Theme: Aural Plurals - repeat the last letter of each theme answer and listen to the result:
17A. Southern dish, so we hear : BLACK-EYED PP (Peas). Food! I'm happy already.
25A. World's navigable waters, so we hear : SEVEN CC (Seas) I wanted to link the OMD song from the 80's for this, but I went back to listen to it on YouTube, and, actually, it really wasn't very good. I thought that I remembered that the drum riff intro was awesome, but, in hindsight, it was - pants What happened to the bass?I must have imagined it. See what you think? Maybe I had "drink taken", as my Irish family would say. I was young. Moving on.
36A. Welcome relief, so we hear : A SIGHT FOR SORE II (Eyes)
48A. Suggestive dance, so we hear : STRIP TT (Tease)
and
57A. Warning hint, so we hear : WORD TO THE YY (Wise)
Another cracking puzzle from Bruce. I tumbled to the theme right off the bat, but that didn't spoil my amusement one bit. The fill is great, the theme entries all very much fun, and those 6's, 8's and 10's in the downs just speak to the quality of the construction.
There are a couple or more candidate theme phrases out there that spring to mind such as THE BIRDS AND THE BB, Yellow Submarine's A LIFE OF EE, TORONTO BLUE JJ, POOL QQ but probably not enough to expand this to a Sunday-size. Shame, because I'm sure Bruce could to a sterling job with a 21x21.
Anyway, great stuff, Bruce! Let's see what else jumps out - BOO! - it is Hallowe'en season after all.
Across:
1. Wing it : AD LIB
6. Doing battle : AT WAR
11. Quarterback Brady : TOM. Just this week, the New York Giant's GM at the time, Ernie Accorsi, revealed that he ignored pleas from one of his staff to draft Brady in the 6th round and regretted it ever since. Brady fell to the Patriots and look how that turned out, but Ernie shouldn't be so tough on himself. No-one else saw that coming.
14. "Fun With Dick and Jane" (2005) actress : LEONI
15. Hourglass, e.g. : SHAPE. TIMER sprung to mind first.
16. Political commentator Navarro : ANA
19. Tap site : KEG. Tried BAR first. Then I got to 33A and out it came.
20. Justice Dept. branch : A.T.F. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Sounds like a "Bring Your Own" party invitation somewhere out in West Texas.
21. Fair : EVEN
22. What "A" is for, in Sue Grafton's mystery series : ALIBI
24. Hot rod? : SPIT. Food! reference. Think rotisserie.
27. __ Friday : CASUAL. I had CA**AL and was wondering why I'd never heard of CARNAL FRIDAY nor been invited to an event.
30. Savory Chinese snack : TEA EGG Food! A boiled egg is cracked, then boiled again in tea and five-spice powder before being shelled.
31. Manufacturing facility : PLANT
32. Manhattan developer? : BAR. Manhattan as in the cocktail, not the island borough, more of which we see below.
33. #1 texting pal : BFF
41. Sevilla sun : SOL
42. Nice way to say no? : NON. Nice, en France. Sur la mer Méditerranée. I have an unpaid parking ticket from a summer trip to Nice about mumble years ago. Did they seriously expect me to pay? Je dit NON!
So,if you're now driving a 1992 red UK-registered Acura Integra, license plate F488 OLC, and reading this, contemplating a trip to Nice, be warned. You're on the hook for about 500 Francs, converted to Euros now, plus penalties, let's say about twelve billion with accrued interest. Be careful.
43. __ signs : VITAL
44. "I bet!" : OH SURE!
47. Composes, as music for a poem : SETS TO. I've been looking this one up and down for a little while. I'm OK with it, I think.
50. Put on : WORE
51. Hindu class : CASTE. We are heading into Diwali, the great Hindu "festival of light" which runs for five days, this year starting today on the 19th. I was lucky enough to be in Mumbai for Diwali one year, it was quite beautiful.
/diwali-celebrations-58ddb69b5f9b584683717b96.jpg)
52. Works on walls : OILS. Not MURALS then? Nope, can't force six letters into four squares.
53. Nursery complaint : WAH!
56. __ Dhabi : ABU
61. "Little ol' me?" : MOI?
62. "Middlemarch" novelist : ELIOT. George Eliot, a pen-name for Mary Ann Evans. She used the nom de plume as she thought she'd have a better chance of publishers accepting her work if they thought she was a guy. Looks like it worked out for her.
63. Flowed back : EBBED
64. Soup cooker : POT
65. Criticize sharply : DECRY. I think sharply and loudly. I'm not sure you can quietly decry.
66. Butch and Sundance chasers : POSSE
Down:
1. Goya's "Duchess of __" : ALBA. He painted her a bunch of times, including the famous reclining studies of her dressed and undressed. This one is a little less risqué:
2. Muscle used to raise your hand in school, for short : DELToid. Fun clue.
3. Lollygag : LOAF
4. "Monsters, __" : INC
5. Spokesperson's route? : BIKE PATH. Very nice.
6. Till now : AS YET
7. In those days : THEN
8. Gum ball : WAD
9. Galaxy download : APP. The Galaxy smartphone.
10. Maintain, as roads : RE-PAVE
11. Bookie's work : TAKING BETS
12. Last non-AD yr. : ONE B.C. Apparently we should use BCE/CE now to avoid upsetting sensitive folk.
13. Tricks : MAGIC
18. Wicked : EVIL
23. Cut of lamb : LEG! More Food! I love leg of lamb. I either roast it bone-in for a British-style Sunday lunch, or bone it, butterfly it and grill it for a more Mediterranean-style treatment.
24. Belted out : SUNG, lustily.
25. Burn slightly : SEAR
26. They may ring or have rings : EARS
27. Calculating pros : CPA'S
28. Plus : ALSO
29. Outfit with bell-bottom trousers : SAILOR SUIT. Here's a great clip from the Broadway musical "On The Town" filmed on the streets of the city.
30. Steak named for its shape : T-BONE. Food! Flatiron (another New York landmark!) didn't fit. Tri-tip would work too, it's triangular, hence the name. Someone tried to tell me once that the New York Strip is so-called because it's the same shape as Manhattan. Not buying that one.
34. Bravo automaker : FIAT
35. Dough used in baklava : FILO
37. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT. I thought these were the same as wing nuts, but no.
38. One might be made of sheets and pillows : FORT
39. Exceed, as a boundary : OVERSTEP
40. Bris, e.g. : RITE. Crosses filled this in for me, I didn't see it until I came to the write up.
45. Flop's opposite : HIT
46. Gushed : SPEWED
47. Go it alone : SOLO
48. Rapscallion : SCAMP
49. Just not done : TABOO
50. Quick with comebacks : WITTY
52. Funk : ODOR
53. Halloween decor : WEBS
54. All in favor : AYES
55. Literary alter ego : HYDE. Dr. Jekyll's alter, and more unpleasant, ego.
58. Stadium cry : OLÉ!
59. Wrestler Flair nicknamed "The Nature Boy" : RIC. Thank you, crosses. Ric Ocasek from "The Cars" is the only Ric on my radar.
60. "Entourage" channel : HBO "Home Box Office", originally. No longer abbreviated! They make some great original programming. So great that I cancelled my subscription last year. Still trying to figure out the rationale behind that one.
Grid? Here it is! Hasta luego!
Actually, this has nothing whatever to do with the puzzle today, but I came across a recording of "La Bamba" this week (while I was doing my Spanish language homework) that I want to share. Click this link, put your screen into full size, crank up your volume and enjoy three minutes of really joyful music.The producers put together a virtual band from all around the world and recorded the result. Baby-Black-Dombe is only slightly cheating by not singing in Spanish, but the whole thing is fantastic!
Yo no soy marinero, soy capitan, soy capitan!
Steve
17A. Southern dish, so we hear : BLACK-EYED PP (Peas). Food! I'm happy already.
25A. World's navigable waters, so we hear : SEVEN CC (Seas) I wanted to link the OMD song from the 80's for this, but I went back to listen to it on YouTube, and, actually, it really wasn't very good. I thought that I remembered that the drum riff intro was awesome, but, in hindsight, it was - pants What happened to the bass?I must have imagined it. See what you think? Maybe I had "drink taken", as my Irish family would say. I was young. Moving on.
36A. Welcome relief, so we hear : A SIGHT FOR SORE II (Eyes)
48A. Suggestive dance, so we hear : STRIP TT (Tease)
and
57A. Warning hint, so we hear : WORD TO THE YY (Wise)
Another cracking puzzle from Bruce. I tumbled to the theme right off the bat, but that didn't spoil my amusement one bit. The fill is great, the theme entries all very much fun, and those 6's, 8's and 10's in the downs just speak to the quality of the construction.
There are a couple or more candidate theme phrases out there that spring to mind such as THE BIRDS AND THE BB, Yellow Submarine's A LIFE OF EE, TORONTO BLUE JJ, POOL QQ but probably not enough to expand this to a Sunday-size. Shame, because I'm sure Bruce could to a sterling job with a 21x21.
Anyway, great stuff, Bruce! Let's see what else jumps out - BOO! - it is Hallowe'en season after all.
Across:
1. Wing it : AD LIB
6. Doing battle : AT WAR
11. Quarterback Brady : TOM. Just this week, the New York Giant's GM at the time, Ernie Accorsi, revealed that he ignored pleas from one of his staff to draft Brady in the 6th round and regretted it ever since. Brady fell to the Patriots and look how that turned out, but Ernie shouldn't be so tough on himself. No-one else saw that coming.
14. "Fun With Dick and Jane" (2005) actress : LEONI
15. Hourglass, e.g. : SHAPE. TIMER sprung to mind first.
16. Political commentator Navarro : ANA
19. Tap site : KEG. Tried BAR first. Then I got to 33A and out it came.
20. Justice Dept. branch : A.T.F. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Sounds like a "Bring Your Own" party invitation somewhere out in West Texas.
21. Fair : EVEN
22. What "A" is for, in Sue Grafton's mystery series : ALIBI
24. Hot rod? : SPIT. Food! reference. Think rotisserie.
27. __ Friday : CASUAL. I had CA**AL and was wondering why I'd never heard of CARNAL FRIDAY nor been invited to an event.
30. Savory Chinese snack : TEA EGG Food! A boiled egg is cracked, then boiled again in tea and five-spice powder before being shelled.
31. Manufacturing facility : PLANT
32. Manhattan developer? : BAR. Manhattan as in the cocktail, not the island borough, more of which we see below.
33. #1 texting pal : BFF
41. Sevilla sun : SOL
42. Nice way to say no? : NON. Nice, en France. Sur la mer Méditerranée. I have an unpaid parking ticket from a summer trip to Nice about mumble years ago. Did they seriously expect me to pay? Je dit NON!
So,if you're now driving a 1992 red UK-registered Acura Integra, license plate F488 OLC, and reading this, contemplating a trip to Nice, be warned. You're on the hook for about 500 Francs, converted to Euros now, plus penalties, let's say about twelve billion with accrued interest. Be careful.
43. __ signs : VITAL
44. "I bet!" : OH SURE!
47. Composes, as music for a poem : SETS TO. I've been looking this one up and down for a little while. I'm OK with it, I think.
50. Put on : WORE
51. Hindu class : CASTE. We are heading into Diwali, the great Hindu "festival of light" which runs for five days, this year starting today on the 19th. I was lucky enough to be in Mumbai for Diwali one year, it was quite beautiful.
52. Works on walls : OILS. Not MURALS then? Nope, can't force six letters into four squares.
53. Nursery complaint : WAH!
56. __ Dhabi : ABU
61. "Little ol' me?" : MOI?
62. "Middlemarch" novelist : ELIOT. George Eliot, a pen-name for Mary Ann Evans. She used the nom de plume as she thought she'd have a better chance of publishers accepting her work if they thought she was a guy. Looks like it worked out for her.
63. Flowed back : EBBED
64. Soup cooker : POT
65. Criticize sharply : DECRY. I think sharply and loudly. I'm not sure you can quietly decry.
66. Butch and Sundance chasers : POSSE
Down:
1. Goya's "Duchess of __" : ALBA. He painted her a bunch of times, including the famous reclining studies of her dressed and undressed. This one is a little less risqué:
2. Muscle used to raise your hand in school, for short : DELToid. Fun clue.
3. Lollygag : LOAF
4. "Monsters, __" : INC
5. Spokesperson's route? : BIKE PATH. Very nice.
6. Till now : AS YET
7. In those days : THEN
8. Gum ball : WAD
9. Galaxy download : APP. The Galaxy smartphone.
10. Maintain, as roads : RE-PAVE
11. Bookie's work : TAKING BETS
12. Last non-AD yr. : ONE B.C. Apparently we should use BCE/CE now to avoid upsetting sensitive folk.
13. Tricks : MAGIC
18. Wicked : EVIL
23. Cut of lamb : LEG! More Food! I love leg of lamb. I either roast it bone-in for a British-style Sunday lunch, or bone it, butterfly it and grill it for a more Mediterranean-style treatment.
24. Belted out : SUNG, lustily.
25. Burn slightly : SEAR
26. They may ring or have rings : EARS
27. Calculating pros : CPA'S
28. Plus : ALSO
29. Outfit with bell-bottom trousers : SAILOR SUIT. Here's a great clip from the Broadway musical "On The Town" filmed on the streets of the city.
30. Steak named for its shape : T-BONE. Food! Flatiron (another New York landmark!) didn't fit. Tri-tip would work too, it's triangular, hence the name. Someone tried to tell me once that the New York Strip is so-called because it's the same shape as Manhattan. Not buying that one.
34. Bravo automaker : FIAT
35. Dough used in baklava : FILO
37. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT. I thought these were the same as wing nuts, but no.
38. One might be made of sheets and pillows : FORT
39. Exceed, as a boundary : OVERSTEP
40. Bris, e.g. : RITE. Crosses filled this in for me, I didn't see it until I came to the write up.
45. Flop's opposite : HIT
46. Gushed : SPEWED
47. Go it alone : SOLO
48. Rapscallion : SCAMP
49. Just not done : TABOO
50. Quick with comebacks : WITTY
52. Funk : ODOR
53. Halloween decor : WEBS
54. All in favor : AYES
55. Literary alter ego : HYDE. Dr. Jekyll's alter, and more unpleasant, ego.
58. Stadium cry : OLÉ!
59. Wrestler Flair nicknamed "The Nature Boy" : RIC. Thank you, crosses. Ric Ocasek from "The Cars" is the only Ric on my radar.
60. "Entourage" channel : HBO "Home Box Office", originally. No longer abbreviated! They make some great original programming. So great that I cancelled my subscription last year. Still trying to figure out the rationale behind that one.
Grid? Here it is! Hasta luego!
Actually, this has nothing whatever to do with the puzzle today, but I came across a recording of "La Bamba" this week (while I was doing my Spanish language homework) that I want to share. Click this link, put your screen into full size, crank up your volume and enjoy three minutes of really joyful music.The producers put together a virtual band from all around the world and recorded the result. Baby-Black-Dombe is only slightly cheating by not singing in Spanish, but the whole thing is fantastic!
Yo no soy marinero, soy capitan, soy capitan!
Steve
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Bruce and Steve!
Really liked the theme!
No problems apart from ODOR! Can anyone explain?
Came in first again today at WS. Woohoo!
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
VITAL rules for living life are the SEVEN CC:
ReplyDeleteCourtesy and Compassion for others, if you please!
Courage and Confidence,
Curiosity and Competence,
But never fail to Chuckle at life's Comedies!
Life can be discouraging when you miss the prize.
To recover confidence, here's a WORD TO THE YY.
Find someplace WITTY on the WEBS
Where motivation never EBBED,
It's MAGIC for the ego at A web-SITE FOR SORE II!
{A, A.}
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteGot the theme early, once I changed PS (which I thought would be the theme) to PP. Cute. CSO to moi at 11a. Had no problems until reaching Florida where MAA/MASK had to morph into WAH/WEBS. Thank you, Wite-Out, Bruce and Steve.
"Bell Bottom" SAILOR SUITs actually have stovepipe legs; they don't flare. They were stocked in waist size only, and bottom-hemmed to suit. I hated the 13 buttons (for the 13 colonies) -- forced you to plan ahead.
Steve, what did you mean by "pants?" BTW, when I last visited Mumbai it was still Bombay. Was proud of myself for not getting sick during my two weeks there. I got sick on the plane home.
OKL from yesterday - You are right, my "noodle" guess was more of an EWAG. Nothing scientific about it, but more than random.
ReplyDeleteToday I really enjoyed Bruce's puzzle and Steve's tour. I especially liked Steve's BYOATF. Sounds like parties I used to enjoy; now it's only BYOF. I also liked the CSO to our Corner mistress at 25a. I'll bet she's had TEA EGGS, but I hadn't heard of them. They look awful, but I'll bet they taste good.
I also didn't know they remade Dick and Jane, but knew Fonda wouldn't work. I didn't know ANA, but I no longer watch CNN. I was once addicted to the channel, but their coverage of Gore v. Bush was so poor that since then I now only watch it when I'm in an airport and have no choice.
Erased Laze for LOAF, SaNG for SUNG, and Ford for FIAT (Fix It Again Tony). My favorite clue was "spokesperson's route" for BIKE PATH.
First traction was in the NE. Knew 25A answer. It just wasn't CCCCCCC (seven seas). Speed run after that. Off to Vegas/Mesquite/Hurricane advancing a little white ball around manicured parcels of sod.
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle - before I got the theme I saw the end CC of SEVEN CC and thought I might be off somewhere until I filled in the rest!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the "On the Town" clip - it was taken as a promo for the 2014 Broadway revival- one of the actors Jay Johnson grew up in Fort Worth and was in a theater company for youth called "Kids Who Care" that my niece was in and then worked for. Neat to see him make it on Broadway!
Thanks Bruce and Steve!
I liked the theme. Thanks, Bruce. Steve, thanks for the music and an interesting review.
ReplyDeleteAfter getting BIKE PATH I pondered. OOH, spokes on the wheel.
ANA, TEA EGG and RIC were new to me, perps and wags to the rescue.
Steve, I think we are seeing more and more political wingnuts. LOL. I lean in one direction, but I am an "almost centerist" and a pragmatist.
One meaning of FUNK is "a strong smell; stench," often of tobacco or sweat. This sense of funk and funky are common in novels.
Gilbert's poems were SET TO music by Sullivan in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas.I love 'em.
I like stuffed leg of lamb, but my favorite lamb entree is my David's perfectly grilled lamb chops. Yummy.
Battle of the sxx
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve! My clue for SETS TO was "begins" I think, but Rich decided to toughen it a bit with a new angle. Glad people are enjoying the puzzle! I'll be at USC this weekend for the big Crosswords LA tournament and I hope to see some of you there. Bruce Haight
ReplyDeleteI love that version of La Bamba. If you you go to Playing for Change's You Tube channel from the video, you'll find many more songs along the same theme.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Me too, D.O., I thought BLACKEYEDPS might be the gimmick but MAGIC made me see CC instead of CS. Fun puzzle and write-up, Steve!
-BIKE PATH had to be right but it took Yellowrocks to explain it to me
-My SEVEN CC song. Orchestral Manoeuvres are not on my musical radar.
-Al Capone violated alcohol and firearm laws but it was the taxes part of the treasury that got him
-Everyday is CASUAL FRIDAY for teachers these days. Works for me.
-Francis Scott Key’s poem, “The Defence of Fort M’Henry” was SET TO the music of a British drinking song “To Aneceron In Heaven”
-“Like the tide at its EBB, I'm at peace in the web, Of your arms.”
-Our FORT of sheets had a strict “NO GIRLS” policy
-I have a teacher aide who sometimes OVERSTEPS her boundary when I am subbing by yelling at kids. Her husband is an administrator and so I say nothing
-Thankfully there is a new idea of TABOO amongst the Hollywood powers-that-be
I got the theme quickly and moved through it without any problem. Very enjoyable solve!
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteI guess the double letter theme acted a bit like a rebus idea. Got SEVEN CC and BLACK-EYED PP early and got most of the puzzle quickly. Had a brain fart with ALBA, (spelt as Elba at first) which held up the NW for awhile.), but it got sorted out.
Very little foreign fodder; MOI, SOL, NON, and OLE.
TEA EGG was a learning.
Relatively easy for a Thursday.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteSeeing BH's byline always brings a smile and a sense of anticipation for some fun wordplay or sleight of hand tricks. As Bruce is an ophthalmologist, I wonder if his seed entry was "A sight for sore ii'. That was my favorite theme fill. Overall, the cluing was clever but my favorites were: Hot rod=Spit, Manhattan developer=Bar, and Spokesperson's route=Bike path. The last Sue Grafton that I read was "V is for Vengeance." Did she ever finish up with X, Y, Z? Only unknowns were Tea Egg and Ric. Rapscallion and Scamp tickle my fancy.
Thank you, Bruce, for a most enjoyable solve and thanks, Steve, for a tasty Thursday treatise!
Owen, A+ today.
Have a great day.
If any fellow Cornerites missed Garfield today, I suggest you check it out.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun Friday CW. Thanks Bruce and Steve.
ReplyDeleteI got the theme with Black Eyed PP and the enjoyment just increased from there.
Reminded me of this song (warning Adult content partial StripTT)
IGottaFeeling
My Natick was in the NW as I couldn't remember ALBA and my lack of familiarity with the American justice system would not give me ATF. Plus I was not seeing the F in LOAF. Eventually turned on the red letters to complete that corner.
Smiled at some great clues like the ones for EARS and BIKEPATH.
Had to change tense with Sang to SUNG and Wear to WORE.
I always have to wait for perps to decide between SEAR and Char.
I'm not familiar with TEA EGGs but they look interesting. (There was no "so we hear" in that clue so I dismissed by initial thought of including this one in the theme.)
I noted TBONE and TNUT.
I am more familiar with Phyllo than FILO spelling.
I had to reach into my memory bank to remember that Bris is the name for the Jewish circumcision ceremony (RITE). (all the men are cringing!)
Great work today OwenKL.
Enjoy the day.
Irish Miss @9:54
ReplyDeleteSue Grafton has published X (just plain with no "is for"!)(2015) and Y is for Yesterday (Aug. 2017). Apparently Z is for Zero is scheduled for 2019. Lots of fodder for CWs.
SueGrafton
Thanks, Bruce, for a fun and smooth puzzle. Like DO and others, put PS in first instead of PP. But REPAVED fixed that and off to the races. Very nice cluing.... "Spokesperson" was really clever.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve, and so happy you could get so much Food! today. I bet those TEAEGGS are really great. Maybe CC can add what spices are added?
CanadianEh @ 10:53 ~ Thanks for linking the Sue Grafton interview. I'll have to track down W, X and Y and be on the lookout for Z next year, as I have read A-V and dare not finish the alphabet! I always enjoyed the series and the indomitable Kinsey. I think there was only one that I didn't like and, if memory serves, it was "N is for Noose." I vaguely remember a drug-related story line, and that it just wasn't my cup of tea.
ReplyDelete"puzzling thoughts":
ReplyDeleteVery clever, Bruce! Steve, as always, a fantastic recap. Loved the La Bamba link.
Just three write-overs, but no Cheats or other Errors. LEONA > LEONI / BAKE PATH > BIKE PATH; SANG > SUNG; RIK > RIC
I quickly "got" the theme after filling in SEVEN CC. I was working on the east coast of the puzzle, and once ONE BC and MAGIC were sussed, I said, "huh"? But SEVEN was correct, and the light bulb lit. Next, though, I filled in a partial of 30a - just the GG - and thought, hmm, what item on a Chinese menu ends in "GEEZ"!! ;^)
Other clue/solve that could work with this concept is: "On your best behavior, so to speak": MIND ONES PP AND QQ
Or how about this, as a goofy MOE-Ku:
iPhone voice resides
In Upstate New York city
She's from Siri QQ
Boo!!
Delightful Thursday puzzle, Bruce--and I'm really happy that I got the whole thing with no cheating and no erasures. Yay! Especially glad I got LEONI and George ELIOT. And thank you for checking in--it's always great to hear from constructors.
ReplyDeleteSteve, your Spanish is impressive (mine very limited). Is there some reason you're working on it at this time?
Great limericks this morning, Owen. I would also give them A+.
Have a great day, everybody!
Well we had our Redsox Killer BB. Alas.
ReplyDeleteAnd alas for Wilbur spelling FILO with an A. And missing the Chestnut SETS TO.
I'm surprised SG didn't do a X is for X-ray. Owen, I thought you were not even going to grade today. Obvious straight AA.
I thought Bris had to do with food. I'll bet they have great Jewish chow, though.
My quandary: To refi or not to refi. How much is it actually going to cost me: That is the (never to be) answered question.
WC
And another great haiku Moe.
Oops. I forgot my kudos to Steve on the great write-up. And thanks for dropping in and for the entertaining xword, Bruce.
ReplyDeleteWC
Boo who?
ReplyDeleteVery fun puzzle, Bruce! Nice to see your post also. I got the theme with the first one. Also liked all the non-theme double letters.
Steve, thanks for the fine expo and "La Bamba" (which had to be followed by "Guantanamera"). I'll have uplifting brain replay all day. I've been finding that playing a few moving love songs just before bedtime works better than sleeping pills.
Never heard of TEA EGGS.
I had trouble with "lollygag" = LOAF. To me Lollygag is more mosey about aimlessly. LOAF is less-active lying around.
In my childhood of the 1940's (I think), there was a song I sang endlessly: "BELL BOTTOM trousers, coat of Navy blue. She loved her sailor boy and he loved her too."
Owen, I liked your poems today. Moe, chuckle chuckle!
Easy puzzle but didn't understand "teaegg" thought the double gg's were part of the theme. The picture is artistic but hardly appetizing to my mind. I'll pass
ReplyDeleteInsomnia again last night until 4 A.M. but I get to read all your WITTY comments!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bruce. This was fun! And thank you for your comments.
Steve, what a treat to be serenaded with Spanish music all the while I'm reading and typing! Thank you. BTW, your Spanish is muy Bueno. Like a native!
This puzzle was a hoot! At BLACKEYEDPP I thought something was wrong, but then SEVENCC appeared and the trick dawned on me. CSO to our Blog Queen, too.
I loved spokesperson's route, BIKEPATH! it really woke me from the sleeplessness induced stupor. EARS was good, too.
And, Bruce, your career is showing through in ASIGHTFORSOREII.
Great fun and reading Owen's creation just added to it!
I hope you are all having a magical day! Every day is a gift!
TEA EGG New for me as well. Otherwise an ok puzzle.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteGood luck in the tournament Bruce.
Now we know Desper-otto's real name. He is Tom Brady !
I liked this puzzle and the theme very much. Some excellent clues, as pointed out. Always a pleasure to solve a puzzle of yours, Mr.Bruce Haight. And always a pleasure to read your write-ups, Steve.
ReplyDeleteThose tea eggs look like testicles!
We used to go to a shop called Site for Sore Eyes to get our glasses, but LW got impatient that it takes so long before the glasses are finished and requires another trip to go pick them up. So we tried out Lens Crafters. Bzzt! Twice they made the lenses incorrectly and had to re-do them. So now we just get our glasses at the Kaiser Permanente store, but guess what, we're now back to waiting two weeks and making the trip back to pick them up.
PK, we used to belt out that song, too.
Best wishes to you all.
Amusing puzzle, Thanks, Bruce, and good luck in the tournament. Another topnotch expo, Steve. Kudos to you, as well. Even this old curmudgeon smiled at the "spokesperson" clue.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time since I made tea eggs. I love Oriental food of all kinds, but I just cannot master the techniques. That didn't stop me from trying, however. My recipe called for reboiling cracked soft-boiled eggs in strong black tea w/star anise, cinnamon stick, salt, and five spice powder. When the eggs are peeled, the visual effect is stunning. As I remember, the flavor was so-so. The last time I made them was the first year we joined our tailgating crew. I thought I would fancy up some deviled eggs by making them with tea eggs. I thought they looked great, but apparently I was the only one. Most people looked askance at them and passed on by. That day I learned a hard lesson about "playing to your audience". If anyone would like the recipe, email me. I'll look up the specifics and send it on. bluehen2789@gmail.com.
Cya!
Hand up for PS before PP. After that it was pretty steady going and fun!
ReplyDeleteHere is another NICE photo of me. As in many cities now, it is a joy to be able to rent a bicycle this way.
That BIKE PATH in the photo is the promenade where something not at all NICE happened in NICE on 14 July 2016.
This is part of what makes NICE so famous. Warning: Partial nudity!
Thanks to Jinx in Norfolk for mentioning today's Garfield cartoon.
Here is a direct link
Hand up for unknowns today: ANA, RIC and TEA EGG. Only know LEONI from these puzzles. Did not realize there was a re-make of Fun With Dick and Jane.
I do not like eggs in almost any form, so the TEA EGG does not look appealing to me. It is pretty, though.
WC - Do you suppose that after the Bris ceremony they serve TEA EGGS, lamb fries or mountain oysters?
ReplyDeleteJinx, they might serve fried skins
DeleteWC
Rocky mountain oysters: mmmm
Veddy clever, Mr. Haight, veddy clever indeed!
ReplyDeleteBut this hit me wrong at first. That's to say, my fur needs petting in the opposite direction.
Still, P&P * brought me through to a fine Ta- DA! Like desper-otto and Picard (and how many others?) before me, I started by placing an "S" after the subject letter. (BLACK EYED "PS," for instance, instead of "PP.")
It actually worked for several of the affected perps - thus sustaining me in my error! If this was intentional, the pzl's creator deserves even more credit.
The double "GG" in TEA EGG was another nice touch. (No, not toucher, as in Nice.)
I didn't get straightened out until I filled 36A - and saw that only the double "II" would work.
After cracking the theme, there really was no difficulty today except for the normal task of deciphering unknowns via perps. AD LIB, ELIOT, and POSSE were gimmes to start with. The longest hold-out was BIKE PATH. I initially misspelled LEONI as LEONE, so that didn't help.
When I saw the light, I positively loved it!
* Patience & Persistence
OH, SURE - A is not for Arson.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
Thanks Bruce for a fun puzzle. Still fuzzy-headed (this might be the flu which it too bad because I went in this morning to get have-tos done and likely infected everyone) so I got off to a slow start and, thusly, I Googled straight-away on LEONI to get going (I'm regretting it now). Good luck at the tournament and thanks for stopping into the Corner w/ some inside-BB.*
Thanks too to Steve. Sparkly expo with all the Food! highlighted.
WOs: Arson b/f ALIBI, BAH b/f WAH, RIk b/f RIC, and, ready for this?, I saw the SORE IIs and filled SIGHT FOR b/f realizing I needed an A out front. Inky.
ESPs: NON and LEONI shoulda been one.
Fav: The clue Funk. Bruce had me goin' to MoTown [Lipps INC 10m - some bell-bottoms that!] at first.
Runner-up: STRIP TT is really cute. [see: Funkytown above - bonus if you can pick out the white guys- hint: they can't dance. (Here's the POT calling the kettle... :-))]
{A, A+} {LOL; I too was thinking GEEZ @EGG}
Thanks Jinx / Picard for the Garfield. Davis is still mildly amusing.
So I left the office at lunch to lay/lie (I never get that right so there you are) down... I was just into a good NyQuill induced nap listening to C-SPAN (little TOMmy is getting his wish to eat with the president!) when, seemingly, every lawnmower in the neighborhood simultaneously started. I know they gotta make a buck; but, but, ?
GG
Play later if I'm up for it, Cheers, -T
*Go 'Stros!
Picard,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the shore scene at Nice. You were correct to warn us and to point out that this is "what makes NICE so famous."
I agree: it's that damnable lack of sand! I spent a summer nearby (at St. Maxime s/mer), and I remember that awful gravel and those *#@! rocks!
You had to protect your feet with flip-flops and race over & around the rocks to reach the safety of the water.
Sheesh.
Is anyone else seeing double?
ReplyDelete@C6D6Peg - it's usually five-spice powder - star anise, cinnamon Sichuan pepper, cloves and fennel.
ReplyDelete@Desper-otto - sorry, lapsing into English slang. Describing something as "pants" means it's not good.
@Misty - learning Spanish for fun, more than anything else, but here in LA it's a useful language to know due to the large Hispanic population.
@Fermatprime: If something smells funky it tends to be malodorous, hence FUNK/ODOR
Really liked this puzzle - BLACKEYEDPPs was the first hint of what I was looking for in the others. Thanks, BH. And lucky you, Steve, lots of food!
ReplyDeleteMost devilish was BIKEPATH - took me a few seconds before aha moment kicked in. Most favorite clue. I had googled a couple of weeks ago why the Astro fans chant "wooo" during the games, and discovered it is associated with RIC Flair. Not much woooing going to go on from here on out, sad to say. Hope I'm wrong, but I've become a jaded Houston sports fan. We ain't called Clutch City for nuttin'.
Anon-T, thanks for the fun funky video. Boy, those kids can dance! I was on par with Elaine Benes/Seinfeld - equally painful to see. Hope you start feeling better soon!
Very late working this today but the BLACK EYED P's made it easy for a Thursday. I've never heard of 'Fun with Dick and Jane', TEA EGG or ANA Navarro before and have zero idea what 'Bris' is but RITE filled in the squares, so I got it correct. LEONI was all perps.
ReplyDeleteA WORD TO THE YY. If your wife says it's okay to go to a bachelor party where there will be STRIP TT, don't believe her. She's lying.
Steve- you had an Acura instead of the British Acura POS, aka Sterling. And if you want an Italian POS, get a FIAT- any one of them.
Good afternoon, Steve and friends. I loved this Thursday puzzle. It made it easy to ease onto puzzle mode after having been away for so long.
ReplyDeleteI caught the theme with the SEVEN CC, although I initially tried Seven Cs, until MAGIC set me straight.
My favorite clue was the Spokeperson's Route = BIKE PATH. My second favorite clue was They May Ring or Have Rings = EARS.
A few weeks ago, I never would have known about TEA EGGs, but I am just returning from a long trip to China, where we saw them often. I didn't try them, though. Hubby did, and said they were quite good.
I read a few of Sue Grafton's alphabet detective stories, but probably haven't read any past K.
QOD: Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy. ~ Mike Ditka (b. Oct. 18, 1939).
Big E - really? Didn't know Bris? Even this Catholic in his 40's [read: agnostic] knows the RITE. A master mohel explains [Brooks - as long as it takes m]
ReplyDeleteI thought Jinx was just Rib [not 23d - see Arson above] ribbin' me with Fix It Again Tony. Oh, FIAT... Yeah, I'll get to the Alfa when I get a round-tuit... -T
Meant Choke City, not Clutch City - just remembered. Sorry, Anon-T. On the local news tonight, they interviewed a voodoo priest in NOLA - pretty interesting. I do hope his mojo works.
ReplyDeleteA little nostalgia: Nat King Cole, Nature Boy(2:51)
ReplyDeleteTx Ms, interesting use of the sports term "Clutch ". A clutch hitter and performance in the clutch is positive. But, the term also is used pejoratively as in "He clutched up at a critical time". eg Clutching at the throat as in "choking".
ReplyDeleteOf course, from 1946 thru 2003 the Redsox neither choked nor clutched. They were simply cursed. Not by a trade of Babe Ruth (the Bambino) but by their abject refusal to consider playing blacks beginning with the mock tryout of Jackie Robinson in 1945.
WC