Theme: Colorful Language: Take the adjective's color, mix it with the original phrase's color, and the result is a pleasing pigment. As the reveal tells us:
61A. Primary mixes that affect 17-, 27- and 46-Across : COLOR COMBOS
17A. Cowardly Snoopy nemesis? : ORANGE BARON - A "yellow" Red Baron gives us ORANGE
27A. Gloomy route to Oz? : GREEN BRICK ROAD - A "blue" Yellow Brick road gives us GREEN
46A. Embarrassed three-person Vegas act? : PURPLE MAN GROUP - A "red" Blue Man Group gives us PURPLE.
Clever theme, very nicely done. The elegance in the cluing is finding an adjective to represent the color which is to be "mixed" with the phrase color. Very nicely done.
Some nice fill, very little groan-worthy, all in all a very good job by Kurt and Jan-Michele. Let's see what we've got:
Across:
1. Drains : SAPS
5. Takes from page to screen, say : ADAPTS
11. One of Beethoven's nine: Abbr. : SYMphonies
14. Party with tiki torches : LUAU
15. Flashy Chevy : CAMARO. The first car I bought when I moved to the USA was a Camaro. I think the dealer thought it was his lucky day; it was the very base model (it was a stick shift, it even had wind-down windows) and had probably sat on the lot for a year. I enjoyed driving it.
16A. With 36-Down, Dr. Seuss classic with the subtitle "The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use" : HOP and ...
36D. See 16-Across : ON POP. Thank you, crosses. The second "O" was my last square.
19. Seagoing "I see" : AYE. I see? Are you sure?
20. French film icon Brigitte : BARDOT. We can't have Mlle Bardot without Roger Vadim's movie poster, can we?
21. "The Racer's Edge" : STP. I've got no idea what this stuff actually does.
22. Urban air concern : SMOG. The La Tuna Canyon wildfire here last weekend sent everyone indoors. I passed on going hiking, it didn't seem such a smart idea when the air was yellow.
23. Much : A LOT
25. Curriculum __ : VITAE. Resumé here, CV over there. "[the] course of [one's] life."
32. Actress Vardalos : NIA. Opa!
33. Butte relative : MESA. An eroded mesa becomes a butte.
34. RadioShack predecessor : TANDY. I have no idea how I knew this, but no hesitation at all.
35. Automaker Ferrari : ENZO
37. Watched closely : SPIED
40. Fictional London alter ego : HYDE. Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
41. United : AS ONE
43. Halt : STOP
45. Belonging to us : OUR
50. Kentucky pioneer : BOONE. Daniel Boone, born in Pennsylvania, died in Missouri and buried in Kentucky. He got around quite a bit for those days.
51. Divided sea : ARAL
52. Applaud : CLAP
54. Old PC monitor : CRT. Cathode Ray Tube. It's been a while since I saw one of these. They weighted a ton and took up most of your desk.
56. "Altogether ooky" family name : ADDAMS
60. Rocker Ocasek : RIC. "The Cars" front man and songwriter.
63. Query : ASK
64. Fire up : AROUSE
65. Attract pigeons for, say : ABET. Nice clue! The "pigeon drop" is a con carried out by two or more hustlers.
66. Bluster : GAS
67. Colorful fish : TETRAS
68. 2016 N.L. East champs : NATS. Washington Nationals.
Down:
1. Untidy type : SLOB
2. Certain something : AURA
3. Early late-night host : PAAR. Yay! I resisted filling in PARR for the very first time.
4. Ice cream treat : SUNDAE
5. Polish removers : ACETONES. I love the smell of acetone. If I worked in a nail salon I think I'd be high as a kite all the time.
6. Apply carefully : DAB. As acetone, on nail polish.
7. Latin I verb : AMAS. You are. I was very surprised to discover that Spanish has two verbs for "to be" just to make things complicated for no good reason.
8. "Friday the 13th: Jason Lives," sequentially : PART VI. Something I will never watch.
9. Torrid Zone parallel : TROPIC. Crosses filled this in for me. Tropic of Cancer to the north, Tropic of Capricorn to the south. I've always called that zone "The Tropics".
10. Junior : SON
11. Words of reproach : SHAME ON YOU! Fool me once ...
12. Up-and-down toy : YO-YO
13. Downloaded video format : MPEG
18. Jewish folklore figure : GOLEM. A being made of clay or mud. Depictions vary, here's a relatively calm one:
22. Mother of Isaac : SARAH
24. Recipe amt. : TBSP. Tablespoon. And yes, before Anonymous in the comments quibbles later that it's not correct, yes, it's correct. It's not TBS, that's a cable channel.
26. B'way buy : TKT. A ticket to a Broadway show. Probably not my favorite clue/fill of the day.
27. Many of its knives have a limited lifetime warranty : GINSU
28. Arkansas team : RAZORBACKS. University of Arkansas. Whilst Arizona's Diamondbacks are often dubbed the D-Backs, these folk are never referred to as R-Backs. The fans chant "Woo Pig Sooie". I have no idea why.
29. Mrs. Gorbachev : RAISA. A blast from the past. Is there a Mrs. Putin? I've never seen her if there is. There's something odd about that chap, he loves taking his shirt off, showing off his guns and challenging people to wrestle. Maybe he should set about that North Korean nutcase.
30. Compute : ADD UP
31. Salon worker : DYER
32. Twice-monthly tide : NEAP. Two neaps, two springs.
38. Sicilian high point : ETNA
39. Track events with mechanical lures : DOG RACES. We used to go to the Walthamstowe dog races after business was done for the day in the City back when I worked in London. The best sight ever was seeing the electric hare jump the rails and cause all kinds of commotion as six dogs realize that they were actually going to catch up with it. Happy days.
42. "Strange Magic" gp. : E.L.O.
44. Museum with Goyas and El Grecos : PRADO
47. Recital bonus : ENCORE
48. Red wine option : MERLOT
49. Gary who played Beethoven in "Immortal Beloved" : OLDMAN. Ludwig V. of the nine syms. up top.
52. Outcropping : CRAG
53. Songwriter Loeb : LISA. The first person to have a number 1 pop single without being signed to a recording contract.
55. __ de force : TOUR
57. "Dancing Queen" quartet : ABBA
58. Bubbly maker : MOËT. The diacritical on the E tells you to pronounce the vowels separately, otherwise you'd be saying "meur" or something vaguely similar.
59. Old fast fliers : SSTS
61. Player in an indoor tree : CAT. I had no idea these things were called Cat Trees.
62. Soweto's country: Abbr. : R.S.A. Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg's Soweto is an abbreviated form of "South Western Townships."
Just the grid to post, and I think that's me done!
Steve
Note from C.C.:
Big Easy (George) sent me this picture. He wondered "if any of the Cornerites' baseball fans know who the statue is behind me. Hint. The first National League player to hit 500 home runs. The plaque with his name is covered by flowers."
Big Easy and his wife come to this gym twice a week to play Pickleball.
61A. Primary mixes that affect 17-, 27- and 46-Across : COLOR COMBOS
17A. Cowardly Snoopy nemesis? : ORANGE BARON - A "yellow" Red Baron gives us ORANGE
27A. Gloomy route to Oz? : GREEN BRICK ROAD - A "blue" Yellow Brick road gives us GREEN
46A. Embarrassed three-person Vegas act? : PURPLE MAN GROUP - A "red" Blue Man Group gives us PURPLE.
Clever theme, very nicely done. The elegance in the cluing is finding an adjective to represent the color which is to be "mixed" with the phrase color. Very nicely done.
Some nice fill, very little groan-worthy, all in all a very good job by Kurt and Jan-Michele. Let's see what we've got:
Across:
1. Drains : SAPS
5. Takes from page to screen, say : ADAPTS
11. One of Beethoven's nine: Abbr. : SYMphonies
14. Party with tiki torches : LUAU
15. Flashy Chevy : CAMARO. The first car I bought when I moved to the USA was a Camaro. I think the dealer thought it was his lucky day; it was the very base model (it was a stick shift, it even had wind-down windows) and had probably sat on the lot for a year. I enjoyed driving it.
16A. With 36-Down, Dr. Seuss classic with the subtitle "The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use" : HOP and ...
36D. See 16-Across : ON POP. Thank you, crosses. The second "O" was my last square.
19. Seagoing "I see" : AYE. I see? Are you sure?
20. French film icon Brigitte : BARDOT. We can't have Mlle Bardot without Roger Vadim's movie poster, can we?
21. "The Racer's Edge" : STP. I've got no idea what this stuff actually does.
22. Urban air concern : SMOG. The La Tuna Canyon wildfire here last weekend sent everyone indoors. I passed on going hiking, it didn't seem such a smart idea when the air was yellow.
23. Much : A LOT
25. Curriculum __ : VITAE. Resumé here, CV over there. "[the] course of [one's] life."
32. Actress Vardalos : NIA. Opa!
33. Butte relative : MESA. An eroded mesa becomes a butte.
34. RadioShack predecessor : TANDY. I have no idea how I knew this, but no hesitation at all.
35. Automaker Ferrari : ENZO
37. Watched closely : SPIED
40. Fictional London alter ego : HYDE. Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
41. United : AS ONE
43. Halt : STOP
45. Belonging to us : OUR
50. Kentucky pioneer : BOONE. Daniel Boone, born in Pennsylvania, died in Missouri and buried in Kentucky. He got around quite a bit for those days.
51. Divided sea : ARAL
52. Applaud : CLAP
54. Old PC monitor : CRT. Cathode Ray Tube. It's been a while since I saw one of these. They weighted a ton and took up most of your desk.
56. "Altogether ooky" family name : ADDAMS
60. Rocker Ocasek : RIC. "The Cars" front man and songwriter.
63. Query : ASK
64. Fire up : AROUSE
65. Attract pigeons for, say : ABET. Nice clue! The "pigeon drop" is a con carried out by two or more hustlers.
66. Bluster : GAS
67. Colorful fish : TETRAS
68. 2016 N.L. East champs : NATS. Washington Nationals.
Down:
1. Untidy type : SLOB
2. Certain something : AURA
3. Early late-night host : PAAR. Yay! I resisted filling in PARR for the very first time.
4. Ice cream treat : SUNDAE
5. Polish removers : ACETONES. I love the smell of acetone. If I worked in a nail salon I think I'd be high as a kite all the time.
6. Apply carefully : DAB. As acetone, on nail polish.
7. Latin I verb : AMAS. You are. I was very surprised to discover that Spanish has two verbs for "to be" just to make things complicated for no good reason.
8. "Friday the 13th: Jason Lives," sequentially : PART VI. Something I will never watch.
9. Torrid Zone parallel : TROPIC. Crosses filled this in for me. Tropic of Cancer to the north, Tropic of Capricorn to the south. I've always called that zone "The Tropics".
10. Junior : SON
11. Words of reproach : SHAME ON YOU! Fool me once ...
12. Up-and-down toy : YO-YO
13. Downloaded video format : MPEG
18. Jewish folklore figure : GOLEM. A being made of clay or mud. Depictions vary, here's a relatively calm one:
22. Mother of Isaac : SARAH
24. Recipe amt. : TBSP. Tablespoon. And yes, before Anonymous in the comments quibbles later that it's not correct, yes, it's correct. It's not TBS, that's a cable channel.
26. B'way buy : TKT. A ticket to a Broadway show. Probably not my favorite clue/fill of the day.
27. Many of its knives have a limited lifetime warranty : GINSU
28. Arkansas team : RAZORBACKS. University of Arkansas. Whilst Arizona's Diamondbacks are often dubbed the D-Backs, these folk are never referred to as R-Backs. The fans chant "Woo Pig Sooie". I have no idea why.
29. Mrs. Gorbachev : RAISA. A blast from the past. Is there a Mrs. Putin? I've never seen her if there is. There's something odd about that chap, he loves taking his shirt off, showing off his guns and challenging people to wrestle. Maybe he should set about that North Korean nutcase.
30. Compute : ADD UP
31. Salon worker : DYER
32. Twice-monthly tide : NEAP. Two neaps, two springs.
38. Sicilian high point : ETNA
39. Track events with mechanical lures : DOG RACES. We used to go to the Walthamstowe dog races after business was done for the day in the City back when I worked in London. The best sight ever was seeing the electric hare jump the rails and cause all kinds of commotion as six dogs realize that they were actually going to catch up with it. Happy days.
42. "Strange Magic" gp. : E.L.O.
44. Museum with Goyas and El Grecos : PRADO
47. Recital bonus : ENCORE
48. Red wine option : MERLOT
49. Gary who played Beethoven in "Immortal Beloved" : OLDMAN. Ludwig V. of the nine syms. up top.
52. Outcropping : CRAG
53. Songwriter Loeb : LISA. The first person to have a number 1 pop single without being signed to a recording contract.
55. __ de force : TOUR
57. "Dancing Queen" quartet : ABBA
58. Bubbly maker : MOËT. The diacritical on the E tells you to pronounce the vowels separately, otherwise you'd be saying "meur" or something vaguely similar.
59. Old fast fliers : SSTS
61. Player in an indoor tree : CAT. I had no idea these things were called Cat Trees.
62. Soweto's country: Abbr. : R.S.A. Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg's Soweto is an abbreviated form of "South Western Townships."
Just the grid to post, and I think that's me done!
Steve
Big Easy (George) sent me this picture. He wondered "if any of the Cornerites' baseball fans know who the statue is behind me. Hint. The first National League player to hit 500 home runs. The plaque with his name is covered by flowers."
Big Easy and his wife come to this gym twice a week to play Pickleball.
60 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Kurt, Jan-Michele and Steve!
The fastest Thursday puzzle that I have ever worked, I think!
No problems!
Tied for first place in Word Solitaire. (I wonder if the guy who always wins--and surely has a mainframe and lives back east (always posts early) will get up in (his morning) and try to beat his score!
I was the victim of a scam today. Someone called, said he was my grandson with a cold, had me talk to a "police officer" at the "jail" where he was being detained. Said "officer" said to get 4K in Walmart prepaid Visas and call him back! Walmart gave us (Harvey had just taken me to my K-laser treatment) a printed page talking about these scams! Although I was told not to contact anyone about this ("grandson" wanted to keep it a secret) and was given a phone number to call when I got the Visas-- I was able to contact his father. (For some reason, I did not have my grandson's phone number--his home is in Colorado, but he goes to college here). He called my grandson, who was in his dorm! I was very, very upset about this whole thing and would like these ass***les punished!!! (Grandson must have me listed as "nana" in his address books, and these jerks were able to go through his address books! What is the world coming to? I should have smelled a rat sooner, but was having a very bad day!
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
Wow, this was a Thursday puzzle? Played like a Tuesday! I almost didn't need the perps. Thanks for the esteem builder guys! :)
The family was nuclear.
They went together for a TOUR
Taking orbits circular,
The Atoms family!
~ ~ ~
Many poor fish in the ARAL SEA
Would be left high and dry as the sea ceased to be!
As the water SAPS,
The fish ADAPTS,
By flunking from school with grades below C!
~ ~ ~
Bondage was fine and dandy
With leather goods from TANDY.
They kept HYDE's potion handy!
The ADDAMS family!
They really weren't that solumn
Altho they had a GOLEM.
A simple CLAP would call 'im!
The Addams family!
~ ~ ~
{B, B, A-.}
*solemn
The photo I just saw on Facebook yesterday!
14a = NAZI, an unfortunate link to recent news I'm amazed didn't get pulled.
Good Morning, Steve and friends. An easy Thursday puzzle, indeed. For a moment, I thought I was getting smarter. I caught onto the color combo quickly, which helped.
The most famous golem is the Golem of Prague. The Book of Splendor by Frances Sherwood is an excellent historical novel about the Golem.
There was a Mrs. Putin (Lyudmila Putina), but they divorced a few years ago.
QOD: I was never afraid of anything in the world except the dentist. ~ Taylor Caldwell (Sept. 7, 1900 ~ Aug. 30, 1985)
Hi Y'all! Fastest Thursday ever for me. Caught onto the color theme with the first one which helped on the others. Thanks, Kurt & Jan-Michele.
I thought there were no unknowns for me until I read Steve's fine blog and saw MPEG & RIC which filled with perps without my seeing the clues.
Only hesitations were AMAt before AMAS & spelling ADDAMS with one "D" first. Thought the Chevy would be Corvette until I counted letters.
Jonathan Kellerman & son Jesse wrote two GOLEM books. I read one and disliked it but learned the word. I really like Jonathan and Faye Kellerman's books. Their son's writing just isn't as spell-binding.
Fermatprime: How awful that you had to have that scam. You have enough problems without some mean person making your life more miserable. If Walmart has a printout, think how many people have had this gloom laid on them!
Pretty quick run for a Thursday - with a very clever theme!
AMAS in Latin is "You love" not "you are", I believe.
The reason the Arkansas fans use that chant is because Razorbacks are pigs and
in that area of the country that is how you call your pigs on the farm! It
does get a little repetitive if you're at one of their games(unless you are one of their fans), probably because it is meant to be heard on the farm and when thousands of people are doing it at the same time it can be very loud!
We're having the first hints of fall weather which has been wonderful, but our prayers
go to those cleaning up after Harvey and awaiting Irma!
Thanks Steve, Kurt and Jan-Michele!
Good morning!
Oh, common color phrases, but with the wrong color. I never latched onto the fact that these were mixed colors. Being colorblind, I have no concept of how to mix pigments to reach a different color. Still, thought this was a really easy Thursday, except for DOT RACES. Oops, it's Group, not Troup!
Steve, "...it was the very base model (it was a stick shift, it even had wind-down windows) and had probably sat on the lot for a year. " That's a spot-on description of my current pickup.
Mell Ott a puzzle favorite hit 511 if my memory serves me.
I agree that Jesse Kellerman's books are not compelling.
Worrying about Irma.
Be safe all in the path.
Lame.
Re Putin: there's a long tradition of athletic displays by leaders who don't stand for election but need to display their prowess - see Kim Jong-Un's round of golf in 38-under par, or Chairman Mao's 1966 9-mile swim in the Yangtze at more than twice the 1-mile-record pace (at age 72). Or the dictators who wear uniforms with so many medals it's a feat to hold their chest up.
Quick here also. No complaints, fun puzzle.
I agree with others about how this puzzle was more like a Tuesday than a Thursday. I surprised myself at how quickly I solved.
I filled in the colors, but missed the "mixed" colors theme. Thanks, Steve, for the explanation.
Keep safe everyone,
Montana
Fermatprime, those scammers make multimillion of dollars. So many people in my community have been called, we advertised in our newspaper to warn them. They are asked for wire transfers. No Walmarts around!
Montana
Wow, that's a lot of acres burned. Stay safe, Montana.
With Irma on the way, my sister on Florida's gulf coast is headed to Atlanta today to stay with one of her sons. My brother and SIL on the Atlantic side are going to hunker. I tried to talk them out of it. It's a nice, solid house, but when the roof blows off...
Good Morning,
Spent yesterday with friends who are in Illinois at their lake house for the summer. Their Florida place may be in big trouble as the cone of uncertainty changes. I was impressed by their calm--we're here now and can't do anything about the storm. Friends do storm prep on their windows and doors. A good lesson for me, the family Worry Wart!
This puzzle was fun. I was on track except for the theme, which was excellent. I was dumbfounded by the ORANGE BARON! I finally picked it up at PURPLE MAN GROUP. Nicely done, Kurt and Jan-Michele! Thanks.
Steve, I enjoyed another of your excellent expos!
Add me to the list of Cornerite acrophobes. It has grown worse with age. The I-95 bridge into Maine from NH is just about impossible for me. My DH thinks it rather funny. HA! I usually suggest we stop at the State Liquor Store in NH, which he never finds a bad idea. I hurry out to the car to grab the passenger seat. Eyes closed, and good to go! I'm glad my daughter's location in Dallas never requires us to use the flyover ramps. I don't have oxygen masks in my car that drop when I pass out!
Congrats, Fermatprine on the Solitaire ranking! Yay for you. I've had the scammers call from the "IRS" and the "police department." When the "police" called, I asked them to contact my local PD, so I could discuss my options with them. CLICK and gone!
Be safe in Mother Nature's terror zones. Hang in there Houston; I know there is so much work ahead.
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore.
Amo, amas; I love a lass.
Yes, amas definitely is you love. But Spanish does have two forms of to be.
Good morning everyone.
Enjoyed today's solve. Not good on my COLOR COMBOS, so got the theme fill with some perp help. Perps also helped with HOP - - ON POP and a few others. Surprisingly, I got GOLEM. Vague recollection of having seen it in Prince Valiant sometime back, but I could be wrong. Thanks Steve for introducing an interesting solve.
ABBA - Came to realize recently that Ms. Fältskog, and my mother share the same first name, Agnetha, a Scandinavian variant of Agnes.
I've recently bookmarked this piece by Benny Andersson.. Translates as Epiphany polka?
Good Morning:
This was a fun romp but no Tada! I had filled in Amat right off the bat and never checked the crosses so STP was TTP (we miss you, BTW) and, of course, that meant a FIW. Carelessness will do you in every time! I still enjoyed the theme even though the clue color hint went right over my head.
Thanks, Kurt and Jan Michele, for a "colorful" challenge and thanks, Steve, for being our faithful guide.
Madame Defarge @ 9:16 ~ As a fellow acrophobe and frequent visitor to Maine, I'm well familiar with that bridge and have had many a white-knuckled, eyes-closed, stomach-churning crossing, but it's child's play compared to crossing the Sunshine Skyway in Florida. I couldn't handle that today. I'm still struggling to regain my equilibrium after watching Tony's clip of the beltway in Houston, from last night.
Have a great day.
Musings
-I taught mixing primary colors of light and the art teacher taught mixing primary paints and I had to show the kids the difference
-More later as we get set up for a garage sale before my doctor’s apt. to change med that is SAPPING my strength
Good day to all!
I enjoyed today's puzzle with its lovely progression of color. I have never heard of Blue MAN GROUP, so even with PURPLE in place, I had to wait for the perps. Thanks for the tour, Steve.
Fermatprime--Congratulations on your Word Solitaire accomplishment. So sorry about the scam.
Best wishes to those dealing with the aftermath of, or preparing for the arrival of Mother Nature's fury.
Enjoy the day!
Irish Miss,
If I did make into Maine, the trip back was a mess. The Piscataqua River Bridge curves slightly and on the return trip to NH, the curve made it appear one was going fly over the edge into Portsmouth. I mustn't have been the only one with this anxiety as a baffle/barrier was added to block this view. Aah. . . . Still staring at the radio. . . . We're going for the last two weeks in October, I'd better begin my deep-breathing exercises. . . . ;)
Anon -T has no mercy! ;-)
Madame Defarge ~ I wish you luck for your October trip. Truthfully, though, the joys of Maine more than make up for the few minutes of terror on that bridge. Please think of me every time you enjoy a lobster, clam chowder, steamers, scallops, haddock, etc. (I'm almost salivating just thinking of the bounties of the sea.) Where do you stay? Our headquarters were the Wells/Ogunquit area but I've been to many other areas: Boothbay Harbor, Bar Harbor, Rockland and Camden, Portland, etc.
Thanks for the "to be" "to love" correction; I don't know what I was thinking there. Just shows to go that you can't proof your own stuff 100% effectively.
Fellow acrophobes: The worst bout I ever had was when I drove from Harrisburg, PA to the Jersey Shore at Asbury Park. There is a high humped bridge over the Delaware River that goes up and up and looks like it just drops off. It doesn't, but the perception is overwhelming. My daughter had recently graduated from high school and wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean. We flew to my brother's, who then lived in Harrisburg, rented a car and drove. Coming back was worse because I had several days of anticipation about that bridge. I got badly razzed by my brother when my daughter ratted me out. My 5-yr-old nephew couldn't understand the concept of acrophobia. He drew a hilarious picture of me freaking out on a big humped bridge with a Jaws shark waiting below. He was sure the shark was what I feared.
MJ: Blue Man Group is some guys whose faces and everything is covered with blue. They play percussion things and do comedy with blank blue faces. I've seen them on TV in the past. They were in the news recently because someone stole some of their props and costumes.
Spitz: Thanks for the Benny Anderson polka. Used to love to polka. Also love ABBA and still listen to them often. Benny Anderson is a musical genius. In my opinion, their songs were and remain successful because of the lively accompaniment he devised.
Put up shutters on glass, and about to secure all of my important papers, etc. Still trying to decide whether to stay or go. Leaving though means driving a minimum of 12-14 hours to end up in a spot that might also get storm winds. Ugh.
I did the puzzle in record time with just one hiccup. Plenty of poem possibilities. As an oenophile I was smiling when I saw the answer to 48d. It recalled this limerick:
'Twas a wine aficionado
Who also liked dancing the limbo.
As she balanced her glass
She would swivel her ass,
Just to see how MERLOT she could go.
Speaking of wine, I recently took a two-day class and passed my sommelier exam. One of those "bucket list" wine geek things I wanted to do ...
Limerick du jour:
The realtor turned lawyer was rife
With requests from new husbands. Their strife
Was which spouse would get what,
If their marriage got cut.
His pre-nup's called: a new "lease on wife".
Back to hurricane prep ...
Thanks to Kurt and Jan-Michele. This was surprisingly easy until the bottom! NATS? It was a pure guess thankfully assisted by perps.
Steve, I'm glad you explained ABET as related to pigeons. It made no sense to me as clued.
Fermatprime: Congratulations on your ranking! I hope you climb to number one. Those scams are all too common. I received one through e-mail and knew the person named was not in Spain.
Have a peaceful day, everyone!
The color theme was great with me, because I work with colors so much with my "trapagram" pictures I post as jigsaw puzzles. I've been using a 6-color wheel combining RGB (Red Green Blue) with CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow blacKey). Cyan is light/sky/robins-egg blue, and Magenta was Riff Raff's sister in Rocky Horror Picture Show.
It bothered me that there was nowhere on the circle for Orange. The traditional rainbow mnemonic ROY G. BIV has Orange. Indigo and Violet are both shades of purple (as in the LGB flag), as is Magenta, so that was covered. I've been working with these for years, but only yesterday learned of a third additive color system, RYB (Red Yellow Blue), which has secondary colors Orange Green Magenta, while combining Cyan with Blue. So I spent yesterday changing the color wheel on my templates to 8-colors. I needed one more secondary color to balance it out. There were several possibilities, with the prime contenders Pink (between Red and Magenta) or Purple (between Magenta and Blue). I went with Purple, but not without misgivings.
Here's an article I wrote several years ago about a different sort of color mnemonics. My favorite is #c0ffee-color, a sort of blue-green instead of brown.
I'm with you folks on acrophobia. I used to drive up to Lost Almost about once a month, and hated the direct route because a large part of it was up a steep, narrow road with a high sheer drop off one side! I preferred a more round-about route thru the Los Alamos bedroom community of White Rock. It also has an equally steep and sheer road, but the slope is covered with trees, so it isn't as scary! Coming back to Santa Fe was using the inside lane away from the drop, so it wasn't as bad.
Great Thursday puzzle, Kurt and Jan-Michelle--many thanks! I expected trouble but in the end had only three little corners that worried me and, surprisingly, after taking a little break, I got them all! Yay! Makes for a great morning! Fun memories were conjured up by BARDOT and the ADDAMS family. Is Brigitte still alive? And delightful write-up and pics, Steve--many thanks!
Fermatprime, so sorry you had to go through that scam hassle, but thank goodness you got warned in time.
AnonPVX, I finally figured out what you meant about the refrigerator yesterday. In talking with a friend about my repair yesterday, she mentioned that the problem with old refrigerators is that they use tons more electricity than more modern ones. Suddenly I understood why my electric company sends me notices every so often telling me my electric usage is way about normal and way above other households in my neighborhood! I could never figure out why this was so, when I'm so careful to keep lights off or turned low, etc. It's the old refrigerator! Good thing I didn't know this earlier or the decision about whether to repair or replace would have been totally agonizing for me. Now it's done and I'm stuck with the old one for some more years, but at least I know what I'm dealing with.
Am still worried about those poor folks in Texas and wondering how they'll get housing, etc. And now all the poor people in the path of the Florida hurricane. What a difficult end of summer for so many people.
Have a good day, everyone.
Great Colorful (sigh, no U) CW. Thanks for the fun Kurt and Jan-Michele, and Steve. I got the colours but needed Steve's explanation to get the mixtures.
Hand up for Amas before AMAT, and spelling ADDAMS with one D at first.
Thanks for explaining TKT, Steve. I am not familiar with B'Way short form and it made no sense to me although it filled into the grid.
I knew TANDY but I don't remember a connection to Radio Shack in Canada. But DH is the one who shopped there.
Fermatprime, congratulations on your Word Solitaire status.
I have heard of that scam here in Canada also. Glad you were cautioned at Walmart.
Stay safe all you Cornerites in the path of storms or fire.
This was a very easy puzzle for a Thursday, IMO. Thank goodness you didn't have to figure out the theme to solve, as I thought it insipid.
OwenKL:
Your link came up blank. Do you paint? Is that why you use colors?
Thanks for the explanation on 65A! I just could not tie pigeons and abet together. Too focused on flying rats I'm afraid. This blog is often a sanity saver
Busy day,did the puzzle late, & it is driving me crazy that this puzzle
(& comments) have so much linkage potential, & I don't have the time!
(Daughter #2 invited a fired co worker to stay with us & arrives at 5pm tonite...)
(all I know is she is from Texas...)
(Ack! I haven't cleaned the house in three weeks!)
Pissed that the theme totally eluded me!
(I thought Crosswords make you smarter?)
However, in retrospect, this puzzle is ingenious. Just wish
I was smart enough to enjoy it...
Also:
I can never spell Luaau...
11a sym seems to smell of "phonies" until you look at it from
the constructors point of view. (just try & come up with a clue for "SYM."
19a Seagoing "I see" = Aye.
Had a little trouble digesting this, and tried to backthink it...
(do not try this at home, it can make you cross eyed...)
Lessee, landlubbers I see= "eye"
Sea goers I see = "Aye"
But Aye means yes, not I see...
But if you change the "E" to an "A" then See becomes Sea
& Eye becomes Aye...
( Oy! my head hurts...)
FIW error, 25a Spyed/Raysa?
FIW Error, 8d/25a part II/IITAE (what do I care? I wouldn't watch any of them anyway...)
Parr the 1st time, Paar the 2nd time
Cat tree? WTF is a Cat Tree? If I never heard of one, they don't exist...
(however, I have been known to be stuck up about them...)
Learning moment: 65A abet/pidgeons
Fermat, any time you give some one money, alarm bells should be ringing!
My response to these (place your descriptor here) people is:
I would be glad to hand you the money, in person, at my local police station...
Dog races, Ah... brings back memories.
I think I was somewhere between 5 & 6 when my Dad started taking me to the Dog Races.
(I always thought the mechanical rabbit was too fast, & unfair...)
I will never forget, "If we get separated, meet me at the car!"
Add 10+ years, & he took me to a Steeplechase event. He told me to sit here and don't move
while he placed his bets. During that time, the horses came out, & paraded before the race.
One of the horses was exceptional! He was so full of energy (probably drugs) that I could not
help but know he would win! When Dad came back, I told him excitedly that you have to bet on this horse!
I would not shut up about it, I was excited too! (& no, it was not drugs...)
& he finally went back to the windows saying he would bet on him.
Well, of course, the horse won by a mile. & my Dad sat there dumbfounded
while I freaked out about how much money we had won!
Unfortunately, he pretended to bet on the horse to shut me up.
To this day, I will not forgive him for lying to me...
(& he has been dead for 35 years...)
Oh well, in the near future, I am sure we will get together to bet on something else...
What the heck is pickleball?
Sorry for the overlong post,
I guess 3 weeks of not posting kind of exploded...
An acrophobic in brief:
What I feel on High Highways...
This is not so bad, you only fall 50 feet on the 1st couple of turns...
And, then there is this...
(Be back later with some silly colors...)
Thanks, Kurt and Jan-Michele, for an easy puzzle this am before heading off back to the Relief Distribution Center. Got the colors, although didn't get the theme until Steve enlightened us!
Stay safe from fire, rain, hurricanes, and scams!
Gephyrophobia (pronounced as Jeff-ee-ro-pho-bia) is a common specific phobia affecting many individuals. People with this phobia are afraid of crossing bridges or tunnels: driving over a bridge or even seeing one from afar or seeing photos/movies involving bridges can set off an anxiety attack in the sufferer.
Irish Miss @ 10:52,
Not too far! We have been staying in York. For years when the kids were little, and for a bit when their kids were little, York Beach. We're still on the water, but in a coach house in town overlooking the rocky surf. Mmmmmm.
My husband's maternal family is from Manchester, NH, so that's the connection. He spent his youth in at Hampton Beach. Fun memories all around.
Nice puzzle. Thanks to Steve for explaining it. I almost had a big natick at the RIC - LISA crossing until the CRAG light-bulb and the GAS light-bulb clicked on. Hand up for not knowing what a CAT tree is. Now I know.
Steve, I'm glad you had the pleasure of owning and driving a Camaro.
The picture of the Hop on Pop book shows the subtitle to be "The Simplest Seuss for Toddlers' Use" while the clue says "The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use." Hmm, maybe there were two different editions of the book. I'll check... Okay, back. Wikipedia shows "Youngest" in the book cover illustration, too. There are also some other subtle differences between Steve's and Wikipedia's pictures.
That La Tuna Canyon wildfire was a hot one!
I like Gary Oldman's work and think he is a very talented actor.
I'm glad you didn't get taken by that scam, fermatprime.
Best wishes and all that.
After ORANGE filled and BARON were filled by perps it was fairly obvious that incorrect colors would show up for the other long fills. The PURPLE had me perplexed for a minute and MANG__UP was on the paper before I realize it was for BLUE MAN GROUP. I was thinking RED for embarrassed, not PURPLE. But REDMAN is a chewing tobacco.
I didn't know HOP ON POP,PART IV, LISA Loeb, or Gary OLDMAN but had never watched either movie or read any Dr. Seuss stories. After filling most of the puzzle I couldn't figure out what DO GRACES was doing in the puzzle and then I read the clue. Duh! DOG RACES.
The statue--- MEL OTT.
Steve- I would LOVE a good car with 'wind-down' (we call them roll-up) windows. They don't cost $100s to repair. SOOIE is a pig call.
Quick and easy today...and enjoyable. Thanks, Kurt and Jan-Michele. Loved the colors. Steve, you tour was exceptional.
I love Dr. Seuss. If you missed him your childhood was not complete. HOP ON POP is a classic for the littlest ones.....whatever they are called on the cover. The books were easy readers with just a few words and letters repeated. And silly pictures.
All I remember is " hop, hop , hop on pop" ... then the pictures show all the kids climbing on Pop. Then the whole group collapses and ..."pop on top." Silly... of course. But when you are only four and just starting to read it is great literature. I probably still have a copy buried somewhere her, but not worth looking for.
Stay safe all who are in harms way.
I’ve never been to Maine, but my scary bridge is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel from Tidewater Virginia to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Has both bridges over the bay and tunnels under the bay.
Sorry, forgot to include the http://.
This was a fairly easy Thursday puzzle. Thank you, Kurt and Jan-Michele. I needed your explanation of the theme today, Steve, thankyouverymuch!
I needed a kick-start for the first 2 clues so I thought I was in for a rough time, but things smoothed out.
I have family in the Florida panhandle that I'm concerned about. I have a friend who has a lake home in Tennessee, so I've gotten permission for my family to evacuate to the lake home if they need to leave. That's a relief, knowing they have somewhere to go for however long it takes.
Irish Miss, my Facebook name is Pat Scott Engelhardt. I don't know if you have to have an account to see pages.
For those who are interested in the Edison/Tesla/Westinghouse relationship, you may want to read "The Last Days of Night" by Graham Moore. The NYT review: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A thrilling novel based on actual events, about the nature of genius, the cost of ambition, and the battle to electrify America—from the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game and author of The Sherlockian. I enjoyed the book a lot.
I hope everyone is safe. Have a good evening.
Hi All!
Late. Yep, my day to face the traffic today. Not as bad as yesterday (only 1.75 hours to get in today, took 2.75 hr yesterday).
I can't say how long it took me to grok the puzzle; I did most of it in my head on the drive in and then finished bits during a conf. call. So thanks Kurt and Jan for providing the 'rainbow' for my otherwise gloomy commute. I thought the clueing was pretty fresh; liked 'em A LOT.
I knew theme== colours (there you go C, Eh!) DAB'd w/ others - and that helped - but I never went back to 'see' the clue referred to the colour mix'd-in. So, thanks for that Steve - and the music and the funny DOG RACE imagery. CED - good story too but no reason to hold a grudge over (imaginary) winnings that weren't yours :-). [or was it the lie? I never get that right ;-)]
WOs: Steve won; I had PAaR, Erno b/f ENZO (I should know that, Ferrari's name is on my Spider!), NEeP.
ESPs: GAS as clue'd. AMAS (C,Eh! - I hope you wrote that backwards, 21a is STP).
Fav: I was going to say TETRAS under COLOR but now I see 'Colorful' in the former's clue. Something doesn't ADD UP. I'll go with GREEN BRICK ROAD 'cuz Sir Elton has been in my head since the fill today.
{B,A,B+} {C. Moe: 2x :-)}
Nice pic BigE - what's Pickleball? (Oh, thanks CED!)
OKL - I'm w/ you on shoulderless roads. My feet tingled whilst driving up (and down) in Yosemite. Freeways don't bother me 'cuz they have high shoulders; you'd have to be pretty drunk to drive off it.
Fermat - that's a common scam; glad you didn't lose $$. Seriously, why would the cops want pre-paid cards? Speaking of scams, looks like Equifax is now the ABET'er. You've probably heard by now, they were hacked big time (143MM records including SSNs). There's an adage in Security - If you can't secure it, don't collect it. #FAIL #sigh.
Cheers, -T
Thanks, Steve, for your always fun recap! Raisa segue, funny. Loved the cat tree (much more classier than a carpeted cubby-hole. ABET clue was my very favorite in several weeks - loved the misdirection.
Résumé vs CV, in my legal secretarial experience, our experts' résumés were just that, education, degrees, employment, etc. CV's briefly might mention these but were more detailed and extensive, listing honors, papers/books written, studies conducted and published, expert testimony given in trials, etc.
Fermat, when I get these calls, if in the mood, I note the telephone number and call our DA's Office Fraud Dept. or the FCC's. I've read that these agencies welcome this info to not only put out the word, but to track the cons down.
CED, on behalf of all the acrophobics here, we thank you so very much for those links! (ah, no) I do hope the Jeep/ledge pic was photoshopped. Loved your horse track story - I could imagine your excitement, and then came the end of your story - sad. But then I never know when you're joking with your wry sense of humor.
Anon-T, thanks so much for your late FLN link. Though I'm familiar with I-10, watching the clip reinforces my decision not to ever get on the damn Beltway. (Wonder if that video was made @ 8AM on Easter Sunday because there's very little traffic. Of course it was shot in 2010, before the Houston population exploded). Two years ago, I was on my way to first day of a job @ I-10/Beltway. Discovering I was in the lane that would feed onto the Beltway, I immediately signaled which, in Houston now, is a signal for the driver behind you to close the gap and cut you off. So I went several miles on the BW, having to pay a toll, to double-back. You not only have to know the exits splitting off onto various freeways going in all directions, but also know what lanes you need to be in. Sorry, again TMI!
We, in Houston, are focusing on Irma and the Pacific NW fires, as some of us dig out from Harvey. Hopeful prayers going in your direction - stay safe, all!
Got another one of those robocalls today saying my Windows License has expired,
I would love to mess with them, but how do you confuse an idiot?...
I always thought a color run was something that happened in the washing machine,
until my daughter ran in one...
P.S., if you take your dog on a color run, make sure he has goggles...
CED - Hilarious!! Sent it to two people already.
@ 3:03 I posted "& then there is this,"
& in retrospect, thought it might be an optical illusion.
No bridge could be that steep!
So I did some research, & yes, it is not as steep as it looks. 6.1 % grade.
But,
Then I came across this 11:06 video:
Drive it, Bike it, run it, It's awesome!
Yes AnonT, I did write the AMAS-AMAT backward so I did get STP.
You have an eagle eye. Good catch on the "colourful TETRA" also.
Checking in late to record my Ta- DA! for the day...
Spent a long day accompanying my wife to her foot surgery. Lotsa waiting and some happy hand-holding from an early morning start to a late but successful finish.
Thanks to the team of Mengel & Gianette for their challenge and distraction in the waiting room!
C, Eh!. Whew, glad to hear it was just a typo. I'd hate to be the one to harsh your mellow, er, TA DA!
IM - Didn't TTP say he was taking some time away? I was thinking about him last night and thought - it has been a while [time is skewed after Harvey week].
CED - Um, thanks for the research(?) ;-) No, actually it was cool to see the illusion of the bridge. Did you notice the wuss went up the 5% grade and down the 6.1% on his bike. #lazy :-). [#crazy]
Equifax coda - Oh, snap. 3 execs apparently sold stock after they learned of the breach and before the public was told. After-hours trading has 'em down 13%. Dang. //BTW - if you want to protect yourself, spend $100 to put a "freeze" on your credit at each agency. You'll have to spend $100 if you need credit for a car or some such to un-"freeze" later.
OMK - I was hoping to get your take on OLDMAN, Gary. Never heard of him (should'a been in my ESP list). If you said he was good, I'd lift the mouse to Google. Godspeed to your wife's recovery.
I was getting long-winded earlier so I didn't address HOP ON POP.
As POP, I hated that book... DW would read it and I'd be assaulted by two girls of 5 & 2 years. They're now 18 & 15... I kinda miss those days... :-)
I didn't so Tawnya could... but, since she's not here -- The obligatory Bitchin' CAMARO.
Cheers, -T
For all you gephyrophobiacs, I would also recommend avoiding California state Highway 1, from San Simeon to Carmel, and from Jenner to the end at US-101.
When we woud drive to Fort Ross, my wife would often ask, well, actually, roar at, me to slow down ... and I was only going 8 mph.
I suggest not following Michael's advice – that drive is one of the most beautiful I've ever taken and I've taken it more than once.
Here I forgot to post after getting home from the doctor's office this afternoon and thought it was too late, but there seem to be a lot of other late posters today so here goes.
I usually do the printed crosswords for the following day during waking intervals while I am trying to sleep; last night I hate to admit that I was a DNF (on a Thursday puzzle!) because I forgot Ginsu ended with a U after seeing the ad hundreds of times on TV, and mistakenly guessed TOP for POP. That left me trying to figure out PORTLEMANGROUP, which left me little hope of figuring out the color scheme. Admittedly, I still didn't get it after making the corrections.
Now then, Anonymous T, here's a trivia question for you: Who starred as Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved and as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy? We saw them both and enjoyed both pictures very much, even though the the second one was way out of our musical interest. Hint: look to OMK's advice. Not only very good, but very versatile.
And thanks of course to Kurt and Jan-Michele for a clever puzzle, and to Steve for an excellent, if it only slightly flawed, explanation.
Here I rattle on about trivia, while many of our Cornerites have been or are about to be subject to enormous flooding and wind damage, Good luck to all of you!
I never got around to posting Thursday. I've always considered baseball questions gimmes and what do I do but put CUBS in for NLEast Champs.
I read it as National League Champs. I should use reading glasses instead of transition glasses. Do I have that right? My glasses do both: get darker and allow me to read and see at distance.
They do both poorly.
One of the links took me to "The Sherlockians". It's about the hiatus between the Riechenbach Falls and Return of Holmes. And a diary.
I've always suspected that Doyle was coding in secret information in his stories. ie. As Poe put it, hiding in plain sight.
Secret Services are very touchy about their secret information.
Finally. The C-Moe dilemma: To run or stay? Of all the models to predict the worst it's the "European" that has the worst outcome for Tampa. ..
Tin probably won't be given a choice up in Tarpon Springs.
WC in the gloaming
Proper name crossings were a challenge for me:
LISA/RIC
GINSU/NIA/ENZO
But I did WAG them correctly to FIR
I was not sure if this would be pigment or light mixing, so I did not get the exact reason why the answers made sense. Thanks, Steve, for explaining. Crosses made them easy to get anyway. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I took the extra time to figure it out myself.
And thanks also for explaining the pigeon/ABET meaning.
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