Theme: Single-Letter Add-A-Word - or a name.
17A. Cut most likely to win a BBQ competition? : MODEL T-BONE Model T, T-Bone
Not this kind of T-bone. Ford Focus vs Ford Explorer crash test.
25A. Keurig coffee for the big day? : SPECIAL K-CUP Special K, K-Cup
35A. Rental to get the twins to college? : DOUBLE U-HAUL W. U-Haul.
47A. Sports competitions in anti-gravity? : SPACEX GAMES SpaceX. X Games.
56A. Ring up a short story writer? : DIAL "O"'HENRY Dial "O". O'Henry.
Ach. Two good ones to start with, one "really?" in the middle and two stretches to finish. If you're going to make a puzzle like this, you need to be consistent. "Double U" is a phrase? X Games is not hyphenated. Dial "O" was never used without ".. for Operator", and actually will never be heard again in modern parlance. Let's go with 2.5/5 for themage.
However, let's go find what is likable - there's a lot!
Across:
1. Seize : USURP. Great word. I think you can usurp power, I'm not sure you can usurp the day nor usurp the moment nor the initiative. Good luck, ESL students, and I think Spanish is difficult.
6. Just slightly : A BIT
10. Lip-__ : SYNC. Almost an art form nowadays. Back in 1990 Milli Vanilli were stripped of their "Best Newcomer" Grammy when it was revealed that they didn't sing on any of their own records nor at any of their live appearances.
14. Justice nominated by Barack : SONIA
15. Buddy, in slang : BRAH. Hawaii'an slang. It makes the gods cry when bratty high schoolers from Orange County use it.
16. Secure with lines : MOOR
19. TT automaker : AUDI. Looks a little like a VW Beetle that had an appointment with the chop shop.
20. Part of : IN ON. In on the plan, in on the secret ...
21. Feminine side : YIN vs. Yang. I can never remember the female/male definition of these two.
22. Keyboard shortcuts : MACROS. They're almost too complicated to bother with now. Some combination of ALT-SHIFT-CTRL and a letter or number gives you a shortcut. The only macro I have configured on my laptop is ALT-B which blacks out my screen when I'm presenting and I want to kill the projector display behind me.
24. TV scientist with 19 Emmys : NYE. Bill, the Science .... Guy.
27. Tear drier : TISSUE
29. Richmond-to-D.C. direction : N.N.E.
30. Hunk's pride : ABS
31. Finishes second : PLACES
34. Deli order : BLT. Enemy of the ABS.
38. Word before or after pack : RAT. Nice one. Rat Pack/Pack Rat.
39. Nearly : ALMOST
40. Asian New Year : TET
41. Harmless cyst : WEN
43. They're tossed up before they're made : PIZZAS. Food! Key word is "up" which helps distinguish the pizza from the salad.
51. Uganda's Amin : IDI
52. Ciudad Juárez neighbor : EL PASO
53. It's crude, then refined : GAS. Wait for it ..... oh, so not OIL. Nor Whisky.
54. Bit of cabinet hardware : KNOB
55. Money box : TILL
59. Bering Sea barker : SEAL
60. Impromptu modern group pic : USIE. Looks like it should be pronounced "You-sie" but it is actually "Uhzee" Think selfie and put your friends in the picture.
61. King Triton's mermaid daughter : ARIEL
62. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA
63. Boys, to men : SONS
64. Commencement celebrants : GRADS
Down:
1. Org. that makes cents : U.S. MINT
2. Woody's wife : SOON YI. The less said about this the better.
3. Repeals : UNDOES
4. It meant nothing to Edith Piaf : RIEN. "Non, je ne regrette rien ..." I think her pronunciation is a little off with the "je" bit. But I'm English, what the heck do I know?
5. Buddy : PAL
6. Chicago 7 first name : ABBIE. Abbie Hoffman, on trial with his co-defendants following protests at the DNC Convention in Chicago in 1968.
7. Rodeo bucker : BRONC
8. Writer/illustrator Falconer known for "Olivia" children's books : IAN
9. Stan "__" Musial : THE MAN
10. Big wet one : SMACK.
11. "I'm not making that decision" : YOUR CALL
12. "For sure!" : NO DOUBT!
13. Baked fruit desserts : CRISPS. Pretty much the last thing that came to my mind. The interwebs are awash with recipes though, so I stand crumbled - I mean humbled.
18. Rare blood designation : TYPE AB. Positive or Negative, potential universal plasma donors.
23. Dogfish Head brew : ALE. What, not super-tasty Icelandic Fish Soup? I'm gutted.
25. "Star Trek" role for Takei and Cho : SULU. George Takei is a great person. Anyone who can say this, with all truthfulness, deserves a place in the World's Great People Hall Of Fame:
"I love things British. My car is British. My wardrobe, to a good extent, is British. I even love the food in London – I think British food has shaken its prevailing perception as indigestible and become quite wonderful."
The food? What a saint.
26. "To recap ... " : IN SUM
28. Pick out of a crowd : SPOT. There's Waldo!
32. Bell tower sound : CLANG
33. Long fish : EEL
34. Secretary of Agriculture under Nixon : BUTZ.
35. Smartphone arrangement : DATA PLAN
36. "Knock on wood" : HOPE SO
37. Craigslist caveat : AS IS. I don't like throwing things away, so I often put used items on Craigslist in the "Free" section. I just ask the person responding to agree they've actually read the ad by repeating the key phrase. The last thing I gave away was a totally hosed HP Printer/Scanner. The magic phrase was "It doesn't print anything black, which really means it doesn't print at all" Two hours later a very nice lady in a Mercedes C350 was happily loading it into her trunk.
38. Wrote back : REPLIED
40. Fly around the equator? : TSETSE
41. Actor Bentley : WES. My last fill - I didn't know the actor, nor the cyst. WES/WEN sounded marginally more believable than LES/LEN so Yay!
42. It included a sweet, not sorrowful, parting : EXODUS. I'm guessing this refers to Exodus, the book in the Bible. Guessing, because I got this totally through crosses; and a Google search of the phase to educate me io what I missed simply brought up two pages of other crossword clue links. I'd call this obscure to the point of being unreasonable.
44. Sunflower relative : ZINNIA. I'm neither a botanist nor a gardener, but this and 48D went straight in. However, if I were down to my last life whilst being dangled over the Slough of Despond and I was shown this picture, I'd have confidently, nay jubilalantly! cried "Chrysanthemum!" and that would be that. Steve No More. Seriously, how does this look like a sunflower?
45. Doted on : ADORED
46. Delphic diviners : SIBYLS. The Greek oracles, whence "sybillant". They were a little hissy, I guess.The clue is a wee bit off - there was one oracle at Delphi; the others were scattered around the Mediterranean. They came together at an annual convention called "Oracle OpenWorld". (I made that bit up).
48. Lily plant : CALLA
49. "Not __!" : AGAIN
50. Cock and bull : MALES
54. Broadway's Walter __ Theatre : KERR. Thank you, crosses.
57. Classified ad shorthand for "seeking" : ISO. In Search Of.
58. Folklore crone : HAG
That about ties it up for me. Just like a trussed chicken - stick me in the oven and I'm done!
Steve
17A. Cut most likely to win a BBQ competition? : MODEL T-BONE Model T, T-Bone
Not this kind of T-bone. Ford Focus vs Ford Explorer crash test.
25A. Keurig coffee for the big day? : SPECIAL K-CUP Special K, K-Cup
35A. Rental to get the twins to college? : DOUBLE U-HAUL W. U-Haul.
47A. Sports competitions in anti-gravity? : SPACEX GAMES SpaceX. X Games.
56A. Ring up a short story writer? : DIAL "O"'HENRY Dial "O". O'Henry.
Ach. Two good ones to start with, one "really?" in the middle and two stretches to finish. If you're going to make a puzzle like this, you need to be consistent. "Double U" is a phrase? X Games is not hyphenated. Dial "O" was never used without ".. for Operator", and actually will never be heard again in modern parlance. Let's go with 2.5/5 for themage.
However, let's go find what is likable - there's a lot!
Across:
1. Seize : USURP. Great word. I think you can usurp power, I'm not sure you can usurp the day nor usurp the moment nor the initiative. Good luck, ESL students, and I think Spanish is difficult.
6. Just slightly : A BIT
10. Lip-__ : SYNC. Almost an art form nowadays. Back in 1990 Milli Vanilli were stripped of their "Best Newcomer" Grammy when it was revealed that they didn't sing on any of their own records nor at any of their live appearances.
14. Justice nominated by Barack : SONIA
15. Buddy, in slang : BRAH. Hawaii'an slang. It makes the gods cry when bratty high schoolers from Orange County use it.
16. Secure with lines : MOOR
19. TT automaker : AUDI. Looks a little like a VW Beetle that had an appointment with the chop shop.
20. Part of : IN ON. In on the plan, in on the secret ...
21. Feminine side : YIN vs. Yang. I can never remember the female/male definition of these two.
22. Keyboard shortcuts : MACROS. They're almost too complicated to bother with now. Some combination of ALT-SHIFT-CTRL and a letter or number gives you a shortcut. The only macro I have configured on my laptop is ALT-B which blacks out my screen when I'm presenting and I want to kill the projector display behind me.
24. TV scientist with 19 Emmys : NYE. Bill, the Science .... Guy.
27. Tear drier : TISSUE
29. Richmond-to-D.C. direction : N.N.E.
30. Hunk's pride : ABS
31. Finishes second : PLACES
34. Deli order : BLT. Enemy of the ABS.
38. Word before or after pack : RAT. Nice one. Rat Pack/Pack Rat.
39. Nearly : ALMOST
40. Asian New Year : TET
41. Harmless cyst : WEN
43. They're tossed up before they're made : PIZZAS. Food! Key word is "up" which helps distinguish the pizza from the salad.
51. Uganda's Amin : IDI
52. Ciudad Juárez neighbor : EL PASO
53. It's crude, then refined : GAS. Wait for it ..... oh, so not OIL. Nor Whisky.
54. Bit of cabinet hardware : KNOB
55. Money box : TILL
59. Bering Sea barker : SEAL
60. Impromptu modern group pic : USIE. Looks like it should be pronounced "You-sie" but it is actually "Uhzee" Think selfie and put your friends in the picture.
61. King Triton's mermaid daughter : ARIEL
62. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA
63. Boys, to men : SONS
64. Commencement celebrants : GRADS
Down:
1. Org. that makes cents : U.S. MINT
2. Woody's wife : SOON YI. The less said about this the better.
3. Repeals : UNDOES
4. It meant nothing to Edith Piaf : RIEN. "Non, je ne regrette rien ..." I think her pronunciation is a little off with the "je" bit. But I'm English, what the heck do I know?
5. Buddy : PAL
6. Chicago 7 first name : ABBIE. Abbie Hoffman, on trial with his co-defendants following protests at the DNC Convention in Chicago in 1968.
7. Rodeo bucker : BRONC
8. Writer/illustrator Falconer known for "Olivia" children's books : IAN
9. Stan "__" Musial : THE MAN
10. Big wet one : SMACK.
11. "I'm not making that decision" : YOUR CALL
12. "For sure!" : NO DOUBT!
13. Baked fruit desserts : CRISPS. Pretty much the last thing that came to my mind. The interwebs are awash with recipes though, so I stand crumbled - I mean humbled.
18. Rare blood designation : TYPE AB. Positive or Negative, potential universal plasma donors.
23. Dogfish Head brew : ALE. What, not super-tasty Icelandic Fish Soup? I'm gutted.
25. "Star Trek" role for Takei and Cho : SULU. George Takei is a great person. Anyone who can say this, with all truthfulness, deserves a place in the World's Great People Hall Of Fame:
"I love things British. My car is British. My wardrobe, to a good extent, is British. I even love the food in London – I think British food has shaken its prevailing perception as indigestible and become quite wonderful."
The food? What a saint.
26. "To recap ... " : IN SUM
28. Pick out of a crowd : SPOT. There's Waldo!
32. Bell tower sound : CLANG
33. Long fish : EEL
34. Secretary of Agriculture under Nixon : BUTZ.
35. Smartphone arrangement : DATA PLAN
36. "Knock on wood" : HOPE SO
37. Craigslist caveat : AS IS. I don't like throwing things away, so I often put used items on Craigslist in the "Free" section. I just ask the person responding to agree they've actually read the ad by repeating the key phrase. The last thing I gave away was a totally hosed HP Printer/Scanner. The magic phrase was "It doesn't print anything black, which really means it doesn't print at all" Two hours later a very nice lady in a Mercedes C350 was happily loading it into her trunk.
38. Wrote back : REPLIED
40. Fly around the equator? : TSETSE
41. Actor Bentley : WES. My last fill - I didn't know the actor, nor the cyst. WES/WEN sounded marginally more believable than LES/LEN so Yay!
42. It included a sweet, not sorrowful, parting : EXODUS. I'm guessing this refers to Exodus, the book in the Bible. Guessing, because I got this totally through crosses; and a Google search of the phase to educate me io what I missed simply brought up two pages of other crossword clue links. I'd call this obscure to the point of being unreasonable.
44. Sunflower relative : ZINNIA. I'm neither a botanist nor a gardener, but this and 48D went straight in. However, if I were down to my last life whilst being dangled over the Slough of Despond and I was shown this picture, I'd have confidently, nay jubilalantly! cried "Chrysanthemum!" and that would be that. Steve No More. Seriously, how does this look like a sunflower?
45. Doted on : ADORED
46. Delphic diviners : SIBYLS. The Greek oracles, whence "sybillant". They were a little hissy, I guess.The clue is a wee bit off - there was one oracle at Delphi; the others were scattered around the Mediterranean. They came together at an annual convention called "Oracle OpenWorld". (I made that bit up).
48. Lily plant : CALLA
49. "Not __!" : AGAIN
50. Cock and bull : MALES
54. Broadway's Walter __ Theatre : KERR. Thank you, crosses.
57. Classified ad shorthand for "seeking" : ISO. In Search Of.
58. Folklore crone : HAG
That about ties it up for me. Just like a trussed chicken - stick me in the oven and I'm done!
Steve
55 comments:
YIN and Yang once had a spat
When Yang opined she was getting fat!
There is NO DOUBT
That MALES lose out
When her teary TISSUES make him feel a RAT!
Good morning!
Oh, the obscurity! Baked fruit desserts are CRISPS? I thought Brits said CRISPS where we'd say CHIPS (as in potato). BRAH crossing IAN? Really? ISO crossing USIE? (Might be perfectly fine. I neither read want ads nor take group photos.) BUTZ? I'm pretty sure it was Earl's younger brother, Seymour, who wrote Under The Bleachers. At the end I managed to make all the correct WAGs and stumble across the line to victory. Thanx, Ed and Steve.
Steve, I'm pretty sure the "sweet parting" in EXODUS refers to the Moses and the Red Sea myth. Guess the "sweet" part depends on your viewpoint: Israelite or Egyptian.
Good Morning:
I normally really like Ed Sessa's puzzle but this one fell a little flat, for me, anyway. The theme was fine but I wasn't keen on some of the fill: I have never in my life heard Brah for pal nor Usie. (Selfies are silly enough, let alone Usies!) I'm sure both words are acceptable but sound (and look) a little odd. W/o's include: Oil/Gas, Rye/BLT, and Pull/Knob. Overall, a smooth solve.
Thanks, Mr. Ed, for an A Okay Thursday offering and thanks, Steve, for bringing some much-needed comic relief to our morning. Don't feel bad about your lack of horticultural knowledge; I am similarly challenged.
A friend from Boston is visiting me today for a couple of hours. She is headed to Buffalo for her nursing school reunion. It's been several years since we've seen each other (although we keep in touch) so it'll be nice to spend some time together. She still has close to 300 miles to drive when she leaves me.
Welcome back, Misty. We missed you as I'm sure Dusty did, as well. You have lots of T-rubs to catch up on!
Trubrit, my oh my, your son-in-law took more than his share of physical abuse Tuesday night! I hope he's none the worse for the wear! 😉
Swampcat, did you ever learn what triggered that allergic reaction? I've never had any food-related allergies but I am allergic to Penicillin, which didn't manifest itself until I was in my 40's.
Have a great day.
WAG at WES/WEN, so made it through, but not happily.
I'm sure Steve is right about the theme's so-so adherence to the rules of crossword construction, but since I'm ignorant of the rules I have to admit that I loved the theme, especially DOUBLE U HAUL.
I had the same Natick of _EN x _ES as Steve, and also WAGed W because WES seemed likely. Other unknowns were BRAH, REIN, BUTZ, KERR, USIE, IAN Falconer, or King Triton's mermaid.
I erased oil for GAS and gar for EEL.
It is hard to believe that Woody Allen is still part of the Hollywood elite after seducing then marrying his own stepdaughter. I guess the only unforgivable sin in that crowd is to state opinions that are to the right of communism.
Thanks to Ed Sessa for another Thursday challenge - I was surprised to FIR without assistance. And thanks to Steve for another tasty tour through the grid.
FIR, but it took so long to suss the theme that this was slow for a WED. After I understood the theme I liked the puzzle much better and moved along faster.
OKL, nice poem. One quibble. YIN is feminine, YANG is masculine.
Every October I make a buttery, cinnamon laced apple crisp from my mom's recipe. Yummy. I am surprised some have not heard of a crisp. They are featured in restaurants this time of year. Some call them apple crumbles.
I trust a French woman, Piaf, to know how to pronounce the word for I in her native tongue. I have heard this song and La Vie en Rose many times.
The zinnia and the sunflower belong to the Asteraceae (composite flower) family.
The "petals" or "sunrays" in a sunflower head are actually individual strap-shaped flowers called "ray flowers", and the "sun disk" is made of smaller circular shaped individual flowers called "disc flowers," according to Wikipedia. The zinnia has similar characteristics. Families are based on characteristics rather than looks. Asters are also members of this family. The family currently has 32,913 accepted species names, in 1,911 genera and 13 subfamilies.
I have heard of usie. I never use it and never take usies or selfies.
In the novel I am now reading, many characters seem to to have WENs on their noses.
I'm off to Alan's commute.
Good morning everyone.
Agree with Steve's theme analysis. I wasn't too fond of DIAL O HENRY and SPACE X GAMES, and saw the inconsistency. But it still was fun to solve it. At least Ed started us off with MODEL T-BONE.
Couldn't remember BUTZ, but knew it was an odd sounding name. Think he was Mormon.
Not much foreign fill except for RIEN.
KNOB - Seems to be a cognate of the German Knopf or L. German Knoop for 'button'.
For Yin think "in"
For Yang think h"ang"
YR, I read it that Yang was opining about Yin.
DO, yeah, you are right.
Hungry Mother 7:48: my thoughts exactly. I was very confident with all my entries but that one. I guessed correctly before checking my answers...I figured Wes seemed more likely with a last name Bentley.
Anonymous 9:08: thanks for the learning aid...never heard that before.
Nit: 53A GAS. I know that crude oil is refined into other products including gas, but just not sure about gas being crude?
Fav clue: 40D "Fly around the equator"
There once was a man named SOONYI
Whose disposition was not sunny
But he had a PAL
Whose name was Sal
Neither of whom thought it funny
Peeve: ANTI-gravity? null-grav, zero-G, micro-gravity, as conditions to play in, yes; but anti-gravity is a propulsion system, a substance or device that actively pushes away from gravity!
I still have no idea what RIEN is.
The EXODUS parting, as d-o noted, was probably a reference to the parting of the Red Sea, but could also be the Hebrews departing from slavery and Egypt. (As an Atheist/Agnostic and ex-Mormon, that's in my wheelhouse.)
I was also confused by CRISPS.
No such word as "sybillant", and sibilant is from the Latin word for hissing, no connection to the Greek seers.
YR: Yin=female was right in the clue, so I knew which was which. d-o got it right, "Yang opined she (i.e., Yin) was getting fat"
Postings while typing *sigh*. I saw d-o's comment after I typed mine on Yin/Yang, so modified my comment, and YR made a further comment while I was doing that! My apologies to YR for stretching the matter out.
Re: Piaf pronouncing 'je'. When she speaks the title to introduce it, she clearly pronounced 'je' simillarly to how I was taught in the Parisian dialect in my upstate NY school.. But when she sings it she elides right over it. Hell, I can't understand half the singers I hear today with their 'style'. I've heard Swedes and Dutch do the same thing. Dialects can be strong in Europe. The Yorkshire dialect from Steve's native land is difficult for me. To wit: "All Creatures Great and Small".
Good Morning,
Back from Dallas for a visit with my daughter, hub, two grands and three stepgrands. All boys! We escaped going to the Texas State Fair with them. I don't like fried (fill in the blank), and as previously discussed I would die on a roller coaster or spinning ride. I did the grocery shopping and prepared dinner, making sure I had all the ingredients for my most demanded meal--Smiley Face pancakes for Saturday breakfast. Wild and woolly time with all those boys. I learned and new game: Rummikub, and helped them with a 1000 piece puzzle. Grand time.
I was happy to be back to my routine this morning. Thanks, Ed, for a fine return piece. I didn't get the twist until I found DOUBLE U-HAUL. Ah, ha! Tried Lardner with ring. No, not gonna work. I was really stuck on oil for GAS--especially on a return from TX. Love EDNA St. V Millay. CRISPS make nice summer desserts with fresh fruit and, of course, ice cream.
Steve, I laughed out loud at your description of the AUDI! Thanks for the tour. My mom hated ZINNIAs--they must have attracted bugs. ? I like them. The symmetry and the color ranges are a summer delight. Pollinators seem to like them, which is a plus these days.
Have a lovely day, everyone.
Hi Y'all! When I see Ed's name on a puzzle, I mentally "gird my loins" to do battle. Thanks for a challenge. I had a lot of white on the first pass, but slowly gained ground and wrestled it into submission.
Thanks Steve, for your expo. I had much the same opinions.
Didn't know IAN or his "Olivia" books.
I was familiar with Piaf's song but what she sings never sounds like how the word looks. RIEN was ESP. No idea what it means.
ABBIE, I knew once but too long ago to come easily. There was a reference to the Chicago 7 somewhere the other day.
Tried "cobbler" before CRISPS. Like YR, I used to make my Mama's recipe for apple CRISPS or peach CRISPS this time of year. So good.
Nixon's Sec. of Ag was the BUTZ of many jokes so was memorable to this farmer's wife. Very dour fellow, so he probably didn't appreciate the humor.
Coach J: if you "let" GAS it's pretty crude.
Sometimes I "get" Ed Sessa and often I don't. Today I sort of got the theme but it didn't quite click. Thank you, Steve, for illuminating it. BTW, what program of Spanish are you studying?
CRISPS are wonderful fruit desserts and something that can be included in my food allowance even with A BIT of ice cream.
EXODUS could also be referring to the movie with Paul Newman et al. According to the clue I assumed RIEN means nothing.
USIE/ISO gave me a Natick and I didn't even attempt a guess. PK, I agree, those expressions, selfie and USIE are just silly. Many group pictures were taken during the Believe Cancer Walk and can be seen on Facebook but I DOUBT anyone called them USIES.
Again, thank you, Ed Sessa and Steve. I LOL at your remarks about Takei and English food.
Have a spectacular day, everyone!
FYI:
Dave Butz was a defensive lineman for the Washington Redskins when his uncle Earl Butz was a United States Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford; his uncle held the Cabinet post during Butz's first season in Washington.
They should rename it "Nameword" instead of crossword. I counted 17 clues whose answers were proper names. Get a clue, or better still, get a setter who can make a crossword without resorting to names.
Greetings!
A number of unknowns today, but I wagged my way to the tada. Thought "Fly around the equator?" was cute for TSETSE. Thanks to Ed for the puzzle and to Steve for the expo.
DO--Thanks for posting the link for the vodka pie crust recipe yesterday.
Enjoy the day!
Waaaay out of my wheelhouse today! Strangely enough I got DIAL OHENRY, thought some of you here didn't like it. But it was a fun challenge. Thanks, Ed. Steve, so many funny comments ! Thanks for the laughs .
I had no clue about CRISPS, never heard of them. Perhaps it is a regional thing.
IRish Miss, I am going to an allergist next week for all those awful tests which will, no doubt , reveal the problem. I, too, have been allergic to penicillin since I was 7, but have never had any other allergic reactions. I feel fine now, and just threw out a carton of eggs, just in case!
Owen, I loved Yang's reaction to Yin's weight problem. Hehehehehehe.
Musings
-The woman for whom I am subbing actually had me teaching Predicate Nouns and Adjectives with linking verbs today and so I’m running late
-Puzzle was fun but I had to get rid of (Kevin)SPACE(Y)GAMES and figure out USIES, WEN and EXODUS to get a successful outcome
-Yikes, more kids! I’ll have to read you and Steve later
"Puzzling thoughts":
Two Naticks: WES/WEN; GAS/AGAIN.
Write - overs: BLT/RYE; IAN/ION
Thought of a different clue for 25a: bra size for those who don't eat low fat cereal? 😜
Steve, much better recap than the puzzle. I, too was not "as impressed" by the clue-ing and theme, but Steve's recap was the highlight of today's xword.
Daily limerick is not "theme-related". It's one I penned while I was on "hiatus":
When he launched the new egg hatchery,
He soon realized, there's no guarantee
That a profit he'll make,
When the eggs hen's lay break.
It is not all it's cracked up to be.
Moe
Got the solve but no joy. Poor theme, really. Some real reaching for clues. Plus real tough even for a Thursday. This seemed like the type of puzzle you’re not supposed to solve. I’ve been doing these for over 35 years,....so where did BRAH come from? Is any piece of slang now acceptable?
Geez, what a hot mess. Disappointing considering the author....and I GOT the solve.
Well, this was a real Ed Sessa toughie for me, and required lots of cheating to finish up. I agree lots of the clues were very clever, but I guess just too clever for me when I still have a bit of jet lag. That "Fly" was a plane going around the equator, to my mind, and not an insect. But I should have gotten the French word for "nothing"--RIEN--in the Edith Piaf clue. Still, it's great to be back doing crosswords with the corner, and Steve, your write-up was a lot of fun.
Thanks for the welcome-back, Irish Miss. Dusty is getting lots of extra tummy-rubs these days.
Ol'Man Keith, my reunion was a delight, though relatively small and we were all shocked to realize that about 50 of our 180 students in the class were gone. (We're all about 72-74 years old). My favorite moment came when the husband of a classmate told me he found Joyce's "Ulysses" too hard to read, and he was a little shocked to hear me tell him he should just watch the 1967 Joseph Strick film of the novel--which is what I did when I was in college and which helped me get through the novel the first time. But otherwise, we just hung out, and my old high-school boyfriend Kenny still game me rides back to Dad's house, just like he did when we were in high school. So, lots of happy memories and a great time--thank you for asking!
Have a great day, everybody!
Okay, I sorta liked this puzzle. Was completely flummoxed at the cross of WES and WEN because even after doing a full, 26-letter alphabet run I still didn't get the "Finished" indication. It turns out that the W in that cell was right, and it was BROH that was wrong. It took turning on red letters to discover that. Heck, never having heard of IAN Falconer, ION seemed reasonable to me at that spot and I never gave it another thought. Now, having given it another thought, it still seems plausible as a first name, both in light of (1) other unknown but plausible entries in this puzzle, and (2) there being an actress by the name of Ione Skye. Heck, people have all kinds of oddly spelled, unique, first names. Anyway...
I have never heard of either crude or refined GAS, only oil. I'm not happy with that entry.
SMACK is a cool word when it means kiss; not so cool otherwise.
Yes, RIEN does mean "nothing." Je ne regrette rien. means "I regret nothing." (Interesting that in French there is that double negative, the ne meaning "not" and the rien meaning "nothing" so that the sentence comes out as "I don't regret nothing.")
We once knew somebody named Ariel; everybody called her Mermaid. I also once worked with a fellow engineer named Tabone; yep, everybody called him T-bone.
Steve, your writeup was excellent. Love your take on things and your sense of humor. I agree that a zinnia, pretty as it may be, does not look like a sunflower.
Best wishes to you all.
An absolutely inane themed and clued puzzle! LAT: hang your collective heads for wasting space on this "FAKE" puzzle!
Dumbest anon yet!
Anon at 2:23, Well, the thing was a puzzlement to most of us, so it qualifies as a puzzle therefore.
Anon at 2:23- we do not allow political commentary here, even if it is funny. But you can email us individually.
Actually Jayce, I would disagree with your double negative comment. Ne .......rien is required to present the one negative, just as ne......pas is needed in the sentence je ne suis pas grand. I have not been around my French relatives in years; perhaps Kazie is out there and can comment.
I do not understand the joy in doing the LAT and complaining about it every day; do the WSJ, the NYT, puzzle books - please.
Lemon, spot on!! Why do the puzzle if it gives no joy? And why on earth come here to complain!
End of rant!
Mr. Sessa did me in.
I thought I had it made, as I cut through today's pzl like a cleaver through veal - all the way from 1A through 64A, with what I thought was a minor glitch at 57D.
But that "minor" hangup mushroomed into a problem that caused me to set the pzl aside two or three times. Anyway, by the time I remembered it was lying there unfinished, I had lost all interest. Too bad.
By then it required two Googles to close out the middle bottom, hence no Ta- DA! today.
It was much more fun reading Misty's account of how she managed Joyce's Ulysses. We don't always get such frank admissions from our comp lit colleagues! But I'm inclined to think that ol' francophile mick might have benefited from such advice scanning his own drafts...
In trying to find something funny to say, the first thing I came across was another puzzle.
“This 5 letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it...”
I have no idea what the answer is, so feel free to enlighten me..,
Just arrived in Naples Fla to find that:
The mosquito screens are shot to hell.
The pool pump emits black smoke when you throw the breaker.
The tiles around the pool are collapsing due to sand migration.
Terra-cotta tiles miss8mg from the roof.
Air conditioning unit is dead due to leak in evaporator coils,
5 weeks for replacement, or install a new unit for $7,000- tomorrow...?
(Sounds like a hard sell....)
But worst of all is we are totally house bound as you cannot rent a car for love of money...
( and I thought we were just here to throw out spoiled food from the fridge...)
Oh, and a tree is down in the backyard, but it is still alive as it fell over root ball and alll.
Not sure if I should have it cut up, or get a crane to replant it.
However I am grateful for the puzzle as a reprieve from the work I have to do...
Anywho, Irish Miss, Incould sure use a kitten video right now.
Funny.
RIEN was a gimme, as I just finished streaming La vie en rose yesterday.
(That Marion Cotillard! Whew!)
Anyway, I was thinking "What an incredible coincidence!" when of course I realized for the umpteenth time that given the randomness of most Xwd fills, coupled with the variety of cruciverbalists out here, we're bound to hit on scores if not hundreds of such coincidences every week.
N'est-ce pas?
CED - short maybe when you add e and r to it?
Hi All!
Ed, thanks for the effort. There was some fun but the all the names sucked it out. Even after Googling SOON YI and cribin' from Steve's grid for 50 & 57d a DNF @WEN and 51a xing 46d. ACH! I did have fun w/ DOUBLE U HAUL, SPECIAL K CUP, and SPACE X GAMES but DIAL O & MODEL T BONE (that ain't no BBQ, that's just grillin') fell flat (maybe just 'cuz I didn't finish 'em b/f cheat)
Steve, it's already been said - thanks for salving the wounds Ed inflicted. AUDI TT comment was cute and your appreciation of the Original SULU - priceless. It was more fun reading your expo than the puzzle [and the "lack-a-thon" I attended today - it was supposed to be hacking Whoot! but the sandboxen weren't up to snuff]
WO: Chime b/f CLANG
ESP: Name game
FAIL: Wefe for USIE (made sense - selfe / we-fe). I wouldn't let go and mucked-up any chance of getting the SC.
Fav: [hey, things can still make you chuckle] SMACK just 'cuz Snoopy's been on a tear this week. [see: Peanuts]
Runner-up: c/a for PIZZAS. I may just nip that clue one day.
{A} {cute}
PK - LOL BUTZ.
Nobody's home after my day so I just may get a nap and play later.
Cheers, -T
*some fun but all the names sucked...
Don't you hate when an edit becomes a stet'it? -T
CED: So sad that your dream vacation home has turned A BIT nightmarish! I don't have any kittens, but I'm thinking a great big hug and back patting for you. Hope you can get it all squared away again soon.
CED @ 5:10 ~ Sorry to hear of all your problems. Unfortunately, I don't know how to link from my iPad so no kitty videos from me but, perhaps, one of our many digital whiz kids could oblige. The best I can offer is 🐱 and 🐈 ! Good luck with the cleanup and the a/c.
Dear wife just made dinner.
Scallops (in the shell) $1.00 each at Publix breaded like stufffd clams...
Linguine and shrimp, spInach, red pepppers, sauted onions, 5 kind mushroom mix,
But because I was overwhelmed and did not help clean up,
I have to clean all the toilet bowls tomorrow...
Late to the party. Thanks for the fun Ed and Steve.
Hand up for Oil before GAS (LOL at your crude GAS comment PK!), and BROH giving me ION (I didn't think it was correct but I have never heard BRAH!
I thought it was just this Canadian who did not know Justice SONIA and Sec. of Agriculture BUTZ (both filled with perps thankfully) but apparently Americans had problems with the names too. I knew it had to be the US MINT because the Canadian Mint no longer makes cents!
We use the term apple (or peach) CRISP here. Yummy.
I learned USIE here (Aug 7/17) and then C.C. used the term on Aug 31/17 with her photo of Garlic Gal, JD and Chickie. I don't think I have heard the term spoken in real life.
42A reminded me of the Romeo & Juliet line "parting is such sweet sorrow" and although EXODUS filled in and I understand the parting of the Red Sea, I don't get the "sweet" part.
Spitz @5:24, you beat me to short-er.
Welcome back Misty. Glad you had a good time at your reunion (LOL re the former boyfriend!). Sorry about your Dad's problems.
CED, sorry about the hurricane aftermath in Florida.
Have a good evening.
Gas is a byproduct of drilling for oil. It's neither crude or refined.
I too had to put Ed S. down because of the mid-south. Finally MALES arrived along with AGAIN. I changed CALL to DIAL and WAG'ed WEN.
But, I not only missed ION/IAN I had UNIE and In Need Of.
I had been thinking of a Cock and Bull story and was looking for BLARNEY (Recently clued).
I too attempted to read Ulysses, I wonder if that movie is out there. That CSO clue was "Planned city in California's Orange County". Duh, Misty?
For those who might have had a rough day: I was running around greater Tampa Bay picking up used doors with Betsy. It was bricks yesterday.
Thanks for the poetry Owen and C-Moe. And, Steve with the humor. George Takei was featured in a NPR interview. Internment and "Coming out" were among the subjects.
Finally, this was a well designed and clued xword. The theme was hard to suss. GAS was obscure but gettable.
Ok. I don't get "sweet but not sorrowful" either. Historic parting would have sufficed.
WC
CED - Sorry for all the tribulations you have to go through.
Anon @ 1942.
"Natural-gas processing plants purify raw natural gas by removing common contaminants such as water, carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Some of the substances which contaminate natural gas have economic value and are further processed or sold. A fully operational plant delivers pipeline-quality dry natural gas that can be used as fuel by residential, commercial and industrial consumers."
Whether 'crude' is the right word, I don;t know, but the gas has to be processed and stripped of moisture and more complex hydrocarbons, before it can be delivered to the customer. I think the sense of the puzzle clue is OK.
The U.S.MINT is not an "org."; it is a government "agcy."
GASOLINE comes from crude OIL. GAS (not -oline) is crude and ready to use (and thus refined GAS is not made from crude GAS).
BRAH peak popularity ~1930!
CED - I missed your post before mine. Sorry to hear about the damage. I know it will take weeks to get stuff back to right.
Anon@8:22 - how is it not an ORG? There are 3 in the US.. And re: GAS(not -online; aka LNG (wet)) is in fact refined into other GAS.
-T
Oops - I guess I've been snoozing since '88 - there are 4 US Mints in the org. -T
As for the parting of the Red Sea, it turned out to be "sorrowful" for the Egyptians who were following the Israelites and drowned when the waters came back together. Israelites probably thought their escape was "sweet". Dunno, that's just my justification for the term.
Greetings!
Thanks to Ed an the inimitable Steve!
If you have ever watched Hawaii Five-O for a bit, you have heard the term BRAH! The sumo actors use it frequently!
CED: So sorry to hear about your disaster! Keep the tree (unless it is a palm or a some other bothersome thing that replants itself!).
Only a few things stumped me, but as Steve says (roughly), they were filled by crosses.
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
Very late today but the cross of ISO & USIE did me in. I have never heard of either and guessed INO & UNIE. Made as little sense are the correct ones. I didn't know KERR, SOONYI, IAN or WES either but the perps took care of them. Wasn't she his step-daughter? BRAH was guessable but I think the word stinks.
After MODEL T-BONE, the theme was an easy guess. I only slowed in the SE originally filling OIL for GAS and CALL O'HENRO for DIAL O'HENRY.
"My car is British." Good luck with that one Steve. My son-in-law struck out with new TWO Jaguar XFs. Pieces of junk. Always in the shop. I don't know why he got the second one but came to his senses and finally got another Infiniti.
Anon@8:22 I agree with your 'GAS' assessment. I have a friend who drilled his own gas well in his backyard about 30 years ago. No gas bills.
Big E - would you agree that was a "dry" GAS well as opposed to "wet" Gas? Not my area just the industry I'm in and I'd like to think I pick up on things. Advise otherwise :-)
I think Steve quoted Tikei on the Love of the Crown and Brit car Oh, my!.
-T
Wilbur, how nice of you to mention me. Not sure how to respond to your post, but am always grateful for it. Have a good night and talk to you tomorrow.
As good as any, PK
Thx.
WC
FIR but hand up I was not really happy about it.
I got the theme at MODELTBONE and was OK with the theme answers. But some of the fill seemed unfair. Especially the WEN/WES crossing. I suppose I can consider WEN a learning moment if I can remember it.
Earl BUTZ I will remember for two reasons. He was forced to resign for a crude racist joke. But it was more personal: My father found himself in the same elevator as BUTZ in the Kennedy Center and my father was quick to offer Mr BUTZ a suitable insult. BUTZ just stood stoically and did not respond.
BRAH totally unknown and totally obscure. Crosses seemed solid, but IAN was also unknown.
I still don't get how GAS is crude and then refined?
As for Big Easy's question about SOON YI Previn, she was never the adopted daughter of Woody Allen. And they have been married for many years, so whatever did or did not happen at the beginning seems quite irrelevant now.
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