Theme: Four by Fore! Golf-related punning.
17A. Duffer's flaw from the tee? : RECKLESS DRIVING. That's me. I've lost count of the times I've walloped my first drive out of bounds and onto the road at my local club.
26A. Duffer's impossible dream? : ACE IN THE HOLE. I've hit the flagstick a couple of times and holed-in-one once on a Par-3 course for my single career ace.
48A. Duffer's cry after botching a putt and settling for par? : BYE BYE BIRDIE. I think I've birdied every hole on my course, just not all in the same round. I've also double-bogeyed or worse every hole, on a bad day all at in the same round.
63A. Duffer's sad 18th-hole reply to "Bogey for you?" ... and 19th-hole request to the bartender? : MAKE MINE A DOUBLE. See above.
Nice enough theme, maybe your mileage may vary depending on your knowledge of the golf game and the lingo. It took me a couple of laps around this one, there were a few unfamiliar proper names and some challenges in other places, but as long as the crosses are solid I can usually figure everything out. Let's see what attracts further attention:
Across:
1. Waldorf __ : SALAD. Does "Astoria" have anything to do with the Astor family? I need to go and look that up.
6. Crawford of the Timberwolves : JAMAL. Tried JALEN for no good reason at all. Wrong last name, wrong team.
11. Rx watchdog : FDA
14. Cast out : EXILE
15. Where glasses may be raised? : OPERA. Technically, it should be "the opera" but I'll let this one slide, I'm feeling charitable today.
16. Standee's lack : LAP. Nice. It's why you can't use a laptop standing up. There's no lap to top.
20. Wingless parasite : FLEA. Two "wingless" clues today.
21. "Cheers" actor Roger : REES. I never associate him with Cheers. I saw him on stage in London in an adaptation of a quite amazing treasure-hunt book called "Masquerade" by writer and artist Kit Willliams. Williams created a bejeweled gold sculpture of a hare and buried it in a ceramic container beyond the reach of metal detectors. The book contained the clues to find it. It went undiscovered for more than three years. Many of the audience went to see the production hoping to get some additional clues.
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22. Approximately : CIRCA
23. Speech characteristic of Dustin on "Stranger Things" : LISP
25. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" newsman : BAXTER
31. Family dinner entrée : ROAST
32. __ de guerre : NOM. An assumed name.
33. It may be sharp : NOTE
37. Pageant VIPs : MCS. Masters of Ceremonies.
38. Handyman's tasks : ODD JOBS
42. Each : PER
43. Bean used in Asian sauces : SOYA
45. Classic auto : R.E.O.
46. Cutting : ACERB
52. Yelp piece : REVIEW
55. Move, in Realtor lingo : RELOcation
56. They have pHs below 7 : ACIDS
57. "Let It Go" singer in "Frozen" : ELSA. Known from crosswords.
59. Landing : QUAY. Took me a while to see the clue wanted a noun, not a verb. Nice.
66. Miner concern : ORE
67. Make __: rake it in : A MINT
68. Deal with : SEE TO
69. '60s activist gp. : S.D.S. Students for a Democratic Society. I can never seem to remember this. The first S was my last fill, crossing an unknown actress in Sarah Ramos.
70. Help for the graveyard shift, maybe : NO-DOZ
71. Slurpee insert : STRAW
Down:
1. Lowly worker : SERF
2. Winter Olympics jump : AXEL. The Winter Olympics are coming soon. Matt Lauer appeared in almost all of the promo spots that had been produced, NBC spent quite a chunk of change reshooting or editing them.
3. Wingless parasites : LICE
4. They have pHs above 7 : ALKALIS. Very nice job to get ACIDS in the puzzle as well.
5. Second-smallest U.S. state : DELaware. It's quite a bit bigger than Rhode Island, the smallest.
6. Nativity figure : JOSEPH. I tried SERAPH when I had the PH. I'm not quite sure why I sometimes overlook the totally obvious sometimes.
7. Church area : APSE
8. Rx specifications : MEDS. I was looking more for something along the "dosage" lines at first.
9. Itinerary abbr. : ARR.
10. Not of the cloth : LAICAL. Slow to emerge. I was thinking on the right lines, but neither LAIC nor LAITY was working.
11. Toy (with) : FLIRT
12. Hula or hora : DANCE
13. __ score: neonatal measure : APGAR. New one on me. I now learn it is "a method to quickly summarize the health of newborn children. Dr. Virginia Apgar, an anesthesiologist at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital, developed the score in 1952 in order to quantify the effects of obstetric anesthesia on babies.". Thank you, Wikipedia.
18. Once, quaintly : ERST
19. Kit's mom : VIXEN. A kit is another word for a fox cub. I didn't know that until today. Cute little guys, aren't they?
24. Absorbed by : INTO
25. Fall flat : BOMB
26. Readies for battle : ARMS
27. 2017 Pixar film set in Mexico : COCO. I was looking at "LOCO" first. ALE IN THE HOLE is another thing entirely.
28. Like Sunday morning, in a Commodores title : EASY
29. "Have a nice time!" : ENJOY
30. "Woo-__!" : HOO!
34. Newspaper page : OP-ED
35. Actress Garr : TERI
36. Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I." : ERBE. Another unknown.
39. Used charcoal pencils, say : DREW
40. Society newcomer : DEB. Debutante, to use the posh term.
41. Glide (through) : SAIL
44. Bear : ABIDE
47. Alice had to play it with flamingos as mallets : CROQUET
49. Sycophant : YES MAN
50. Not authentic : ERSATZ
51. Rosary unit : BEAD
52. "Parenthood" actress Sarah : RAMOS
53. Digital greeting : E-CARD
54. Twin Cities team, familiarly : VIKES. Minnesota's Vikings.
57. Oklahoma city : ENID. Nailed it, due to crosswords past.
58. Carson's successor : LENO
60. Taxi alternative : UBER. No umlaut on the company name.
61. Utah ski resort : ALTA. I always forget this one too, then kick myself when the rather obvious answer emerges.
62. "Ouch!" : YEOW!
64. Texting qualifier : IMO. In My Opinion. My opinion is always humble, therefore IMHO.
65. CIA predecessor : OSS.
Stick a fork in me, I'm done!
Steve
17A. Duffer's flaw from the tee? : RECKLESS DRIVING. That's me. I've lost count of the times I've walloped my first drive out of bounds and onto the road at my local club.
26A. Duffer's impossible dream? : ACE IN THE HOLE. I've hit the flagstick a couple of times and holed-in-one once on a Par-3 course for my single career ace.
48A. Duffer's cry after botching a putt and settling for par? : BYE BYE BIRDIE. I think I've birdied every hole on my course, just not all in the same round. I've also double-bogeyed or worse every hole, on a bad day all at in the same round.
63A. Duffer's sad 18th-hole reply to "Bogey for you?" ... and 19th-hole request to the bartender? : MAKE MINE A DOUBLE. See above.
Nice enough theme, maybe your mileage may vary depending on your knowledge of the golf game and the lingo. It took me a couple of laps around this one, there were a few unfamiliar proper names and some challenges in other places, but as long as the crosses are solid I can usually figure everything out. Let's see what attracts further attention:
Across:
1. Waldorf __ : SALAD. Does "Astoria" have anything to do with the Astor family? I need to go and look that up.
6. Crawford of the Timberwolves : JAMAL. Tried JALEN for no good reason at all. Wrong last name, wrong team.
11. Rx watchdog : FDA
14. Cast out : EXILE
15. Where glasses may be raised? : OPERA. Technically, it should be "the opera" but I'll let this one slide, I'm feeling charitable today.
16. Standee's lack : LAP. Nice. It's why you can't use a laptop standing up. There's no lap to top.
20. Wingless parasite : FLEA. Two "wingless" clues today.
21. "Cheers" actor Roger : REES. I never associate him with Cheers. I saw him on stage in London in an adaptation of a quite amazing treasure-hunt book called "Masquerade" by writer and artist Kit Willliams. Williams created a bejeweled gold sculpture of a hare and buried it in a ceramic container beyond the reach of metal detectors. The book contained the clues to find it. It went undiscovered for more than three years. Many of the audience went to see the production hoping to get some additional clues.
22. Approximately : CIRCA
23. Speech characteristic of Dustin on "Stranger Things" : LISP
25. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" newsman : BAXTER
31. Family dinner entrée : ROAST
32. __ de guerre : NOM. An assumed name.
33. It may be sharp : NOTE
37. Pageant VIPs : MCS. Masters of Ceremonies.
38. Handyman's tasks : ODD JOBS
42. Each : PER
43. Bean used in Asian sauces : SOYA
45. Classic auto : R.E.O.
46. Cutting : ACERB
52. Yelp piece : REVIEW
55. Move, in Realtor lingo : RELOcation
56. They have pHs below 7 : ACIDS
57. "Let It Go" singer in "Frozen" : ELSA. Known from crosswords.
59. Landing : QUAY. Took me a while to see the clue wanted a noun, not a verb. Nice.
66. Miner concern : ORE
67. Make __: rake it in : A MINT
68. Deal with : SEE TO
69. '60s activist gp. : S.D.S. Students for a Democratic Society. I can never seem to remember this. The first S was my last fill, crossing an unknown actress in Sarah Ramos.
70. Help for the graveyard shift, maybe : NO-DOZ
71. Slurpee insert : STRAW
Down:
1. Lowly worker : SERF
2. Winter Olympics jump : AXEL. The Winter Olympics are coming soon. Matt Lauer appeared in almost all of the promo spots that had been produced, NBC spent quite a chunk of change reshooting or editing them.
3. Wingless parasites : LICE
4. They have pHs above 7 : ALKALIS. Very nice job to get ACIDS in the puzzle as well.
5. Second-smallest U.S. state : DELaware. It's quite a bit bigger than Rhode Island, the smallest.
6. Nativity figure : JOSEPH. I tried SERAPH when I had the PH. I'm not quite sure why I sometimes overlook the totally obvious sometimes.
7. Church area : APSE
8. Rx specifications : MEDS. I was looking more for something along the "dosage" lines at first.
9. Itinerary abbr. : ARR.
10. Not of the cloth : LAICAL. Slow to emerge. I was thinking on the right lines, but neither LAIC nor LAITY was working.
11. Toy (with) : FLIRT
12. Hula or hora : DANCE
13. __ score: neonatal measure : APGAR. New one on me. I now learn it is "a method to quickly summarize the health of newborn children. Dr. Virginia Apgar, an anesthesiologist at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital, developed the score in 1952 in order to quantify the effects of obstetric anesthesia on babies.". Thank you, Wikipedia.
18. Once, quaintly : ERST
19. Kit's mom : VIXEN. A kit is another word for a fox cub. I didn't know that until today. Cute little guys, aren't they?
24. Absorbed by : INTO
25. Fall flat : BOMB
26. Readies for battle : ARMS
27. 2017 Pixar film set in Mexico : COCO. I was looking at "LOCO" first. ALE IN THE HOLE is another thing entirely.
28. Like Sunday morning, in a Commodores title : EASY
29. "Have a nice time!" : ENJOY
30. "Woo-__!" : HOO!
34. Newspaper page : OP-ED
35. Actress Garr : TERI
36. Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I." : ERBE. Another unknown.
39. Used charcoal pencils, say : DREW
40. Society newcomer : DEB. Debutante, to use the posh term.
41. Glide (through) : SAIL
44. Bear : ABIDE
47. Alice had to play it with flamingos as mallets : CROQUET
49. Sycophant : YES MAN
50. Not authentic : ERSATZ
51. Rosary unit : BEAD
52. "Parenthood" actress Sarah : RAMOS
53. Digital greeting : E-CARD
54. Twin Cities team, familiarly : VIKES. Minnesota's Vikings.
57. Oklahoma city : ENID. Nailed it, due to crosswords past.
58. Carson's successor : LENO
60. Taxi alternative : UBER. No umlaut on the company name.
61. Utah ski resort : ALTA. I always forget this one too, then kick myself when the rather obvious answer emerges.
62. "Ouch!" : YEOW!
64. Texting qualifier : IMO. In My Opinion. My opinion is always humble, therefore IMHO.
65. CIA predecessor : OSS.
Stick a fork in me, I'm done!
Steve
68 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Robert, Marlea (pretty name) and Steve!
Only the thing new was RAMOS. Other than that, every thing filled in smoothly!
Had a nice swim today. Harv got out of bed and came over and made me dinner!
Is anyone else here on a ketogenic diet? Am trying very hard but don't seem to have lost any weight after 4 weeks.
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
Thanks for the good wishes for Harv yesterday!
To the stranger who told me to order from Von's: evidently you are not aware of my bedridden state. Cannot do anything w/o help. My kitchen is two unusable stairways away.
To finish 1-3:
TTP FLN 710A
"Midnight Rider" reminded me of my self proclaimed "Midnight Pruner." Many years ago when I took my dog out in the wee wee hours of the night, and a branch of a tree hit my head as I walked on the sidewalk, I carefully pruned it back, dragged my pruning to the end of the street where there was a farmer's field, and flung it over the fence. Thankfully I was never apprehended, but I never hit my head on that tree again.
Picard FLN 109P
Thank you for pics, and explanation.
YR FLN 259P
Thank you for the link to the Peace Memorial.
TX Ms FLN1206 A
wrote "I'll certainly watch WHMS next time it airs on cable." No need to wait. Here is When Harry met Sally.
Dave 2
Good morning!
ETA to ARR was my only goof this morning. The rest was smooth SAILing. CSO to Misty with WooHOO. Thanx, Robert and Marlea, and Steve for the explication.
I was quite old when I learned it was NAtivity and not ACtivity. Probably forty-something.
SDS was a gimme. They were very big on campus back in the day.
Hi Y'all! ENJOYED this amusing puzzle and expo. Thanks, Robert, Marlea & Steve!
Haven't watched golf since the FedEx Cup finals, but still got the theme phrases after a few perps showed the way. Loved RECKLESS DRIVING. Theme entries were all good.
No idea a "yelp piece" was a REVIEW or Sarah's last name RAMOS though I watched that show. Didn't know ERBE.
I've got enough ODD JOBS to last a good handyman a week.
Watched the Timberwolves win the other night so knew JAMAL Crawford had moved there. Good but underrated player.
53d I thought "Digital Greeting" would be "Waves" before ECARD showed up. Well, I waggle my digits (a/k/a fingers) at people but I've never sent an ECARD. I'm an old fashioned "girl".
LAICAL perped in before i read the clue. We've got all our religious affiliations in that one block: JOSEPH, APSE, LAICAL.
Ferm: Never heard of a ketogenic diet. I would think as often as you've gone without dinner lately, you'd lose weight. So glad Harve is better and a good friend.
SOYA is not a bean; it's the plant that grows from or the sauce that's made from the SOY bean.
MEDS are not "RX specifications"; it's short for medications without specification.
What does IN THE HOLE add to ACE?
What does AL add to LAIC?
Thank you Robert and Marlea Ellis, and thank you Steve.
This duffer loved this puzzle.
Steve, the first tee was my long time bugaboo. I could hook 'em left or slice 'em right. Just depended on where OB was. "Now hitting 3 off the tee..."
Astoria wasn't going to fit. SALAD it is. And off to the races.
DEL - CSO to Bluehen !
WikWak - you mentioned CROQUET, and we get it. Can you mention sunny and 70's ?
Thank you perps for REES. Looked him up later expecting to find Cliff Clavin. No, that was John Ratzenberger. REES was Robin Colcord.
Miner concern. Concern as in a business. Out of vogue these days. Too much room for confusion or double entendre. "He had a growing concern." Was his business growing, or was he getting more anxious ?
PK, here's a nice article from Sports Illustrated on
JAMAL Crawford.
Yellowrocks (FLN), I had a little smiley face after my whimsical question about miso soup having a dashi base. Anon-T said I should use it to let people know I am joking.
Anon-T (FLN), give them the dashboard but be prepared to "peel back the onion." :>)
Thanx again for a very enjoyable puzzle . Had a slow start today but Enjoy gave me odd jobs and it smothed out somefrom there. Got alittle itchy when lice and flea intersected.--- Does anyone believe in esp ? On my commute this morning I was thinking of golfing in Arizona , likening it like doing xwds , always competing against ones self the gathering around the 19th to brag or lament as the case may be . Much like the blog with stories and jokes usw. The I sit down with my McD's coffee and up comes a golf theme . Kind of makes my day :-))
FIR, but erased EvIct, ALKALal, and I made A pIle before I made a MINT. Didn't know APGAR, or anything about "Stranger Things", "COCO", "Law & Order" or "Parenthood". Since even I can now remember ELSA we can officially consider it trite.
NODOZ are just caffeine tablets. Coffee will keep you awake too, but NODOZ doesn't cause you to stop at every rest area.
I've hit the pin on a few par 3 holes, but have never gotten all that close to an ace. I've witnessed one hole in one - a very ugly one by a beginning golfer.
I waited for SDS/Sla until I remembered that SDS were activists, while SLA were terrorists.
Ferm, its good to read that you are swimming again. I'm also glad that Harv is better.
Zoe experienced her first snowfall this morning. Her response was the same as it is for everything new - OK, let's RUN! We supposedly got 10", but it is knee-deep in our street (and I'm 6 feet tall). It won't warm up to freezing until Monday. WAH!
Thanks Robert and Marlea Ellis for a fun puzzle. And thanks to Steve for another solid tour.
Thanks
Good morning all!
Pretty EASY SAILing for a Thursday and a golf theme, considering that pretty much all I know about it, I learned from CW's.
Unknowns were the names: JAMAL, RAMOS and ERBE
Cute that MCS and ROASTS were next to each other. Enjoyed seeing CROQUET- used to play all the time as a kid. We have a set in the garage that's never been used. One of these days.... :)
APGAR- very familiar with this since my oldest failed her Apgar test when she was born. She wasn't breathing; all I remember is hearing the doctor say that and then "knock Mom out". Next thing I knew, I woke in recovery completely alone with no idea what had happened to my baby. Scary stuff! She spent 2 days in NICU but turned out to be perfectly healthy :)
ECARD reminds me of our dear Irish Miss as she is so kind to send these!
Hope everyone is well and enjoyed the holidays. I'm a few days late but wishing everyone a Happy New Year!
Off to get ready for a doctors appointment. It's so cold here, I dread getting out of the house. Spring seems so very far away...
Stay safe and warm and have a great day everyone!
Good Morning:
This was a clever theme with just the right amount of crunch. No real speed bumps, but I did need perps in several places. Unknowns were Sara Ramos and Jamal Crawford. My only w/o was Murray/Baxter. That show had one of the best ensemble cast of actors ever! Roast over MCs was cute. Misty, you got a big CSO with a big Woo Hoo!
Thanks, Robert and Marlea, for a fun Thursday treat and thanks, Steve, for the expo.
It's snowing right now with frigid temps on the way. Glad I can stay put!
Have a great day.
There once was a man who liked OPERA.
No, really, it's true he ENJOYED opera!
It may be his MEDS
Knocked him out out of his head --
He could also ABIDE watching Oprah!
{B.}
RECKLESS DRIVING
Good morning. I almost solved a Thursday puzzle. I missed the B in ERBE and ACERB. Didn't know either.
There were other clues I wasn't sure of, but perps filled them in.
It warmed up here in central Montana yesterday to 38°. After 2 weeks of never getting up to zero, it was a treat. Supposed to stay above zero for at least the next 10 days. Now with so much snow, however, there are swaths of slush all around. Since 42° is predicted today we are driving to a city (38 miles) to buy some grocery items we can't get locally.
Keep warm, everyone.
Montana
Too much reckless driving could render u no longer wreckless
DO, smooth SAILing, I agree. FIR. JAMAL, REES and RAMOS were new to me but easily guessed. Even after LIU I do not remember RAMOS or his character on Cheers.
I like that all the theme fill had double meanings. Clever, Robert and Marlea.
Ace in the hole can be a poker term or an advantage in reserve for use when needed.
I haven't seen Frozen, but learned ELSA here.
I know of the APGAR scale.
I read Yelp reviews. I like to compare them to my own experiences.
Fermatprime and Irish Miss sent me ecards for my birthday, both with cute pets.
I like Kathryn Erbe on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. CSO to me, even spelled correctly.
Misty, I thought of you right away with WOO HOO.
SOY or the British SOYA can refer to just the bean, as well as the plant and sauce.
Golf is not part of my world. But my grandfather played golf for a couple of years after he retired to Florida. Between him and these puzzles I have learned the terms that were relevant to this puzzle. So, it was fun to make use of those terms!
STRANGER THINGS a learning moment. Only DUSTIN I know was in The Graduate. I actually did know that a KIT is a young fox. But learning moment that VIXEN is a female fox! Only knew it to describe female humans! Hand up for unknowns ERBE, APGAR, RAMOS.
This RAMOS was my former girlfriend. She is posing at an airport named for her uncle. RAMOS is a powerful Philippines family.
SDS has been revived at least in some places.
If you have not seen COCO I highly recommend it! Wonderful immersion in a part of Mexican culture. And a plot with some surprising twists!
Here is my article with photos and videos of our own little Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration. This is what COCO is all about.
Thank you Irish Miss for the kind words about my family photo. Did not know Sam Waterston. I don't see the resemblance. I think my brother looks like George Harrison when he was with the Beatles.
Thank you Jinx, D4E4H and PK for the kind words about my KOREA photos yesterday. Sorry if anyone was offended by my Investment vs Debt explanation. It is usually considered to be in the realm of economics, not politics and was meant to be relevant to the ROSS PEROT puzzle solve. Perhaps I should have used a more personal example: Borrowing money to start a business vs borrowing money for a big flashy wedding.
PK: Yes KOREA was very lush. It was August and it was very hot and humid. In winter it is very cold, they tell me. Yes, funny how our image of a place is formed by movie and TV images. Yes, especially if they are in dreary black and white shades! I was there for my work.
Can someone please tell me what FLN means? Google has not helped. Irish Miss and D4E4H both used it.
Typo, YR? Ramos wasn't on Cheers, Rees was.
I got an ecard from Lois for the holidays. She promised to send me cookies...again. You old-timers remember her; she was our east coast Lois. She is doing well now that she is retired. Not sure how her troubles with administration turned pout. I'm not one to pry.
FLN > From Last Night
Musings
-I finished the puzzle at 8:05 am and then got a call to sub today at 7:45 am. Movie fans will realize I had to get my pickup to 88 mph to make it but I am here.
-Golf references in this freezing weather is inhumane!
-This duffer has accomplished that impossible dream (108 yds over a creek)
-Why did Ann Margaret sing the title song as Bye, Bye Burr He? (2:07)
-Talia Shier’s character raised them to watch her poison work in Godfather III
-Does Kripke on Big Bang have a LISP – “Siwi, can you wecommend a westauwant?”
-Why didn’t we read a REVIEW before we saw the BOMB We’re Just Getting Started? Would you have marched out and demanded a refund after 10 min.?
-An off-color saying I like about OPINIONS ends, “…everybody has one”
-MAKE MINE A DOUBLE – I’ve always felt anyone who would lie reporting his golf score would lie in more important situations
Thanks, Argyle, for the explanation! I had no idea!
FLN > From Last Night
And thanks for the amusing RECKLESS DRIVING golf cartoon!
PS JAMAL was also a complete unknown.
Good Morning everyone.
FIR without any searches. Cute golfing pun theme. CSO to Misty on -HOO. On 'landing', wasn't looking for QUAY, but CROQUET set me straight.
ACIDS and ALKALIS in the same puzzle. Now we need to see "phenolphthalein" which would be an actual grid spanner.
Thanks YR for straightening out the kerfuffle on SOYA.
By our 3rd child we realized they were doing APGAR tests.
Thursday workout. Thanks for the fun Robert and Marlea, and Steve.
I required red-letter help in the SW to complete. Smiled at the theme.
Perps were needed for JAMAL, COCO, ERBE, ALTA, RAMOS, REES.
Toyed with Laitic and Laital before LAICAL.
After all of YR's discussion, I thought of Miso for the Asian sauce but the bean is SOYA.
I too saw the CSO to Misty with WOO HOO.
I misread miner as minor concern and put Nit in the space! Fixed it with ORE later.
A weather BOMB is coming up the east coast.
First child was 10 weeks premature with AGPARs of 4 at 1 minute and 5 at 5 minutes (score of 7 to 10 is normal). Now an adult and fine, thankfully. Like Bunny M, baby was intubated and whisked off; we did not see or hear anything for hours. Thankful for Canadian health coverage after 2 months in NICU.
ENJOY the day.
Caution: Contains adult material, by reading on you verify that you are at least 18 and yet under 90. You agree that you are willing to make an ACE IN THE HOLE of yourself and ENJOY the ride. Material has been scanned for viruses, but a flu shot is recommended.
Thank you to Robert and Marles Ellis for a challenging yet workable puzzle, all except the SW corner square. I almost got an STD trying to guess 69A SDS, and 52D RAMOS was new to me. I performed an alphabet type in the true corner until the "S" appeared. This was a double whammy natick. I completed it CIRCA 36 munites which is British for minutes. "Well Loo to you, Woo-HOO!"
Steve,
You were not a SERF, nor a doer of ODD JOBS today. Thank you for our Four by Fore golf cart tour in a R.E.O. of the front and back nine, without any RECKLESS DRIVING, including the all important 19th whole bar where I will put one under par. Can you pass me a STRAW, and A MINT, and MAKE MINE A DOUBLE.
ELSA,
You VIXEN, AXEL, JAMAL, and JOSEPH want you to sing "Let It Go" one more time, the whole OPERA. Make me LAP it up, fall INTO your ARMS, and DANCE ERST I FLIRT with your APSE or was that OSS?
These statements have not been REVIEWed by the FDA because these are not MEDS.
On that NOTE I say BYE BYE BIRDIE! Don't EXILE me to Elba or ENID. I have a BEAD on an UBER to take me to ALTA where I shall ABIDE as an ERSATZ MC, and YES MAN until I BOMB. I'll send you an E-CARD, ENJOY!
Dave 2 over party
Thank you, Irish Miss, Yellowrocks, Desper-otto, Spitzboov and CanadianEh, for thinking of my WOOHOO. I almost, almost got one with this clever puzzle, except for a tiny slip- up putting LDS rather than SDS. Too busy with school and family to think much about politics in those days, I guess. TTP, I too thought of ASTORIA before I saw it had to be SALAD. But I'm so happy I got so much of this delightful puzzle, even though I know nothing about golf. Many thanks, Robert and Marlea for making this possible. And great expo, as always, Steve.
Have a great day, everybody!
Tough puzzle. For me, anyway. I thought it would be easy after I had that SALAD but then came JAMAL, and APGAR, REES, COCO (the clue not the answer), VIXEN (I only faintly remembered that a female fox is a vixen), MCS, SOYA (to anonymous, that's the British English soya sauce.), ACERB (not a well used word), ERBE, RAMOS, VIKES (not from around there), ENID (not from around there either), ERSATZ (???), ALTA (my son lives in Utah, I live in Rhode Island, but Park City is the only place to ski in the state that's good).
With all that I got within four squares of a filled grid.
So Steve had to show the way to Robert and Marlea's puzzle.
The snow is coming down at a rate that would make anyone on the road RECKLESS DRIVING. The blizzard like conditions will last until 8:00.
Fine Expo, Steve.
Argyle @9:52, not a typo, but a brain fog. After the solve I did look up REES and Cheers, but wrote RAMOS. You can see how little either name means to me.
It has been snowing hard here since before dawn, but the snow is very fine and doesn't pile up. It is supposed to snow until evening and then the temperature will drop to the single digits over night and all day tomorrow. The roads are quite slippery. The schools are cancelled, as is Alan's work. The weather poses no problems for us so far, other than being house bound.
How are you southerners and Floridians faring? Are you New Englanders getting bombed? I hear conditions are bad in RI, Rick. In this cold and wind I hope everyone's electricity stays on.
ACERBIC is more common in everyday speech. We see ACERB in literature. "This way came Dr. John, in visage, in shape, in hue, as unlike the dark, acerb, and caustic little professor, as the fruit of the Hesperides might be unlike the sloe in the wild thicket...." from Villette, by Charlotte Bronte.
ACERB and ACERBIC can refer to being sharp or biting, as in character or expression, or sour or bitter tasting.
"Golf: A good walk spoiled"
Thanks for the wedding vs business loan explanation, Picard. Yes, PEROT probably does not understand the difference and neither do most Americans.
I'm a big golfer, so this was fun. But screwed up 3D - had MITE, which is not plural, then misspelled 4D as ALCALIS, so made a mess of NW. Something was wrong, but never figured it out ☹️🏌. Rare non-finish for Thurs.
WOW! ... my first puzzle of 2018 (couldn't get them in Moscow) and a theme
MAKE MINE A DOUBLE is a CSO to me. Go figure, LOL
Needed ESP (Every-Single-Perp) to get JAMAL, APGAR & RAMOS.
Hope everyone had a safe New Years EVE ... I was on an "Inventory" trip.
Red Square is a wonderful place to "Toast" the new year!
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
Nice puzzle. I like and admire grid spanners. Many names of people I did not know. I do remember Roger REES as Nicolas Nickleby in a 1982 television miniseries. He died in 2015. RIP.
I don't think the way Kripke on Big Bang speaks is called a LISP (it's called rhotacism, but you knew that, didn't you, Gary), but it sure is funny, and the actor pulls it off brilliantly.
Good wishes to you all.
YOU SAID WHAT?
The Prime of Miss Fermat 357A
She wrote, and I quote "Had a nice swim today." First off 'taint swimmin' whether you want to or don't. Second off, how ! Me Tonto?
Translated to English, Where do you swim, and how do you get back and forth to the bigly agua? Well some of it was English.
Later that same day, 421A, she wrote "My kitchen is two unusable stairways away." Please tie this to the above question, if you can find one.
"Is anyone else here on a ketogenic diet?" As of 1239 P, Nope. I studied a little about it just now, and one point was that it should be supervised by a Dr. Ketosis is a natural condition that takes place when one fasts. The diet proposes replacing sugar with fat which helps the body release stored fat. These two aspects work together, and may allow weight reduction.
Have you noticed how slowly time passes when you are fasting? We should change the condition to "Slowing." YR, could you look into this?
Dave 2 heavy myself
Good Afternoon, Steve and friends. Although I am not a golfer, all of the golfing terms were familiar. Clever puzzle.
I liked the crossing of the landing parasites = LICE and FLEA.
It was also fun seeing the ACIDS and ALKAKIS.
My favorite clues were Where Glasses May Be Raised = OPERA and Standee's Lack = LAP.
Kathryn ERBE appeared in a recent puzzle.
Funny about the Nativity vs. Activity, D-O!
As of today, I am now officially retired. First act as a retiree was to take my car for an oil change! I hope the rest of my retirement is more exciting.
QOD: I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times. ~ Everett Dirksen (Jan. 4, 1896 ~ Sept. 7, 1969)
This one by the Ellises cost me one lookup and one confirmation. (JAMAL and APGAR respectively.)
Otherwise it would have been a clear Ta- DA! - with the extra prize of a mirror diagonal (Yes, I caught this one) and the fun of seeing our Misty's voice incorporated in the body of the pzl. Her well-established claim to "Woo HOO" has now been acknowledged by cruciverbalists across the nation.
Almost too late for this party and for two reasons: first, I went to the Lab for a blood draw only to discover they had moved to another location! The now closed one is about two miles away and so I had to drive to Tempe to another. That accomplished, my BFF and I have been helping an elderly man from my church who needs transportation among other things and cannot pay his cable bill. So we outfitted him with an antenna and transformer box to enable him to access TV.
Then I came home to finally solve the puzzle which I thought might be a BOMB since I know nothing about golf, but it turned out to be amusing with the turn of familiar phrases. Thank you, Robert and Marlea Ellis!
Yes, I thought of ASTORIA then SALAL, which fit. JAMAL is unknown but like Steve, if I have a few letters I can work it out.
I'm also familiar with the APGAR test.
ACERB is often used in crosswords and that's how I know it. TERI Garr and Kathryn ERBE are well known to me. I liked her in CSI, Criminal Intent, and I admired Roger REES. I don't know Susan RAMOS but it's a familiar Spanish name so it filled easily.
I'm surprised VIXEN is unknown by some as a female fox. LICE and FLEAS? Gives me the willies.
Is anyone else reading Column of Fire by Ken Follett? It's superb! Set in the 16th century, it's at the height of Elizabeth I's rise to power and in France the Huguenots are being persecuted by the ultra conservative government where the death of King Francis II (age 14) sets off a power struggle.
It's a gorgeous day for GOLFING here today.
Have a warm and snuggly day, everyone!
oops. Waldorf SALAD.
Hahtoolah:
Congratulations on your retirement!
Misty:
What a nice CSO to you at WOO HOO.
d-o:
That is funny! activity vs. nativity.
Fermat:
So glad for you that Harvey was able to bring you dinner.
Hahtoolah,
Congratulations upon your retirement. Always a mixed blessing, so I hope your mixture leans toward the self-fulfillment side of the scale.
You say your first post-retirement event was to go for an oil change. Mine was to give up driving altogether. We each have our own pace for letting go of the many and varied connections to our world.
May you enjoy family, friends, and - for you, especially - your books! And count your lucky stars that you've retired in this glorious age of 24/7 streaming video!
Hi All!
So, a Kit's mom is not a foxet[te]. That took a while to unscramble. In fact, the North Central wasn't working out for me until I 'confirmed' it was JAMes Crawford... Oh, it's not nor was 10d Secular anything...
Thanks Robert and Marlea for a healthy challenge on my first day feeling healthy - It's ODD what a JOB a little virus can do to ya'.
Thanks Steve for the walk-through and info on REES. Re: 59a: I was on top of it with "landing" but I was thinking "landing" as in top of the steps. Google says that's not a QUAY.
WOs: JAMES, Foxet, Draw before tense DREW past
ESPs: ERBE, OPERA, LAICAL, RAMOS, ALTA
Fav: CROQUET as clued
{A}
Cute @11a post D2
Glad to hear you're swimming and Harv is better Fermat
Welcome back Tin, did you bring Moscow's weather back to FL? :-)
BunnyM. I know of your fright! Youngest was premature and flopped out; APGAR was not good; aspirators and chest massages on the way down the hall to TX Children's* where she was in ICU for 3 days. She's fine & healthy now.
TTP - LOL your NOTE to WikWak. As to "pealing the onion," "you can put lipstick on it..." //MAKE it stop! :-)
Not only is Woohoo! a CSO to Misty but how Song 2 begins [Blur for Tawnya //turn down your speakers :-)]
Not the clip you'd expect for The Dude ABIDEs.
Nor' Easterners be safe from the winter BOMB.
Cheers, -T
*St Luke's is attached to TX Children's. Houston Medical Center is incredible (all those buildings are hospitals and Dr. Offices.
This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 1/2/2018 post for an explanation of my method. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio & percentage, the higher my solve time was relative to my norm for that day of the week.
Day, Solve Time, 26-wk Median, Ratio, %, Rating
Mon 4:06 4:05 1.00 52.4% Medium
Tue 5:18 4:27 1.19 87.7% Challenging
Wed 4:21 4:42 0.93 33.0% Easy-Medium
Thu 5:16 5:47 0.91 32.6% Easy-Medium
Fermatprime, my daughter the scientist tells me the ketogenic diet is a bad thing and potentially dangerous. Ketosis can be deadly. Since she is smarter than me, I believe her. :)
Fresh veggies and fruit, whole grains, protein, a little fat, all in moderation. That's the ticket!
Picard, This One's For You !
If you are not Picard, please scroll down to the next post.
What does FLN mean? I asked that myself almost two months ago. A+ gave you the answer, but wait, there's more. Starting with the Olio which is to the right of 3D, LICE today, find Comments Section Abbreviations, & voila FLN: From Last Night. Naturally if the referenced post is in the morning, FLN still gets the job done.
Ramos, I'd been meaning to ask the name of the lady in recent pictures with you. Sorry to hear that she is in the past.
Dia de los muertos showcases the combined cultures of the Chumash Indians as one performed an opening ceremony, and the Mexican heritage shown by the UCSB dancers. The videos are memorable, and the angel offset the portrayal of the deceased impressively.
If the man carrying the drum wasn't deaf before the parade, he is now. BTW Kroger, or the
CARPINTERIA EQUIVALENT WANTS THE SKULL GROCERY CART BACK AFTER THE PARADE. ALL THE DANCERS WERE ENJOYABLE ESPECIALLY THE SENORITAS IN THEIR BRIGHT, FLOWING SKIRTS. (I copied Carpinteria which was in caps, and didn't mean to yell at you with the rest. It does lend a certain importance to my point.)
Dave 2 far away to come next year, darn.
Anon @ 7:27 -- They add erudition ... and obfuscation.
We have all been enculturated -- who here did not IMMEDIATELY answer "Hoo" for 30d? Misty, you may be the Mistress of Memes!
Spitz @ 10:19. I'd be satisfied if some constructor had noticed 'tert-Butanol' or 'ethyl acetate' as chemical answers.
I do not usually note the work that all expositors do to start our day, but even if we don't say anything, there is a hidden CSO to them every day: it is amazing that anyone can function at that intellectual level at 3 or 3:30 A.M.!
Hello Puzzlers -
Late to the party. Just came in from the first major snow removal effort. We have lots of nice fluffy snow, but the cold air and gusty winds make the work miserable.
Had a little trouble at Jamal and Laical, but perps reinforced things.
Happy Retirement to you, Hatoolah! I predict you’re going to settle in just fine.
I forgot to say thanks to Steve for the Masquerade story. That was fascinating! I didn’t know about the author/artist before today, but the images I’ve seen suggest I’d love the work.
sanfran: We've had "discussions" here in the past about how different the Corner is from Rex's blog -- how mean-spirited Rex's posse tends to be compared to the homey camaraderie we share here, where Thumper (usually) rules. There are some here who keep track of their time and report when it's particularly fast or slow. And a subjective difficulty rating is always appropriate for the current day's puzzle under consideration. But being too clinical (IMHO) sort of disrupts the flow of chatter that makes the corner such a congenial meeting place. We welcome you here, and look forward to your comment comments, but perhaps you could also start a blog of your own for the statistical stuff, as I did once when my frequent comments about Cryptic Crossword clues began to become too intrusive here, too.
And I probably ought to kill myself for saying that publicly. Half the group is now going to pillory me for expressing my personal opinion as if it were some sort of Corner consensus, particularly since I'm a relative newcomer here myself, and was once (and occasionally still) as brash as D2.
Ah, that’s right, acerbic. Nice passage from a literary genius. RI govt closed today. My car needed an inspection sticker and because the garage couldn’t connect to the closed offices they had to keep it overnight. We’re not going anywhere.
4 for 4 TADAS for the year. Pure guess on "eRST and Rees intersection. Never heard of either the word *except erstwhile nor the actor and I was a big Cheers fan. Today will be my first day missing golf for the year so the themes were fun and easy.
82 today. Every winter makes me glad I turned down 300 to live in DC. Lived there twice in my early 30's and hated 8 months out of the year. April May, Sept and October were the only reasonable weather months.
never even thought of rating the difficulty of puzzles but I'd love to keep a running score. I'd give today's a 7.
OwenKL
Hear, hear!
SLee
Hahtoolah - Congrats on retirement. Sure, it's just an oil change but you had all day to do it. Pop's wife loves her RET but Pop can't seem to settle in - He's a HandyMan and keeps doing ODD JOBS (Pop installed a Life-Alert for a guy today; the poor guy spent 5 hours trying to get to his phone because of flu induced weakness).
From the other night... TTP - Yes, saying "called-out" re: OAS's WHO/Guess Who was a wrong choice of phrase... My defense? I wasn't up to snuff. OAS - I ENJOY'd your prescient Golf story today.
@12:10p - Twain, no?
SanFran - do you intend to compete in xWord tournaments? I understand being a numbers-guy/gal but, well, there's gotta be a MED for that :-). Really, though, I'm fascinated that you can even read the clues that quickly.
Argyle - Is Lois our salacious "Santa Baby" VIXEN? If so (even if not) I missed her this year.
Re: LISP: (language (programming (clue (once))))
//Read: For once I'd like to see it clue'd as a programming language [and now TTP knows why I'm hard to parse :-)]
Also: Don't you too think it cruel to give an affliction a name that's difficult for the afflicted to pronounce? It's equivalent to spelling dyslexia to call-out disleksicks.
Cheers, -T
That she is.
HG 1001A
Asked "Does Kripke on Big Bang have a LISP – 'Siwi, can you wecommend a westauwant?' "
That got me looking, and I found Raj interacting with Siri. For those who don't watch TBBT, Raj has a condition where he can not talk to women face to face. With this set up, here is Raj's date with Siri.
Dave 2
That's all folks.
Vaguely remember LISP but my least favorite was ADA. For a while it was the DoD standard.
By the way do the site runners edit and/or delete comments? I thought I had a pithy one the other day concerning my Country Club's Tax Cut party on the New Years eve. You have every right to do as you please as it's your ISP but it would be kind if you let the offending party know when he or she crossed a line.
And just to stay in trouble... the comment about 20% pay 80% of the taxes, the fact is that the 80% do 99% of the dying so the 20% can enjoy their liberty.
ChuckL - ADA, named for Ms Lovelace, was, like all DOD standards (recall GOSIP?) a verbose language eclipsed only by COBAL. LISP was big in AI during my grad-work before Scheme became the golden boy.
Re: Poli - 1) I read the Tax party so I don't think it was whack'd 2) staying in trouble doesn't bode well.
The "site runner" is a benevolent over-lord who will let stand some things but for inflam* or hyperbole.
-T
*[slang, if clue'd for Ans :-)]
Chuck, isn't great that we live in a country with all-volunteer armed forces? I HATED the draft, even though I got lucky in the first draft lottery and wan't personally affected. It just seemed to be anti-American to me.
OK, OK ... I get the message. Maybe I'm a bit of an oddball for being both a numbers nerd and a cruciverbalist. My bad. Didn't mean to step on toes. I'll cease and desist.
But I'm wondering how difficult it is to just skip over my messages if you're not interested. BTW, I don't consider myself to be part of Rex's "posse" (whatever that is). In fact, he annoys the heck out of me with much of his commentary. But I think there are some very thoughtful and interesting participants on his comment board. Good to know that it's so much more civilized here.
Chuck: the site admins do police the comments, but fairly lightly, mostly for outside trolls and spammers. However, Blogspot sets up the mechanism, and doesn't give any way to edit comments, so it's delete all or nothing. To be safe, if you have the least doubt about a comment, don't mix it in the same post with more innocuous stuff!
Re: ACIDS / ALKALIES - From my earlier comment. In case anyone missed it, I threw Phenolphthalein into the mix because it is a reagent which can tell between the two - - clear if acidic, pink if alkaline.
Argyle - Good news about Lois. I always liked her spicy and provocative comments. A regular when I joined this merrie bande some 8 years ago.
TTP: great story about JAMAL. Thanks.
BunnyM: welcome back. Missed you.
D4: they MAKE your MEDS A DOUBLE today? Fantasmic story.
Argyle: I was wondering about spicy Lois the other day. Tell her high from those of us who remember her fondly.
Will do.
Good evening all,
Could not let this day go without telling Robert and Marla how much I enjoyed your CW, even though I had to perp-perp-and perp my way thru it. I chuckled at all of the theme fills. I am so jealous of the many of you who just whiz thru and only have 1 or 2 unknowns. Here's my list: Ramas, Jamal, Rees, Baxter(although it was an aha), Enid, apgar and ersatz.Alikilis and acids filled only because I knew those words. I had nubs...still don't get why drew fit the clue. Bore had to be changed to bomb. All done...it was fun. Loved RECKLESS DRIVING. Whiff was the 1st thing that came to me. LOL. I was very familiar with those in my beginning years on the greens...so embarrassing.
Argyle, so nice that Lois continues to keep in touch. She is smitten with he granddaughter and visits often. She said that she is raising purgatory, as she says she is too old to be raising hell anymore. LOL! Love that gal!
Lucina, I had not realized that Column of Fire is the the last of the Century Trilogy. Pillars of the Earth is in my top 10 books, but wasn't enamored by the 2nd in the series. Am anxious to read Column of Fire. Thanks!
Hahtoolah, congrats on your retirement. Life is just beginning :)
Wishing you all in the East better weather in the coming weeks. We had a small 4.4 earthquake last night which woke us up but did no damage. It is frightening to those who have not experienced them, like my son-i-l who is from Wales. The fires were much scarier.
DNF, Jamal/Laical did me in...
(also flirt and Apgar...)
Happy Retirement Hahtoolah!
Not in this town!
Ace in the hole?
Bye bye birdie?
Can you guess what my double would be?
Thank you, Ol'Man Keith, for giving my WOOHOO national credit. Thank you, too, Lucina and Anon T. My goodness, that rock group sure knows how to deliver a WOOHOO better than I do. And Michael, what a kind compliment--thank you too.
See you all tomorrow!
Hahtoolah, congratulations!
This getting paid for not working is a good deal. I wish I'd tumbled to it sooner...
HISTORY OF FLN AT THE CORNER (crosswordcorner.blogspot.com)
CC has it in her list of Corner Abbreviations that is dated February 15th, 2012. I think it's possible that posting may have been edited and the abbreviation added at a later date.
The first occurrence of FLN as an abbreviation (here) can be attributed to our guy that writes with the LISP-like comments. This was on May 27th, 2016:
"OKL - FLN : Neither -T C. and gladly so. {B, C+, F [remove line 5 or 7, IMHO]}. I enjoy daily; thanks."
Prior to that fateful date, "from last night" was spelled out.
The next five occurrences of FLN (1 in July, 4 in August 2016) were also by Anonymous T.
OKL was the first person other than Dash T to use it (Nov 30, 2016).
Then Dash T again on Dec 5th.
Madame DeFarge wrote on December 22nd, 2016, "FLN: ( I think that's Anon-T's code for From Last Night)"
And -T replied a few hours later, "BTW, I don't think FLN was originally mine on the Corner; I may have read it in my lurk days."
(Ed. comment: Sounds to me like he's trying to establish plausible deniability. :>))
Then one more time by Dash T on December 30th 2016.
So the first ten usages of FLN (here) were in 2016. Eight by Anon-T, one by OKL, and one by Madame DeFarge.
2017 FLN count ? A whopping 105 usages. A tenfold increase. I don't think we're quite quite ready to petition the editors of the OED, but at least there will be some history for the word sleuths trying to date and attribute FLN as it relates to From Last Night :>)
thanks for the fore knowledge re deleting comments. I think I will skate the ragged edge as much as possible.
Catholics !
REPUBLICANS !
Canadian (EH?) have their North Exposed !
Picard has a Chrome dome !
draft number 360 here ! Luckiest day in my life.
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