Theme: Why should you never starve at the beach? Because of all the sand which is there. [Let the groaning begin.] Three common sandwich fillings are wrapped up inside the theme answers, in each split across the two word fill. Let's have a taste.
20 A. Blindsided : CAUGHT UNAWARE. Thus, by surprise. The infallible internet tells me that UNAWARE is an adjective, but CAUGHT needs an adverb complement - in this case, UNAWARES. I am not making up this not. Anyway, TUNA is a common sandwich filler, popular with both humans and felines.
33 A. Pumpkin pie maker's tool : NUTMEG GRATER. A handy little gadget that comes in many designs and varieties. NUTMEG is not just for deserts, though. It goes wonderfully with pasta, spinach and Gruyere cheese. Trust me on this one. Concealed in this answer is an EGG. I have not tried this with NUTMEG. Could be promising.
41 A. One of a global septet : NORTH AMERICA. The other 6 continents are South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica. HAM is of course another classic sandwich filler. I like mine grilled with Swiss cheese. Perhaps another NUTMEG opportunity?
And the unifier, or in this case, container -- 56. Flatbread lunch items ... and, as shown by circles, what 20-, 33- and 41-Across are? : SANDWICH WRAPS. Typically, these are some variety flat bread, literally rolled and wrapped around the filling.
Hi, gang, JazzBumpa here. Let's head for the dining room and see what else Paul has cooked up for us. Bon appetit!
Across
1. Share-a-ride pickup hrs. : ETAS. Estimated Time of Arrivals. Er - Times of Arrival.
20 A. Blindsided : CAUGHT UNAWARE. Thus, by surprise. The infallible internet tells me that UNAWARE is an adjective, but CAUGHT needs an adverb complement - in this case, UNAWARES. I am not making up this not. Anyway, TUNA is a common sandwich filler, popular with both humans and felines.
33 A. Pumpkin pie maker's tool : NUTMEG GRATER. A handy little gadget that comes in many designs and varieties. NUTMEG is not just for deserts, though. It goes wonderfully with pasta, spinach and Gruyere cheese. Trust me on this one. Concealed in this answer is an EGG. I have not tried this with NUTMEG. Could be promising.
41 A. One of a global septet : NORTH AMERICA. The other 6 continents are South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica. HAM is of course another classic sandwich filler. I like mine grilled with Swiss cheese. Perhaps another NUTMEG opportunity?
And the unifier, or in this case, container -- 56. Flatbread lunch items ... and, as shown by circles, what 20-, 33- and 41-Across are? : SANDWICH WRAPS. Typically, these are some variety flat bread, literally rolled and wrapped around the filling.
Hi, gang, JazzBumpa here. Let's head for the dining room and see what else Paul has cooked up for us. Bon appetit!
Across
1. Share-a-ride pickup hrs. : ETAS. Estimated Time of Arrivals. Er - Times of Arrival.
5. Go wild with Wild Turkey, say : TOPE. Drink to excess, especially if done on a regular basis.
9. Golden Horde member : TATAR. It's complicated.
14. Pope __ VI (1963-'78) : PAUL. Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, as Pope, continued and implemented the ecumenical reforms started under Pope John XXIII.
15. Copied : APED. APE see, APE do.
16. Be nuts about : ADORE.
17. "The Simpsons" bus driver : OTTO.
17. "The Simpsons" bus driver : OTTO.
18. Drink garnish : RIND. Citrus, typically. Or possibly melon. I don't claim to know all.
19. Old-time actress Shearer : NORMA. An accomplished performer who was nominated for 5 Oscars, and best actress winner in 1930 for THE DIVORCEE.
23. "Let's see ... " : HMM. Thoughtful non-comment.
24. German city on the Danube : ULM. Along with Regensburg, Passau, Donauschingen, Ingolstadt and Donauwörth, all of which have far to many letters.
25. Set ablaze : IGNITE. Arson is suspected.
28. The hit in the baseball mantra "A walk is as good as a hit" : SINGLE. Just as good in the lead off spot. Not so much with a man on 3rd and two outs.
30. Sugar source : CANE. Here in the midwest, BEET also works.
32. Cultural funding gp. : National Endowment for the Arts.
36. Beef inspection org. : United States Department of Agriculture.
39. 401(k) alternative, for short : Individual Retirement Account. N. B. Abrvs. in. Cl. & Ans.
40. __ stick: incense : JOSS. A thin stick made of paste and a fragrant substance burnt before a Chinese idol. News to me.
46. Suffix with percent : -ILE. Each of the 99 intermediate values that divide a frequency distribution into 100 groups.
47. College city on I-35 : AMES. Located in the center of Iowa, and home to Iowa State University.
48. Sharp : SHREWD. Mentally.
52. Yom Kippur month : TISHRI. From an Akkadian root meaning "beginning." The first month of the civil year and 7th month of the eclesaitical year in the Hebrew calendar.
54. "Who am __ judge?" : I TO. Who, indeed?
55. China's Chou En-__ : LAI. Or Zhou Enlai, first Premier of the People's Republic of China, and a highly skilled diplomat.
60. Work really hard : SLAVE. I don't suppose working hard at surfing counts.
62. '60s-'70s pitcher nicknamed Blue Moon : ODOM. Johnny Lee ODOM, b. 1945 won three consecutive World Championships in 1973-4-5 with the Oakland A's. He also had a pretty sever substance abuse problem.
63. Huge : EPIC.
64. Awards for Asimov et al. : HUGOS. Named for HUGO Gernbach, founder of the magazine Amazing Stories, they are presented each year at the World Science Fiction Convention. Isaac Asimov is an American biochemist who became a science-fiction and then non-fiction author and editor of hundred of books
65. Computer list : MENU. Or cafe. We do have a sandwich theme!
66. Concerning : AS TO. In re:
67. Suits : EXECS. Corp big wigs. I've met a few and was not impressed.
68. Musically low : BASS.
68. Musically low : BASS.
69. Floral neckwear : LEIS. Flower garlands associated with Hawaii.
Down:
Down:
1. Geological timespans : EPOCHS
2. Woven Japanese mat : TATAMI
3. Colorful period : AUTUMN
4. Plod (through) : SLOG
5. Small pastry : TARTLET
6. Poppy drug : OPIUM
7. Keystone State Ivy : PENN
8. Scandinavian literary work : EDDA
9. Brightly colored songbird : TANAGER
10. Deck out : ADORN
11. Attacked with gusto : TORE INTO
12. Limb with biceps and triceps : ARM
13. "In Dreams" actor Stephen : REA
21. Netflix competitor : HULU
22. Flying aid : WING
26. Light shirts : TEES
27. All __: listening : EARS
29. Annoying bug : GNAT
30. First known asteroid : CERES
31. Lab gel : AGAR
34. Play charades, say : MIME
35. Open just a crack : AJAR
36. Ton, for one : UNIT
37. Songs for one : SOLI
38. Equestrian event : DRESSAGE
42. Equestrian equipment : HARNESS
43. In the center of : AMID
44. Panama landform : ISTHMUS
45. Grub : CHOW
49. Go by : ELAPSE
50. Elk : WAPITI
51. Where much Bee Gees music was played : DISCOS
53. Mayhem : HAVOC
54. Graphic symbols : ICONS
57. Berth before birth : WOMB
58. It can come to mind : IDEA
59. Concrete : REAL
60. Cow or sow : SHE
61. Unilever soap brand : LUX
Well, that [ahem] WRAPS is up for another Wednesday. Sadly, no love for peanut butter. Hope you didn't EAT A TON.
Cool regards!
JzB
53 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Paul and JzB!
Did not know TISHRI or JOSS. But everything worked out okay!
More rain here today!
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
A HAVOC-prone bus driver, OTTO,
The cops called SHREWD desperado!
His SLOG AMID traffic
Was fearfully EPIC!
Not something one could do in an auto!
.
A culture was brewing in a dish of AGAR,
But the cooler was left with a door AJAR!
In snuck a mold spore
The MENU to ADORE,
As it dines on the germs that ADORN a jar!
.
Would a nuthatch dine on a nut of NUTMEG?
Would a TANAGER nest on a tan-tinged EGG?
Could a crow, a corvid,
Soil a Corvette lid?
Would a swallow in love wallow and beg?
Would a toucan pop-the-top on a two-gallon keg?
{A-, B+, B.} [hi, d-o!]
(Is a rich TANAGER a golden-ager?)
Well, that was exciting for a moment. The puzzle seemed easy for a Wednesday, TANAGER and TATIMI and JOSS sticks the challenges. 38. Equestrian event: DRESSAGE and 42. Equestrian equipment: HARNESS was a very nice clecho. Cluing was fun, 60. Cow or sow: SHE was my favorite.
Thanks, Paul and JzB for the write up and the deja vu.
Hi Y'all! Another fun feast of a puzzle, Paul, thanks. Glad to find you back in good form, JzB.
I got SANDWICH okay but WRAPS was hard to come up with. I don't think of them as compatible as a unit. You get a SANDWICH or a WRAP. I had also found the fillings and didn't think of any of them in WRAPS, but the rest of the words WRAPped around them, I must admit. Duh!
Last to fill was "E" in ADORE because I did downs in that block and didn't know REA so just kept going. No TADA until I filled the missing. "E".
Didn't know TISHRI so HAVOC needed mostly perps. SHRill before SHREWD.
I like how ISTHMUS descends from NORTH AMERICA. Very apt.
FLN: IM & CED I wasn't disturbed at Mr. Meow or Mr. Cake. Just trying to compliment CED for his broader scope of humor. Pardon me for butting in.
Good morning!
Shot myself in the foot by awarding Asimov with an EDGAR. Nothing else was working in that area so....Wite-Out, please. JOSS came to me immediately -- thank you, James Clavell. It all worked out in the end. Thanx, Paul and JzB.
You could tell from her DRESSAGE that she was just a young TARTLET.
TISHRI sounds like an expletive that should be deleted, or at least bleeped.
OTTO: CSO to moi. I'll take it.
ULM is where Einstein was born as we recently learned.
EDGAR was not a bad thought as Asimov wrote many great mystery short stories. He was such an amazingly prolific and talented writer. LINK .
Thanx Paul for a pleasant cw . A few bumps along the way. Started with the downs . Had epochs, autumn, and opium which quickly led to caught unaware. Figured ham and egg would be in the circles ; but in what order? Liked the intersection of Adore and Adorn. Would have had Tope sooner if I had recently browsed the liquor store shelves. All in all a pleasant experience thanx again . Old man winter is giving us a reprieve today as I woke up to melting temps.
Kept waiting for "salad" to be tossed out there as some type of unifier.
Tuna salad
Egg salad
Ham salad
Good morning everyone.
Had to look up TISHRI, but got JOSS from perps. First fill was TATAR. Nice how ISTHMUS hangs down from NORTH AMERICA. Rest of solve was straightforward.
PAUL - We were privileged to attend an audience with Paul VI in 1965. He seemed to enjoy interacting with various groups. (Also saw the Birra Peroni truck making a delivery to the Vatican. I've always thought beer was the right thing to drink ever since.)
Cow or sow - I grew up with (L. German) Koh or Söög.
Have a great day.
Good morning. After TUNA & EGG were in place in the 'Circles in the Squares', I was thinking OMELET before the SANDWICH WRAPS made their way into the grid. My favorite one is from Taco Bell- a BURRITO SUPREME.
TISHRI and JOSS sticks are news words for me, (and Fermatprime & Spitzboov) both 100% perped. NORMA Searer was another unknown.
Most of the BEE GEES' music was not DISCO but the soundtrack for SNF is what most people remember. I don't intent to IGNITE a firestorm but IMHO DISCO music sucks.
DRESSAGE- an original 'new' Olympic sport. I don't think that any athletic competition should have style points, including skating, gymnastics, boxing, diving, and my favorite- synchronized swimming. All are subjected to the judges' opinions that are usually very biased. The TIDE didn't beat the DAWGS by style points.
Chou En LAI- call him a 'highly skilled diplomat' while ignoring his murdering cohort Chairman Mao's actions would equate to calling Harvey Weinstein's enablers as 'negotiators'. They turned a blind eye to the obvious.
Seeing TUNA I was looking for salads and easily guessed EGG and HAM. Ohh, not salads, but sandwiches. Like subs or heroes, wraps are a very popular type of sandwich here.
I knew JOSS with just the S, having had teens in the house.
I have seen TISHRI, but needed ESP to recall it. It sounds like a sneeze to me. I should memorize the Jewish months.
OTTO - I usually need a perp or two to tell the Simpsons' characters apart due to lack of interest.
I moved along quickly until the SW corner. When SHE dawned on me it led to SLAVE, HUGOS and HAVOC. Done! FIR.
In Japanese restaurants our classmates and I sometimes sat on TATAMI mats at low tables. Thankfully, these days when going out with family we use standard tables and chairs. My goldenage bones appreciate it.
JZB, interesting write up. I was surprised to learn that CAUGHT UNAWARES was standard. Looking further, I see that AWARE is listed as an alternative adverb form for unawares, so that would be correct, too. I use and hear UNAWARE in this context. I don't remember having heard UNAWARES in everyday speech, but have seen it in writing.
Big Easy, I agree that style points are often subjective and I rant against their sometimes obvious lack of fairness, but style is an important part of those sports. I don't know the answer.
I finally got my iPad fixed....no I don't know what was wrong ! .... and I came back to this yummy puzzle with lots of crunch. Thanks Paul. I had many changes, but SLOGged through, Witeout in hand. Pius before PAUL, Age before ILE, in re before AS TO, and many more. I struggled to find WRAPS after SANDWICH came easily but perps saved me.
My favorite was "berth before birth" for WOMB.
Thanks, JzB for guiding us through.
Owen, all A's today! The second one was brilliant!
Good Morning:
After filling in the last entry, to my surprise, no Tada. I scanned over the grid but saw no glaring error, so I hit the Remove All Errors button and then saw the error of my ways. I had solo instead of soli (read the clue more carefully!) which made Tishri into Toshri, which look okay to me so, alas, a FIW on a Wednesday. My only w/os were As To/In Re and Shrill/Shrewd. There were several semi-related answers: Epochs/Epic, Lai/Lei, Menu/Icons, and Dressage/Harness. Funny to see Agar three days in a row. I, too, thought the theme was going to be Salad in some form.
Thanks, Paul, for a tasty treat and thanks, JazB, for a witty wrap up.
PK, FLN, you didn't butt in, you offered your always welcomed and appreciated views! 😉
It's mild and sunny right now which should result in the disappearance of a lot of snow. High 40's-50 tomorrow and Friday, then back into the 30's Saturday.
Have a great day.
Hello Puzzlers -
Not too difficult, but I looked long and hard at the unfamiliar Tope. The perps looked solid, so it stayed. Joss was dimly remembered from the past, but Tishri was 100% perps. Got there in the end.
Morning JzB, you’re right, that Tatar business is complicated.
Interesting to see the movie “In Dreams” soon after Annette Bening. The central filming location was a house near mine. It was interesting to get a glimpse of the process, particularly with respect to the amount of equipment that has to get hauled in for moviemaking. Neighbors like me were placated by free access to the catering service as compensation for the not-inconsiderable inconvenience.
Good morning all!
I enjoyed this fun food theme from Paul and JzB's great review. I like to make SANDWICH WRAPS using grilled chicken and Caeser salad. Although we haven't been eating romaine lettuce since the latest E. coli outbreak. Of course, I'd just bought several bags of it hours before learning about it last week. Those got thrown out :(
JOSS, TISHRI and EDDA were learning moments and I needed perps for TOPE, TATAR, LAI, HUGOS and DRESSAGE.
I had Shrill/SHREWD and Trod/SLOG
Like Swmapcat, my favorite clue was for WOMB
Thank you, Irish Miss for your kind words yesterday- it's nice to be back :)
Busy day tomorrow, as DD#1 is coming over to go through her items we've been storing for her. She's moving in with The Fireman in a few months and is trying to organize her things and start packing. This is a big step for them but one we are all happy about.
Then we're going to lunch at one of our favorite places that I haven't been to since they moved to a larger space. Should be a good day!
Hope everyone has a great day:)
WEES about looking for salads for the unifier with the HAM, EGG, TUNA - though any of those in salad form would definitely not work very well in a WRAP!! TISHRI also an unknown - ADAR and NISAN seem to be the months that are frequent fliers in crosswords!
Off this morning - so need to finish storing the Christmas decorations as well as planning a dessert for my book club tomorrow night. It was a wonderful book: "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi - about multiple generations which started with 2 half sisters in Ghana, West Africa and split between one which stayed in Africa and one who was kidnapped and sent to America to be a slave. We often bring a dessert that goes with the book - but though I've been to Ghana on mission trips - dessert is not big there with meals- so I may have to just pick a favorite non theme dessert.
Welcome from the finally not freezing Atlantic Coast. Thanks for the review, JzB. I was glad to see your limericks today, Owen - missed them on my last puzzle. Spitzboov, I envy you getting to see Paul VI. I was able to see John Paul II when he came to Boston. I only had a distant view, but he seemed to have a glow of goodness.
I had two alternate ideas for this theme. One was to surround the sandwich fillings with different types of bread. I did this for the Orange County Register a while back. It was published with theme answers in the DOWN direction, so they'd look more like sandwiches. Some of the fillings are a bit random, but I wanted all of these to be 15s:
NEWYORKLOXBAGEL - Kosher deli sandwich
PITASTEAKPOCKET - One-handed sandwich
WHITESWISSBREAD - Unimaginative sandwich
RYEBOLOGNATOAST - Inexpensive sandwich
Kind of an easy one for a Wednesday, especially after the crunchy puzzles the last 2 days.
Lots of 4 letter fill today.
Thank you, Paul, for the interesting puzzle and for your comments today.
I, too, thought this was much easier than even Monday's and was expecting CAUGHTUNAWAREs. That's what I'm familiar with.
Hand up for SHRILL/SHREWD. WOMB was brilliant!
LUX was my mother's favorite soap and the only one she would use.
DISCO is definitely dance music and my daughter and granddaughter both love to dance to it.
OTTO made me think of you, d-o.
Welcome back, JazzB, and thank you for the detailed expo.
Have a wondrous day, everyone! It rained last night!
Until yesterday I'd been doing the xwords but unable to get in and post. On Sunday I just couldn't come up with Cunningham so had the lame HIHO. Otherwise, Pancho's puzzle went quickly and smooth.
Monday was a disaster. I've actually played Pokemon Go with my son. And I love the Scots phrase "If there's nae wind, there's NAE golf". Except for me it was Nae gambling then nae golf.
So, IMHO, easy Sunday, crunchy Monday and Wednesday.
I started slowly today but it all came together for an FIR. I too was looking for SALADS and wrote it in before AMID perped.
Nutmeg actually is an ingredient in EGGnog. Bunny, glad to see you and Tawnya back posting and thanks for the tip on Romaine lettuce and Ecoli. Betsy was upset at having to go iceberg.
Anybody else see Hari Selden As N. Ratschilde?
Finally, my wife was heavy into DRESSAGE and would tell you that the "style" points result from disciplined adherence to the requirements.
Then again, there was the Eastern Bloc judges.
WC
JzB great write-up and Owen, your lowest grade was my fav per usual
Btw. I as completely out of it Tuesday. I'll try to find the xword and do it.
Musings
-English sub today where kids are mostly struggling with research papers
-Opening a TUNA can is a clarion call to our four-legged tenant
-The ETA on my car navigation system is always too late because I drive a tad over the limit
-An interestingly named institution in Omaha
-This wonderful movie starred all the big Hollywood women of 1939. Not one man is seen or heard.
-Sugar CANE was grown by SLAVE labor in Cuba in the 18th century
-BLUE Moon ODOM and Vida BLUE both pitched for the A’s
-An EPIC fail!
-Gen. Patton was an expert at DRESSAGE as seen in the movie Patton
-DISCO in gym class
Thanks for dropping by Paul. Interesting theme today and interesting alternate idea.
Inanehiker, I have ordered Homegoing from my local library. It sounds like my kind of book. Thanks for the tip.
C.E.Dave. FLN Sorry about razzing you. Seriously, I do understand how you are captivated by your kitty, crazy about your pussycat. I was too, especially my beloved Kahlua. He will never be replaced in my heart, so now I am "catless."
No circles because of MENSA. I could have gone to the LA Times site, but I was able to get through the puzzle without getting the theme. Interesting puzzle by Paul and I enjoyed JzB's write up.
I did have a few hitches along the way. SOLO vs. SOLI, SHRILL vs. SHREWD, AGE vs. ILE, and INRE vs. ASTO. Perps were needed to correct these and a number of other wrong inputs and blanks.
DISCO is not my favorite music, but I do enjoy the "Hooked On" series of music from Arthur Clark that has other types of music set to a DISCO beat. I just asked ALEXA to play Hooked On Classics and am enjoying it at the moment. I developed a fondness for classics that started when I was a yute with the Lone Ranger theme.
Some areas of information that I lack are the Jewish calendar and the characters in the Simpson's. These are not the only holes in my knowledge base but I should take the effort to learn them along with some others so that I can work CW's better.
I thought it was interesting that we got a crossing of NORMA and REA, even though the spelling was a little different RAE vs REA. Phonetically it fit.
Stay warm.
Forgive me, but I seem to be out of sync with the rest of you,
or possibly in the twilight zone...
Had a terrrible time with this puzzle,
and was all set to complain abut tanagers and taters,
and I was especially interested in knowing how or why 50d elk=wapiti???
When half way through the Blog, the downs turned into a puzzle from last week?
Even more freaky, is that no one, nobody commented on this...
(Am I losing my mind?)
54a Who am --- to judge = Ito There has got to be a way to have fun with this...
BeeGees? Disco? Totally misdirected because of last weeks link...
Oh, and FLN...
Very sorry, I was having so much trouble using the wrong words
in the CW's, I thought I might have some fun with it...
I hope I did not hurt anyone's Felines...
I am on late. ALL of my DOWN answers are from, I believe, yesterday. 1 Down is Beav.
The grid is correct.
Live in Ohio. But that shouldn't affect this blog.
Thanks for a fun theme and thanks for dropping by, Paul Coulter.
Thanks for the review, JzB. But when I look at the Down section of your review, it is for a different day! Is it just me?
Here again is my photo sequence of a ship passing through the ISTHMUS of PANAMA. A very complex and time-consuming process.
I hope people don't mind if I occasionally re-post some of my photos. In this case, I thought it was especially educational to see how it works. Remember, this was just one set of locks of many. A new canal was nearly finished. This was the original one.
Thanks, JzB for noting John XXIII as the predecessor to PAUL.
I am not Catholic but I made a point of visiting this tomb of JOHN XXIII in Rome. He was a lot like the current Pope: A man who believed in bettering the lives of the downtrodden more than continuing the church traditions.
Good for you Spitzboov that you got to meet with Pope PAUL in person. Even though I saw Pope John Paul live in Boston, it was more meaningful to me to see that tomb.
Thanks for honoring dearly departed LUX soap, Lucina! It was the only soap I liked. It has almost no stinky perfume smell. But it doesn't dry your skin as Ivory does. There is not a single American soap I can use anymore. I own 2700 shares of UNILEVER, but they do not care that I recommend they bring back LUX.
I am very grateful that DW found this Malaysian version of Johnson's Baby Soap. It is pretty much the same as LUX.
I agree with you, Big Easy, about DISCO.
Thanks for your concern yesterday AnonymousT. We are safe, but we can't go anywhere. With the freeway closed there is no route out of here. We are grateful we did not have the mud slide onto us. And thanks, Yellowrocks, for your agreement yesterday about children being overly "protected" (controlled).
Just saw comment above me.
The Downs were wrong, and then they were right and then they were wrong again.
Very bizarre.
I’ve done every puzzle since I started in August; but this week’s beginning-of-the-week puzzles have been the most challenging for me. And just when I thought I was making progress......
Can’t wait to see what’s coming on Saturday.
Cheers from sunny California.....and a belated Happy New Year to all my fellow cornerites.
Mark
CED and Lemon, thanks for clarifying. I too thought I was losing it since no one commented on the downs recap Yeah, very bizarre.
Favorite clue was WAPITI, an old cw staple from years ago. I keep thinking it was also a dance style from the early '70s, but couldn't find it on the net. Maybe I am losing it.
Duh, it was the Watusi. Not enough coffee this a.m.
2:27EST, Blog is still half today, and half yesterday...
(It's got to be me seeing sideways,
Jzb has never done a half assed writeup in his life!)
Only Star Wars fans will understand
that I am complaining about today's puzzle...
However, I did learn how to answer that annoying question in my next job interview...
Well, until we get the Blog straightened out,
this puzzle suggested its own suggestion...
Sorry, everyone, the correct Downs are there right now. We still have not figured out how last Wednesday's Downs were mixed into today's write-up.
This morning I was toggling back and forth between screens. I thought I had inadvertently pulled up yesterday's blog in the middle of looking at today's. Then somehow I was back to today's and got involved in the comments and forgot to check the anomaly out. So, I wasn't going senile after all.
Hi gang -
I have no good explanation for whatever craziness affected today's blog.
I had the entire puzzle blogged - or so I thought.
I did play around with last Wed's puzzle, and somehow must have mixed up the two posts.
My apologies to all.
Cool regards!
JzB
I'm glad I got here after the Blog was fixed or I might have thought my Canadian internet was weird! Some crunch today. Thanks for the fun Paul (and for stopping by) and JzB.
Thankfully I was working in my newspaper and had the circles that "WRAPped" things up. But I had numerous inkblots. Like SwampCat, I had Pius before PAUL, Age before ILE, but I waited for perps to decide between in re or AS TO. Then I read Irish Miss' "I had solo instead of soli (read the clue more carefully!) which made Tishri into Toshri" and realized that I had done the same thing. Officially a FIW! (And I was going to complain that the cluing was for plural but there was no room for SOLOS.)
This Canadian does not remember the Ivy League universities and I had the -EN- and filled in KENT which gave me TOKE (really Rich, how shocking I thought even though it will be legal here within the year!). TUNA led to PENN which fixed that.
Then one of my global septet was some sort of Sea until AMERICA filled in. But I entered South instead of NORTH which held me up again.
Oh well. I enjoyed the challenge.
Have a great day.
Pretty much WEES. Had all cells filled but no Ta-da. Thought maybe the T crossing TOPE and TARTLET was wrong, so tried every letter in the alphabet. That didn't fix it so I put the T back in, in spite of not feeling good about the word TOPE, and tried looking elsewhere. Then I had an Irish Miss moment: "I had solo instead of soli (read the clue more carefully!) which made Tishri into Toshri, which look okay to me." Changing the O to I got it finished.
Sorry, Canadian Eh. I must have been typing my comment about the same time you were. I didn't see that you had said the same thing and also quoted Irish Miss.
Almost a Ta- DA!, but I have to recuse myself for stumbling into a correct answer when I was only wanting to confirm TOSHRI/TISHRI.
That's the risk you run when you think you'll only be (innocently) checking a fill you already have. For me it was the same problem that got Irish Miss, CanadianEh, and others into trouble, i.e.,learning that SOLI was wanted in place of SOLO. Who knows that I wouldn't have figured that out on my lonesome...
But I didn't.
So there.
The happy news today is that Mr. Coulter has provided us not only with a narrow diagonal opening but also - get this! - a mirror 3-way wide diagonal! Since I started keeping track this is the very first instance of the phenomenon I've seen.
A rare moment in recent LA Times cruciverbal history!
Paul: your last two puzzles were on days I didn't post, but both times, since I know you're a fan, I wrote one especially for you the next day! I think the one on LABOR PAINS was a gem! The one on GENOA was punny, too.
Interesting that some had trouble with TOPE. It was recently in the DECEMBER 15 2017 John Lampkin puzzle. I remind all of you of the wonderful plan of our own JD who created a written record of new words. By writing them down in the new 'dictionary' it was easier to remember them.
That is what you get for playing around JzB. I have had worse happen to me on my blogging days.
In keeping with my recent post in which I wondered aloud whether any of our constructors might conceal a message on the diagonal line, I checked this one to see if Mr. C had been so inspired.
Verdict: Nah.
It started with a promise, but I gave up after EAT GUEMRR...
JazzB, thanks for the neat illustrations, and special thanks for the portrait of NORMA Shearer, one of my favorite Hollywood stars. She was a little before my time, so I had to play catch-up whenever her movies came back around. I never could get enough of her, especially in pre-cable days.
NORMA always has that "'30s-look" in her eyes, causing me to wonder how her makeup would be different in more recent times. Yet I'm sorry the clue tagged her as an "Old-time actress," as she owns a wonderfully sharp and immediate wit that comes across with a contemporary edge. She is one of the great artists, capable of playing classical and modern roles.
A follow-up on my NORMA Shearer note (above), to point out that the Shearer siblings won a total of eight - count 'em! - EIGHT Oscars.
Often overlooked in the shade cast by actors are the engineers and technicians who keep Hollywood humming. In this case, it is NORMA's brother, Douglas Shearer, whose name you'll see on hundreds of films once the talkies came into their own. Douglas Shearer was the pioneering sound designer/engineer who all by himself took home seven of the Shearer Oscars!
Hi All!
D'Oh! IM, I didn't even notice in JzB's excellent expo... It was you that pointed out my SOLO error today. Move over C,Eh!, Jayce, and OMK; one more butt needs to fit on the Group-Dummy bench :-)
Thanks Paul for the fun puzzle. I thought this was extra-crunchy for a Wed (where's SanFranMan's ranking?) [Right, CED, elk==WAPITI(?); I had to Google that when I was done]. I really liked the way you played with EPOCH / EPIC, ADORE/ADORN, ICONS/MENU.
Thank you too JzB. I got the the REAL expo this AM w/ the bold answers.
WOs: Beet b/f CANE, EdGar b/f HUGOS (hi D-O!).
ESPs: REA, LAI. TOSHRI, JOSS, TATAMI, EDDA, TANGER //maybe I should just list what I knew :-)
Fav: Clue for 57a - excellent!
{A-,B+,B}
BigE - I had a pin/button in the late '70s that said "DISCO Sucks." The Nuns were none too pleased when I wore it to grade school on my uniform.
Cheers, -T
Hold on a sec!
The downs may be fixed, but I know Jzb's style,
and that's not it!
For 50d, he would have explained "Wapiti."
Greetings!
Thanks for the puzzle, Paul. I loved the clue "Berth before birth" for WOMB. Needed perps for TISHRI and JOSS stick. And thanks for the expo, JzB. I love your style--you never disappoint.
Picard--Glad to read that you are safe. Such devastation from the mudslides in the recently burned areas of SoCal.
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
Sadness - I just read that Ray Thomas of the Moody Blues passed. Any other Moody Blues fans at the Corner? -T
From Forever Afternoon to Forever Autumn.
Well played Argyle. Nice. -T
Very nice. Didn't know the Moody Blues before this.
Anon-T @ 8:53, Nights in White Satin! Whenever I hear this oldie, I always remember slow-waltzing in a Texas country dance hall, circa 1971 (we were at least a few years behind the times) - my friend was such a great dancer. And Tuesday Afternoon, of course, thanks Anon-T! Though for some reason, they sound kinda similar - it's been a long day.
And Argyle @ 10:29, forgot Forever Autumn, thanks. Listening to it brought back happier times. Had the 8-track tape, now long gone.
Anon-T ... "Thinking is the best way to travel!"
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