Theme: FAN-tastic. Four FAN definitions, four different results. Three nouns-based, one verb-based.
17A. FAN : RANGE HOOD DEVICE. Really? OK. My range hood doubles as a microwave, so I've got two devices in one, I guess. I treated myself to a new range last week, the old one went kaput in the oven-ignition department. I'm not fond of the smell of gas in my kitchen.
26A. FAN : GEISHA ACCESSORY. Can be very ornate.
43A. FAN : GO DOWN ON STRIKES. It took me forever to parse this. Baseball - you fan the batter when you have him swinging and missing at for strike three. World Series time is on us! I won't claim to being an ardent supporter of my LA Dodgers. I am a fan, though.
56A. FAN : ARDENT SUPPORTER. Now, that's me! Chelsea F.C. When I'm back in London next month I'll be at the ground being ardent. I still renew my annual club membership each year even though I get to one game every goodness knows when.
Four grid-spanners is always a nice construction job - things can get tricky making this kind of pattern work. I thought we were onto a pangram when X, Z, J, K and the other usual suspects started showing up, but no Q, so close, but no cigar.
Lots of nice fill to go with the solid 60 (count 'em!) theme letters. Let's see:
Across:
1. "The Hobbit" figure : DWARF. Makes a nice change from ents, orcs and what-not. There were 13 of the vertically-challenged, pugnaciously-bearded bunch in The Hobbit
6. Moneyless deal : SWAP
10. It may involve an exchange of letters : CODE. Also known as a substitution cipher - you change one letter for another.
14. Like a raucous crowd : AROAR. Your honor, I refer to my previous blog entries on this particular word.
15. Grassy "pet" : CHIA
16. Binged (on) : OD'ED
20. Donkey Kong, e.g. : APE. I'm old enough to remember the first Donkey Kong machine in my local pub in London. I'm also old enough to remember the first Pong machine, and the first Space Invaders machine. I retired after Missile Command and saved my money.
21. Tiny bit : IOTA
22. Gas in an arc lamp : XENON
23. Cultural opening? : AGRI-
24. Working away : AT IT
33. Dark : UNLIT
34. Holy Week season : LENT.
35. Menagerie : ZOO
36. Organa family royal : LEIA. I don't know why I have a problem with this "Organa" family clue. I know I know it's Star Wars, but why was I playing around with LENA and LEDA as possibilities?
37. Outback youngsters : JOEYS. Sing after me the Australian kids' show theme tune: "Skippy, Skippy, Skippy the bush kangaroo". The show came on right after "The Magic Boomerang" on the BBC. I'm guessing cheaply-acquired programming.
39. Cover up : MASK. Verb and noun. Nice.
40. Is for many : ARE. Singular/Plural hint.
41. Trombone's symphonic neighbor : TUBA. Twinned with the 38D clue/answer. Nice.
42. First two-time Nobelist : CURIE
47. False move : FAKE. Sporting term - faking someone out.
48. Try in court : HEAR
49. "Star Wars" genre : SCI-FI
52. Contrary girl of rhyme : MARY. How did her garden grow?
53. Relaxation spot : SPA
60. Oblique look : LEER
61. Lowland : VALE. I wait - DALE or VALE?
62. Din : NOISE
63. Bigelow products : TEAS
64. Cut without mercy, as a budget : AXED
65. Maker of iComfort mattresses : SERTA. I'm surprised lawsuit-happy Apple haven't sued over the name.
Down:
1. Swimmer Torres with 12 Olympic medals : DARA. She's a motiviational speaker now and lives up the street (actually, up quite a few streets) in Beverly Hills.
2. Sub alternative : WRAP
3. As good as it gets : A-ONE
4. Joplin work : RAG
5. Train load : FREIGHT
6. Nova __ : SCOTIA
7. "Just a doggone minute!" : WHOA
8. Legal __ : AID
9. Legal __ : PAD
10. Longs for enviously : COVETS
11. Mr. Wednesday's real identity in "American Gods" : ODIN
12. Artistic style of L.A.'s Eastern Columbia Building : DECO. A beautiful loft building downtown. Here's the entryway:
13. Churchill's 1955 successor : EDEN
18. Hand-holding celebratory dance : HORA
19. Be real : EXIST
23. Where Vladivostok is : ASIA
24. __-deucey : ACEY
25. Arithmetic column : TENS. Please complete the following as your homework. It's due back to me tomorrow.
26. Solzhenitsyn subject : GULAG. I read "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" when I was a teen. Quite the eye-opener.
27. Día de Reyes month : ENERO. Nailed it! January, the twelfth day of Christmas in Spanish-speaking countries.
28. "That wasn't quite true ... " : I LIED
29. Do housework : CLEAN
30. Netflix drama set in a Missouri mountain resort : OZARK. Never seen the drama, but easy to guess.
31. WWII riveter : ROSIE
32. Devices used with oxcarts : YOKES. As one ox said to the other: "This plow is heavy. No yoke".
37. Rubbish : JUNK
38. Flute's symphonic neighbor : OBOE. I like the pair of orchestral maneuvers today. Let's use that as an excuse for some 80's pop. And some hilarity with the video production standards of the day.
39. Sierra Club founder : MUIR
41. With "the," East and West, in a Kipling ballad : TWAIN
OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!
From "The Ballad of East and West" by Rudyard Kipling
I've got a beaten-up old copy of Kipling's "Barrack Room Ballads" that belonged to my Dad and which followed him around his pre-war British Army postings to Hong Kong and Palestine and his WWII assignments in North Africa and Burma. No wonder it's a little rough around the edges.
42. Colorful set : CRAYONS
44. They're music to job-seekers' ears : OFFERS
45. Molded : SHAPED
46. Maryland athlete, familiarly : TERP
49. Cellar contents : SALT. Wanted WINE. A recent addition to my pantry is a Himalaya black salt that smells sulfurous. It's used to finish a couple of Indian curries that I'm fond of. Not to everyone's taste.
50. First Nations tribe : CREE
51. Thought : IDEA
52. Backless shoe : MULE. I tried MOCC first, a bad decision on more than one front.
53. Start to wake up : STIR
54. Sitter's challenge : PEST
55. Geometry figure : AREA
57. Power agcy. since 1933 : T.V.A.
58. Jazz band staple : SAX
59. Landmark '70s case anonym : ROE vs. Wade.
That's about it from me.
Steve
17A. FAN : RANGE HOOD DEVICE. Really? OK. My range hood doubles as a microwave, so I've got two devices in one, I guess. I treated myself to a new range last week, the old one went kaput in the oven-ignition department. I'm not fond of the smell of gas in my kitchen.
26A. FAN : GEISHA ACCESSORY. Can be very ornate.
43A. FAN : GO DOWN ON STRIKES. It took me forever to parse this. Baseball - you fan the batter when you have him swinging and missing at for strike three. World Series time is on us! I won't claim to being an ardent supporter of my LA Dodgers. I am a fan, though.
56A. FAN : ARDENT SUPPORTER. Now, that's me! Chelsea F.C. When I'm back in London next month I'll be at the ground being ardent. I still renew my annual club membership each year even though I get to one game every goodness knows when.
Four grid-spanners is always a nice construction job - things can get tricky making this kind of pattern work. I thought we were onto a pangram when X, Z, J, K and the other usual suspects started showing up, but no Q, so close, but no cigar.
Lots of nice fill to go with the solid 60 (count 'em!) theme letters. Let's see:
Across:
1. "The Hobbit" figure : DWARF. Makes a nice change from ents, orcs and what-not. There were 13 of the vertically-challenged, pugnaciously-bearded bunch in The Hobbit
6. Moneyless deal : SWAP
10. It may involve an exchange of letters : CODE. Also known as a substitution cipher - you change one letter for another.
14. Like a raucous crowd : AROAR. Your honor, I refer to my previous blog entries on this particular word.
15. Grassy "pet" : CHIA
16. Binged (on) : OD'ED
20. Donkey Kong, e.g. : APE. I'm old enough to remember the first Donkey Kong machine in my local pub in London. I'm also old enough to remember the first Pong machine, and the first Space Invaders machine. I retired after Missile Command and saved my money.
21. Tiny bit : IOTA
22. Gas in an arc lamp : XENON
23. Cultural opening? : AGRI-
24. Working away : AT IT
33. Dark : UNLIT
34. Holy Week season : LENT.
35. Menagerie : ZOO
36. Organa family royal : LEIA. I don't know why I have a problem with this "Organa" family clue. I know I know it's Star Wars, but why was I playing around with LENA and LEDA as possibilities?
37. Outback youngsters : JOEYS. Sing after me the Australian kids' show theme tune: "Skippy, Skippy, Skippy the bush kangaroo". The show came on right after "The Magic Boomerang" on the BBC. I'm guessing cheaply-acquired programming.
39. Cover up : MASK. Verb and noun. Nice.
40. Is for many : ARE. Singular/Plural hint.
41. Trombone's symphonic neighbor : TUBA. Twinned with the 38D clue/answer. Nice.
42. First two-time Nobelist : CURIE
47. False move : FAKE. Sporting term - faking someone out.
48. Try in court : HEAR
49. "Star Wars" genre : SCI-FI
52. Contrary girl of rhyme : MARY. How did her garden grow?
53. Relaxation spot : SPA
60. Oblique look : LEER
61. Lowland : VALE. I wait - DALE or VALE?
62. Din : NOISE
63. Bigelow products : TEAS
64. Cut without mercy, as a budget : AXED
65. Maker of iComfort mattresses : SERTA. I'm surprised lawsuit-happy Apple haven't sued over the name.
Down:
1. Swimmer Torres with 12 Olympic medals : DARA. She's a motiviational speaker now and lives up the street (actually, up quite a few streets) in Beverly Hills.
2. Sub alternative : WRAP
3. As good as it gets : A-ONE
4. Joplin work : RAG
5. Train load : FREIGHT
6. Nova __ : SCOTIA
7. "Just a doggone minute!" : WHOA
8. Legal __ : AID
9. Legal __ : PAD
10. Longs for enviously : COVETS
11. Mr. Wednesday's real identity in "American Gods" : ODIN
12. Artistic style of L.A.'s Eastern Columbia Building : DECO. A beautiful loft building downtown. Here's the entryway:
13. Churchill's 1955 successor : EDEN
18. Hand-holding celebratory dance : HORA
19. Be real : EXIST
23. Where Vladivostok is : ASIA
24. __-deucey : ACEY
25. Arithmetic column : TENS. Please complete the following as your homework. It's due back to me tomorrow.
26. Solzhenitsyn subject : GULAG. I read "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" when I was a teen. Quite the eye-opener.
27. Día de Reyes month : ENERO. Nailed it! January, the twelfth day of Christmas in Spanish-speaking countries.
28. "That wasn't quite true ... " : I LIED
29. Do housework : CLEAN
30. Netflix drama set in a Missouri mountain resort : OZARK. Never seen the drama, but easy to guess.
31. WWII riveter : ROSIE
32. Devices used with oxcarts : YOKES. As one ox said to the other: "This plow is heavy. No yoke".
37. Rubbish : JUNK
38. Flute's symphonic neighbor : OBOE. I like the pair of orchestral maneuvers today. Let's use that as an excuse for some 80's pop. And some hilarity with the video production standards of the day.
39. Sierra Club founder : MUIR
41. With "the," East and West, in a Kipling ballad : TWAIN
OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!
From "The Ballad of East and West" by Rudyard Kipling
I've got a beaten-up old copy of Kipling's "Barrack Room Ballads" that belonged to my Dad and which followed him around his pre-war British Army postings to Hong Kong and Palestine and his WWII assignments in North Africa and Burma. No wonder it's a little rough around the edges.
42. Colorful set : CRAYONS
44. They're music to job-seekers' ears : OFFERS
45. Molded : SHAPED
46. Maryland athlete, familiarly : TERP
49. Cellar contents : SALT. Wanted WINE. A recent addition to my pantry is a Himalaya black salt that smells sulfurous. It's used to finish a couple of Indian curries that I'm fond of. Not to everyone's taste.
50. First Nations tribe : CREE
51. Thought : IDEA
52. Backless shoe : MULE. I tried MOCC first, a bad decision on more than one front.
53. Start to wake up : STIR
54. Sitter's challenge : PEST
55. Geometry figure : AREA
57. Power agcy. since 1933 : T.V.A.
58. Jazz band staple : SAX
59. Landmark '70s case anonym : ROE vs. Wade.
That's about it from me.
Steve
54 comments:
• 12 Dwarfs + 1 wizard made 13 in the party, so they added a Hobbit/thief to avoid the evil count.
• Exchange of letters I wanted either anagram or Dear John, but neither fit.
• There are 12 months and 4 seasons, but only ENERO and ete ever show up in crosswords, so I filled this in without even guessing what Reyes was.
The LEGAL AID was a paralegal
With a LEGAL PAD that she bought from Spiegel.
A TERRAPIN was trying to sue
His NOISY neighbors in the ZOO --
The lion was AROAR, and the SAX-screech was the eagle!
The story of Allah and ODIN in EDEN.
In an AGRICULTURE contest the two were even.
Allah grew the tree of good and evil,
Odin's tree was the Yggdrasil,
But the DWARF took the prize with a CHIA PET he was breedin'!
{C+, B-.}
FIR, but erased deke for FAKE and Wait for WHOA. Like OKL, I knew it was Spanish and assumed ENERO. Similarly got OBOE and DECO. Also didn't know Mr. Wednesday, Ms. Dara, Mr. MUIR or anything about the Organa clan. I knew Mme CURIE because my HS science club was named for her, and I am a past president.
FIRed Tuesday and Wednesday too, but I'm teaching and didn't have time to comment or even read the comments. I'll catch up tomorrow.
Good morning!
It's seems like a long time since we've had a definition theme. I thought they'd been ruled passé. Hand up for WAIT; with __KE in place I waited to see if it'd be DEKE or FAKE. I never did manage to parse the third theme answer. Probably just as well. I remembered TEAS from last time, so RUGS wasn't in contention today. Nice one, Mark.
Enjoyed the expo, Steve. Do the Brits really call arithmetic class "numeracy?" Do they really put the minus sign on the wrong side? Hmmmmmm. America wants to know.
Good Morning, Steve and friends. Fun puzzle. I like the definitional themes much better than the puzzles with circles.
Hand up for Wait before WHOA!
Madame CURIE and her family were high achievers. Not only was Marie Curie the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, but she was also the first scientist to be awarded two Nobel Prizes. Her first was with her husband, Pierre, in Physics in 1903. In 2011, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1935, her daughter Irene, was also awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
QOD: If you want me to sing this Christmas song with the feeling and the meaning, you better see if you can locate that check. ~ Mahalia Jackson (Oct. 26, 1911 ~ Jan. 27, 1972)
Hahtoolah, I think you meant 1911.
DO: she was very, very old when she received the prize in 2011! LOL. You’re right. I was a century off.
Lots of answers in my wheelhouse so moved right through this one. WEES about deke vs FAKE.
Enjoyed the variety of theme options.
My last day of work for this week - so TGIT!
Thanks Mark and Steve!
I noted it took 28 seconds to remember Frodo for 1A. Then I looked at 1D. DARA was a gimme.
Same Wait(s) before WHOA, deKE before FAKE, and daLE before VALE.
Didn't wait for wine, but changed it to SALT quickly. Salt cellars were a hot commodity for some antiquers and collectors in the 70s.
No Erie for Abejo, but there was a TUBA. And Nova SCOTIA for Canadian Eh.
Mark, very good puzzle. FIR, very slowly, 30 minutes. The NW corner held me up. I'm unfamiliar with this use of DARA, DWARF, APE. I am not a Hobbit fan.
DEKE before FAKE, WAIT before WHOA, DALE before VALE.
I was thinking this was yet another use of ERIE, but the perps nixed that.
New word was ANONNYM, a name used to hide a person's identity. Makes sense. Anonymous.
I have never seen a range hood that incorporates a microwave. They all have a fan. My fan is not vented to the outdoors. When I get a new range next year I will have to change that to bring it up to code.
I am an admirer of John MUIR. He was a famous naturalist who worked for the preservation of wilderness.
ACEY DEUCY is a multi-step square dance call.
I don't see many references for AROAR, but it is so familiar to me, probably from novels.I love the A words.
Good Morning:
This was an enjoyable solve and I, for one, like this type of theme because it's challenging to figure out how each themer is going to be defined. No real stumbling blocks but, not being a Hobbit expert, I needed perps for Dwarf and also for Odin, as clued. And the Oboe, Sax, and Tuba trio was fun.
Thanks, Mark, for a Thursday treat and thanks, Steve for the cheerful commentary, as always.
Based on the story line of Sunday's "Madame Secretary", I'm assuming that Bebe Neuwrith (sp?) is leaving the show. If true, I'll miss her character, Nadine. Does anyone else find the show's dialogue getting a little "preachy"?
Have a great day.
Good morning everyone.
So what was FAN, in caps, 4 times? Left it alone initially solved through the diagonal to the bottom. ARDENT SUPPORTER magically appeared and I was on my way. Loved GO DOWN ON STRIKES. Got to HOOD DEVICE, and since we have an exhaust hood over the cooking stove, RANGE hood …… clicked in. Well don, MM. Much bright fill like ROSIE, XENON and SCOTIA were a plus.
ODIN - I think ;Wednesday' is based on an alternate form of ODIN: Wodin
TWAIN - the vestigial 'w' in 'two' is still pronounced here. Makes sense as 'two' in Dutch and L. German is 'twee'. The w is pronounced and the ee have the vowel sound of ai in TWAIN. (Compare with zwei in German.)
Last visit to Doc, yesterday, on my cataract post-surgery. All OK. Drops for a couple weeks but no further return visits. Woo Hoo!
Made it through unscathed, but it was a slog. I always think that it’s DAnA instead of DARA, but I know it’s one or the other. Writeover at argON into XENON.
I received these stunning photographs and drawings of the universe in this morning's email from Time Magazine. Thought you might enjoy them, too.
Musings
-Engaging challenges in the west coast for a satisfying “got ‘er done”
-It’s hard for me to imagine being an ARDENT SUPPORTER of a game that is as low scoring as soccer – to each his own. Last night’s 7 – 6 WS game was amazing!
-This CODE maker inspired the movie The Imitation Game
-Scroll down to see when they are “Dark”
-Marie CURIE’S Nobel Prize radiation worked eventually took her life
-A Solzhenitsyn subject and a Spanish month? Piece ‘o Cake!
-What song’s first line is the first eight words of the Kipling ballad?
-Scent is a strong memory cue. Ah the smell of CRAYONS!
-A fateful “Awakening”
-Himalayan black, sulfurous smelling pepper? I’ll take some mac and cheese, Steve! :-)
Buttons and Bows?
Greetings!
Hand up for dALE before VALE. Had "wine" in the cellar before Bigelow TEAS turned it to SALT. I have never heard the term GO DOWN ON STRIKES before, but fun puzzle anyway. Thanks for the expo, Steve.
Spitzboov--Good news about the successful cataract surgery.
Picard (from yesterday)--Thanks for sharing the photos of Prague and Isla Vista. Do you live in Isla Vista? The Halloween celebration is something new since I lived there in the late '60's and early '70's while a student at UCSB.
Enjoy the day!
Hi, Steve! I’m new to the blog. The Washington post uses the LA times crossword and I work it every day. However, our version never has a title or a theme printed or online. How do you find the title?
Pat S
Welcome aboard.
Except for the Sunday puzzles, there are no official titles. They are "conferred" by the contributor or intro blogger such as Steve.
The theme is either evident to the solver or, explained to us by the intro blogger. The Saturday puzzle is themeless.
Not being a Hobbit FAN, DWARF was not my first fill and took a long while to emerge. Moving eastward, it was much easier and soon the grid blossomed. I finally recalled DARA's name and then it was a WRAP.
Since TVA was already in place, VALE quickly appeared. Some CSOs today:
to my late aunt Angela who was a ROSIE riveter;
to CanadianEh! at Nova SCOTIA;
Thank you, Mark McClain and Steve. Good stuff today.
Have a FANtastic day, everyone!
For The Hobbit, the Hobbit is Bilbo. But I knew Torres except I thought she was Dana.
Another type of FAKE is a JUKE.
Owen. When you can use Yggdrasil and rhyme it you get an A. And #1 was very clever.
I played Donkey Kong with Phil in his 'ute. While he was <7 I was competitive. He would try to teach me how to think.
Ete. How about printemps or (shudder) aout for a French month.
Misty, if you drop by, I will take a crack at your specialties. Your commentary is so focused and disciplined and I'm not either.
The "enigma" is: If Germany had a spy apparatus running in Pearl Harbor* and the Imitation Game team had cracked the code prior to 12/7/41, then how could the British not have had 100% proof of the impending attack.
Facts are such a pain sometimes.
WC early for a change
* Actively communicating intelligence to the Japanese embassy by 1940
Well, this one I didn't like so much. I don't dislike it; I just didn't get that "warm fuzzy" satisfied feel after completing it. The cluing felt so forced. "Let's see, how can I clue ODIN to make it hard?" On the other hand, some of the clues were good vintage McClain, such as the clues for CODE and MARY. Loved the word "anonym" in that ROE clue.
What with the recent discussions about Keats, urns, odes, and odists, I kept seeing ODED as "wrote an ode."
Here in California, almost everybody has heard of John MUIR.
Spitzboov, good news about your cataract surgery. Glad it was successful.
Irish Miss, LW and I stopped watching Madame Secretary a long time ago. Preachy, yes, and also because we got so tired of and annoyed by Tea Leoni's breathy, airy voice and the way she sways from side to side when she walks, disappointed that as fine an actor as Keith Carradine was wasted as an idiot president, and the ever more implausible plots.
Speaking of TWAIN, it was slightly interesting to see Shania Twain (definitely not her real name) as a guest judge and performer on Dancing with the Stars earlier this week.
desper-otto, thanks for linking that Time Magazine article. Fascinating stuff.
Best wishes to you all.
What a terrific Thursday for me: I got the whole--yes, the whole--Mark McCain puzzle without any cheating or erasures, then went on to get a "tough" Sudoku, a Kenken, and the Jumble--all correct! Woohoo! Keep in mind that I've been goofing up on Wednesdays and even Tuesdays lately, so this was a great morning--many thanks, Mark! It's especially exciting to get four grid-spanners--Yay--and the FAN theme was a lot of fun! I did have a little struggle with the northwest corner because I didn't know the swimmer and thought the Hobbit figure would be a name of some sort. But it all worked out and gave me a great start to the end of the week. And I really liked that you gave us the Kipling lines, Steve.
Welcome to the blog, Pat S.
Great that your eyes are doing well post-cataract surgery, Spitz.
What a nice compliment, Wilbur--many thanks.
Have a wonderful day, everybody!
Hm. Didn't know I knew TERP - until I did!
Ta- DA!
An easy-peasy pzl for a Thursday, just a bit slower to solve than those earlier in the week. Mr. McClain gave us some nice internal connections, such as 4D maybe SWAPping as an answer with 58D. More self-aware, he offered the neighborly nexus of TUBA and OBOE. TWAIN is a neat word, one I hadn't heard in this context since a junior high poetry read.
Misty,
LOL, no need for your thanks for my thanks!
Having retired only recently, I am still in the habit of "reviewing" papers, so maybe a bit hungry for fresh food - and yours was so well written, compared to the usual academic filler!
Pat S - welcome, and just to make you feel at home.....I had the EXACT same question when I joined. Proof positive - great minds do think alike.
This was a nice Thursday puzzle, I do like it when the theme is not needed to solve.
Thank you for the kind words about my Prague (FRANZ) and Isla Vista (IV) photos yesterday, Misty, Lucina and MJ.
MJ: I went to grad school in Physics at UC Santa Barbara in the 80s. I never really grew up and never went away! We live just outside Isla Vista, but I bicycle over there and/or on campus almost every day.
DWARF/DARA/APE the last to fall. I was fearing a specific Hobbit character and missed that it would be something as obvious as DWARF! Never heard of DARA but she must be quite an athlete. American Gods unknown so ODIN was a WAG. MULE unknown. Still don't get GO DOWN ON STRIKES. Otherwise I enjoyed the theme and puzzle.
My father taught biology at U Maryland for awhile, so TERP was a gimme. An ugly shortening of "Terrapin" which is a beautiful animal.
We owe a lot to John MUIR for helping preserve our treasured public lands. In his day in the 1800s forests were just seen as something to cut down for timber and clear for cattle grazing. If not for his vision and a few other key people like Theodore Roosevelt there would be no ancient redwoods at all.
He created the SIERRA CLUB whose mission is "To explore, enjoy and protect the planet." MUIR believed that the key to preserving nature is to get people out to see it and appreciate it.
I am honored to continue that tradition in a small way as a SIERRA CLUB hike leader and local board member.
Here is my article with lots of photos of my most recent SIERRA CLUB hike the weekend before last.
I learned of Harold Edgerton and his XENON flash lamps as a teen. I built my own and took some way cool photos back then. I was especially honored to get to meet Edgerton years later.
Welcome, Pat S.
Spitz, glad you're doing so well.
Jayce, I actually skipped the last few episodes of last season's "Madame Secretary" because of the political preachiness, but I decided to give it another chance this Fall. I don't share your problems with Teá Leoni's tics but I have never, right from day one, felt anything but annoyance with the three offspring. I like Tim Daly and Keith Carradine very much and most of the other cast members, but I have a feeling the political messages are going to turn me off for good.
Picard!
Thanks for posting all those wonderful photos of your Sierra Club hike. Ah, you make me yearn for my hiking days all over again!
If only ....
Jayce, Irish Miss -
Maybe I am too much a part of their "choir," but the only "preaching" I pick up from Madam Secretary are fairly anodyne statements, bland but on the "safe 'n sane" side--I mean messages favoring human decency and fair, democratic procedures over tyrannies. Anti-torture. Distrust of overweening authority. Y'know - the usual.
Another theme they like is to deflate grand-standing politicians.
But I'm seriously open to learning. What are your specific complaints?
I kinda like Tea Leoni. But I never paid any attention to her before this show, so maybe I have yet to tire of her.
My problem with the show is that they have grown too formulaic. Like so many popular network programs, they've become predictable and stuck in the gimme-an-hour-and-I'll-fix-the-world format.
Thanks, Steve, for the nice write up, and all for the comments. Definition themes (some call them "reverse clue") are definitely out of fashion, so it is rewarding to know that many solvers still find them entertaining (as I do, both to solve and construct). To get one approved nowadays it needs to have something to set it apart, and in this case, it may well have been the grid-spanning definitions yielding 60 theme letters, almost double the number that Rich requires. Another one that I did recently (different venue and not yet published) did the clues a bit differently, with each clue adding a letter of a four-letter word (e.g. P, PO, POS, POST). That's not the word, and there's another twist that I won't tell you in case you're a subscriber to that outlet.
HG: have you seen/played with any of the apps that emulate the enigma machine? There's a really excellent one for the iPad.
I started out this puzzle being afraid I was going to find it difficult with all the long theme fill, but fortunately I got a few perps through each one and they sort of jumped out at me. I usually like Mark's puzzles and this was no exception.
Welcome to the blog, Pat S!
Well, I do owe you thanks, Ol'Man Keith, and you too, Owen, because you actually got me to re-read my Ibsen paper after all these decades. All I can say is, that I sure couldn't write anything like that today anymore. The price of being over 70 . . . .
We have watched Madame Secretary. I like both Tea Leoni and Tim Daly. Not keen on their whining kids, though.
During my solve, I couldn't stop thinking of two movies. The FAN with Robert DeNiro and Big FAN with Patton Oswald. I found both interesting and entertaining.
Drove my neighbors 87 year old Dad 1-1/2 hrs to Brooklyn today,
(He was asking me what bus to take! What could I do?)
Did the puzzle in the car while he had a heart tracking device removed.
Luckily it was a hard puzzle, and kept me busy for quite a while...
Picard! WOMKS!
(What Ol' Man Keith Said!)
In light of 1A Range Hoods!
Geisha Accessaries?
Hmmm,,,
And, of course!
Knowing what Ardent Supporters all our Crossword Blog Regulars are...
(it's an inside joke, you would have to be a regular reader
to know what, oh, forget it. it's too complicated to explain...)
Picard:
Those are some impressive photos of what looks like a challenging hike! Good for you and your companions! What a gorgeous area for that walk. I am also grateful to John Muir for his preservation work.
Spitz:
How wonderful that your cataract removal went well and you are enjoying your "new" eyes.
I've enjoyed Madame Secretary for a while now and like the characters, especially those already mentioned and can't say I've noticed anything annoying about Tia Leoni. My problem and why I didn't watch it last Sunday is that I'm sick, sick, sick of politics especially the way it's played out on daily TV and don't want it in my entertainment. As someone mentioned recently, it's good to have a remote control. I use it.
Instead I watched Anthony Bourdain and that was really interesting.
CEDave:
I get it!
CED, re. You're "hmmm". We had an identical shootout in St Pete last night. Cops tracked down a carjacker, he opened up with his Glock and the cops gunned him down.
Being an exfelon he was resolved to GO DOWN SWINGING. Speaking of RIP...
RIP to one of my favs from the fifties (and sixties) Antoine"Fats" Domino.
And Mark, thanks for dropping by. I did notice the long spanners ànd Steve pointed out the near pangram. I see no problem with the theme style.
My above stove microwave has a Range FAN.
What's missing is the stove that we yanked out.
ACEY Deucey. YR, isn't that the second square dance call in a week*? The card game itself is chancey for the neophyte. fe. 4-Queen seems inviting but barely better than even odds(7-6).
WC
* I can't think of the other one
The price of being late to the dance is that there is too much I want to respond to. First, I liked the puzzle but you win, Mark. I got WHOA and FAKE with no trouble. And John MUIR was a gimme ....I have kids in California who drive me all over the place. But there was just too much I didn't know.... Or couldn't remember that I knew. Backless shoe? Does anyone still say MULE? GULAG? Im sure I knew it once.
On the other hand, CODE was pure poetry! And the theme was fun. Also OBOE and TUBA crossing. Thanks.
IM and others,I agree that Mme Secty is preachy, but isn't that the point? I don't think Tea has been in anything else notable, but I like her.
Hatoolah, you said something I wanted to respond to but it has disappeared from my brain!!
Owen, I agree with WC, if you an even consider using Yggdresil in a 'lick, it must be an A!! Thanks for the fun.
Hi All!
Poke'd at the puzzle on-and-off while working. The South fell first and I worked up through the middle. The last AREAs to fall: the East Central then WC. I had one lookup 'cuz I can't spell ACCESSaRY. I couldn't fit Branson @30d and didn't think of anything starting w/ an A (which was fortunate :-))*
Thanks Mark for a fun puzzle and for stopping in. And thanks Steve for the '80's pop (oh, and the rest of the entertaining Expo).
WOs: hand-up Argon b/f XENON, Wait b/f WHOA, TrAIN was Wrong.
ESPs: DARA, MUIR, LEIA (as clue'd - not that big-a-FAN of Star Wars (Trek! (You know, real SciFi - not SciFantacy ).
Fav: This is hard: Is for many == ARE was cute, I liked the instruments clustered, FAKE JUNK xing, and, while I'm AT IT, GO DOWN ON STRIKES.
{B, A+}
Good news re: eyes Spitz. Thanks for the follow-up.
Welcome Pat S. EES answered the "title" IOTA so I'll just say welcome to our little ZOO.
Thanks D-O for sharing your Time.
Jayce - I LOL'd at ODE'D!
ARDENT SUPPORTER == Big Ass FAN?
Cheers, -T
*I should have spent the time to do an ABC-run @35a. Menagerie rang a bell but, -OO? I wouldn'ta needed a lookup w/ the Zed. :-(
Challenging puzzle which I enjoyed. Don’t understand 15A grassy pet and the answer is chia.
Thanks
The most famous FAN : GO DOWN ON STRIKES. Casey at the Bat
Mark S.
Chia Pet
Thanks, Yellowrocks
OMK @ 2:14 ~ In reply to your request for specifics re my issues with"Madame Secretary", I refer you to Lucina's comment at 5:00. I, for one, watch TV for entertainment, not to listen to a rehash of the talking points from the talking heads du jour. and I sure as hell don't need Hollywood's help in calibrating my moral compass.
Oooooooo....Irish Miss, I agree soooooo much! I was prepared to avoid this whole conversation. I do like Tea.....I can reserve judgement.....up to a point.
But you are sooooo right!! I watch TV ONLY for entertainment. Don't lecture me!! Hehehehe
Thanks to Mark McClain and Steve. Loved your Eastern Columbia Bldg. and Enola Gay links. I always enjoy the "passe"-clued puzzles. Didn't know they are discouraged nowadays.
YR - For 30 years, I've had microwaves that also double as stove hoods (vent mechanisms are at the very bottom), but they've always been vented to the outside to lessen cooking odors in the kitchen.
Go 'Stros, hope they can get at least one more under their belts. Is baseball the only sport where belts are part of the uniforms? Just now visualizing various sports teams' uniforms... yeah, maybe that's a good thing.
Hi Pat S!
As the many of the regulars have already said hi and explained that the theme "title" is the responsibility of that day's blogger with the exception of the Sunday puzzle (same with the NYT).
Welcome to the community, and thanks for saying hello! I think we all found this place with similar questions and stuck around to become friends, bloggers and constructors ourselves. C.C Burnikel, (or Zhouquin Burnikel in the NYT and other spots) started this blog and is now a highly-accomplished and highly-regarded constructor. She recruited and inspired us bloggers, and you can read her here each Sunday.
@HG - to make it worse for you, it's not pepper, it's salt. I love it (in its right place!) Sprinkled on Deviled Eggs might not be the best treatment!
Steve - Don't forget, C.C.'s been quite the mentor to a number of the Cornerites in construction too.
Pat S. - what's really cool is a number of the Cornerites have also collaborated with C.C. on published puzzles. Oh, and re: The WaPo, that was my lifeline to the LAT whilst in DC last month -- the hotel wanted $10 to print!
TxMs - Just one more? Com'on. The boys are on a high and coming home. I wouldn't be too surprised if they took all three. I assumed you watched last night.... That was some ball with 'Stros winning in the 11th.
IM & Swamp - and now you know why I don't watch "normal" TV shows. Right now, DW & I are into Dirk Gently. We're about 3 episodes behind 'cuz we're busy and, duh, ASTROS Baseball!
Cheers, -T
Anon-T, confession: I can't bear to watch (health reasons - high BP but controlled w meds) :0, so I record their games. The reason, to quote a Chronicle sportswriter last week: "Prior to Game 7, the Astros had lost 10 of 13 elimination games in franchise history." Yeah, I know, c'mon, this is a different team! Recorded the game and three shows thereafter, anticipating game overrun. Did watch today, in this order, 11th, 10th, and the post-game show. Will watch the whole game tomorrow afternoon. My Toronto friends have been Astros fans for several years (except when playing their beloved Jays), but are torn as they are also LA Dodgers fans. Hi, Canadian Eh! That up-and-down game has invigorated both teams - would love for our fans to push them over the "wall" of course!
TxMs - I grew up a Cubs fan so I'm used to disappointment :-)
I get you w/ the roller-coaster feeling watching H-Town teams in elimination - hope w/ the sword of Damocles looming.
I was YEAH! in the 9th, "We got this" going into the bottom of the 10th. How long must this go on? into the 11th. WHOOT! again and then, after the run in the bottom of the 11th, the dog was scared of me... and I don't have a dog.
My BP meds must be working because I didn't collapse :-)
-T
Anonymous T Im a big Knicks fan. I have to run 10 miles a day to keep my stress down.
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