Theme: None
Words: 72 (missing F,Q,X)
Blocks: 29
Wow
- I find it hard to believe that we have not had a Saturday Ed Sessa
puzzle in over a year - I went looking for his last Saturday
construction in 2017, and didn't find one. Huh. Anyway, today's
contribution was an easy one, for me, with only one small area that had
triple crossing proper names which slowed me down - WAG to the rescue~!
A triple axis symmetrical grid, with 7x7 corners and nothing longer
than 7 letters;
17. Dryer component : AIR VENT - TUMBLER fit, too. As a Home Inspector, I strongly suggest cleaning out your dryer hose and vent....
Which can lead to this
12. Rodents on wheels, perhaps : PET MICE - it was hamsters for
me when I was a "ute". Pet mice became the feed for the ball python
snake that we had later on....I have already been called a "ghoul" for
sharing this info in previous blogs
38. Brought down a Giant, say : TACKLED
- the capital "G" made me think this was a SF baseball "strike out"
reference, but no~! - it's football, and right in my neighborhood - the
NY Giants
how it feels to know the Jets have a better record
66. Hooks or lures : TEASERS - ah, this kind of lure....
beyONdWARD~!
ACROSS:
1. Get lovey-dovey : SNUGGLE - makes me think of the George Thorogood song and his land lady
8. Ramble : TRAIPSE - I like using the word traipse
15. Fertilizes, in a way : MANURES - as a verb~? Meh. Just go with fertilizeRs....
16. Spousal consent : YES, DEAR
18. Creamy rice dish : RISOTTO
19. Tiruchirappalli title : SRI
20. California region named for a literary hero : TARZANA - part of the three-crossing proper name section that had me stumped at the very end; great WAG going with a "Z" on my part
22. It can lead into day or night : MID - mid-day, midnight
23. Shade-loving plant : HOSTA - my first thought, but I waited
25. Big chunk of time : EON
26. State probably named for a French province : MAINE - could only be this, IDAHO or TEXAS - and I am pretty sure that last one is not Frawnche
28. Mobile app? : UBER - part of last week's Sat blog, too
29. Relay settings : MEETS
31. Object of veneration : ICON - dah~! Not iDoL
32. Edible conifer seed : PINE NUT - got it
34. Part : SEGMENT - pondered SECTION
36. Many an IKEA buy : KIT - isn't all their furniture "ready to assemble"~? I have not been there in a decade
37. Slangy refusal : NAH
42. Arrivals : COMINGS
46. Kyrgyzstan range : ALAI - oops, not aRaL
47. Interior design : DECOR
- one of my responsibilities at the new job is maintaining the owner's
house, which is this spread right down the road from the warehouse
nestled among the vines - but the original owner's decor choices are,
um, shocking; I'll see about getting a pic
49. Glitzy affair : GALA
50. Informed, with "in" : CLUED
52. Sound heard going up a mountain, maybe : POP - think inner ear
53. Film in which the title character says, "I don't permit the suffering. You do" : OH, GOD! - this movie; IMDb
54. Yoga class syllables : OMs
55. "Please, please ... " : "I BEG YOU..."
58. Half-hearted : WAN - that's half-Ben, too - OBI Kenobi, that is
59. Asphalt : BITUMEN - nope, not MACADAM
61. Prevailing conditions : CLIMATE - oooh~! Good guess for me
63. Absinthe flavoring : ANISEED - I thought it was ANISE, but the "SEED" part didn't come to mind right off
64. Solemnly commands : ADJURES
65. Gets new players for : RECASTS - I was thinking DRAFTS, but this is stage, not sport
DOWN:
1. Road wreck : SMASH UP
2. Capital south of Addis Ababa : NAIROBI - I had the ---BI part, so this is what I figured it had to be
3. Not yet up : UNRISEN - I still get up at "UPS time", but now I use that 2-3 hours for my own enjoyment
4. Bloke's address : GUV - British slang, which I was familiar with from watching BBC shows growing up
5. Actress Scacchi : GRETA
- I knew the actress' name, but couldn't recall anything that she
starred in - until I looked at her film credits; the one movie I saw
that was a real thriller was "Shattered"
6. Siberian river to the Arctic Ocean : LENA - one of the three proper name crossings; the "LEN-" part filled via perps, but the last letter was going to have to be a WAG
7. Where the Boss' band once rehearsed : E STREET
8. Hard heads : TYRANTS
9. Buttermilk holder? : REIN
- I had no idea what this was getting at, until I had the "REI-" filled
in, and then I figured Buttermilk must have been a popular horse - can
you tell how young I am~? I had to look up who made Buttermilk
'famous'....the Wiki
10. Indian tea region : ASSAM - I just had to fill in the "A"s
11. Bachelor's last words? : "I DO."
13. Attended informally : SAT IN ON
14. Like the wind : ERODENT - a force which erodes, not an online PET MOUSE (e-rodent~? C'mon, that's funny)
21. Muppet friend of Elmo : ZOE - third proper name crossing, no clue.
24. Any one of the male "Big Bang Theory" main characters : TREKKIE - I cannot stand the show - not even the commercials featuring the
characters - but I did tune into "The Orville" on demand, and I like it -
total Star Trek TNG rip-off, but with that Seth McFarlane twist.
27. Shoot for the moon : AIM HIGH
29. Softened : MUTED - like colors
30. Man of La Mancha : SEÑOR
33. Nada : NIL
35. Whale group : GAM - I had the "A", and thought the answer was "POD", but no - here's a list of animal group names. When I punched in "whale gam", I got "game" instead - and this was interesting to read....
38. Buffet featuring tortillas and fixings : TACO BAR
39. Hog's call? : "ALL MINE~!" - at the taco bar~?
40. Biting : CAUSTIC
41. Conditioned response? : "DEPENDS."
42. Repro man? : COPYCAT - har-har
43. Source of some annoying online messages : NAGWARE - I tried MaLware
44. Crowing type : GLOATER
45. The blues : SADNESS
48. Gear tooth : COG - I thought this was synonymous with "gear", but it is actually the tooth OF a gear
51. Mercury money : DIMES
- I did not understand the clue, so I went to Google after the fact and
found out that we had a different coin prior to 1945 - which makes
sense, now; the Wiki
53. Medium board : OUIJA - ah. The carpenter in me wondered what size lumber is a "medium" board....duh. Oh, that medium
56. Source of folic acid : BEET
57. Quaint retail adjective : OLDE - Ye Olde Croffwerde Blogge
60. Letters on some tee tags : USA
62. Ancient Greek statuary site: Abbr. : MUSeum
Splynter
51 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Ed and Splynter!
Swell puzzle! Hooray!
Only things that puzzled (HA HA) me were: ALAI, NAGWARE and MUS. But they were easily filled in, as was NAIROBI from a few letters. Same with MANURES.
Horrid cold wind here tonight.
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
DNF Early w/os DALE>REIN, AUDITED>SAT IN ON, PET RATS>MICE, FERNS>HOSTA. Only about half done when I hit the check button. I had misspelt NeIROBe, OUIJi, GoV; was totally wrong with nerdish>TREKKIE, dIy>KIT, NAG mAil>WARE, tENOR>SENOR. After that I filled in 3/4ths of the puzzle, but the SW remained nearly empty until I gave up completely.
The prescience of the Blog: the final sentence of Tony's from last night was "That's nice dear." pre-echoing today's YES DEAR!
A Kyrgyzstani from the mountains of ALAI
Preferred the CLIMATE in the U.S.of A.!
So he sang a hosanna
And moved to TARZANA,
A suburb served by the Times of L.A.!
Lobbing rockets from MAINE, as a hobby,
Was TREKKIE whose nickname was "Lobby"!
He'd AIM HIGH with each KIT,
And with New England grit
TACKLED sending a space-pod to NAIROBI!
A researcher was cautioned to be prudent
When using "Substance X" as an ERODENT.
The solution was CAUSTIC,
I could make his PET MICE sick,
And result in a baby mutant rodent!
{B+, B-, C+.}
Good morning!
Some odd word forms in this one: MANURES, UNRISEN and ERODENT (cute, Splynter). My dryer originally had an ELEMENT. Yes, I tried POD before GAM arrived. (Splynter, with your leg fettish, GAM should've been your first choice!) REIN was cute -- if you're too young to remember, Dale Evans' horse was named Buttermilk. And you'd also probably need to know that Dale Evans was Mrs. Roy Rogers. Ed must never have watched Jurassic Park -- no TREKKER would call herself a TREKKIE, as Lex Murphy explained. I almost crashed and burned in Alabama by spelling it OUIGA...made ADJURES very slow to arrive. Still, it was a very nice outing. Thanx, Ed and Splynter.
Nope. Not today. Even after pausing it for awhile.
GRETA (who ?), LENA, TARZANA and ZOE did me in. No idea on those, but I have heard of TARZANA. Had AIRducT rather than VENT. Otherwise, a nice challenge. Hard heads for TYRANTS and Like the wind for ERODENT were good Saturday level clues.
Like some unproofed dough. UNRISEN.
MAINE. The single syllable state.
Veni, vidi, perdidi. I did fairly well in flyover country, but was really stumped in the NE, NW ad SE. I normally just skip Saturday puzzles, but seeing it was from Ed Sessa I decided to give it a try. Fun, and interesting after calling up the reveal. I didn't allow myself to get frustrated, knowing that regardless of how many times I sat it down and picked it back up I wouldn't be able to get close to a TA DA. As Dirty Harry said, "a man's gotta know his limitations".
Like OKL I noticed the precho from last night. Hey, we have clecho, why not?
Thanks Ed and Splynter for your good works. Special thanks for the Saturday gam shot, Splynter.
Jinx, this was a Saturday themeless. What "reveal" did you call up?
Not bad timing for a Saturday. Very enjoyable. The NW slowed me down. One wrong cell. The Z in ZOE and TARZANA. I had heard of the LENA and sussed the T in GRETA.
MAGWARE was unfamiliar.
The double KK worried me until I had UBER and the TREKK suggested TREKKIE. Splynter, I can't stand Big Bang Theory either.
Being raised in farm country, manures, manured, manuring is not strange.
I can endorse unrisen as TTP said in unrisen dough, not as in still abed. Spellcheck rebels.
ERODENT makes sense for wind. However, there are not many references to ERODENT and most are about a drug or caustic material. Spellcheck rebels again.
I thought of DALE Evans right away with Buttermilk, then just a short leap to REIN. Good clue.
Just the J from OUIJA gave me adjures.
I am still culling my paper files. Horrible task. Back to the salt mines.
Good Morning:
I may be out of sorts this morning but I didn't enjoy this solve at all. I did finish w/o help but it took close to 50 minutes which is way over normal Saturday time. I thought some of the cluing and fill were stretches: manures as a verb, unrisen, nagware, Alai and Lena, as clued, Mercury money, erodent, etc. I know these are all acceptable, otherwise Rich wouldn't allow them, but I guess there were just too many "eyesores" for my taste. Two learning moments, for me, anyway: origin of the names Tarzana and Maine. Another plus was Zoe, an unknown, to me, Muppet. CSO to Jinx's Zoe! (Can someone give me an example of Nagware?)
Despite my kvetching, Mr. Ed remains one of the constructors whose byline I always enjoy seeing, so thanks for the challenge and thanks to Splynter for a tip-top expo.
Lemony from yesterday: I don't solve the NY Times puzzle but I do read the blogs about it so, yes, I've been following the celebrity collaborations. Some have been very good and it's fun to read the celebrity's comments.
Have a great day.
I'm always disappointed in Splynter's photo sexist choices...Ex: Teaser.
Hi Y'all! Another tricky one from Master Ed, thanks. Thanks, Splynter.
The NE was all white on the first pass, except for ESTREET so I googled GRETA. Never heard of her. 23A on down came easier. Hog's call wasn't "sooooie" or "oinking" but ALL MINE, a trait one must discourage in one's offspring.
Man of LaMancha wasn't some form of Don Juan but SENOR. Well sure!
The NW was the last to fill. MAINE was a WAG. I had the same amusing thought about PET MICE so near to E-RODENT, Splynter. ERODENT is the last adjective I'd think of for wind, although I've definitely seen the damage on my farm. Amusing: the crossing of I DO & YES DEAR. That signage was inaccurate -- in my house, the man cracked the whip.
Don't know how I knew ADJURES.
ESP for REIN, then knew immediately the horse belonged to our heroine Dale Evans Rogers. Ol' "Happy Trails" herself.
One of the machines in the farm inventory was a MANURE spreader, but we didn't use the word as a verb.
Never heard of the ALAI Mountain Range. However, growing up in the USSR era, I never heard of Kyrgzstan either until recently. Forgot ASSAM which I think we had recently.
I would not have solved this puzzle without red-letter re-direction and several red-letter runs.
Musings
-A fun but not easy slog for this cowboy.
-MANURE as a verb, UNRISEN as an adjective and ERODENT as a noun? Hey, it’s Saturday.
-Best response – YES DEAR! Next best – say nothing
-MAINE – French? Mon dieu!
-Detectives chart COMINGS and goings
-Most applicants for teaching jobs try to get CLUED in on what current nonsense/terminology the administration is touting
-Weather vs CLIMATE question
-This wonderful 1973 movie has been RECAST with this year’s players
-Knowing Trigger’s running mate Buttermilk makes up for not knowing any rappers name
-Like so many other sit-coms, Big Bang was great until the characters aged and the writers ran out of ideas
-Our favorite graduation parties feature a TACO BAR
-MINE is hard to teach to reticent young girls
"Puzzling Thoughts":
For any of you who watch ESPN, there used to be a segment on SportsCenter called: "c'mon man". As in, really? Are you kidding me? Well, today I yelled "c'mon man" to Ed Sessa! All 4 corners had some of these. LENA = Siberian River? Actress Scacchi? Oh, sure, I think about her daily! NAGWARE? In whose conversation does that term appear? BITUMEN? Conditioned response = DEPENDS? Adult diaper, bingo!
Ok - enough of the sarcasm and criticism. There were certainly some clever clues that challenged my brain - biting = CAUSTIC; crowing type = GLOATER; spousal consent = YES, DEAR; et al.
WO's: RACES > MEETS; ARAL > ALAI
C's: GRETA, ZOE, ALAI and LENA
E's: POLENTA > RISOTTO
Without checking, I knew "MAINE" was the answer to 26a, as one of my favorite French wines is Muscadet, Sèvre et Maine, which is from an appellation where the rivers Sèvre and Maine flow in the Loire Valley. If you like really crisp, dry, mineral-driven white wine (think about a wine that would go great with raw oysters on the half shell) try one of these
Learning moment that it is a GAM of whales. I was also sure it was POD. POD is the first choice in that link.
Only know HOSTA from these puzzles. Yes, ERODENT and MANURES seemed to be a stretch.
Hand up for MACADAM before BITUMEN. We have quite a few natural ASPHALT seeps here in Southern California. We have to keep baby oil on hand to clean our feet after a stroll on the beach.
Speaking of Southern California, I was thrown off that TARZANA is a region not a city. Learning moment.
Last to fall was SE. ADJURES unknown and looked wrong. Other unknowns: GRETA, ZOE, LENA, ANISEED.
Anyone else think HOMBRE before SENOR? Yes, I know it does not fit.
I enjoy Splynter's TEASERS.
Great workout this am from Mr. Sessa. Thank you for the fine puzzle.... loved "Buttermilk holder" and "Conditioned response" especially. Not so much on MANURES.
Thanks, Splynter, for another fine write-up. Would love to see a pic or two of the vineyard!
Alan hates my conditional response, "That depends." I think it is better than an outright NO! because there is the hope it could be YES.
I like "Mercury money/ dimes". My dad was interested in coin collecting. Mercury dimes were still being minted until 1945. At that time I thought the dime depicted the god, Mercury.
"One thing its design does not depict, however, is Mercury, the messenger of the gods in Roman mythology. The portrait on its obverse is actually that of Liberty wearing a winged cap symbolizing freedom of thought. Thus, the coin more properly is known as the Winged Head Liberty dime. But the misnomer "Mercury" was applied to it early on, and after many years of common usage, has stuck."
Bitumen seems common enough.
NAGWARE was my learning moment for today. I very seldom bite on any type of "free trial" for a limited time, even for magazines
I think I learned the Lena in crosswords. It is worth knowing about. "The Lena is one of the ten greatest rivers on the planet. Beginning in the mountains of the Baikal range the Lena flows 4400 kilometers to the Arctic Ocean. The river-bed spans as much as 15 kilometers in its middle reaches, while in the lower reaches it spans as much as 25 kilometers. The size of the Lena delta is mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records."
I realize that the part of speech of the clue gives us is a hint as to the part of the speech of the fill. But, when I come to a standstill in a late week puzzle, I play with a plausible root and consider whether it could be adapted to fit the clue. UNrisen, erodeNT, manureS. Afterwards I look it up and see that these variations are legit. Instead of thinking of the clues as dicey or a stretch, I think of them as expanding my wheelhouse.
Whew! Thank you, Ed Sessa, for the roller coaster ride!
The NW corner fell to my pencil early on with SNUGGLE et al and I have a friend on the east coast who plants HOSTAs every spring so filled that one. The clue for UBER was cute. It can cost a fortune if that is your only mode of transportation as it and Lyft are for my granddaughter.
The SE was my next conquest with OUIJA as my first fill there, it facilitated ADJURES and the rest then climate led to COPYCAT. NAGWARE? I had MALWARE for a very long time and that kept COMINGS from emerging but with AIMHIGH, it did. Hand up for POD before GAM but that gave me SEGMENT.
When ERODENT appeared I had to verify it and sure enough, it means to cause destruction by erosion. Laughing moment: I DO crossing YESDEAR. Being from the west I knew TARZANA but like Picard, thought it was a city not a region.
Thank you, Splynter, for yet another fine analysis. I, too, would like to see photos if you're allowed.
Have an absolutely wonderful day, everyone! Book club today discussing Beneath a Scarlet Sky.
The LENA (not sure of its exact location), the Neva and the Moika in St Petersburg are enormously large rivers. The Moika and the Neva, especially, are crossed with numerous bridges. The east side of the Moika is flanked by rows of buildings similar to those in Amsterdam but on a much, much larger scale as Peter the Great envisioned.
Exciting to see an Ed Sessa puzzle on a Saturday morning, but of course it was going to be an impossible toughie for me. It was. I did get a few items at the beginning before the cheating started: RISOTTO, DECOR, SADNESS, GALA, SENOR, and a handful of others. Enjoyed seeing both TARZANA and MAINE in the puzzle, and when REIN became the only option, figured Buttermilk was a horse, although I didn't remember Dale Evans. Anyway, thanks, Ed, and you too, Splynter. Well, okay, I though your YES, DEAR images were icky.
We're enjoying a beautiful sunny Saturday morning, and there are even still a few Monarch butterflies flitting about. Great way to start the day.
Have a wonderful weekend, everybody!
Oops, it was the I DO image I found icky. But interesting and clever the way YES DEAR and I DO crossed.
Thanks for pointing out the CSO to my dear Zoe, IM. I totally missed it.
D-O - When I want to see the completed puzzle, I go to the LAT web site, call up the puzzle, click "Menu", then "Reveal", then select "Solve Puzzle". I'm in the habit of doing so before coming to the Corner, so I'll know about any bad cells before I start reading. In my mind I'm looking at "the reveal" because of that menu choice. I apologize if that is inconsistent with Corner norms.
YR - Thanks for suggesting the "plausible root" technique. I think I'm to the point that I won't get much better by just bungling my way through the tough puzzles, but tips like yours may allow me to approach puzzles that are beyond my reach now.
Hello everyone.
Tough one. Finished it wrong but did not look anything up, either. Had pod for GAM, so that bollixed up SEGMENT and NAH.
Good job Ed Sessa, and intro by Splynter. But I did well for me for a Saturday so all is OK.
LENA - Only 4-lettered major Arctic Siberian river. Ob and Yenisei are the others. Amur drains to the Pacific.
ALAI - Was tricky. Also spelt ALAY. Typical problem when transliterating from another orthography.
Nice day here. Went to Farmer's Market at train station this morning.
If we lived in an ideal world, the Lena would flow in the Horn(e) of Africa.
Wow, what a toughie, got the solve but more relief than joy.
I’m pretty much with Irish Miss on this one, she saved me a lot of commenting.
I've decided to treat I, DO as a CSO.
I really didn't know if I completed it or not until I read Splynter's write-up. I didn't. The Eastern Seaboard got me. I got the NE after my IDOL became an ICON, which let to the unheard of ERODENT. It was hard to remove POD and replace it with GAM ( leg?), which is a new meaning for the word GAM. But where I blew it was the cross of NAG WARE and ADJURE- both unheard of and incorrectly filled with NAG MATE and ADJUTE. GRETA and ZOE were also unknowns filled by perps. I liked the 'Buttermilk holder' clue and REIN was an easy fill for a child of the 50s.
Whew, this one was very hard. I wanted POD as the group of whales, (Sancho) PANZA as the La Mancha man, PLANK for the medium board, and GOV instead of GUV, but I knew GRETA Scacchi (her name was in a puzzle not too long ago), ASSAM, and COG. Took a guess at I DO and MAINE and smiled when they turned out to be right. Quite a few things I simply didn't know, and WEES on what has already been said about MANURES, ERODENT, UNRISEN, and NAGWARE. Good job, Mr. Sessa.
Lucina — — Congrats on getting your sugar under control. Did you do it w/o meds? What about carbs? Have you eliminated them too?
Today’s puzzle a real challenge. Unfamiliar with Lena, nagware, alae, Assam, erodent, gam or pods for whales, bitumen for asphalt.
YR — - Interesting and very informative comments.
Tarzana, a suburb of Los Angeles., 91356. I used to live there, and it was still one of my last fills. What is it you guys call it? A V-8 can? Yup.
My DH directed one of the Orvilles. He loved it, said Seth McFarland is truly nice. He's glad it's doing well in the ratings, maybe he can do another one next year.
I don't know why, but adjures was one of my earlier fills.
rb
If we can have a Parliament of Owls, a Gam of Whales, a Jerk of Husbands (at the very bottom of Splynter's list), then certainly we can have an Obstruction of Congresspeople, no?
And while we thinking of Siberia, the big city on the Lena is Yakutsk, where the winter temperature can normally drop to -50 degrees (at that level, Fahrenheit or centigrade doesn't matter much) ... the perfect place for that Siberian exile!
Whew!
Almost -
al -most -
almost a Ta- DA!, but not quite.
I settled for IDOL over ICON, so accepted PET RIDE over PET MICE as well as something called EROSENT instead of ERODENT.
But I found Mr. Sessa's pzl mightily engaging throughout. What fabulous cluing! There were lotsa unknowns to me, from ZOE to BITUMEN, and weirdos like UNRISEN and DEPENDS (for "Conditioned" instead of "Conditional response"), but perps were great teachers. And in the end, like Jinx and Spitzboov, I almost had it.
My hearty congrats to Lucina, Irish Miss, AnonymousPVX, and all those who did achieve a complete solve!
One that should have been a gimme for me - TARZANA - took nearly forever to click in. I once spent a weekend in Providence TARZANA Hospital, so you'd think I'd remember it, but ...
Fine work, Splynter! I didn't mean to leave you out.
I didn't see the finished grid at the bottom of the Corner. I missed it, as it's so helpful for quick checking.
Was that just a glitch on my end?
Greetings!
I agree with others that there were a number of wonderful clues in today's puzzle. Only two look-ups to finish. Yay! Thanks to Ed for the puzzle and Splynter for a fine review.
OMK--I don't see the grid either.
Enjoy the day!
Hmm, the grid IS indeed missing. I don't much pay attention to it anyway except to admire the themer pattern, which doesn't occur on Saturday. I do like it when the grid is at top instead of bottom. That means it stays in place as the column of comments grows longer, so it's easier to keep my place when I have to refer back to it when someone makes a comment about "25d" instead of "thisword".
Game 7 ALCS.
Lived on Skyline, 43rd St, and Hammerly.
Go Stros ! Houston Strong !
OOPS ! D'oh ! Also on Cook Rd and in Westbury. Guess I spent a lot of time in Houston.
I missed the grid was missing this morning. I've added it now, and at the top, for Owen.
For those who asked: NAGWARE is software that purports to be free, but which (after downloading it to your confuser) pops up frequent windows asking you to please register, upgrade, etc. Nag, nag, nag.
Keith: Was it not clear that I finished it w/o cheats?
WikWak - Like that new app iDo. I installed it; all it does is texts DW YES DEAR. -T
WEES about the puzzle. Damn, somehow penned in mAGWARE (as in magazines) for 43D, before I penned in 42A: Arrivals, and didn't recheck. Comings-goings, meh. Happy that I persevered and didn't google Scacchi at the get-go. Not a movie-goer. "Ancient Greek statuary site: Abbr", I was wracking my brain to come up with ancient Greek areas (my brain very limited in that area), until it perped MUS - dah! So simple! Favorite misdirection/clue: "Buttermilk holder?" Momentarily I thought "teat"?. Yeah, another stretch, I know, until YESDEAR, IDO, RISOTTO, TARZANA, and ASSAM fell (cw staple) into place.
TTP, you lived so close to me - 43rd/Rosslyn! I've recorded last night's game for watching tomorrow (good luck quirk) and tonight's also. This team has worked so darn hard, and I'm hoping that they will not fall into the H-Town curse for football/baseball fans. I think in the last 55 years in existence (including Colts .45 days), they've only appeared in the WS once, in 2005. Yes, go 'stros, TTP. PS: BB fans, please correct me - thx.
Hi everybody. Saturdays aren't my favorite but I blundered along and managed to finish with a few red-letters along the way. Thanks Ed and Splynter.
There was a really pretty crescent moon tonight.
I went down to the bike path along the Pacific about 6:10. The sun was just setting. I pulled over and watched it disappear. I could almost hear the sizzle as it dipped into the ocean.
Best wishes for you Houston fans but come next week..., GO DODGERS!
Hi All!
Thanks Ed for the DNF. I did enjoy what I got which is basically the SW corner. I did get I DO and YES DEAR (priceless crossing) in the NE and ESTREET and PINENUT in the NW.
The SE was the kicker - got OUIJA & OLDE giving me eDJURES. See, COPiers went in as did POD and boasTER. And URAL was neither river nor mountain range today [only one got fixed :-( ]
I came back to the puzzle after my day* and thought, "I'll check Splynter's grid for what's wrong...." What's wrong? No grid!?! (Thanks Argyle for putting it up but it was too late to save me :-)). So, I just enjoyed Splynter's expo and everyone's comments. Thanks Splynter for the Expo; enjoyed the music selection at SNUGGLE (boy, she was lovey-dovey).
YR - Thanks for the info on Mercury DIMES.
{A, B, C+}
D'Oh! ZOE - now I see it, I know it. And a CSO to Jinx's furry-friend and Youngest.
C.Moe, our corner sommelier, I'll try to remember that wine. Thx.
TTP - you know I'm listening to the game. It's on the TV too but TV is delayed a few seconds behind the radio. Best part - I paused TV for 10 more seconds, now I can just meander in to look when something happens. TXMs - I won't discuss it until it's over.
Tin - This is it baby. Then on to hating Bill G. for 7 games (OH, GOD willing) :-)
Cheers, -T
*I'll bore you later with my ATT/Apple Store misadventure.
Bill G, yeah, your LA Dodgers are a-sizzling. Not a BB fan-atic, but I've kept up with their incredible box scores this year. Truly a force (team) to be reckoned with!
And I so envy your Pacific bike path with a setting sun - very soothing and therapeutic. Nothin' like that down here in Inner Loop Houston. Enjoy for all of us ... post pics?!!
Anon-T, and so it goes for Houston sports fans, and I definitely understand!: "TXMs - I won't discuss it until it's over." Was it Babe Ruth who said, "It ain't over 'til the [?] lady sings (what a rude comment! I thought the first time I read it). Tony, even though a fairly new Houstonian (I know, 20+yrs.), you know the lay of the land (field) in Houston by now. Going to check the Sports sidebar for the score. Astros have "choked" before in the 8th.
TxMs - The proverbially Fat Lady just sung!!!!!
Oh, yeah... I've seen our share of can't-lose situations go down the tubes (Pujols!) and JJ getting hurt every year (the big guy's got our love - he would just sit out and save his body).
Tin - Sorry pal. It was a great series. With CC on the mound tonight, yeah, I was worried.
Bill G - it's on like Donkey Kong.
-T
And finally Wilbur checks in. I was at it all day: box by box, perp by perp. Ironically, I started strong since NAIROBI fit. As a kid I studied the globe ànd learned counties and rivers* etc. At BC when they did the xword I was often sourced for Geo questions.
But I had it tough. Why isn't it ANISE SEED? I never figured out TACKLED until I got here. And I coulda tackled Splynter for his "easy" remark. I was a TBBT fan but agree it's not the same. Splynter, you'd like season I, #? about Sheldon's rehab fake cousin.
And you can add me to the list of no-cheat solvers. Pen and ink. TARZANA was the last E-wag. Phil came by and I asked him who the Muppet was and he said Moe.
Tarzan just POPped into my head. Cali, don't ya just love those wacky, left coasters?
And I too tried to fit in SANCHO. If Ed goes to 6 boxes it's a great clue. One answer I wrote in early was ASCERBIC for biting. YR, do you agree?
I interrupt this boring post for a sports bulletin:
Down goes the Yankees! Down goes the Yankees! We return you to Wilbur-ville.
Thanks everyone involved in construction, write-up, poetry, comments etc.
Ironic that I had the FIW because I missed SETS TO earlier in the week.
WC in the gloamin
* My brother was a missionary in Kenya for forty years, hence Nairobi south of Ethiopia. Problem is the map of Africa completely changed since my "ute".
I meant to say the LENA River was also familiar with a perp or two
Mark S:
Thank you. Yes, I take meds, glipizide, one tablet twice a day and it seems to be helping. I've cut way back on carbs but can't completely eliminate them yet.
At our book club meeting one group always provides food, often relating to the book if possible. Today it was Honeybaked ham, garlic mashed potatoes, creamy green bean casserole, salad and an assortment of baked goodies. I did take a half chocolate éclair. Can't wait to see my numbers after that!
Bill Graham:
That sounds heavenly! I love the Pacific coast sunsets! You are so lucky.
Here's a general-interest article on xword I just read in the H-Chron: article . I wonder if Keri does the LAT?
Jinx - I forgot to thank you for the giggle w/ LENA Horn(e).
Cheers, -T
Good article, AnonT. Thank you.
I also forgot to thank Jinx for making me laugh at LENA Horn(e).
Sorry, fermatprime, I didn't try to include everyone, except under the phrase, "and all those who did..."
If you're still up reading the blog, you're already bored. So here's the promised ATT/Apple Store story....
So, my phone wouldn't eat power. I'd plug it in and no charge-y-charge. Dead.
I need a phone (home phone doesn't count; no one, even me, knows that number) 'cuz I never know when the wily-hacker gets a toe-hold. I can't order this online and wait 'till Monday [Save groceries, I don't frequent B&Ms - everything I need is catalogue or Amazon.]
So, off to the ye olde iStore/ATT shoppe. It was all slicked out w/ updated 60's "space-chairs" (think The Jetsons), iThings everywhere, and big-screen football games from DirectTV.
I stood at the counter for >12 min before being acknowledged, "Have you been helped yet?"
"No," and mind you I'm a bit curmudgeonly because I'm still not feeling 100% flu-less.
"Someone will be with you in a minute."
EONs passed (ok, maybe another >5 minutes <12 )
A young woman walked up with an iPad, "Your name?"
"-T"
"Ok, you're third in line - just sit over there. It will be about 20 minutes."
"I just want a new phone - I'll swap the SIM myself and set it up. Can you just sell me one? And I'm gone."
"You're third in line."
"Seriously? To buy a replacement phone. [sips coffee] Does Best Buy sell iPhones?"
"I think so."
"I'll try my luck," and I walked out.
I drove to Best Buy (it's on the other side of the freeway on the way home, so not much to lose), walked in and got a new phone in less that 15 min. And, it's an older model (5ES) that was on sale for $200. I was prepared to pay $1k! [Though I didn't want the facial recognition one; I don't think it's fair to the phone to havta look at me]
ATT, Apple - If you're reading, that's not how you do retail. I don't need an "experience" just a new @&^*! phone!
(Grumpy Ol' Man) -T
Coda - not getting all my contacts back, I futz'd w/ the "broken" phone. The damn'd thing started working again! [No, I don't trust it but at least I can sync my contacts]
Post a Comment