I am back serving as DAB's caddie for the third time. He had his debut on a Friday at the end of last year and now he has another December offering. Today he has terms from theater (theatre to some) hiding them in words and phrases. There is no reveal but each clue refers to "theater" letting you know which fill are art of the theme. You then have a hint to what the fill will be. I enjoyed CAST IN STONE and FLOOD STAGE the most. My youngest directed and appeared in a play that took place in a pool they constructed onstage. Anyway, back to my last review of the year, David has some sparkle in the fill THIRDLY, SPIDERWEB and STORMS OFF, but again with 5 themers there was not much room for more. With the cluing giving you the theme, I thought this was a late gift to you all. Let's get detailed.
18A. Text for a mailroom theater production? : POSTSCRIPT(10). This is outlier, as it is but one word, but imagined as POST SCRIPT. If you look at it that way we have 1/5 with the theater word at the end and 2/3/4 with the first word the theater word.
23A. Statue of a theater troupe? : CAST IN STONE (11). I love this as the mental picture of an entire cast sculpted in stone is cool.
38A. World leader in the theater? : ACTING PRESIDENT (15). Ronald Reagan anyone? Or perhaps you like KIRKMAN.
48A. Squawker in a theater performance? : PLAY CHICKEN (11). It conjures up non-theater images. LINK.
56A. Theater backdrop for a biography of Noah? : FLOOD STAGE (10). Cute.
Across:
1. Ovation fraction: CLAP. I was pleased that I filled this and the perps confirmed I was right.
5. Overstress, with "on": HARP.
9. "Hungarian Rhapsodies" composer: LISZT. How about number No. 2.
14. Shout: YELL.
15. Notion: IDEA.
16. Let down, as hair: UNPIN. My thought: LINK.
Walk right in, sit right down
Baby, let your hair hang down
Walk right in, sit right down
Baby, let your hair hang down
17. Silents star Naldi: NITA. I do not know why I remembered this name, but it must be related to doing crossword puzzles.
20. Much Byzantine art: ICONS. You ready to BUY?
22. Put on: HIRED. My mind went to the other meanings.
27. CPR provider: EMT.
30. Upside-down forest hangers: SLOTHS.
31. Scottish landscape feature: BRAE. Luckily I read Hamish Macbeth novels. LINK.
32. Dorm VIPs: RAS. Resident Advisors,
35. "... __ saw Elba": ERE I. We are seeing a lot of ELBA these days.
36. Shellfish order: PRAWNS. Time we all understood this CRUSTACEAN.
41. Literary family name: BRONTE. Three sisters. Very Chekov.
42. Ottoman officials: DEYS. I knew of the beys, but not these OFFICIALS.
43. Large inlet: BAY. A different bey.
44. Shipping hazard: BERG. ICEBERG?
45. Shepherds' charges: FLOCKS.
47. Brief belief: ISM.
53. Taters: SPUDS. Very common in the hills and mountains.
55. Consolation beginning and ending: THERE. There, there dear it will be all right.
61. Auto club recommendations: INNS. I need advice on the outs.
62. Clear of mist: DEFOG. Not as necessary as deicing.
63. Measure of skills: EXAM.
64. Part of CBS: Abbr. : SYST.
65. Prepare beans, Mexican-style: REFRY. Refried beans are really just beans with some seasoning, mushed up. It’s like hummus, actually. And the word “refried”? Well, that’s not even what you think. It doesn’t mean fried twice (horrors!) – It’s just an English translation of “refrito” which is Spanish means “well fried” or “cooked well.” See LINK.
66. Nonpayment consequence: REPO.
67. Yoga needs: MATS. Last week we had poses.
Down:
1. Pessimist: CYNIC.
- A cynic is someone who refuses to believe;
- A pessimist is someone who has given up on believing;
- A skeptic is someone who is reluctant to believe. Psychology Today.
2. German camera: LEICA. LINK.
4. Photosynthesis users: PLANTS.
5. Trendy: HIP.
6. Stir: ADO.
7. Hi-__ image: RES, I initially wanted DEF.
8. Compassion-evoking quality: PATHOS. I minored in English and we were taught all about Pathos, Bathos and other criticism from a wonderful TEACHER.
9. It may be filthy: LUCRE. Money; originally, money obtained dishonestly. For example, She didn't like the job but loved the filthy lucre in the form of her weekly paycheck. This term comes from the Bible (Titus 1:11), where it refers to those who teach wrongly for the sake of money. In time it came to be used loosely, and usually jokingly, for money in general, and in the mid-1900s gave rise to the jocular slang term the filthy for “money.” Dictionary.com.
10. As to: IN RE.
11. Catcher of small prey: SPIDERWEB. Very fun clue/fill, though I have seen some big spiderwebs. Like many big things, the picture is from Texas.
12. Close, as a parka: ZIP.
13. Explosive letters: TNT.
19. Reason for regret: SIN.
21. Like the last letter in a column? : SILENT. I love this kind of simple misdirection.
24. Norway, in Norway: NORGE. Norge is Norwegian, Danish and Swedish for Norway.
25. Dance part: STEP. Step by step; slowly I turned....
26. Adverb after a second contract item: THIRDLY. Not really. the word is not in fashion in contract drafting.
28. Food for the wandering Israelites: MANNA.
29. Irritable: TESTY.
31. Serious, as an injury: BAD.
32. Jewish teacher: RABBI. Master, teacher —used by Jews as a term of address (Webster's). Not a religious figure historically.
33. Farm parts: ACRES.
34. Departs in anger: STORMS OFF.
36. "Fooled you!" : PSYCH. Did anyone see the MOVIE?
37. Take a chance: RISK IT.
39. Having one sharp: IN G.
40. Anti-discrimination agcy. : EEOC.
45. Like the tortoise in the fable, ultimately: FASTER. Does winning the race make him faster? I think not.
46. Religious division: SCHISM.
48. Rotund: PUDGY. Pugsley? He is GONE.
49. Mormons, initially: LDS. Latter Day Saints.
50. African nation on the Indian Ocean: KENYA.
51. Surrealist Max: ERNST. I love elephants.
52. Forest homes: NESTS. All you needed to know and MORE.
54. Needy: POOR. These days needy is more associated with emotional issues.
56. HST predecessor: FDR. Harry S. Truman. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
57. "Fever" singer Peggy: LEE.
58. Hatchet: AXE. 40 years after I met the people who would become the band AXE, they are putting out a new album. Listen to a rock and roll ballad.
60. Punk rock offshoot: EMO. Did you KNOW?
2017 was quite a year for me, as Charles Dickens wrote "It was the best of times. it was the worst of times." I end the year very grateful for my life, my friends here at the Corner, my wonderful family and all the excitement of the roller coaster ride that is my life. I also am grateful for Mr. Bywaters and the 27 other constructors who provided the puzzles which I (and my pinch hitters) have brought you every Friday. Special thanks to C.C.and Rich Norris and wishing you all a great 2018. For all of you being beset by the cold and snow, be careful. Hope to see you back here next year. Lemonade out.
Once there was a Turkish DEY
ReplyDeleteWho went to visit a Scottish BAY.
He dined on PRAWNS
And watched the dawn
As the sun rose SILENT o'er the BRAE!
When it comes to diets, the RABBI is the master!
His IDEAS on what to eat, like his waist, could not be vaster!
"The best-est diet is to fast
Then your PUDGY-ness will pass
That's what I do -- twice a day! -- at fasts, no one is FASTER!"
{C, B+.}
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to David and Lemonade!
Fun puzzle! Had trouble with HIRED but eventually got it. Nasty clue!
Very warm here.
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. I had fun with today's puzzle, which seemed quite easy for a Friday. I caught on to the theme early on with the POST-SCRIPT.
ReplyDeleteWe saw many SLOTHs while in the Amazon 3 years ago. They are actually harder to spot than one would realize because they barely move. Mothers carry their babies on their backs. If a baby falls off, the mother will rarely climb down the tree to retrieve her young one - it would just take too much energy to do so!
Another cold day here, but again, cold is relative.
QOD: You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you. ~ Mary Tyler Moore (Dec. 29, 1936 ~ Jan. 25, 2017)
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteGot 'er done, and in near record time, too. I tripped over OBESE/PUDGY and AGAS/DEYS, but avoided a face-plant. TESTY is what DW calls me, when she's being kind. Thanx, DAB and L714.
Good morning all. Very much enjoyed this puzzle. Seemed difficult at first but filled in steadily after Cast in stone. Thot plump for48down but then saw spuds and pudgy sped up the ending . Feeling of wellbeing follows a neat puzzle with no erasures or write overs. Some decorations will start coming down today but will leave the outside lites on for the enjoyment of those whose holidays last longer than ours.:-))
ReplyDeleteHi y'all! Thank you, David & Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteI got the theme early, but thought it was too simple to be the actual Friday theme.
Last to fill was the "Y" in PSYCH/DEY. "Fooled you" didn't mean PSYCH to me & I didn't know DEYS. Tried "agas".
Lemony, that Texas picture looks more like WEB worms than SPIDER WEBS. I used to get them on my mulberry trees and either had to jerk them down and stomp on the little vermin or spray them.
PK, it was described as a 'communal' spider web created by a colony of spiders. Here is the LINK .
ReplyDeleteI hahTOOlah found this to be easy for a Friday. For a change the gimmick helped me solve the puzzle instead of being a chore for afterward. Like D-O I erased obese. I also had STORMS Out before STORMS OFF.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like PSYCHE for "fooled you" and AXE for "hatchet". But those were made up for by the glistening clue "...last letter in a column" for SILENT. Let the trumpets blare!
When I saw Lemony's "spider webs" I thought they looked like what we called tent caterpillars. Dangerous to a tree, as is mistletoe.
Thanks to David and Lemonade for a fun final Friday.
FLN, thanks for the marathon story, OMK. I felt like I was there with you, even though I never liked running in races. Basketball was my aerobic sport.
Lemony thanks for the video. learn something new every day here at the Corner.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Bravo, bravo! Author, author!
-The YELL Kings of 1956 for the University of Oregon
-A lot of seasonal help PUT ON for the holidays are probably now or will soon be laid off
-Many TV shepherds look to fleece the FLOCK
-SPUDS are common here but NOT puh TAY tohs!
-Where do you fall on Oscar Wilde’s CYNIC/Sentimentalist scale?
-I grew up in a house with a NORGE refrigerator
Thanks for the entertaining and generous review.
ReplyDeleteI post a free crossword every Saturday on my website, at davidalfredbywaters.com
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteEasy solve for a Friday. No look-ups; no white-outs. Got the theme without hassle and it helped make the solve flow. Wanted PRAWNS but had to wait for SPIDER WEB to drop down. Same with 'storm out' or STORM OFF. Took the perps' word for DEYS. Meatiest fill was LUCRE which we've had before. Great intro, Lemonade.
SPUD - The potato peeler-slicer-dicer (KP guy) on a ship is sometimes called the SPUD cox'n.
column - NOW they tell me the 'n' is SILENT after all these years. How do you pronounce 'columnar'? Methinks the cheese gets a little binding.
Thank you, David A. Bywaters, for your entertaining grid and for posting your comments. It's always nice to be visited by a constructor.
ReplyDeleteAnd a hearty CLAP for this puzzle. I liked the ACTING theme! And I love that I got LISZT on the first try!
Just as SLOTHS are abundant in Costa Rica, those large SPIDERWEBS are along highway 40 in Texas, as Lemonade noted, and in Oklahoma. Scary looking things.
FLOCKS/SCHISM crossing each other doesn't bode well.
Well done on explaining REFRY, Lemonade. And thank you for your always scholarly commentaries on Fridays.
I'm going to a lunch with my ex-nun group. We were 10 but have lost two and so we've shrunk but still a lot of fun especially with some husbands in attendance. Tamales will be served.
Have a sensational Friday, everyone!
Here is that link corrected:
ReplyDelete<a href=https://www.davidalfredbywaters.com/>website</a>
He has a lot of other stuff in there too, so search the page for ".puz" to find the puzzles.
Quick, but interesting Friday puzzle. Thanks, DAB, and thanks for your always enjoyable review, Lemony.
ReplyDeleteNOTION reminds me of my PA Dutch Grandma who would say, “He’s notioned that way,” for that’s how he thinks. I have never heard it anywhere else.
Interesting article, Lemony. The terms prawn and shrimp seem to be used interchangeably. Culinary wise, without their exoskeleton, they are the same in taste, texture and use, so IMO it macht nichts. Here are a few more biological differences. I find it interesting about the eggs.See below.
•Shrimp have branching gills, a side plate that overlays segments in front and behind, and carry their eggs outside of their bodies beneath their tails.
•Prawns have lamellar gills, side plates that overlap tile-like from front to back, and carry their eggs inside their bodies near their tails.
Wikipedia lists many kinds of AXES, including the hatchet. The dictionary says a hatchet is “a small ax with a short handle for use in one hand.” But, the term axe brings to mind the long handled tree feller.
types of axes
Slang- Teens laughingly say , “Psych!” meaning, “I fooled you!”
Hand up for playing S.P.U.D. as a kid.
Nifty puzzle with only a couple of changes and no unknowns. After CAST IN STONE was filled the puzzle was a speed run. Had to change STORMS OUT to OFF and HI-DEF to HI-RES. It had a ghosts from Xwords past NITA Naldi and BRAE.
ReplyDeleteACTING PRESIDENT- every one of them and just about every blowhard grandstanding politician.
Jinx- I've never seen PSYCH for 'fooled you' except in a crossword puzzle. I must be a saying from some other place than where I live.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI agree that this was relatively easy but not a walk in the park. I had Agas before Deys, which I have never heard of and Moor before Brae. I, too, didn't like the clue for Psych. Have never watched that show and wasn't aware of the movie, either. I caught the theme early and that helped with the rest of the solve.
Thanks, David, for a fun Friday and thanks, Lemony, for the detailed expo and the numerous links and visuals. (You certainly had a roller coaster 2017! Hope 2018 is a lot less bumpy.)
What a wise woman Mary Tyler Moore was, Hatoolah.
Our deep freeze continues as does my hibernation! (I wonder what Mr. Meow is up to in the Sunshine state.)
Have a great day.
Fun Friday. Thanks David and Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteQuick post while DH has visiting granddaughters out tubing. They will be hungry when they return. Baby it's cold outside!
Smiled at the timely shepherds watching their FLOCKS.
Also smiled at ERE I saw Elba.
Hand up for Agas before DEYS.
I have many beautiful memories, photos and trinkets from safari in KENYA.
I have heard the expression "to PSYCH somebody out" meaning to fool them.
Must run.
Enjoy the day!
I just now read that PSYCH is so nineties. These days it's, JUST KIDDIN'. I guess I am dated. I don't see many teens these days.
ReplyDeleteDo we still use the term to psych somebody out, as in to intimidate or undermine the confidence of?
C Eh! Your DH is so brave to take the kids tubing. I just run between the car and the house.
Lucina, enjoy your lunch with your ex-nun friends.
Good Morning!
ReplyDeleteHatoolah is quite correct! It's 18 today, and it feels so much warmer!
David, thanks for a doable Friday. I checked all my perps today before I filled. I usually run across then down. It's faster but less efficient in the long run.
Thanks, Lemonade for the tour and especially for your closing comments; very nicely done. Plus you opened with the quote from the novel of my origin! ;-) I, too, had Agas before DEYS. The S in HST technically doesn't have a . following it as it is not an initial but simply a letter. I have played CHICKEN often--only my form is hoping I have enough yarn to finish knitting something without having to alter the pattern. It's especially true with a skein of something very expensive like Merino, Silk and Cashmere. We call it Playing Yarn Chicken! Guilty as charged.
OKL: I never thank you enough for sharing your clever brilliance. Merci beaucoup!
FLN: Thanks, Bluehen, for your good humor, though mostly for sharing the importance of introspection at this age.
Anon-T: Welcome to home Illinois--where our governors make our license plates! Stay cozy!
Enjoy this day everyone.
Madame Defarge, I think my favorite Chicago-related quote was Mayor Richard J Daley in 1968, the year of that disastrous Democratic convention: "Gentlemen, let's get the thing straight, once and for all. The policeman isn't there to create disorder; the policeman is there to preserve disorder."
ReplyDeleteLoved the theme! I like that these are all common expressions that can be interpreted in a new way. And all stage related.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the LISZT piece, Lemonade. I listened to it as I read your write-up and the comments. I loved the ERNST painting, too.
Last to fall was the area involving PRAWNS. I eat them at least a couple of times a month, but I was stuck thinking of hard-shelled sea animals.
Good that you also got to see SLOTHS in the Amazon, Hahtoolah.
Here is a photo I got of a SLOTH along the Amazon
The first SLOTH I saw in the wild was in a city park in San Jose, Costa Rica. My photo of that one is not as good.
Anyone else try CARP before HARP?
PATHOS was a learning moment. DEYS unknown. Was not sure if it would be RES or REZ. One of my editors often uses REZ.
My father had two LEICA cameras which he used for about fifty years. Unlike today, where digital cameras become obsolete in a few years.
I think PSYCH is kind of a junior high term. I may have heard it back then.
Regarding tortoise and hare or Rex and the sharpei: as Bill Parcells said ' You are what you are."
ReplyDeleteYarn chicken. Lol.
Good morning...or good afternoon, depending...
ReplyDeleteThanks DAB and Lemon. Good stuff.
OK, I know it will make me sound and feel intellectually challenged but I just don't get "Ovation fraction": CLAP. Is it just that a clap is a part of a larger ovation? If so, that seems pretty weak and forced.
I almost almost got this whole wonderful Friday puzzle, but ended up with a single blank right in the middle because I didn't know D_YS. Never heard of them, but should have guessed or remembered EEOC. Oh well, it's a Friday, and the clues and theater answers were so much fun! Many thanks, David, and thanks for stopping by and visiting the blog. And Lemonade, your write-up this morning was wonderful--detailed, full of wonderful and helpful explanations, witty, and your sign-off was emotional. A lovely visit from you at the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteLiked your first poem, Owen. Loved hearing about your ex-nun get-together, Lucina.
We are having one of the loveliest, sunniest mornings ever here in southern California, at the end of December, if you can believe it. I am so thankful for this.
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody!
Lucina, do you former nuns meet whenever the spirit moves you, or is it now a habit? (I'm so sorry. I may have to spend a little time in a hot place for the bad puns, and maybe some more for irreverence.)
ReplyDeleteI agree with YR that PSYCHE is a better fit for "intimidate" than "to fool". We could use our old CW friend "DEKE" for "to fool". But I'm not often around teens any longer (grandson will be one next year), so I'm not "hip" (and really, never was).
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteNice Friday puzzle; just enough difficulty without making you search the Internet for every answer. I filled in the Pacific and Mountain "time zones" with no errors other than a write-over in 24d (NORSE > NORGE). The only trouble spot for me was filling in PRAWNS/PSYCH, but perps helped immensely
Lots of great opp's for puns. I chose the solve in 45a (FLOCKS) as my target. Here are two for your groans and giggles. The first is new; the second is a replay ... HNY to all of you here at the Corner.
In the continuing season of Christmas (as we are now officially in the 12 day period before Epiphany), here's my Moe-ku (
Biblical shepherds
Started gardening. Now they
Watch their PHLOX by night.
Limerick, which uses a word from earlier in the week, as well as the singular from 45a:
A young hooker ran into a priest,
Shortly after her "John" had deceased;
She confessed, she had sinned,
But she felt no chagrin,
There were scores from his FLOCK she had FLEECED.
I enjoyed the theater entries in this puzzle. As for the tortoise, I immediately filled in WINNER, which wasn't the right answer. No, the tortoise was NOT faster; in fact the explicit moral of the story is "Slow and steady wins the race." He was the winner in spite of being slower.
ReplyDeleteWanted AGAS and then BEYS, but it was the unknown-to-me DEYS.
Okay, I'll accept that a hatchet is one kind of AXE.
Bill G, I think you have it right: a single CLAP is one small fraction of an entire ovation. (Somehow my thinking at first ran along the lines of ovulation.)
I usually think of THERE THERE as the beginning of a consolation, not the ending.
Hard for me to see much of a relationship between "Put on" and HIRED.
Interesting about the SLOTH, Hahtoolah.
Best wishes to you all.
jayce, is there something you want to tell us about ovulation resulting in the clap?
ReplyDeleteA neat Friday Ta- DA! - thanks to Mr. Bywaters with yeoman support from Lemonade. Today we had the added pleasure of a triple diagonal to guide our opening fills.
ReplyDeleteThe only hangup for me along that route was 42A. Like desper-ottto, CanadianEh, Madame DeF, and several more, I first filled with with AGAS, then changed to BEYS, thus exhausting the only two Turkish titles I know.
But what good is a Xwd without a learning experience? Common sense (via the perp at 26D) made me switch to DEYS, augmenting my slender knowledge of Ottoman diplomacy with yet another rank.
Sorry, Misty, that that happened to be the one that set a BERG before your otherwise smooth sailing...
For a Friday, this was a solid winner! It wasn't a breeze, but neither was it a gale in the opposite direction.
T G I F friends! - the last Friday ever of this annus horribilis ...
Lemonade: thank you for the link to the spiders. Those webs could catch small birds, methinks. Wonder if all those spiders are from the same mother? Gives me the creeps thinking of the generations of spiders making those webs. And I've always been interested in entomology since I was small.
ReplyDeleteLemonade: I also hope you have a better 2018. You deserve to enjoy some better health. Your zest for living gives me a boost in spirit many times.
I didn't know a SLOTH had black & grey striping on its back like Picard's pictures show. What with YR's shrimp vs PRAWN data, we are having a real nature field trip today.
I've decided there must have been a SLOTH in my gene pool somewhere. I used to be such a multi-tasker and was disgusted because my aging parents just sat around and didn't do anything. That "bird" has come home to roost now.
ReplyDeleteThe tortoise may not have been fleeter, but was faster to the finish line.
Harry Bennett was was put on the payroll to perform one job - protect Henry Ford.
Chairman Moe, your PHLOX Moe-ku cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteOl'Man Keith, I think I understand your diagonals for the first time. If I look at the grid, there are three places where there are no breaks in three of the diagonal areas. I'll have to try solving this way some time next week to see how it works.
You're welcome, Jinx in Norfolk, and thanks to Misty and others who enjoyed my marathon tale (yesterday).
ReplyDeleteBill G, you see how much we learn in this Corner: you and your buds weren't the only tar-chewers! As to your marathon experience, I bow to your superior time - and especially to your determination to beat the clock by seconds. In my defense let me point out that I took up running rather late in the game. I didn't get serious about it until my 40s. It was mainly for cardiac health that I got into it, as heart disease runs in my family.
The Flip Side. Running turned out to do real good for me. My heart is strong, and I have already outlived every known member of my branch of the family.
But no tale will satisfy w/o a touch of irony. While my heart is strong, I must now use a cane, and I can no longer walk for any real distance w/o support.
Spinal stenosis - brought on by years of running on hard streets - turned out to be the flip side of my exercise regimen.
As the French say, "C'est la vie! C'est la *#@! vie!"
CLAP is striking the hands together once-small praise! Or maybe the sound of one hand clapping.
ReplyDeleteShellfish order: “Take that out of here!” (I dislike most shellfish.)
Does “you give me fever” mean the same thing as “you make me sick”?
It was a Friday puzzle that I was able to fill in even though I didn't get the theme until Lemon explained it. Good one David and Lemon as usual was spot on.
ReplyDeleteI agree pretty much with what Irish Miss said except for getting the theme.
As others said - Hand up for AGA vs DEY, I had SHEEP vs FLOCKS (even though Sheep was too short), NORSE vs NORGE, (to me a NORGE is an appliance) and if there were 6 spaces it would have been GOTCHA vs PSYCH.
Silence is the sound of one hand Clapping.
At first I thought a religious division was a SECT but it was too short.
To me 56d "HST predecessor" should be OAO. Why you ask. HST, otherwise known as the Hubble Space Telescope was the follow-on mission to the OAO, known as the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory which was the trailblazer of astronomy satellites.
Bitterly cold here as it is in a large part of the country today. Unlike Erie, PA which is less than 150 miles away, we only had some snow flurries vs. over 5 feet of snow on the ground. BRRRRRRR!
I hope all have plenty of warmth inside and some libations (cheers to Tin) to enjoy while looking outside at the weather and not out shoveling or otherwise enduring it.
You got it, Misty. Today's central diagonal runs from square 1 to square 225 (using actual numbers, not "game fill" numbers), and this is flanked by lines between squares 2 & 210 and squares 16 & 224.
ReplyDeleteRemember, this is just for fun. It doesn't make solving any easier. It may impose an extra obstacle. I like the "look" of it.
To do it seriously, just fill in the letters that are on the diagonal line, leaving the rest of the words blank (or very lightly inked, as I do). But on days when I'm feeling lazy, I will write in the whole words, and I think that brings a certain ich weiß nicht to it.
BTW, Misty, be sure to check the opposite side of the grid for a "mirror" version of the diagonals. (Today's pzl does not offer such a counterpart.)
ReplyDeleteAnd once you have completed filling in your diagonal(s) and taken a few seconds pause to admire your accomplishment (maybe snap a photo of a hard win?), remember to go ahead and finish solving the rest of the pzl!
The diagonal challenge is purely a matter of self-discipline. There is no bonus, no prize to be had - except maybe for bragging rights when you sign onto this forum!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteHand up for pausing at Clap and Psych as clued. Perp reinforcement was needed. Fridays are like that.
I was unaware of Leica cameras until a college photography class. The teacher had one, and demonstrated it to us; it was a marvel of compact efficiency, and nearly noiseless compared to a big clunky SLR camera.
Lucina - I was reminded of you while watching “Novitiate” in the local art cinema. It’s a film which follows a young woman’s unexpected decision to become a nun, in a strict early 60’s setting, and the journey she takes. The big changes of Vatican II figure in to the story as well.
Hands up for this one!
ReplyDeleteoc4beach reminds us that "Silence is the sound of one hand clapping."
We are all familiar with the supposedly unanswerable Zen Ko-an, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"
But when I was a bit younger - and my hands were free of arthritis - I could rather easily make the sound of one hand clapping. (I can't do it any more, so maybe I am now in the position of those old grey monks who loved to trap newbies with paradoxical dares.)
But back then it was just a matter of flipping or snapping my fingers back against the heel of my palm. I could do it with either hand, and it made a very detectable sound.
Try it, kids!
Can't you do it?
Psyche, with an E, (two syllables, sigh kee) means human soul, spirit or mind.
ReplyDeletePsych, without the E, has so many meanings.
I studied hard, I am all psyched up for this test. Braced for. Mentally prepared
You’re a real hero. Psych! The same as you’re a real hero. Not!!! Kidding! (So 90’s)
He psyched out his opponent with trash talk. Intimidated. I think this is still used.
My favorite was ovation fraction, clap. An ovation is enthusiastic applause or clapping. One clap is a small fraction of the applause.
I agree with TTP @ 2:30. The hare's top speed was faster, but his total speed to the finish was slower. If a horse runs at top speed for two laps and then becomes lame and walks slowly to the finish, his top speed is not the fastest in that race.
Stores put on or hire more help for the Christmas shopping season.
We are home for the night and will built a fire soon. I am looking forward to reading by the fire and enjoying my Christmas tree. For me the Christmas season lasts at least until New Year's Day. I keep my decorations up until Jan. 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, Three King's Day, Little Christmas, Twelfth Night, whatever you may call it.
Speaking of tricky, multidirectional, clues, oc4beach, someday -- but not this year -- I'm going to clue like this:
ReplyDelete"Name and number of the founder of the capital city of Georgia."
This will drive everyone crazy, as the the capitol history of the state of Georgia is wacky, but the capitol of the nation of Georgia is Tbilisi, whose founder was King Vakhtang I.
Oh, Michael, surely you would never be so cruel as to use that clue in our beloved cw. Man, you'd give us ulcers!
ReplyDeleteAs we approach the 10th anniversary of this blog, I think it is good to look forward and to look back.
ReplyDeleteThank you PK, Madame Defarge (I thought you might recognize the quotation)and Picard for your specific comments today; thank everyone form commenting, David B. for stopping by, Bluehen for humor, OKL. Moe and the rest for creativity, all who comment and all readers - even the crazies.
Well, I may give the diagonal a shot on Monday, if the puzzle allows it. Thanks for all the advice, Ol'Man Keith.
ReplyDelete'Evenin' Cornighters,
ReplyDeleteI could sum it up with exactly WEES!
That would be too easy, and incorrect to boot. Thanks to Mr. ByWaters for a CW that challenged me repeatedly, and yet I FIR. Sir, are you relate to Mr. Shoreline?
Lemony, my link button almost overheated durong your review. I'm leaving my typo because it reminds me of sarong which reminds me of saran. I believe that wraps up that thought pattern.
At 48A your link reminded me of one of the reasons I am divorced. My ex liked action movies which I reviewed by the CPM rate. That is crashes per minute. I am glad your next link was to classical music. My heart rate recovered nicely.
At 68A you explained why refried beans are so. I have wondered for a long time. Now about biscuits, are they really baked twice? Do crackers really make a cracking sound while they bake? My inquiring mind wants to know. Where is Alexa when I need her?
11D I have seen some beautiful large webs, and watched the spider at work, on monitor, and spinning a cocoon around tomorrow's lunch.
Thanks for Peggy Lee, and Axe. Axe was new to me, and excellent.
I carefully read each post, and could have replied to each of the 45 at this time, but one needs a reply.
D-O 212P
You deserve a standing ovulation for your question to Jayce.
Dave deux, French
You are funny, desper-otto. I like your sense of humor. I imagine your potato dumplings are excellent, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you D2. Bobby Barth who is singing and playing the guitar is a wonderful musician and songwriter who has suffered from bad management, poor support from record labels and timing.
ReplyDeleteFor something completely different, here is the 1983 VIDEO for their rock and roll anthem.
Speaking of which, D-O you rock.
Two-handed clap for D-O and all our other wits on the blog! Altogether now: clap, clap, clap...
ReplyDeleteI finally went on Facebook last night so I could follow my son's family in London. DIL has already posted over 100 pictures. What is depressing to me are all the things I saw on my kids' Facebook pages that I never knew they did in the past year. I have absolutely nothing to put on my Facebook page.
Beware, Misty, when a handsome devil tries to corrupt you and entice you down the primrose (a/k/a diagonal) path. LOL! Why make cws harder than they already are, I say. Keith do you do everything the hardest way?
Lemony 702P
ReplyDeleteThat one was different alright. The nun in full habit dancing at the end segues to...
Lucina 1002A
She said "I'm going to a lunch with my ex-nun group. We were 10 but have lost two and so we've shrunk but still a lot of fun especially with some husbands in attendance. Tamales will be served."
Please forgive my ignorance. I thought that a nun stayed so till death. The concept of ex-nun is new to me. When, and how does one become an ex?
Dave duo, Latin
I didn't even see the tie to Mass till now.
D4: it is fairly common for a nun to realize she can no longer live as a nun and to leave whatever order to which she has belonged. I have a cousin who taught math at a Catholic college as a nun, left the order and continued to hold the same job. She just wanted to have more control over her own life. Never married but enjoyed owning her own house and traveling with money she inherited.
ReplyDeleteOh, my goodness, where to start?
ReplyDeleteJinx
LOL! No we can't give up the habit of gathering for birthdays, holidays, weddings, funerals, etc. The bond is tight and strong as we all belonged to the same Community and some of us have known each other since our teens. We enjoy each other. For Christmas we draw names and give each other gifts. Great fun ensues.
Dave 2
As PK well explained, nuns can decide to leave the religious life as I did after 15 years of community life. It requires the Pope's permission but it is obtained through intermediaries.
Two of our friends have died as well as two husbands, so actually we lost four of the group. The men get along well, too.
Really good jokes here today. desper-otto: great response to Jayce!
Dudley: thank you for thinking of me. Was that a good movie? If you recall, my picture as a novice was posted by C.C. some time ago.
Hello from Springfield, IL where it's &*$!ing cold! :-). Thanks for the welcome home Mde DeFarge. TTP, my thermals are donned.
ReplyDeleteThis is two weeks in a row where Wed & Thurs hung me out to dry (NW & NE respectively this week) but I got Friday's sans outside help.
Catching up - I liked Jeff's O'puzzle and learned AGA which was useless and almost LETHAL today (DEYS' perps were solid though). Fun expo as usual, Steve [I liked SCOUR too]. No, OKL, never chewed tar; no, no one, I've never run more than 2 miles (and that's cuz the Army made me). {A}
Today's puzzle was fun thespian-bent take on phrases. I sussed the theme at ACTING PRESIDENT. I finished last in the N.Central where the theme gave me POST and I was able to finish post-haste. Thanks for the puzzle David. Thanks too, Lem, for the expo.
WO: RTEs b/f AAA guided me to INNS.
ESPs: DEYS, NITA & LEICA; obviously the I was a WAG.
Fav: ERE, I - going back to the palindrome puzzle again :-)
{B+,B}
THERE, THERE, kind Cornerites, PSYCH is for real. Imagine someone dangling the keys to their Alfa in front of you and asks, "You wanna drive." As I watch the excitement build in your face I then YELL, "PSYCH!" //translation, as if I'd let someone else drive my baby (Oh, that, and it doesn't start :-)). Like Jinx said, it's a product of the '90s.
Y'all have a great night.
Cheers, -T
OM Keith: I too was never an excellent athlete. My successes came later in life from hard work. I was about 40 when I ran my first 10K and probably around 45 when I tried my one and only marathon. I too have spinal stenosis and for the same reason that you suffer from it. (Or maybe the tar chewing was responsible...) I don't use a cane yet but my walking gait is sometimes a bit wobbly. I lean on the shopping cart as I wend my way around the supermarket.
ReplyDeleteGood evening to all.