Alex is back with a visual rebus puzzle, like the old Concentration game. The number 8 can be presented in a few ways, with the most common being similar to a sideways infinity symbol. However, one can place a "o" on top another "o," and also create an eight. This puzzle has six down fill, including the reveal, where the word 'eight' is replaced with the visual. Since most puzzles have at least some across fill in the theme, it took a while to see the direction Alex had taken. Knowing my audience I expect a mixed bag of reviews, but I liked it when the light bulb came on. Like most visual puzzles, if you understand what is going on, the rest is easy. For me, seeing so many OO words made the theme and solve possible to suss. There are some uncommon fill, UP SOLD, CLOSEUP, SHUTOUT, AS I SEE IT, OVERRODE, RETROFIT and SAO PAULO. So many almost religious fill....On with the show:
3D. '70s-'80s show about a big family : OO IS ENOUGH (10). Eight is Enough overcame the death of the actress playing the mother (John Travolta's girlfriend) Diana Hyland in the first season.
7D. Obsolete audio technology : OO TRACK (7). The eight track player did not last long. HISTORY.
9D. Federal housing assistance program : SECTION OO (9). Section 8 was part of the Housing Act of 1937.
30D. Treasure chest coins represented graphically by two consecutive letters in six puzzle answers (including this one) : PIECES OF OO (10). Pieces of eight explained in the introductory link.
32D. 1875 Alcott novel : OO COUSINS (9). Never read it.
40D. Budget motel chain : SUPER OO (7). We have one NEARBY. But I like this ONE better.
Across:
1. Short pants? : TROUsers. The only time I have ever seen or heard the abbreviation was in the phrase, "Drop trou."
5. "Gloria in Excelsis __" : DEO.
8. Where JFK, Nixon and Carter served : US NAVY. This was harder than it needed to be because 'where' obscured the answer/
14. Brazil's largest city : SAO PAULO. Sao is the Portuguese version of San in Spanish.
16. Military builder : SEABEE. More Navy as the nickname is a heterograph of the first initials "C.B." from the words Construction Battalion.
17. "In my opinion ... " : AS I SEE IT.
18. MLB single-season recordholder for most hits : ICHIRO. The ageless Japanese star is still playing, now for the Marlins.
19. Skier's destination : RESORT.
20. Musical set in Manhattan's East Village : RENT.
22. Shooting marble : TAW. Like Tiddlywinks and the Monopoly iron, unknown to the youth.
23. "Xanadu" gp. : ELO. Electric Light Orchestra. THE SEVENTIES.
24. Youngest Simpson : MAGGIE.
26. O'er there : YOND(er?)- and now a word from our sponsors: "adverb and adjective archaic
yonder.
28. Somewhat, to Saint-Saëns : POCO. I am confused as S-S was a French composer and musician. 11D. Somewhat : A BIT.
29. Against: Abbr. : OPPosed.
31. Spanish pronoun : ESO.
32. Pen pal's greeting? : OINK. 555!
33. Removes, as a temporary hem : UNPINS.
36. No-hitter, usually : SHUTOUT. But not always.
38. Shot with more detail : CLOSEUP. Cool camera clue.
39. Hogwarts subjects : MAGICS. Time for Potter break?
40. Ford maverick? : SOLO. Han Solo - the lack of capital "M" made this easy. My first new car was a Ford Maverick. I paid $3,000.00 for it. I got $3,150.00 in trade for my next car.
41. Windy City transit initials : CTA. Chicago Transit Authority.
42. Blue Shield offering : HMO.
43. Energy field : AURA.
44. Hardy title teenager : TESS. Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented.
45. Carpathian Mountains locale : EUROPE. The Carpathian Mountains form a 1,500km-long range in Central and Eastern Europe. They stretch west to east in an arc from the Czech Republic to Romania. Wiki.
47. Do diner work : BUS. All restaurants with servers.
48. Roadie's box : AMP.
51. Product made from fermented rice : SAKE.
52. Game typically with 81 squares : SUDOKU. A favorite of many of our solvers.
55. "Scram!" : BEAT IT. Who can resist this LINK. MORE.
57. Make less vulnerable to earthquakes, say : RETROFIT. Or what Rich does to the puzzles he receives.
59. Straying : ERRANT.
60. Countermanded : OVERRODE.
61. Wee : TEENSY.
62. Muesli bit : OAT.
63. Repairs with turf : SODS.
Down:
1. Russia had one in the 20th century : TSAR. One and only one: Nicholas II.
2. Level, in London : RASE.
4. Induced the purchase of add-ons, say : UPSOLD.
5. "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love," e.g. : DUET. Loved Roberta FLACK.
6. Brother of Peyton : ELI. More Mannings on the way?
8. Employing : USING. Many employees would applaud this honesty.
10. "No thanks" : NAH.
12. Aloe __ : VERA.
13. "That smarts!" : YEOW.
15. Flight-related prefix : AERO.
21. I problem? : EGO.
24. Pyrénées peak : MONT.
25. Mike of "Next Friday" : EPPS. There is internet buzz on another sequel in this franchise.
26. Rural agreement : YES'M.
27. Org. that inspects workplaces : OSHA.
28. Any of 12 popes : PIUS.
33. Uma's role in "The Producers" : ULLA.
34. Squirrel's hoard : NUTS.
35. Escape destinations : SPAS.
37. Fourth dimension : TIME.
38. Essence : CORE.
43. Hunky-dory : A-OK. I believe this was coined by the astronauts.
44. Elizabeth I's line : TUDORS. She was the last of the line.
46. Shabby : RATTY.
47. "Hamilton" role : BURR. Two weeks in a row.
48. Help with a job? : ABET. Oh, that kind of job!
49. "A __ formality" : MERE. Sounds conflicted.
50. Shave : PARE.
52. Editor's mark : STET.
53. Captain hanged for piracy : KIDD. William Kidd may or may not have been a pirate.
54. Pac-12 team : UTES. The University of Utah.
56. Salon offering : TAN.
58. Spacewalk initials : EVA. Extra-vehicular activity.
As we await the imminent landfall of Irma, I hope you enjoyed this puzzle, and while I do not like hurricanes, I pray for all in its path and and that it does not wander toward Texas. Thank you Alex, Lemonade out.
Here are two pictures I snipped from Lemonade's Facebook. He and his wife Oo and their friends went for a short cruise to celebrate his birthday.
August 26-29, 2017
65 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Alex and Lemonade!
Theme not bad.
Had trouble with: COUSINS, ICHIRO and ULLA, but, everything turned out OK.
Tied again today.
Have a great day!
A crossword puzzle is a thing to do,
Or if you can't spell, a SUDOKU.
AS I SEE IT
Either one is A BIT
Of insurance against dementia's voodoo!
A pirate black was Captain KIDD!
For PIECES OF EIGHT he did what he did!
Pirates sail far
For good arr and arr!
But men without gold the SPAS all forbid!
The U.S. NAVY travels hither and YOND!
Their Construction Battalion is all over the pond!
The SEA BEES thrive
When building their hive,
But to hear them tell it, they just sat and yawned!
Elizabeth the First was the last of the TUDORS.
She didn't have children, so didn't need tutors!
Avoiding marriage,
She traveled by carriage
Too TEENSY for wooing, it was only a two-door!
{A-, A, A, A.}
If 9-Down had been: Corporal Klinger's desire, I would have gotten SECTION 8 in a heart beat.
I must be dense. Caught the 'eight" but never figured out why it was "OO".
Good morning!
Got the theme early on and that helped a lot. Argyle, I also thought of the military SECTION 8. With NAVY and SEABEE already included, that may have been too much military stuff. The hardest for me was SOLO for "Ford's maverick." But I finally got it. Thanx, Alex.
So, Lemon, do you call your wife Eight or Infinity? BTW, it isn't that Saint-Saëns was French, but that he was a composer. POCO is a musical term. I also owned a Ford Maverick -- bought it when I got out of the Navy. Traded it in '74 for a new Mustang II. Boy, I had terrible taste in automobiles!
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. I loved, loved, loved this puzzle. It was a challenge, but the "8" was just so clever. I was so sure that The Waltons were the large family, and that Little Men was Louisa May Alcott's novel. I wondered a bit about the OO TRACK, then the lightbulb went on, and I realized the large family was 8 IS ENOUGH, and that Alcott must have written a novel about 8 COUSINS.
I wanted Ouch before YEOW.
I liked ABET and A BET in the same puzzle.
My favorite clue was I Problem = EGO.
I hope our Florida contingent is all safe.
QOD: The willow is my favorite tree. I grew up near one. It’s the most flexible tree in nature and nothing can break it ~ no wind, no elements, it can bend and withstand anything (Pink, née Alecia Beth Moore, b. Sept. 8, 1979)
The count down for Irma has begun. The last two days have had such beautiful weather. The storm appears ready to cover the entire state so there is no place to run. Hopefully we will have power all day. Be safe all.
Easiest Thursday and Friday combo that I can recall.
Despite the clue, I briefly thought Super 8 would be Motel 6.
Bonus point for "Ford's maverick."
Any one else assume BRADYBUNCH before landing on OOISENOUGH? Before the clue coin dropped...
Hi Y'all! OO what a tricky theme. I got it with the first two which helped with the rest. Very different, thanks, Alex. When I got 8 IS ENOUGH, I was expecting to find 8 theme entries. Only 6? Theme answers filled in fast for me.
Everything perped & WAGd well for me except the CORE/SOLO/ULLA/AURA section. Clues rang no bells in my old ding-dong. Had to RESORT to red-letter runs there only.
POCO is a musical term. All musical terms are in Italian, I think.
My farmer's wife owns a SUPER 8 Motel. Nice place and helps support her husband's farming habit in bad years.
I pray that Irma will veer east out to sea and do no damage to the USA or outlying islands. I hope all those media people will give up standing out in the water and wind looking like "they don't know enough to come in out of the rain." That used to be my dad's measure for stupidity.
"Puzzling thoughts": (forgot my by-line the last two days!)
Natick was SOLO/ULLA cross
Error was putting ERRING where ERRANT was supposed to be, and having RANGY instead of RATTY.
I "got" the puzzle theme when I filled in 8TRACK in 7d. I filled in the puzzle from top left to bottom right, so the theme "reveal" came rather early.
Very clever construction. As a golfer, I know the "OO" (turned 90 degrees) is called a "snowman". No one wants one of these on their scorecard.
My grins and groans of the day are:
1. Using the "theme" as a Spoonerism
At casino, the players compete
For gold coins. But one player's deceit
Is when Peter does thieve,
With two cards up his sleeve;
Winning hand was called: "Aces of Pete".
2. My limerick du jour:
The homeowner was just heard to grouse
About cost of repairs. So his spouse
Had affair with a builder.
Which eventually thrilled her,
When he said that his work's "on the house."
Afraid that next week is going to be a windfall (no pun intended) for home repair specialists - as well as scam artists. Hoping that the storm passes quickly with minimal damage ...
Lemonade, forgot to thank you for a great expo. Enjoyed the music. I had never seen the BEAT IT video before -- heard the music many times. Glad to see you well enough for your birthday voyage.
I was wondering what was going on, knowing that SECTION 8 was the correct answer but I left the OO unfilled. The OOT start for 7D had me stumped for a while because both RENT, MAGGIE, & EPPS were unknowns. Then the V-OO moment hit. I finished with the cross of another unknown-ULLA from the unknown movie- crossing a non-existent energy field-AURA.
The OO-COUSINS book was all perps.
Construction Battalion becomes C.B. morphs into SEABEE. Master of Ceremonies becomes M.C. which morphs into EMCEE.
Brother(s) of Peyton-ELI and COOPER, whose daughter MAY will not be a quarterback. She plays tennis. Great wide receiver but he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis before he ever played any football at Ole Miss.
Lemonade and the rest of you, I wish you luck on the imminent hurricane. I was on the receiving end of Katrina & Isaac, coming out unscathed in both. Sheer luck.
Good morning all!
Oof- this was tough for me, as I didn't get the OO=8. Doh! I had the the theme answers but it took Lemonade's wonderful write up to actually "see" the graphic. Oh well, you can't win 'em all :) Very clever puzzle from Alex though with a lot of great clues/fills, so thanks to him and to Lemonade for being our faithful guide even with the impeding hurricane.
The NE corner was a DNF due to not knowing SEABEE and ICHIRO and wanting NAH to be Naw and YEOW wouldn't come to me. The only marbles I ever remember are aggies even though TAW has been in plenty of CW's, so I should have known that too.
Other unknowns were EVA, ULLA and EPPS but gotten easily enough with perps.
Favorite clue was of course "Hogwarts subjects"/MAGICS and SOLO and OINK were extremely clever!
For all of you in Florida- I'm praying for your safety. I can't imagine going through that. Please let us know how you are if you can.
Harvey, Irma and now Jose right behind her... wow, it's almost too much to fathom. The pictures of the devastation in the Caribbean are heartbreaking and surreal.
I'll check back in later and throughout the weekend as much as I can to see how everyone is faring.
Take care, all!
Lame.
Good Morning:
So far, I'm in the minority because this was a great big Thumper for me.
Lemony, you did a fine job explaining Alex's clever construction. Thank you and stay safe. Nice pix, BTW.
To all of you in danger from Irma, Godspeed and know that we're all thinking of you and praying for your safety.
Owen and Moe, thanks for the comic relief you both provide.
Have a great day.
I got the theme very early, and it was a big help. I love puzzles like this that drags stuff that I didn't know I knew out of me. I had "The Waltons" for a while.
Hello Lemonade, I missed our common birthday, this year. Apologies.
Your blog was very interesting, and full of information - I especially liked reading about the 8 track tapes. It is always a pleasure.
Its is a cute coincidence that your wifes name Oo made it into todays puzzle - when you would be the one on blogging it - Maybe it is a good omen. Best wishes.
Lemonade714, there's a quote by I think Hemingway, something like "There's no day so beautiful as hurricane weather just before the hurricane hits."
To Spitzboov yesterday - yes, a GOLEM was in Prince Valiant a couple of years ago. I wondered if that's where Tolkien got his name for evil-Smeagol, though most of his sources were Icelandic and Germanic.
ULLA was a gimmee; my daughter and I refer to Mel Brooks simply as "The Genius" (my wife's taste in humor is different), and ULLA was the last role she played in community theater.
https://youtu.be/iVOUGYma-Ec
Musings
-Our garage sale is 1½ hrs. old and has levelled out as most of the good stuff is gone and the pro shoppers get here early.
-The theme was fabulous but I struggled to finish with Ford (Harrison) maverick (Han)
-My choir instructor insisted on In Excel”shus” DEO which always sounded pretentious to me
-Did Navy man Ford’s pardon of Navy man Nixon give Navy man Carter the ’76 election?
-In The Fighting SEABEES, John Wayne used a bulldozer as a tank
-No hit losers
-I don’t think RETROfitting can help much in Miami this week.
-Is “bait and switch” the predecessor of UPSOLD?
-“Let saints their songs EMPLOY”
-My grandson’s high school is named for number X
-Time The better question in Back To The Future was not “Where am I”? but “When am I?”
Hi everybody. I started slowly and wrongly. From crossing letters, I got several pairs of OOs that didn't make sense at first. For "Treasure Chest Coins" I thought of Doubloons that kinda made sense. Finally the V-8 kicked in and everything fell into place. What a clever theme! Thanks Alex, Rich and Lemon.
Once the penny dropped I found this puzzle to be terrific! Thank you, Alex Easton-Salners!
At first, it seemed to make no sense but I knew there was a gimmick. Having read all of Louisa May Alcott's books, it kicked in at Eight Cousins and Eight is Enough.
The clue for OINK was my favorite. I saw The Producers on Broadway but don't recall who played ULLA. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were the principal actors.
Somewhere in a closet I still have some 8-TRACK tapes.
Lemonade, Owen and all you other Floridians, please do stay safe!
Thank you so much, Lemonade, for a vivid and detailed explanation.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
You need to ride this storm up here in Shawnee, Oklahoma in my tornado shelter.
Chairman Moe & Lemon: Hope you got all your preparations complete.
IRMA is now my least favorite named storm.
Will ride it out at Villa Incognito with an ample supply of NEAT libations.
Cheers!
I'm with Chairman Moe on the ULLA/SOLO natick.
Plus a rebus type gimmick.....give me strength.
Got the solve absent any fun. Kind of a grind.
Fun Friday CW. Thanks Alex and Lemonade. (I agree with d-otto and Vidwan about Oo.)
I too had a V-oo moment (LOL Big Easy!) which helped all the theme answers fall into place.
Hand up for Little Men before OO COUSINS and Erring before ERRANT.
I had Alpe before MONT and Odor before CORE.
Unknowns included EPPS, ULLA, ICHIRO but perps filled them in.
TROU was my least favourite and OINK was my favourite cluing.
I have some OO TRACKs (Wings at the Speed of Sound anyone?) and a player in my basement. I haven't used them for a long time but I think they still work. My kids think the clunck sound between each track is hilariously bad!
My basement also has a box of books passed on from my mother. There is probably a copy of Eight Cousins in there as she collected the Alcott books. Like BunnyM, I should deal with those boxes sooner than later. The problem is knowing whether anything might be a collector's item or just junk. I need an Antiques Roadshow evaluation!
57A reference to earthquakes was prescient given the 8.1 magnitude one in Mexico yesterday.
Stay safe all of you in the path of nature's power.
I don't like these clever constructions but misspellings of clues I "got" probably doomed me anyway. One question. I assumed Saint-Sens was French. Poco I know means "a little " in Spanish. Doesn't "un puer" (sp?) mean the same in French ??? Where have I gone wrong?
The mathematics and science seem to indicate that Florida is in for a rough time. Leave or hunker I guess. Of course 40% of the US doesn't believe in science so maybe....
Measurements of ocean temperatures indicate to my friend the physicist turned NOAH meteorologist that the USA could be hit by several more over the next couple years. Of course he and some of our best PhD scientist who create and modify the modelling as required took their retirement or were laid off this year as cutbacks in the US scientific community have been wide spread. I on the other hand who makes bombs and missiles and the like have been encouraged to return. I might take a consulting gig or two but I am raising my fees !
Woohoo! Woohoo! I got a Friday puzzle, even though I didn't actually "get" it. In other words, I filled everything in perfectly, including the 6 double 00s, but didn't understand that they indicated an 8 until Lemonade's helpful write-up. But, hey, I still got it perfectly--on a Friday!--many thanks, Alex, for this gift. And BunnyM, I'm glad I'm not the only one who had this problem.
A rare frustration today concerned my favorite logic puzzle, SUDOKU, which ironically appeared in the crossword puzzle today. But for the first time in a year or two, I just couldn't complete my SUDOKU this morning, even though I tried and tried. It's almost impossible not to finish a Sudoku, but this one just wouldn't work out for me. So it's a good thing I got today's Alex crossword puzzle, or my week would be ending in depression even on a beautiful sunny day, with my refrigerator working again.
Owen, great first and last limericks in your series. And Moe, I liked yours too.
Lemonade, I loved your pictures, and was also amazed to learn your lovely wife's name is so closely related to our puzzle theme today! Wonderful coincidence, or was this planned?
My thoughts are with all of you in the hurricane and flood zones today. I've been thinking about Peg with much gratitude because the LA Times had an article today about how difficult it's going to be for the Harvey survivors to get on with their lives. It's so great of her to spend time helping them.
Have a wonderful day, everyone.
I had several OO's where I needed Eight. Then the penny dropped. The theme was helpful.
Like Chairman Moe, "Natick was SOLO/ULLA cross." I wagged the L, but didn't "get" it until Lemon explained. Again like Moe, "Error was putting ERRING where ERRANT was supposed to be, and having RANGY instead of RATTY." I tried RAGGY, too. So ERRANT and BEAT IT were lost.
I have seen TROU used in novels for trousers, but agree that it is most often used in "drop trou." We call that mooning.
In square dance we call our partner our TAW.
As a waitress I had to bus many a table. We were expected to never to go to the kitchen empty handed. We were encouraged to upsell at every opportunity. A higher bill means a more generous tip, usually.
The word POCO has been adopted by many, many languages including English, Spanish, Italian and French, among others, for the musical term meaning bit by bit, so Saint Saens would have used poco.
We spent a delightful time Saturday through Wednesday down the shore in Wildwood Crest, NJ.
with my older son and his wife who have a beautiful condo there. We planned to leave on Friday, but Alan fell ill Wed. night so we a came home on Thursday and went to see the doctor today. Results are still up in the air. At least, things are not deteriorating more.
My thoughts are with you folks in Florida as you await Irma Stay safe.
Misty, I agree with you about Peg. That is a wonderful thing she is doing as I'm sure it will take many months and even years to overcome the destruction. After Katrina, one of my sisters and some friends spent three months in Louisiana working with Habitat for Humanity building houses.
I am so-o-o slow ... finally saw that "40a Ford maverick" refers to HARRISON Ford.
I tell 'ya, this aging stuff ain't all it's cracked up to be! Decrepitude among the clues....
Hi All!
OK, that was OOdles of fun. Thank you Alex.
My 1st fill was ELO / AERO (I do this is (O)INK so I wan't a solid perp to start) and I slowly built out from there. I was still pondering 3d and got ENOUGH to fill that and knew 8 is... But nada... Wait, Gov't housing isSECTION-8. The game was afoot - what's Alex doing with 8?
PIECES OF - AHA! He's breaking 8's somehow... E - I - G - H - T ?. Keep thinking -T...
The $0.01 finally dropped when I committed to SODS ->KIDD, SUDOKU, BURR & STET, RETRO FIT, UTES, OVER RODE. OOH! I see what you did there. Filled in all the other OOs and MAGIC happened. I'm done.
I'll read all & play more later when I have TIME. Now taking Youngest to DMV to get her permit (unlike eldest, she's chomping-at-the-OAT).
Cheers, -T
Ta- DA!
Whadda monster from Mr. Eaton-Salners! (And whadda name!) I am happy to join with Misty, Lucina and co. who knocked this Friday-toughie out o' the park!
The double-O theme made me think I was in the wrong for a good while. Not until I realized LITTLE MEN was totally wrong and something truly weird called OO COUSINS began to take shape did the "Bingo" sign start flashing in the ol' walnut.
And then it was a Gangbusters finish, complete with siren!
Loved OINK for "Pen pal greeting" and the poetic spin from "O'er there" to YOND ...
Hands up for LEOS or LEO(-the-something) before PIUS.
Happy to report my wife is doing very well after yesterday's surgery. It was "only" on her foot, but turned out to be somewhat elaborate, and we are pleased to report that the doctors and nurses at Newport Orthopedic Institute are really the nicest, most attentive team I have come across (in too many hospital visits).
Sadly, I just got word that my brother in FL - West Palm Beach - is in the hospital there for diabetic complications. This may actually be a safe place for him as Irma closes in.
Thanks to all who are sending prayers and good wishes to the folk throughout the Caribbean, and please keep in mind all those in the hurricane's developing path!
Ol'Man Keith, so glad to hear that your wife's surgery went so well--that's wonderful. And I will keep my fingers crossed that your brother stays safe while getting care for his diabetes. And it sounds as though you yourself are doing okay after your surgery a few weeks ago. Stay well, and like you, I'll keep sending prayers and good wishes to hurricane and rain victims over the weekend.
Sorry for the problems with Ulla, but if you recall, I made a puzzle with JW on the occasion of Mel Brooks' 90th birthday so that was not a problem.
Irma appears to be blanketing Florida so there is no place to go...
What happened to the Patriots?
Ugh, Fridays just keep getting harder...
(not looking forward to Saturday...)
For those of you who want to "up" your game,
(Husker Gary might appreciate this one...)
Camouflaged Golf Balls!
I dunno, this puzzles clues just seemed like camouflaged golf balls to me...
Four!
Whaat! Where! Ouch!
(Oh, I meant Yeow...)
(Man, that V00 can to the head is much more friendly...)
Tin, I'm as prepared as I can be. Hoping my decision to stay is the right one. I feel certain that if things get too dicey I'll find comfort in something with alcohol
Hello everybody,
billocohoes - Thanks for your response on golem.
Late solving today; had to take BH to Syracuse for a colonoscopy. Everything is A-OK. We are thankful.
Toughie, especially with the rebus thing. But I had occasionally run into rebuses before, especially with the NYT, and found they can be fun. Once grokked, the theme fill came easily. My main difficulty came in the NE, not thinking of ICHIRO, and dealing with quasi-fill like YEOW, and NAH. TAW wasn't any help either, but we've had it before.
US NAVY - Nice CSO à moi. GHWB and LBJ also were Naval officers. Agree with Lemon about the 'where' usage.
Be safe, those of you harm's way in Florida and other danger areas of the SE.
Classic closing run on sentence from lemony today. While I dislike rabid animals, I feel like having a beer right now. Thanks lemony for the chuckle.
We had a puzzle from our resident queen of the puzzle with OO the basis of the theme.
Vidwan, my twin brother from another brother, thank you for stopping by.
I would not say my sentences run on, it is my mouth that does that- but thank you for informing any new readers as I am sure they appreciate the insight.
Spitz, always good to have negative tests. They are a real positive.
When I finally figured out the OO gimmick my first thought was, "Rich allowed a rebus puzzle?" Maybe it's not technically a rebus puzzle. Anyway, it was fun, so all is good. Natick city at ULLA-SOLO. Hand up for loving the OINK clue. The clue for SOLO was pretty good, too. I was also trying to think of a French word for "somewhat."
Lemonade's final sentence is not at all a run-on, and is actually a rather elegant example of a sensibly compound sentence, complete with main and subordinate clauses.
Hey Lemonade, what's the meaning of the "555!" next to OINK?
Hunker down, all you Floridians who didn't get out of there, and best wishes to you all.
Jayce, I am so glad you asked about 555. In Thai, the word for what we call five, is HA.So, 555 means HA,HA,HA. I think it is cute. I also thought OINK was a rib-tickler.
More and more of these puzzles are just not worth doing!
Musings
-Yeah, Dave, what I need is a golf ball that is harder to find! :-)
Misty @2:48,
Thanks for all your good wishes. Much appreciated.
Good day to all!
As usual for a Friday, I had slow going at first. But after jumping around a bit I came to 30D and was sure that the answer was "PIECES OF EIGHT"--but there weren't enough spaces. That's when the lightbulb came on, and I was able to go back and get the other theme answers easily. Very clever theme, and some trickery in the cluing! Thanks for the tour, Lemonade. So glad your health is restored to the point that you could enjoy a cruise to celebrate your birthday.
PK--Thanks for the information about Blue Man Group yesterday.
OMK--Good to hear that your wife's surgery went well. Hope her recuperation does too.
Spitz--Good news about your BH, as well.
Sending well wishes and prayers to all those in Irma's path, and those recovering from Harvey.
I was impressed at how well the cruise line adapted for people with walkers, wheel chairs etc.
There were some high sills and you had to go downstairs to one of the dining rooms, but it was all doable, and the staff were very solicitous.
I still have my walker.
I will hold my tongue on DMV experience and try to make this post pleasant...
Thanks Lem for the Expo. Enjoyed ELO link!
WOs: Hand up for Ouch b/f YEOW. I had EVM (extra-vehicle-maneuver(?)) b/f EVA. And, of course ERRiNg. At least the I was easy to ink into an A.
ESPs: POCO, OPP (really?), and OO COUSINS [was Little Women an Alcott? That was first thought]
Nit - TROU xing (CZ|TS)AR. TROU, really? Rich must really like you Alex to STET that :-)
Barry T. I too thought Brady Bunch but the clue said it bleed into the 80's (OO0's?)
While I liked OINK. I really liked the word RETRO-FIT; it's, like, so then in TIME [see: 8-TRACK]. However, I'm going with Fav as c/a for SOLO. The ? gave it away but I like'd it.
{A-, A-, A, A-} {cute x2 - stay safe C.Moe...}
HG - Great BTTF quote!
Good news OMK.
IM - Thumper 'cuz the c/as were hard to grok? [e.g. 'where' in clue for NAVY]. Let the rabbit talk :-)
C, Eh! - I Googled Queen's Night at the Opera on 8-Track to see if I remembered the "clunks" correctly [I had it; and no, I didn't]. $20 on eBay - just sayin'. BTW, I Love Wings' At the Speed of Sound - that's the one with the 6x6 Squares on the cover, right?
OK, I've failed as a parent... Eldest called earlier this week from OU because her tire's low. SUPER-dad said, "Go to Sinclair on Main, they still have full-service. Ask them to fill up and check the tire-pressure." She called today... "Help. I'm going to the gas station and I don't know what to say. Stay on the phone with me..." #DadFail
Styx's PIECES OF OO had better songs that the title cut, you know, like Renegade (ENCORE!) [8m]
Last bit b/f Friday nap - ERRiNg did give me TIN @ 56d for a spell. Funny if there was a second O in the first part of 'Salon offering'... Hunker down mate and Toast one to Irma's buggering off east [we can hope]. Godspeed!
Cheers, -T
I've been preoccupied today and didn't have the focus/patience to work this one. A lot of what I got was wrong, so I'm going with Thumper. Thank you, Alex E-S, for the challenge. I wasn't up to it today. Many thanks, Lemonade, for explaining to me what I couldn't figure out.
IM, I finally remembered how to link my videos: Rufus and Hoops These two dogs are both very shy and undersocialized, but they are BFFs. They help each other with learning new things to do. This is the first time Rufus--bigger dog--chewed on a toy for more than 2 seconds! It's also the first time he has played tug-of-war!
OMK--glad to hear that your wife is doing well post-op.
Positive thoughts for all those affected by the weather. I hope you are unscathed.
So, you two are staying,eh? I'm actually working the shuttle tomorrow. My boss is telling me it's just Cat 1 or 2 and East of Tampa Bay. My son says full Cat 4 right through Tampa. TPA shuts down at 8 pm Saturday.
WC
Way above my pay grade .. Lemon, your just keep on talking and talking and talking! I love allllll of your words. Anon, go way!
IM! I'm with you!! And I got most of it .....
Owen, I laughed out loud. That's a winner to me.
All you in Florida , hunker down. Prayers from here.
Boo Louquette....you okay?? I imagine he is out in his bass boat still looking for people to rescue with the Cajun Navy. But I'd like to know he is okay......
Lemonade, I loved your puzzle with JW!
My son took two getaway trips earlier this summer, one to Houston and the other to St. Thomas, VI. Hearing about the hurricane damages there really bothered him. He is planning a trip to Wisconsin later this month. Says he hopes a hurricane doesn't blow in off the Great Lakes. Sometimes you gotta laugh to keep from crying.
I can't imagine what you Floridians are going through, waiting at home for this to hit. Stay safe, friends!
I haven't seen those links for awhile. As much as I dislike hurricanes, this was a fun puzzle to solve. Oo
It is surreal because we have had so much time to prepare but we still have no idea what we will be facing tomorrow and Sunday. 205 Hurricane Wilma went west under South Florida and into the Gulf and then turned around and hit Broward County with its worst hurrican in 50 years. We are all ready as we can be - be safe John Lampkin, Tin and Moe and the rest.
I agree lemonade, this beaut could go anywhere. Problem is it's so huge and powerful. Misty, I'll take all the prayers you can muster.
Well, I used my secret weapon today. I put on reading glasses. ENOUGH was enough to suss that Sitcom and I certainly know the "Snowman".
And there was the theme. PVX, don't have an EGO trip but when I spotted the gimmick I immediately thought of your post to come.
I just couldn't think of a motel with 8 in it as opposed to 6. So I started to put MOTE into Google and it all became clear. Hans SOTO was the last to wrap it up.
I recall Floyd Bevens throwing a 2-1 no-hitter circa 1947. Somebody check that; Hondo would know.
Well I hope to hear from you and vv sometime in the future.
WC
I apologize, but the most disliked clue/answer ever IMO - Short pants?/Trou. I know YR did give instances of it, but really! After the second O-O occurrence appeared with solid perps, I finally got the theme - ootrack and oocousins. Great construction per this newbie for the figure 8 hidden in down answers. Still don't get "Pieces of 8" - have to go back to read Lemon's recap.
Thank you, Lemonade, for stepping up to the plate even when Irma is bearing down on Florida as you post and for the links. Fav, of course, from my era - "Evil Woman." Did revisit your MJ clip - "Beat It." Happy that you had such a great bday cruise - happy pics - you needed that before Big Irma.
Anon-T, funny. I reread your post two times, and I got the impression Eldest "called," and you "said." #DadFail - did you not text??! Or did she just delete the text with the thought, "OK, got it, Dad." My 40-yr-old niece doesn't reply to my emails...her ex-husband (yes, he's still a big part of our family - we love him) says she "doesn't respond to emails - ya gotta text her." Oh, well.
After watching two hours of world and local news tonight, this Irma is unbelievable. For those of you evacuating, stay safe. Those hunkering down, positive thoughts blowing eastward from TX. Please let us know how you're doing as soon as you can. Chairman Moe @ 3:40, yes, I have to agree with ya, that's how I got through Ike with the high winds. If a tree's goin' come down crashin' when I'm sleeping, at least I'll be relaxed and calm when it does - no sense panicking. Chardonnay to the rescue, or whatever... Again, please those in Irma's path of wrath, please post as soon you can.
Pieces of eight - reread Lemon's recap and clicked on link: "The Spanish dollar (silver coin) was known as 'a piece of eight', because it was worth eight reales. Reales was the name of the currency in Spain until 1864." Never heard of that - will certainly forget that by tomorrow as some Cornerites say. Too much clutter in this old brain already.
Actually "reales" as currency was brought to the New World by the conquering Spaniards and was used until well into the 20th century. I recall my grandmother saying "cuesta dos reales" it costs 2 reales or to her, two quarters.
Aaarrgggh! My Facebook has gone out. I can get the page, but it's a complete blank--no pictures, no messages, nothing, just a complete blue blank page saying Facebook. This has never happened to me before, and it just devastates me, and I don't know how to fix it. Any suggestions?
Misty - I wish I knew squat about Facebook - I don't use it so don't know how to solve your issue. Common suggestion - close all browser windows and try again (or just reboot). Sorry for the stock Help(less) desk answer.
TxMs - nope a real phone call. I feel like I should have taught her to be more independent. Maybe it's not on me - Youngest will explore beyond her comfort zone.
On PIECES OF EIGHT... Memory serves that the dollar symbol ($), sans a second vertical |, is 'stolen' from the symbol Spain used for their currency. Also, that their "dollar" coin could be cut into 8 pieces of silver for minor purchases. A peso was a piece of 8.
A cursory Google or two shows some of my memory pans OUT - Wiki on Spain's Dollar and OED on dollar sign. A symbologist (OKL?) may know better.
Cheers, -T
AnonT, thank you, thank you, for the supportive comments. I don't know how or why, but my Facebook page reappeared intact again. I'm so thankful, I don't know how I'd live without my internet friendships including this wonderful Crossword blog. Thank you, thank you.
To add - from the old song "A PARE (Shave) and a hair cut - 6-bits" or 6 pieces of eight (aka dollar) - That's 75% or 3-quarters. -T
FLN - RetFizz, You had me at Sid Vicious... I shant forget OLDMAN soon. Thx. -T
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