Theme: My advice to you is to start drinking heavily ...
63A. 1978 misfit comedy ... and something hidden in each answer to a starred clue : ANIMAL HOUSE
And thus we find:
17A. *Felt-covered gaming equipment : CRAPS TABLES. I think this is pretty cool - have you ever tried to play Craps on an unstable table? Usually for-charity fun, but I like the solid lean-on-with-the-elbows tables in Vegas. I usually don't like the eventual outcome.
39A. *What may be moved by a fan : COOL AIR. I had my A/C replaced last month. Now I have cool air, not hot and humid air. Came at a price, but I'm not complaining.
11D. *Dr Pepper Museum locale : WACO, TEXAS Thank you, crosses. TEXAS emerged pretty quickly, WACO took a while due to some half-a**ed attempts at 19A and 22A that were so off the mark I can't even remember what I was thinking.
32D. *Result of a Merlot mishap : WINE STAIN. Fun clue. Cabernet catastrophe? Pinot ... ?
Darn, I wish I thought of this theme. Acrosses, downs, a theme reveal and all sorts of fun in the fill. Agnes (aka Irish Miss) takes the lead role in this collaboration with C.C. I ran through this one counter-clockwise and finally ended up at CON. A circuitous route indeed.
I'm coming off ten days of antibiotics due to some dental scraping and poking and not a glass of wine to be seen, so tonight is my first-thought theme night. I'll go lightly though.
Let's take a tour:
Across:
1. Held in check : AT BAY. Took my check? eBay.
6. Spot for a Fitbit : WRIST. My wrist usually sports a Koa wood and titanium bracelet from Hawaii which was given to me as a birthday gift when I was on Maui. I love it.
11. Practical joker : WAG
14. __ diem : CARPE. I can't see this without remembering Robin Williams in "The Dead Poets' Society".
15. Shade-loving ornamental : HOSTA
16. Polished off : ATE
19. Hoodwink : CON
20. Reality TV host Mike : ROWE. He also narrates "Deadliest Catch". With a great theme song. Mike is a talented dude.
21. Fit to __ : A TEE. Speaking of which, The Open Championship tees off today. Any early picks for the winner? I'm torn.
22. Grey Goose rival : STOLI. Super-minor grump, but "Stoli" is not the name of the vodka, it's an affectionate moniker. If I'm in a bar, I'd be offered "Goose" or "Stoli". Actually, let's elevate this to a minor grump because I took the clue literally and tried to make "Siroc" work. B-Minus.
24. Coca-Cola Company headquarters : ATLANTA
26. Seuss' shelled reptile : TERTLE Thank you, crosses. Update: YERTLE
27. Daughter of Michelle and Barack : SASHA. First Daughter?
29. "Hard __!": sailor's cry : A-LEE! Shorthand for "We're toast! Put the stern into the wind and hope that we don't take the mast off with a gybe!" Bon Chance.
30. Not as many : FEWER. Quick! Supermarket checkout - Ten Items or ...... which? Less? Fewer?
33. Team on the field : OXEN. My high school soccer team. We were slow.
35. Midterm, e.g. : EXAM
38. NPR's Shapiro : ARI
42. Bio stat : AGE
43. Grammy : NANA. Not a music award? Dang!
45. UPS driver's assignments : RTES. Splynter and my brother know all about these.
46. Match play? : ARSON. Fun clue
48. Nights before : EVES - Christmas, New Year - more fun than the actual holiday
50. Home of Aleppo : SYRIA
52. Where to find wheels and deals : CASINO. Roulette wheels and card dealers. I know a bartender at the Universal City Hilton who was a dealer in Las Vegas. He keeps a deck of cards under the counter. Ask him to deal you a flush, or a pair, or an Ace-King and off he goes. Amazing.
54. Capelike garments : PONCHOS
58. Collar attachment : ID TAG. Pooches, not combatants.
59. Jessica of "Hitchcock" : BIEL
61. ATM output : CASH. Beats the "Insufficent Funds" receipt.
62. Tazo product : TEA. Starbucks, I think? Tea, not Coffee.
66. Nutmeg State collegian : ELI. Yale, in Connecticut. Which I now learn is the "Nutmeg State". Excuse me while I read the fascinating story of this nickname.
67. Big dos : GALAS. Darn! Tried "FETES", wasn't.
68. Ancient Anatolian region : IONIA
69. Rubio's title: Abbr. : SEN.
70. Foe : ENEMY
71. Type in : ENTER
Down:
1. African capital near the prime meridian : ACCRA. 350-odd miles away, close enough:
2. Fortune-teller? : TAROT. I had a set in my younger days. Wrapped the deck in purple silk as per instructions. Smoked some weed. Put Pink Floyd or Genesis on the record deck. Told fortunes. Was wrong. Don't underestimate the experts (equally wrong).
3. Barroom mix-up : BRAWL. Now you're talking. An Irish tradition. Two of my uncles had a minor contretemps at my Dad's wake. Blows were not quite (quite!) struck.
4. Pacify : APPEASE. See above. Two minutes later, all was forgotten.
5. "That's right" : YES!
6. "Too funny!" : WHAT A HOOT!
7. Loungewear item : ROBE. Not me. Hugh Hefner?
8. Man or Manhattan : ISLE. How do you spell "heeeehuuughhhhhhh maybe?" Manhattan Island. Isle of Man. I know they're both "Isles" but ach - let's let this one go.
9. Jeanne d'Arc, e.g.: Abbr. : STE. If she was a man, she'd be Jean D'Arc and an St. I'm watching the Tour de France at the moment while I'm on the treadmill for inspiration - what a beautiful country.
10. Top of a cornstalk : TASSEL. Had the British TASSLE/TASSEL conflict. Guessed right.
12. Ring-shaped coral reef : ATOLL
13. Garage door opener brand : GENIE. Open, Sesame! And put some lox and cream cheese on that sesame bagel. And some red onions while you're about it. And a slice of tomato. Oh, and some scrambled eggs and chopped scallions on the plate. Can I get some black pepper please? Finally, breakfast is served. Food! Oh - where's my coffee?
18. Puddies, to Tweety : TATS. I tawt ....
23. Family __ : TREE
25. Certain undercover cop : NARC
26. Golfer Tseng who's the youngest player to win five major championships : TANI. Update: YANI. crosses, thank you. Here she is, the immensely-talented golfer:
28. Car bars : AXLES. Fun clue.
30. One of the faithful : FAN. I'm a Chelsea fan, I'm not sure I'm one of a few these days, but back in the 70's there were a hardcore few of us watching a losing team in the rain at the wrong end of the Fulham Road. I think the Dog Track that surrounded the pitch made more money than the professional soccer team. How times change.
31. Reliever's stat : ERA. Hey C.C!
34. "Piece of cake!" : EASY PEASY! Lemon Squeezy!
36. Gone by : AGO
37. Popes and cardinals, but not nuns : MEN
40. Approximately : OR SO
41. Drops from above : RAIN
44. Nike competitor : AVIA
47. Rocky in a Beatles title : RACCOON. OK. A throwaway song? There were plenty, for all the adoration the Beatles attracted.
49. Captivate : ENGAGE
51. Get moving : ROLL
52. Quotes : CITES. I've been writing some academic papers recently. I'm really quite done with citations. I never want to see the APA Publication Guide again in my life. Really.
53. Simpson of fashion : ADELE.
55. Place to hang : HAUNT
56. Actor Davis : OSSIE
57. Shave, as sheep : SHEAR. Complete the first part of this joke:
...
...
Wow, mate, back in NZ we shear our sheep!!
Nah mate, here in Oz we're got plenty for one each!
Badaboom. I'm here all week.
59. Anger : BILE
60. Muslim holy man : IMAM
64. Chicken vindaloo go-with : NAN. Food! Near and dear to my heart, I can't not post a picture:
65. Make tracks, old-style : HIE
Blog? Check.
Grid? Check.
Theme Expo? Check.
Steve? Hasta Proxima Semana! Homework done? Check!
63A. 1978 misfit comedy ... and something hidden in each answer to a starred clue : ANIMAL HOUSE
And thus we find:
17A. *Felt-covered gaming equipment : CRAPS TABLES. I think this is pretty cool - have you ever tried to play Craps on an unstable table? Usually for-charity fun, but I like the solid lean-on-with-the-elbows tables in Vegas. I usually don't like the eventual outcome.
39A. *What may be moved by a fan : COOL AIR. I had my A/C replaced last month. Now I have cool air, not hot and humid air. Came at a price, but I'm not complaining.
11D. *Dr Pepper Museum locale : WACO, TEXAS Thank you, crosses. TEXAS emerged pretty quickly, WACO took a while due to some half-a**ed attempts at 19A and 22A that were so off the mark I can't even remember what I was thinking.
32D. *Result of a Merlot mishap : WINE STAIN. Fun clue. Cabernet catastrophe? Pinot ... ?
Darn, I wish I thought of this theme. Acrosses, downs, a theme reveal and all sorts of fun in the fill. Agnes (aka Irish Miss) takes the lead role in this collaboration with C.C. I ran through this one counter-clockwise and finally ended up at CON. A circuitous route indeed.
I'm coming off ten days of antibiotics due to some dental scraping and poking and not a glass of wine to be seen, so tonight is my first-thought theme night. I'll go lightly though.
Let's take a tour:
Across:
1. Held in check : AT BAY. Took my check? eBay.
6. Spot for a Fitbit : WRIST. My wrist usually sports a Koa wood and titanium bracelet from Hawaii which was given to me as a birthday gift when I was on Maui. I love it.
11. Practical joker : WAG
14. __ diem : CARPE. I can't see this without remembering Robin Williams in "The Dead Poets' Society".
15. Shade-loving ornamental : HOSTA
16. Polished off : ATE
19. Hoodwink : CON
20. Reality TV host Mike : ROWE. He also narrates "Deadliest Catch". With a great theme song. Mike is a talented dude.
21. Fit to __ : A TEE. Speaking of which, The Open Championship tees off today. Any early picks for the winner? I'm torn.
22. Grey Goose rival : STOLI. Super-minor grump, but "Stoli" is not the name of the vodka, it's an affectionate moniker. If I'm in a bar, I'd be offered "Goose" or "Stoli". Actually, let's elevate this to a minor grump because I took the clue literally and tried to make "Siroc" work. B-Minus.
24. Coca-Cola Company headquarters : ATLANTA
26. Seuss' shelled reptile : TERTLE Thank you, crosses. Update: YERTLE
27. Daughter of Michelle and Barack : SASHA. First Daughter?
29. "Hard __!": sailor's cry : A-LEE! Shorthand for "We're toast! Put the stern into the wind and hope that we don't take the mast off with a gybe!" Bon Chance.
30. Not as many : FEWER. Quick! Supermarket checkout - Ten Items or ...... which? Less? Fewer?
33. Team on the field : OXEN. My high school soccer team. We were slow.
35. Midterm, e.g. : EXAM
38. NPR's Shapiro : ARI
42. Bio stat : AGE
43. Grammy : NANA. Not a music award? Dang!
45. UPS driver's assignments : RTES. Splynter and my brother know all about these.
46. Match play? : ARSON. Fun clue
48. Nights before : EVES - Christmas, New Year - more fun than the actual holiday
50. Home of Aleppo : SYRIA
52. Where to find wheels and deals : CASINO. Roulette wheels and card dealers. I know a bartender at the Universal City Hilton who was a dealer in Las Vegas. He keeps a deck of cards under the counter. Ask him to deal you a flush, or a pair, or an Ace-King and off he goes. Amazing.
54. Capelike garments : PONCHOS
58. Collar attachment : ID TAG. Pooches, not combatants.
59. Jessica of "Hitchcock" : BIEL
61. ATM output : CASH. Beats the "Insufficent Funds" receipt.
62. Tazo product : TEA. Starbucks, I think? Tea, not Coffee.
66. Nutmeg State collegian : ELI. Yale, in Connecticut. Which I now learn is the "Nutmeg State". Excuse me while I read the fascinating story of this nickname.
67. Big dos : GALAS. Darn! Tried "FETES", wasn't.
68. Ancient Anatolian region : IONIA
69. Rubio's title: Abbr. : SEN.
70. Foe : ENEMY
71. Type in : ENTER
Down:
1. African capital near the prime meridian : ACCRA. 350-odd miles away, close enough:
2. Fortune-teller? : TAROT. I had a set in my younger days. Wrapped the deck in purple silk as per instructions. Smoked some weed. Put Pink Floyd or Genesis on the record deck. Told fortunes. Was wrong. Don't underestimate the experts (equally wrong).
3. Barroom mix-up : BRAWL. Now you're talking. An Irish tradition. Two of my uncles had a minor contretemps at my Dad's wake. Blows were not quite (quite!) struck.
4. Pacify : APPEASE. See above. Two minutes later, all was forgotten.
5. "That's right" : YES!
6. "Too funny!" : WHAT A HOOT!
7. Loungewear item : ROBE. Not me. Hugh Hefner?
8. Man or Manhattan : ISLE. How do you spell "heeeehuuughhhhhhh maybe?" Manhattan Island. Isle of Man. I know they're both "Isles" but ach - let's let this one go.
9. Jeanne d'Arc, e.g.: Abbr. : STE. If she was a man, she'd be Jean D'Arc and an St. I'm watching the Tour de France at the moment while I'm on the treadmill for inspiration - what a beautiful country.
10. Top of a cornstalk : TASSEL. Had the British TASSLE/TASSEL conflict. Guessed right.
12. Ring-shaped coral reef : ATOLL
13. Garage door opener brand : GENIE. Open, Sesame! And put some lox and cream cheese on that sesame bagel. And some red onions while you're about it. And a slice of tomato. Oh, and some scrambled eggs and chopped scallions on the plate. Can I get some black pepper please? Finally, breakfast is served. Food! Oh - where's my coffee?
18. Puddies, to Tweety : TATS. I tawt ....
23. Family __ : TREE
25. Certain undercover cop : NARC
26. Golfer Tseng who's the youngest player to win five major championships : TANI. Update: YANI. crosses, thank you. Here she is, the immensely-talented golfer:
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28. Car bars : AXLES. Fun clue.
30. One of the faithful : FAN. I'm a Chelsea fan, I'm not sure I'm one of a few these days, but back in the 70's there were a hardcore few of us watching a losing team in the rain at the wrong end of the Fulham Road. I think the Dog Track that surrounded the pitch made more money than the professional soccer team. How times change.
31. Reliever's stat : ERA. Hey C.C!
34. "Piece of cake!" : EASY PEASY! Lemon Squeezy!
36. Gone by : AGO
37. Popes and cardinals, but not nuns : MEN
40. Approximately : OR SO
41. Drops from above : RAIN
44. Nike competitor : AVIA
47. Rocky in a Beatles title : RACCOON. OK. A throwaway song? There were plenty, for all the adoration the Beatles attracted.
49. Captivate : ENGAGE
51. Get moving : ROLL
52. Quotes : CITES. I've been writing some academic papers recently. I'm really quite done with citations. I never want to see the APA Publication Guide again in my life. Really.
53. Simpson of fashion : ADELE.
55. Place to hang : HAUNT
56. Actor Davis : OSSIE
57. Shave, as sheep : SHEAR. Complete the first part of this joke:
...
...
Wow, mate, back in NZ we shear our sheep!!
Nah mate, here in Oz we're got plenty for one each!
Badaboom. I'm here all week.
59. Anger : BILE
60. Muslim holy man : IMAM
64. Chicken vindaloo go-with : NAN. Food! Near and dear to my heart, I can't not post a picture:
65. Make tracks, old-style : HIE
Blog? Check.
Grid? Check.
Theme Expo? Check.
Steve? Hasta Proxima Semana! Homework done? Check!
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to IM and CC and Steve!
It's YERTLE! Kids gave me a stuffed one years ago. Look it up, you guys!
It might be nice to point out that the ANIMAL HOUSES are: STABLE, LAIR, COTE and NEST!
Perps helped to fill in: ROWE, ATLANTA, CASINO, ACCRA and ADELE. It' YANI Tseng. Didn't know that either! Still, no cheats!
Had fun.
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
Hi Y'all! Cute theme with the HOUSES and some ANIMALS on the side, no less. Just to throw us off a little, the ANIMALS didn't live in the HOUSES shown. I had to go back and search out the stars to find them. Fun and interesting puzzle, Agnes & C.C.
ReplyDeleteHope your antibiotics did their stuff, Steve. Enjoyed your expo.
Didn't know ARI or Chicken Vindaloo so a big WAG for NAN. Chicken Vindaloo sounds like some sort of voodoo ritual blood letting to me. Steve seems to indicate it is food.
Didn't know YANI. Don't follow women's golf. Like to see the men flex those muscles, but I wouldn't wager a guess as to who will win the Open. This year so many unknowns have given us big surprises in winning, it's a toss up.
Piece of cake wasn't EASY as pie which fit okay, but I thought my pie must be cherry because it turned red. (Stop groaning. I can hear you.) PEASY was never in my vocabulary until I started doing crosswords.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteFour-letter lake = ERIE, four-letter Jessica = ALBA (d'oh!), four letter...oops, don't go there. Hmmm, those "Big do's" weren't AFROS. Figured 30d couldn't be FAN after seeing the word in the clue for 39a. But it was. I was pretty sure YERTLE was correct, but had to visit Mr. G for confirmation when Steve contradicted that. Phew! Nice job, I.M. and C.C. Steve, you have to take a demerit for that TANI/TERTLE debacle -- otherwise, nice writeup. Thanx.
Good morning. Thank you ladies. Thanks Steve.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is a Y at 26, for YERTLE the turtle and YANI Tseng. I had mERTLE and mANI. DOH ! No TADA today.
Also Steve, looks like you didn't quite carry the blue text far enough in the WACO TEXAS entry. COTE rather than COT. Waco, Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. I wonder if Walker has been inducted.
Spelled PONCHOS with an A until I got to the "Get moving" clue. Must have been thinking of my old buddy.
I missed it, the TERTLE for YERTLE and TANI for YANI. Must have been sleeping. I have edited now... and Steve has some 'splainin' to do.
ReplyDeleteFIW with mERTLE and mANI. It's just not Steve's day - he also bungled "Hard ALEE". This is a call when the bow, not the stern, goes through the eye of the wind. It is a tack, not a gybe, and is a normal part of everyday sailing. When the skipper wants to tack, (s)he calls "ready about" so that the crew knows the maneuver is coming. Usually someone uncleats the jib sheet (rope) at this point, and the crew gets ready to move to the other side of the boat. The skipper then says "hard ALEE" or "helm's ALEE" to let everyone know the maneuver has started. If racing in close quarters, the next call is "close hauled" to let the crew and the opponent know that the boat is on its new course. The calls for a gybe (stern through the wind) are "ready gybe", then "gybe-oh". The crew's main job at this point is usually not to get hit by the boom, which can be lethal on most any sailboat even in moderate wind.
ReplyDeleteI found wheels and deals in a CAr lot before I found them in a CASINO. My Jessica was lang before she was BIEL, I enjoyed fetes before GALAS, I had family Ties before a TREE, and decided to Rise before I decided to ROLL.
Fresh clue of the day was "garage door opener brand" for GENIE. Beats the usual "lamp denizen" and similar stale hints.
Thanks for a fun puzzle, IM and CC. Very enjoyable in spite of my one bad cell. I also liked Steve's write up, in spite of the rare boo boos.
Agnes and CC, another wonderful production. Agnes, you certainly have been busy. You have a talent for crossword construction.
ReplyDeleteHaving been a kindergarten teacher and GRAMMY, I found that YERTLE was a gimee.
I had one bad cell. Anger can be a noun or a verb. I guessed RILE and RIEL instead of BILE and BEIL. ARI and ROWE were the other unfamiliar entries.
I liked the misdirections, ISLE, RAIN, CASINO.
No nit with STOLI. The actual name was not asked for.
Corn TASSLE, CSO. Hello, Gary.
Another day of temps in the 90's with high humidity. Ugh! For me ideal outdoor temps are 25°-79°. I like 20's better than 80's. 90's and below 20° are anathema to me. I keep my home at 65°-68° in the winter and 70°-75° in the summer.
Have a happy day. Stay cool.
Also gybe is the British spelling, Americans usually jibe.
ReplyDeleteHuuuuuge deals at car lots up and down the East Coast (at least upstate NY, Charlotte, and Cape Coral FL) were famous long before anyone associated the word with the NYC real estate mogul
Good morning all!
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle and theme from Irish Miss and C.C. I smiled when I got to the blog and saw our dynamic duo were the constructors :)
Great write up from Steve despite the boo-boos ( blame it on the antibiotics and lack of WINE 😉) I also think of Robin Williams and "Dead Poet's Society" when I see CARPE Diem.
Love your bracelet- very cool! My wrist adornment is from 4Ocean. Great organization and my purchase went for a great cause
Thanks perps for ACCRA, YANI, WACOTEXAS, ADELE and NAN. PK- you had me laughing at your "Chicken vindaloo sounds like voodoo ritual"! WHATAHOOT. I'd never heard of it either.
My cake was also Easy as pie not EASYPEASY.
My Doh! moment was having Rile/BILE which made Jessica >Riel. Didn't realize my mistake until the blog. Oops- I do know who Mrs. Justin Timberlake is ;)
DH took a ziplock bag of cat food to work today to lure a RACOON out of its hiding spot in the garage there. Some coworkers caught one but his buddy refused to leave, so they were hoping to catch it today. We can't leave Miss Mia's food on the deck as they will steal it. We had some real problems with them here in the past. I used to wait for them and squirt them with a water bottle, screaming like a banshee. My neighbors probably thought I was crazy. The thieves would take a bite out of my tomatoes then throw them on the ground. They would turn over the bird bath, tore up the insulation on the condensate line of the A/C unit and could open our trash can- it's a big rollaway container with a heavy, hinged lid- until we started securing it with a bungee cord. They seemed to have moved on for the most part but I did see one trying to get into the bird feeder last week. But it's a squirrel proof one and evidently racoon proof, too!
No COOLAIR here today. The heat index is supposed to top 100 degrees and there's an air quality warning. I'll be inside baking zucchini bread :)
Have a wonderful day everyone!
Good Morning.
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific puzzle all the way around. I couldn't see the hidden theme until the wonderfully witty tour. Nicely done Cornerites. Thanks, C.C., Irish Miss and Steve for a great start to my day. My favorite today: WHAT A HOOT! Haven't heard that in a minute.
Off on another circuitous route west. This morning on a lark, I checked Google maps, which I would never otherwise do for these destinations, and I was pleasantly surprised to find appropriate reroutes around the flooded roadways. It rained pretty hard last night. Ouch for those with rivers and lakes creeping up to their homes!
I hope you have a sunny day wherever you are.
What a treat today! Too many new and clever clues to mention them all. My favorite was Match Play for ARSON. Thanks, Irish Miss and C.C.
ReplyDeleteSteve, perhaps it is the antibiotics or perhaps your have been listening to those old records. This was your best write-up ever. You were in fine form. YERTLE was a gimme for me, but then he was also a Tertle. Don't listen to all those nay-Sayers! Lots of fun stuff.
Steve, I went back and reread your comment on Hard A-LEE because as a racing sailor for many years I found no problem with it. I thought it was funny. The clue said nothing about sailboats, and I just pictured a boat of any sort turning tail and running away....away from the wind. Stern into the wind.
ReplyDeletePedantic explanations of racing maneuvers seemed unnecessary .
Speaking of car lots, my nephew-in-law is a line foreman in a plant which makes Chevy Malibus. They are overstocked with them and some other mid-sized Chevies. Because of this, the workers have had several more weeks of vacation than usual this summer. So if you want a good deal on a car made in America, this might be it. (My nephew is a great guy and has to feed four kids, with one trying to go to college.)
ReplyDeleteSteve, I'm betting you haven't had an occasion to read Yertle the Turtle in a while. Me neither. I read your expo and didn't even notice it was wrong. We still luv you. Don't let the razzing bother you.
My sewer guy is back and worked down the soil to an acceptable level and seeded not only what they tore up but the rest of the back yard where grass was scanty in places. I went out and thanked him and told him why this was a bad week for me. We're friends again. Never had much luck growing grass in 100 degree weather tho. I think I'll let it lie a while and hope a flock of hungry birds don't descend on it before the rains come again.
Bunny, good luck with the coon catching. I know they do love cat food.
Steve, I wouldn't worry about alcohol and antibiotics. The alcohol will kill any germ that the antibiotics missed.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle was EASY PEASY only because of perps but almost blew it at YERTLE-YANI; I guessed Y instead of T. Who knew WACO was the home of the Dr. Pepper Museum? Not me. Jessica Riel, Tazo TEA, HOSTA, Chicken vindaloo & NAN- didn't know them either. I guessed IRA Shapiro before the perps changed his name to ARI.
Mike ROWE also narrates "How The Universe Works" on the Science channel. After watching a few of those shows over the last few years all I can say is that those astronomers and astrophysicists know things that most people have no idea even exist.
Neat theme (WHAT A HOOT) THAT I didn't see until ANIMAL HOUSE made the scene. Nice going I.M. and C.C. I've been out of town for a couple of weeks and was skimming the last few WSJ papers and noticed the C.C. had one earlier this week. Congratulations on that one. Z.B.
That was a fun puzzle. Thanks Agnes, CC and Steve.
ReplyDeleteI really like Mike Rowe. He's smart, funny and an operatic baritone. Dirty Jobs sounds like a loser reality show but I really like it. I'm always learning something about jobs like making sod houses, Rose Parade float disassembly and recycling, sewer maintenance, etc; all of these odd little jobs done behind the scenes and necessary to maintain our comfortable way of life. I highly recommend re-runs of "Dirty Jobs."
Good day to all!
ReplyDeleteSuch an enjoyable solve today from Agnes and C.C.. Clues such as "Drops from heaven" for RAIN and "Match play?" for ARSON added to the fun. Mike ROWE and Jessica BIEL arrived via perps. Knowing YERTLE the turtle was certainly helpful. Learning moment was that NAaN is sometimes NAN. Thanks for the expo and links, Steve. I thought the "Grammy" cartoon was really cute.
Enjoy the day!
A big tip o' the hat and many thanks to you Steve! For many decades crossword puzzles were absolutely impossible for me. I immigrated to this country as a teenager, English was not my native tongue. Many months ago I tried the puzzle next to the Soduku in my paper.
ReplyDeleteYour blog and the fine explanations and mini lessons of English, idioms, conventions and allusions helped me to get almost through on Mondays. Then I began getting close on Tuesdays and started trying later in the week. Today, a Thursday! I came within just four letters of completing the puzzle. My big thrill was coming up with arson for that match play.
Of course I still turn to this blog for the insights and more. From now on I am even following you openly. Thank you, thank you!
Thanks, I.M. and C.C. What a great theme, and sparkly entries. Keep them coming.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve, for the great write-up, despite TERTLE/TANI. Thanks for doing the blog every Thursday!
Jinx, the problem was I WAS thinking of that lamp and spelled it GENII. I knew YANI. Lydia Ko has been eclipsed.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of.. I like my fav Jordan Speith. He seems to have his putting stroke and more importantly, his luck back.
CRAPS. No self respecting staff NCO would be caught without his loaded dice. And..
They all claimed to be close friends with ex-Marine (and two-time Open champion*) Lee Trevino .
Nice to see CC and IM today. They combine crunchy cluing with doable perps. Steve, not knowing your LPGA Koreans is no crime
Owen, solid W
WC
* One was at Birkdale
ReplyDeleteI make that only 12 miles from the prime meridian to Accra, but then again, I am a former Marine and given to exaggeration! :-)
Woohoo! Woohoo! I love seeing an Irish Miss and C.C. puzzle in the morning. And a Thursday one, yet! And I was so excited that I got it all without a single cheat. But 'twas not to be. Even though I changed my TERTLE to YERTLE in time, like Yellowsrocks, I had RILE instead of BILE (didn't know Jessica)--darn. Not a Thursday speed-run after all, but still a lot of fun, and I thought the theme was really cute. Match Play/ARSON was my favorite misleading cue. Loved your write-up, Steve, and your bracelet, but was hoping to find out what a FITBIT was. Anyway, thank you, Agnes, and our wonderful C.C., and Steve, for a great Thursday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteLudwig Keck, how nice of you to check in with us. Welcome to the blog!
I'm going to see a Laguna Theater production of "Hairspray" this afternoon. Hope it will be fun!
Have a great day, everybody!
A tidy Thursday puzzle with the best theme/gimmick...the one you don't notice and has no impact on the solve. Appreciated.
ReplyDeleteMisty, a FITBIT is a basically a heartrate monitor. You can find several different models on Amazon.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone.
ReplyDeleteEASY PEASY. Mostly so, except I had to get thE SW by using several WAG's. Had cold air before COOL AIR. Guess I'd feel funny if I had to ask the mechanic to check the bearings on the rear bar. But OXEN made AXLE clear. OXEN is one of the very few English words where the plural is formed by adding 'en'. In Dutch virtually all plurals, except a few borrow words, end in 'en'.
Favorite clue was for ARSON.
Musings
ReplyDelete-This fun puzzle was great while I was cooling off from 18 holes. It was so hot even by 9:45. My teacher group teed off at noon today when the heat index was approaching 110˚F. No way for this cowboy!
-A famous PONCHO that was never washed during his Sergio Leone trilogy
-I spent 23 straight July’s hip-deep in corn TASSELS and made big money. I know kids are out today pulling TASSELS
in this 100+˚F heat
-What would I miss most, my GENIE or underground sprinklers?
-Keeping women out of any Catholic Church position is insane!
Thank you, Desper-otto--I had no idea. Glad to know this.
ReplyDeleteTADA today ! And for once I had a favorite clue. Pokertables fit but only the tables part fit the clue. As more of a mathematician/science guy the language side of my brain needed exercise and crosswords for the last year or so fit the bill. Poker which was wrong and casino which was right for 52a which begat my Dads gambling which begat Craps. I'd so love see the exact electrical circuit for that.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad was a "good" gambler in that he understood the odds and made them as close to even as possible. that game is craps(bet the "don't pass and lay the odds is in the third significant digit slightly better than the reverse) I became enthralled with probability theory from his explanation and played poker and blackjack to keep the gambling gene at bay. Of course poker is 100% skill in the long run and so is blackjack if the house plays fair. Of course they don't. My proudest moment as a gambler was getting kicked out of the old Castaways casino for card counting. I think I was up all of 300 bucks. Oh well...
Ta-DA!
ReplyDeleteBut wouldn't you know, my entry into this pzl would have to be STOLI?
I'm getting ahead of myself. This was a toughie to get going. I couldn't find a foothold at first. I wanted to start in the NW corner, but nothing doing! I had to settle for my STOLI start, but then - surprise, surprise! - I found the whole edifice began to crumble in my direction.
This was one of those "impossible" pzls (for me, anyway) that, once breached, became a real softie. I finally got to the NW corner, only backwards, working my way up from below.
I appreciate the nice work by Agnes & C.C.! They fooled me into thinking this might be an all-day challenge, then handed it to me on an EASY-PEASY platter.
DNF. Sigh. _ERTLE/_ANI was my downfall. Hand up for afroS/GALAS, test/EXAM, geena/OSSIE Davis. Not too bad for Thursday.
ReplyDeleteThanks Agnes and C.C. for the fun. Great expo, Steve.
Misty, Fitbit is a brand of activity trackers. Mine is in my pocket. It can keep track of steps/day, food intake, calorie intake, calories burned, stairs climbed or the equivalent flights of stairs from going uphill. There's a timer that will track your exercise or your sleep. Newer (more expensive) ones can track heart rate.
Happy Thursday!
ReplyDeleteA really nice puzzle by IM and CC. Steve's write-up was also very informative and entertaining. Although I had to work at it, I got it done correctly.
I am at the beach in Ocean City, MD and therefore I can get a Washington Post at WAWA which has the LA Times CW puzzle. I have been able to do my old shtick on paper with a lot of eraser help. It is more fun doing it this way.
IM: There are a number of FitBit models with different features. The first and most basic one (The FitBit Zip) is a "step counter" which gives you the number of steps and distance you have walked in a day. It also has a calorie monitor which is based mostly on time and the number of steps you take. There are other models like DO said that also give you your heart rate and other parameters. I use mine all the time to see how far I walk in a day. It helps me to not be a couch potato.
Even though I am at the beach, the temperature is 96° with a heat index of over 110°. I think I'll hit the water.
Stay cool and hydrated everyone.
I see that I am late to the party at mid-afternoon today. Thanks for the fun Agnes and C.C., and Steve.
ReplyDelete(BTW Steve, if the antibiotic was metronidazole you were correct to avoid alcohol because the risk of being violently ill with nausea, vomiting, fast heartbeat etc. is too great to ignore. In fact, you should avoid alcohol for 48 hours AFTER the last dose of metronidazole to let it get out of your system. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!)
I could not get the TADA today and turned on red letters to see that like YR, BunnyM and Misty, I had RILE/RIEL.
Again today I wanted Easy as Pie (Didn't we just have a PIECE OF CAKE the other day? We will all be getting fat if we don't use our FITBITS!!)
We also had ATOLL again and NAN (but with only one A this time).
ALEE and A TEE caught my eye.
My Big Dos were Afros before GALAS, and I wanted Pool (but too short) TABLES before CRAPS. Like Steve, my Canadian spelling wanted TASSLES but perps forced TASSELS.
I'm Grandma not NANA but we all spoil them rotten! Doesn't it go with the job description?
Welcome Ludwig K. Glad you are enjoying crosswords and the blog. We all find it educational.
We are cooler after some needed rain.
CARPE DIEM!
Never heard of Yertle, or the perp, so I have no idea how I WAG'd it.
ReplyDelete59d anger could very well be Rile, and since I have no idea who 59a Jessica is...
(Taking a Thumper to avoid the Bile...)
1d crossing 20a? Hmm, how many letters could have fit. Certaainly not the one I chose...
Bunny,in this heat, why not just use the outside BBQ to bake Zuchinni bread?
(he said as he prepared the the breaded chicken cutlets for parmesan,)
(hmm, could I possibly use the BBQ to saute the chicken cutlets without setting my beard on fire?)
(news at 11-)
(p.s. I did make pizza on the BBQ yesterday, delicious!)
Misty, I love my Fitbit!
except you have to manually load your calorie intake,
and my new one keeps buzzing to tell me to move,
and I stopped wearing it to bed to track sleep habits as the band gets caught on the sheets,
and now I know what I can't eat to lose weight...
Actually, I am starting to hate my Fitbit....
Dirty Jobs bookmarked on YouTube for future review...
I've heard of Animal House, but really?
Empty nest syndrome?
OH well, better go before this happens to me...
Another enjoyable puzzle from Agnes and C.C. You two are really good! Great cluing and great fill. FAN in a clue and answer slipped by everybody.
ReplyDeleteSteve, an outstanding writeup today; thank you!
So, vindaloo has caused a bit of a hullabaloo :)
Best wishes to you all.
I echo the welcome to Ludwig. I guess I don't have to tell you that Friday is twice as tough as Thursday and Saturday again twice. Thursday is definitely a step up from the early week.
ReplyDeleteI remember having to take antibiotics in 'Nam. "Take for ten days;no alcohol". Huh?!!
So, two days later I get invited to the Colonel's poker game and win $300.
Wow, I say. Not drinking has it's benies.
WC
Thank you Wilbur, I tried doing the Friday one -- it will be a long time before I can get even half way, but I will keep at it.
DeleteHi All!
ReplyDeletePool Table... D'Oh!... Poker Table... CRAPS just to APPEASE the constructors.
IM & CC, I loved the puzzle. Hiding real animal houses was cool (I looked for Greeks first). I did quite well in the north (minus the CRAP and Y in YERTLE (had M; Hi TTP & Jinx!). The south / reveal was the killer. Who? What? Where? [looking at you Anatolian].
But did I give up? Noooo. Did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
I finally 'saw' the reveal with AN-M-L-O--E and all worked out well -- except Jessica rIEL (Hi Misty!). Thanks you two for a very well-executed theme based on a the title of a great movie.
Steve - I'll rib 'ya a bit mate; but no harm no foul... Your proof-reader, OTOH,... ;-).
Great expo as usual and nice, if not round-about, segue to find food at GENIE. I'll bring the capers.
WOs: EASY PEeSY, SHEeR. AVIs @1st.
ESPs(ish): YANI, RIEL; OSSIE
Fav: Hummm, RAIN & ARSON were cute, OXEN devious (considering C.C. would lean to Baseball), TEXAS CSO nice for Ms, DO & me; and Rocky RACCOON is a tune I like....
I'm still going w/ ANIMAL HOUSE. Sorry.
Ludwig - My learning/building experience exactly. I played w/ a Monday until I almost got one and Googled. I found and I lurked on another blog before she went away and then found the Corner. I finally got the nerve after months of lurking to pipe up. Glad to have you at the Corner. BTW, nice pictures in your profile - I assume you took 'em based on your avatar.
YES, then there was HG in mind's-eye at TASSEL.
Bill G. I loved ROWE on Dirty Jobs. I tried to find his NPR Fresh AIR interview (I thought he did one?) but here's his TED Talk; a non-dirty job.
Madame Defarge - did you take LSD on your RTE? :-). If PK & I gang up on you will you drive a Malibu about as well as the price of oil up? [ please, I need to sell stock soon to afford Eldest's school!]
Speaking of the stock market CASINO - our stock finally got back over $50/share briefly today. So, I put in a sell order at $51. Damn, if it didn't drop $0.51 by the end of the day. I shoulda put a floor on it; CRAP'd out, -T did.
Cheers, -T
Thank you Anonymous T, I am just inching along (didn't get that word in the Friday puzzle) - Maybe a few more years before I can cheer at the end of the week. Yes, the photos are mine. Photography has been my hobby for seventy years, I hope to get good at that too!
DeleteMany thanks, Pat and Cross-eyed Dave, for the Fitbit information. Not sure I'm ready for one yet, but I'll keep it in mind!
ReplyDeleteSped along, then crashed and burned! Argh! Rile, rather than Bile, stubbornly before I learned my ways (checking in to Steve's wonderful educational tour); no matter - I've never heard of Jessica Biel. Even more embarrassing, pAncho - sheesh! Maybe I need to change to high-octane coffee and forget decaf.
ReplyDeleteWacoTexas - remembered the Houston Chronicle article about the dust-up about trademark, recipes, claim to fame or whatever resulting in litigation.
Anon-T - FLN - clicked on your avatar but I found no email link in your profile; clicked on "Technology" and "Houston TX" and found 10,001 links in each. Sorry, I still have one foot firmly implanted in the cave.
My sympathies with those who are enduring the extreme H-H-H, but carry on, at least y'all will get some respite sometime soon.
PS: mea culpa, thank you to Agnes (IM) and CC! A great puzzle ... that I flunked. Fav clue for: arson. Though I did scratch my head at "what may be moved by a fan?" Cool air? down here, only if you have A/C to help.
ReplyDeleteTXMs - That's how I recall Dr. Pepper & WACO! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIn my hyper-paranoia, I guess I un-clicked the "show email address" button. It's there now.
Cheers, -T
Welcome Ludwig!
ReplyDeleteWe all love to play with language here, AND learn something new every day! It's so nice of you to join us.
When seven people make the same "mistake" I think it is fair to say the RILE/RIEL vs BILE/BIEL crossing was unfair!
ReplyDeleteToo bad, because the rest of the puzzle was fun! Got the theme about half way through.
Hand up for TASSLE before perps forced TASSEL.
Don't drink vodka, so Gray Goose is unknown to me. Know STOLI from these puzzles.
Hand up for EASY AS PIE. EASY PEASY not a term I use.
Other unknowns besides BIEL: YANI, ADELE, OSSIE, ROWE. I did know YERTLE, but crossing it with YANI seems unfair to many.
Hand up for AFROS before GALAS. Was thinking of UCONN not Yale, so ELI was slow to come.