23A. *Menace to society : PUBLIC ENEMY. Yemen.
25A. *Old-school letters : SNAIL MAIL. Mali.
49A. *Tropical cocktail : MANGO TANGO. Tonga.
68A. *Neckwear for which Mr. T was once famous (but no longer wears) : GOLD CHAIN. China.
89A. *Hobby shop purchase : MODEL PLANE. Nepal.
109A. *Deluge : HEAVY RAIN. Iran.
33D. *Soap, often : DAYTIME SERIAL. Israel.
39D. *Flu symptoms : ACHES AND PAINS. Spain.
113A. Remote region ... and what literally ends each answer to a starred clue : WILD COUNTRY
C.C. here. Down with a flu. A repeat of that awful episode in 2015. Relentless coughing.
Skeletal write-up today. If you have any question, please ask in the Comments section.
Across:
1. Turn in the box : AT BAT
6. Pour out forcefully : SPEW
10. Sailing : ASEA
14. Dip providing potassium, for short : GUAC. Guacamole.
18. Drink with an umbrella : MAI TAI
20. Scat legend, familiarly : ELLA
21. Diamond slip-up : BALK
22. Austen classic : EMMA
27. A or Angel : ALER. American Leaguer.
28. "Immediately, if not sooner!" : ASAP
30. Jeweler's assortment : RINGS
31. Doc's orders : MEDs. Do you guys all get the flu shot? I never had one.
34. Ryan in a 1998 film, e.g.: Abbr. : PVT. Saving Private Ryan.
36. Macho guys : HE-MEN
38. Party animals? : STAGS
42. BWI posting : ETA
43. Word on a wanted poster : ALIAS
45. Canine protection : ENAMEL
47. Prefix with polis : ACRO
48. Kind of milk or sauce : SOY. I only want cold water and hot jasmine tea.
51. Pledged, in a way : TITHED
53. Common FM radio fare : HIT SONG
55. Hands over : CEDES
56. Sign off on : AGREE TO
57. Bring out : ELICIT
58. "Can I have a __ of your drink?" : SIP
59. "That was close!" : PHEW
60. Coll. term : SEM (Semester)
61. Trial version : DEMO
62. Look forward to : AWAIT
64. Coolly dispassionate : CLINICAL
66. MLB stat : ERA
70. Issue opener? : NON. Non-issue.
71. They're sold as is : USED CARS
73. Choral composition : MOTET
74. Former Laker star Lamar : ODOM. Probably more famous for his marriage to Khloe Kardashian once.
77. Manhattan suffix : ITE
78. Partner : MATE
79. Pine __ : TAR
80. Spot on a horse : DAPPLE
82. Not insist on payment of, as a debt : FORGIVE
84. Weasel-like animal also called a honey badger : RATEL
87. Pirate's ship : CORSAIR
88. Hydrocodone, e.g. : OPIATE
91. "__ Got a Secret": old game show : I'VE
92. Hemsworth of "The Hunger Games" : LIAM. Boyfriend of Miley Cyrus.
93. Justice replaced by Gorsuch : SCALIA
95. Major artery : AORTA
96. Zilch : NIL
97. Broad valleys : DALES
99. Divvy up : ALLOT
100. Part of Q and A: Abbr. : ANS (Answers)
101. "By Jove!" : I SAY
102. "Gone With the Wind" family name : O'HARA
104. Nothing to write home about : SO SO
107. Loads : A TON
118. Wheel connector : AXLE. Also 37. Fancy wheels : MAGS
119. "In that case ... " : IF SO
120. Leg up : EDGE
121. Body shop application : PRIMER
122. Close by : NEAR
123. Legal document : DEED
124. What Jack Sprat's wife couldn't eat : LEAN
125. Factions : SECTS
Down:
1. Power-increasing gadget : AMP
2. 19th Greek letter : TAU
3. Lobster eater's accessory : BIB
4. Aid in planning a trip : ATLAS
5. Follow : TAIL
6. One percent of a D.C. group--or the group itself : SEN. Senator or Senate.
7. Earnest request : PLEA
8. O'Neill's "Desire Under the __" : ELMS
9. Winning by a mile : WAY AHEAD
10. Six-pack set : ABs
11. Italian Riviera resort : SAN REMO
12. Friend of Jerry, George and Cosmo : ELAINE. "Seinfeld".
13. Comparable : AKIN
14. Idaho nickname : GEM STATE
15. Actress Thurman : UMA
16. Brest friend : AMI
17. Silent __: White House nickname : CAL
19. Factory with frozen assets : ICE PLANT
24. "Dr." with MVP awards : ERVING. Dr. J.
26. Some smartphones : LGs
29. Rigatoni alternative : PENNE
31. Fit together : MESHED
32. French star : ETOILE
35. Playground game : TAG
40. Storybook sister : GRETEL
41. Doomed biblical city : SODOM
43. Mine, in Metz : A MOI
44. Church gatherings : SOCIALS
46. Three-star mil. officer : LT GEN
50. Hardly gung-ho : TEPID
52. "Crocodile Hunter" Steve __ : IRWIN
54. Brahms creation : SCORE
56. "Ooh! I know this! Gimme __" : A HINT
58. Promised : SWORE
59. Tradesperson : PLIER
62. Type type : AGATE
63. Channel for film buffs : TCM
64. Tree with long beanlike pods : CATALPA
65. Houses with layers : COOPS. Lay-ers. Hens.
67. Fess up : ADMIT
69. Monopoly piece : HOTEL
71. Word from the Greek for "not a place" : UTOPIA
72. Succumbs to pressure : CAVES
75. Singer Newton-John : OLIVIA
76. Just : MERELY
77. Music to a bluffer's ears : I FOLD
80. "Keep going!" : DON'T STOP
81. Square measurement : AREA
83. Words a pinball wizard hates to see : GAME OVER
84. Hot streak : ROLL
85. "So long, José" : ADIOS
86. Kitchen cloth : TEA TOWEL
87. "The Tonight Show" character with a turban : CARNAC
89. Vague unease : MALAISE
90. Mauna __ : LOA
94. Wine choice : CARAFE
98. Short : SHY
101. Navel type : INNIE
103. Extremely dry : ARID
105. Debate team, for example : SIDE
106. Gymnast Korbut : OLGA
108. Yours and mine : OURS
109. Solo in "Star Wars" : HAN
110. PC file suffix : EXE
111. SEC powerhouse : ALA
112. Drop off : NOD
114. Man cave setting : DEN
115. HBO competitor : TMC
116. Collecting Soc. Sec. : RET
117. What birthday candles represent: Abbr. : YRS
C.C.
46 comments:
Hi Y'all! Tough but fun puzzle, Thanks, R.E.L.M. I got all the theme answers except for SPAiN. Can't believe I missed the easiest one there, but I did. The rest of the puzzle was perp & WAGs and going back over the entries until it was filled.
Keith should have a clear-path diagonal for a 3-point shot. (That's a little basketball language in honor of Dr. J. Erving and Lamar ODOM.)
C.C., thanks for coming out of your sickbed to do this for us. Your dedication is astounding. So sorry you have the flu. I never get a flu shot because I had worse illness after taking a shot than I ever did without. My doctor advised me not to take them anymore. I'm just finally feeling better after two weeks of wanting to sleep all the time. Think I had fever, but never got out the thermometer. Had really strange headaches and stiff neck along with other symptoms.
YR: You said I must be proud of my grandsons marching with the band in London. I guess I'm more excited than anything because they have a closed group website that grandmas (with approval) can see all the pictures of the sight-seeing. Tonight I heard a concert given by their school orchestra. I didn't know they went too. Very good. The Edmund, Oklahoma, schools are some of the finest I know of. Things going on there I can't believe in music and science. I guess I'm most proud that my kids and grandkids have opportunities that I never had and the money to experience things I couldn't. These kids had many fund raising projects to be able to take this trip. All hard work was done with great exuberance if the pictures are any indication. Fun!
Today there was a pictures of my red-haired grandsons, son & DIL standing on the Greenwich Prime Meridian marker. We at the Corner had a discussion of that not long ago. I didn't realize it was an actual paved line so that made a big impression to see it.
Lots of w/os. worst: ALIve > ALIAS, bEta > DEMO, WAlk away > WAY AHEAD, ICE house > ICE PLANT, dish rags > TEA TOWEL, wHEW > PHEW. Had a natick at CATA‽PA + RATE‽, tried R first, but when I got no ta-da and everything else looked right, changed it to L for the win!
Needed the title and reveal combined to get the gimmick today. Anagrams aren't my strength, but once I knew it was the entire last word and no more, I figured them all out.
A USED CARS dealer from YEMEN
SWORE never to sell a lemon!
If one came his way
He'd give it away --
In a raffle for ENEMY HE-MEN!
A SHY MAIL sorter from MALI
Used "I SAY!", and "By Jove!" and "Golly!"
Attempts to ELICIT
A response more explicit
Made him SPEW a profane, "GUACAMOLE!!"
ELLA danced on the beaches of TONGA,
Did a TANGO to a Tonga HIT SONG-a.
The ROLL of her hips
Lured sailors from ships
To watch her gyrating sarong-a!
ELAINE loved to list ACHES AND PAINS.
She's happy when she gets to complain.
She claims the U.S.
Is causing her stress --
She blames it on Columbus and SPAIN!
In CHINA we bought a GOLD CHAIN.
In NEPAL, flew an R.C. MODEL PLANE.
Watched a DAYTIME SERIAL
While tarrying in ISRAEL.
But IRAN never gets HEAVY RAIN.
{C, A-, B, B, C.}
Good morning!
This was nice'n'easy romp to end the year. Hand up for WHEW. Tried SIDES for SECTS (105d wasn't filled yet). Thought of Jack Ryan before PVT occurred to me. I even sort of got the theme until I couldn't see a fractured country in TANGO. Figured I didn't have the theme after all. D'oh!
Stay warm, rest up and drink plenty of fluids, C.C. This year we're supposed to get a particularly bad flu season, peaking in January. I get a flu shot every year. Got mine in September. But I've read that this year's serum is only 10% effective. But folks who got the shot and still got the flu have reportedly had an easier time of it. My case wasn't severe.
Oops, forgot to thank RELM for his creativity and C.C. for soldiering on.
Thank you Robert E. Lee Morris and CC.
Straight forward and smooth solve today.
However, I forgot the word MOTET. Only know of it because of crossword puzzles. So MOnET and CAnALPA and looked ok to me. Just finished reading about both MOTET and CATALPA.
CC, sorry to hear you have the flu. My golfing buddy has it. He got the recommended flu shot earlier this year. Still got the flu. The doc told him although the shot is only 10 % effective at preventing it this year, he should still get it. Purportedly, the shot eases the symptoms. Don't know if it would help you if you already have it.
B1G remains undefeated and 7-0 after the Penn State Nittany Lions beat Washington and the Wisconsin Badgers dispatched the Miami Hurricanes yesterday. The B1G has already set the single season record for most bowl wins by a conference. The previous record was 5. Michigan can make it a perfect 8-0 with a win against the Gamecocks of South Carolina on New Years Day. Can't believe this Buckeye fan is saying this, but "Go Blue !"
I finished this pretty quickly, but never got the theme!
Hello Puzzlers -
Finished the puzzle all right, but there was a little head scratching at Agate. I didn’t know there was such a thing as agate type. Must research it a little. Plier was clued singularly, so that worked out well enough.
Pliers, scissors, and pants seem to share that odd “pair of...” prefix, which never made a lot of sense to me when describing a single tool or a single garment.
Morning C.C., thanks for carrying on despite illness. I wish you a speedy recovery!
Good Morning, C.C. and friends. I got the puzzle completed but didn't actually catch the fact that the last word of the starred clues was an anagram. I couldn't see the connection between a WILD COUNTRY and ENEMY, MAIL, TANGO, etc.
Sorry to hear you are suffering from 39-Down, C.C. My office offers flu shots each year. It is so convenient that I generally take advantage. This year, however, the nurse injected the shot in a higher spot on my arm, right near the shoulder joint. It was very painful for about 6 weeks. I could barely lift my arm. It's okay now, though.
Hand up for Whew before PHEW.
My favorite clue was Houses with Layers = COOPS.
PK, how exciting to be able to follow your grandson in London while staying in the comfort of your house. He will have a great time at the parade, too.
We are expecting record breaking cold tonight and the next few days. Stay warm, everyone.
Celebrate the New Year with care.
QOD: Beauty is perfection in its imperfections, so you just have to go with the imperfections. ~ Diane von Furstenberg (b. Dec. 31, 1945)
FIR at AtOI x tANGO TANGO. No V8 needed; I never heard of either.
I grew a lot of ICEPLANT ground cover on the slopes around my Santa Clarita, CA home. With that buffer, tile roof and stucco exterior I was less nervous about brush fires than were my neighbors. Looks like my old neighborhood barely escaped this fall's infernos.
I REALLY didn't want to give up Meg RYAN for PVT, but Dr. J insisted.
Hahtoolah, I liked COOPS too. I think that New Yorkers have a type of high rise dwellings called CO-OPS as well, providing a clever double meaning.
I tried to shoehorn Kentucky in as the SEC powerhouse. UK, no. UofK, no. Oh FOOTBALL, not basketball. UK was once a powerhouse in football too, until a power struggle between Bear Bryant and Adolph Rupp. Rupp won, and Bryant left for 'Bama.
Dudley, I have wondered for a long time why I have a pair of pants, a pair of undies, a pair of glasses, but my sister has a bra (singular).
Thanks REL Morris for a fun puzzle today, even though I failed. I also didn't get the gimmick until CC 'splained it. Thanks also to CC for coming out of sick bay to do the write-up. Hope you feel better soon.
FLN - Chuck Lindgren, there are still lots of jobs available for the academically unsuccessful, but they require WORK. The shipyards in this area don't have enough apprentice candidates to fill future needs. Also, Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" TV show showed a few of the many jobs that won't be eliminated by robots any time soon.
Good Morning:
It took the revealer for me to understand the theme, despite the title. I parsed all of the countries by sight but had to use pencil and paper to figure out Israel. W/os were; Whew/Phew, Atone/Admit, Odem/Odom, and Carson/Carnac. I liked the combo of TCM and TMC. (Every time I check TCM, there is either a silent movie or some C rated film I've never heard of.) Overall, this was a smooth and enjoyable solve with enough crunch to keep me on my toes.
Thanks, Robert, for the worldwide tour and thanks, CC, for being our tour guide. Sorry to hear you're down with the flue and hope you bounce back quickly. I get the flu shot faithfully and, so far, have never had the debilitating flu, just some severe cases of bronchitis and head colds. Feel better soon; I hope Boomer is as good at TLC as he is at the lanes!
I, too, was saddened by the death of Sue Grafton. I just recently purchased her W, X, Y books and was looking forward to finishing the series with Z, which was scheduled for publication in 2018. I'm in the middle of X right now. Having read the entire series, I can say that over the course of these books, Kinsey grew more confident and polished in her PI skills, just as Sue Grafton honed and perfected her literary craftsmanship. RIP, Miss Grafton.
Have a great day and stay warm. I don't envy those souls who will be in frigid Times Square tonight ringing in the New Year!
C.C.,
I empathize with your MALAISE with ACHES AND PAINS. May you get better soon. Thank you for reviewing in your sickness. I wiped down my mouse and keyboard to protect me from your condition going viral !
I look forward to you being AT BAT again soon. I hope you don't SPEW A SEA if you eat a GUAC.
Thank you Mr. Morris for this fine CW. I had to BAV at 25A / 11D N and 34A / 24D V.
Dave 2
Musings
-Get well my friend! Yes, on flu shot.
-YEMEN, of all countries, and the title finally gave me the gimmick
-Ever the provocateurs, Miami U’s gaudy Turnover GOLD CHAIN got mocked a lot last night by victorious Wisconsin
-Disgraced politician Anthony Wiener’s screen ALIAS was Carlos Danger
-My doctor seemed very CLINICAL when I described my incredible pain this year
-I had always thought CORSAIRS were in this poem: 18 I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. 19 More rapid than eagles his COURSERS they came, 20 And he whistled, and shouted, and call’d them by name:
-What a SECRET on that TV show! You can google the video.
-SEN vote on Gorsuch – 52 Rep. and 2 Dem. AYE, 46 Dem. NAY
-EDGE? My nephew is a fabulous math teacher but didn’t even get an interview for a math job that went to the
superintendent’s son
-A natural 19th century ICE PLANT
-TTP – The best conference in college FB can’t even play for the Nat’l Title this year
Drat! My entire post just disappeared and I'll have to come back later because now I have to get ready to go to church.
C.C., I just want to thank you for blogging though you are sick, wish you well and hope you feel much better soon. I echo IM's wishes about Boomer taking care of you.
Have a lovely day, everyone!
Well C.C. was AT BAT this morning instead of being of injured reserve. No way pour moi to figure out the anagrams of countries, especially as I wasn't looking for it. I just concentrate of finishing the puzzle correctly. I finished it with a WAG at the cross of the honey-badger ( TYRANN MATHIEU) and tree with beanlike pods. Les Miles kicked him off the team at LSU. I'd never heard the term RATEL and CATALPA is the name of a plantation and a street in my subdivision- Plantation Estates. My only other unknowns were a drink I'd never heard of- MANGO TANGO, AGATE, and LIAM Hemsworth.
The spelling of CARNAK had to change to CARNAC and I didn't say I'M OUT but I FOLD when I threw my cards down. 'phew or whew' - I knew PHEW was the only word that fit but I've only heard people say WHEW. Maybe D-O & Hahtoolah have only heard that too. Would it be pronounced the same as FEW?
TTP- I knew MOTET but like the careless idiot that I am, for some strange reason I initially filled MOTEL crossing HOTEL and I finished the puzzle filling A HINT and changing the MOTEL to MOTET.
Dudley- I had to look at AGATE but the crosses were solid so I left it.
CC, so sorry you are ill. That's a horrible malady. I hope you get well soon. Thanks for your dedication in blogging while under the weather.
RELM, well done. FIR w/o help. I understood with the reveal that I needed anagrams of countries. HEAVY RAIN confirmed it, but I didn't bother to unscramble the others. No unknowns except Liam today, but I used perps and wags to recall some answers. ALER was all perps. V-8 can moment. I liked house with layers - coop.
I watched Saving Private Ryan. I have a friend who is an extreme war hawk, but would never watch such a bloody movie. I say, at least, look at what you advocate.
I hear and read about quac quite often, but my friends and I never shorten guacamole. I love it. Avocados are pricey right now.
Interesting that UTOPIA means no such place.
We have many minimum or close to minimum wage jobs here that go begging because candidates cannot passed the drug test. There are problems at jobs a step higher, too. My bathroom remodeler had an assistant who was very adept and learning the trade. He succumbed to opiates and needed to be let go. It was almost impossible to find a replacement.
AGATE, CATALPA, and RATEL did not throw me. The catalpa tree has lovely flowers. There are several nearby.
I've read lots of novels about the corsairs.
My music teacher ex introduced me to many words that appear in x-word puzzles, such as MOTET.
Enjoy your New Year's Eve and stay warm.
Thanks for a relatively smooth puzzle, RELM. Didn't understand the theme until C.C. explained it so briliantly.
C.C. hope you feel better soon!
Happy New Year to all the Cornerites!
So sorry to hear you have influenza, CC. It is awful. The word "flu" is tossed around so much that people don't realize how terrible influenza really is. I have gotten the shot every year for decades. The one year they ran out was the H1N1 (swine flu) year and I got influenza. Fortunately, that was a mild year.
Thank you, CC, for explaining the theme! I plugged my way through the puzzle and wrote out all of the final words of the starred clues. But I had no clue! I saw a lot of words with AIN, but that turned out to mean nothing.
Last to fall was RATEL/CATALPA/MOTET crossing. All unknowns and weird sounding. Hand up for WHEW before PHEW. PLIER seemed wrong, but I was wrong. FIR. Anyone else make the mistake of thinking METZ was German and tried MEIN before A MOI?
Never heard of DR J ERVING. Learning moment to see the "DR" was a title given by a teen friend who he called "the professor".
As a child we lived in the woods in New England. My brother and I went to a day camp that was held in a set of old chicken COOPS. Hard for the adults to stoop, but fine for kids. Except for a smell I will never forget. I returned to New England for college and shopped at the Harvard COOP.
Here is my article on our Avocado Festival. Lots of GUAC there!
Our county is one of the major producers of avocados for the world. Learning moment about potassium. I just love the taste of a good avocado that is not too soft and not too hard!
Hope you feel better soon, CC!
Oh dear, so sorry to hear about your flu, C.C. And how heroic you are to do your write-up for us on such a difficult day--many thanks. I'm especially glad you explained the theme, because even after I got everything (with just a tiny bit of cheating) I still couldn't figure it out because I never thought of looking for anagrams. Very clever, Mr. Morris, many thanks.
Did have one goof-up because I didn't know either the tree or the weasel animal. I figured the letter would be an L or an M and I chose the M, and so got the wrong RATEM and CATAMPA.
Still puzzled by MAGS for those fancy wheels. Cars? I wanted JAGS for JAGUARS but knew it had to be HE-MEN. But aren't MAGS magazines and not cars? And magazines aren't wheels, are they?
And yes, Picard, I too wanted MEIN before remembering that Metz was French, not German.
Have a great New Year's Eve, everybody!
MAG WHEEL- a motor-vehicle wheel made from lightweight magnesium steel, typically having a pattern of holes or spokes around the hub.
mag wheels
Nice puzzle. Well-executed theme, although I didn't get it until reading CC's explanation. Get well soon, dear woman. Lots of 3-letter dreck in the puzzle, e.g. the last eight down answers. TMC and TCM? Sheesh. PLIER was pretty cool, though. I SAY always reminds me of what the character Hastings in the Hercule Poirot TV shows often exclaims. And sometimes it makes me think of Foghorn Leghorn, too.
LW and I have gotten flu shots every October for many years.
Best wishes to you all for a safe yet festive new year's eve.
Thank you, Yellowrocks--that explains the mags. perfectly.
I used to be frustrated with not having my avocados at the perfect degree of ripeness when I wanted to use them. Now I place the unripe avocados in a brown paper bag with an apple, roll down the top and set them in my sun room. I check them twice a day, and in a day or two they are at the exact degree of ripeness I like. Then I put them in the fridge to stop the ripening and use them within the next few days. Never fails.
Good day to all!
This was a clever theme today which I just couldn't parse. Unknowns were LIAM Hemsworth and CATALPA. Like others, my favorite clue/answer was "Houses with layers" for COOPS. Thanks for the expo, C.C., written even though you are ill. I admire your dedication to the blog. I hope you feel better soon.
On a personal note, this is the first puzzle I have attempted in over two weeks. I went back and scanned the blogs yesterday to see what I had missed. Unfortunately a bout of pneumonia laid me up for much of December. It feels good to be up and about again.
Happy New Year to all!
Thanks Robert E. Lee Morris. Thanks CC too. I hope you feel better soon. And thanks to all of you for your contributions to this little Corner of the world.
I see I'm in good company. I also solved the puzzle without understanding that the ends of the themers were anagrams.
I hadn't heard of RATEL either. I also love Dirty Jobs. I've watched most of the segments several times.
I also love Sunday Morning. It seemed even better than usual this morning.
AGATE type is the small print used by newspapers for the horse racing results.
Knew ODOM from sports. Don’t pay much heed to the NBA. but infinitely more than to the Kardashians
Once had to dig when Sherlock Holmes lost himself in a monograph on the Polyphonic MOTETS of Lassus - had to look up monograph, polyphonic, motet, AND Lassus
By the way...TADA ! WAGS on Catalpa and motet.
I used my tax cut to join a country club ! YEA for me.
To Jinx
The jobs...dirty or otherwise don't pay the upper middle class wages that were available in the 60's and 70's to the unskilled directly out of high school. Where does an apprentice ship yard worker live while they are an apprentice, let alone eat, transportation etc? There are still factory jobs open in MICHIGAN even, except they pay a dollar or two over minimum wage. These jobs provide subsistence at best. Not a middle class life style. This is the anger the former uneducated middle class is dealing with. It's not lack of jobs, its lack of jobs that can provide a family with a living wage, health care and even a movie now and then. Take a look a Sen. Grassly's quote on why the tax bill had to further enrich my family over the lower middle class.
Chuck, I think that the apprentice starting pay is close to $20 per hour. It is no internship. So a couple could together earn about $80K per year while learning. BUT there is drug testing.
Thank you, R.E.L.M. for the challenge. Thank you C.C., for leaving the sick bed to blog the puzzle. As usual, this was beyond my ability without look-ups.
Thank you to all the commenters over the past year. I've enjoyed most of the posts--trolls, I'm looking at you for the ones I didn't care for--and look forward to a great 2018!
Happy New Year!
For those of us in the freezer, stay warm! Next Sunday we finally get above freezing.
Chuck: I think your statement about jobs may be true in Michigan but differs in other parts of the country. My son has had trouble hiring people for a small manufacturing sideline just because they don't have a clue how to WORK. One kid was a terrific welder but had to have supervision constantly or he'd hide behind his work station and play on his cell phone.
My son started out mentoring several kids. Now son is bringing in his older HS buddies who learned how to work like he did. On a farm the kids grow up working beside adults and are valuable assets because they do. My high school educated nephew works in a GM plant for a wage that is double what his college educated wife makes as a teacher. Some times the wage is reflected in being able TO DO rather than just what one KNOWS. Trade schools are a good solution for kids that are not academically gifted. Kids also need to know how to manage money to reap the most benefits. Spend, spend, spend doesn't work.
As for drugs, a person needs to realize that hard work done well with a satisfactory result is a bigger high than anything else.
Earlier I had a long post which was swallowed up into cyberspace when I pressed publish! That's frustrating.
I enjoyed this puzzle and finished it with two Naticks, one at ERVING, which though I know of Dr. J forgot his name is Julius ERVING then at ETOILE. Abejo will understand my problems with French which are similar to his. I'll enter that one in my CW dictionary for future use.
CSO to the DALES!
And since I'm pressed for time in the morning I didn't look at the theme answers. Thank you, C.C., for your elucidation on that.
CATALPA trees grow in southern California and have beautiful blossoms.
Hand up for WHEW before PHEW. CORSAIR always reminds me of the book, Stolen Village, which is a true and very poignant story. It occurs in the 17th century and is chilling to realize that what happened to the villagers was revenge. I've read it twice.
I've never heard of MANGOTANGO and interesting to know the meaning of UTOPIA.
C.C., I hope your ACHESANDPAINS go away soon.
A very happy New Year to all! I hope 2018 brings you many blessings.
Well first FYX(From yesterday's xword). I never grokked AMRADIOS, I rhymed it with Amadeus. "Crystal sets" I associated with the Breaking Bad clue.
CC, I've had a nagging dry cough for a few weeks. Any draft brings it on and in Flor-AC-da that's all the time.
And 1A was CCian in it's cleverness, thank heavens for BIB. I was STYMIEd at the 51A pledge crossed with Dundee's first name. While loading passengers I thought of TITHED. And that gave me the TaDa. Woohoo.
Yes, Gary. Ohio State got screwed and if the AP had a top 20 OSU would be in the top 4 for strength of schedule.
Drat, the AC just went on in this McDonald's and I started coughing.
BillG, I thought I knew my ACD, but your Lassus quote is new. Watson had a habit of recounting past tales in his intros. I recall a beast from an Island for which the world was not ready to hear about. I'm rusty. I have the complete tales and will start tonight.
Your the first "limey"* that was a Sherlock aficionado that I've met. I get a lot in the shuttle but can't get Sherlock, LeCarre, Deighton talk going. But, sans exception, they are a jolly race.
By the time I get in here everyone has already commented about things like COOP sauf Co-Op.
WC
* That's not insulting is it. Equivalent of "Yank" n'est-ce pas?
Late today. . . .
I never finished. We took lunch to my MIL, and I was worried about her poor appetite. Came home a nd tried again. No luck. Took down a few decorations after giving up. Thanks for your effort RELM. I was seriously off today, but I stopped by any way because
I wanted to wish all of you a Happy New Year with only love and laughter in 2018.
C.C., do feel better. Thanks so much for your valiant effort. Boomer, take good care of our fearless leader. ;-)
xoxo, Madame D
WC, BillG May be a limey but I’m not.
The Lassus quote was in the adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
BillG is American born & bred. Steve is the Brit.
Happy New Year all ye Cornerites and lurkers. May we have many more merry Crosswords to enrich our minds in 2018!
Hi All!
This took me all day to suss which is why I normally lurk but today I had time on my hands (once in a row on a Sunday). Thank you RELM for a fun puzzle that I FIW and never saw (nor looked) for the anagrams. But I like it.
Thanks C.C. for a understandably short expo. So sorry to hear about the bout of flu - thanks for being there for us notwithstanding.
FIW - CAnAmPA and TeTHED because I misspelt Steve eRWIN.
WOs: hand up for wHEW; Pine Sol b/f TAR; and my Frozen asset was ICE CREAM factory ;-)
{B-,B+,B,B,C}
The ball just dropped in NYC so Happy New Year! East Coast. Here's to a healthy 2018 for all the Cornerites.
Cheers, -T
Woah, is it 2018 already? Happy new year you old friends!
Dave "The second."
Midnight is in the eye of the beholder. I behold it in Louisville, EST.
My case is resting. Phew it was heavy!
Dave Too
The closest I get to being a limey is loving Key Lime pie.
Happy New Year to all by CW friends.
Collective nouns, like pair of scissors, seem to be idiomatic -- who ever heard of just one scissor?. For us of course, it would be a puzzlement of crossworders.
If we want to fix the whole jobs/employment problem, we absolutely MUST do something about our educational system. When I was in the 8th or 9th grade, we had four shop classes (metal shop, wood, printing, drafting) which have lasted me a lifetime. [And I wish we males could have had 'home ec,' sewing, menu prep, household management, cooking: learning these "on the job" is no fun.]
One of the subtle parts of this problem is that youngsters have no idea what's available, what they need to do to get ready for adulthood and employment. IMHO, the emphasis on "college preparation", and attendant "death to shop classes," prepares the way for future problems, like the discussion above shows.
Oh, thanks billocoes. Any Sherlock talk will get a response from me.
WC
I call shenanigans on hard work being a "high" ! If it was they would call it "play" not work. As for "trade" school, none of the trades are unionized any more and the pay is only a bit over minimum wage. My nephew is a machinist with NCR school and makes 12.50/hr. As for the teacher and the GM worker, that is an anachronism left over from the 70's. Teachers have always been under paid and the Union jobs paid way more than the skill level in a truly capitalist system would allow.
Oh and shop classes died because we are too cheap to tax ourselves enough to pay for them !
Thanks for the validation about METZ, Misty!
And thanks for your comments, Chuck Lindgren. I totally agree.
Good Monday afternoon, folks. Thank you, Robert E. Lee Morris, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.
Finished this late last night. No time to log in here. So, here I am.
C.C.: Sorry to here of your flu. Hope you Get well Soon. Years ago I got a flu shot and was never so sick in my life. So, I never got them since, and seldom got sick. However, now that I am an usher at the Shriners Hospital in Chicago, I have to have a flu shot or I cannot get in. So, now I get one. Have not gotten the flu yet in several years of getting the shot. Time will tell.
Puzzle was somewhat tough. Got through it with determination.
I missed the theme until I came here. A little obscure. That's OK.
Never heard of a MANGO TANGO. I am not into mixed drinks.
I had MERLOT for the wine choice. Finally CARAFE fit and that helped with crossing words.
CATALPA was a wag. Got it right.
Have to run. See you later.
Abejo
( )
By this time CC is hopefully feeling better. Quite heroic to blog a crossword while suffering from influenza.
Not that anyone will read this tardy post but: a fair & just puzzle with solid answers & clues. Never got the theme and, even after coming here and having the theme explained still didn’t have a “theme ahah” moment. I guess I don’t think of anagrams as particularly “wild” or “alien”. Just me no doubt.
Thanks so much for clearing up the meaning of Alien Nation. I had given up on figuring it out.
A trades man plies his trade so he is a plier
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