Theme: Mohr, Mohr, Mohr! On a scale of one to hard ...
35A. Gritty ... and a description of this puzzle, which is also a hint to completing eight answers : HARD-EDGED
1A. Angry Orchard product : [HARD] CIDER
6A. Bony part of the roof of the mouth : [HARD] PALATE
66A. Contacts option : [HARD] LENSES
67A. Punishing work : [HARD] LABOR
12D. Hockey puck material : [HARD] RUBBER
15D. Stubborn : [HARD] HEADED
38D. Real estate, gold, silver, etc. : [HARD] ASSETS
45D. Gotten with considerable effort : [HARD] EARNED
Fun puzzle! The penny finally dropped with the theme when I got to 15D.
I was grumpily thinking that "HEADED" is not a term I'd ever heard for being stubborn and then it all clicked. I try to avoid solving the reveal clue ahead of completing the rest of the grid; I like to try to figure the theme out as I go. Lots of goodies in the fill, so nice job all around by Gerry.
Let's have Roxy Music's cover of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" as the soundtrack for the rest of the commentary.
Across:
12. 1988 Schwarzenegger cop film : RED HEAT. I started off entering ROBOCOP but stopped short. Can't have "cop" in the answer if it's in the clue.
14. Put an end to : ABOLISH
16. Clears a stoppage from : UNCLOGS
17. Entertainer nicknamed "The Schnoz" : DURANTE. Jimmy had a strikingly large nose.
18. "Be Prepared" org. : BSA. Boy Scouts of America.
19. Party hearty : CAROUSE
21. Monterrey Mrs. : SRA. Señora in Mexico.
22. Outlying area, briefly : 'BURB
24. Whitman of TV's "Parenthood" : MAE. Thank you crosses.
25. Slightly : A TAD
26. Earth along the Elbe : ERDE. German. Per Wikipedia "Die Erde ist der dichteste, fünftgrößte und der Sonne drittnächste Planet des Sonnensystems."
27. Lyric tribute : ODE
29. French course : SALADE. Food! Fun.
31. Score silence : REST
32. Guideline : RULE
34. Spot for wheels? : CAR AD. Nice clue/answer combo.
38. "... __ lovely as ... ": Kilmer : A POEM
41. European volcano : ETNA
42. Seis doubled : DOCE. Español. I took my first Spanish language class last week. I can speak menu Spanish, but I thought it would be nice to be able to actually converse beyond "buenos dias", "adiosbb " and "uno mas cerveza, por favor."
46. Beat the bushes : SEARCH
48. Note site : PAD
49. Exploring Griffith Park, say : IN LA. Griffith Park is my go-to local hiking spot. I took this picture of what is known locally as "The Wishing Tree" last Sunday at the top of the Cahuenga Pass in the park. It's about a 1,000 ft hike/scramble to get up there.
50. Sushi bar drink : SAKE. I had sake on Tuesday with my sushi. I keep a bottle in the refrigerator.
51. __-Locka, Florida : OPA. This reminds me of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" when I see this word. Opa!
53. Not e'en once : NE'ER
54. Terrestrial newt : EFT. I tried ERT first, for no good reason whatsoever.
55. Hammer at an angle : TOENAIL. This is a new expression for me. Here's toenailing in action:
59. Sun shade : TAN
60. Destructive storm : TORNADO
62. Agenda opener : ITEM ONE
64. Administer an oath to : SWEAR IN
65. Made do : MANAGED
Down:
1. Official rebuke : CENSURE
2. Security issues? : ID CARDS. I just got a new one for NBC Universal, one of my clients. I was hoping it would get me into the theme park; sadly it just gets me access to the lot and a bunch of office buildings. Boo.
3. FedEx alternative : DHL. Could have been UPS. Wasn't.
4. Anti-discrimination org. : E.E.O.C.
5. Musical style of Anoushka Shankar's 2015 album "Home" : RAGA. They play this all the time in the Indian market that I shop at. She's a very talented sitar player.
6. City near Venice : PADUA
7. Mistreats : ABUSES
8. Traditional accounts : LORE
9. Chef's phrase : A LA. Here is Sushi A La Steve which I made earlier this week. I popped into the Japanese market in downtown LA for a couple of things, then saw they had some super-good-looking yellowtail and hamachi, so Sushi Tuesday it was.
10. Sheriff's badge : TIN STAR
11. "CHiPs" actor : ESTRADA. I heard that the recent movie remake was absolutely dreadful.
13. Original Dungeons & Dragons co. : T.S.R. Really? How absolutely fascinating. Next.
20. Breakfast cookware : OMELET PAN. Not me, my breakfast cookware is a coffee machine.
23. "Don't forget our date" : BE THERE
25. "Arabian Nights" character : ALADDIN. I must remember that he is not spelled "ALLADIN". It looks wrong across the page, I didn't catch the mistake as it's running vertically downwards.
27. Hockey immortal : ORR
28. Guy : DUDE
30. Breeze through : ACE
33. Author Ferber : EDNA
36. "Better Call Saul" network : AMC
37. Wander : GAD
39. Pheasant kin : PEAFOWL. Noisy, too. Steve Jobs got a small flock as a gift when he lived next door to Larry Ellison. Ellison pleaded with him to find them a new home, they were ruining his Zen moments.
40. Yellow ribbon holder of song : OAK TREE. You can go and find the song yourself if you need a reminder of how sappy it is. Maybe it was only an irritant in the UK.
43. "Almost finished!" : ONE TO GO!
44. Pledge, e.g. : CLEANER. Nice misdirection.
47. Identity-concealing garb, perhaps : HOODIE
52. Lowly workers : PEONS
55. Completes a street : TARS. Still not quite complete. You need to paint the road markings.
56. Purpose : AIM
57. Tilted type: Abbr. : ITAL.
58. "Not That Kind of Girl" memoirist Dunham : LENA
61. Indian bread : NAN. I gave up trying to make these at home. You need a tandoor or an oven that gets up to around 800F.
63. Shakespeare's fairy queen : MAB
35A. Gritty ... and a description of this puzzle, which is also a hint to completing eight answers : HARD-EDGED
1A. Angry Orchard product : [HARD] CIDER
6A. Bony part of the roof of the mouth : [HARD] PALATE
66A. Contacts option : [HARD] LENSES
67A. Punishing work : [HARD] LABOR
12D. Hockey puck material : [HARD] RUBBER
15D. Stubborn : [HARD] HEADED
38D. Real estate, gold, silver, etc. : [HARD] ASSETS
45D. Gotten with considerable effort : [HARD] EARNED
Fun puzzle! The penny finally dropped with the theme when I got to 15D.
I was grumpily thinking that "HEADED" is not a term I'd ever heard for being stubborn and then it all clicked. I try to avoid solving the reveal clue ahead of completing the rest of the grid; I like to try to figure the theme out as I go. Lots of goodies in the fill, so nice job all around by Gerry.
Let's have Roxy Music's cover of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" as the soundtrack for the rest of the commentary.
Across:
12. 1988 Schwarzenegger cop film : RED HEAT. I started off entering ROBOCOP but stopped short. Can't have "cop" in the answer if it's in the clue.
14. Put an end to : ABOLISH
16. Clears a stoppage from : UNCLOGS
17. Entertainer nicknamed "The Schnoz" : DURANTE. Jimmy had a strikingly large nose.
18. "Be Prepared" org. : BSA. Boy Scouts of America.
19. Party hearty : CAROUSE
21. Monterrey Mrs. : SRA. Señora in Mexico.
22. Outlying area, briefly : 'BURB
24. Whitman of TV's "Parenthood" : MAE. Thank you crosses.
25. Slightly : A TAD
26. Earth along the Elbe : ERDE. German. Per Wikipedia "Die Erde ist der dichteste, fünftgrößte und der Sonne drittnächste Planet des Sonnensystems."
27. Lyric tribute : ODE
29. French course : SALADE. Food! Fun.
31. Score silence : REST
32. Guideline : RULE
34. Spot for wheels? : CAR AD. Nice clue/answer combo.
38. "... __ lovely as ... ": Kilmer : A POEM
41. European volcano : ETNA
42. Seis doubled : DOCE. Español. I took my first Spanish language class last week. I can speak menu Spanish, but I thought it would be nice to be able to actually converse beyond "buenos dias", "adiosbb " and "uno mas cerveza, por favor."
46. Beat the bushes : SEARCH
48. Note site : PAD
49. Exploring Griffith Park, say : IN LA. Griffith Park is my go-to local hiking spot. I took this picture of what is known locally as "The Wishing Tree" last Sunday at the top of the Cahuenga Pass in the park. It's about a 1,000 ft hike/scramble to get up there.
50. Sushi bar drink : SAKE. I had sake on Tuesday with my sushi. I keep a bottle in the refrigerator.
51. __-Locka, Florida : OPA. This reminds me of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" when I see this word. Opa!
53. Not e'en once : NE'ER
54. Terrestrial newt : EFT. I tried ERT first, for no good reason whatsoever.
55. Hammer at an angle : TOENAIL. This is a new expression for me. Here's toenailing in action:
59. Sun shade : TAN
60. Destructive storm : TORNADO
62. Agenda opener : ITEM ONE
64. Administer an oath to : SWEAR IN
65. Made do : MANAGED
Down:
1. Official rebuke : CENSURE
2. Security issues? : ID CARDS. I just got a new one for NBC Universal, one of my clients. I was hoping it would get me into the theme park; sadly it just gets me access to the lot and a bunch of office buildings. Boo.
3. FedEx alternative : DHL. Could have been UPS. Wasn't.
4. Anti-discrimination org. : E.E.O.C.
5. Musical style of Anoushka Shankar's 2015 album "Home" : RAGA. They play this all the time in the Indian market that I shop at. She's a very talented sitar player.
6. City near Venice : PADUA
7. Mistreats : ABUSES
8. Traditional accounts : LORE
9. Chef's phrase : A LA. Here is Sushi A La Steve which I made earlier this week. I popped into the Japanese market in downtown LA for a couple of things, then saw they had some super-good-looking yellowtail and hamachi, so Sushi Tuesday it was.
10. Sheriff's badge : TIN STAR
11. "CHiPs" actor : ESTRADA. I heard that the recent movie remake was absolutely dreadful.
13. Original Dungeons & Dragons co. : T.S.R. Really? How absolutely fascinating. Next.
20. Breakfast cookware : OMELET PAN. Not me, my breakfast cookware is a coffee machine.
23. "Don't forget our date" : BE THERE
25. "Arabian Nights" character : ALADDIN. I must remember that he is not spelled "ALLADIN". It looks wrong across the page, I didn't catch the mistake as it's running vertically downwards.
27. Hockey immortal : ORR
28. Guy : DUDE
30. Breeze through : ACE
33. Author Ferber : EDNA
36. "Better Call Saul" network : AMC
37. Wander : GAD
39. Pheasant kin : PEAFOWL. Noisy, too. Steve Jobs got a small flock as a gift when he lived next door to Larry Ellison. Ellison pleaded with him to find them a new home, they were ruining his Zen moments.
40. Yellow ribbon holder of song : OAK TREE. You can go and find the song yourself if you need a reminder of how sappy it is. Maybe it was only an irritant in the UK.
43. "Almost finished!" : ONE TO GO!
44. Pledge, e.g. : CLEANER. Nice misdirection.
47. Identity-concealing garb, perhaps : HOODIE
52. Lowly workers : PEONS
55. Completes a street : TARS. Still not quite complete. You need to paint the road markings.
56. Purpose : AIM
57. Tilted type: Abbr. : ITAL.
58. "Not That Kind of Girl" memoirist Dunham : LENA
61. Indian bread : NAN. I gave up trying to make these at home. You need a tandoor or an oven that gets up to around 800F.
63. Shakespeare's fairy queen : MAB
"O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman ...."
So says Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet.
And so says Steve - here's the grid!
Adios!
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Barry G, who used to post on our blog faithfully when he worked at home. How are you doing, Barry? We miss you!
July 2, 2016
38 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Gerry and Steve!
Lots of theme clues for a non-Sunday!
Had trouble with RED HEAT, EEOC, TSR (what does it stand for?) and PEAFOWL.
No cheats.
Have a great day!
Got the theme from hard-HEADED, the only one of the octet that didn't make sense without the adjective, and it helped me get a couple of others I hadn't gotten to yet. When I did get to the reveal, I had a hard time figuring out HARDED _ED.
TOE NAIL was a pun, wasn't it? I know "toe-in" to describe something held at an angle, but never heard that sense of it together with NAIL!
{B-, C+.}
ALADDIN is rowdy, he likes to CAROUSE,
To ABOLISH the RULES, to sing and to shout!
The ear he ABUSES
With SWEARIN' he uses,
Like noisy TORNADO is A LAD's DIN in the house!
This is A POEM LOVELY AS a TOE NAIL!
Those ADS on T.V. show up without fail
To hype fungus CLEANERS
And ruin my dinners
By disgusting my PALATE with CENSORIOUS detail!
Good morning!
I really liked this semi-[HARD] puzzle, even though I screwed it up. I put Arnie in that classic movie, REDHEAD. Bzzzzzt! Dnf! Thanks, Gerry.
And thank you, Steve, especially for 'splainin' CARAD, which I totally failed to parse. I wish I'd known about Ellison's PEAFOWL problems. I would have bought a few more for Steve Jobs.
HBD, Barry G, wherever you are.
Didn't like this one until I read Steve's explanation of the theme. OH - Prefix "hard" to the others! Now I like it, although like DO I wanted the forgettable movie to be RED HEAd, my only bad cell. Natick when crossed with TSR.
Do they finish roads with tar anymore? I don't remember seeing a tar road surface in the last 50 years.
Erased aPA Loca and, like Steve, ALlaDIN. Owen, TOE NAIL is a common construction practice. Not strong, but quick and easy.
Thanks, Gerry, for a Thursday CW that was only a little over my head. And Steve, your explanation greatly improved my attiude. Thanks.
Happy birthday, Barry G! I hope you lurk once in a while.
Gerry Wildenberg usually beats me to a pulp but this time I partly managed to get on his wave length, east, SE and SW as well as central. The NW gave me fits. I didn't know REDHEAT and like Steve almost had Robocop but knew cop wouldn't do. So I waited and CIDER took a long time to emerge as did CENSURE and IDCARDS.
I wasn't sure about RUBBER but it was a logical guess. And I had BURG not BURB. GET HERE seemed apt for the clue.
My German is improving. I recalled ERDE.
Thank your, GW for a good challenge and Steve for an illuminating commentary. Congratulations on your foray into Spanish. Remember adjective agreement: una mas cerveza.
Have a special day, everyone! It's back to bed for me.
Jinx in Norfolk:
Here in AZ most freeways are being rubberized with material made from old tires. It's wonderfully quiet!
TSR. Tactical Studies Rules
Looked it up.
How did I GET HERE, I should BE THERE!
They still use tar to seal the cracks in the macadam.
Musings
-RED HEAT, DHL, RAGA and TSR gave me a HARD TIME but surrendered.
-Elvis sang of a HARD HEADED Woman (1:54)
-In what movie did a disgusted Gary Cooper reach up and throw his TIN STAR into the dirt?
-The PEAFOWL have the run of Omaha’s Zoo
-My HOODIE has felt good on these chilly mornings
-DURANTE: – “Good night Mrs. Calabash, where ever you are”. Me: Happy Birthday Barry, where ever you are”
Not that easy. I was surprised to see CIDER, all perps. DUH. I was looking for something more esoteric. Sussing cider early would have made that corner less difficult. I still missed by one cell, REDHEAD instead of REDHEAT. I didn't know TSR. It seems others had the same bad cell. In retrospect, it should not have been difficult at all, except for that one cell.
I guessed TOE NAIL by relating it to TOE IN wheel alignment.
I didn't stop to think, but now realize that the last layer is asphalt, not tar. As Argyle said they still use tar as a sealer of cracks. Here in the BURBs residential side streets do not get lines or stripes.
I didn't take time to see how HARD fit in, so I wrinkled my nose at HEADED, but kept it in.
Thanks for the fine puzzle, Gerry and for the fine expo, Steve.
Good morning everyone.
Tough but doable solve today. Didn't fully suss the theme to the extent Steve did, but did enough to get through. Wondered what a CARAD was. Oh, CAR AD; d'uh. Was hung up in the NW for awhile choosing between unplugs and UNCLOGS. ID CARDS fixed that.
Earth - ERDE. (feminine). L. German Eerd, Dutch aard.
Noted Steve's Wiki quote: 'densest, fifth largest, and third closest planet to the sun in the solar system.'
Have a great day.
It is not just the HARD, it is HARD EDGED. All the them answers appear on the edges of the grid. Very skillfully assembled.
Thanks Steve and Gerry.
TSR - In the pre-Windows days TSR meant "terminate and stay resident". A program would run and end, but it would leave code that could be triggered by targeted events. "Hot keys" in Windows, like ctrl+C for copy, are similar to the functions implemented in DOS with TSRs. We used a product called "Sidekick" which allowed an advanced user to do some pretty amazing things to overcome the simplistic nature of DOS. Like most of the current Office products, I managed to use about 10% of the software's capabilities.
Lemony, I missed the theme TWICE!!! Its even better than I thought. Hope you are feeling better, Bud.
Good morning all
Phew! What a crunchy workout from Gerry. As usual, I had the reveal answer early but not until HEADED did I understand the theme. It just seemed incomplete, so I kept at it until the ta-da! moment. Very clever- thanks Gerry for keeping me on my toes!
Thanks, Steve for guiding us along. Lots of Food! in this one for you. Kudos to you for taking the Spanish classes. I really need to learn more myself, since DH and I travel to Mexico twice a year. He's pretty good at it and it helps tremendously. But I'd like to be able to converse on my own without his help. There are classes being offered at a local "Adult Continuing Education Center" that I'm considering. They also have an online course, which I'm leaning towards so I don't have to drive to the campus.
Thank you perps for BSA (doh! Should have known this) MAE, ERDE, APOEM, PADUA, PEAFOWL and MAB . Shakespeare characters often elude me. This one caused my biggest problem : I had Step One for "Agenda Opener" which made MAB >Pab . Looked ok to me. With Use for AIM and knowing the T and E from 57&58 D were correct, Step One seemed correct until I got to "Made Do". Finally MANAGED to get ITEMONE filled in correctly :)
Happy Birthday, Barry G! Hope you have a fabulous day and check in soon.
Misty- how's Dusty doing? I was thinking of him yesterday. He popped in my head for some read when I realized that it was the fifth anniversary of the day we got Albus. This reminds me that I finally may have figured out what mixed breed Albus is ( his past is a mystery as well as his age since we got him from someone that got him from a shelter that had no info on him) . I stumbled across this picture of a Shih Tzu/Pekingese mix. This little gal could be his twin sister minus the dress, lol and we keep his beard and ears trimmed shorter than that. Dusty is a dachshund, correct? Their long backs, like Albus' can contribute to back issues unfortunately. Hope he's doing better!
Hope everyone has a wonderful day and the weather where you are is as lovely as it is here!
Ok. Before I read the write-up, 38d,66a,12d,15d,45d,67a. That's six. 46a?
I'll go back to the write-up now.
WC, early for a change
Definitely a tough one,
Had to fight for every letter...
Happy Birthday Barry! Where are you?
I ran across this video/song today,
Music is ok, not great, can't figure out why I like it so much...
Splynter, what do you think?
Well lemonade provided the final clue. I had CIDER right off the bat but it didn't mesh with UPS and ACLU. So I looked for a solid and found Jimmy DURANTE.
I had a lovely earworm except it was being sung by JD.
Kindergarten COP also wasn't gonna work. Nor was PEACOCK. EFT and ORR are xw staples. I approve of Hockey Immortal as a clue for ORR.
This was an old fashioned Thursday toughie. Fair. Steve I enjoyed the explanation.
I remember when Barry had to leave us, Happy birthday DUDE.
WC
What a nice puzzle! And of course a great write-up by Steve. Couldn't figure Arnold in a movie Redhead..and an alpha run lead to Redheat which was still an unknown but sounded plausible. TSR was all perps. Same for Mae, erde and Mab. Put in ent for eft and didn't fix so no tada. Toenail was a learning moment. Like others, Headed gave me the theme but I'd filled in most of the puzzle by then. And...sake is the Japanese word for liquor. What we call sake..rice wine.. is nihonshu or seishu. Have a great Thursday everyone! JB2
I keep forgetting. Owen, you have two grades: fantastic, awesome, incredible eg almost all your l'icks. Then there's the 10%: Those are the B's.
I got so far behind after my Saturday malaise that my posts were in the late night gloaming.
I posted at midnight after a 30-30 on Boston College. Three of us know the truth: one's deceased and I haven't seen Jerry in 20 years.
WC
Just a quick reminisce to yesterday,
I have been playing the motorcycle video over and over
to the LSD soundtrack. (it works best when synced at 6 minutes.)
That I decided I want to learn how to play it on piano.
I know we have lots of (retired) teachers on the Blog,
and thought you might be interested in this clip
that combines two videos into a format that might actually
be able to teach how to play piano!
Here goes!
(note: for non-musicians, the full speed version is at around 9 minutes...)
Btw Husker Gary:. That would be High Noon
There's a book out about HN being a metaphor for the McCarthy witch-hunt for which the director was blacklisted.
Also re. Bob Dylan: There's a musical in the works with Dylan soundtracks.
WC
Thanks, Gerry, for a fun-themed puzzle. Well done! Once ACLU was removed and EEOC put in, the NW fell together nicely!
Thanks, Steve, for a fine write-up. Glad you got some FOOD! words today. Nice pic of the Park!
Good Morning:
Well, this was a bit of struggle but, after a few miscues, got the tada. Hand up for Unplugs/Unclogs, Peacock/Peafowl, and Burg/Burb. Perps saved the day in several places and the reveal was a nice Aha moment. Toenail, as clued, was unknown to me.
Nicely done, Gerry, and nicely explained, Steve.
Happy Birthday, Barry G., we miss you! 🎂🎁🎉🎈🍾
BunnyM, you made my day with that adorable picture. I can see why you fell in love with Albus.
I fell asleep watching my recording of Broadchurch, so I'll have to start it all over again.
Lucina, I think your SIM card instructions yesterday were meant for PK. I'm probably the only person on the planet who is sans a cell phone.
I believe we're in for rain, hotter temps and humidity over the next several days. Oh, joy!
Have a great day.
IrishMiss:
Oops. I'm sorry.
PK:
I hope you saw that. The SIM card goes into your printer.
Ta-DA! - with only one lookup.
I didn't know TOENAIL was the term used to angle a nail. Another learning moment...
Thank you, Mr. Wildenburg.
All good wishes to Barry G. Thanks to C.C. for reminding us of his b-day.
Irish Miss re. call phone. Nope, me too. That's two people on the planet...
I enjoyed seeing some of our well-wishers to Barry ending their messages with "Wherever you are."
That's a subtle homage to the "Great Schnoz," Mr. Jimmy Durante, who never failed to end his shows (both live and on TV) with a doff of his hat and the valediction,"Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, where-EVAH you are!"
Very smooth once I got out of the NW. Since it was a Thursday, I allowed a few partial answers until I knew the them. Enjoyed the solve.
Well, this was a real Thursday toughie for me, and in the end I cheated and still got a number of things wrong--aaarrrgghh. Many were the same as your problems, Fermatprime. Not your fault, Gerry, and once Steve explained the reveal and those theme answers on the edges of the puzzle, I was really impressed with the structure of it. So thank you, both, and don't pay any attention to my griping. And, Steve, I always love getting a bit of Shakespeare in the write-up--thanks for that too.
Another tough day when I smelled strong smoke in our entry at bedtime last night. Went outside where it was very strong and called a neighbor, who smelled it too. At supper time, this would probably be a neighbor barbecuing, but rarely at bedtime. Got a message from the Fire department number asking for name and phone number and a promise to return a call. My neighbor had better luck with the Police department, who told her there was a huge fire south of us at Camp Pendleton, and that the wind was blowing the smoke up north. Big relief, that finally let me get to sleep.
Bunny M, how kind of you to ask about Dusty, who is doing much better. He had a pretty normal day yesterday, and seems a little slower today, but still okay. So I'm thinking and hoping that the worst is over. And, my goodness, your little Albus is just adorable! What a lucky sweetie, to have found such a loving home with you!
Have a good day, everybody, and lets hope all those fires come to an end.
Wow, a real toughie for a Thursday. Got the solve but my grid looks like my pen threw up. Never even saw the theme.
I've been doing the puzzles but haven't had anything to add to the conversations so I haven't commented. Today, however, was a total bust for me. I had 5 answers, nothing worked with them, came here and found that four of them were wrong. That put me in the wrong frame of mind to finish. I tried, but not too hard. Thanks,Gerry, for the challenge. Thanks, Steve, for explaining it to me.
Nit:62a itemONE and 43d ONEtogo.
Hope you all have a great day.
Happy Birthday, Barry G!
Thanks, Lemon, I missed that wrinkle in the theme.
Happy Birthday Barry!
Cool puzzle. I liked it.
Hi All!
I needed one lookup to keep playing in the south. I had -PA and thought sPA-LOCKA, FL but didn't like -sODI- as a perp [I want'd Groucho-glasses or something for 47d; the cheat gave me HOODIE and I could build SEARCH et.al. from there]. I Googled and found a spa in OPA-LOCKA :-)
Thanks Gerry for a fun puzzle. I played on-and-off while at the office and finally finished the SE at the Dr.'s office.
Thanks for the expo Steve. I read you and the Cornerites while waiting on the Dr. I waited 'till I got home to listen to Roxy Music's version. Question: How did you learn to make sushi. I love it but would a) be too afraid to get the wrong fish [I assume the local HEB doesn't have sushi-grade (?)] b) not have a clue how to cut it up. We picked up some beautiful Japanese dippin'-dishes in SFO that I was only going to use when we have take-out or for dipping bread into balsamic & oil.
Re: theme. I was bone-HEADED! I had HARD E --ED and was thinking 8 words had 'y' sounding E's in theme. Maybe SALAD-E is one :-). Thanks Steve and Lem for smacking me w/ the V8! Now I see the brilliance in Gerry's offering.
WOs: CENcURE is how I thought it spelt until a kind BSA member pointed out my err.; USE b/f AIM @56d. Hand-up ACLU was messing up my CIDaR [sic]
ESPs: ERDE, GAD, EDNA, MAB, PEAF OWL [I was looking for some type of OWL when I had ---F OWL :-)
Fav:: EDNA xing ETNA. I just thought it cute.
Runner up: TSR (nailed it w/ the S) - y'all know this nerd rolled 12d for hit-points :-)
{B,B+}
Happy Birthday Barry! Check in once in a bit if you're still lurking.
Cheers, -T
Hi Y'all! Good one, Gerry, but HARD. Thanks, Steve.
I'm so proud, after much study when finished, I not only got the theme, but saw the EDGED part around the perimeter. Woohoo!
I also fell into most of the word potholes everybody else had before red-letters rescued me.
On the farm we had neighbors about half a mile away who not only raised hogs which were noxious when the wind blew wrong, but had PEAFOWL. They were loudest at dawn in nice weather with the windows open when we were trying to grab a few extra minutes of sleep. They liked to strut around on a by-road and couldn't be moved aside by honking. Irritated area residents nudged them with their bumpers a little too HARD and no more screeching at dawn. (I didn't do it.)
Stormy night. Three hours of hard rain this morning. No wind or hail, thank heavens. Slept all afternoon.
Happy Birthday, Barry! Hope it's a Barry nice day!
Lucina, yes, I got the message yesterday. I'm flattered to be mistaken for IM. I still can't find a sim card on my phone and can't get the back off to look inside. The back has fallen off twice when dropped in the past and I had to put the battery back in. Don't remember seeing any card. I do know what they look like. I haven't taken many pictures with the phone because the images are too small for my eyes.
Happy Birthday to Barry, and greetings to all!
Once again, I missed the theme connection until the very end, but when I finally got it, I had to marvel at the skillful construction. Like others have mentioned, the crossing of RED HEAT and TSR was the last cell to fill, and required an alphabet run to do so. Loved the clues/answers "Spot for wheels?" for CAR AD and "Security issues?" for ID CARDS. Thanks for the expo Steve, and for sharing your photos of Griffith Park and sushi, both lovely.
Enjoy!
Hand up that RED HEAD/DSR seemed just as valid. Unfair!
Too bad the fun was spoiled by this Natick as the rest of the puzzle indeed was enjoyable!
I fell for the false diversion to ROBOCOP, but I remembered that I had watched that film before 1988. Plus the fact that COP could not be in the clue and in the answer.
Interesting that some of you fellow solvers avoid looking for the reveal. I make a point of scanning the clues first for a reveal. I am guessing that is what the constructor intends?
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