An ambitious Friday from JW that is the second step in my returning to my post as Friday sherpa. It took solving a couple of the theme fill that made the theme obvious. The first word of a known expression becomes an anagram to provide a different and witty definition. All begin with a four letter word with the central AR reversed into RA to create a new phrase. It is most impressive that JW found 5 sets where the first word is a four letter word that works with his theme; they are:
17A. Aging hero Jones, in his latest film? : GRAY (GARY) INDIANA (11). Poor Harrison Ford, killed in Star Wars, dissed in Supergirl by his wife, Calista Flockhart and then he crashes a plane.
24A. Pitt portraying Shakespeare? : BRAD (BARD) OF AVON. (10). I can't picture this.
33A. Skill displayed at the gift counter? : WRAP (WARP) SPEED (9). A fun substitution.
45A. Times when hokey humor prevailed? : ERAS (EARS) OF CORN (10). Or when C. Moe appeared.
54A. Early stage of muffin production? : BRAN (BARN) RAISING (11). My favorite of the theme fill, but I grew up in New England farm country and know barn raising.
Jeffrey also provides a wonderful panoply of non-theme fill...BIG NEWS, ACROBAT, DIAMOND, STRASSE, TEL AVIV, IN A HOLE, CABANAS, POINT AT, WANGLES, OVERALL, SARA LEE, PLANETS, CRANIAL, AIRINGS, DAMAGED, AUSTRIA, BONKERS, LESSEES, RIDERS UP, PEAR TREE
Let us see where else we went.
Across:
1. 1987 Michael Jackson album : BAD. his eventual follow up ALBUM to Thriller.
4. Road where Mozart was born : STRASSE. Street in German and probably Austrian. Research reveals Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart (1719–1787) and Anna Maria, née Pertl (1720–1778), at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg. Clecho: 43A. Where Mozart was born : AUSTRIA.
11. Recurrent behavior : TIC. Hard for me because tics are involuntary.
14. Henri's here : ICI. Just French.
15. Identify : POINT AT. Dramatic at a trial, but silly if the defendant is sitting at a table with his/her attorney.
16. "Bambi" doe : ENA. Auntie to Bambi.
19. Sci-fi setting : LAB.
20. "... let __ put asunder": Matthew : NO MAN.
21. Send out : EMIT.
22. Island band The __ Men : BAHA. The Baha Men are a Bahamian band playing a modernized style of Bahamian music called junkanoo. They are best remembered for their Grammy Award-winning hit song Who Let the Dogs Out? wiki.
23. Shakespeare's jet? : EBON. Both jet and ebon are fancy ways to say black.
26. Acquires through cunning : WANGLES. I love this word because it does not sound real.
28. Undefeated Ali : LAILA. Cute; his daughter was undefeated as a boxer.
29. Norm: Abbr. : STD. Standard.
30. His, to Henri : A LUI. More French.
32. "John Wick" star : REEVES. KEANU not GEORGE.
35. Fish-eating raptor : OSPREY. These BIRDS OF PREY are the logical descendant of the dinosaurs.
38. Sassy : PERT. And if you become too sassy, you will be a....
39. Boorish sort : CAD.
42. Sound : VALID. Argument.
49. Loosen (up) : WARM. Is this from muscles or people?
50. Storm : RANT.
51. Settled on a branch : ALIT.
52. Beatle ending : MANIA.
53. Cakes go-with : ALE. Oh how many recall this from a recent JW puzzle?
56. Decide not to stop : LET.
57. Off one's rocker : BONKERS.
58. Vital statistic : AGE.
59. Paul with guitars : LES. He built the first successful electric guitars and his name leads into....
60. Landlord's customers : LESSEES.
61. Ergotamine derivative popular in the '60s : LSD. More of LES. It is my excuse for being crazy. LINK.
Down:
1. Front page material : BIG NEWS.
2. One seen in a ring : ACROBAT. Pretty vague for me, but I understand the clecho.
3. One seen in a ring : DIAMOND. This made it easier.
4. Short drive : SPIN. Never understood this expression, spinning is not what I have in mind when I drive.
5. Lading measure : TON. We all remember our lesson on bills of lading.
6. Kentucky Derby call : RIDERS UP. LINK.
7. Jungian concept : ANIMA. He had to have his own words, not Freud's ego, super-ego and id.
8. Solemn : STAID.
9. Introduction to Domingo? : SANTO. Well done, geography.
10. Greek letter : ETA.
11. Mediterranean metropolis : TEL AVIV.
12. Saddled with debt : IN A HOLE.
13. Seaside resort array : CABANAS. VIEW.
18. Half a philosophical duality : YANG. Where is YIN?
22. Called from the field : BAAED. So cute, lamby pie.
24. Fasten, at sea : BELAY. Cute also because of the two definitions. verb
1.(a running rope) around a cleat, pin, rock, or other object, to secure it.
2. nautical slang: stop; enough! "“Belay that, mister. Man your post.”"
25. Groups at sea : FLEETS. More at sea.
27. City on the Rio Grande : LAREDO. LISTEN. or READ.
31. Net neutrality beneficiary: Abbr. : ISP.
32. Any "Twilight Zone" episode, now : RERUN.
33. Omega holder : WRIST. The watch.
34. Part of a traditional holiday gift : PEAR TREE.
35. From one extreme to the other : OVERALL.
36. Frozen dessert brand : SARA LEE. Nobody does not love Sara Lee.
37. Seven-movement Holst work that omits Earth, with "The" : PLANETS.
39. Like the olfactory nerve, e.g. : CRANIAL.
40. Television fare : AIRINGS.
41. Flawed : DAMAGED.
44. "__ brillig ... " : TWAS. `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
I had a roommate who was a C student, but could recite the entire poem as well as PI to the 50th place. A little bird told me JW also can recite this poem.
46. Denmark's __ Islands : FAROE. I had no idea. LINK.
47. Highland groups : CLANS.
48. Sounds from pens : OINKS. This little piggy...
52. Pine for : MISS.
54. OPEC unit : BBL. Barrel.
55. "... such stuff / As dreams __ made on": Prospero : ARE. JW squeezes his Friday Shakespeare in at the end.
Well I have stumbled to the finish line once again, hopefully having managed to unravel all of JW's tricks. Great fun...hope you had a good time, Lemonade out.
44 comments:
FIRbNTD! Misspelt LoRADO > LoReDO > LAREDO. (Actually, ELPASO > LORADO. It's always one or the other, never Albuquerque!)
Didn't like WANGLE, but it's in the dictionary, and WRANGLE includes it as a synonym, though WANGLE doesn't reciprocate. The two have different etymologies, so the similarity is coincidental!
I thought, what the hay!?, it wants the name of the street where Mozart was born? Well, Florence Nightingale was named for her birth city, so let's try AMADEUS!
{A, B, B-.}
As EBON night SPINS across the land,
LAREDO sleeps on the Rio Grande.
Unseen, the FLEETS
Underwater creep
To the submarine base on Albuquerque's strand!
Crossing a STRASSE might cause some stress.
Cars at WARP SPEED onward press!
Autos are honkers,
Drivers are BONKERS!
That's the price for an AUSTRIA address!
The genetics LAB made a find today
A helix chain that's not D.N.A.!
He was BAAED by Lambie,
But Professor Bambi
To honor his aunt, named it E.N.A.!
Hi Y'all! Jeffrey's latest endeavor almost drove me BONKERS OVERALL! Especially when my screen went blank halfway through and I couldn't remember some of the answers I'd just filled. But I prevailed. Such a feeling of accomplishment to get a Tada! I don't even feel BAD about the two or three red-letter runs.
I figured out the theme when WRAPSPEED and BRANRAISING perped in so then was able to WAG the other halves of the theme entries.
BAD, BAAD, BAHA? Good grief! I kept trying to spell the latter BAjA even though I know that isn't an island.
Never think of TEL AVIV as Mediterranean for some reason. Surprises me every time.
Never heard of "John Wick". All perps but one "E" in REEVES when the name became obvious even to me.
Cakes don't go with ALE at my table.
Short drive = SPIN: only the wheels do.
Lemonade, I'm impressed with your doing these hard Friday expos so soon after surgery. I usually spent many months in a brain fog after anesthetic. Bravo!
Good morning!
This one was clever, but still a real softball. Quick, too. My only misstep was RAGE before RANT. Thanks, Jeffrey. Nice title, Lemonade.
STRASSE/AUSTRIA nice CSO's to Misty. I've been to Salzburg and have seen the Mozart house.
Spitz can correct me. I remember BELAY referring to one's own error -- "Belay my last." (ie: Forget what I said.)
23A So much wanted it to be, Lear.
Not too difficult for a Friday puzzle. Slow at first but when wrapspeed showed I caught the theme and went easier from there. Ale go with cakes didn't work fore unless you mean crab cakes . Best crabcakes ever wre served at Hill & Holler on my short stay in WV earlier this spring
Interesting theme and fill, Jeffrey. Lemonade, so nice to have you blogging again. I enjoyed the Laredo song. FIR, no peeking. The only unknown was Ergotamine. I wagged it from the -S-.
The acrobat in the circus ring reminds me that circuses are becoming passe. 2017 is Barnum and Bailey's final year. Part of the circus's demise is due to new-found sympathy for captive animals. But most of it is that we see so many wonders electronically that the circus does not inspire the awe and wonder it once did. Alan and I go to the Shriner's Circus every May for his birthday. Each year the attendance has been lower and the enthusiasm of the audience, too. This circus didn't come to town this year.
DO, I, also saw Mozart's birthplace in Salzburg. We attended a lovely Mozart concert in Salzburg.
I walked the Mediterranean beaches in Tel Aviv. It was seemed unusual to see beaches right next to the skyscrapers in a big metropolis.
Link text
https://search.aol.com/aol/image?q=tel+aviv+beach+inmages&s_chn=prt_bon&v_t=comsearch
The teams at my college, Susquehanna U, were called the Crusaders for the college's whole existence. This year Crusaders were deemed too un-PC. Now our teams are the River Hawks, another name for Osprey. If we had to change I would have preferred Ospreys.
Trouble when I confidently put LEAR for Shakespeare's jet.
PK, only the wheels rotate, but you can go for a SPIN.
Another good JW puzzle and great Lemonade write-up. Got the theme early which is a rarity. Put "solid" at 42a which caused problems at first. Nit - an ISP (31D) does not benefit from net neutrality. In fact, Comcast (which is also a content provider) and other ISP's have fought against net neutrality. JB2
Bob Niles and Billocohoes- LEAR is such a wonderful answer for Shakespeare's jet. It is great to be back, thank you.
Groaned when I saw the name of the creator of this puzzle.
Maybe I gave up too soon before I started cheating,
but what does it mean when you would rather play with your new washing machine than do the puzzle?
Too hard for me to fathom...
On a side note,
Re: John Wick
I recently saw this movie, & was impressed.
I mention it here only because I know 99.9% of the people who
read this Blog will never watch it.
IMDB gave it a 7.2 out of 10
which made me curious as to why they thought it was so good.
He kills 77 people...
Total body count 119...
Very graphic scenes of people taking a bullet to the head...
(Not recommended for squeamish types)
(Ever see "squeamish" in a crossword?)
However,
John Wick is the only person to ever retire from the Russian Mob.
This is because they could not get rid of him.
He is known for killing three people with only a pencil...
He retired to marry the love of his life, who recently passed away,
who in her will, leaves him a puppy to keep him company.
Enter Russian Mob Heads arrogant son, who takes a liking to his car,
steals it, and kills the puppy...
(need I go on...)
One note of humor that is not entirely true:
In the club scene, supposedly everyone he kills wears a red shirt
in homage to StarTrek extras...
Musings
-Wow, That was fun! I was confidently sailing along with proper noun anagramming and then WRAP SPEED made me change course and laugh out loud.
-Great to see you back in the saddle, Lemon! Summation was spot on as usual.
-4” of rain with more to come may delay planting/harvesting those EARS this year
-This plaque in Salzburg is on the house next to Mozart’s and marks the birthplace of the man famous for his “Effect”,
-If to POINT AT the defendant is silly, what is having him try on a glove?
-I had to WARM to the idea when C.C. said I should try blogging a puzzle
-STAID or STOIC? My first letters, of course, were S T _ I _
-We’ve never gotten IN A financial HOLE we couldn’t handle. Uncommon today?
-Scenes from 10 best Twilight Zones (12:29)
-Extremes - Chip 10 feet short and then putt 10 feet past. OVERALL mediocrity
-Bogie’s variation on Shakespeare (:13)
-Gotta go mow MIL’s yard before next deluge
Re: John Wick (Cont...)
Actually, the 1st minute of this clip explains it better than I ever could.
Watch the whole (10:11) if you dare...
Dinner reservation for 12, Baba Yaga...
Good Morning:
Well, Mr. Wechsler gave me fits this morning but I managed to prevail, albeit not any too quickly. Part of my angst was leaving Oaf too long until it finally became clear that the correct fill was Cad. That's on me because a Cad is more likely to be a Boor that an Oaf, who is just more likely to be a big bumbler. Also, my Cakes went with Tea which seems more palatable than Ale. I caught the theme early with Gray Indiana and Brad of Avon and while this helped with the solve, I still had my share of pitfalls. Overall, a fun and clever twist with oodles (great word!) of fresh, dense fill, as Lemony pointed out.
Thanks, JW, for giving the "Gray" (New York) matter a challenging workout and a very satisfying solve and thanks, Lemony, for the solid and edifying expo. Your recent travails have not affected your wit and wisdom one whit. It's nice to have you back at the Friday helm. Keep well.
Bob Niles and Billocohoes, you made my day with the image of Shakespeare's Lear Jet! Thank you!
Owen, A+ on all three verses.
YR, my high school sports teams were called the Crusaders, as well. I believe they still are but maybe the PC zealots (is that word still allowed?) have struck here, too. From a purely personal viewpoint, I think the PC extremists are paving the way for us all going to Hell in a hand basket. (What an odd expression-I hope I didn't offend anyone.) 😇
Steve, thanks for enlightening me about mustard oil. One of the many reasons this blog is so delightful is learning something new, almost every day.
Have a great day.
Fun puzzle by Jeffrey, today. Pretty smooth solving, and loved the "WRAPSPEED". When I worked in a department store, we had to wrap the wedding gifts for registry purchases, and learned quickly how to wrap a box!
Thanks, Lemonade, for the expo. Nice to have you back!
Very clever puzzle. Tough to get going, but then momentum swung in my favor.
As someone posted yesterday, singer Chris Cornell died late Wednesday. Since many of you may not be familiar with this "grunge" singer, I want to point out that I read he had a 4 octave range (Elvis had a 2 octave range). And, if you search "Chris Cornell & Ave Maria" you will not be disappointed. Even if his voice isn't your type, his lyrics may appeal to you.
Was raining so had a lot of time and finished. "WANGLES?" really?...never heard the term "BELAY." Otherwise fairly typical Friday.
BELAY was a reveal for me, I always thought it meant "hold" or "stop", I.e. "Belay that command!". However, it turns out this use of Belay is nautical slang, the actual meaning is the clue, fasten at sea. Who knew?
Many other tough clues as well. Got the solve but this was a tough one, at least for me. Didn't need to see the gimmick to solve, always a plus for me.
I am quite familiar with WANGLE. Although most definitions emphasize dishonesty, the usage I have seen seems to be more about maneuvering or manipulating.
“Somehow she has wangled a meeting with a West Coast publisher.” New York Times, Apr 30, 2015
“Kane wangled an early audition and was signed without anyone else being looked at.” Time, Oct 16, 2013
“And the biggest part of her story unfolds in 1992, when she wangles her way into an internship at The Chicago Sun-Times." New York Times, May 26, 2013
“Cheapskate husbands wangle ways to avoid spending money on their wives.” Seattle Times, Feb 15, 2017
The neighbor kids always wangle a donation out of me.
My first thought for JET was LEAR, too. Amusing, but it didn't quite fit.
Alan's severe cold lasted at least 10 days. He stayed in his room mostly. He seems a lot better now. Although he may not be 100%, yesterday and today I fear he is milking it to stay home from work. With his being somewhat inarticulate I frequently have to decide: Are you really very sick? Are you just a little off and could cope with a regular day? Are you dogging it? Aargh! I am too old for this constant uncertainty.
CED: Actually, I watched John Wick on the SyFy channel last night. It was a bloodbath.
I have to admit that it was a sea of white on the first pass, with only EBON and STRASSE in the north. 1,2, & 3-Downs had me stumped and I guessed INDIANA and ETA. The V8 moment hit at the bottom with EARS OF CORN after I floated down the Rio Grande from EL PASO to LAREDO and changed the 'Sound' from AUDIO to SOLID and finally to VALID. It was smooth sailing from then on until I had to tighten up the jib and crapped out at the cross of BELAY and ALUI with a "T" instead of "L"- total unknowns.
'Poor Harrison Ford'? Not quite. More people have paid to see him as the star in movies than any other actor.
PK- I never heard of 'John Wick' either and REEVES was all perps.
D-O, Forget Mozaart. I've been to the 9th ward and seen Fats Domino's house. He never moved out until Katrina hit.
I don't think LSD was as popular in any era as the press and movies would have anybody believe. Or we just might have had many crazy people who wanted to go deeper off the deep end.
Hi gang -
Thought this one was very tough
First pass of the top half left it totally blank.
Ran some errands, then got a foot hold down below. BRAN RAISING put me on a wrong track, theme wise.
Gradually worked up from there. Had to google LAILA and REEVES.
Finally made it through then, but had to ponder the theme before sussing it.
Great theme, fine puzzle OVER ALL, but sadly marred by ICI and A LUI.
Thought I was getting over my cold, but seem to have back slid today. I'm not much for taking meds, but I'm having a love affair with Nyquil. Slept for over 10 hours last night.
Cool regards!
JzB
Hello everybody. I thought this was fun but tough, just about right for a Friday. Some clever cluing and I liked the theme once I tumbled to it. Thanks Jeffrey and Lemon.
Whinging...
I have a hard time listening to people who say 'like' all the time. I just suffer along until I can't anymore. I've noticed it a little bit in grandson Jordan. I've gently pointed it out hoping he doesn't fall into that habit.
I was listening to Mark Cuban this morning. I like him. He seems like a smart billionaire. His speech pattern was to end every other sentence with 'Right?', turning a declaratory sentence into a pseudo-question. Right? Maybe he is unaware of it. Right? Or maybe those around him don't feel comfortable about bringing it to his attention. Right?
It's hard to imagine Jeopardy without Alex Trebek at the helm. Still, I dread whenever he tries to engage in humorous banter with the contestants. He is a smart fellow, a clever fellow but not a warm, funny fellow.
Whinging over.
Well, I got about two-thirds of this puzzle, but have had a complicated morning, and so ended up having to cheat to finish. But I have to say I loved the Mozart references--many thanks, Jeffrey, and thanks to you too, desper-otto for remembering my connection there. Also loved the Shakespeare reference--great Friday puzzle, even if I had to cheat. And Lemonade, it's so good to have you back.
I'll try to check in again a little later--meanwhile, have a great Friday, everybody!
Re: The crusade against crusade.
As long as you have no objections to a team being caller Jihadists, you should be allowed to keep your Crusaders. After all, we wouldn't want a country that favored one religion over another: might as well have remained a Britsh colony.
I am not sure Mozart wasn't born in a Salzburg Gaße - not precisely a Strasse as Mr. Wechsler suggests. (desper-otto & Misty, back me up...) Otherwise this was a fine Friday pzl.
I appreciate Lemon's uncracking of the theme. I was fortunate in reaching my Ta-DA! just before I realized there even was a theme. What gave it to me was BAAED (22D), not exactly related to the theme, but weird enough to make me go back and study the other "strange" answers.
Hi all!
What CED said. JW is intimidating to this solver and my missteps didn't help. Hand up for El Paso (hi OKL!), ease b/f WARM, and a gCheat that lead to Getrei[...] street where Mozart was born was right out. SE was my only corner filled w/o cheats. DNF!
Thanks JW and thanks Lem for learnin' me on a learning day. Good to see you back in the saddle. And, hey, C. Moe can be corny but is mostly funny to this corn-dog. :-)
Jeff, I did like the clechos and fun words [see: BONKERS]; I wanted BOE for 54d, but that's too industry-specific jargon so went w/ BBL. Early stage of muffin(tops?) production? was going to be Binge eating b/f I got BRAN...
Fav: LES Paul just 'cuz we were talkin' guitars yesterday.
{B+, A, C+; I'm grumpy after this JW :-)}
Yep, thought of Misty at AUSTRIA...
CED - "John Wick" looks too intense than for me. I prefer REEVES as Neo [4m] or just a smart comedy.
On LSD - Big-E: Have you heard of Microdosing yet?. Seems all the rage in the Valley; I only heard about it 2 weeks ago. I have a feeling Apple's Job's confession that he dropped acid and got ideas is more the backstory/hope of these folk.
Bill G- It's just a linguistic TIC, Right? //ducks
Friday nap time; play later. Cheers, -T
Anon @ 235p
Perhaps you should Google the definition of crusader. It's apropos that I consider myself a crusader for the early detection of mental illness so treatment can begin and be effective before foot in mouth disease sets in.
Bill G.
If you want Jordan to think more about language,
and what it means,
perhaps you should tell him what got me involved in learning at a very young age...
It has to do with people saying Do Do,,,
(not doh doh, doo doo...)
I do, do this...
Why would you say,"I do do this."
When saying "I do this" is sufficient...
One "do" is too perform an action...
"Doo Doo is Poop."
D-O @ 0650 - I agree with you about BELAY. Lemon inferred this meaning in his 2nd definition IMO. I was going to comment on BELAY but you beat me to it.
I liked Jeff's puzzle as I do most of his. But this one seemed quite hard. Had Lear (jet) before EBON. Didn't Shakespeare write about King Lear?
Funny that TEL AVIV and CABANAS were 2 columns apart.
I thought the cluing was superb.
Anon-T,
The Matrix had to be "the" classic mind blower of all time...
(until Inception came out...)
And is a classic example of (for, and against ) sequels...
Luckily, today we can microdose on these mindbenders via YouTube clips...
Which prompts me to ask, which movies did "you" find the most mindbending?
(personally, I am still obsessed with Cool Hand Luke as a rude awakening...)
The latest thing that bent me out of shape was a cult classic called The Cube.
Interesting, sucks you in, but the end is just as bad as the beginning...
Excellent puzzle. Usually Jeffery beats me, but not today. Love the gimmick, but didn't notice all of the theme answers were 4-letter words with the AR in the middle switched. Well done.
Lucina, thanks for asking about my hand. The gout is now gone, thanks in no small part to the almost miraculous healing power of cortisone, and I have regained about 94.73% functionality. Still a little bit more healing to go. I tell you, losing the use of one's dominant hand (pretty much the only thing I can do with my left hand is catch a baseball and hold my fork while cutting my food) has a huge negative effect on one's ability to take care of oneself, including cutting one's food. My wife, bless her heart, has been wonderfully supportive and patient.
Best wishes to you all.
CED - I was reluctant at first to watch the Matrix... Sandra Bullock's The Net and Aykroyd's [love him!] Sneakers came out in the same ERA. Those movies' premisees were dumb as s*** - technically (read - I couldn't suspend my disbelief wrt the dumb "hacking"
BullShi* to enjoy).
So, I thought WB was riding on those coat-tails with The Matrix. I finally watched it one Sat early afternoon at the insistence of a buddy; and then watched it 3 more times that day! The only other movies that bent my noodle were Clockwork Orange, Brazil, and every Python & Brooks film -- just the absurd/ unabashed humour of them will f-u-up.
BTW, If you're a fan of The Simpsons or NPR's Fresh Air - being 30 years is what they have in common [old interviews with the voice actors]. The Simpsons are funny as hell too, after the 3rd season. Cheers, -T
I been Ayn Randed, nearly branded
Communist, 'cause I'm left-handed
That's the hand I use, well, never mind
At the risk of over-posting today... LOL Argyle! {A+++}. Now, about that nap [MIL if you're reading, shut up - [[inside joke]]] -T
Forgive me for sounding like Horsack, but...
Ooh,Ooh,Ooh...!
Cabin In The Woods!
Please note,
I hate,(repeat,HATE) horror movies.
I believe they have no redeamable qualities whatsoever..
But!
Cabin in the woods is not your usual Horror movie...
1st, the characters are very (too much so) likable...
(you really want them to survive...)
2nd, Your mind will be blown wide open...
3rd, do not watch past 8 minutes of this clip if you don't like spoilers.
Cabin In The Woods...
P.S., did I mention I really hate Horror movies?
( well I used to...)
Good afternoon, everyone! I'm late today after attending two promotion ceremonies for my step-grandchildren. The first one, from 8th grade lasted a blessed 30 minutes but the 5th grade one dragged on for over an hour. A bit of organization would have helped. But I'm glad for the children. They enjoyed their few seconds in the limelight.
Then I came home to find a JW puzzle to redeem the day! Thank you, Jeffrey and Lemonade! This started as a difficult solve with much white after each pass, but once I saw the gimmick, the floodgates opened and I enjoyed it very much. WRAPSPEED and BRANRAISING unlocked it for me before I went BONKERS.
Sadly, though ALUI/BELAY proved to be Naticks for me. My sparse knowledge of French does include ICI so that survived but BIG NEWS failed to emerge and I had to seek help from Google. Sigh
OVERALL, I enjoyed this puzzle as I usually do all of JW's which require so much outside the box thinking.
Jayce, I'm so glad for you that your hand has healed and is now functional. I once helped a person who broke both wrists so I know what that means.
I hope your day has been joyful, everyone!
Misty, I also thought of you at AUSTRIA. And count me as one who has visited the square where Mozart's apartment is located and experienced a concert in Salzburg featuring his music.
It's been too long since I've been to Salzburg, Ol' Man Keith, so I don't remember if Mozart was born in a street (STRASSE) or alley (GASSE).
Lucina, your trip to Salzburg sounds wonderful!
@anon 3:15
You've put together a worthy strawman argument for a sophomore! Bravo!
When you actually pledge allegiance to the Republic and for the things it stands for, you know, without crossing your fingers behind yor back like certain people do, you understand not favoring one religion over another, is right there in the Constitution, Michelle Bachman notwithstanding.
I've lost my harmonica Albert.
Very late to the party today. I knew it wold be a challenge when I saw it was a Jeffrey Wechsler but it is Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
I got the theme with WRAPSPEED.
Hand up for Solid before VALID, and smiling at BAAED and WANGLES. I had Tenants before LESSEES.
We have had LAILA before but I had to Google her. (Maybe if I remember Layla it would help.)
I did not know BBL and wondered about this short form. One Google answer states: "The use of a blue barrel, abbreviated "bbl," guaranteed a buyer that this was a 42-gallon barrel." Learning moment.
I also did not understand the ISP clue. Perhaps net neutrality has not been as big an issue in Canada.
LOL to all who thought of Lear Jet instead of EBON. One of our constructors should use that!
Add me to the group that have stood in front of Mozart's house in Salzburg. But I went to the concert in Vienna. Wonderful trip. Yes, I thought of you too Misty.
Off to prepare for the holiday weekend. Canadians celebrate Victoria Day on Monday!! Fireworks to come.
CED - The Cabin looks very funny in a twisted way. The Cube on the other hand could use a human and two robots poking fun at it.
Speaking of MST3K, I just watched a movie so bad (Wizards of the Lost Kingdom), they had to make a sequel (with no connection to the 1st movie but had David Carradine in it); I watched that too. Robots required.
Jayce - You're a scientist - so you know bulls*** stats always end with .73% :-). Good to hear your hand is back at, um, er, hand. BTW, I heard an interview with CA seismologists on NPR last week and kept listening for your name... nope, but I thought of you.
C, Eh!
First I didn't know it was Blue Barrel; I thought it was just needing a TLA (Three Letter Acronym) for Barrel. Thanks.
OK, I wasn't going to say anything about the c/a for @31d re: ISP being a "beneficiary" of Net Neutrality because
//RANT: ITS JUST THE OPPOSITE! The ISPs fought against the carrier status of Title II so they can inject ads in our browsing [hey, don't want Facebook ads don't Facebook - ibid Google, Bing, Yahoo; BUT you can't not use the 1 ISP you get] and data mine us. The FCC just re-classed ISPs so they can profit 3-ways: selling us Internet-service, collecting our data to sell to advertisers, and force the likes of Netflix, et.al. to pay "extra" to deliver their content to us. Mind you, Netflix, et.al. pays at their end of the pipe for their Internet access already; now they'll have to pay 2x. Plus! We gave these wankers right of way and tax $$ to build their infrastructure... John Oliver put it best (and humorously) onLast Week Tonight [HBO: MA; PP].
To those who don't get it, the ISPs were already misbehaving before the rule change 18months ago. They will do it again and as much as you hate Comcast**, ATT**, et.al. now, under the new rules, you may never read this. //end rant.
Cheers, -T
*Possibly Political - Argyle's judgment awaits.
**Note: I have both because I can't be down
Thank you, CanadianEh! I love hearing about all these wonderful Salzburg trips!
My first theme solve was BRAN RAISING. I thought it came from RAISIN BRAN. So I was thinking the rule was more complex, involving switching words and adding a G! Anyone else?
Thanks, Anonymous and Anonymous T for the correction and rant about ISPs and Net Neutrality. More than just a nit.
By the way, it is not just ISPs that will slow down your connection if they don't like your content. My Web hosting service Yahoo did the same thing until the Better Business Bureau intervened.
Hand up for SOLID before VALID and LEAR before EBON. Needed crossing to determine it is CLANS not KLANS. Never remember ENA. Never read or saw Bambi.
Hand up for learning moment about true meaning of BELAY!
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