Theme: Food! And solve the reveal, solve the puzzle. First the reveal:
34A. Clue for 20-, 23-, 48- and 52-Across : TIME FOR DINNER! Yay, Food!
and then:
20A. See 34-Across : COME AND GET IT! Yay, Food! And Yay! 50's pin-up art!
23A. See 34-Across : SOUP'S ON! Yay, Food!
48A. See 34-Across : LET'S EAT! Yay, Food!
52A. See 34-Across : SUPPER'S READY! Yay, Food!
Blecho. I'm calling it. Blogger's Echo. Yay, Food!
I have to practice my Spanish before class tomorrow, so - Hoy es jueves, el vienteocho de Septiembre, dos mil diecisiete. I'll go back and proof that later :) As always, corrections welcome!
What a nice puzzle from Derek. I went top-to-bottom with this one but stopped to smell the coffee on the way. The theme came early for me - I had a fill-in-the-blank for 20A, more than half of 23A - I tried SOUP'S UP! first, but once that was fixed it was pretty much a done deal. But look at:
... and not a clunker to be upset about in the fill. I think is is one of the nicest-constructed puzzles of the year. Two fantastic clues, we'll get to those in a minute Let's go!
Across:
1. Historic spans : ERAS
5. 2012 World Series MVP Sandoval : PABLO
10. FiveThirtyEight fodder : DATA. Opinion-data-driven website
14. Ristorante bottle : VINO
15. "Let's call it __": "We're even" : A DRAW
16. Spring flower : IRIS. How weird. I was just looking up the guitar chords for this song today. Put a capo at the 4th fret and off you go.
17. Disney CEO since 2005 : IGER
18. Small, silvery Chesapeake Bay swimmer : WHITE PERCH. I saw what you did there, Derek. Is the symmetrical 56A related much? Of course. Nice work.
22. Experiment : TRIAL
27. National Lampoon writer, typically : SATIRIST
31. Old West gunslinger Jack : SLADE
32. Hand over : CEDE
33. State with conviction : AVOW
40. Spray holder : VASE
41. Casino game : FARO. I've never played this game. It's a little dated, but the history is interesting.
42. __ acids: protein components : AMINO
44. Fireproofing construction mineral banned in many countries : ASBESTOS. I remember helping my Dad with the honey-do list when I was a kid. My job when we were putting up shelves and anything else that required drilling holes in walls (before the days of plastic plugs) was mixing up the cement to stuff into the holes. It was 99% asbestos fiber.
50. Bit of land : ISLET
56. Boneless seafood cut : FISH FILLET. See 18A, Smart.
59. Nonstick cookware brand : TFAL
60. Reverberate : ECHO
61. Chips go-with : SALSA
62. Online page : SITE
63. Profound : DEEP
64. Owner of Regency hotels : HYATT. I have a story about the Hyatt at Denver Tech Center. Basically, a great bar with some interesting characters.
65. At any point : EVER
Down:
1. Kick out : EVICT
2. Hardships : RIGORS
3. Iron deficiency concern : ANEMIA
4. Upset with : SORE AT
5. Chess piece that may be promoted : PAWN
6. Condition treated by Ritalin, briefly : ADHD
7. Sailor's jail : BRIG
8. Most recent : LATEST
9. Have financing from : OWE TO
10. Jenny Craig offering : DIET PLAN Food! Wait! Not Food! Are you calling me on a cellular phone? Crank Call! Crank Call!
11. LAX incoming flight : ARR. Usually bouncy over the mountains over San Bernardino from the south/east or Ventura from the north, then ARR!!!! Land like a Pirate!
12. Muscle spasm : TIC
13. Volcanic output : ASH
19. __ XIII: Title role in "The Young Pope" : PIUS
21. Pulitzer winner Walker : ALICE
24. File menu command : SAVE
25. Aroma : ODOR
26. Just announced : NEW
28. Two-legged zebra : REF. Clue of the day. This is great. Football "zebra" referee. Here is Ed "Sun's out, guns out" Hochuli of the NFL, one of the best in the business. When players come over to argue a call he can either out-bench them or challenge them to an arm-wresting contest to decide the issue.
29. Swear words : I DO. Great clue again. Two for the day.
30. Feudal workers : SERFS
34. Hardly envelope-pushing : TAME
35. "Do you really think so?" : IS IT?
36. Haberdashery : MEN'S SHOP. Funny, I thought it was a shop selling buttons, fabric and what-not, not just for men. My school played yearly cricket, rugby and soccer fixtures against Haberdashers' Aske's school in London.
I wouldn't have had any idea where to place the apostrophes unless a) I worked there ( didn't) or b) I looked it up to check (I did).
We usually won the soccer, lost the cricket and generally went to-and-fro at at the rugby.
37. Blot gently : DAB
38. Cork's home: Abbr. : IRE. Both the county and the city in the Republic of Ireland.
39. Respectful negative : NO, SIR
40. Kilmer of "Tombstone" : VAL
43. Ingredient in une omelette : OEUF. Food! There's better be more than un ouef in my omelette, otherwise there will be trouble. The "Love" score in tennis comes from the shape of an egg. "Federer with the serve, fifteen-l'ouef". Then eventually AD-IN and AD-OUT, beloved of crossword compilers. I think I used AD-IN in my first published solo, I'll have to go back and check.
44. Having fun : AT PLAY
45. Scary African fly : TSETSE
46. 1380s Norwegian king : OLAF IV.
47. Unruffled : SEDATE
49. Very silly : APISH. I can deal with APISH. APER I can't.
51. "House of Payne" creator __ Perry : TYLER. Thank you, crosses.
53. Frequent collaborator with Louis and Duke : ELLA
54. Take a nap : REST
55. Doc's "Right away" : STAT!
56. Nourished : FED
57. Sprain treatment : ICE. And wrapping and heat.
58. "Thar __ blows!" : SHE."Thar she blows, there she blows again..." Oh wait, misheard lyrics? It's a bit late for a music link, but I like this one! Not quite a mondegreen, but close.
Enter, stage left - "The Grid"
Exit - Steve, amidst Alarums and Excursions
34A. Clue for 20-, 23-, 48- and 52-Across : TIME FOR DINNER! Yay, Food!
and then:
20A. See 34-Across : COME AND GET IT! Yay, Food! And Yay! 50's pin-up art!
23A. See 34-Across : SOUP'S ON! Yay, Food!
48A. See 34-Across : LET'S EAT! Yay, Food!
52A. See 34-Across : SUPPER'S READY! Yay, Food!
Blecho. I'm calling it. Blogger's Echo. Yay, Food!
I have to practice my Spanish before class tomorrow, so - Hoy es jueves, el vienteocho de Septiembre, dos mil diecisiete. I'll go back and proof that later :) As always, corrections welcome!
What a nice puzzle from Derek. I went top-to-bottom with this one but stopped to smell the coffee on the way. The theme came early for me - I had a fill-in-the-blank for 20A, more than half of 23A - I tried SOUP'S UP! first, but once that was fixed it was pretty much a done deal. But look at:
- WHITE PERCH/FISH FILLET symmetry and a great connection between the two
- The two upper and two lower themers stacked on four letters. That's not easy to do
- There's still room for SATIRIST and ASBESTOS in the across and
- DIET PLAN/MEN'S SHOP in the downs
... and not a clunker to be upset about in the fill. I think is is one of the nicest-constructed puzzles of the year. Two fantastic clues, we'll get to those in a minute Let's go!
Across:
1. Historic spans : ERAS
5. 2012 World Series MVP Sandoval : PABLO
10. FiveThirtyEight fodder : DATA. Opinion-data-driven website
14. Ristorante bottle : VINO
15. "Let's call it __": "We're even" : A DRAW
16. Spring flower : IRIS. How weird. I was just looking up the guitar chords for this song today. Put a capo at the 4th fret and off you go.
17. Disney CEO since 2005 : IGER
18. Small, silvery Chesapeake Bay swimmer : WHITE PERCH. I saw what you did there, Derek. Is the symmetrical 56A related much? Of course. Nice work.
22. Experiment : TRIAL
27. National Lampoon writer, typically : SATIRIST
31. Old West gunslinger Jack : SLADE
32. Hand over : CEDE
33. State with conviction : AVOW
40. Spray holder : VASE
41. Casino game : FARO. I've never played this game. It's a little dated, but the history is interesting.
42. __ acids: protein components : AMINO
44. Fireproofing construction mineral banned in many countries : ASBESTOS. I remember helping my Dad with the honey-do list when I was a kid. My job when we were putting up shelves and anything else that required drilling holes in walls (before the days of plastic plugs) was mixing up the cement to stuff into the holes. It was 99% asbestos fiber.
50. Bit of land : ISLET
56. Boneless seafood cut : FISH FILLET. See 18A, Smart.
59. Nonstick cookware brand : TFAL
60. Reverberate : ECHO
61. Chips go-with : SALSA
62. Online page : SITE
63. Profound : DEEP
64. Owner of Regency hotels : HYATT. I have a story about the Hyatt at Denver Tech Center. Basically, a great bar with some interesting characters.
65. At any point : EVER
Down:
1. Kick out : EVICT
2. Hardships : RIGORS
3. Iron deficiency concern : ANEMIA
4. Upset with : SORE AT
5. Chess piece that may be promoted : PAWN
6. Condition treated by Ritalin, briefly : ADHD
7. Sailor's jail : BRIG
8. Most recent : LATEST
9. Have financing from : OWE TO
10. Jenny Craig offering : DIET PLAN Food! Wait! Not Food! Are you calling me on a cellular phone? Crank Call! Crank Call!
11. LAX incoming flight : ARR. Usually bouncy over the mountains over San Bernardino from the south/east or Ventura from the north, then ARR!!!! Land like a Pirate!
12. Muscle spasm : TIC
13. Volcanic output : ASH
19. __ XIII: Title role in "The Young Pope" : PIUS
21. Pulitzer winner Walker : ALICE
24. File menu command : SAVE
25. Aroma : ODOR
26. Just announced : NEW
28. Two-legged zebra : REF. Clue of the day. This is great. Football "zebra" referee. Here is Ed "Sun's out, guns out" Hochuli of the NFL, one of the best in the business. When players come over to argue a call he can either out-bench them or challenge them to an arm-wresting contest to decide the issue.
29. Swear words : I DO. Great clue again. Two for the day.
30. Feudal workers : SERFS
34. Hardly envelope-pushing : TAME
35. "Do you really think so?" : IS IT?
36. Haberdashery : MEN'S SHOP. Funny, I thought it was a shop selling buttons, fabric and what-not, not just for men. My school played yearly cricket, rugby and soccer fixtures against Haberdashers' Aske's school in London.
I wouldn't have had any idea where to place the apostrophes unless a) I worked there ( didn't) or b) I looked it up to check (I did).
We usually won the soccer, lost the cricket and generally went to-and-fro at at the rugby.
37. Blot gently : DAB
38. Cork's home: Abbr. : IRE. Both the county and the city in the Republic of Ireland.
39. Respectful negative : NO, SIR
40. Kilmer of "Tombstone" : VAL
43. Ingredient in une omelette : OEUF. Food! There's better be more than un ouef in my omelette, otherwise there will be trouble. The "Love" score in tennis comes from the shape of an egg. "Federer with the serve, fifteen-l'ouef". Then eventually AD-IN and AD-OUT, beloved of crossword compilers. I think I used AD-IN in my first published solo, I'll have to go back and check.
44. Having fun : AT PLAY
45. Scary African fly : TSETSE
46. 1380s Norwegian king : OLAF IV.
47. Unruffled : SEDATE
49. Very silly : APISH. I can deal with APISH. APER I can't.
51. "House of Payne" creator __ Perry : TYLER. Thank you, crosses.
53. Frequent collaborator with Louis and Duke : ELLA
54. Take a nap : REST
55. Doc's "Right away" : STAT!
56. Nourished : FED
57. Sprain treatment : ICE. And wrapping and heat.
58. "Thar __ blows!" : SHE."Thar she blows, there she blows again..." Oh wait, misheard lyrics? It's a bit late for a music link, but I like this one! Not quite a mondegreen, but close.
Enter, stage left - "The Grid"
Exit - Steve, amidst Alarums and Excursions
46 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Derek and Steve!
Cute theme!
Had a bit of trouble with: PABLO, DATA, WHITE PERCH, SLADE, TYLER and ELLA, but it all perped out fine!
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
Good morning!
Zipped right through this one, though I tried MENS wear before MENS SHOP barged in. Nicely done, Derek.
Steve, you can't just tease about that Hyatt story. Let's have it!
ASBESTOS used to be ubiquitous in shipyards and construction industries. The crane manufacturer I represented used ASBESTOS clutch shoes and brake pads. No longer used, because ASBESTOS causes mesothelioma and asbestosis.
RIP, Hef.
Had never heard of 538, OEUF, APISH or Tyler Perry. Erased IlER for AGER and kenO for FARO.
I REALLY wanted 27A to be SMARTASS, but settled for SATIRIST. I loved the magazine. P. J. O'Rourke's "Parliament of Whores" is the best explanation I have ever read about why congress is so dysfunctional.
Thanks to Derek for a fun, Thursday-appropriate puzzle. And thanks to Steve for great commentary. Good guide - BISCUIT! I especially liked learning about the connection of egg and love in tennis.
TFAL (actually Tefal, T-FAL in the US) is unknown, and a natick with OLAv/OLAF
Good morning all!
Thanks to Derek for a fun food theme with some very clever clues. I had to smile when I realized it's Thursday and this was in Steve's wheelhouse :) Even a mini theme with OUEF, FED and TFAL.
Thanks, Steve - I could sense your glee throughout the blog. Wonderful work, as usual.
My only trouble was having Late FOR DINNER/TIME. So thought "haberdashery" would be Tie SHOP but that wasn't long enough. This also gave me Lame/TAME but once the light bulb came on for VASE, it all came together.
Unknowns: IGER( I could only remember Eisner, who was the previous Disney CEO) SLADE, FARO and PABLO.
PK- sorry to read about your troubles. When it rains, it pours. I hope things are better for you now!
YR- sorry for all that Alan and you are going through. He's lucky to have such a wonderful and caring Mom. I'm dealing with a similar situation with my youngest daughter, although not to the same extent. So I can sympathize with your concerns and frustrations.
Old Man Keith- yes, our experience with the NO TIP was entertaining (more so after the fact) and we still get a good laugh out of it :) I loved your story about the vanishing waiter and leaving the useless concert tix as a tip was brilliant!
We topped out around 90 yesterday (a record high per the newspaper) and it's now 55. I tried sitting outside to work the puzzle but the swift breeze made it too chilly. However, the forecast is promising a beautiful day with temps in the low 70's. I'll take it!
Hope everyone has a wonderful day :)
A "page on line" (not "online," please; no such word) is only one unit of a SITE. Let us, please, try to maintain some meaning in the language.
Hi Y'all! Another fun one from Derek. Made me hungry! Lots of food & names. Fast fill for a Thursday.
Steve, you always provide a learning moment, thank you. Today you gave me two. 1) At last, an explanation for "love" in tennis that makes sense. 2) The other was "mondegreen" which I never had heard before but after Googling it, did some good chuckling. For those who don't know, it is a term for mishearing some phrase in a song as another set of words. Comes from a song with words: "They shot the Earl of ??? and laid him on the green." The last part was misheard as "Lady Mondegreen." You know, like the old story about the kid singing about "Gladly, the cross-eyed bear" in Sunday School (gladly the cross I'd bear).
With all that food today, I was a little put off with the addition of DIET PLAN, but I guess the WHITE PERCH FISH FILLET is there so we get FED some lean healthy AMINO acids with some SALSA (fish tacos?) and a little VINO. (No brownies or ice cream? What kind of DIET PLAN is that?)
I had to perp PABLO. OEUF, and SLADE but this was an easy-peasy Puzzle for a Thursday. I didn't know which OLAF but it ended in a V so the IntraVenous was as easy ending.
COME AND GET IT? The picture is more like 'Come and get ME'. I was not looking at the dinner triangle. Cleavage and a mini-skirt with slits. Yay.
A better clue for OEUF would have been "Ingrédient in une omelette" (accent aigu over the first e). And nothing in the clue suggests that the omelet contains only one egg.
PK, sorry to hear about your car troubles yesterday. TxMs had some good advice -- you need to exercise that car at least weekly. Another mondegreen is "Round John Virgin," usually illustrated as a yellow blob (oeuf?) in nativity scenes.
Anon@8:22, from Merriam Webster:
Definition of online
:connected to, served by, or available through a system and especially a computer or telecommunications system (such as the Internet) an online database; also :done while connected to such a system online shopping online games online searching
Good morning everyone.
A food puzzle briefed by a Foodie. How cool is that! Easy for a Thursday, but Five Thirty Eight was a learning. Thanks, Steve.
Perps make it easy. Guess I liked the REF clue, too.
ISLET - The Norse for islet is the basis for our family's surname.
I served aboard a Fletcher class destroyer whose first newbuildings began reaching the Fleet in 1943, and who saw service for the next 30 years.
Our main armament was the 5 in. cal. 38 Naval (rifled) gun.
We had no BRIG. We once had an officer put in hack - restricted to his stateroom, but could take
his meals in the Wardroom mess. (We were at sea at the time).
There was ASBESTOS lagging over all our steam piping and covering the turbines, de-aerating
feed tanks, and other ancillary equipment. (Our main steam was 600 psi with 850º F. superheat). Often wonder what the
exposure to mesothelioma has been.
I was aggravated at first that there were 5 related answers with no clues. After getting the first theme answer the puzzle filled 1-2-3, easy, but it's not my favorite type of theme. If there had been just one clue for the 5, I would have really liked this puzzle. Steve, thanks for the fine expo.
I learned HABERDASHERY when Harry Truman was president. He owned a haberdashery for a short time, his most unsuccessful venture. After that he entered politics at the county level and was senator, vice president and President. I have been interested in politics since I was a preteen. MY earliest interest was being rapt following the news of the big upset when Dewey was proclaimed the next president, only to find out Truman really won.
Pablo and Slade were unknown, but perps and wags helped out. I had T-Fal pans years ago. I knew OEUF.
Bunny M. sorry to hear of your youngest daughter's troubles.
Alan got up yesterday after 8 hours sleep. Then he went back to bed from 9 AM to 3 PM and slept soundly the whole time. Today he hasn't even arisen by 10 AM.
Two legged zebra-ref and swear words-I do were clever.
PK, LOL Loved your post.
Adding to DO's post:
Meriam Webster: Page- “the block of information found at a single World Wide Web address.” Page here is the whole site not just a unit.
Merriam Webster uses online as a single word and gives these examples: online shopping, online games, online searching. So online page works.
Fine foods offered today along with VINO and well parsed by our resident foodie! Gracias, Esteban. Your Spanish is good just needs a little work on spelling but it's easy to transpose letters at veintiocho.
And thanks to Derek Bowman for an elegant grid. This is not my favorite style of puzzle but it was easily grokked once COMEANDGETIT and SOUPSON appeared. Hey, who's this PABLO Sandoval? I should look him up; we might be related.
Does anyone recall the T-FAL episode on Seinfeld? I wasn't sure who owned the Regency hotels but HYATT surfaced soon enough.
Have a lovely day, everyone!
C'mon! How about a limit (two, maybe?) to the no-clue numbers in a given puzzle.
In virtual agreement with Steve. This is a tour de force of puzzles. At first, I didn't think this was going to be easy, in that 20, 23, 34, 48 and 52 across were "clueless." Who is PABLO Sandoval again? FARO, OLAF, VI and OEUF needed perps that were nefarious. Persistence and years of practice wins any race.
That WHITE FISH and FISH FILLET combo with the other references to food and cooking, especially my favorite VINO on ICE, puts this puzzle in the Hall of Fame of crosswords; if not, it's a good DIET PLAN. Detective John Neal likes this drink: Fill a glass with ice, pour a jigger of vodka and then the rest with red wine. Knocks your Sox off. Hoping for a win today.
Thanks to Derek Bowman.
Musings
-The gimmick and Steve’s write-up were fun
-10 world series MVP’s who didn’t do much else
-The auditorium where I sang for 30 years had a tremendous ECHO problem that was solved by hanging dozens of yellow acoustical baffles
-This SITE allowed us to track granddaughter’s flight from Newark to its ARR in Brussels Tuesday night
-We have no loyalty nor enmity toward hotel brands
-My friend says trying to EVICT deadbeat renters is very difficult
-“I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, A poet, a PAWN and a king”
-Harry Turman, the irascible owner of this property, refused to leave in 1980 and is now buried under 150’ of ASH
-BTW, this is not the guy YR referenced
-The installation of our NEW roof and gutters has been an adventure for us and our kitty
-The laughter of children AT PLAY is a universal language
Good Morning:
How apropos that this food-centric challenge be published on our favorite foodie's blog day. I can't comment on the intricacies of grid layout but I certainly agree that the cluing and fill were top-notch. I caught the CSO to Lucina at Sandoval although Pablo is an unknown. Another CSO to Tin with the dreaded _ _ _ ! I guess Tin might accept it as clued, rather than if it was Scotch related. I had Keno before Faro and had to wait on Tame or Lame. Other than that, smooth sailing, with no assails!
Thanks, Derek, for a Thursday treat and thanks, Steve, for the wit and wisdom; you were in top form today!
PK, I'm happy to see that your recent travails have had no effect on your sense of humor.
YR, you and Alan are in my thoughts and prayers.
Our weather is finally becoming more like fall rather than summer. Suits me just fine.
Have a great day.
My good spirits are restore finally. Car still no go. But after reading the online news and seeing what they are going through in Puerto Rico and our own devastated Gulf shores, I wonder what the heck I was whining about with my one bad day. LOL
YR: Alan's sleepiness sounds like what I've been doing several times in the past few months. I've just about decided it is allergic reaction to mold in the air.
Restored. Darn lazy finger.
Wow! I finished a Thursday puzzle 100% correct without the use of a crossword dictionary. Gotta be a first for me. But I have to admit it was pretty easy for a Thursday. Friday and Saturday absolutely kill me.
"Call me anything, but don't call me late for dinner!" With these entries, no chance in being late or missing it! Thanks, Derek for a great puzzle on Thursday.
Glad you got your "Food!" today, Steve. Some weeks you don't get any! Thanks for the write-up.
Fun offering today, a little chewy at times but went down fine with a second cup of coffee.
I know of a Spaniard named PABLO
Who often dines with an amigo
Whether it's FISH FILLET
Or OEUF omelette today
He pairs it with a nice VINO
I probably butchered the usage of OEUF. Would L'Omellette a un OEUF be the proper usage?
I have GOT to party with Anon! What a hoot!
FIW, Olav/Tfal
I do not understand the clue, 10a FiveThirtyEight fodder???
Steve, thanks for the GooGoo link! I will try to learn it.
But take a second look at the chord diagrams.
Weird tuning, and no capo due to 2nd fret chords.
Faro was marked for look up, but I found out it was French, therefore incomprehensible...
Aroma and odor have opposite definitions for me..
Glad Oeuf was all perped, so I can't complain...
Our 1st house in Staten Island had asbestos shingles.
Something to do with the fire code at the time, as it was an attached house.
PK, (from yest)
If the car sits for long periods of time, add fuel stabilizer to the tank!
about a shot per gallon works well, and you cannot use to much...
The problem is over time, water causes the Ethanol to separate into sludge.
It used to be just a boating problem.
But the new formulations of gas will absorb water from humidity over time.
The puzzle was great fun, and I guess the only thing a can really complain about
is that now I am hungry, and I have to go make my own lunch...
"FiveThirtyEight, sometimes referred to as 538, is a website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging.." Wikipedia
538
IMO odor can be either pleasant, unpleasant or neurtal, something we perceive with our sense of smell. Aroma is almost always pleasant.
Thank you all for your concern about Alan. It helps a lot.
Thank you Steve for a very informative write-up.
Good Job!
Have to admit I thought this was going to be a D-N-F ...
But I was "Saved By the Perps."
And I completed it in my normal "Thursday Time."
Derek: I want to Thank-You for a FUN Thursday puzzle with a unique theme.
Had there been a "Booze Answer" this may have been my favorite solving experience of the year.
But there is booze here at Villa Incognito ... Soooo...
Cheers!
Well, it woulda been a complete Ta- DA! 'cept for the *#@! cross of two proper names. Perps are fine'n dandy for catching unknowns, but not when two PNs share a critical letter.
In this case it was 51D athwart 59A. The key PN wot done me in was T-FAL. We've gotta buncha non-stick pans at home, but none are of this brand. Perps suggested it might be TVAL or TFAL, neither of which looked very convincing. Not 'xactly proper English.
Ah, well, thar SHE goes, right? ...
The foodie theme was fun. My congratulations to Mr. Bowman for evading me and to Steve for abetting...
Steve's sign-off was "Exit -Steve, amidst Alarums and Excursions"!
This reminds me of a recurring problem for directors when staging Elizabethan battle scenes. I'm talking here of stage productions (not films for which this is no problem at all), where "Alarums and Excursions" often means you've just finished killing off half the actors in glorious knightly combat and you're left with a stage littered with bodies.
Directors have to be super-inventive to choreograph the removal of the dead quickly and completely. Sometimes it's done with stretchers, and sometimes you make sure the stricken fall behind scenic units whence they may crawl offstage at their leisure. But then you still have all the mess of dropped helmets, armor pieces, weaponry.
What are we to do?!
My favorite solution comes from a little British book, The Art of Coarse Acting. It contains a mock Shakespearean playlet, complete with battles. I once watched a student of mine clear the stage by having a couple of extras drag their corpses by the feet. They were beefy big fellows & could collect two bodies each, with ankles tucked under their arms.
For extra efficiency, they pulled on the feet in such a way that the dead guys' arms were used to scoop up the dropped swords, helms, etc. on the way out ....
Kind of an easy go for a Thursday, IMO. No complaints though.
I do wonder why, when not understanding a clue, people don’t Google it before asking. Not trying to be a jerk, I am truly wondering. For example, FiveThirtyEight..... I entered it as typed and clued, before I finished the web site popped up first hit. I typed in 538, same thing.
HG- deadbeat renters a problem?
1. NEVER have a lease, don't rent to friends or relatives. The lease protects the renters, not the owners.
2. Have water, gas, & electric in YOUR name, not theirs but make it understood that they pay YOU the money for the utilities and the rent.
3. They don't pay the rent? YOU quit paying the electricity and see how fast they move.
You'll never get that last payment but they will be gone.
Thanks all for the 538 explanation.
Personally, I do not Google clues because I do not want to cheat and
rob myself of the "AHA" moment. I always hang on for the possibility
that a perp will shed some light in the darkness. Plus, I got the answer
anyway, and double plus is discussing it on the Blog later...
For anyone who wants to learn songs like "Iris" from the GooGoo Dolls,
here is my 2 cents worth:
Guitar tab sites online are great, but check all the different versions of a song.
Tabs tend to avoid being removed for copyright because they are just plain wrong.
You might be able to patch together something suitable by combining many versions.
Can't beat watching a video of the artist playing it live!
Type into YouTube "How To Play (whatever) on (whatever)...
(again, many versions, and many wrong!)
Type into YouTube (whatever) Tutorial.
Type into Youtube (Whatever) acoustic cover
There are many good, accurate lessons out there. 2 of which are
Shut up and play
Jerrys guitar bar
Case in point: This guy
has the "Right Tuning" for IRis, but spends 15 minutes on unrelated (but very useful) stuff.
This Guy has the wrong chords,
but he makes it easy, and fun to play.
I always read the Almanac in the Newark Star Ledger, but today's seemed worthy
of a reprint. Here it is (with added quotation marks:)
Today's "Highlight" in History:
On September 28, 1892, the 1st
nighttime football game took place in Mansfield, Pennsylvania,
as teams from Mansfield State Normal and Wyoming Seminary played under electric lights to a scoreless tie.
(The game was called after the 1st half due to hazardous conditions caused by inadequate illumination; it also didn't help that a lighting pole was located in the middle of the field.)
Being CrossEyedDave? If you asked my wife...
Saw this and thought Tinbeni would have a fit!
Here ya go Tinbeni...
Hey! Wait a sec!
How did this link get in here!
@Anon 8:42 - The clue is written to be understood by a non-francophone, as clues for foreign-language words always are.
The hint that the answer is a one egg is "une omelette"; the convention is "singluar clue, singular answer".
Another puzzle I liked very much. Excellently constructed. I ran into the same pitfalls many of you did, with much of the same thought processes to climb out of the pits.
Ol' Man Keith, that is very interesting.
Agree with desper-otto about the Hyatt story. Let's have it!
Best wishes to you all.
D E Dave,I google after I solve to learn more. Checking it out myself instead of asking helps me remember longer.
Second time I’ve run into 538 in puzzles. It takes more than that for me to remember. No problems that perps couldn’t solve today. Loved the theme because it was so easy.
Hi All!
I'm coming up for air after NerdFest .
I've done the puzzles and enjoyed them but missed the blog (what'd OMK say about NO TIP?) -- I'll go back an catch up.
Derek - I loved this! Not only was it frustrating (at first) followed by the elation when the lightbulb went on but, I'm working on something equally evil. It's nice to know if I can pull-off the extra fill with sparkle, Rich will except it. If I can only incorporate something as cool as the WHITE PERCH/FISH FILLET mirror... Thanks for a great puzzle.
Thanks Steve for the humorous expo. There She Goes Again is the intro song in So I Married an Axe Murder. Loved the mondegreen learning bits. I think Manfred Mann's Earth Band gets a lot of that too.
WOs: NoW b/f NEW @26d, OLoF IV.
ESPs: OEUF, FARO
Fav: DATA. This whole week is/was about DATA. "I like Big Data, I cannot lie" (rap it to SIR Mix-A-Lot) is the Splunk Tee I wore Tuesday. I'm saving "Because you can't always blame Canada" for tomorrow's ARR home.
Tin - you won't partake of VINO when out of scotch?
The puzzle evoked a Pavlovian response [TMBG]. Time for me to go find Food!
Cheers, -T
Yay me! I finished a Thursday puzzle with no look-ups and only one write-over! Thanks, Derek B! Fun expo, Steve!
Along with the fun puzzle the weather has changed a bit. 90* yesterday, 74* today. It's been a good day.
Happy Thursday!
Make your reservations early! Spring Break 2018 in North Korea! Don't miss out!
We've had a bit of a rodent infestation. Barbara called the exterminator. He sealed up all of the possible points of entry and put down some glue traps. We should be rodent free in a week or so. They will come back from time-to-time as needed. Maybe they were enjoying the cool environment since we got A/C. :>)
Too late to the party, but it was wonderful to see Steve get this puzzle to blog.
My favorite misheard lyrics are in this: LYRIC. Before computers and Youtube, we had hours of arguments over song lyrics, particularly if the singer articulated like Bob Dylan.
Thanks, Derek Is this your SONG ?
As is everything these days, are we offended by the first picture in today's write-up? I mean, she has it all, right? Great breasts, legs, waist, hair, eyes and all else we can see. What if she was flat chested and blotchy? Is it OK to objectify her? Well, sure, she's hot!
WE should all stand arm in arm to support her ugliness, or lack thereof.
Just kidding, I don't like ugly people so much.
I was having breakfast with Betsy and she said"Why do you bother if you can just write in answers that fast". So, for me this was a wed-tue. But, a very entertaining one.
Btw. I had to put it down and finish later. I've been working a lot and DW decided this was her day for companionship.
Plus, I'm finally rested and the xword doability is a measure thereof.
I didn't know 538 and I'm glad someone asked. I too come here for those answers. And for the links: Pablo was a snap for any Redsox fan. And WS busts led to Ralph Terry. I had to look him up because I knew he was famous for something else:
The Bill Mazeroski WS walkoff in 1960. I saw him play golf on the Senior Tour at Concord MA.
Oeuvres is the plural. I (the Francophile) actually stumbled on the spelling of OEUF. Btw... Just to elaborate in OEUF-LOVE: It's the prononciation that the English butchered and simply made into a more familiar word much like caddies replaced Queen Mary's "Cadets".
I can't recall the TFAL - Seinfeld episode.
CoachJ, you might have substituted Benedict for omelette except no one orders an "egg Benedict"
This is the 80th anniversary of "The Homer in the Gloamin". If there's a Cub fan lurking they will explain. The Cubs used to win the pennant every three years.
Wilbur signing off in the gloamin
PS. Thanks Steve for your excellent write-up.
YR. That sleep might be just what Alan needs.
WC
Thank you Steve for the COME AND GET IT image!
WEES: It looked to be impossible, but it all worked out. I appreciate that!
Only know TFAL from these puzzles. Could have been OLAVIV and TVAL, though.
FARO and SLADE took ESP. TYLER and PABLO also unknown.
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