Claire and David have given us a very clever Wednesday offering featuring Matroyshka DOLLS that stack up and nest inside each other as you can see here:
Husker Gary on duty for a tour of what our two constructors have done graphically in their wonderful puzzle as you can see in the grid below. They have the letters for the word DOLL in the circles getting progressively and symmetrically closer and closer, until they culminate in the single word DOLL. (Could this reveal have worked without the circled DOLL letters?)
But wait, there's more! They have added the two adjectives that describe this arrangement - NESTING and STACKED in a very neat seven letter stack at the bottom (part of 7, 8, 9/9, 8, 7 letter corners) as shown in the reveals:
45. Arranged like the 68-Acrosses in the answers to starred clues are designed to be : STACKED - DO and LL STACKED until NESTING at the bottom. Other visuals for STACKED were considered but...
68. *See 42-Down : DOLL - Here is a seasonal Matroyshka set
Pretty cool, huh?
Now let's look at the theme fill elements:
18. *Is unsuitable : DOESN'T FIT THE BILL - At first glance it might appear that Earl Boykin DOESN'T FIT THE BILL to play against Shaquille O'Neal
32. *Literary character with an evil alter ego : DOCTOR JEKYLL - John Barrymore transistioning from the good Doctor Jekyll to the evil Mr. Hyde in the 1920 silent movie of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic
50. *Threshold : DOOR SILL - This kitty is protecting hers!
Let's set off to see what else Claire and David have nested in this stack of clues
1. Schooner features : MASTS - or BEERS
6. Frosty coating : RIME
10. Shine : GLEAM
15. Advil competitor : ALEVE
16. __ of March : IDES - The soothsayer Spurinna warned Caesar to beware
17. EVE's companion, in a 2008 Pixar film : WALLE
21. "__ ideas?" : ANY
22. "Back to the Future" vehicle : DELOREAN - At 88 mph the question becomes not "Where is the DeLorean?" but "When is the DeLOREAN?"
23. Wild place : ZOO - Famous for much wild life in Lincoln, NE!
24. Rays or Jays : TEAM
26. RAM part : MEMORY - I remember when 64K of Random Access Memory was a big deal
27. First light : DAWN
28. Egyptian snake : ASP
30. Wide shoe spec : EEE - President Obama seems pretty impressed with the width and length of his Shaquille O'Neal autographed shoe
38. Anti-cruelty org. : PETA
39. "Hold up!" : WAIT
40. Radiate : EMIT
 |
| Bob Dylan |
43. Breakfast order : EGGS
44. BFFs : FAVES
46. Gets a glimpse of : ESPIES - Not in my verbal or written quiver
48. Most innocent : PUREST
49. Canonized Mlle. : STE - Joan Of Arc may be the most famous one
55. Bus depot: Abbr. : STA - Marilyn Monroe starred in a 1956 movie about a Bus Depot in Tonganoxie, Kansas
56. Corrida opponent : TORO
58. Paddock sound : WHINNY
 |
| Walt and Hank |
60. Modern-day Persian : IRANI
62. Tiny annoyance : GNAT
63. Former One Direction singer Zayn __ : MALIK - No idea/interest
65. Fairy tale baddie : OGRE - Except for Shrek
66. In reserve : ASIDE - How much money do you have set ASIDE for that inevitable rainy day?
69. Knight's horse : STEED
Down
1. Angry with : MAD AT
2. Without assistance : ALONE
3. "Later!" : SEE YA - Wouldn't wanna BE YA!
4. Family room sets : TVS - We now have way more TV'S than the number of channels we used to have
6. Search quickly through : RIFLE
7. Figure of speech : IDIOM
8. Way around D.C. : METRO - A 10 min. Uber ride would have taken a half hour on the METRO for us in March
9. Perfume compound : ESTER
10. No Doubt lead singer Stefani : GWEN - Now, her I know!
11. Chocolate dog : LAB
12. "My Fair Lady" heroine : ELIZA - Here is Wendy Hiller as ELIZA in the 1938 non-musical movie Pymaglion. A role that Audrey Hepburn later made famous.
13. Let happen : ALLOW
14. Fruit that's still a fruit when two of its letters are switched : MELON - Switch the first and third letters and you get my first car
19. What sirens may do : TEMPT - Greek mythology tells of these creatures who used enchanting music and lovely voices to lure sailors to their doom on rocky shores
20. Actress Salma : HAYEK
25. Chinese liquor brand : MAOTAI - Alexander Haig warned President Nixon to not actually drink any of this very potent liquor during toasts. Dan Rather called it "liquid razor blades"
27. San Diego suburb : DEL MAR - A city of 4,356 whose name means "By The Sea" and is home to a famous horse racetrack
29. Climbed : SCALED
31. The Eiffel Tower, aptly? : EYEFUL - Cute! Granddaughter did not go up the tower last week because of the daunting lines
32. Western outlaw : DESPERADO
33. Be indebted to : OWE
34. Cleaning cloth : RAG
35. Irish dance : JIG - For some reason a guy is doing pushups while the girls are dancing a JIG
36. "Close Encounters" beings : ETS - I loved the cantina scene from Star Wars
37. Hides one's true self : LIVES A LIE - Fewer people have to do this now
38. Idyllic : PASTORAL
41. Take for a first drive : TEST RIDE - Al Pacino played a blind man who took a Ferrari for a TEST RIDE in Scent Of A Woman
47. Farm mom : SOW
48. Tissue layer : PLY - Some schools save money with single PLY toilet tissue. Yikes!
51. "What a nightmare!" : OH GOD
52. Fab Four drummer : RINGO - The luckiest man in Rock 'n Roll history?
53. [Don't touch my bone!] : SNARL
54. Info a spy might gather : INTEL
57. Dollar bills : ONES
61. Recipient of much Apr. mail : IRS
63. More, in Madrid : MAS - Esas son todas las pistas. No hay más. (That's all the clues. There are no more.)
Now feel free to stack and nestle your comments:
38A, once I had the A in the last box, I confidently filled in SPCA, Not! Took awhile for me to fix.
ReplyDeleteWish I would remember how to spell Jeckyll.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteWBNS (above). I really liked this one. Even though they misspelled it, I'll take the SO at 32d. RINGO has been used as validation for a certain candidate this season, because he sang, "She's sixteen, she's beautiful, and she's mine" when he was in his 30's. I'd call that a real stretch. Thanx, Claire, David and Husker.
Only one TV chez desper-otto. That's plenty. I qualify for a "free" equipment upgrade from DirecTV, but then they'd start charging me more per month for whole-house availability, even though I'd still have just one set. Sheesh!
Now Matt Lauer?
Got the puzzle easily enough, but blew the gimmick¡ I had misspelt JEykle, so decided the circles were a word ladder: DOLL > DOLE > DOME > HOME perhaps. I even filled in LADDERS for 42d¡ The tortured-past-the-interpretable syntax of 45d didn't help¡
ReplyDeleteDo I get a CSO at 22a, since lose the DE and it's pronounced the same as my surname, Laurion? (I often use Lorion as a more pronounceable variation.)
That Doolittle DOLL, ELIZA
Will do little things to surprise ya!
She knew twas bad taste
To strip top to waist,
So she bared toe-tips to waist, for PETA!
A optician of esteem, DOCTOR JEKYLL,
Saw a duck that flew into a DOORSILL!
He made it some glasses
To avoid window sashes,
But pince nez just DOESN'T FIT THE BILL!
An apt nick-name was the OGRE, El TORO's!
Though he only could envy bull torsos!
No, the resemblance was NASAL
He snorted, and hey-ho!
He inhaled a phone, now there's a ring in his nose!
{B, C, B+.}
The DOLL was an easy spot but I would think that if it were NESTED it would have been in the center of the fill.
ReplyDeleteGood morning. A super easy fill with only MAOTAI, MALIK & NARC as unknowns- never seen Breaking Bad or kept up with band members. That GWEN Stefani was in the band 'No Doubt' if news to me. In other news 'today', it seems that one of their top hosts LIVES A LIE. I'll leave it at that. Oh, the WHINNY sancrosanct reporters are now on the receiving end.
I know the difference between Hoarfrost and RIME but neither exist down on the bayou. DELOREAN- my neighbor has one that he never drives. He sent it ( didn't drive) to Houston to have it worked on last year.
MEMORY- 64K you say? My first computer, IBM 1130, had 8K of 'core', 1.5megabyt disk, card reader, and 30 lpm printer. Only about $8,000 a MONTH to lease from IBM.
D-0....'Maybe he should have sung "Go away little girl"
Bob Niles and I must think alike. I erased JEckLe and SPCA. Especially embarrassing since I live about a mile from PETA world headquarters. BTW, as much as I despise some of their tactics, they are great neighbors. They always turn out for any good cause, like our annual "clean the bay" day. They run a low-cost spay/neutering mobile service, and their big dog park is open to the public.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know WALLE, Hank the NARC, NALIK or MAOTAI, but perps made them easy to get.
Musical thoughts today. I thought of The Eagles when I filled DESPERADO, Lionel Richie when I filled STACKED (thinking of "Brick House") and Bing Crosby's "Where the Turf Meets the Surf" when I filled DEL MAR.
I finally figured out the theme after I finished the puzzle, but I thought it made the puzzle harder, not easier. Cute, but not tasty. Thanks to Claire and David for the fun challenge, and to HG for another fine tour.
Very clever theme. Misspelling Jekyll kept me from seeing the doll in each one until the reveal. I have a set of lovely Russian Matroyshka dolls on my kitchen window sill. Sometimes I set them out in descending order kinda like the puzzle view. I think that even separated or not nested they are nesting dolls.
ReplyDeleteOne bad cell with Wall E and Gwen crossing each other. I missed the W, although we had WALL E lately. I realized something did not fit the bill, but I forgot to re-think it. I am not into science fiction, but I have to remember that one.
I rarely hear TV SET these days, just plain TV.
Gary, the NADER button was funny.
I always think of the doors raised like wings when I think of DELOREAN.
DO, I thought of you right off, you desperado, you.
Have a great day. Here it is supposed to clear, warm and sunny.
Only unknown was 27D: DELMAR, but easily sussed. I, too, initially put SPCA, but quickly corrected (clue should have read, “militant anti-cruelty org). I first thought of paradise for 38D but after glancing at some of the across clues I knew that would be incorrect. Enjoyed it overall...didn’t much care for DOORSILL, but dem the breaks. Happy Wednesday to all!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteNot often do we get a puzzle that is this layered with theme, two reveals, so to speak, and an expository visual. And, an added bonus of fresh fill and a very easy and pleasant solve. SPCA/PETA was my only w/o and Maotai the only unknown. Albany has a suburb named Delmar which the resident teenagers refer to as Dullmar. Big CSO to our own Desperado, DO!
Kudos and many thanks to Claire and David and thanks, HG, for explaining the intricacies of this puzzle's construction and theme and for the always welcomed and appreciated visuals, especially the canine/feline antics and the nesting dolls.
I haven't read or heard any news yet today but I gather from DO and BE's comments that another scandalous shoe has dropped. I'm getting inured to these exposés, sad to say.
Have a great day.
BTW, where is Wilbur?
I'm back from Boston. Thanks for asking and caring. I caught your puzzle yesterday. Talk more when I'm done reading.
DeleteWC
Good morning all.
ReplyDeleteThank you Claire and David ! Loved it. Thank you too Gary. Neat all the way around.
Had to open the LA Times website to see the circles. Glad I did. Very clever.
My wife has a set of those babushka NESTING dolls.
DOESN'T FIT THE need ? Nope. Best ? Nope. BILL ? Yep.
Hand up for SPCA at first, but DESPERotto, er, ADO became apparent.
Needed more perp help than normal for a Wednesday for MAOTAI, DEL MAR, MALIK, and to correct EMIT from glow, and SOW from ewe.
Never saw My Fair Lady, but ELIZA has become known through the years. Never saw WALL-E, but read the Wikipedia on it after we had it the other day. Saw only an episode or two of Breaking Bad. Have only seen bits and pieces of Back to the Future. Couldn't pick GWEN Stefani or Zayn MALIK out of a lineup. Of all those, only WALL-E piqued enough interest to merit lookup.
The Eiffel EYEFUL was cute.
Kudos for creativity on the theme - especially the visual effect!
ReplyDelete@Jinx - now I'll have the Eagles' "Desperado" as my earworm for the day
WEES about SPCA before PETA. I enjoyed WALL-E as a film - though the characters
in the spaceships who were just consumers was a little too spot on for what
I'm challenged with at work every day!
Thanks HG and Claire & David!
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteHad to do 7d, 41d, 47d, 48d, 61d, and 63d as WAGS (successful). They did not print out at the bottom of the sheet in my paper; Utica OD. Otherwise, straighforward Wed. solve. No lookups. Neat theme. Wonder of the authors thought of reversing the up-down sequence of the nest to simulate gravity as in HG's illustration clip.
SOW - German Sau (pronounced 'SOW') - L. German Söög.
The nesting doll set comes all inside the largest one and as you open it you get smaller and smaller dolls. I find the order quite appropriate and would illustrate it that way. I treat it like the illustration only to put the dolls away.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever get a wrapped gift in a huge box only to find successively smaller boxes to unwrap until, at last, you find the actual gift?
Good Morning.
ReplyDeleteGreat challenging puzzle for me today. Thanks, Claire and David. My favs were EYEFUL and, of course, the SO to D-O. Fun solve--when I finally got there.
Thanks, Gary, for the tour and the perfect links and photos. Nice.
I need to stay home today. It's costing me too much money to leave the house!!! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Have a sunny day, everyone.
Oops, forgot.
ReplyDeleteDOCTOR JEKYLL came easily as I learned from the Google Doodle honoring Gertrude Jekyll that RLS used her family name when he wrote the story. I always click on the Doodles to learn something new.
Mme D
Good morning to all!
ReplyDeleteI loved today's puzzle from Claire and David. Such an elegant grid! The SE corner was the last to fall as I have never watched "Breaking Bad" and needed ESP for Zayn MALIK. Great Eiffel/EYEFUL clue/answer. Thanks for the tour, Husker Gary.
Enjoy the day!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Claire Muscat and David Steinberg, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Husker Gary, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteThis was some puzzle! Got it done, but a little tough in spots. I kind of got half the theme, or one of the themes, but not all of it until I came here.
I also almost wrote in SPCA for 38A. Held off until I could get a crossword. The second letter would have been a P and that would have followed the D of DOCTOR. I knew that would not work so I held off until PETA came to mind. Did not do so good with DOCTOR JEKYLL, however. I butchered that name. Now I have a big inkblot there.
Other unknowns were: WALLE, MALIK, HAYEK, GWEN, NAST, and MAO TAI Perps and wags all worked out.
Liked the 14D clue for MELON and LEMON. Good job.
I notice the grid pattern is not typical crossword style. But, that is OK with me. They did quite a job with the themes.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Clever CW today. Thanks Claire and David, and HG. (Thanks for the visual for added enjoyment of the theme).
ReplyDeleteOf course there were no circles on Mensa and I opened the LA Times site to see where they were and find the DOLL. That gave me DOORSILL and confirmed my spelling of Jekyll.
WALLE, MAOTAI, MALIK, HAYEK were all perps.
Did we all enter SPCA before PETA?
I changed Neighs to WHINNY, Raspy to NASAL, Glow to EMIT, and Ewe to SOW (Hi TTP!).
Our Anon who dislikes Egad will be very unhappy with 51D.
Learning moment with 14D MELON and Lemon (CSO also).
My favourite clue today 31D Eiffel-EYEFUL!
Enjoy the day.
Thanks to Claire and David for an interesting and amusing puzzle! I loved the NESTING DOLL theme. I have a seasonal set like the ones Gary showed and wish I had bought many more as people are intrigued by them.
ReplyDeleteAt first, with WALL-E, I thought the theme would be robots because the grid resembles one but caught the DOLLs quickly. Am I the only one who has never heard of a DOORSILL?
DELMAR was a given and I suspect Bill G lives not too far from there. I liked GLEAM and GLOSS at opposite corners from each other. Never saw Breaking Bad but guessed NARC since the NAST gave me the N. TEMPT, a clue about sirens parallel with Salma HAYEK. Coincidence? And she appeared in DESPERADOs as well. CSO to our own desper-otto!
Thank you, Gary; I always enjoy your graphics and visuals as well as your commentary.
Have a delightful day, everyone!
Thanks, Claire and David, for a delightful theme. Very nicely done with the two "reveals".
ReplyDeleteThanks to HG, for another graphical write-up. Loved the difference between hoarfrost and rime! You're supposed to learn something every day!
I must have been on the right wave length today. I struggled, but prevailed with lots of WAGs. I almost did myself in with Bull before TORO. It's obvious from the clue...afterward...but I just didn't want to let go until I was forced to. Thanks, Claire and David for the workout.
ReplyDeleteI had a set of the nesting DOLLs HG showed in his interesting tour. I still love them. I agree that they come put together inside the biggest one, so as you undo them the next smallest one is revealed. It's still fun!
Owen, the third offering was definitely an A. You have been on a roll lately!
Woohoo! Woohoo! I'm back in California and back on the blog after a week away. Feels great! Clauder saved the newspaper puzzles for me while I was away, and so when I returned last night I picked up the Tuesday puzzle and there was a terrific Irish Miss and C.C. puzzle! You can't ask for a better welcome home than that! And I did it and got it all and loved it! And, Irish Miss, I saw your note this morning and must say that I got TOMBOY instantly when I saw the Peppermint Patty clue! Great fun--many thanks, Irish Miss and C.C.
ReplyDeleteAnd many thanks to Claire and David, and Husker Gary for this morning's fascinating and complicated themes on the puzzle. I got the DOLLS right away, but guess I'm still too jet-lagged to have gotten the system until I came to the blog and saw Gary's explanation. Great way to start my first morning back home.
Have a great day, everybody!
Welcome home, Misty; we "mist" you. Glad you enjoyed our Tuesday puzzle. Today's is a gem, as noted by so many Cornerites.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Very clever theme & design, thanks, Claire & David. Very clever expo too, Gary.
ReplyDeleteNo circles but I sorta got the theme when DOLL & the 2 side pieces appeared. Unfortunately, the puzzle disappeared when I clicked the wrong thing, so didn't get to study it until coming to the blog. Did anyone else notice the DOLL's face in the grid. There are two eyes, a nose, mouth & neck. Cute! As to solving: WEES except PETA was first choice.
18a. I loved 5'6' Earl Boykin dashing around and under all those giants on the basketball court then swishing the basketball. Took guts!
Once went to the San Diego County Fair at DEL MAR Racetrack. Very fun day! Lovely place. Traffic horrible to get there.
JIG: My Irish Grandpop used to hang on to a door frame and break into a little JIG without music. We little girls love it, "Do it again!"
YR: My engagement ring came in a huge wrapped box with successively smaller wrapped packages. If the ring hadn't been so gorgeous, I'd have said, "No!" to the big tease.
The submarine's camouflage was considered a win,
ReplyDeleteAs a giant mechanical shark it would swim!
It could hold two within
Its shark-SCALED skin,
And the crew would enter thru its DOORSILL fin!
Husker Gary: Wonderful write-up !!!
ReplyDeleteThought I was gong to D-N-F on a Wednesday ...
But my WAGS (Wild-Ass-Guesses) were all correct.
Never heard of the singer Zayn MALIK before ... a learning moment I already forgot.
And I entered (in black ink) STARR for the "Fab-Four drummer" before RINGO became apparent.
(geez, what a mess!)
Never had MAO-TAI but I guess it was my FAVES today.
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset ... or when that Sun gets over the yardarm ...
Cheers!
oops .... forgot to add:
ReplyDeleteClaire & David: Thank you for a FUN Wednesday puzzle.
I really enjoyed the "NESTING DOLL" theme with the "bonus" that they are STACKED.
It is a "Red-Letter" day in the Tampa Bay area.
They caught the Seminole Heights killer last night.
Four senseless murders ... they have already matched the bullets to the gun.
Good Job Tampa Police Dept.!
Oh Bugger!
ReplyDeleteOne of those total brain freezes that make me think I am losing my mind...
I put "Hayes" instead of "Hayek," which left me with "Jesyll?"
And for the life of me, I could remember Hyde, but not the other guy...
(hmm, speaking of whats inside,,, I wonder if Jekyll had more layers...)
Learning moment: Hoar/rime
Migraine moment: Big Easy @ 8:12, nested/center fill?
Oh wow! You made me take the whole puzzle apart and put it back together again...
Luckily, finding silly links was easier:
Should Matroyshka Dolls go on a diet?
Oh! My apologies!
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteOwen, your first three poems were just "ok". But your last was OK "L" ( as in "laughable" )
😀👍
As I look at my ink-filled newspaper grid, I see zero C's, E's, or WO's. Perfectly pristine. Just an "A", not A+, as I really didn't understand the theme until reading HG's recap.
24a clue made me think of this funny bit.
Liked the clue for 14d. Used perps to suss NARC and MALIK as well as NESTING. As I said, I didn't "get" the theme
I was thinking of using the DOOR SILL fin as a pun, but Owen beat me to it. So instead, I chose this group of xwords to form a Moe-ku:
INTEL IDIOM
From second-story dancer:
"See, the JIG is up."
I read the front page of TBTimes about the suspect but in my haste to get to the xword forgot to read the rest of the story. I suspected a gun-bullet match.
ReplyDeleteI don't do the xwords except on paper so I was sans-X. I did bring an 1105 NYT on the plane and solved it with the help of my nephews and son. Mikey was particularly adept at cinema ànd the Cyber warriors were able to supply me with PWN, a portmanteau for Pow-I own you
I got THEBEEGEES all by myself. The millenials never heard of them.
Back to today:
I was trying to fit MESC before NARC. I've seen my fifteen minutes of BB as well as MM*
Irish Miss, I finished Tuesday before I realized it was a CC-IM effort. I didn't catch onto the CC cluing. Heck, no ⚾
Welcome back Misty, it looks like we both thoroughly enjoyed our fam-vacs with our FAVES.
I found Sunday and I'll get to it. I don't know where Fri, Sat went. Btw, I knocked off the Boston Globe Monday xword. Meh.
SPCA? Et tu Wilbur? Yep.
Owen, liked #2. And of course, #4. I always like your C's. Gary, great write-up, gals great xword.
WC
* Breaking Bad and Mad Men.
Very challenging and enjoyable.Malik, rime, maotai unknown. Got the theme early on which enabled the correct spelling of Jekyll. Door sill gotten because of figuring out the theme. Thanks Claire and David. And of course Gary for a great expo and wonderful visuals.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Mark
My right ankle has been bothering me,
ReplyDeletethought maybe I picked up a Tick on Saturdays hike.
Saw a red rash, and thought (well you know)
Also pulled a tick off my right wrist Saturday night while waiting
for the Chinese takeout to be ready...
Ticks are always jumping on me, but then they just run around
and don't bite, tickling me like crazy.
I guess they don't like the way I taste,
must be all that Garlic and Onions...
So what the heck is wrong with my ankle?
Doing the leaves, beautiful day, thought I would let my neighbors 1 year
old Husky out in the backyard where I could watch her...
Got the leaves onto a tarp and was dragging them to the curb
when that stupid dog thought I was playing fetch!
So I obliged and threw her toy,
seeing the 30 yard wire leash wrapping around my foot,
I was too slow...
Yowsa!
You guessed it, I forgot she did the same thing to my right ankle last week!
Yellowrocks, is it acceptable to refer to this as "nested injuries?"
Oh yeah, the leaves are back where they started from...
Ouch!
Did anyone else have MAITAI before MAOTAI?
ReplyDeleteDidn't know DEL MAR CA; know DELMAR NY(other side of Albany from Saratoga County).
Easy one with a fun theme. Enjoyed the solve.
ReplyDeleteI liked this puzzle very much. MAOTAI emerged somehow from the mists of the depths of my memory. Excellent write-up, Gary. "Did we all enter SPCA before PETA?" Yep, well I did. Kinda nice to see SOW instead of EWE for a change. Loved the EYEFUL and MELON clues!
ReplyDeleteEt tu, Garrison Keillor and Matt Lauer?
I forgot to thank you for your Gregory peccary comment the other day, desper-otto. Thank you.
Good wishes to you all.
Thank you, Wilbur--great to see you back here today! Roy, I too first thought of MAITAI. Jayce, I also put SPCA before PETA emerged.
ReplyDeleteJayce--Who will be the next hypocrite to fall? Reap what you SOW? ( I know )
ReplyDeleteThis was a nicely constructed and clued Wednesday puzzle, theme or not. Not much else to add.
ReplyDeleteWow, how the mighty naughty have fallen!
ReplyDeleteD-0. Gregory peccary was just too delicious! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteBig Easy, doll in the middle, interesting concept and visual.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed all the comments, but noticed that FERMATPRIME was missing. Yesterday at 339A she was "Sicker than a dog." It seems like she had been sick forever, but it was only 4 days as she was fine on 11-23, but had a cold on 11-24. I pray for her recovery.
ReplyDeleteI FIR the puzzle with no need for help. Thanks Claire and David for such an inventive puzzle. Thanks HG for the review. The coloring of squares highlighted most of the cleverness. PK1205P pointed out the face. Wow what a satisfying puzzle!
OKL1219P
-The DOORSILL fin got me.
-We normally associate "Sill" with windows and pies stolen from them, but doors have sills also. The threshold sits on it. In olden days thresh was used to cover the dirt floor. The Thresh-hold kept it in the humble abode.
- Both kitten videos were adorable. Is the door in the door large enough for the dog, or is it a cat door?
-If it weren't for typo errors I'd have no errors at all.
Gloom despair and pass the white out please.
Dave
Husker Gary, the Santa Claus was drawn by cartoonist Thomas NAST; Conde NAST was a later, unrelated NYC publisher and founder of the self-named publishing company
ReplyDeleteTook me two goes, but the Ta- DA! eventually came through.
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't post earlier. It slipped my mind as we went out to a session with my dentist and then to choose our Christmas Tree.
Found a neat Douglas Fir, surprisingly inexpensive, and ordered it to be delivered Monday.
Ho. Ho. Ho!
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteLate to the Corner and not much to add - just want to express my thanks to Claire & David for a really fun layered, er, NESTED, theme'd puzzle. HG's color-enhanced grid magic really highlight's the nuances. Basically, WEES on both fronts. Thanks all for this effort.
WOs: gNARL b/f SNARL (what's a DOORgILL?) and hand-up for JEKeLL? JEcKeL, etc. I finally sussed EYEFUL (not EEEFUL - a foot in said shoe?) for the fun pun @31d
ESP: MALIK. Don't take my single ESP as "Ha! I know that!" -- many c/a's took 3/5ths perps b/f wags/pennies dropping [see: GWEN, NARC, MAS (er, 2/3rds), WALL-E, DEL MAR, you get the idea].
FAVE: Seeing DELOREAN in the grid. Not only is BTTF a great trilogy (what happens to MASS then/when Jayce? :-)) but the DeLorean is one sexy RIDE. Since some guy in Humble (pronounced 'um-ble', just NE of Houston) bought all remaining bits of DMC, I get to see 'em on the freeway occasionally.
{B+, A+, B; B+} {ha!}
MmeD - LOL! I didn't leave the house this eve but spent $$ at Amazon and $$$$ @iflyswa.com [Whoot -- the Fam is going to IL for New Years!]
Picard - Cool Pix [see: FAVE]. Curious, was NADER aloof or down-to-earth with the "commoners?" I admire his product-safety work but as a politician... Jury's out.
Welcome back Misty and WC!
Obligatory music links:
GWEN and No Doubt's biggest Single (that I liked) . [I have the CD]
Men at Work's DOCTOR hEKYLL and Mr. Jive.
And I didn't know The WHO did a DJ & MH until I Googled. [MA - it's just meh].
Y'all have a great night; I've got to chase down the code for the MEMORY-smash exploit in the old Microsoft Equation Editor [which is still on your computer if you have Office - PSA: update folks]. Hopefully this won't take 'til DAWN.
Cheers, -T
Hi everybody. Lucina, Del Mar is south of us, near San Diego. We are about an hour and 30 minutes north of there and about five miles south of LAX.
ReplyDeletePicture a psychiatrist's office. Look at the sofa. There appears to be a reindeer with a red nose laying on the couch. Rudolph speaks: "All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call me names."
Psychiatrist: "And how did that make you feel?"
Bill G. Was that comic in Highlights or The New Yorker? :-)
ReplyDeleteAnon T, many thanks for the welcome back. Ol'Man Keith, how cool that you still buy a live Christmas tree. I've been using a little plastic fellow for years--not nearly as Christmassy.
ReplyDeleteIf you do not say door sill, what do you call it? Our carpenter and painter use that word. Interesting origin of threshold.
ReplyDeleteWell finding the code was kinda easy (OLE/DDE, again. - update your boxes folks).
ReplyDeleteFrom the where are they now? file -- No Doubt [OK, where where they were 5yrs ago for you nits].
Misty - we still get a live tree. Enchanted Gardens, around the bend, will deliver a nice 8+' FIR. We usta take 'em up to BIL's lake house to house/bait the bass but now I havta get more creative to create garden mulch. They do smell nice even if it kicks up indoor allergies / competes w/ my cookies :-)
Nite! -T
YR - I've always called it a threshold- Door Sill was new to me. I get it; just never heard it. [watch, someone will say it or I'll read it tomorrow :-)]. -T
ReplyDeleteGreetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Clare, David and Gary!
Nice puzzle. Only problem was MALIK.
Still sick.
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
Picard, let me speak for the 99.9%
ReplyDeleteBy all means CONTINUE!
Off to the VA again. Eye exams.
WC