Theme: "Special Ops" - OP is added to each theme entries.
27A. Like soup cans to Andy Warhol? : PERFECT FOR THE POP ART. Perfect for the part. Jeffrey started his first themer at Row 4.
45A. The musical "1776" reworked with arias? : COLONIAL OPERA. Colonial era.
55A. Astaire/Rogers 1935 boast? : I MADE TOP HAT. I made that.
67A. Pace of a runaway horse? : UNMITIGATED GALLOP. Unmitigated gall.
83A. Why the kennel closed? : NO PET PROFIT. Net profit.
92A. Vespa newbies? : MOPED STUDENTS. Med students.
112A. #1 rodeo competitor? : THE LORD OF THE ROPINGS. The Lord of the Rings.
I
hope you guys have the chance to meet with the legend Jeffrey someday.
His creativity & passion are unparalleled. Look at what he did with
27A, 55A and 83A, changing one word into two. So imaginative.
Jeffrey's
grid design is also very imaginative. He's never daunted by a first
14-letter first themer in a 15*15 grid, or a 13-letter middle row
themer, regardless how many theme entries he has. Of course, you have to
have an imaginative brain to dream of and execute THE X-FILES. We're so lucky to enjoy his creations regularly.
Across:
1. Crisscross pattern : GRID
5. Whole alternative : SKIM
9. Religion that may involve a moon goddess : WICCA. Learning moment. Hinduism also has a moon goddess, correct?
14. Tolerate : ABIDE
19. Sticks figure : RUBE. Read as "Stick figure".
20. Common conifer : PINE
21. Many a South Pacific isle : ATOLL
22. Kosher : LEGIT
23. __ in the Pod: maternity brand : A PEA. Unfamiliar with the brand.
24. It won't fly on the Sabbath : EL AL. Hahtoola never uses her computer/tablet on Saturdays. We also have 32. Traditional meal : SEDER
25. Get rid of : SCRAP
26. Freetown currency : LEONE. I've never seen a $500 bill in person.
31. New York natives : ERIES
33. Join : ATTACH
36. Position : STANCE
38. More extensive : WIDER
40. Mid sixth-century date : DLI. 551.
42. For two, in music : A DUE
43. "The rules __ the rules" : ARE
48. Courtesy to parents of a child flying alone : GATE PASS. Debut entry! Also 54. Carrier renamed in 1997 : US AIR. Eventually merged with American Airlines.
53. Refuses : WON'T. This type of clue always gets me. I thought the answer would end in *S.
59. Their areas are arias : DIVAS. Nice clue.
61. Auction unit : LOT
62. Taunt : GIBE
63. Ballerinas' supply : ROSIN. Not TUTUs.
65. Saltpeter : NITER
73. Traffic stopper, perhaps : SIREN
74. Capital SW of Brussels : PARIS. Plenty of daily trains between the two cities. Also 18. 74-Across season : ETE
75. Sculptors' degs. : BFAs
78. "Lou Grant" production co. : MTM
81. Like some strays : MANGY
87. Flew into __ : A RAGE. You won't see our Gary flies into one. He's always so understanding and gracious.
89. Mexican dirección : ESTE. East.
91. Engine regulator : THROTTLE. Consonants-heavy.
97. Verizon subsidiary : AOL
98. Two-balled weapon : BOLA
99. Dangerous African biter : ASP
100. News story sources : LEAKS
102. Absorb, as with toweling : BLOT UP. Never used this phrase.
107. Brief outline : APERCU. Not SKETCH.
109. Produce chapter and verse? : WRITE. Another great clue.
111. Development areas : UTERI
118. 1995 Cecil B. DeMille Award-winning actress : LOREN (Sophia)
120. Marilyn's birth name : NORMA. Norma Jeane. One of the flea market guys loves Marilyn to death. He collects everything about her.
121. Swear : AVOW
122. Gp. that includes Venezuela : OPEC
123. Golf shoe feature : CLEAT
124. Like some construction sight markers : CONIC. He meant "site".
125. Current : TIDE
126. Geometry function : SINE
127. Accomplishments : DEEDS. Not FEATS.
128. Act with passion : EMOTE
129. Acorn, essentially : SEED
130. Laryngitis docs : ENTs
Down:
1. Ones pressed for drinks : GRAPES. I never juice grapes or Honeycrisp apples. Too precious to juice.
2. Grint who plays Ron in Harry Potter films : RUPERT. Here he is.
4. Overwhelm with noise : DEAFEN
5. What manuscripts may be submitted on : SPEC. Crossword puzzles too, unless it's Sunday. Then you can send a theme query to Rich first.
6. Caber toss garb : KILTS
7. Shortly, casually : IN A FEW
8. Songlike : MELODIC
9. Scrooge's opposite : WASTREL. This is a new word for me.
10. Craving : ITCH
11. Crux : CORE
12. Show appreciation, in a way : CLAP
13. Boxer's brand? : ALPO. Dog food.
14. With 113-Down, precipitously : ALL AT. And 113. See 14-Down : ONCE
15. Draft providers : BEER TAPS. I've been hoping that TTP and Abejo would meet again soon.
16. Savvy shopper's cry : I GOT A DEAL. This reminds me of Jeffrey's I WAS MAD. He debuted lots of entries.
17. Ruckus : DIN
28. Fire __ : ESCAPE. Not ENGINE.
29. Makeover : RE-DO
30. Swabby's need : PAIL
34. Collector's item : CURIO
35. Compassion : HEART. Stole this lovely picture from dear Misty's Facebook.
 |
| Dusty & Misty |
37. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT
39. Ticket word : ROW
40. Home furnishing purchase : DINING SET. I use "Dining room set".
41. Estonia neighbor : LATVIA
44. Paul Anka's "__ Beso" : ESO
46. Silent affirmation : NOD
47. Montana's __ Falls : OUSEL. Never heard of it. Looks like a nice hiking spot.
48. Band performance : GIG
49. "__ dreaming?" : AM I
50. "Forbidden" perfume : TABU
51. Ideal places : EDENS
52. Appears suddenly : SPRINGS UP. Also 86. Prepare to store, as a blueprint : ROLL UP
56. Harley, e.g. : HOG
57. "Make it quick!" : ASAP
58. Industry VIP : TITAN
60. Bermuda's ocean: Abbr. : ATL
64. Successor to Claudius : NERO
66. High-tech worker : ROBOT. Look at the receptionist in this Japanese hotel.
69. Investment acronym : IRA
70. Guiding principles : TENETS
71. Decline : DIP
72. [It disappeared!] : PFFT
76. Require meds, maybe : AIL. As TTP predicted, my doctor asked me to take salt liberally. I've made progress. Reached 103/63 at the doctor's office. I normally hover around 90/60.
77. Sault __ Marie : STE
78. Dangerous African biter : MAMBA
79. Military unit : TROOP
80. It might be tapped : MAPLE TREE
82. Since Jan. 1, in P&L reports : YTD
84. Article in rap titles : THA
85. "No __!": "Easy-peasy!" : PROB
88. Under-the-hood type : GEARHEAD. Dear Santa is one.
90. Slim swimmer : EEL
93. Novelist Bellow : SAUL
94. Church greeter's target : NEW FACE
95. Like small star fruit : TART. Any of you drinking tart cherry concentrate/juice?
96. Slope apparel : SKI HATS
101. Wonder on stage : STEVIE
103. Lazy : OTIOSE. OK, then, I've been otiose the past few months.
104. Half of bowling's worst split : TEN PIN. Or SEVEN PIN. By the way, PK, Boomer does wear sneakers when we walk inside the mall. He thinks you're right about the sucking effect of the rubber soles. Thanks for the analysis.
105. Of immediate concern : URGENT
106. Compassionate, creative, submissive sort, it's said : PISCES. True?
108. Small change : CENTS
110. Undercut : ERODE
114. Den, for one : ROOM
115. Bond adventure with Honey Ryder : DR. NO
116. Drop : OMIT
117. Was in the red : OWED
118. Clock readout abbr. : LCD. I wonder why they don't make silent wall clocks.
119. "Good one, matador!" : OLE
Anon T(Tony) sent me below map with a note. Peg lives in League City. Stay safe, everyone.
"This is the traffic map. All the little "water droplets" are flooded freeways. For some reason, people are still on the road (see yellow & blue). Reports of abandoned cars abound.
TxMs is inside the inner loop near where 59/I69, Westpark & 610 meet (in the SW). DO is way up north-east @ 59/I69 (past IAH airport), and I’m down where 99/529 crosses 59/I69 in the extreme SW quadrant (just a bit NOT on the bottom of the map). I don’t know where Peg is. So far, we’re all OK and hunker’d down."
"This is the traffic map. All the little "water droplets" are flooded freeways. For some reason, people are still on the road (see yellow & blue). Reports of abandoned cars abound.
TxMs is inside the inner loop near where 59/I69, Westpark & 610 meet (in the SW). DO is way up north-east @ 59/I69 (past IAH airport), and I’m down where 99/529 crosses 59/I69 in the extreme SW quadrant (just a bit NOT on the bottom of the map). I don’t know where Peg is. So far, we’re all OK and hunker’d down."
Happy birthday to dear Lemonade (Jason), our Friday Sherpa since March 2010. He's been through quite an ordeal this past year, but he's always cheerful and positive. Thank you for being here for us, Lemonade. Thanks for taking good care of Lemonade, Oo!
56 comments:
Pot sellers from homes in Sierra LEONE
Each use their house to store an old throne.
The fake seat holds their stash
When narcs try to crash --
Shouldn't people in grass houses stow in thrones?
There once was a DIVA named NORMA
Who was an exceptional performa
She could so well EMOTE,
When she hit a high note,
She was known to wake folks in a coma!
{A, A-.}
Good morning!
Yay! D-O figured out the theme. Made for a quick solve this morning, but not without stumbles: Hindu/WICCA, Hick/RUBE, MFAS/BFAS, Bars/TAPS and Poof/PFFT. Thanx, JW for a quirky start to the day.
C.C., I never drink tart cherry concentrate; it makes the beer taste funny. What do you mean about silent wall clocks? From my experience most wall clocks are silent, no tick-tock, no chimes. Only those with an actual pendulum are noisy. Ours is an "atomic clock" with conventional hands. It makes a whirring sound, but only when it switches into high gear to self-adjust at the beginning/end of DST.
RE: Tony's map. The only one actually on the map is TxMs. Tony and Peg are off the bottom and I'm off the top. Raining at the moment. So far, 6 inches since this whole affair began. If it continues in start/stop fashion we'll be fine up here. The pauses give the drainage system a chance to catch up.
Happy Birthday, Lemonade. Feel better soon.
Happy Birthday Lemonade, and good day to all!
What a great offering from puzzle wizard JW. Catching on to the theme early really helped with the solve. UNMITIGATED GALLOP was my favorite of the theme answers. I also loved the clue "Their areas are arias" for DIVAS. I needed ESP for OUSEL Falls. It does look beautifully inviting. Thank you, C.C., for the wonderful expo and photos.
Wishing those in Harvey's way safety! Have a great day, everyone!
So far, we're okay, but it got a bit scary around 4 am with water 1/2 inch from the front door sill. It's receded. Reports say we got about 19-1/2 inches in the last six hours..... or more like 24" in the last 24 hours. I sent C.C. some pics of our street.
Since I was up so early, we worked the puzzle around 5 am, but trying to keep up with friends and loved ones via email and Facebook.
Thank you for all your prayers and concerns!
Once I figured out how to OPerate ( got OP, ERA, OPERA, & RATE in that word) on this GRID, It was an easy fill with just a few unknowns. Constructors using authors, directors, obscure actors, and singers require too many perps. Sophia LOREN I knew; RUPERT I didn't. I was unfamiliar with PEA in the Pod but it was fairly obvious. The only change I had to make was IN A SEC to IN A FEW. I was also thinking TUTUS before ROSIN finally showed up through the perps.
I didn't know what an APERCU was but I do now. No way I would have ever got that one.
OUSEL Falls- Maybe "Montana" knew that one but I certainly didn't.
PISCES-okay, if you believe the astrological lunacy, but people are gullible
SINE- that's a trig function, geometric???
I hope that HARVEY dies out soon because it's doing some real damage. So far there has been no rain in New Orleans but if it moves east we could get a lot. Looking at the radar on my other computer and currently ( 9:26 CDT) the center is SE of San Antonio over a town named Beeville.
Liked the theme, but didn't like that three answers ended with "up". A little too repetitive.
Terrific puzzle and expo. Thanks to both of you.
The northeast corner had me stymied for awhile; what a feeling of accomplishment when I finally figured it out!
Owen, I would grade your limericks A plus.
Best of luck to all our Texas friends. The weather forecasters are so often wrong - why oh why couldn't they had been wrong about Harvey?!
I've tried to reach Anon-T and TxMs via email. So far no response, in fact, the email server at Tony's employer is apparently down. I had been watching a live feed from Houston Channel 11, but they just went dark -- they evacuated their studios with 2 feet of water on their ground floor.
Fun puzzle. Only two fills which were new to me, OUSEL and RUPERT. Great expo, CC. You? Otiose? Never.
Great name, A Pea in the Pod. In my day we wore loose maternity clothing to hide the growing Pea. Today they glorify the "bump," often unclothed.
Boxer's brand, BVD? No. ALPO.
CSO to Montana, 47D.
I have been wondering where is Hahtoola?
We use toweling to blot up spills in delicate places, with no rubbing.
Misty, great picture.
Happy birthday, Lemon. I wish you improving health.
All of you in Harvey's path, my thoughts are with you.
Alan has been his normal, happy, healthy self these last three weeks, just like the good old days, two years ago. Me, too!
Musings
-UNMITIGATED GALLOP was my fav by a slim margin. Wow, what a puzzle!
-I remembered OTOISE, WASTREL and APERCU but can’t think when I’d use them in conversation
-Yaz’s unconventional STANCE
-I punished a friend’s child for breaking a curfew “a rule is a rule” in Florida and he stopped talking to me
-BID, ADO, LEGAL and DUET needed the good eraser I have the cheap pencil I use everyday
-My golf shoes have no CLEATS
-Joann wore TABU when we were dating and put it on envelopes she sent to me at college! It is said that scent is the strongest evoker of memories. Ahh…
-Gotta run!
-HBD, Lemon!
Hi everybody! I really enjoyed this one. It was fun and very clever. Plus, I could solve most of it, a big plus for me.
Good job Owen! I liked them, especially because their rhythm fit a limerick so well.
I hope you all stay safe and your belongings stay dry.
Barbara is doing well. So far, so good.
Our new A/C will be getting a workout over the next few days with higher-than-usual temperatures due until the middle of this week.
And, Happy Birthday Lemon! I hope things are going well.
Good Morning:
I'm not sure if we've ever had a JW Sunday puzzle before but it was a nice surprise to see his byline. Because of the title, the theme was obvious with the first filled-in theme answer, Perfect for the p(op) art. My two favorites were, The Lord of the R(op)ings and Unmitigated Gall(op). (I love that phrase!) The only weak themer, IMO, was I Made T(op) Hat. I wasn't keen on Dining Set without room and the three "ups" we're a little jarring but those minor nits were negligible because of such gems as Throttle, (another favorite word!) Wastrel, Mangy, Melodic, Gear Head, (Hi, Argyle!) and Apercu. My w/o's were coins/cents, MFAs/BFAs, aver/avow, Hindu/Wicca, and leads/leaks. Personal favorite C/A is Boxer brand=Alpo. The only completely unknown was Ousel (big CSO to Montana) but perps solved that quickly. Clever theme, tricky but fair cluing, and a satisfying solve; what more can we ask for?
Thank you, Jeffrey W, for another challenging and creative offering and thank you, CC, for your comments and spot-on analysis.
Happy Birthday, Lemony, hope you celebrate in style, but don't over do! ����������
Misty, that's a sweet picture of you and Darling Dusty.
YR, so glad to hear that you and Alan are enjoying some carefree days. Hope there are many more to come!
Best wishes for all those affected by Harvey.
Have a great day.
What a fantastic offering from Jeffrey Wechsler! I almost finished, with only a very few cheats, so that's better than usual for me.
And the clues were priceless! 59 A. Their areas are arias? 109A. Produce chapter and verse? Pure poetry!! I loved "Development areas" and "Acorn, essentially ". "Draft providers" caught me flat footed. Oh, that kind of draft.
So many wonderful words. Thanks, Jeffrey!
CC, you explained what I missed, so I appreciate your always interesting tour.
Lemonade, have a great birthday. You are entitled!
And all you Texans, let us know how you are doing. Good thoughts coming from here. PK, we are still safe with just a little rain. No problems here!
Those ????? should be 🎂🎁🎉🎈🍾 Google sign-in goofed!
Happy Birthday, Lemonade!!
WEES. This is a fantastic puzzle from JW. Challenging yet doable with such interesting diversity. You have all mentioned the clever words and I agree with all that.
I remember A PEA in a Pod; one of their stores was located near me and I shopped there when pregnant with my daughter. I'm not sure if they are still in the area.
UTERI surprised me. I had URBAN and checked to see that it was correct but, surprisingly, it wasn't. That opened the corner and I finished.
Thank you, Jeffrey and C.C. You enlightened me in several areas.
Stay safe all you victims of Harvey's rage.
Have a splendid Sunday, everyone, even if you're housebound!
In believe some stores sell them as dining sets because they can be used in places other than the dining room, such as patio, kitchen, breakfast nook, etc. I have a dining set in my kitchen.
dining set
dining set
YR @12:58 ~ Excellent point. Mea Culpa, Mr. Wechsler.
A MOPED has pedals; a Vespa does not.
WBE said: A SINE is trionometric, not geometric.
A TIDE and a current are not the same thing.
There is no such thing as a SKI HAT.
I've heard from both Anon-T and TxMs -- both are OK, dry and their lights are on.
I loved this puzzle. So well constructed, and as our wise Irish Miss said, "Clever theme, tricky but fair cluing, and a satisfying solve; what more can we ask for?"
After I had everything filled I didn't get the closure so I knew something was wrong but didn't know what. A re-look didn't reveal where I went wrong so I turned on red letters. I slapped my forehead when I saw I had MFAS and ROMOT. Sheesh.
I'm so glad Tony and Tom are okay, and that Peg narrowly escaped the waters. What with the rain continuing (for the next 3-4 days!) I hope Peg can still stay dry. We watched the extensive CBS coverage this morning and were appalled at the foolishness of some people who drove right into the deep water and got stranded. One guy's pickup truck totally sank out of sight in ten feet of water; fortunately he got out through the driver's side window. It was heartening to see people using their own boats of various sizes and shapes rescuing their neighbors and transporting them to dry, safe places. So many news reporters sloshing around in knee-high water. Over a period of about an hour we could easily see that the water level had risen several inches.
Nice picture, Misty. Thanks for sharing.
Best wishes to you all.
My goodness, C.C., a triple treat this morning: great Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle, your wonderful write-up, and then the special gift of seeing Dusty and me linked to "Compassion" and "Heart"--can't tell you how much that moved me! Many, many thanks--what a special Sunday morning you, and our other kind blog friends, have given me!
What worrisome weather Texas and other parts of the country are experiencing. I'm relieved that so far our corner friends are okay, although clearly it's tough and trying for those suffering the rain and other effects. My heart and thoughts will be with you all day.
Yellowrocks, how wonderful that Alan is feeling well these days! And, Bill G', glad to hear that Barbara is okay.
Have a wonderful day, everyone, and C.C., thank you again, so much!
Anonymous is full of SH** !
Not to mention a coward by not posting his name. I would bet $$$$ that I can guess his gender and politics as well.
NOW...Done venting. All my thoughts and best wishes for SE Texas. I too have friends and relatives in League City. I haven't even heard from my sister in law in 24 hours. Her husband (bless his heart) is dumb enough to drive through the standing water. I hope his better half kept him at home.
As for the puzzle...close but no TADA. Thought freetown was in south Africa. I was excellent in Geography until 1968 ! Finally Googled and learned what a Leone was. Never heard of apercu nor bola. I had Bolo. Still a fun puzzle.
By the way as a math minor physics major Trigonometry is just a subset of Geometry. Specifically Trig is the Geometry of a right triangle in Euclidean space. Trigonometry gets very odd in non Euclidean space which is probably why Einstein had to hire a mathematician to finish his general theory.
I always postulated that the smartest engineer was dumber that the dumbest physicist. The sad corollary is that the smartest physicist is dumber than the dumbest mathematician. :(
Anon @1:43, I agree with two of your contentions.
-SINE is more accurately a trigonometric function rather than a geometric function.
-Although some governments class Vespas as mopeds, technically they are not. Wikipedia says,
"The name "moped" has now been applied by some regional governments to vehicles without pedals such as motor scooters, based on criteria of restricted engine displacement, speed, and/or power output. This is a misnomer, as they are no longer "mopeds" at all, and might instead be called a "noped" if they appear to look exactly like a typical moped, but no longer include pedals."
On the other hand I cannot support two of your other contentions.
-In some sense tide can mean the movement of water in a tide and be called a current.
Collins English Dictionary “A tide is a current in the sea that is caused by the regular and continuous movement of large areas of water towards and away from the shore.”
Roman vessels used to sail with the tide from Boulogne to Richborough.
-I have seen ski hats in stores and advertised on line.
Ski hats for sale
Chuck, my initial reaction about trig. was the same as yours. I still think that idea holds water, but in looking it up, I see many mathematicians like to make the distinction between the two.
Another challenging but fun JW puzzle - each of the theme answers made me smile!
What HG said about OTIOSE, WASTREL, and APERCU - I have heard of those words but
couldn't give a definition of either of them. Hope if they come up in reading that
the meaning could be gathered by context!
My friend in Houston sent a pic showing her road looking like a river or a creek - it's up in her yard a few inches but not to her house. Her daughter had to move herself and her 2 cats and dog up to a neighbor with a 1 bedroom apt. on the 3rd floor of her apartment complex- the driveway had water that was waist high! That is one nice neighbor!
I like a tart cherry kombucha -I can't remember what brand it is- I think Kevita/ Master Brew
Thanks CC and JW!
HBD Lemonade!
Happy Birthday, Lemon! Hope it's a special day.
Misty, great pic of you and your sweet Dusty; I don't think I've seen a photo of him before.
Loved the puzzle and the cluing for the longest answers; fav was The Lord of the Ropings, and agree with others on the I Made Top Hat.
D-O, thanks for the explanation of Channel 11's "...technical difficulties." I was wondering why it was the only station with that notice.
Anon-T, actually I live in the NW corner of the inner loop (610) between 290 and I-45, so luckily I'm not in SW which is really getting pounded. That area of 610/59 has been flooded so many times, and several people lost their lives when they drove into high waters in the underpasses over the last few years. Luckily I live right across from large elementary/middle school campuses, so that area soaks up a lot of rain. As D-O said, if the rain belts come with some time in between, this area should be okay (I'm hoping). Thanks again for all your positive wishes.
I do sometimes drink tart cherry juice, though I suppose I should have a glass of it every day. Supposedly it helps prevent gout, or helps relieve the pain of a gout attack, due to its strong anti-inflammatory properties. I am too otiose in that I wait until after I'm suffering an attack to think of the cherry juice, at which point it's almost too late. Even if you are not prone to gout I imagine the anti-inflammatory properties of the juice would be generally beneficial. Look up Montmorency cherries for more info.
Just looked at CenterPoint's outage tracker - 76K without power, some in my area. Keeping fingers crossed.
Lemonade, have a wonderful, wonderful, birthday, and I hope you have a great week coming up!
And thank you, TX Ms for the kind response to our pic. So glad you're not in too serious danger from the weather.
Sunday Lurk say...
ChuckL - Corollary: The dumbest guy in Shop is smarter than the best Engineer/Physicist/Mathematician. I was reminded of this after watching The Breakfast Club last night w/ Youngest; the "Brain" got an F in Shop and the "Criminal" questioned why he (Brain) thought Shop an easy-A. Everyone has their forte. Full disclosure - I've a BS EE and still shock myself changing an outlet. It's little comfort that I can do the Fourier Transforms to figure out why that hurt...
No paper today so I'm trying to read it online. I'd complain about the format but frankly I'm glad they didn't force the delivery folk to brave the roads.
TXMs. I'd placed you near my office and thought just a bit south. After sending that email to C.C. last night, I tried to go back to find "Wait... Didn't she say North Loop once?" A fool's Google errand but I'm glad to hear I was off; you're north of our office, not south. Keep Safe and good luck w/ NRG.
Peg - thanks for checking in. League City... Humm, that's where all the EBS alerts on the radio have been coming from. I hope you guys get a lull there too.
PK - Radar shows NOLA is getting some of this now. Swamp and BigE (and Hahtoolah & BooL - where are yous?) are on the ground and can let you know about conditions there. Looks OK so far.
D-O thanks for your concern this AM. And thanks for updating TXMs's status.
The rain here picked back up but we've had sufficient lulls to drain the streets. I've talked to all my buddies at the office and they're OK too.
Happy Birthday Lem. For once, during a hurricane, it's better to be in FL than TX. You're welcome :-)
Cheers, -T
HI Y'all! Liked your special OPS, Jeffrey! However, it took a lot of study to "get" the theme after all was filled then "find the funny". UNMITIGATED GALLOP finally unlocked the theme for me. I've never heard of any other way UNMITIGATED was used.
Last to fill was the WICCA/WASTREL section. Hand up for Hindu first which turned red. I don't really think of WICCA as a religion, I guess.
I had to red-letter run to "G" to come up with the GRID/GRAPE start. Strange that I could get IBERIA and not get GRAPE?
IN A sec, min, bit? NO FEW. Everything YR said in her first post.
Thanks for a great expo, C.C. Glad if my analysis on the sneakers helped. My brother has Parkinson's and falls over a lot. His wife and I have brainstormed often on his problems and that is one we came up with.
Happy birthday, Lemony!
Thanks for all the weather reports. Glad you are still safe. Pray that you will remain safe & with electrical CURRENT.
Help! Did I just imagine the commercial where a girl rode her bicycle into water that her brother and other boys wouldn't? The boys came up to a puddle of unknown depth and stopped. The girl rides right by them and into the water. I don't remember what the ad was for.
Whatever happened it seems to have disappeared without a trace. Sanitized! How it got made in the first place is unfathomable.
AnonT: I had to laugh about your shop/engineer corollary. My older son is a Vo-Tech trained & certified heavy equipment diesel mechanic and can fix anything. His younger brother is a college graduate Mechanical Engineer who in his senior year wrote an award winning paper describing the problems & solutions his older brother had made on a belly dump earth mover. He didn't say in the paper who had done the creative work. Older son was pretty amused to have done an award winning design in engineering.
Anon T and PK, New Orleans hasn't had problems today. Light rain, gray skies and a little cooler temperatures. We haven't even had puddles. Stay safe in Houston!! And thanks, Tony, for the update on our other Texas cornites.
Yellowrocks, your link shows ski CAPS, not HATS. A HAT sits on the head; a CAP grabs it.
TIDES come and go. Currents only go.
Perhaps this will help defend mathematicians:
The planet Neptune was mathematically predicted before it was directly observed. With a prediction by Urbain Le Verrier, telescopic observations confirming the existence of a major planet were made on the night of September 23–24, 1846,[1] at the Berlin Observatory, by astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle (assisted by Heinrich Louis d'Arrest), working from Le Verrier's calculations. It was a sensational moment of 19th century science and dramatic confirmation of Newtonian gravitational theory. In François Arago's apt phrase, Le Verrier had discovered a planet "with the point of his pen".
Happy Birthday to Lemonade. Mazel tov.
Hope our Houston friends are weathering the weather OK. Stay safe.
Skipped the puzzle today, because of other distractions, and took a bye.
Re: the tide kerfuffle. For s's and g's, I checked with Dutton's Navigation and they center the definition around the vertical change in water elevation. They speak of tidal current. I would suspect Bowditch does the same. But who among us has not read somewhere where a certain ship "sailed with the tide." The sense of the puzzle author and editor is in the language, and most people know what is meant.
BTW, tidal currents come up rivers from the sea, as well as down to the sea. Check with the residents of Saint John, NB, with their reversing Falls. Troy, NY , 150 miles from the sea, has 5 ft. tides. How do you suppose that volume of water gets there?
John Cooper, you are a breath of fresh air! As a mathematically challenged*** person. I would much prefer placing my trust in a scientifically trained mathematician than someone just...guessing.
*** by mathematically challenged I mean I think in terms of "a few", "more than that", "not so many" and "a while big bunch." I do not claim any real knowledge of numbers.
Spitzboov, thanks for the Final Word on tides and currents. I have heard Tidal Current all my life but can't prove anything.
Owen, did I forget to mention your l'icks? I am indeed an expert on laughter...and even words. And I loved these today! Hehehehe
{A,A-}. Sorry, I forgot earlier
John the COOPER: Please note we're not dumping on mathematicians, nor astrophysics, nano-biologist or any of the wonderful people who expand our knowledge and capabilities. I'm simply defending the idea that all our disciplines, even the guy who knows the right way to move dirt or hammer a nail (my Uncle & Cousin), are necessary to make sh** work.
As Pythagoras (never) said to the Pharaoh - "This is a triangle, this is a tetrahedron (which is not quite a pyramid, but work with me here). Get some Jews and we can build one - or at least get the financing for it."
The TIDE has turned - rain is coming again in a Biblical sense. -T
No Weschler effect for me unless that's what we call a sea of white. However, after changing WHAT A DEAL to I GOT A DEAL I finally finished. 100%.
Add Kosher-LEGIT to the Jewish contributions.
When I got the top Central with some astute, if I may say so, WAGS I knew this was a toughie. A W to Mr W for all the clever cluing.
And of course a W apiece to Owen's two l'icks. He's a hard marker but the first was a p-ess de resistance.
HBD Lemonade. I enjoyed CC's write-up. And of course the pix of Misty et Ami. Speaking of... I tried to slip NIX in for decline. We had it awhile back.
As I drove through torrents here in Florida, I could just imagine SE Texas.
WC
A couple of comments. I tried to work in PRECIS for APERCU. Also, PISCES: DW is one (Betsy). Two out of three isn't bad. eg. Submissive??? NOT!!
However, as a massage therapist she wouldn't dream of working on someone without knowing their sign. She subscribes to the entire esoteric spectrum.
Rest in peace NORMA Jean.
WC
PS. YR, I'm so pleased that Alan is doing so well. And if course, yourself too.
Anon T, I dont think anyone is dumping on mathematicians......just commenting on the sillies who think their "ideas" are more reliable than trained experts. Yes, practical knowledge is as important as theoretical knowledge. I guess we can all agree on that.
BTW, AnonT, have you researched cubits yet? Or begun to gather your twos? America is waiting to Hear!! Hehehehehe
C.C., you STILL haven't seen a five hundred dollar bill; at today's exchange rate, 500 Sierra Leone Leones = USD $0.07! The exchange rate is 1 Sierra Leonean Leone equals 0.00013 US Dollar.
Freetown is Sierra LEONE? I was thinking South Africa or ???Republic. What city was I thinking of?
Calculus is the bane of would be mathematicians.
If it's on the head it's a hat,
A riptide's a current
Trig is applied geometry
Neither MOPED nor Vespa is in any way a HOG
WC
Again, thanks to all for your good thoughts. We finally dried out @ 5:30 and are in a lull. Glad that D-O, Anon-T and MsTx are doing great. Hopefully only 4-6 inches of rain tonight..... better than 19 inches last night. We can handle that.
Stay safe, and pray for the Louisianan's that will be getting some of this later tonight and tomrrow!
13" so far today according to a Weather Underground-linked station nearby (if my math is right, we are at 28" since Friday noon) but it's quiet and dry now Peg, good to hear you're in a lull. TxMs, DO, just type a line so we know you're OK. DW is taking over watch so time for a beer and nap. -T
Anon-T, Peg, D-O, hope none of your homes will be flooded. At 9:30, I got Anon-T's (@ 5:53) Biblical flood - strong winds and pounding rain, now up in my yard. Hope it lets up soon so I can crash. But I did get an eight-hour reprieve, thankfully.
TXMs - Radar shows letup in about 20min in your area - but I'm sure you know that. I'm (an atheist!) saying a prayer for you; Hugs going out... Thanks for letting us know you're OK. -T
Anon-T, wow, 28" inches? Sugar Land (??) must have an excellent drainage system in place as I haven't seen that area on the news. So far, I've received only 13" and am worried, but then again, Houston is known for its poor urban planning.
TXMs - Yes, 5" Fri, 10.25" Sat and 13+" Sunday. We are now in a voluntary evacuation area. Dave the fireman lives down the block so I hope to talk to him before packing the car around noon - The last thing I want to do is get on the roads... -T
I earned my Ph.D in Geometry by flunking the QED Science 4 times in HS. I finally passed on my 5th try. I could never get my head around the thoughts of Pythagoras however there is a silver lining ... no math in Law School. I sympathized with the "Sine" clue and immediately knew what the function was. Brought back a lot of memories. Nice Job
Always good to see photos of people from the blog. I knew a couple named Misty and Dusty and they joked that together they are "Muddy"!
Hand up for POOF before PFFT which slowed things down.
Likewise for WHAT A DEAL before I GOT A DEAL.
Fun theme but quite a few unknowns slowed me down:
A PEA, APERCU, RUPERT, GIBE, OUSEL, OTIOSE, THA, NITER, WASTREL
I have a college friend with a PhD whose religion is WICCA, but she doesn't want to say much about it.
Agree with Big Easy that characterizing a PISCES or any other astrological sign is nonsense. The inventors of astrology believed the animals of the zodiac were just above the clouds so their influence made sense. If they were alive today they would be horrified that people still believe it.
Agree that TIDE is not a current. But I also understand that crossword clues are hints, not literal definitions. Do I understand correctly?
What you saw advertised, Yellowstone, although labeled SKI HATS, are actually ski CAPS.
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