google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday October 8, 2017 Paul Coulter

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Oct 8, 2017

Sunday October 8, 2017 Paul Coulter

 Theme: "Top This!" - Seven food items and their toppers are stacked.

18. Know one's __: master a subject : ONIONS

22. It's not a teeny wienie : FOOTLONG HOTDOG

24. Gusto : RELISH

27. Cookout favorite : HAMBURGER

43. Lively Cuban dance : SALSA

50. Crunchy snack choice : TORTILLA CHIP
 
60. Big __ : CHEESE

66. Trattoria selection : SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS. Grid spanner is not easy to maneuver for a 21*21 grid.

 
81. Green shade : LIME

86. Beef on the patio : GRILLED STEAK
 
99. "Drab" color : OLIVE

109. Dorm breakfast, maybe : COLD PIZZA
  
112. Nabisco noshes : OREOS

116. Dessert with syrup : ICE  CREAM SUNDAE - Dessert is saved as the last themer. How fitting.

Six of the toppers are clued as non-food related. OREOS is an exception. There are just no other ways to clue OREOS.

This type of stacked theme is notoriously hard to pull it off cleanly. Hence Paul's extra four black squares in this grid.
 
Across:
      
1. Seabird related to the booby : GANNET. Wiki says "Gannet" is derived from Old English ganot "strong or masculine". It does look very strong.


7. Bold & Crispy Fries maker : ORE-IDA. We also have a few other food items: 58. Hero : SUB. 102. Deli bread : RYE. 103. Saigon soup : PHO.  19. "The one who makes it, takes it" breakfast brand : EGGO.  78. Juicy fruit : PEAR. 111. Pasta choice : ZITI
  
13. Rural "reckon" : S'POSE

19. It's intoxicating : ETHANOL

20. Willow twigs : OSIERS. Our old friend.

25. Place to put down stakes?: Abbr. : OTB. Nice clue as well.

26. Learned ones : SAGES

29. Marsh growths : REEDS

32. For, to Fernando : POR

33. Org. that does searches : TSA

35. "The Kiss" sculptor : RODIN

36. Seine feeder : OISE. EURE as well.

38. Chain that sells Grand Slam breakfasts : DENNY'S. Boomer would love this.

40. Masterpieces : GEMS

45. New Zealand native : MAORI

47. The Beatles' "__ Mine" : I ME

49. One-eighty : UIE Also 50. Eighty-six : TOSS

52. Confident solver's choice : PEN. Pen and Wite-Out here.


53. Gardner of mystery : ERLE. Gimme for regulars.

54. Major work : OPUS

55. "Et voilà!" : TA DA

56. Three-time NFL rushing yards leader Adrian : PETERSON. He was with the Vikings for a long time.


 59. Some sodas : RCs

65. "Big Blue" : IBM. Hi there, T!
 
73. Unagi or anago : EEL

74. Antenna housing : RADOME. Learning moment to me.


75. Parisian pronoun : ILS. They.

76. Federation in OPEC : UAE

77. Please : APPEAL TO

83. Magazine founder Eric : UTNE

84. Stink : REEK

85. "Exodus" hero : ARI

90. Canal locale : EAR

91. Seoul soldier : ROK. Republic of Korea. Chinese military force is called PLA (People's Liberation Army).

92. Closely packed : DENSE. Also 124. Bright circle? : MENSA. Those not in the "Bright circle" are in the less bright DENSA.

93. Rwandan people : TUTSI

94. Oil acronym : ARCO. Atlantic Richfield Company.

96. Some polytheists : PAGANS

98. "Coriolanus" setting : ROME
 
105. High-quality : PRIME

114. Reverse pic : NEG

115. Serious plays : DRAMAS
 
121. Take back to the lab : RE-TEST. I've relapsed in my quiet for more iron-rich food.
 
122. Stretched to the limit : TENSEST. Also  126. Least ingenuous : SLYEST. Most puzzles' bottom edges are S-rich.
 
123. Gets in shape : TRAINS
 
125. Worthy principles : IDEALS

 Down:

1. Enjoy : GO FOR

2. Make __ of: write down : A NOTE

3. Weeper of myth : NIOBE. She was turned into a stone.


4. Excluding : NOT

5. Blowup: Abbr. : ENL

6. Chinese menu possessive : TSO'S. Chicken does taste better when breaded and fried.

7. Catchall category : OTHER

8. P's on frat jackets : RHOs

9. Dig in, so to speak : EAT. Tiny clue dupes with 61. Ate : HAD

10. Lake Mich. state : IND

11. He played Scotty on "Star Trek" : DOOHAN. Forgot.


12. Pond growth : ALGA


13. TV's Hercules Kevin __ : SORBO.  I forgot his name also.


14. Pretentious sort : PSEUD

15. Offshore equipment : OIL RIG

16. Feudal lords : SEIGNEURS. New word to me.

17. Language that gave us "plaid" : ERSE
 
21. Nasdaq unit: Abbr. : SHR

23. Pickup place? : NAPE. Pet.

28. Hook's mate : MR. SMEE

30. Knuckleheads : DOLTS

31. Amigo's assent : SI SI

33. Garr of "Mr. Mom" : TERI

34. Impertinent sort : SNIP

37. Dispenser made obsolete by the shaker : SALT CELLAR. So many nice salts and salt shakers at Bed Bath & Beyond.

38. Cry from Homer : D'OH

39. Winner's cry : YIPPEE

41. Cat pal of Otis : MILO

42. Caught in the act : SEEN


43. Absorb : SOP UP

44. Its capital is Oranjestad : ARUBA

45. "Spy vs. Spy" magazine : MAD

46. Mimosa family tree : ACACIA


48. Eligible for : ENTITLED TO

51. At the back of the pack : LAST

53. Aunt with a "Cope Book" : ERMA

57. Drops off : EBBS

59. Seehorn of "Better Call Saul" : RHEA. Don't know her.




62. "Another Green World" musician : ENO

63. Oilers, on NHL scoreboards : EDM (Edmonton)

64. Seems suspicious : SMELLS

67. Nerd : GEEK

68. Horse-drawn vehicle : TROIKA

69. Parisian lover's word : AIME

70. Fretted instruments : LUTES

71. Hawaiian island : LANAI. Owned by Steve's boss Larry Ellison.

72. Hunt for : SEEK

77. Carpeting calculation : AREA

79. Brew, in a way : PERCOLATE

80. Saint-__: French Riviera resort : TROPEZ

82. Martinique, par exemple : ILE

83. Complete : UTTER

86. Aussie greeting : G'DAY

87. Mathematician Descartes : RENE

88. Election winners : INs

89. Water collection pit : SUMP

95. "No Country for __" : OLD MEN. Directed by the Coen Brothers.

97. Adorned : GRACED

98. One of nine Clue cards : ROOM

100. Bridge declaration : I PASS

101. Windows XP successor : VISTA

103. Cider maker : PRESS. Honeycrisp season. $1.99/lb at our local Cub Foods.

104. Recipe verb : HEAT

106. Many a Sundance film : INDIE

107. Stands for : MEANS

108. Discharge : EGEST

109. USN officer : CDR. Our Spitzboov retired as a Commander. Also 120. Stubborn sailor's response : NAY. 

110. City near Provo : OREM

112. Baseball's Hershiser : OREL


113. Retired fliers : SSTS

117. Charlotte-to-Raleigh dir. : ENE

118. Civil War letters : CSA

119. Modern address : URL


Here is a picture I grabbed from Misty's Facebook. It's from her 55th high school reunion. She's with her classmates Irene and Bonnie.

Left to Right: Misty, Irene & Bonnie
Happy birthday to dear Jayce, who's been with our blog for eight years. Jayce reads every blog post and comment carefully and his posts are always thoughtful and caring.

Jayce also speaks fluent Chinese, hence his unique way of understanding my quirks. Off the blog, he's a great friend. Always there to help me when I' need his advice on blood pressure, diet, or any problem I might encounter.


Jayce, June 2013, Santa Barbara

37 comments:

Big Easy said...

Thanks C.C. for the marvelous write up of the Paul Coulter ( related to Ann?) puzzle. The 'toppings' theme in the circled squares was easy to guess as I am a 'Confident solver', using a PEN when I attempt to solve a puzzle. DOH! ( I am a Simpson) The food themed long fills were easy but I had a little trouble finishing with so many unknowns. Not ever having watched or cared to watch STAR TREK or 'Hercules' ,DOOHAN and SORBO complete mysteries to me and solve by perps. I've never heard the term 'Know one's ONIONS, SEIGNEURS, SNIP (short for whippersnapper?), RADOME (radar dome), Aunt ERMA's 'Cope Book', Otis' or his friend MILO, MRS BEE, the Beatles' son 'I BE Mine'.

Oops, I blew the puzzle because I Googled it and found out it was MR SMEE & I ME Mine. I was stuck on the MRS from the crosses of HAMBURBER, RODIN, & DENNY'S. 'Some times you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't'.

False starts galore. I had to change (in ink) AZALEA to ACADIA, demote the ADMiral to CDR, call my little SNIT to SNIP, replace URDU with ERSE, and quit BEATing the PHO soup and HEAT it.

I hope everybody stays safe from the hurricane.

OwenKL said...

DNF¡ Did crash too hard, but a crash is a crash. two cells still vacant when I hit the. check button, and two wrongs showed up when I did. PbO looked wrong for the unknown soup, but bEAT looked so right for the cooking verb. S¡OlE had both a missing letter and a wrong one, but with ¡SEUD and lEIGNEURS, all three stumped me. But what really burns is NA¡ + SL¡EST. What's "stubborn sailor" got to do with NAY, and the SLYEST would be the most ingenious, not the least! [Okay, looked it up and see that ingenUous, a word I've never heard of, is an antonym of ingenIous. Bah!]

Would EEL APPEAL TO a TUTSI?
Or do they not venerate sushi?
Is a COLD PIZZA roll
A more apt Tutsi role?
Or would they just want a slushie?

What more can be FED to a MAORI?
Perhaps a GRILLED STEAK cacciatore?
If they TITLED their SEIGNEUR
As His Honor, the mayor,
Would a feast in his honor be mayory?

{A-, A}

OwenKL said...

*first sentence should be
Did NOT crash too hard, but a crash is a crash.

Paul C. said...

Thanks for the review, C.C. I got a real chuckle from your Densa comment. On many days as I struggle to fill a difficult grid, I feel like a charter member. I particularly enjoyed your limerick, Owen. You were in rare form today. Now if I'd served some chicken in a bucket, you could have made it a Maori from Nantucket.

For those who don't like lime on their grilled steak, I originally had A-ONE, until Rich pointed out the sauce is spelled A-1. Then I had to scramble for a replacement that would work in that area, and, well, it turns out lime on steak really is a trendy thing. I also originally had aioli on the cold pizza, but it changed to OLIVE (yeah, I know, who puts a singular olive on pizza?) since aioli was judged too unusual. Something more normal like pepperoni, sausage, or anchovies refused to cooperate.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Paul and CC!

A few things were new. But managed to get through w/o any cheats. Got it on the first try.

Had a nap and then managed to tie first place at word game. I waste lots of time when I am tired!

Nice pic, Misty!

Have a great birthday, Jayce!

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Well, I noticed all the food in this one (double-checked to make sure it wasn't created by Steve!), but totally missed the theme. Even with the circles I failed to see that the topping was placed directly over the bottoming. D'oh! This one went very fast. Under 15 on a Sunday is very unusual for me. Hand up for PEN and Wite-Out, C.C. Thanx for the outing, Paul, and thanx for dropping by.

No Country For Old Men is a very intense movie. You only need to see it once.

James Doohan is the only Startrek cast member to actually go to space. He had to die first, but his ashes got launched.

Great photo, Misty. What an attractive trio -- belles of the ball, I'll bet. I guess my 55th will be next year. I made it to my 15th, but none since. They no longer send invites.

Happy birthday, Jayce.

Hungry Mother said...

Also had PbO for the soup, so DNF. Crunchy one today.

Argyle said...

My biggest goof was having a Japanese monster sculpting "The Thinker".

Yellowrocks said...

Wow! One of my favorite puzzles. D-O, hand up for "Even with the circles I failed to see that the topping was placed directly over the bottoming." How elegant! In some ways it reminded me of a CC puzzle.
Also hand up for PBO, instead of PHO, my only bad cell. Since I doubted PBO, an ABC run would have suggested HEAT. Will I never learn?
New words were, Coriolanus, Sorbo, Rhea. I have heard "know one's onions."
When I was a waitress, 86 often meant, "We have no more of that." Sometimes it meant toss.
Alan and I love sharing General Tso's chicken. Usually we do not get it spicy, unless I am alone.
Here we find black olives on pizza and just about anything else. The weirdest is macaroni on pizza.
I do not care for pancakes. I am always annoyed that I can't substitute toast for the pancakes in a Grand Slam. Dipping pancakes in egg yolk? Ugh.
Happy birthday, Jayce, You were one of the first ones to encourage me when I turned blue.
Misty, lovely pic.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Well, lots of food for thought in this offering. (I can just picture Steve's Cheshire grin while solving.) I had more than my share of speed bumps, particularly in the NE corner. So many unknowns really slowed me down: Doohan, Sorbo, Seehorn, Mr. Smee, Radome, I, Me, Mine, etc. I know Smee but have never seen the Mr. title used before. I've also heard of Seigneurs but never knew the meaning. My w/o's slowed me down, as well: eaglet/gannet, Uri/Ari, stk/shr, whopee/yippee, prize/prime, Adm/Cdr, etc. Spotted Tsos and Toss. As CC mentioned, I, also, picked up on Oreos having the only food-related clue. Salt cellars are favored by professional chefs and, I would imagine, accomplished home cooks, such as our Steve. My favorite clue was Pick up place=Nape.

Thanks, Paul Coulter, for a culinary conundrum with lots of chewiness and, also, for dropping by and thanks, CC, for the always informative and enlightening expo.

Happy Birthday, Jayce, hope it is a special day. 🎂🎉🎁🎈🍾

Misty, that's a lovely photo of you and your classmates. Glad you enjoyed your reunion and hope your dad is doing better.

I hope our Southern Cornerites are safe and sound.

Have a great day.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIW, with one Natick (1A x 3D, WAGged "r") and two careless errors (MiORI and AmME).

Thanks for checking in, Paul. I had never heard of putting LIME on a grilled steak, thus proving it is trendy. I would have gotten A-ONE easily, even though I only use it to top a breakfast steak.

To many unknowns and erasures to list today, but the perps almost resolved all of them. That makes for a good Sunday puzzle, even if I couldn't conquer it. Thanks to CC for your usual fun review.

HBD Jace. I always enjoy your comments even though I occasionally take exception.

Misty, your gang looks like fun. My school only holds reunions every 5 years, since each year only had 30 graduates. I haven't attended for a while because many of the people who still live in town don't go, making the event sparsely attended.

Mimi said...

Had a few holes I couldn't fill, but overall I was pleased. Big Blue to me is my KY Wildcats but I knew that wasn't going to be an option. Fun puzzle.

I see comments about ink & white out. I use erasable pens. Papermate makes them. They work great for me.

We are getting the much needed rain here so it's going to be a lazy Sunday. That is much needed, too. Have a great week everyone.

Lucina said...

Happy birthday, Jayce! I hope you enjoy a great celebration!

Food! As Steve would say and what an apropos CSO to him.

Thank you, Paul Coulter, for posting your comments and giving us your insights. I really liked this puzzle.

It was fun to RELISH the many kinds of food. Filling the various types also helped to immediately finish the cells surrounding it. GRILLED STEAK is by far my favorite especially NY strip. Yum! No LIME on mine. I'm not a fan of COLD PIZZA, though.

ACACIA is one of those crosswordese learned a long time ago and OREL Hershiser is easy to remember because it's such an unusual name. However, I thought he was a football player turned commentator. Oh, well. Sports is not my game.

Again, thank you, Paul Coulter, for a fun time. And thank you, C.C., for your entertaining commentary.

Misty, what a nice picture of you and your classmates.

Have a marvelous day, everyone!

SwampCat said...

Interesting puzzle by above my pay grade!! Thanks for explaining it C .C.!

Hurricane Nate missed us by a wide margin so no damage here. PK, I hope you have heard from your granddaughter and are reassured. Beautiful day here today.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast get hit but my kids and their friends had minor damage if any. It wasn't a big storm, as these thing go. Alabama seems to have gotten the worst of it. Hope we are finished for the year!

Thanks for the good wishes!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Nice picture of Misty and her classmates.
Happy Birthday to Jayce; also a nice picture. Thanks to both for sharing.

Got the solve without too much hassle. Couple alphabet runs. Surprised to see LIME there, too, but I think it acts like a marinade and helps tenderize the meat. I prefer LIME in a gin and tonic.
Thanks C.C. for the SO.

Returned late yesterday from a 2-day trip to Buffalo, for a memorial service. Wife's niece's husband died from kidney failure and lung cancer. 59 years old. Had kidney issues for over 20 years including a transplant. Some people seem to have unimaginable burdens thrust upon them. One daughter had just joined the Peace Corps in South Africa, so she had a long sad trip home.

Misty, we drove by the old UB campus on our way to see grandson Max while in Buffalo. As an 8th grader, he is in his 2nd year of a selected math program at the new UB campus a few miles away. (He lost his Mom, our daughter, to cancer almost 5 years ago.)

(Don't mean to sound maudlin, we basically had a good trip reconnecting with relatives.)

SwampCat said...

Owen, I laughed out loud!

SwampCat said...

Spitzboov, I'm so sorry to hear of your sad times.

Misty said...

My goodness, C.C., how kind of you to post my reunion picture--and thank you, all, for such sweet comments. You've made my day! It was a lovely reunion and nice that we still look so happy at 72!

Great to see you posting, Paul, and telling us about the construction challenges of this very, very clever puzzle. I didn't get the topping theme until C.C. explained it, but I think it's brilliant the way it played out in the puzzle. Thank you so much! And C.C., thank you for posting a picture of a RADOME. Never heard of it, and it looks amazing.

Spitzboov, so glad you got to see your grandson in Buffalo, but so sorry to hear of your family's difficult loss.

Liked your second limerick a lot, Owen.

Jinx, hope you still make one of your reunions. Even with a small group, they can be fun.

Have a wonderful day, everybody, and thank you all again!

John Lampkin said...

Thanks for stopping in, Paul. It's always illuminating to read comments from the trenches!
Owen KL, your assignment, should you accept it, is to compose a limerick using "ingenuous" and "ingenious."

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-The content and geometry of the puzzle were fun
-SORBO, PSEUD and SEIGNEURS made perps necessary
-I have never associated LIME with a STEAK
-When my BP is RE-TESTED five minutes after I am in the waiting room, it is always lower than when they take it immediately
-Now I know what a SALT CELLAR is
-One can be eligible for but not ENTITLED TO winning the lottery
-HBD, Jayce. I too enjoy reading your carefully considered posts
-Gotta Run

PK said...

G'DAY MATES! Paul, I think you must take the prize for the most food in one puzzle. Glad I ate before starting in on it or the old tummy would have been growling. Fun to get a few perps then realize it was part of a food favorite. I got the theme and toppings after it was all done.

Mensa wasn't on at midnight when I wanted to do the puzzle, so I am way late today.

Seabird related to the booby, wasn't a tit, but with _A_N_T perped in I WAGd it. I've never seen a GANNET.

Didn't know my ONIONS so the NE was the LAST to fill. I had only OSIERS, OILRIG, ERSE. Why I couldn't get HAMBURGER & RELISH, I don't know. Finally did. Never heard of SORBO, DOOHAN, PSEUD (with that clue), SEIGNEURS.

Still don't get OTB. Help?

C.C.: thanks for everything. I especially was glad to see the RADOME. Hand up for not knowing that.

Good to see Misty's smiling face.

Happy Birthday, Jayce! I enjoy your posts.

Spitzboov, sharing sadness with friends helps to soothe the spirit. Thank you for considering us your friends.

BigE & S-cat: Glad NOLA was spared with the pumps being so iffy. Daughter says my granddaughter is okay.

desper-otto said...

PK, OTB = off-track betting, ergo the "stakes." BTW, your "tit" comment was priceless.

CanadianEh! said...

Well this was a fun food feast. Thanks Paul and C.C. (Also, thanks for dropping in, Paul, and explaining some of the process behind the CW.)

My newspaper does not publish on Sunday and we get both the Saturday and Sunday CWs in the Saturday edition. I could not make any headway in the Saturday CW and moved to this one instead. I completed this puzzle in INK. (MENSA would not have had the circles, LOL!) I smiled when I saw the theme and the stacked food. I am not familiar with LIME on my STEAK and will have to try it.

RADOME, SORBO and DOOHAN required perps. I knew PHO because we have Vietnamese restaurants called PHO Dau Bo.

Happy Birthday Jayce.
Loved the photo, Misty.
Condolences to Spitzboov.

Off to prep for Thanksgiving crowd coming tomorrow.

Unknown said...

Got TADA. But no Tada! Got everything but the Northeast. The rest fell as quickly as my Lions ( worst team in the history of professional sports). I never heard pseud used as a separate word, never heard of that particular feudal lord nor any name for a twig except twig. I also blanked on "UIE" for the umpteenth time. Oh well...

Misty said...

Happy Birthday, Jayce, and thank you for the great support you give to C.C.!

Yellowrocks said...

Some really good news for a change. Alan has been well for a week and is back to his happy, pain free self. I like to believe I, myself, found the remedy, with of course, kudos to the internet. Big Easy, it might be interesting to email chat with you.
Spitz, condolences. I am glad you shared.I hope it somewhat eases your burden.
I had a much older friend who had interesting antiques in her home, which I suspect she made use of many times in her youth. Among them were salt cellars for each guest, which she still used until the end. This is my only personal experience of them, although I found them in my historical novels. I didn't know that there were master salt cellars to feed the individual ones, or that salt "cellar" was not connected to our use of "cellar." I often wondered.
Wiki
My older son reads only nonfiction and looks down on fiction. I believe I have learned so much from fiction because it is an incentive for me to look for the actual facts. It certainly has added much to my general knowledge, vocabulary and crossword solving in a delightful way. It has spurred my interest in history. Recently, it seems 50% of the novels I choose have British authors, such a help with British terms in crosswords.
Caring thoughts to those impacted by Nate and thankfulness that it was not worse.

PK said...

YR: I agree that fiction teaches a person much and inspires further research. I also have learned much about psychological aspects of relationships and what makes people tick. Glad Alan is doing better.

I'm waiting for word on how my niece and nephew are doing with Nate. They live in the Florida PanHandle.

Bobbi said...

Nice romp today but got tied up in the NE corner ("Psued" as in "only Psued use the word Psued") and "seigneurs" - mainly because it's French and I'm a Francophobic solver. "troika" took me back to Moscow the year the Communists went "deep six" . We took a troika ride (three beautiful white horses pulling a sleigh). The weather was clear, crisp and about zero degrees ("f"). We made four stops along the way where we were warmed by glasses of hot Russian vodka. I don't recall how the trip ended!

Wilbur Charles said...

Where do I start? Ok. I'll put "The Trial" in a separate post.

Misty, nice pic. #2, this one sans sunglasses.
Spitz, sorry about the young man's early passing. I was diagnosed with kidney disease in '87. The "good news" was that it was a type that wouldn't kill me until 2007. It appears to be benign. No big deal.

And, that's great news about Alan, Yellow Rocks.

Paul, lots of gusto in the xword. The theme answers made it doable-c previous comments. More to come in "The Trial".

Bobbi, the NE was tough except what cookout doesn't have HANBURGER. OSIER is a xword word.

I'm watching my Redsox on tape. David Price, he of the feud with Boston media.
So far, so good (As the jumper responded to the window watcher's "How's it goin".)

Owen. Yes "2 > #1 => A, A+

Okay. On to "The Trial".

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I hereby charge Wilbur C with an FIW. MALO instead of MILO. How do you plead Mr Charles?

Not guilty. As any fool can plainly see I had two UAEs. In my hurrying I merely popped the A into that empty square forgetting that I'd filled it at 76a.

Do you for one minute think that with all the Florida miles I drive that I don't know a UIE?

I beg the mercy of the court. I know my ONIONS. It was merely haste. I APPEAL. Don't send me to the PEN.

Members of the jury what is your verdict?

WC

Misty said...

WC: Not guilty!

Bill G said...

Thanks Paul.

As with D-O, I saw the food part of the theme but didn't notice the toppings were on top of them. Rats! That made the theme seem much more clever.

Spitz, best wishes.

YR, I'm happy for your good news.

Jayce, I hope your birthday was very excellent. I always enjoy what you have to say.

Wilbur C, well, maybe not innocent as a baby but certainly not guilty of anything worth getting ones knickers in a twist over. Not guilty! Go forth and mistype no more.

Anonymous T said...

Lurk must say.... HBD Jayce! I enjoy your insights on both the day's puzzles and seismology. Good wishes for your personal new year. -T

Lucina said...

Wilbur Charles:
I, for one, pronounce you innocent of any and all charges on the basis of your creativity and sense of humor. Well done! I'm sure you will be more careful in future puzzles. In addition, you might be more rested.

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts": (whilst suffering from a bit of insomnia)

Misty and Jayce ---> nice pics; HBB Jayce

CC and Paul ---> thanks for the fun Sunday romp. Great puzzle and recap

WEES about certain perps and unknown words, but when you have a 21x21 grid you take liberties

John Lampkin @ 1:28 ----> since Owen did not take your limerick challenge, I will toss this in. I know I'm not as erudite as he is, nor as funny, but @ 2:57 in the morning, what did you expect???!!!😀

Would it seem somewhat ingenuous,
If a man who's called a genius,
Thought PBO was a soup?
The clue threw me for a loop.
Guess I'm not quite that ingenious.

Moe (in need of sleep)

OwenKL said...

John, just for you:

The lad started out naive and ingenuous.
The chances he had, at best, were tenuous.
But thru efforts strenuous
He became quite ingenious
At writing limericks exceeding disingenuous!

Wilbur, hmm.
Misspelling UIE, guilty.
Not noticing you'd already used a word, guilty.
Not being cognizant of The Adventures of Milo and Otis, guilty.
Guilty on all counts, but leniency is recommended!

Picard said...

I was ready to give up with so many proper name Natick crossings.

The most unfair by far was ERMA, ERLE, MILO, PETERSON crossed with the utterly unknown SEIGNEURS. Which in turn was crossed with the obscure/unknowns OSIERS, SORBO, PSEUD. Only know PSEUD as a "false" prefix.

This was a case where I actually felt proud to FIW!
Just one letter: MILE/PETERSEN instead of MILO/PETERSON

I know Niobium so I SPOSE there is a connection to NIOBE.

I got that the circled words were toppings for things, but totally missed the cleverness that they were toppings atop the long fill!

Sorry that there are people who have never experienced what makes Star Trek so special. It is an entire vision of the future in terms of how people can get along even though they are imperfect. A vision of how people can work together on huge innovative projects of exploration. And it is all done with humor and wonderful imagination. And the parables are all relevant to our current situations.

My favorite series is The Next Generation with, yes, Picard. But I love the original series with DOOHAN too. I was very fortunate to get to meet Mr DOOHAN once. He never stopped being in character and loving that role.

I have walked among the Boobies, which is one of the most memorable times of my life. But I never heard of a GANNET.