Theme: POPTASTIC
(64A) Portmanteau word describing some great music ... or, initially,
four answers in this puzzle)- This seems like a word made up by a
balloon seller.
17A. Type of film industry contract : PAY OR PLAY
24A. M&M's choice : PLAIN OR PEANUTS.
This one puzzled me. Cocktail hour has Peanuts, but M&M choices
are Plain or Peanut used as adjectives. No "S" but I suppose it was
added to keep the grid symmetric.
39A. Academic ultimatum : PUBLISH OR PERISH. Academic excuse - "My dog ate my homework"
51A. Shopper's decision : PAPER OR PLASTIC. When I was younger, the choices were "Paper or Paper"
Hello puzzle masters. Boomer here. I know you all want to know how I bowled Monday night. 258-299-254-239 in the Twin City Masters League. The first three game set (811) was only my 5th career 800 series. Rare set for many bowlers. On with the show ....
Hello puzzle masters. Boomer here. I know you all want to know how I bowled Monday night. 258-299-254-239 in the Twin City Masters League. The first three game set (811) was only my 5th career 800 series. Rare set for many bowlers. On with the show ....
Across:
1. Memo phrase : IN RE. Usually I just see "RE" on business letters and memos
5. Music-playing Apple : iPOD
9. Improvises musically : SCATS. I have never heard this - "Have Simon and Garfunkel play it" did not fit in the grid.
14. Primary : MAIN
15. "__ Lisa" : MONA. Have Nat King Cole sing this
16. Many a jukebox tune : OLDIE. Actually a mere Jukebox is an Oldie, but I remember dropping a few quarters in them because I am an oldie also.
19. Capital south of Moscow : BOISE.
Yeah, I did a double take too. This Moscow is a city in Northern Idaho
near the Washington border. Like you all, I have never heard of it.
(Used Google).
20. Former justice Antonin : SCALIA. May he rest in peace.
21. Musician's suffix : IST. Cleverist use of a non-word.
23. Make (one's way) : WEND. A poet's favorite but I don't normally hear it.
27. Solidify : SET. Ladies, think twice before you go to the beauty parlor to get your hair set.
28. "High Voltage" band : AC/DC. Very popular among people younger than I.
29. Starting on : AS OF. Not my favorite two word fill.
33. Soft shot : LOB. You don't see this much in tennis. I watched a match the other day and most shots were 100 mph.
35. Mothers of Invention leader : ZAPPA. The only person who has children named Dweezil and Moon Unit.
43. Early computer : ENIAC
44. Quite small : WEE. Aye Scottie! Wear a kilt when using this word.
45. Gear on slopes : SKIS. Credit Chad Mitchell Trio. "Well they called him super skier, when he sat upon the sun deck, for they thought that he would never take a spill. When they finally brought him down they had to use three toboggans, to carry all the pieces off the hill."
46. Coral formation : REEF
49. Cavity filler's org. : ADA. If they can use Moscow, Idaho... Why not clue this as a small town in northern Minnesota ??
58. Smelting waste : SLAG
59. Neighbor of Turk. : SYR
60. Poke fun at : NEEDLE
62. Dutch city, with "The" : HAGUE. I think the UN has a court there (not tennis or basketball). For serious international business.
66. Modify : AMEND
67. Not yours, in Tours : A MOI. Seems like crossword constructors always have to toss a couple of foreign words at us.
68. Singer k.d. : LANG
69. Superlatively bad : WORST
70. Short period of time, for short : NSEC. Another non word copout.
71. Long period of time : AGES. Or 100,000 billion NSECs.
Down:
1. They're hard to sit for : IMPS. Unless this is an anagram, I assume they are talking about babysitting.
2. Rights org. since 1909 : NAACP
3. Saudi currency : RIYAL There are 100 Halalas in a Riyal. Not sure how many Halalas needed to buy a barrel of oil.
4. Name on a 1945 bomber : ENOLA. The actual name on this B-29 was Enola Gay. Not a great chapter in American History as the plane carried an atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
5. Populates, as a grand jury : IMPANELS
6. D.C. insider : POL. An abbreviation mostly used by CNN, FOX. and MSNBC.
7. Studio sign : ON AIR
8. Place for some serious me-time : DAY SPA. Not sure about "Day Spa". Is there also a "Night Spa"??
9. Break down : SOB. Crying - can also be an anagram (oh never mind)
10. High-occupancy vehicles? : CLOWN CARS. I have never heard of these. Someone hit the Comments section and tell me what a Clown Car is. Does Ronald McDonald own one??
11. "Farewell, ma chère" : ADIEU. Okay, a foreign word that everyone knows. Many people wish they would have said "ADIEU" instead of "I DO". Nah Just kidding.
12. Naysayer's contraction : 'TISN'T - Looks made up to me.
13. Future flowers : SEEDS
18. Social reformer Jacob : RIIS. Some historical guy from the 19th Century.
22. Noir sleuth : TEC ??? Got me again
25. Texter's "however" : OTOH. I do not tweet or text - and if you do please do not text and drive at the same time. "On the other hand" if you do, I don't think I can make it to your funeral.
26. Cooper's tool : ADZE - this is a big ax. I have no idea what a cooper is unless it's a farmer building a home for chickens.
29. Lummox : APE
30. Source of awakening rays : SUN
31. Back-tied sash : OBI. Also Mr. Wan Kenobi in Star Wars.
32. Distress signal devices : FLARE GUNS
34. Fiddler's need : BOW
36. Dental suffix with Water : PIK. Independent company founded in 1962.
37. Pressure meas. : PSI. Per Square Inch, I think
38. Sounds of relief : AHs
40. Cupcake finisher : ICER. Finish making or finish eating?
41. Twitter handle word for a celeb, perhaps : REAL, Sorry I do not tweet, nor do I follow @real others
42. Overly focused on minor rules : PEDANTIC. Never heard this word. Sorry
47. Lip balm brand derived from "evolution of smooth" : EOS. Same with this one. Google Images show this.
48. Skillet : FRY PAN
50. On a cruise : ASEA
51. Dismissive word : PSHAW. This is an interesting word. Not sure why the "P" is there
52. Mission on a commemorative 1936 stamp : ALAMO. "High up Santa Ana, we're killing your soldiers below, so the rest of Texas will know .... and remember the Alamo."
53. Beeper : PAGER
54. Providers of senior moments? : PROMS. Of course this refers to High School Seniors, not Medicare seniors (like me).
55. Inventor Nikola : TESLA. My career was with an Electric Company, and I have heard of this guy. He was an inventor who diddled with alternating current.
56. "Hi! I'm ... " badge : ID TAG
57. Patsy of country : CLINE. It's Crazy to go Walkin' After Midnight. You may Fall To Pieces.
61. Heart tests, briefly : ECGs. Also known as an EKG but the puzzle needed a C.
63. Del. summer hrs. : EDT. Daylight Saving Time will be here again shortly. I am so old that I remember when Minnesota did not have Daylight time, so when the East Coast set their clocks ahead, we had to adjust our TV viewing time. (Channel 4 or 5)
65. "The Fall of the House of Usher" author : POE. The last clue on this recap- "Quoth the Raven - Nevermore".
Boomer
Note from C.C.:
Melissa just visited her daughter and granddaughter, who was born last August. Look at these adorable pictures. So cute!
Melissa just visited her daughter and granddaughter, who was born last August. Look at these adorable pictures. So cute!
49 comments:
FIRbTD! AMOI was unknown, and I tried PROfS > PROnS > PROMS.
{A-, B, B+, A-.}
My neighbor, a head-banger from BOISE
Likes Frank ZAPPA or anyone noisy!
It could be AC/DC,
Even SCATS on an OLDIE,
Just anything loud enough to annoy me!
On the phonograph NEEDLE we no longer depend.
The day of the I-POD has reached its i-end.
The Walkman is passe,
There's no PAGER today,
Soon ON AIR, we'll have only earworms to depend!
ADA played tennis, but with a WEE twist:
Her returns were so high, they were lost in the mist!
Tho she bashed many balls,
She found work among POLS,
Where she was known as a top-flight LOB-by-IST!
A hypochondriac from The HAGUE
Was sure he'd come down with the plague!
His doctor said, "PSHAW,
'TISN'T that -- now say AH --
Everyone looks that bad at your AGE!
Greetings!
Thanks for cute puzzle, Ed, and amusing expo, Boomer!
No problems.
Believe that I have see several clowns shoved into a Beetle on TV. Its a thing.
Slept forever after good swim. Nice weather for a change.
Adorable baby, mb!
Have a great day!
Terrific CW, Ed, thanx! Got 're done in my usual Wednesday time. Great write-up, Boomer, thanx! A cooper is a person that makes barrels. An adze is a wood shaping device, a curved blade with a handle at each end. Thanx for the limericks today, Owen!
Thank you, Ed Sessa, for a good way to welcome Wednesday! And thank you, Boomer, for an amusing expo and congratulations on your impressive bowling prowess!
Never having heard of POPTASTIC a K in EKG seemed like a correct fit. And I had ATOI before the cleverly clued PROMS changed that to AMOI. French defies me.
OwenKL:
You made me laugh.
What an adorable baby, MB!
Have a fantastic day, everyone!
Rabbit Rabbit
Hello Puzzlers -
Not a hard puzzle by any stretch, but I did pause at a few spots. The Adze had me confused: a cooper is a barrel maker, while the only adze I know of is a tool for squaring large timbers in framing. Have to go read up on that one.
Morning, Boomer, I had the same idea as Fermat about Clown Cars. It was once a common circus stunt to pack a lot of clowns into a small car, often a VW Beetle, and wow the crowd as one by one they all got out.
Beautiful photos, M Bee!
Good morning!
Enjoyed Ed's pee-pee puzzle and Boomer's explication. Nicely done, both of you, and congrats on that 811 series, Boomer.
There's some confusion about the lyrics to Jane Bowers' Remember The Alamo -- some say "High up" others say "Hi! Up!" and still others say "Aye-yip!" Sorta like the confusion over John Denver's "You fill out my census, like night in a forest...."
k.d. Lang has a beautiful voice...but I can't watch her(?).
In Texas "Tisn't" is a corruption of the more-correct "Tain't."
Lucina, that French clue is confusing. "Not yours" = Mine = À MOI.
Busy day...gotta run.
As The Greatest Show on Earth heads toward the final blow-off, here's a Clown Car video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dES_WYUFPZw
Pinch, Pinch ...
Great write-up Boomer. Thanks for a FUN Wednesday puzzle Ed.
Got the themes filled-in rather quickly ... but that NE corner with the BOISE V-8 can smack was the last to fall.
Had an actual "laugh-out-loud" when CLOWN CARS finally appeared.
Cheers!
Good morning!
Nice Wednesday puzzle- thanks Ed! I liked the theme but had never heard of POPTASTIC. I also had EKG for ECG so that didn't clear things up, lol.
Loved your write up Boomer :) Congrats on your bowling score!
FYI: Ella Fitzgerald is well known for her ability to SCAT(S) : "In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing is a difficult technique that requires singers with the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium." ( per Wikipedia)
Unknowns were ENIAC, RIIS, ALAMO and PEDANTIC. I always Love the learning moments.
PAPERORPLASTIC - I prefer paper for most things. Every time I ask for it at the store, the bagger looks at me like I have two heads. Our sanitation provider used to have a rule that they would only accept newspapers placed in paper bags in the recycling bin. So it is a habit for us to put all our paper recyclables in a paper bag- nice and tidy and ready for the curb. I also recycle plastic bags- several stores in the area have huge containers at their entrance for this. I wish more people would do it- so easy and convenient. I will stop here, as I could easily go on and on about the importance of recycling:)
Melissa- your granddaughter is absolutely adorable!
Have a great day everyone! I'm off to the grocery, where I will get more strange looks for requesting paper bags ;)
Quick one. Theme was easy, P or P. 64A POP was obvious, but I needed all perps for the TASTIC part. I never heard of it, the only new word for me.
TISN'T and TAIN'T are equal in my book.
AMOI or ATOI. I remember which is which because Miss Piggy says facetiously, "MOI?" meaning, "Are you you are referring to ME?"
Willims Sononma calls it a FRY PAN. I think more people call it a frying pan. I do.
EKG or ECG. I wait for the perps to know which because both are correct.
I have seen many demonstrations of old time barrel making at historical exhibits, such as the cooperage at Williamsburg. Interesting. I would think the adze would be used in making the barrel staves. It was never discussed. I know these days coopers buy the staves.
These days the grocery bags are so cheap and weak I double bag, paper inside of plastic. Many years ago a grocery bag broke just I was lifting it inside the back seat of my car. The marinara jar hit the sill and broke. What a mess! I double bag ever since then. These days the bags are even flimsier.
MB, adorable baby.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
Well, my run of error-free puzzles has ended. I had several write-overs today, The first of which occurred at 24 across when I started putting in peanuts before plane. I also had aeon at 71 across before ages, and oaf before ape at 29 down. Not sure that I understand the theme, nor the word poptastic, but everything fell into place and I didn't have to cheat.
Good job with the poems/almost limericks today, Owen. I particularly liked the last one.
limerick du jour a moi:
Shortly after they vowed that "I do",
The French couple had quite an ado.
It was so bad, in fact,
That the bride got all packed
And she bid her new husband ADIEU.
Thanks to Ed Sessa and Boomer. A 299? Ouch! 1 pin short of perfection.
Meant to say PLAIN in my first paragraph.
POPTASTIC- when I filled it by perps, that was the first time (and hopefully the last) that I (or Lucina or Yellowrocks) had ever seen the word. The P-P was obvious from the start with the PAY OR PLAY but that was another saying I was unfamiliar with. "Pay TO Play" could have been used if Ed had reworked the puzzle. Ante up. EOS was the only other unknown today.
PAPER OR PLASTIC- not an option in California. It's paper or reusable.
PEDANTIC- a sesquipedalian's word for NIT PICKY. Government inspectors at all levels get that way when their dept. needs money and are trying a way to find fault with anything or if they just don't like you.
BOISE- I was thinking KIEV or TEHRAN but I did know of the town Moscow, ID.
SCALIA-definitely in the news today
ENIAC & ENOLA- a couple of OLDIEs today
Boomer, I once bowled and 800 series after SIX games. I'm lying. It was probably seven. Congratulations. I had never bowled as a child (it cost money) and was dragged in as a sub in a league because a couple of friends got injured. Cooper=barrel maker.
Clown car was my favorite as well. I had the NCAR. The V8 moment for me was SOB, not die, which opened up the whole northeast territory. Other erasures were aeon for AGES and gel for SET. I had no idea that POPTASTIC and PAY OR PLAY were "things". I have heard of pay FOR play, which I guess borrows from this contract form.
Jukeboxes haven't gone away, they just don't have disc-shaped objects any longer. Some can have tunes added and removed over the Internet. I haven't seen any that take Paypal or credit cards, but then again I don't hang out in those places anymore.
From yesterday's question from Irish Miss - our greyhound's name is Zoe (ancient name for life or love). Her racing name was Jugni (Punjabi for firefly). She came through her spaying / tooth cleaning fine, and we'll visit Saturday. She'll be with us forever a week from tomorrow (Thursday week, as they say in my neck of the woods).
Thanks to Ed for a fun, day-appropriate puzzle. And Boomer's tour was great. Congrats to Melissa B on her cuties.
Meant to add that there was a salesperson in the Marina del Rey, CA West Marine store named ENOLA Gay. Nice, knowledgeable lady. I never was brave enough to ask her why her parents picked the name, nor why she didn't just call herself Gay. I'll bet she was a blast at parties.
Boomer - Could you have been a professional bowler? Growing up, the only TV channel we received aired a lot of bowling, and your numbers were as good as theirs.
Good morning everyone.
Nice pinch-hitting, Boomer. Enjoy your write-ups.
Solved it without mishap. NE was cranky until I realized we were probably talking about Idaho at 19a. (Knew Moscow, ID, because I had applied to grad school there 50 years ago.)
WEND - Our infinitive, to go, has a highly fractured conjugation. I believe the past tense, went, is derived from WEND.
The HAGUE - Dutch Den Haag. a shortening of s-Gravenhage, the Count's hedge. Haag is linguistically related to English haw as in hawthorn. The city grew up around what at first was the Count's hunting lodge in the Middle Ages.
Have a great day.
A cooper is a barrel maker. But I never heard of an ADZE.
Good day to all!
An enjoyable puzzle from Ed today. Like Yellowrocks, I needed 100% perps for the TASTIC part of the unifier. Favorite clue/answer was "They're hard to sit for" for IMPS. Here in Socal the question is no longer PAPER OR PLASTIC, but "Do you need bags today?" Some stores have both paper and plastic options available for purchase, but many have just paper. Bags are a minimum of ten cents a POP.
Great photos, Melissa. Thanks for sharing. Aren't grandchildren the best?
Thanks for being our guest tour guide today, Boomer, and congratulations on the 811 Series. Fantastic!
Enjoy the day!
Good morning all. Thank you Ed and Boomer.
Nice set Boomer ! Tap pin in the 12th ? I've had two 800 series nights. Back when the ABC gave you a patch. Both were 80x. Very tough to do. Funny ADIEU / I DO comment.
PEDANTIC - One who splits hairs. A quibbler.
The NE was the only area that really put up a fight today, and it wasn't all that much. Misread improvises and tried to work in train and bulbs. Then allowed my mind to drift with the Moscow clue. Got back on track and it was done.
Well, so much for my run. Initially had GEL for SET. Changed the L to T when the perp OTOH went in, but not the G. So no TADA today.
Bring your totes. PAPER OR PLASTIC taxes start today in the city. 7-cent disposable bag tax. Not just the grocery stores. Clothing stores, chain stores, hardware stores, mom and pop stores, souvenir shops, take-out food... Cynics here know it's just another money grab.
Ditched (recycled) my Motorola PAGER recently. Found it in a catchall drawer. We've been on a toss, donate or recycle bent sporadically for the last year or so. Parting is such sweet sorrow. Yesterday I found a couple of $100. EE Savings Bonds my wife and MIL bought in our nephew's name back in 2003. They are all the way up to $67. and change now.
Musings
-POP stood out like a brick in a punchbowl but POPTASTIC, not so much.
-Fun write-up and great bowling, Boomer. What did you leave for that 299?
-I thought of PLAY OR PASS that would come up like after winning here
-Has it been a year since we worried about political primaries?
-MONA Lisa by 5th grade collaboration
-At our house PLASTIC BAGS become receptacles for litter box gleanings.
-The Von Trapp kids sang “ADIEU, ADIEU to you and you and you”
-Granddaughter is sweetly PEDANTIC when we play a board game
-Many of us will know this movie and which man is Dr. Beeper
-When I saw Patsy, I started playing her greatest hits from YouTube in the background! She’s Got You just came on!!
-I could get behind this bill in our Nebraska unicameral
-What a cutie Melissa!
Interesating article on the origin of AIN'T. Tain't being "it ain't." See Wiki:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain't
Most languages have words for asking for confirmation. German, Nicht Wahr? French, N'est ce pas? Ours is a rather clumsy Is it not so? The PA Dutch were told that ain't was not acceptable English, so they asked Ai not? My grandma use that a lot. Or else she just asked, Not?
I believe that tisn't is not formed from tain't. 'Tis is a contraction of it is. Tisn't is a contraction of it is not, much more straight forward than tain't. BTW, have you read Frank Mc Court's memoir, TIS or his earlier memoir, Angela's Ashes?
In re Enola Gay: I am glad my son did not name anything related to such a devastating bomb after me. It seems not to be an honor.
MJ, bring your own bag for groceries is eco-friendly, but now we are told to wash them every time. They harbor germs that have made people ill.
This was a Wednesday workout for me and I needed lots of help. Thanks Ed and Boomer for the fun. Congrats Boomer on the great bowling!
I think I was at a Canadian disadvantage today. I did not know NAACP or RIIS and spelled SCALIA as Scalea (giving Reis) which messed up that whole area. I had no idea there was a Moscow in Idaho. I actually filled in EKG because that is the usual CW spelling until POPFANTASTIC moved me back to my more common Canadian usage. But being in a country with French as the other official language meant I knew ADIEU and AMOI!
Hand up for Gel before SET and Aeon before AGES. I moved from Oaf to Ass (and wondered if Rich would allow that LOL) to APE.
I don't tweet and still don't understand REAL. Do the stars put REAL before their name to distinguish from fake Twitter feeds??
Loved the music today - SCATS,ACDC, ZAPPA, Canadian kd lang crossing her muse CLINE.
(If you haven't heard kd lang singing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic closing ceremony, I highly recommend finding it on YouTube).
Like MJ, we are asked whether we need bags today. I have reusable bags that are used for groceries. We are charged (I think it is 5 cents each) for plastic bags. It becomes a habit to take the bags from the car into the store.
Have a great day. Loved the photos Melissa. "Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your own children"!
Ack!
I thought I nailed it!
Until I read the Blog & found I screwed up both Reis & Scalea...
Thanks a lot Boomer!
(No, seriously, Tx Boomer for filling in today. I would be lost without the Blog...)
Sadly, paper or plastic is a conundrum.
using them to clean the litter box,
I have found plastic to have tiny holes in the seams,
and paper to become soggy,
So I use both.
(I would put the above in poetic form, but I am not that good...)
"You fill up my Census?"
Now what on Earth are the correct words?
Good Morning:
Mr. Sessa always provides a fun solve with just the right amount of crunch. Today, that crunch was Boise. Talk about misdirection! It was fair, though, as I knew there was a Moscow in the U.S. (There may be more than one, for all I know.). Now that I think about it, there may be one in Maine. Got a chuckle out of Clown Cars as that was a common phrase used to describe the unwieldy number of Republicans vying for the presidency, early on.
Thank you, Mr. Ed, for a fun mid-week treat and thanks, Boomer, for your commentary and "Boomer humor." Congrats on the 811, 🎳 sorry about the 299. (My highest score was 229 and, believe me, that was a rarity.)
Jinx, good luck with Zoe; I bet you can't wait until next Thursday!
Melissa B, your little bundle of joy is beautiful.
Have a great day.
Oops,
(or should I say Poops...)
I should have listened to the entire Annie parody before posting,
I had not idea it was so political.
TTP:
Out of curiosity, what state do you live in? I had not heard of any place requiring alternative bags even in department stores.
I keep bags in the trunk of my car and always use them instead of plastic though the newspaper arrives in a plastic sleeve which I recycle at the grocery store. And the price of bags in California must have increased; I thought we were charged 5 cents there. I guess not.
Hello everybody.
I enjoyed the puzzle and theme though I never heard of POPTASTIC. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't care for that genre of music either. :>)
Thanks Ed and Boomer.
Here's joke adapted from a Garrison Keillor CD I'm listening to in my car.
Two guys are discussing energy alternatives. One guy is convinced that solar, wind, etc. is the best way to go. The other guy is adamant that nuclear is safe and the better option. The nuclear guy becomes more and more heated in his arguments. Finally, the solar guy runs out of patience and says "Hold on for a minute, I've got a question for you on a different topic."
" You know how deer eat grass? Well, they poop out little pellets. And cows eat grass. They poop out big steamy piles of excrement. Also, horses eat grass and they produce soft balls of poop."
"OK" said the nuclear guy. "So what?"
"Well," said the solar guy, "How come they all eat grass and their poop is so different?"
"I've got no idea," said the nuclear guy.
Solar guy: "Then, what gives you the idea that you can lecture me on the advantages of nuclear energy when you don't know sh#t?"
Bill G, that was funny.
Lucina, I live in Illinois, but the new law going into effect today is for the city of Chicago. Expected to bring in $13M in new revenue annually to the city coffers.
The pharmacy prescription bags are exempted, as are the those little bags you might use in the meat and produce aisles. Ditto the little deli bags...
Target and Walmart and the like are not exempted. All disposable bags are included.
Whole Foods, among others, are reported on the news as passing out 1000 reusable bags today.
I'm in a collar county, but we have been using reusable bags for years. Once you get in the habit, remembering to take them with you when shopping is just part of the normal process. It started for us with shopping at Aldi and Whole Foods, but we also take them to other grocery stores. We have quite a collection of reusable bags...
Bill G. Good one!
I don't know if I take things literally, or figuratively,
but this Blog always peaks my curiosity...
Pay to play?
Plain or peanut?
Publish or perish?
Paper -or- plastic?
Not so poptastic...
Good to see Mr. Sessa back!
This was one that played smack on the borderline between easy & hard. But, happily for me, it fell to my side every time. I knew some (that Boomer wasn't sure of) right away: RIIS, from my earlier years in the Northeast, and AC/DC, from my misspent middle age.
My only balk was in the NE corner where I was stalled with ---WNCAR for a spell. But after rejecting LAWN SCAR and FLOWN CAR, the obvious finally came roaring through.
Ta-diddly-DA!
I agree with what many of you said about some of the answers in the puzzle today, about Boomer's write-up, and about Melissa Bee's granddaughter. Owen, good verses today. Bill G, good joke. CanadianEh, good quote.
Been reading up about what exactly is a "sanctuary city" as opposed to a regular (non-sanctuary) city. I'm of two minds about it.
Best wishes to you all.
Here's a question for you guys. Like many of you, I have an electric drip coffee maker. After I've poured my second cup of coffee, I rinse it out and put it back. After a few weeks (months?), the glass carafe gets a tan-colored coffee stain on the glass. What is an easy and effective way to get rid of the coffee stain and make the carafe sparkling again?
Pretty easy Wednesday. People still bowl?
Everyone knows Moscow is in Idaho. Don't be so pedantic!!
Well, I have to confess I was a bit daunted by all those music clues right at the beginning and the top, since music is not one of my strengths. And the upper east corner was my trouble spot in the end, because that city south of Moscow looked like it was going to be _ois_, and that didn't look Russian to me at all. Doh! When I finally had the courage to put in SCATS and OLDIE, 'TISN'T fell into place and then it dawned on me--oh THAT Moscow, the one in the US! Not my most brilliant crossword moment
But I loved the silly reveal and the theme answers, all of which I got, so the puzzle ended up a lot of fun--many thanks, Ed. And Boomer, nice to have you back, and to hear about your bowling. I only wish you had explained EOS a bit more--never heard of it. But lots of fun clues otherwise.
I loved seeing a reference to PATSY CLINE. Many years ago Sally Struthers did a one-person performance of the story of Patsy Cline at the Laguna Playhouse, with a wonderful singer performing the songs. One of my favorite performances of all time.
What a sweet baby, Melissa.
Have a great day, everybody!
BillG. My coffee maker manufacturer recommends running a cycle of vinegar and water through every month. I also put my carafe in the dishwasher after that cleaning cycle is done. Shiny and new!
Bill G. I run a cycle with the water well full of vinegar and a filter in the basket with no coffee. Then I run another cycle with plain water and an empty filter. Works great. Or you can put a baking soda and water paste on a Scrubbie to scour it.
Rabbit, rabbit.
"It is not" is contracted to 'TISN'T, not TISN'T. Two apostrophes for two elided vowels. Sorry to be PEDANTIC about that. Good on, Misty, for getting it right!
unclefred: an ADZE has only one handle. The two-handled tool is called a drawknife, and a similar tool is a spokeshave. Until I looked it up just now, I thought the name for the 2-handled tool was some sort of plane.
Santa Fe (a proud sanctuary city) has an anti-plastic bag ordinance, but it only applies to grocery stores. Bring your own or pay 10¢ a paper bag. Paper or plastic means cash or card. A lot of donation/subscription requests I get offer tote bags as incentives. I'm a miser usually, but $15 for a set of tote bags plus a good cause will open my checkbook.
Knew @realDonaldTrump, but avoid being on twitter myself, so didn't know that was a common practice.
I was thinking Moscow, ID was named for Moscow, Russia, in solidarity during WWII, but looked it up and find it's named for Moscow, PA. (Or maybe a Nez Pierce word.) Was it some other US town then?
Oh nuts!
did I put myself in the Spamfilter again?
Chairman Moe from yesterday, No. 55, Atlanta Falcon's middle linebacker Paul Worrilow who graduated from Concord High in North Wilmington, went to Penn State for two years and came back to play for UD for the next 2 or 3 years. Strangely enough, he went from leading the Falcons in tackles last year to backing up a rookie this year. Must be one heck of a rookie.
Gino Gradkowski has bounced around a bit. After anchoring UD's O-line for four years, he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. His first job was snapping the ball to former Bluehen Joe Flacco.
Have to admit Groundhogs Day Eve seems a lot like last years
Groundhogs Day ...
Cheers!
I was at sand key on the "Dock O' the Bay and that's been my earworm since. And to make matters worse I did something to my back.
It only hurts when I breathe.
Enjoyed all the licks today. Bowling and Golf. Either there's money involved or...
Not
Ed Sessa is one of my favorites. I'd say right crunch for a Wednesday.
WC
Hi from San Antonio today!
Thanks Ed for a (ahem) POP-TASTIC puzzle. INRE Mohs-scale; I'd say Tuesday-hard; but fun.
Boomer - I love when you sub. Fun writeup and impressive set of frames. Last time I bowled I don't think I broke 150. Golf, OTOH, I break 150 all the time :-). BTW, PSI = Pounds per Square Inch.
WOs: Had the K in ECGS (and misspelt IMPANnEL @1st)
ESP: EOS; AMOI (but I never read that clue either)
Fav: PEDANTIC. 'TIS such a fun word to toss at people :-)
{A,B+,B,A+} {Cute}
Speaking of Cute - thanks for sharing Melissa B.!
Jinx - I had no idea Youngest's name means life/love. I know you're looking forward to your pretty pup.
IN RE ENOLA Gay: The drummer wrote the song but the singer's parents are Holocaust survivors (they met at Auschwitz). Manhattan Project [note: some graphic Holocaust images] (and with lyrics for OKL (but no video)). ENOLA Gay @2:59.
That music not your speed? I'll slow it down...with MONA Lisa [Nat King Cole].
PAPER OR PLASTIC? Paper only when I need bags to dry herbs in.
Cheers, -T
@ Bluehen 6:00
Thanks. Glad to know you're not a Patriots fan! Tom Brady reminds me of Eddie Haskell from the Leave it to Beaver show. The kind of guy you'd love to beat the *^%! out of!
And BTW, the former UD QB who's the Ravens signal caller had his first stint at my alma mater. Unfortunately he never got to play much there - except now as a pro - as a kid named Tyler Palko was the incumbent QB and did pretty well, too. In college, that is.
Go Falcons!
Clown car: It was part of a circus act. A very small car would drive up in front of the center ring stop and several clowns (mostly tall or fat.) would get out of it. Obviously the car was parked over a trap door.
Thank you, TTP, for satisfying my curiosity. Here in AZ I believe our legislators are so deeply in the pockets of lobbyists that they even forbid cities from enacting their own laws against using plastic bags. It's the same with texting while driving. A new bill is up to ban it but my bet is that they'll kill it as someone wrote until one of them is impacted personally.
Bill:
That is good advice about how to clean your coffee maker. I do the vinegar routine about once or sometimes every two months. However, I don't put the carafe in the dishwashing because they tend to break after a time and it's almost impossible to find replacements. I clean it really well in warm, soapy water.
Ed, you never fail at increasing my vocabulary..took me awhile to putt my way through.
Boomer, congrats ! As always, you make me laugh with your sense of humor!
Melissa, I am so happy for you, your mom, and, of course, your daughter. Much joy to you all; she's beautiful!
Probably too late, but for Lucina:
French a moi - literal translation = to me. Unusually, quite different from the Spanish mio.
As for Jacob Riis being just "some guy in
history", he rose from an impoverished immigrant to an important newspaper editor, author, lecturer and innovator in photography and social reform. May have saved NY a cholera epidemic by advocating for cleaning up the water supply. Very interesting Wiki.
Moscow fooled me, too. But not for long. One of my best friends in childhood back East was from Moscow, Idaho. But then I think he moved back to BOISE and we were pen pals for a year or so.
Got the P OR P theme but it was actually P O P. I kept hoping it meant something more interesting. Still, it was a theme and it was fun!
As for SCALIA I will abide by the rule to "say nothing at all".
Post a Comment