filling in Rafi and then being stuck on what Vied (for) was an who Cy_us played for. Duh! Not a Montana sports team but Hannah! (I may have subconsciously blocked Miley out because I find her behavior so offensive.) Very tricky, but fair, cluing and a clever theme made for an enjoyable and challenging solve.
Thanks, Alex, for a fun Friday and thanks, Lemony, for the fun tour. Nice CSO to Lemon and Hatoolah.
Hope everyone weathered the storm. It certainly gave us a pretty-looking winter wonderland but I guess those who have to shovel aren't too enamored with the aesthetics.
Have a great day.
Good day to all!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the cleverly defined Shakespeare titles. Favorite clue/answer was "What a round increases" for BAR TAB. My feathers were ruffled a bit by the "Drawing toy in 'Toy Story'" simply being called an ETCH rather than ETCHASketch. Anyone else have this reaction? Thanks for the write-up, Lemonade.
From yesterday, Happy Birthday to Splynter!
Lucina, would you be willing to share your recipe for flan?
Enjoy the day!
It wasn't ACCORDING TO my TASTE this morning because it was hard for me. That means it was good. I had and still don't know what Shakespeare and AIR COOLING SYSTEM have to do with each other. The HALOGEN, OCARINA, MAGELLAN & BERING SEA were easy fills. but the crosses of ATTENDANCE & AIR COOLING SYSTEM, with EQUALING, LAI, CYRUS & JASON in the south almost had me quitting. 'When to call'- NEXT 30 minutes or maybe TONITE, but NITE???
ReplyDeleteI also had trouble with the MARES & ALIAS-both unknowns- crossing the BEAK & ASS(in one end and out the other). 'Montana player'- I wanted Al Pacino but Miley worker her way in.
Bing provider- should be MICROSOFT, not MSN. You can enter www.bing.com- you can choose your search engine from any browser-explorer, edge, chrome, or anything else.
Good morning all!
ReplyDeleteFun Shakespeare theme with just enough crunch for a Friday- thanks Alex and thanks Lemonade for a great expo. Loved the links for the LITHE gymnasts(brings back many memories of my daughter training at the gym. Tough stuff and always impresses me to see these kids making it look so easy!) and the reference to Capt. Picard. I have long had a crush on Sir Patrick! Has anyone seen his new show "Blunt Talk" ? It's very funny and great to see him in such a relaxed roll.
I didn't get the CYRUS clue until seeing the blog. Hanna Montana never entered my mind.
Hatoolah- I also liked the crossing of MAKO/MAACO . I remember the old ads "Better get Maaco!" on TV.
Perps were ALBINO, HALOGEN, HER, AMOS, LAI, RAFA, BAHT, OCARINA, and MARES . Several learning moments today.
Favorite fun clues were for BARTAB, IGA and ATTENDANCE :)
ANAIS Anais is a perfume and a favorite I've been using for years. Lovely scent.
R.L. STINE brings back memories of DD#1- she wanted the "Goosebumps" series when they first became popular. After buying and reading quite a few, she started having nightmares and I had to take the books away because even though they bothered her, she wanted to continue reading them. The rest of the household wanted sleep, so the books were given away :)
@Steve per yesterday- I will try my best to get that flan recipe while we're there in May!
Have a great day everyone :)
I wanted something like Bobcat or Grizzly for Montana Player, but that clearly didn't fit, and that left me wondering which campus the "Sigh Roos" play at. 16 x 15 made the web display a little weird, but some Friday variety is always welcome.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteOn the easier side for a Friday. Top was sparse, at first, so dropped to the bottom and worked up. BERING SEA was a gimme as TTP surmised. A firm anchor which the solve could branch out from. Some other easier ONES,too; GIZA, HALOGEN, ERICA, and FENG. Perps helped with MAACO, IGA, STINE, and a few others, so no searches were needed today. Had aeon before AGES.
MAGELLAN - Knew that he was essentially first to cross the Pacific, but somehow thought Balboa had named it. Although he espied it first, he called it something like 'southern sea'. A new learning.
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteHand up for trouble at Cyrus. Even when perps filled it in I didn't make the connection. The "adult" Miley Cyrus seems like a spoiled misbehaving brat.
About yesterday's snowstorm: the accumulation around here, western Mass, tended to be in the 12" to 18" range. It came to a quick end before sundown, which really benefited the removal process. Today is dazzling sunshine with cold wind, making it look more like the winters of my childhood (which was lived right here).
Lemon: Nice, informative write-up.
ReplyDeleteNorthwest Runner: I also noticed it was a 16 x 15.
AIR COOLING SYSTEM is 16 letters ... and I do not understand why Lemon had (15) behind it in the narrative.
Hoe everyone is safe from the NE Storm ... I'm suffering with 58 degree weather.
Having a WIFI problem that will get fixed later.
Using the computer at the library.
(Had to "pick-up" my 11th book of the year ... probably the same number
of "books read" this year as our President).
Cheers!
That was me using a computer at the library at 9:47
ReplyDeleteHahtoolah, long A in MAACO, long A in MAKO. MY FIL had his car painted canary yellow by Earl Scheib. $49.95
ReplyDeleteD-O, Tin knows what makes a drink neat. :>) RAFA Nadal and Roger Federer.
MJ, in Toy Story, his name is Etch, ala Buzz, Woody et al.
Anonymous @ 8:34, Because they are questionable alternate definitions for the clues. Also, what new format ? What site are you accessing and what is your browser ? Perhaps it was the odd sized grid today ?
Big Easy, when to call, in ads : NITE. Think newspaper classified ads, and 9 to 5 types selling stuff.
Yellowrocks, hope you are feeling better this AM. I hate the heaves. I also wondered about Montana, but I remembered she was going to have eye surgery, so perhaps she's limiting her reading. Wasn't that Barry T rather than Barry G that posted last week ?
Musings
ReplyDelete-Speed bumps and cleverness made this puzzle the second best thing in my day today. A 60˚F foreshadowing of spring is #1.
-Good job as always, Lemon
-This somewhat practicing Christian had no idea that Epiphany Eve is January 5th.
-Early purveyors of AIR COOLING SYTEMS
-MAKO/MAACO was a fun twist
-Interesting menu items in Thai BAHTS
-The school where I sub is reading Mr. Wiesel’s Night
-“That’ll be $1 for that Chapstick, Mr. Duck” “Just put it on my bill!”
-Like YR, “One” keeping track made me think it was a person not a machine
-Cleopatra ain’t the only Queen Of DENIAL!
-Me too, Spitz - BALBOA, back to the bench, MAGELLAN, you’re in
-An ITT degree may have been expensive but at least it was worthless!
-A modern Ben Franklin – a golfer playing with lightning in the area
-Wanna have someone DELVE into your background? Run for office
-This MOTIF is over the top for even me!
-I thought Chincoteague ponies ran the beach in this movie. Guess not.
Some Friday crunch today that required a couple of Google (not Bing) searches and finally red letters to complete. Thanks for the fun Alex and Lemon.
ReplyDeleteThought I was getting a CSO with Great White until I realized it was a shark not the North!
I had Agile before LITHE, Aeon before AGES and Nurse before TENDS. I did not know AMOS or LAI (but I did remember that tear-jerker Love Story!). I knew the one-L LAMA.
Like Hahtoolah, I noted the crossing of MAKO and MAACO. I agree with MJ about ETCHaSketch. Grandchildren were playing with the one in the basement at Christmas; it still works!
WEES about Montana, NITE and CYRUS.
Expirations was a nice misdirection - SIGHS not dates.
I don't think of Shot Clock as a "one" ie. a person. Is the person who runs the shot clock called a shot clock or the shot clock operator???
Similar small nit with Go Slowly=SEEP as go implies a person to me and Move Slowly would have been a better clue IMHO. But no huge problem there.
Chincoteague was a learning moment for me also and I found the same website. Reminds me of the wild ponies on Sable Island (off Nova Scotia).
Have a great day!
Almost had a DNF today. Couldn't figure 44a O¡¡RIN¡, and all three of the perps were totally unknown.
ReplyDeleteThe MOTIF of this puzzle was FRESH.
Lots of do-overs: ORCA > MAKO, EPPIPHANY EVE > JANUARY FIFTH, ALICE > ALIAS, GAZA > GIZA, ISP > FAQ, NORMA > NORAH, PLENTY > A BUNCH, and A BUNCH of misspellings.
d-o: Pins are neat because of all the angels dancing on their heads.
BOLO is a CSO to me. During my Storyteller days, I collected and made them. I had about 20 different ones, all storyteller dolls. Never sold any of the ones I made. The Internet was in its infancy, and I was a lousy salesman. Probably still have a bunch in a box somewhere.
Too late for poems today. 'Puter was out of use for a couple hours updating itself.
Thanks for clarifying re ETCH, TTP. I guess I did not pay attention to the movie when my kids were watching it.
ReplyDeleteI see on review that YR and HuskerG had the same issue with Shot Clock.
My grandson and I watched Toy Story endlessly when he was young, The Etch A Sketch character was not an Etch, but was named Etch.
ReplyDeleteI access Bing by logging on to MSN.
I agree about Miley Cyrus. Didn't she start out as a sweet young lady, appealing to innocent preteens and their moms? Then as she became older she became questionable (objectionable) and was no longer a good role model.
This was a rare real snowstorm here and it is Feb. already. We have had way above normal temperatures this winter. My MRI imaging center was closed yesterday. I need to check whether a cervical disc problem is causing my arm to go quite numb.
I think names of plays are italicized. Is it possible that italics are not available in this format? When I write here I don't use italics or underlining for that reason. I use quotes instead.
We visited Ocean City, MD during several summers with David and his family. We sunned on the Assateague Island beach where there were many wild horses and learned the story of their crossing to Chincoteague. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chincoteague_Pony
If you are in a hurry, skip to the Pony Penning section. I have read several novels about the Chincoteague ponies. Davis eschews novels and reads only nonfiction. I have learned a great deal from novels and often use them as a springboard for nonfiction research.
Sorry, I posted at the same time as several others with similar thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThe clue misled me to look for a person, then I realized that we needed a thing, a shot clock.
Who is this Davis who eschews novels? Oops, that was my David.
ReplyDeleteI was able to finish the Friday puzzle again. I know I'm not getting smarter, so, some constructors have been giving us gifts. I didn't figure out the theme, but didn't need it to fill in the blanks. Alex did an excellent job today. I seemed to be on the same wavelength as Alex. And Lemon provided an enjoyable tour through the grid.
Only a couple of hitches today. Perps as usual to the rescue, especially for the theme answers.
We go to Assateague Island National Park in Maryland frequently to see the ponies. In a couple of months the MARES will be giving birth to their foals. And at the end of July they have the Pony swim and auction at the south end of the island in Chincoteague, VA. Always interesting to see.
In Central PA we had about 8 inches of snow yesterday from the primary storm (Niko) that ended by 8:00am. Then we had a lot of squalls in the afternoon that appeared to be the result of lake effect instabilities which added a little more snow and a lot of wind that moved the existing snow around and made my snow clearing efforts moot. I need to get the snowblower out again to find the driveway and sidewalks.
Time to go clear the sidewalk. Have a great day everyone
FRESH fill and a semi-Shakespearean theme produces a fun and fairly easy Friday puzzle. Thank you, Alex Eaton-Salners.
ReplyDeleteI mostly sashayed through this grid because of the well known terms: BAHT (learned from CWS), MAKO, MAACO, ANAIS, LUAU, GIZA, ERICA Jong, BOLO and CYRUS. Hannah Montana was on daily when my granddaughter was growing up. Fleece finder, JASON, was amusing.
My Natick beat me at MARES/ALIAS since I had never heard of Jennifer Garner's series and I wanted the animal to be ASS but failed to insert it.
I, also, thought Balboa had named the Pacific Ocean so was surprised to see MAGELLAN.
Thank you, Lemonade, for your usual well narrated review and what a nice CSO to you. D-o, I remember that interview with R.L. Stine! And had some nostalgic recollections of my students who liked his books.
Later when I have more time I'll post my flan recipe. I have to start on my taxes!
Have a yourselves a fantastic Friday, everyone!
Thanks, Alex. Like the last time, I hope you will check in and share your gender. I know a lot of females nicknamed Alex, and know no males called Nick with hyphenated last names. (I know there are plenty of males with hyphenated last names, I just don't know any that go by Alex). Doesn't really matter, you author a great puzzle (even if they are slightly beyond my capability).
ReplyDeleteNatick for me was OCARINA and RAFA. I guessed e instead of A. I should have known ANAIS, but it is usually given as the clue with NIN being the fill. Maybe next time. I had never heard of Commedia dell'ARET, but I shouldn't have missed Nin's first name so not a natick.
Had Miley been born a generation earlier, maybe she would have been the lead singer for Supertramp - remember that flaxen-haired Debbie Harry fronted Blondie.
I agree with MJ on the cringe at ETCH A SKETCH, and teh excellence of BAR TAB. I also agree with anon 8:34 about the new format at LAT cutting off the rightmost row.
For all you younguns, the advertisement medium of choice for individuals to transact business before the days of Craigs List, EBay and followers was classified ads. They charged by the printed line (papers were actually PRINTED on PAPER in those days), and that gave birth to some odd abbreviations and malaprops. NITE was one of the clear ones. Tudor was used in car ads to mean a two door car, for example. If you work during the day, you didn't want folks calling NOW or IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES.
Thanks to you too, Lemonade. Another great tour.
YR you can insert italics in comments with <-i-> the text you want italicized (without the hyphens I entered). Then close it with <-/i-> (again without the hyphens). If I hadn't added hyphens, the codes would disappear (as shown below).
ReplyDeleteSee italics here.
You can do bold the same way, substituting "b" for the "i"
I believe Twelfth Night refers to the night of the twelfth day of Christmas, January 5th evening.
ReplyDelete"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteGreat job by both Alex and JASON on the puzzle and recap. I had a few write overs but did not have to google anything today. My "tada" came at the "Rio Grande", when I got the A BUNCH and SIGHS crossing. Needed perps all over the place but was never in trouble. Had more issues yesterday, solving-wise, than today.
Learning moment --> epiphany (i.e., TWELFTH NIGHT) is Jan 5, not 6. For some reason I never counted Christmas Day as one of the 12 days of Christmas ... I always started with Boxing Day ... it would make more sense, BTW, if the radio stations would play the song "12 Days of Christmas" during the period AFTER Xmas Day; not before
I saw the Shakespeare connections with the theme questions, but in the grand scheme of the puzzle, it was much ado about nothing ...
AIR COOLING SYSTEM seemed a bit of a stretch for Midsummer Nights Dream. Although thinking back to my youth, and growing up in a house with no a/c, those summer nights were not pleasant for sleeping
Since Owen has no poems, I will offer a couple for grins and giggles hopefully. First one is:
If you like FENG Shui
And keep things NEAT AS A PIN
You must love Haiku
And the second is a "lick" (and after reading it, you'll see why!), and is somewhat related to the ERICA Jongg "Fear of Flying" MOTIF:
(Note, it's a bit risqué and sophomoric. And for rhyming purposes, the first syllable of the last words in the first two lines are accented!
The hooker no longer likes coitus,
As she just discovered her clitoris.
When she now turns a trick,
She prefers there's no dick;
And enjoys when they pay her lip service.
Yes, learning moment, but not quite right. 12th Night is Epiphany EVE, 1/5. Epiphany is in fact 1/6. Had to look that up.
DeleteNice theme, Alex, and well done! Liked the clues for BARTAB and CYRUS. Made me think a bit more this morning.
ReplyDeleteNice job, Lemonade, on the write-up.
ReplyDeleteThe extra snow removal is done for today.
HG @ 10:07: Ponies did run the beach in the movie, but they were from a herd that is on the Outer Banks. There are a number of barrier islands along the US and Canadian East Coast where you can see wild horses (Ponies). Chincoteague ponies are probably the most famous because of the book "Misty of Chincoteague", but they all probably have similar origins from horses that the early (Spanish mostly) explorers brought over in the 16th century.
A fun puzzle, nifty theme. Was able to solve it by going across and down at the same time. Didn't understand CYRUS until reading Lemonade's explanation. I agree about the terrible format on the LA Times's site. Not an improvement at all.
ReplyDeleteNot to nitpick, as I was able to solve, but I have never heard of an "air cooling system" unless talking about motorcycles or old VW/Porsche autos.
ReplyDeleteIn ever other case it's an "air conditioning system". I guess it's ok to make up answers?
ReplyDeleteAd for air cooling system:
http://contractors.com/y/contractor-search/?&adid=88442&type=HVAC&filter=Install+Central+A%2FC&cid=4831019627&mkwid=beBjp56Vhz&HL=Compare+Local+Home+Air+Cooling+Systems
Years ago before we had air conditioning, my dream on a midsummer night was to have an air cooling system. Now I don't know how we lived without it.
As some have said, Twelfth Night is Epiphany Eve on January 5. The Feast of the Epiphany is January 6, not 5. Some churches have begun celebrating Epiphany on the Sunday after January 6 because week night services are no longer well attended. Other churches celebrate it on the Sunday before January 6, reserving the Sunday after January 6 for The Baptism of Our Lord.
After 75 years in the Church, as a PK, director of religious ed. and spending most of my life as an eager volunteer, I have dropped out. I still retain much arcane info like this.
Some ads request a contact time. {Nite}
ReplyDeleteI had a much easier time with this puzzle than yesterday's tough Thursday one--Yay! Many thanks, Alex--you've made my day. I of course loved the Shakespeare team and got a little worried after I had trouble with "Hamlet" and "Laertes" the other day. But once "SMALL VILLAGE" filled in for "Hamlet" I knew what the game was, and it was a lot of fun to watch them fall into place. Also enjoyed the additional literary references to ANAIS Nin and ERICA Jong, not to mention "Moby Dick." Lots of fun--thanks again, Alex. And you too, Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteI still have trouble with computer clues and answers. So what is BING, exactly, and who is the provider again?
I bet Tinbeni didn't like BAR TAB.
I gather Miley Cyrus is engaged, but sadly it sounds as though they're fighting, so I'm not sure she's really growing up yet. We'll just have to keep hoping.
Have a great day, everybody!
CAL? Is that for University of California, Berkeley? Lots of cities have a "CAL," so that seems very weak. MSN is an Internet service provider but doesn't provide Bing as such. Has anyone ever heard Nadal referred to as Rafa? I've watched him on TV many times and never heard that.
ReplyDeleteFreond, yes, Nadal is referred to often by his nickname, Rafa. Barbara is a big fan and watches many of his matches on TV. The announcers call him Rafa often. If you Google 'Rafa,' Nadal shows up at or near the top.
ReplyDeleteI hope Alex drops by and provides some insight about the reasoning behind the 'air cooling system' clue. I don't think it's wrong or anything like that, I just don't see the logic of its connection to the answer.
Freond - yes, there are many schools in the UC system, but Berkeley is the only one known as "Cal" - because it was originally the University of California, and was always nicknamed thus.
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle, thanks for the expo, Lemon. Had the same "outlier" theme thought as you.
I knew JANUARY FIFTH right away because we are in the habit of throwing a Twelfth Night party every other year. (I hate when the holidays end on the rude awakening of New Year's Day, so we keep our tree up and fires lit through 12th Night--a much warmer holiday and an occasion for the Yule Log to burn away any burdens that our guests impose on it.)
ReplyDeleteA solid Friday pzl this one. Lemonade is right to credit Mr. E-S with so many unusual words. I had a slow but steady slog through about 70%, but then I hit some pretty serious road bumps. I needed to cheat a couple of times in the mid-left and right sectors, and I ended up with a mis-spelling of Francis LAI's name.
Isn't it interesting that the two leading auto repair shops use the double "AA"? AAMCO +MAACO. Well, maybe not.
Lemonade notes the similar spelling of TAO and YAO as an Eastern characteristic. I wonder how it was ever possible to find agreement when transliterating Chinese characters into Western alphabets. I have an ex-student visiting this afternoon, and she spells her given name "Xinxin." Another former student spells his name "Shinshin." They're pronounced the same way--or nearly. I need to find out if one is voiced and the other not.
Misty @ 1:51 --> BING is a search engine, akin to Google. Microsoft "runs" the service. Many times your computer/laptop et al will offer you a choice of which search engine to use when you launch your internet browser. I use Firefox and when I open a new browsing window it defaults to my antivirus provider (Panda). Google is my preferred search source . . .
ReplyDeleteRuminations on AIR COOLING SYSTEM. I think many of our mindsets are to think of air conditioning in response to the clue.
ReplyDeleteWhole house exhaust fans, higher ceilings, and even tree shading are also examples of "air cooling systems" and were factored into home designs before air conditioning was invented or became economically available. If the clue infers Shakespeare's time, it is certainly adequate and correct. JMHO.
I spent a year in Thailand with the Army in 1963 and misspelled BAHT. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteHI All...
ReplyDeleteSIGH... Everything south of HALOGyN [sic], FAQ, BOLO (with the exception of the SE) was a flub. I had 'the TAB', MOral(?), SLope, Aeon. I couldn't see past my "anchors" and the clues were, er, too vague/obscure for me. At lease LUAU, ODS, and AAAS where ACCORDING to solve. Big fat TITT. I had to cheat (and that's a nice word for it -- 3 Googles and then over Lem's shoulder) my way to an AHA.
Oh, well. The North was fun. Thanks Alex. I hate to dump on a constructor 'cuz I know how much effort goes into a pzl, so I shan't be an ASS. To me, this was 1/2 Wed 1/2 Sat hard.
I do like the by-the-clue FRESH Shakespeare Friday!
And I'm kicking myself for not recalling Fleece was why JASON and the screaming Argonauts went to SEA. [TMBG]
Thanks Lem for the final grid and full expo - where it finally dawned on me... an A/C is a dreamy in the mid-summer night... Both V-8/D'oh moment.
GIZA brought back a nice memory. I need to get back to Cairo and visit my buds.
Oh,Lem, I put your beer on my TAB, er, bill, er BEAK (cue Daffy Duck). That's a near fav... Fav is [D-O you don't count but your advice to YR on italics is good] MAKO xing MAACO. I can still hear the old commercials from Gramp's AM radio - honk, honk! Hahtoolah - IMHO they're the same pronunciation.
Wait - c/a for ALBINO was outstanding. Doubleplus Fav.
Moe: {nice; I lick^H^Hke it :-)}
Big E. et.al. who didn't like ETCH c/a; that was his name in Toy Story. That, for me, was another great c/a.... I was studying CG in my masters (making wire-frame 'robots' and ray-traced spheres on a Sparc10) and that movie blew my mind - what they did w/ SGI's boxen and Sun for storage / replay was amazing in the '90s.
Y'all in the NE enjoy the Snow Moon (apropos) eclipse @7:45 EST. Look for the "green comet" @ when the paper drops.
Cheers, -T
I did not include any link to the religious connotation of 12th night, but since the discrepancy from January 5 and 6 was raised- LINK
ReplyDeleteI am quite sure everyone living in California knows Cal is where Aaron Rodgers played football and it is not the same as UCLA, USC, UC Davis, UC Irvine etc.
Thanks for explaining Bing, Chairman Moe.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I meant "Shakespeare THEME" not "Shakespeare TEAM" in my write-up. Am I
getting overwhelmed by sports references?
Misty
ReplyDeleteI NEVER run a "BAR TAB" ...
I pay cash "As I Go" on each drink (Plus always a generous Cash Tip!).
That way when you are ready to go ... you can GO!
Cheers!
PS Finally got the WiFi fixed ... we switched from Brighthouse to Spectrum and "even though they said:"
"There will be no interruptions of service ..."
You just knew that wasn't going to be the reality. LOL !!!
AnonT & others:
ReplyDeleteI concur about ETCH. That was his name in the movie and very cute puns ensued in the dialog.
As for AIR COOLING SYSTEM, any kind would be welcome if your A/C quits in the middle of summer here in AZ, fans, shade trees, etc. Of course, it almost always happens late at night or on the weekend and we pay dearly for after hour service. So "Midsummer Dreams" would likely be had by anyone lucky enough to fall asleep.
Between the pain and pain killers I never noticed the 16 x 15 grid; thank you for mentioning. I continue to be the poster child for "to err is human."
ReplyDeleteThe HTML that allows the posting of links, also can create italics and bold as explained in the How To Section on the right of the blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jayce. I opened the puzzle at the LA Times website and now see what Anonymous @ 8:34 was talking about. Then I remembered you commenting about ads popping up during the solve.
Anon @ 8:34, There's no readily apparent reason to open the puzzle at the LA Times website, UNLESS there is a clue that indicates circles are present.
You could complain to the LA Times... but it might be more fruitful to just bookmark and use these two websites that also publish the puzzle online.
MENSA - LA Times Crossword
Merriam Webster - LA Times Crossword
It makes sense to bookmark both sites. There have been times when the MENSA site had problems and it stayed on the same puzzle for days on end. A benefit of solving the puzzle at the Merriam Webster site is that you are presented with a new "Word of the Day" each day. I adjure you to bookmark both. Adjure was the MW Word of the Day today. :>)
I'm trying italics and bold. Aha! Thanks D-O and Lemon. Now, will I remember...?
ReplyDeleteFor OKL - TMBG's Bird House w/ lyrics. The words are funny and the beat (if you can hold your speaker) is perfect for 3-ball cascade juggling. I love the comparison between a nightlight and an a light house for JASON.
ReplyDeleteLucina - Yep... Somehow modern-day 'necessities' 'know' the wrong time to break -- warranty expired yesterday(?!?) OR you just came into extra $$ (oh, your master-cylinder is leaking; it will only cost you what you think you just got)...
It's the rule stuff lives, or more likely, dies by. Murphy had something to say about that MOTIF :-). Cheers, -T
TTP--Thanks for explaining the ETCH answer. It now makes perfect sense as a valid answer as clued. The only toy names I remember from "Toy Story" are Buzz and Woody.
ReplyDeletebold italic
ReplyDeleteDO, thanks for the advice. I am doing something wrong. I cannot make it work.
ReplyDeleteWell now Argyle is just showing off!
ReplyDeleteYR - <I>italics</I> Just like that - w/o spaces.
ReplyDeleteI know I say it often but Friday write ups are subpar. There's no denying it.
ReplyDeleteOl' Man Keith it is no coincidence about MAACO and AAMCO. AAMCO came first and MAACO was meant to be a variant that sounded similar.
ReplyDeleteAAMCO came from the initials of the founder Anthony A. Martino
Thanks for explaining about ETCH as a character in Toy Story.
Thanks for explaining about Montana and CYRUS. Never would have gotten that.
I went to CAL for a year as a way to get to California for the first time. Beautiful campus and some good professors. But way too rigid for my taste. I was glad to get back to MIT where they treated you as adults.