Theme: The Shape of Water - Best Picture Oscar shout-out! H2O is the theme, the entries moving from "H" to "O", left-to-right.
27A. *Drama in the Nielsen top 10 four times during the '70s : HAWAII FIVE-O. "Book 'em Danno. Murder One". Here are the opening credits, containing at least two continuity goofs.
47A. *Ball of fire : HUMAN DYNAMO. I don't think this comic book character scaled the dizzy heights of the other superheroes from Marvel and D.C. Comics:
60A. *"Oh boy, it's starting!" : HERE WE GO! British soccer fans would sing this to the tune of "Stars and Stripes Forever". "Here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go-oh". Repeat ad nauseam.
69A. Liquid whose chemical formula is a homophonic hint to the answers to starred clues : WATER
Neat puzzle today from Brian - one of those simple yet satisfying themes which almost make you wonder why you didn't think of it yourself. The theme entries are nice and fresh, and there are some lovely longer entries in the downs which I always enjoy. Let's explore the fill:
Across:
1. Vaccine pioneer Salk : JONAS. I confidently had JONAH, which had me wondering what "HIN" was doing when that showed up.
6. Biblical verb : HATH. Went with HAST. Should have waited.
10. Sever, with "off" : LOP
13. "The Good Wife" wife : ALICIA. Thank you, crosses. I'm hopeless with most TV and movie-related fill.
15. Irrawaddy River locale : ASIA. Myanmar, formerly Burma. My father was posted to Burma for part of WWII, he spoke fondly about the country, even though he wasn't there in exactly the best circumstances.
16. Hubbub : ADO
17. Grilled sandwich : PANINI. Panini are also a company that publishes sports stickers and trading cards. I'm not quite sure how, but I got sucked into collecting all the players, badges and stadia of the last soccer World Cup in 2014. It became quite an adventure.
20. Checked out : EYED
21. Gather : REAP
23. Domestic sock eater? : DRYER. I've got one brown sock sitting lonely and forlorn on the top of my dresser right now. I didn't even know I had brown socks.
24. Storied climber : JILL. Heading up the hill with her compadre Jack. I'm still confused as to why you would head up a hill to collect water, surely you're more likely to find it in the valley below? The things that keep me awake at night ..
26. Little limb : TWIG
32. Special __ : OPS
35. Mets modifier of 1969 : AMAZIN' They won the World Series in only their eighth season as a Major League Baseball franchise. I was at MLB HQ last week - here's part of the main lobby:
36. Noggin : BEAN
37. Case in Lat. grammar : DAT. Dative. In order - nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative. Thank you, grammar school Latin class.
38. Twit : DITZ
39. Cuts and pastes, say : EDITS
41. Trellis climber : VINE
42. Corner PC key : ESC Didn't even have to look! What does a Mac have in the corner?
43. Expert : WHIZ
44. Mysterious girl on "Stranger Things" : ELEVEN. Thanks again, crosses.
46. "Zip it!" : SHH!
49. "No __!": "Sure!" : PROB!
51. Lose one's coat : SHED
52. Moves to the melody : SWAYS
54. "__ Encounter": SeaWorld show : ORCA. A somewhat discredited destination now.
56. Shakespearean "You as well?" : ET TU? Brutus becomes Brute in the vocative. Latin class today.
62. First words : INTROS
64. Muffin grain : OAT
65. Believe : HOLD
66. Wind farm blades : ROTORS
67. Like some grins : WRY. Also broad grins. Any other offers of grin descriptors?
68. People : ONES. What? This is obscure, to say the least.
Down:
1. Zinger : JAPE
2. Body wash brand : OLAY. I didn't know this was a body wash, I only know the brand for face cream.
3. Largest single-digit square : NINE. One, four and nine.
4. Genre incorporating elements of funk and hip-hop : ACID JAZZ. New to me. Fresh fill to the LAT.
5. Transgression : SIN
6. "LOL" : HA HA
7. "Right away!" : ASAP!
8. Dickens boy : TIM. Tiny Tim, a character in the novel "A Christmas Carol".
9. Taxing and successful : HARD WON
10. Coventry rider : LADY GODIVA. Here's a statue representing the legendary ride in the city itself.
11. Dog that licks Garfield : ODIE
12. Low-quality : POOR
14. Where many missed connections occur : AIRLINE HUB. I''m generally pretty lucky making my connections. I came close to missing my flight to Delhi last month, my inbound from LAX to Newark arrived almost 90 minutes late, eight of us were running through the airport from one end of Terminal C to the other. No chance of that today, I'm on an up-and-back to San Francisco.
19. MLB's D-backs : ARI. Arizona on scoreboards.
22. 2003 holiday film : ELF
25. IV lead? : III. Roman numeral progression, I, II, III, IV. Nice clue.
26. Bouffant feature : TEASED HAIR
27. Flame-haired villain in Disney's "Hercules" : HADES. More help from the crosses.
28. Mennonite sect : AMISH
29. Super Bowl gathering, e.g. : WATCH PARTY. I think this expression is new to me. I've heard of a gamewatch event, but not a watch party. Fresh fill, this hasn't been used in the LAT before.
30. Mediterranean vacation island : IBIZA. A popular destination beginning in the 80's for house music aficionados. Most of the nightclubs play house.
31. Zoo doc : VET
33. "The Hunger Games" land : PANEM. Thank you, crosses.
34. __ pad : STENO
40. Barely lit : DIM
41. Blood feud : VENDETTA
43. List of notables : WHO'S WHO. Most industries have a "vanity" Who's Who publication that you can pay a fee to have your profile included.
45. Soap chemical : LYE
48. Defense advisory gp. : N.S.C. National Security Council.
50. __ whiskey : RYE
52. Thing to put on : SHOW
53. Put on : WEAR
54. Look bad? : OGLE. Fun clue. I think I might have written it as "Bad look".
55. Slender cylinders : RODS
57. Budweiser Clydesdales' pace : TROT
58. Shredded : TORE
59. TASS country : USSR. The news agency TASS from the now-defunct USSR
61. Many years : EON
63. "Spring the trap!" : NOW!
I think that's it from me today. I just need to post the grid and I'm finished!
Steve
Always wanted to leave the first comment at the Corner, and now's my chance ... just call me sleepless in Vacaville.
ReplyDeleteBest to all, and "Thank You's" for the composition and the exposition, and especially to Rich Norris, whose daily efforts result in either a "Woo-hoo!" if we're clicking ... or another "Oh, no -- not again!" if our 'wheelhouse' was torpedoed today.
I thought this was a well crafted and interesting puzzle with a great deal of fresh fill and challenge. ACID JAZZ, WATCH PARTY, HARD WON and more. I have watched three of the HUNGER GAMES movies and had no recollection of PANEM. I also have watched STRANGER THINGS and appreciate the contemporary reference to ELEVEN.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I do like the tie in Steve pointed out to the Academy Award winning movie. Well done Brian and Steve.
Good Morning you Cornerwriters,
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr. Brian Thomas for this challenging Thursday CW. I had trouble with the NW, and center, but P&P eventually allowed me to FIR.
Thanks Steve for your informative review.
Today's paraprosdokian: "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx
Dave
Hi Y'all! See if I can post before the internet goes off again. I've lost several posts the last few days. Drives me nuts.
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle, Brian & great expo Steve. Never saw the WATER reveal clue so didn't quite get the theme. I did see the H's & O's. Thanks for the explanation, very apt to current events. Thought the long fills were fairly easy with only a few perps.
Didn't know DAT, ELEVEN, PANEM, HADES. ACID rock before JAZZ. Pip before TIM. SHOe before SHOW.
The only WATCH PARTYs I've attended were on election nights to see the votes come into the courthouse for tabulation.
YR: Thanks for your prayers for Aaron. We're all pretty nervous.
CSO to my younger avocation, amateur (ham) radio. One popular contest was the yearly Field Day, where many individuals and clubs go off the grid and communicate with as many other ham operators as possible in 24 hours. Some of the clubs had elaborate setups, with generator power and multiple antennas, radios and frequencies being operated continuously during the event. It might be stretching it a bit to call it a sport, but that term is already stretched.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of stretching, I think of wind farm blades as being foils, not rotors, with the rotors being the hubs. But Wiki says helicopter blades are called rotors, which I also think is a stretch.
I liked the puzzle, even though I had to Google PANEM because of the crosses of DAT and ELEVEN (I WAGged the last one). Favorite was DRYER as the domestic sock eater. I always thought it was the washer.
Erased head for BEAN, USAA Encounter for ORCA (I thought it was sponsored by the insurance giant), stamp pad for STENO, and NSa for NSC. Too many unknowns to list.
Thanks to Brian for a challenging puzzle and to Steve for another interesting review.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteDidn't see the theme until the reveal. Well done, Brian. Nice expo, Steve.
In my ute the lowest ham category (Novice IIRC) was required to send/receive Morse at 5wpm minimum. I never got close. Don't think the current hams need to learn code at all.
Steve, I don't know any Latin (particularly not the various cases), but "Et tu Brute?" is vocative? Sounds accusative to me.
Gotta run...
A AMAZING fact about LADY GODIVA
ReplyDeleteIs that she was AMISH. Does that surprise ya?
The men were not tardy
To form a WATCH PARTY
And admire her horse TROT, ignoring the driva!
{B+.}
Great puzzle, but my brain must be stuck in neutral today: I don't understand the clue/answer to 3D, "Largest single-digit square." Can any of you smart Cornerites help, please?
ReplyDelete1 squared = 1
ReplyDelete2 squared = 4
3 squared = 9
4 squared = 16 (two digits)
5 squared = 25 (two digits) and all other numbers squared are at lest two digits
@Anon 7:31 - The single digit number nine is three squared - the other single digit squares are 1x1 = 1, 2x2 = 4. 3x3 = 9 is the largest of the three possibilities.
ReplyDeleteThis took me too long, but FIR. With the reveal I doubted my star fills. I was looking for an H and two O's. I went back and tried to find different answers. Finally it dawned on me. Fun puzzle.
ReplyDeleteEven with perps, I needed to dig deep for PANEM. I don't like the Hunger Games. Watch party was familiar. I never heard of a girl named Eleven. On the TV show, Get Smart, Barbara Feldon played Agent 99 and Don Adams played Agent 89.
No nit with ROTOR for wind vane blades. I've heard it often. There is a big discussion about how the rotors kill bats and birds. Windmill and helicopters blades are rotors, too. There are several different meaning to the word.
I like OLAY body wash.
ET TU Brute, accusative case,DO. LOL
Steve, great write up. Have these snow storms held you up?
A square is the result of multiplying a number by itself. 9 is the largest single digit result. 3x3=9. 8 is no good because it is not a square. 10 is no good because it is not a single digit.
Actually went with slY grin before WRY
ReplyDeleteFifty years out of Latin class I remembered DATive but not some of the other cases
Anon, three squared = 9, four squared = 16 (two digits)
I didn’t know ELEVEN either, but I sure remember Seven of Nine on Star Trek: TNG
ReplyDeleteYR, Maxwell Smart was Agent 86, not 89. I now retreat to the Cone of Silence
Oops, Voyager not TNG
DeleteThanks, I wrote 86 in my notes, but typed 89.
ReplyDeleteLast night the condo assn. plowed my street and driveway, but not the last yard in front of my garage. The 2 foot pile of snow is trapping my car. I am debating whether I should shovel it myself. The workers will get around to it in a few hours.
Enjoyed the clever theme- though similar to YRs once I saw the reveal answer I looked for the answers to have 2 Hs and 1- O like the H2O formula for water. One of the answers took the theme another step - HAWAII FIVE-O had H...II....O using the Roman numeral.
ReplyDeleteWEES about not knowing ELEVEN, but since it was supposed to be a "mysterious" girl - it would fit to be a non name name similar to "House" resident Remy Hadley who was always called "Thirteen"
Thanks Steve and Brian!
From Dept. of Energy site regarding wind turbines:
ReplyDeleteRotor:
Blades and hub together form the ROTOR.
In chemistry class they made us write the water formula HOH, not H20, but I don't remember why. The main thing I remember about that class is that alcohol IS a solution, regardless of what the teetotalers tell you. (My sister has a PhD in Chemistry; I avoided it like the plague after my college freshman class.)
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a fresh and innovative theme that definitely needed the revealer, at least for me. However, due to several unknowns, it was on the crunchy side: Panem, Acid Jazz, and Eleven and Hades, as clued. My only w/os were cut/lop, head/bean, and sly/wry (hi, billo!). The Dat/Panem/Eleven crossing almost did me in, but two wags saved the day. Best C/A was IV lead=III.
Thanks, Brian, for an enjoyable solve and thanks, Steve, for the lively expo.
PK, I hope your grandson's surgery has the desired outcome. Prayers and thoughts for you and the family.
Anonymous T, did you receive my email from Tuesday?
Have a great day.
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteSlog for me today, and even worse, FIW, due to dumb mistakes. POOR result.
Definitely not a HUMAN DYNAMO today.
Puzzle left me cold.
ALICIA, ELEVEN an ACID JAZZ were total unknowns.
I also have unmatched socks on top of the dresser.
D-O: Accusative comment is brilliant. Is that humor BRUTAL?
Cool regards!
JzB
Musings
ReplyDelete-Just enough spice (esp. NW corner) to make this puzzle very palatable
-I read the reveal “on accident” (adolescent speak today) before I could look for it
-I am watching some of the modern HAWAII FIVE-O’s on NETFLIX. The plots are laughable but the island and human scenery are spectacular
-Where I want to trim a TWIG, Joann wants to LOP OFF a branch!
-Hubbub inquiry (:14)
-JACK was my first climber but it was the beanstalk scaler not Jill’s friend
-DITZ to me? How ‘bout Jerry Lewis and Gracie Allen? Smart people playing DIM bulbs
-Loved III; not so much on ACID JAZZ
-Good thing that no match landed in this Bouffant
-Where were “them good old boys drinkin’ whiskey and RYE?”
-The Clydesdales did no TROTTING in our town in 2013 on a blisteringly hot day
-Otto, that Morse Code requirement would be like knowing how to drive a team of Clydesdales before you could get a driver’s license
RADIOSPORT refers to activities such as a hidden transmitter hunt. There are yearly contests in which teams from many countries compete, and many ham radio clubs (mine included) have hunts periodically throughout the year. An area is chosen; for local hunts it may be the size of a county or smaller and for the international hunts the area is usually much larger and also usually in a wilderness or semi-wilderness area. Prior to the start someone hides a small battery-powered radio which is programmed to transmit an identifying message, which is usually in Morse code and periodically sent at very low power. Teams use radio direction finding equipment and techniques as they compete to be the first to find the transmitter. As with many ham radio activities, there's a serious purpose behind the fun; the skills needed to compete in the fun are the same as are needed to (for example) find a downed plane in a wilderness area.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I enjoyed the puzzle and the reveal, too! :P
And now that I read D-O's and HG's comments (I must have been typing as they posted), I will also agree that no Morse code requirements remain in effect anywhere; the US, in 2007, was the only country left in the world that still had such a requirement and that year they dropped it too. It's interesting to me that now, 10+ years later, the number of people using Morse for world-wide communications is actually LARGER than it was in '07! Go figger.
ReplyDeleteAnd... yes, I do use Morse frequently. It's my preferred method of playing radio.
Interesting puzzle today. I flew through the top part and thought it was much too easy for a Thursday. Then! I hit that "climber" (no hill mentioned ) which I assumed was Jack of Beanstalk fame.
ReplyDeleteI already had ACID... which I assumed had to be Rock, right? Wrong! I have never heard of ACID JAZZ and upon checking with Mr Google I never want to hear it. It's other name is "club jazz" which indicates to me a pale, insipid not-quite-copy of real jazz. Bleah!
Turns out the "J" was right but the name was wrong.
The rest of the puzzle was more of the same for me. A few easy fills and some brain-twisters. I liked the theme once I finished. Thanks, Brian. Steve, thanks for trying to educate me.
HG, I guess those good OL' boys were drinking in their Chevy on the levee . But since the levee was dry....oh, wait! Aren't levees supposed to be dry? If they are wet, the river has over-flowed its banks and the Chevy is in trouble. Maybe that's why the good ol' boys were drinking?
My brain is tired.
This was Q & E, quick and easy. HADES, ALICIA, PANEM, and DATive were all I'm my wheelhouse today. Thank you, Steve, for reminding me of all the Latin cases. Nominative was the only other one I remembered.
ReplyDeleteI was also not a HUMAN DYNAMO when it came to sussing the theme. And I missed the cleverest clue, III because I had AMAZON at 35A. I really should pay attention to details.
I was once invited to participate in a WHOSWHO volume of educators but I declined when I heard the price of each book. It was either $39 or $49. It seemed like a purely profit making endeavor.
Thank you, Brian Thomas and Steve!
PK:
You have my prayers for your nephew's successful surgery and recovery.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
ReplyDeleteI didn't get the theme until Steve laid it out. But it wasn't necessary to enjoy the rest of the fill. Even the unknowns. Good one Brian and our tour director Steve took us through the grid by making it an enjoyable trip along the way.
The top of the puzzle went quickly and then things slowed down a lot.
A few hitches that others seemed to have also: CHEESE vs PANINI, SLY vs WRY, and ACIDROCK vs ACIDJAZZ. Perps were also needed for PANEM, IBIZA, and HARDWON plus a few others.
On an Apple Extended Keyboard II the upper corner key is the ESC key, but on the basic keyboard for the MAC there is no row of function keys, hence no ESC key. Therefore, the corner key is the ` key that leads the row of number keys just like on a PC keyboard. You could use the Extended keyboard if you wanted to pay extra for it. I have a few keyboards in the basement for the various MACs and other Apple desktop computers that I used before being forced by my workplace into using PCs. It's been so long since I used a MAC that I'm not sure I would remember how to turn it on or off.
It's International Women's Day which is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. We should all celebrate women.
No snow today. Let's hope that the Nor'easters ease up for this season. Stay warm and dry everyone.
Lucina, I vaguely remember that Who's Who scam. To what depths won't some people sink to make a few bucks.
ReplyDeleteI think it was you who recommended "A Man Called Ove." I'm part of the way through it and I like it. Thanks for the recommendation. The concept of a sad-sack social misfit reminds me a little bit of the TV show, Doc Martin. I liked it but I finally got tired of his anti-social and inconsiderate behavior. I'm hoping Ove will end up being likeable as the story progresses.
PK, best wishes for your nephew.
Dave, I've always loved that Groucho Marx quote.
ACID JAZZ sounds dreadful...
Howdy Crossword Corner! Really enjoy swinging by to read all your comments, so thanks for the kind words.
ReplyDeleteRich and Patti tightened the theme up on this one, my initial submission had stuff like HOLY TOLEDO, which has a couple of extra Os in the middle. A few emails back and forth and this one was good to go once we got that fixed.
A few clues got changed, my favorite addition is ["Spring the trap!"] which feels nice and lively. Looking back, the only thing I'd try to change with the fill is DAT - I remember that east section being the bumpiest to fill smoothly. Oh, and also happy to hear that lots loved [IV lead?] for III, thought that might be flirting with the "too cute" line.
Anyways, glad most enjoyed and hope to be back soon!
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteBeen AWOL the past week in DO Montsant. A lovely corner of the wine world that makes up Spanish vino. Phenomenal wines and food. I ate at three restaurants in Falset (in Catalonia - about 70 or so km from Barcelona) that were the quality of a Michelin 1 or 2 star. AMAZIN! Those who follow me on FB, feel free to visit and see all of the pictures.
My trip and being absent from xword puzzles certainly showed, as I had much difficulty completing it. WEES, PANEM, IBIZA, ACID JAZZ (nice SO to JzB), and ELEVEN (as clued) were unknown to me. In addition, I had a few WO's (WHIP>WHIZ; ACID ROCK>JAZZ; HEAD>BEAN
I enjoyed seeing the homophonic WRY/RYE in the SW corner. Of course the famous Robt Burns ditty came to mind when I saw 50d. But I loved the Allan Sherman parody better! And of course, who can forget this WRY smile?
Just created one Moe-ku in the past week; nothing to do with the puzzle ...
Fish swam in waters
Near Dover. Caught by cobbler.
Was it kept, or soled?
Got the theme fairly quickly with HAM RADIO. But there were some rather unfair crosses. PANEM/ELEVEN for one.
ReplyDeleteBut the NW nearly did me in. I guessed OLIVIA as the "Good Wife" wife. Which gave me JOKE/OLIVIA/AVID JAZZ which seemed OK. But it also gave me KANINI.
Am I the only one who tried JOKE rather than the utterly unknown JAPE? Anyway, I realized PANINI was the grilled sandwich and it all fell in place to FIR.
I have a friend who played LADY GODIVA in our Solstice Parade. She was perfect for the part. But I am not finding any photos. I just emailed her to find out what year it was.
Here are a few photos I got of the ROTORS at the WIND FARM at Altamont Pass in California.
It was Thanksgiving weekend and traffic was at a standstill on the freeways. We decided to take a back route that offered some new scenery.
I thought these were CLYDESDALES but they are actually Belgian draft horses.
This Solvang Trolley Company is owned by an artist friend who I work with at Solstice.
PK: I do hope all goes well with your 16-yr-old grandson Aaron today.
ReplyDeleteTa- DA!
ReplyDeleteA toughie that finally fell into my lap. Mr. Thomas was operating on a foreign (to me) wavelength for 3/4 of the time I labored over today's pzl. But then all his defenses came tumbling down - just about the time I realized that JILL was the "Storied climber."
And I had been Jack until then.
Off to two separate docs today for two separate issues. I hope to come away with solutions for both!
____________
Diagonal Report: Three mirror diags today, NE to SW.
The men finally came to finish up the snow removal just now. I had a 3-4 foot drift at my front door. Several hours ago I shoveled in front of my garage so I could get my car out. Many around here have no electricity, so no heat or water. The church where we dance had a flood last Friday because the lack of electricity caused the sump pump not to function.They are in bad shape. We likely will have to find a new venue. With our limited funds that is difficult.
ReplyDeleteFLN, Roy, your water polo pics gave me a big laugh.
Fun Moe-ku.
Bill, I enjoyed A Man Called Ove. I read another book by the same author, BearTown. I liked it even more.
Brian Thomas, thanks for stopping in. Very enjoyable post and puzzle.
Bill G @ 10:59 ~ I, too, enjoyed "A Man Called Ove." as Ove shares many traits of one of my brothers-in-law. (His nickname among certain family members is Mr. Gloom.) I also share your feelings about "Doc Martin."
ReplyDeleteBrian Thomas, thanks for stopping by and sharing some inside puzzle info, not to mention your canine cutie! 🐶
Well, I started out in despair on this puzzle, getting practically nothing at the top except JONAS (I too tried JOKE on the down but that wasn't going to work). Ironically, it was the bottom that began to fill in relatively quickly and I even got the WATER theme answer, although no idea yet how it would emerge. Then, slowly, slowly, I worked my way up and got EVERYTHING (almost) without cheating--except I had four blanks that I was going to work on after I finished Sudoku, Kenken, and Jumble. But I forgot and never filled in AMAZIN and DITZ completely. So no Woohoo for me--but what a delightful journey, Brian--thank you so much! And thank you for posting the statue of LADY GODIVA, Steve.
ReplyDeleteDave, thanks for having us remember that funny Groucho Marx.
Good luck with the doctor visits, Ol'Man Keith.
PK, will have your grandson in my thoughts and hopes for a good outcome.
Have a great day, everybody!
Wow, a rather crunchy Thursday, pleased to get the solve.
ReplyDeleteI call a Natick on 23D / 44A with an honorable mention to 37A as well.
IMHO, the original H5O was and is so much better than the remake. I watched once, never again. Bought the original H5O box set instead. Book ‘em, Danno.
PK, thoughts and prayers with Aaron. Godspeed, young man.
ReplyDeleteThank you Brian, for a good Thursday workout, and Steve for the write up. WES on the hard fills. I was happy when 28D came out AMISH, because for 38A I was thinking of the word _UTZ which isn't very printable in a newspaper.
ReplyDeleteDisney seems to totally ignore culture when naming characters. 27D, HADES, is a synonym for Hell, a place so how can a person be HADES? Same nit about NEMO: How can a sweet little fish be named after the evil captain of the Nautilus in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
Anonymous at 7:31 AM, I too was at first stumped by 3D. To me the largest single digit, 9, would have a square of 81. But it wouldn't fit, so I read it the other way to get NINE as the answer.
Finally, there seems an intentional link between PANEM in "The Hunger Games" and in the Latin phrase "Bread and Circuses". See
Link
We only have a couple inches of snow here, but more to come when the Nor'easter curls around tomorrow.
Live Well and Prosper
VS
In Greek mythology Hades is
DeletePoseidin's brother.
The reveal "H2O ... WATER" ... earned me a V-8 Can head smack.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Well, I finally got a good night's sleep and finished Saturday then I did today's while at breakfast.
ReplyDeleteHow I came up with NACL for water I don't know. Chemistry was Junior year HS, I blew an A third term by not doing a project so I had to get an A in last term so I really grinded .
Here's a question for the jury: the teacher left the periodic table chart for anyone to see during the tests. Which provided the valences. Was I wrong to take advantage of this gift horse?
There was a very interesting Anonymous post on Sundays xword. To wit: puzzle required all sorts of various knowledge to solve. It was late and not responded to . Now. Although I missed CARA, I took a lot of pleasure out of all the P&P it took to almost FIR.
I used to skip Saturday. Btw, I'd say this was an old fashioned Thursday CW.
Owen and Moe, both up to the high standard and thanks also to Steve for his usual witty write-up.
YR, I'm glad the shovelers finally showed up .
WC
Your thoughts and prayers for grandson Aaron are much appreciated Agnes, Lucina, Bill, Piccard, Misty, & Blue Hen. I've been waiting for word from Oklahoma where the surgery was to take place. Nothing yet. He's such a sweet kid -- red hair & big brown eyes.
ReplyDeleteMy internet is so off and on today. This is the second short interlude with it on. Tech is scheduled to come between 3 & 5. They tried to schedule it between 5 & & p.m. but he really needs daylight to see my outside line hanging down since they installed a new electric pole & tied up to a branch by the sewer installers last summer. This is really the first decent weather day we've had since it got so bad, so I'm hopeful he can get this fixed.
Brian, Good to "see" you.
One doc down, one more to go.
ReplyDeleteI'm OK. I didn't mean to alarm anybody. My first visit confirmed my suspicion of a minor infection that should be cleared by the Rx I'm to pick up this afternoon.
My next doc is a routine check-in, unlikely to be a problem.
I have so many doctors I don't always know which one to contact for which problem. Ask anyone over 60: we measure our age not only by the calendar but by the number of specialists we acquire.
Today I'm more concerned about our Golden, Maggie, who had five teeth removed by her vet yesterday. She is still very sluggish today and shows swelling on one side of her face. My wife will take her back in later today to be sure her recovery is proceeding normally.
Brian, it's nice to hear from you. Thanks for the entertaining puzzle.
ReplyDeleteA little more on squares, etc. I think the word "square" comes from finding the area of a square. A square that's three inches on a side has an area of 3x3 or 9 square inches. Virginia, yes, 81 is the square of nine and nine is the square of three. Three squared is 3x3 or 9. If you 'unsquare' 9 (square root), you get back to 3. So 9 is a perfect square number. Three is not a square number but is the square root of nine.
Loved the Shape of Water theme today. Thanks for the fun Brian (thanks for dropping in) and Steve.
ReplyDeleteLike others, I was looking for 2 O's at first.
Hand up for Jack before Jill (I was thinking of Jack and the Beanstalk, but it could have been either of Jack or Jill hill climbers.
Another hand up for Hast before HATH, Cheese before PANINI! and not being familiar with WATCHPARTY.
My grin was Shy before WRY, and my first thought for Dickens' boy was Oliver (but way too long).
I noted some numbers - NINE, ELEVEN, and ONES, plus the misleading IV lead.
We can "put on" or WEAR and then SHED a coat, but another "thing to put on" is a SHOW.
I was associating Shakespeare with words like HATH before the Latin ET TU filled in. (LOL d'otto re accusative.)
I agree with Steve re OGLE clue (use "look badly" if verb form is wanted or "bad look" if noun.)
Timely discussion yesterday about women senators and mayors. Did not know International Women's Day was coming up.
PK -Thoughts and prayers for your grandson.
Ah, OMK, it's not just the number of specialists -- it's the number of pill bottles! I've got only 7 bottles in a row right now (down from my world record of 12 a few months ago).
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget the endless lab work, which tests arcane bodily chemistry ... and leaves us confused as to what --if anything-- the results mean.
Joke for the day:
ReplyDeleteTeacher: What is the chemical formula for water?
Student: H I J K L M N O
Teacher: What are you talking about?
Student: Yesterday you said it was H to O.
Knew JONAS Salk without thinking; just a second to extract it from the bio-databank.
ReplyDeleteGot the starred answers before I got down to WATER. Then got confused looking for 2 Hs in the answers, until I realized that it had to be "H to O". Jinx, chemical formulas can be written by adding up the atoms, H2O = 2 Hydrogen atoms and 1 Oxygen atom; or they can be written to reflect the structure of the molecule, HOH = a Hydrogen atom and a Hydroxy radical (OH). (One of the few things I remember from high school and freshman chemistry.)
Unknowns: ALICIA, ELEVEN, ACID JAZZ.
AIRLINE HUB, DATive, BEAN required perps.
ELEVEN and PANEM (I have seen it before) were solved by the blank square that became E.
JACK>JILL; SHOE>SHOW; CHEESE>PANINI; JOKE>JAPE.
Wanted the MIRACLE Mets but didn't have enough spaces; AMAZIN' Mets from perps.
VS: Greek gods often had the same name as their realms (Uranus, Gaia); HADES is both the name of the god and his realm.
I will repeat my beef: Why is perfectly good Elizabethen/Jacobean English always called (King James) biblical English. [I tell my Sunday School students, "If you can't read Shakespeare with enjoyment and understanding, don't use the King James Version." I prefer to use a contemporary translation.)
Picard:
ReplyDeleteThat was a lovely video and I really enjoyed the Spanish narrative! It has been many, many years since I visited Solvang and I recall it a pleasant experience.
Bill G:
The book gets even better as it nears the end! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
ChairmanMoe:
Welcome back! What a gorgeous place to visit! I love Spain.
Happy International Women's Day! Has anyone seen the upside down M/W at McDonald's?
Yes, the part of Spain I visited was classic. Wish I had more time to see additional areas
DeleteAlso loved IV LEAD = III; I was looking for an intravenous connection.
ReplyDeleteErrata:Elizabethan; Hydrogen ion.
Groucho Marx was a great philosopher.
ReplyDeleteInternational
ReplyDeleteWomen's Day is here, and I'm
Glad to say hello!
Hope Maggie is okay, Ol'Man Keith.
ReplyDeleteCanadianEh!
ReplyDeleteOn 3-2 you wrote about concern for others, then you were away from the corner. Here is a rerun.
CanadianEh! FLN 302P
Thanks for your concern. Please see my post. Open my profile, and send me an e-mail. I will 'splain why I haven't posted.
Dave
Hand up with Husker Gary, SwampCat and CanadianEh: I assumed the Climber was JACK of JACK and the Beanstalk. Had me stuck awhile.
ReplyDeleteLucina: Glad you enjoyed the Solvang memory! It is a fun escape and it is a chance to get the treats I enjoyed as a child in Denmark!
Here I am with my artist friend Clau Orona whose family owns the Solvang Trolley Company.
Clau and her family are from Mexico, hence the Spanish!
Here is the rest of the Solvang Faerifest that Clau creates each year.
From yesterday:
Here is Creeque Alley which is a delightfully fun song about the history of DENNY and the rest of the Mamas and PAPAs.
Be sure to read the lyrics just below the video.
Fun puzzle. I had to work at it to solve it, but I like that. Nice Thursday level difficulty.
ReplyDeleteHaving entered ACID ROCK at 4d, MEDEA at 27d, and AMISH at 28d, I could see no alternative to entering DICK at 38a. Correcting MEDEA to HADES still left the D, so I was even more convinced that it just had to be DICK. Finally concluding that the ACID ROCK wasn't going to work eventually sorted all that out. Hand up for not knowing what ACID JAZZ is.
"Jack and JILL went up the hill. Right behind 'em came farmer Phil. Jack said 'No,' Jill said 'I will,' and came back down with a ten-dollar bill."
I loved the answer for IV lead.
Steve, I don't see the continuity goofs in the Hawaii Five-O video.
Best wishes to you all.
Good news: Cox tech came and replaced my damaged cable. While he was here, FedEx delivered my new modem, and he hooked that up for me. Bad news: he can't get my email unblocked so I can use it.
ReplyDeleteRoy: King James commissioned the translation & by-hand production of that Bible from religious scribes/monks. I read something about that recently or saw it on a trivia game show. He who pays gets his name attached rather than the scholars who did the work.
Bad news: Aaron is recovering but they were not able to ablate with radio waves the bone tumor on his vertebrae because it was also adhered to the spinal cord. The planned procedure would have left him paralyzed. The good news: they drilled a hole in the tumor and injected steroids which they hope will dissolve the tumor and give him the desired relief. However, this may take 2-4 weeks. Did anybody ever hear of such a thing? Hope & prayer by a lot of friends & relatives have poured over him today. Thank y'all again.
Prayers to Aaron
DeleteLate to the party,
ReplyDelete16 + inches of very wet snow,
Lots of damaged trees...
Snow blower snapped a shear pin, luckily I had a spare.
Neighbor borrowed Snow blower, and the auger stopped turning.
After taking the dang thingie apart, I found the drive belt had come off the pulley.
Needed my reading glasses to read the manual to take the dang thingie apart,
(I am now waiting for spring to find my reading glasses...)
Bright side is that my neighbors 80 foot tree landed in his pool instead of the house...
Power (& heat) finally back on, no dead tree version of the puzzle today
so I had to wait to do the puzzle online,
Water? I have seen enough of the frozen kind, thank you very much...
PK, I hope and pray that all works out for Aaron.
ReplyDeleteTiger Woods is in the Tampa area this week to play the Copperhead course in Palm harbor.
WC
PK, more prayers and good thoughts from here for Aaron, and also for you and those who are worried about him.
ReplyDeletePK late to the prayers, my oldest I named Aaron, my best for the success of the treatment.
ReplyDeleteNice lively group today- great and Brian you are welcome anytime, not only on your puzzle days.
Hi All!
ReplyDelete//Sigh. HARD fought but not WON. Like Jinx, I had to Google PANEM. That finished DAT (I din't know dat!) and ELEVEN(?) and changed GaDIVA to the correct GODIVA.
Thanks Brian for the puzzle; great theme and, for what it's worth, the III, IV clue is both fresh and LOL! A more fun way to get Roman numerals in a grid than sqrt(IX).*
Thanks Steve for the expo, Latin lesson, and pics of MLB's HQ and GODIVA. Grins?, you ask? How about the shit-eatin' one that Mom says I need to wipe from my face :-)
WOs: Head/BEAN, TORn, JONuS --and I almost convinced myself it was (L)ucid Jazz in hep-speak.
ESPs: IBIZA & HADES; ELEVEN and PANEM woulda been too
Fav: I'm going back to III as clue'd.
Who else read 26a as Little lamb, like every time, until you had T-I-?
WATCH PARTIES - We had 'em in grad-school for most episodes of Friends & Seinfeld.
{A-}{ha! And welcome back!}
C, Eh! I shuddered a bit at your juxtaposition of NINE ELEVEN
PK - Glad Aaron is doing better and hope the tumor shrinks.
IM - No, I do not have an email from you. Resend please.
D4 - LOL Mark; CED - LOL "wet floor."
WC - Knowing how to use resources in your environment is a test you passed :-)
I can't think of any song links so I'll just leave you with: Anyone else notice WHOSWHO crossed a WHIZ, HUMAN DYNAMO, and then ONES who were SWAY'd and bought it?
Cheers, -T
*do the math square-root of the largest single-digit square....
Best wishes for Aaron's recovery, PK. Hope those steroids work.
ReplyDeleteThanks, everybody, on Aaron's behalf.
ReplyDeleteI think one of my first limerick posts here was a reference to one of the clue/solves:
ReplyDeleteYou all know the nursery rhyme drill,
When two kids wandered up the big hill;
Are you taken aback
That you didn't know Jack
Had never really fallen for JILL?
52. Moves to the melody: SWAYS
ReplyDeleteBill G:
ReplyDeleteI thought of you today when I cleaned the coffeepot with vinegar. How is that going for you? And not only is the coffee maker clean but the carpet, too. It was a full work day and looks so nice!
PK:
Be assured of my continued prayers for your Aaron. The way modern medicine has advanced there must be some effect to that steroid treatment.
Lucina: bless you! I hope so. He is nothing but skin & bones and so badly needs relief.
ReplyDelete4D: I’ve been a jazz musician since the 50s. I’ve encountered many styles of jazz. Acid jazz is not one of them. My guess is it’s not Jazz at all but a monikor given to to some terrible music by an unknowing “writer/critic”.
ReplyDelete