Theme: "T" Times - punning clues to a phrase with an added "T".
20A. Place to mingle on the slopes? : SINGLES T-BAR. There's an aprés-ski joint in Val d'Isère called "Dick's T-Bar." I had many a post-piste pick-me-up there back in the 80's. The bar has outlasted the T-bar style lifts. Those things were tricky.
34A. Misplace a casual top? : LOSE YOUR T-SHIRT. Two theme entries in one T-shirt:
39A. Take Rover to Ruth's Chris? : GIVE A DOG A T-BONE. Funny how many people want to call this steakhouse chain "Ruth Chris's".
53A. Dinosaur family drama? : OEDIPUS T-REX My ex and I named our daughter "Jocasta". Then I read the play. Hmmm. Rated "R" for family unpleasantness (the play, not my daughter). She didn't hold a grudge.
Clever by Clive not just to add a "T" to a phrase, but to find four "T-hyphen" in front of the final word of the phrase. This kind of consistency is really difficult to strive for - you can start out with a seed entry that sets you on your way, and then find yourself compromising when you can't find much else that fits the plan.
Fresh fill, including GIRLRIEND, LOW VOLTAGE, SNARFS and TROUGHS. A lot to like. Let's see what else we've got to talk about:
Across:
1. Superhero attire : CAPE
5. Six-footers at parties : SUBS
9. Parakeet quarters : CAGES
14. "You can say that again!" : AMEN!
15. St. Paul's architect : WREN. The City of London's cathedral. Wren lived across the river in Southwark so that he could monitor progress. This is Herbert Mason's iconic photograph taken during the Blitz in WW2:
16. Important fruit in the Mediterranean diet : OLIVE
17. Novelist Morrison : TONI. One of America's literary greats.
18. Zaragoza's river : EBRO. Zaragoza in Spain, not Mexico.
19. Harder to come by : RARER
23. Legal deg. : LLB
24. Big hand measurement: Abbr. : MIN.
25. Gobble (up) : SNARF. Great word. Almost onomatopoeic.
27. Octet since 2006 : PLANETS. Poor Pluto.
31. Shakespearean call to arms : ALARUM. "To Arms!". The stage direction "Alarums and Excursions" indicates that the assembled throng of extras need to start running around grabbing spears and what-not and calling "To War!" and the like.
36. "I saw the opening __ of hell": "Moby-Dick" : MAW
37. "Straight Outta Compton" role, familiarly : DRE. The good Dr. I met Andre when we were pitching software to his Beats Music brand. Smart guy.
38. Word with head or roll : EGG
46. Dull : STODGY. Hopefully, not your egg rolls.
47. Run things? : ERRANDS
48. Doone of fiction : LORNA. Based in the West of England. A good read!
50. NBA tiebreakers : OT'S. Basketball overtimes.
51. Balderdash : ROT
59. Major mess : SNAFU. I like the "Major=Military" connection in the clue. People will have you believe that the "F" means "fouled". Don't fall for it. Situation Normal, All [insert preferred word here] Up.
61. Universal donor's type, briefly : O-NEG
62. Support person : AIDE
63. One with a strict diet : VEGAN. I'm on a strict diet too - I call it the Food! diet. You won't catch me eating anything else.
64. Boring : BLAH
65. Pass the bouncer : GO IN. BYPASS the bouncer would be "sneak in".
66. Respond to a charge : PLEAD. Pleading ignorance was a loophole that was closed many moons ago.
67. Hearing things : EARS. Fun clue.
68. Singer James : ETTA. Could also be "RICK". So steady on there, Turbo, wait for the crosses.
Down:
1. Subjects of many viral online videos : CATS. This might not fall strictly into the genre, but it's still a treat - a UK commercial for milk. I love it.
2. Mine, in Marseille : A MOI
3. The Quakers of the Ivy League : PENN. Penn State are the Nittany Lions. They sound more fun.
4. Conundrums : ENIGMAS. "It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". Winston Churchill's assessment of Russian foreign policy in 1939. Also - here's "Nimrod", one of Elgar's "Enigma Variations". Quite beautiful.
5. "American Gods" leprechaun Mad __ : SWEENEY. Thank you, crosses. Neither novel, author nor character have never even come close to knocking at the door of my wheelhouse.
6. Metro areas : URBS. Subs and Exes. Sounds like an adult novel.
7. Muppet with a unibrow : BERT
8. Elitists : SNOBS
9. Western pens : CORRALS
10. In the style of : A LA. Mode. King. Food!
11. Sweetheart : GIRLFRIEND
12. Robbie's daredevil father : EVEL
13. Many a Montenegro resident : SERB
21. One-fifth of a limerick : LINE. Take it away, Owen KL
22. Art school subj. : ANAT. omy
26. Cheering sound : RAH!
27. Hair piece : PLAIT
28. Relatively safe, as electricity : LOW VOLTAGE. Wasn't the Van de Graaf generator that I stuck my hand on in high school which set my hair on end generating 50,000 volts? At a micro-amp, I seem to remember. Or something. Anyway, it didn't kill me. Stick your tongue on a 12V car battery and it's a different story.
29. Flap : TO DO
30. Tidal peril during a storm : SURGE and the anagram hot on the heels ....
32. More than asks : URGES
33. Board rm. session : MTG. Often "bored room". Too many meetings, too much decision paralysis.
35. Bring up : REAR
36. British racing cars : MG'S. Originally an abbreviation of "Morris Garages", now long lost to history. One of these chaps is either over-cautious or terribly rash, vis-à-vis headgear:
40. Old name of Tokyo : EDO
41. Bad way to run a ship : AGROUND. Usually leaves a mark not easily buffed out.
42. Unit of force : DYNE
43. Low-pressure systems : TROUGHS
44. Cricket clubs : BATS.
45. Performing : ON STAGE
49. Southwestern brick : ADOBE
51. Invitation letters : RSVP
52. Scott Turow memoir : ONE L. Harvard Law School freshman year. Published in 1977, apparently many first-year law school students still read it as part of their prep.
54. Getting pictures of the Hollywood sign, say : IN L.A. My local landmark. I still want to get up close, but the arrest/fine/night in jail isn't worth it.
55. Nectar flavor : PEAR
56. Sidesplitter : RIOT
57. Menu including Cut and Paste : EDIT
58. "Hercules" character who got her own show : XENA. She was the honorary starter at a charity golf tournament sponsored by Universal that I played in at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena a few years ago. There were more mulligans taken on that tee than I've seen before or since.
60. Drone regulator: Abbr. : F.A.A
A belated and heartfelt thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes on Tuesday - I've been up to my ass in alligators at work this last couple of weeks so I didn't have time to stop by on the 12th. My friend Jill took me to my favorite Indian restaurant, and a hot, spicy and merry time was had by both of us.
That leaves the grid - so here it is!
Steve
20A. Place to mingle on the slopes? : SINGLES T-BAR. There's an aprés-ski joint in Val d'Isère called "Dick's T-Bar." I had many a post-piste pick-me-up there back in the 80's. The bar has outlasted the T-bar style lifts. Those things were tricky.
34A. Misplace a casual top? : LOSE YOUR T-SHIRT. Two theme entries in one T-shirt:
39A. Take Rover to Ruth's Chris? : GIVE A DOG A T-BONE. Funny how many people want to call this steakhouse chain "Ruth Chris's".
53A. Dinosaur family drama? : OEDIPUS T-REX My ex and I named our daughter "Jocasta". Then I read the play. Hmmm. Rated "R" for family unpleasantness (the play, not my daughter). She didn't hold a grudge.
Clever by Clive not just to add a "T" to a phrase, but to find four "T-hyphen" in front of the final word of the phrase. This kind of consistency is really difficult to strive for - you can start out with a seed entry that sets you on your way, and then find yourself compromising when you can't find much else that fits the plan.
Fresh fill, including GIRLRIEND, LOW VOLTAGE, SNARFS and TROUGHS. A lot to like. Let's see what else we've got to talk about:
Across:
1. Superhero attire : CAPE
5. Six-footers at parties : SUBS
9. Parakeet quarters : CAGES
14. "You can say that again!" : AMEN!
15. St. Paul's architect : WREN. The City of London's cathedral. Wren lived across the river in Southwark so that he could monitor progress. This is Herbert Mason's iconic photograph taken during the Blitz in WW2:
16. Important fruit in the Mediterranean diet : OLIVE
17. Novelist Morrison : TONI. One of America's literary greats.
18. Zaragoza's river : EBRO. Zaragoza in Spain, not Mexico.
19. Harder to come by : RARER
23. Legal deg. : LLB
24. Big hand measurement: Abbr. : MIN.
25. Gobble (up) : SNARF. Great word. Almost onomatopoeic.
27. Octet since 2006 : PLANETS. Poor Pluto.
31. Shakespearean call to arms : ALARUM. "To Arms!". The stage direction "Alarums and Excursions" indicates that the assembled throng of extras need to start running around grabbing spears and what-not and calling "To War!" and the like.
36. "I saw the opening __ of hell": "Moby-Dick" : MAW
37. "Straight Outta Compton" role, familiarly : DRE. The good Dr. I met Andre when we were pitching software to his Beats Music brand. Smart guy.
38. Word with head or roll : EGG
46. Dull : STODGY. Hopefully, not your egg rolls.
47. Run things? : ERRANDS
48. Doone of fiction : LORNA. Based in the West of England. A good read!
50. NBA tiebreakers : OT'S. Basketball overtimes.
51. Balderdash : ROT
59. Major mess : SNAFU. I like the "Major=Military" connection in the clue. People will have you believe that the "F" means "fouled". Don't fall for it. Situation Normal, All [insert preferred word here] Up.
61. Universal donor's type, briefly : O-NEG
62. Support person : AIDE
63. One with a strict diet : VEGAN. I'm on a strict diet too - I call it the Food! diet. You won't catch me eating anything else.
64. Boring : BLAH
65. Pass the bouncer : GO IN. BYPASS the bouncer would be "sneak in".
66. Respond to a charge : PLEAD. Pleading ignorance was a loophole that was closed many moons ago.
67. Hearing things : EARS. Fun clue.
68. Singer James : ETTA. Could also be "RICK". So steady on there, Turbo, wait for the crosses.
Down:
1. Subjects of many viral online videos : CATS. This might not fall strictly into the genre, but it's still a treat - a UK commercial for milk. I love it.
2. Mine, in Marseille : A MOI
3. The Quakers of the Ivy League : PENN. Penn State are the Nittany Lions. They sound more fun.
4. Conundrums : ENIGMAS. "It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". Winston Churchill's assessment of Russian foreign policy in 1939. Also - here's "Nimrod", one of Elgar's "Enigma Variations". Quite beautiful.
5. "American Gods" leprechaun Mad __ : SWEENEY. Thank you, crosses. Neither novel, author nor character have never even come close to knocking at the door of my wheelhouse.
6. Metro areas : URBS. Subs and Exes. Sounds like an adult novel.
7. Muppet with a unibrow : BERT
8. Elitists : SNOBS
9. Western pens : CORRALS
10. In the style of : A LA. Mode. King. Food!
11. Sweetheart : GIRLFRIEND
12. Robbie's daredevil father : EVEL
13. Many a Montenegro resident : SERB
21. One-fifth of a limerick : LINE. Take it away, Owen KL
22. Art school subj. : ANAT. omy
26. Cheering sound : RAH!
27. Hair piece : PLAIT
28. Relatively safe, as electricity : LOW VOLTAGE. Wasn't the Van de Graaf generator that I stuck my hand on in high school which set my hair on end generating 50,000 volts? At a micro-amp, I seem to remember. Or something. Anyway, it didn't kill me. Stick your tongue on a 12V car battery and it's a different story.
29. Flap : TO DO
30. Tidal peril during a storm : SURGE and the anagram hot on the heels ....
32. More than asks : URGES
33. Board rm. session : MTG. Often "bored room". Too many meetings, too much decision paralysis.
35. Bring up : REAR
36. British racing cars : MG'S. Originally an abbreviation of "Morris Garages", now long lost to history. One of these chaps is either over-cautious or terribly rash, vis-à-vis headgear:
40. Old name of Tokyo : EDO
41. Bad way to run a ship : AGROUND. Usually leaves a mark not easily buffed out.
42. Unit of force : DYNE
43. Low-pressure systems : TROUGHS
44. Cricket clubs : BATS.
45. Performing : ON STAGE
49. Southwestern brick : ADOBE
51. Invitation letters : RSVP
52. Scott Turow memoir : ONE L. Harvard Law School freshman year. Published in 1977, apparently many first-year law school students still read it as part of their prep.
54. Getting pictures of the Hollywood sign, say : IN L.A. My local landmark. I still want to get up close, but the arrest/fine/night in jail isn't worth it.
55. Nectar flavor : PEAR
56. Sidesplitter : RIOT
57. Menu including Cut and Paste : EDIT
58. "Hercules" character who got her own show : XENA. She was the honorary starter at a charity golf tournament sponsored by Universal that I played in at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena a few years ago. There were more mulligans taken on that tee than I've seen before or since.
60. Drone regulator: Abbr. : F.A.A
A belated and heartfelt thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes on Tuesday - I've been up to my ass in alligators at work this last couple of weeks so I didn't have time to stop by on the 12th. My friend Jill took me to my favorite Indian restaurant, and a hot, spicy and merry time was had by both of us.
That leaves the grid - so here it is!
Steve
39 comments:
Most night flyers will SNARF UP any old bug,
But the SNOBS have a MAW that likes RARER grub!
Some think them STODGY
To eat one kind only,
So those BATS get together in a CRICKET CLUB!
Of the PLANETS out past Pluto, one is named for XENA.
That's where the E.T.s gathered to consider their ENIGMA.
Earth was causing some ALARUM,
But was it doing harm?
VEGAN housedroids were addicting to soap operas reaching Vega!
BERT was a hypochondriac, with complexes complex.
Went to see his shrink with a peculiar new effect.
He'd always known his mother
Was a Reptilian under-cover,
But would forbidden URGES brand him OEDIPUS T-REX?
{A-, A-, B+.}
No mention of the OLIVES?
Foundation Food!!
Oil, tapanade, black, green, stuffed...
Greetings!
Thanks to Clive and Steve!
Not a difficult Thursday.
Did not know SWEENEY. SURGE, MG'S and TROUGHS were helped by perps.
Harv took me to Sprouts Market after the doctor visit today. They have cool organic stuff and very nice helpers!
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
From yesterday: I, too, am a big Jabberwocky fan!
I had LLd before LLB and toupe (as a VAR) before PLAIT, which was unknown for me (as was ALARUM). I knew MAW but not the quote, Dr. DRE but not the flick, WREN as anything other than a bird, the name of ANY leprechaun, and didn't think of A MOI as a two-word answer.
I used to run AGROUND in my sailboat fairly often. It is really frustrating to be in the marked channel and still run out of depth, but that's life in Tidewater. These groundings don't leave marks; one just floats off after the tide comes in. I never ran aground in California - plenty of deep water almost up to the shore line.
Still a solid Thursday level puzzle. Thanks to Clive for the fun and for the CSO to our own Anon -T. And thanks to Steve for another fine tour.
Good morning!
LOSE one's TSHIRT almost did me in this morning. Nothing was working in the Nebraska/Iowa area. Finally snapped that the dude's name probably wasn't SWEENEo and things fell into place. Nicely done Clive. Enjoyed the tour, Steve.
Hi Y'all! Enjoyed the puzzle to a T, Clive! Got the theme early which helped with the others. Great expo, Steve! Enjoyed "Nimrod" although I got sidetracked with Pachelbel and almost forgot to return.
Top center section was the last to fill. I got SNOBS on the first pass. Never heard of anything to do with the 5a clue or SWEENEY. SWEENEY Todd is the only evil being I could think of when that perped in. I knew Christopher WREN but didn't associate him with St. Pauls. SUBS? Not party food for us. Only six footers at my parties are my bros. Not to be confused with the EBRO River. Never heard of Zarogoza on either continent. Couple red-letter runs necessary to get going.
Run things: not "races" or "marathon" but ERRANDS, the only things you'll ever catch me running.
Though not at the beginning, this was an easy Thursday as it turned out. Once I solved across the top, I was stymied and slid down to the bottom, completed that and just kept on going. Lots of guessing on this one. Unknowns: MAW, SWEENEY, DRE in that context,
CORRALS and ADOBE suggest the Southwest.
Thank you, Clive Probert, for inserting some unusual clues for familiar fill, e.g. EARS, ERRANDS.
OwenKL:
Nicely done.
Thank you, Steve. Your style is unmistakable and thanks for the Elgar link. Beautiful!
Have a joyous day, everyone!
Good morning everyone.
Now what could go with 38a, 'head' or 'roll'? Toyed with 'end'; finally the light went on and the EGG was laid, and I was done! Great puzzle; the theme fill helped make it easier, though. No searches or wite-out were needed.
EBRO - Usual 4 letter fill for a Spanish river. Waiting for someone to clue Guadalquiver, the 2nd longest river entirely in Spain.
TROUGH - German Trog. Same consonant shift as: 'enough' to German genug. (The ending g has a slight gutteral quality as the ch in ach du Lieber.
Easy and useful theme made this a quick solve (for a Thursday).
Sussing the added T made this puzzle much easier and more interesting. NEATO, Clive. SWEENEY was the only unfamiliar fill. Knowing WREN and guessing SUBS(cute) helped. MIN was my last fill. Ooh, hand on the clock.
Great cats clip, Steve. I had a good laugh. Fun expo.
WC, thanks for the tip. I will try it. Alan constantly plays the same three episodes of REBA reruns to soothe himself, although he has Reba DVDs of every season. His new meds have conquered the anxiety, however he has only felt well that one day out of the last 8. He is still home from work. This is an ENIGMA I can't solve, despite all kinds of tests, specialists, ER visits. etc. This has been going on to a greater or lesser extent for two years. It comes and goes, but like a bad penny always returns.
My thoughts are with all who are coping with aging relatives.
Square dancing, square dancing friends and club leadership, along with you Cornites are my lifeline.
Nice theme, construction, cluing, and of course write-up. Can we call One G and One L pseueo-clechos?
Musings
-A very clever Thursday and the summative paragraph A LA Steve works for me
-CAPE advice
-Most everything about Pluto made it the red-haired cousin at the PLANET picnic
-Our ERRANDS now include a daily run to MIL’s house
-Steve Harvey SNAFU – “Uh, sorry Miss Columbia, we’re gonna need that crown back!”
-“O NEG Blood Needed” sign is frequently seen at the Lincoln Blood bank
-I couldn’t PLEAD ignorance, my driver’s license clearly read “Expires 9/11/17”
-I put a 10-sec. video on Facebook of our CAT futilely boxing at Monarchs on our asters
-Although dissection was discouraged, Michalangelo’s did so anyway and his ANAT drawings were very detailed
-A winter spark from a doorknob after walking on carpet generates around 4,000 VOLTS but very small amperage
-Granddaughter threatened to withdraw her deadbeat biological dad’s RSVP to her France departure party if he didn’t pony up his agreed upon share. She got the money the next morning.
-Worst captain ever nominee Francesco Schettino - he ran his the Costa Concordia AGROUND and abandoned ship before everyone was off
Easy Thursday - somewhat. Yesterday's was more complex. Having said that I did not know WREN LLB ALARUM DRE MTG spelled EVEL as EVAL. Did not know URBS, spelled BURT as BERT. Did not know AMOL or ONEL. So WREN became WRAN.
ETTA James did not wear a CAPE but James Brown and XENA did. SNAFU and SNARF, R U a switch hitter.
OEDIPUS did not want to marry his mother and kill his father(according to a soothsayer he was bound to do this). He was raised by adopted parents. Apparently, he did not know this, . So he left town and came across his real father and killed him for some reason, then married some older lady, I think at a SINGLES [T] BAR and it turned out to be his mother. She killed herself when she found out. He stuck pins in his eyes and I think became a VEGAN.
Rick Papazian
Was it 'TEA' time or TEE time? I'll take the latter. A super easy guess after the T-BAR. I only went up in chair lifts when I skied many years ago. Buying lift tickets for four and renting a condo in the Colorado Rockies got too expensive. "Ruth's Chris" is easy. Ruth Fertel bought 'Chris Steakhouse' in the Big Easy.
ALARUM and SWEENEY- thank you crosses and perps. I never knew XENA was a 'Hercules' character but how many 4-letter names start with X? No other unknowns.
SNARF or SCARF it down. I guess they SNARF it down in X-Word land but nowhere else.
fermatprime- look up Rosby Waves of the Jet Streams and you will understand TROUGHS and RIDGES
Jinx- I owned 3 sailboats but somehow managed to avoid running AGROUND. Just lucky.
I struggled with the top center section. I could not remember BERT, even after having five children watch Sesame Street daily. But, SNOBS gave me the letters that triggered all the other words and I finished. I didn't get the theme.
I enjoyed your explanation, Steve, especially the milk ad. I, too, listened to other music after Nimrod, but eventually came back to the Corner.
IT'S RAINING!! It's not heavy but steady. It's not raining yet in our western mountains, but it's forecast as well as snow tomorrow night.
Flash flood warnings are out now over the burned areas.
Half of Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta burned in one day. Their visitor center is gone and I think, many structures. Everything is closed there and everyone's been evacuated. They need rain or snow, too. The area of MT near them is still burning. Rain isn't in their forecast.
Stay safe, everyone,
Montana
It occurs to be that "one g" is a legit entry especially with cryptic clues:
$1000 blood type
A blood type's specific gravity
Good Morning:
Any puzzle with Cats (CSO to Mr. Meow) and a Dog gets my vote! This was a fun and smooth solve, unlike my DNF yesterday. Unknowns were Sweeny and Alarum, but perps saved the day. I wasn't aware that Dr. Dre was part of the Compton group but I've never paid much attention to rap music. I read "One L" years ago and most of Turow's novels.
Thanks, Clive, for an enjoyable challenge and thanks, Steve, for the fun tour. Loved the cat video which I think I've seen before, but it still tickled my fancy.
YR, I hope the days ahead will bring comfort and healing to Alan. My thoughts and prayers are with you both.
Have a great day.
Hi everybody. This was fun once I figured out the added 'T' gimmick. Some excellent cluing. Very enjoyable. Thanks Clive and Steve.
I knew about Sir Christopher Wren easily since he was a relative of mine. My father told me all about him. I was pleased to see his notebook in the attic of St. Paul's when we visited and toured many years ago.
1a. Superhero attire?
NO CAPE!
Mad Sweeney – Suibhne, a king from an old Irish story. Though not portrayed as such in his story, he calls himself a "Leprechaun," and is foul-mouthed, a frequent drinker, and taller than expected.
"American Gods"(2001) is a novel by English author Neil Gaiman. In April 2017, Starz began airing a television adaptation of the novel.
I'm not looking up anything more and will promptly forget what I did.
A Thursday toughie, but I got it, I got it, Yay! The top was easy and enjoyable but then it started to get tougher and I almost feared I'd never get the middle. But, thank goodness, I got the "T" theme at some point and that helped a lot. And I'm relieved that guesses like SWEENEY worked out and helped with the solving. So, many thanks, Clive, and I enjoyed your write-up, as always, Steve.
Northwest Runner, thanks for your ONE G ideas, which I much appreciated. I kept wondering what that G stood for and didn't get it until Steve's expo.
Yellowrocks, so sorry Alan is still having a rough week.
Steve, so glad to hear you had a fun birthday celebration.
Have a great day, everybody!
I thought this was a neat-o puzzle. I like the phrase "Give a dog a bone" from the old children's song "This Old Man" which we sang as kids. I totally agree with Steve about Sweeney et.al. not knocking on my wheelhouse door. Fill in S_ARF and let the perp determine whether it's C or N. Loved the clues for EARS and ERRANDS.
I'm glad you got to go to Sprout's market, fermatprime. It's one place I actually enjoy going shopping with my wife. I lust for the frozen bison and venison burgers, but my wife refuses to buy any.
Northwest Runner, I also noted the ONEG and ONEL entries.
Best wishes to you all.
I decided to take the Nissan in for a scheduled maintenance. So, I had some time. I would call this an old fashioned sticky Thursday. Although it started smoothly in the NW. I had to Write-over OLE and read my own writing. And of course grok the T.
YR, as far as Alan needs to know, you've taken a sudden interest in Ferrante and Teicher. .
Steve nice write-up, I liked the links.
Owen, solid W's
Long stretch of van work ahead but it gives me a chance to do the weekend toughies.
WC early for a change
Almost, but not quite, a full Ta-DA!
My experience was like Misty's, easy-peasy at the start, then it got chewy in the middle. For me it was because I tried to maintain my favored NW to SE diagonal start. I'd almost had that in my pocket when I realized I needed a couple of letters in the 5D fill. I had watched American Gods all last season but for the life of me could not think of that big-galootish leprechaun's name!
Aargh!
So, yes, I peeked at the name of Pablo Schreiber's role. (Along the way, I marveled at the actor's own handle: Pablo & Schreiber! Great name for a character actor - Most cool! But nothing Irish about it!!)
I know, I know, I might've been reminded of SWEENEY from perps, but I didn't want to stray from my diagonal opening.
Overall, an excellent pzl from Mr. Probert and a fine response from Steve. When I first encountered the theme at 20A, SINGLES T-BAR, I thought all the answers would call for a T followed by a variation of BAR. Hence I got stuck for a while trying to end 34A with T-BRA! Obviously that was doomed to fail, but it was fun for a while.
I got a major kick outta 27A. For a while I was wondering what 3 letters intro'd a sports team, one of our many NETS? (And ayway, how many guys back up the five starters?)
I love that photo of St. Paul's. As for Christopher WREN, I had the pleasure once of staging a Shakespearean play in a rare American structure based on a design by Sir Chris himself - the beautiful Wren Building on the campus of William & Mary.
It was a real privilege to bring fun and laughter (a production of The Comedy of Errors performed by clowns) to the old hall - even though the wiring left something to be desired.
Big Easy - I had the sailing jones bad - 6 sailboats, a windsurfer and a land yacht - over my nearly 40 years of racing. My Catalina 38 drew 6' 10", which was DEEP for the Chesapeake Bay and it was the only boat that I routinely ran aground where the chart said I should be OK. Around here they say there are two types of sailors: those who have run aground, and those who will.
I remembered what Steve wrote that got me grinning: Zena as honorary starter. Golf and Jabberwocky remind me of some lines I wrote in our old golf blog poetry contest:
The sun was shining mightily
Shing with all it's might,
Wilbur was frowning sulkily
For it wasn't right
.
.
The Walrus and Tom Watson
We're playing in the sand
Said Wilbur, oh wouldn't it be grand
.
.
WC
What an interesting career you've had, Ol'Man Keith. It's always a pleasure to hear about it.
Big Easy, here's a Wiki link to Rossby Waves.
Catching on to the "T' gimmick early certainly helped in solving today's puzzle with all its punny theme entries. Some great cluing, as well, as others have mentioned. Thanks for the expo, Steve. Darling cat commercial!
Best wishes to all!
Three for T?
Anyway, a bit of crunch - just a bit - for this Wednesday offering.
Had SCARF for SNARF, until ANAT took care of that. ISOBARS for TROUGHS, again until crosses fixed it. And that was that.
On TV, videos and streaming of SNOW falling in western Montana. Yahoo!
4:30 pm
Montana
Now why the heck didn't I think of this -Theme said...
Hi All!
This theme fit me to a -T. Thanks Clive for a Tip Top Theme and fill that was mostly in my wheelhouse (sans FIW). I flew through the grid in Tuesday-time.
Thanks Steve for the expo; that CAT link doesn't get old very much unlike LOL Cats.
FIW - I needed ONE Square - #15. I did the alphabet run and stopped at T (StEENEY sounded good). I did have a thought of W but was concerned - that would make the architect a bird, no?
WO: ScARF b/f SNARF (Hi Big E!)
ESPs: A MOI, ONEL, LORNA
Fav: SNAFU. I'm glad Rich let that ThROUGH considering What Steve Said (and any Vet will tell you it's 'F***'d Up').
Honorable Mentions: c/a for ERRANDS and PLANETS [who else was thinking of music?]
{B, A-, A-}
YR - We're here for you. Keep up the spirt.
Montana - Thank you for the updates out West. Glad to hear rain & snow are coming to help your firefighters.
Today's Splunk T-SHIRT: "Find your Achilles' heel, before a Trojan does."
Cheers, -T
Hello everyone. It's been a verrrry long time since I have posted, but I do read the blog and try to keep up with ya'll. I liked the T theme and caught on early...for a change!
My husband and I are proud (crazy?) owners of a '54 MG-TF and a '53 MG-TD. Lots of fun to drive, but as we get older it gets harder and harder to get in and out! Oh, my aching knees.
Chickie, JD and I met for coffee a few weeks ago and had a marvelous visit. Thank you CC for posting the "selfie". Our paths would never have crossed had it not been for this site!
That's it from the Garlic Capital of the World. Take care.
Very late to the T party today. Thanks for the fun, Clive and Steve.
I was whizzing through this CW and thinking that I was doing very well for a Thursday. I got the theme; I smiled at the ONEL and ONEG; I saw the CSOs to AnonT, Owen and CMoe (21D), CED (1D), OMK (45D); I noted the timely 30D SURGES (I did not note that URGES was an Anagram-thanks Steve).
But I was working in the newspaper and did not realize until I got here that I had a FIW at 24A and 5D. I thought too literally about the "big hand" clue and was looking for a size. I filled in MIT wondering if it had something to do with baseball and hoping that the perps would correct. But like many of you, I did not know the leprechaun and thought Mad SWEETEY looked okay. LOL! Thanks YR for explaining (hand on a clock).
Montana, glad to hear of some rain/snow relief. I saw the news reports about Waterton.
Good to hear from you, Garlic Gal.
Where would we be without ETTA James?
Etta Kett
Garlic Gal! So good to see you chiming in again. JD said y'all had Tea and such... How's the wonderful smell of garlic in the air this time of year?
Re: your MGs: I had a Scout Master with one. I recall his cool blue '70's(?) era MG. That and when he was sick on his couch watching TV and checking a bottle of Tylenol for the lot number because of the SNAFU in the vats... He wasn't poisoned and we all went camping the following weekend.
More on SNAFU.... Think Rich will ever let FUBAR slip in? Military in favor, say AMEN.
C, Eh! - I didn't spot the URGES / SURGE anagram until Steve called it out either. Pretty groovy, er, NEAT-O, of Clive, eh?
Argyle - For reals? You're giving Sat constructors another '20's reference to clue ETTA? I finally learnt can ink Ms. James regularly.
Bye, Bye, (blackbird), -T
Crossing unknowns WREN, EBRO, BERT and SWEENEY seemed a bit unfair.
Otherwise a fun and enjoyable ride!
Surprised people would have trouble with storm SURGE given how much this has been in the news lately.
Post a Comment