22. Coastal casino center: ATLANTIC CITY.
33. Current route: ELECTRIC CIRCUIT.
47. Chinese and Vietnamese: TONAL LANGUAGES. Mandarin has 4 tones. Cantonese has 9 tones.
67. Hotel evaluation system: STAR RATINGS.
90. Three-dimensional arrangement of atoms inside a diamond, say: CRYSTAL LATTICE. New term to me.
106. Article seen daily: NEWSPAPER REPORT.
120. Website evaluation tool: USER RESEARCH.
This theme reminded me a bit of Paul's "Magnetism" puzzles. The key words are consecutively hidden in the middle.
I especially liked 67A and 106A as all TAR/RAT, PER/REP are solid words.
Across:
1. High-fives, e.g.: SLAPS.
6. Big name in Champagne: MUMM. Not MOET. Also 26. Champagne word: BRUT.
10. Langston Hughes poem: I TOO.
14. Cinematic FX: CGI.
17. "The War of the Worlds" narrator of 1938: WELLES.
19. Hum-dinger of an instrument?: KAZOO. Nice clue.
20. It's composed of balances: DEBT.
21. Crew member: OAR.
24. Block-stocking building: ICE HOUSE. We call the sheds above frozen lakes "ice houses".
27. Indian nurse: AMAH. Might sound gluey to some, but this terms is widely used in Hong Kong.
28. First name in architecture: EERO.
30. Out of concern that: LEST.
31. Noodle concoction?: IDEA. 71. Terrible time?: TWOS. Gimmes for our regulars.
38. Charlie Brown correspondent: PEN PAL. These days we all use computer/tablet, etc. I guess we're all keyboard pals.
40. Lights into: ASSAILS.
41. It floods Florence periodically: ARNO.
42. Straightens up: TIDIES.
45. "We need a cat!": EEK. No mouse bothered us this winter. Yay!
46. Costa __: RICA.
54. Pretentious sort: PSEUD. Also 117. Pretends: PLAY-ACTS.
55. Poppycock: HOOEY.
56. Some decision makers: TOSSES.
57. Smartphone ancestor, briefly: PDA. Most dumb phones are pretty smart these days.
59. Cos. with Xings: RRS.
60. Source of stress, probably: ONUS.
61. Like this ans.: ACR. Across.
63. St. Pete's place: FLA.
64. Goals: AIMS.
66. Hombre's hand: MANO.
75. Builder's need: PLAN.
77. "__ the fields we go ... ": OER.
78. Common Market letters: EEC. European Economic Community.
79. Advanced, as old age: RIPE.
80. Tell: RAT.
83. Courses for coll. credit: APS.
84. Third-least populous state: ALASKA. Wyoming. Vermont.
87. Staples Center player: LAKER. And 19. Longtime TV broadcaster of 87-Across games: KCAL
88. Ladybug's lunch: APHID.
93. Acidity-correcting fertilizer: MARL.New word to me.
94. Asian honorific: SRI. Also 129. Ladies of Sp.: SRAS.
96. Watching closely: EYEING.
97. Biol. branch: ECOL.
98. Like a well-grounded argument: TENABLE.
102. Play the flute: TOOTLE. Have any of you heard of Chinese Er Hu? The music is always hauntingly sad.
110. Lab vessel: VIAL.
111. Mystery writer Nevada __: BARR. Also new to me.
112. Middle of a Latin trio: AMAS.
113. Wind worth a warning: GALE.
115. Regrets: RUES.
123. Champagne word: SEC.
124. Iota: WHIT.
125. Long time follower?: NO SEE. Rooted in Chinese.
126. One getting smashed at a bash?: PINATA. Great fill/clue.
127. Tats: INK.
128. Nasdaq rival: NYSE.
130. Flippant: SASSY.
Down:
1. Q-tip: SWAB.
2. Speak without restraint: LET RIP.
3. Refer (to): ALLUDE.
4. Typewriter roller: PLATEN. Another word I never used.
5. D.C. VIP: SEN.
6. Papier-__: MACHE.
7. Action film weapon: UZI.
8. Sacred songs: MOTETS.
9. Journalist Bill inducted into the TV Hall of Fame in 1995: MOYERS. Wiki says he was the "White House Press Secretary in the Johnson administration from 1965 to 1967."
10. Follies: IDIOCIES.
11. Private eye: TEC. Detective. Not used these days.
12. Washington Monument, for one: OBELISK.
13. Additional: OTHER.
14. Dior or Klein: COUTURIER. In my TEC days, Dior was one of our biggest clients.
15. Beetle juice?: GAS. VW Beetle.
16. Boiling state: IRE.
18. Transit syst. component: STA.
23. Well-shod Marcos: IMELDA. Just crazy.
25. Annual winter telecast, with "The": OSCARS.
29. Coastline feature: RIA.
32. In a fitting way: APTLY.
34. __ belli: act of war: CASUS. Learning moment as well.
35. 2016 W.S. losers to the Cubs: CLE.
36. Bring upon oneself: INCUR.
37. Contemptible sorts: TOADS.
39. Afflict: AIL.
43. IV part: INTRA.
44. I strain?: EGO.
47. __ McAn shoes: THOM.
48. The last Mrs. Chaplin: OONA. And her grand-daughter.
49. It may be proper: NOUN.
50. Creator of many talking animals: AESOP.
51. To the extent that: AS FAR AS.
52. Cabbage: GELT.
53. Morales of "The Brink": ESAI.
54. Frying pan spray: PAM.
57. Scrolling unit: PAGE.
58. Frisbee, e.g.: DISC.
61. "Immediately!": ASAP.
62. Forklift load: Abbr.: CTNS.
65. Classic Fender guitar, familiarly: STRAT.
68. Crowd sound: ROAR.
69. Count (on): RELY.
70. Author Zora __ Hurston: NEALE.
72. Collaborative website: WIKI.
73. Crude gp.?: OPEC.
74. Bone-dry: SERE. Our old friend is back.
76. Chap: LAD.
80. Staple for a collegian on a tight budget: RAMEN. Instant Ramen hit Xi'an when I just entered college (1990). It was more expensive than a bowl of freshly made noodles sold in our school dining hall. But we all wanted Instant Ramen. So silly!
81. On the double: APACE.
82. Atavism: THROWBACK.
85. Exorbitant: STEEP.
86. Mary __ cosmetics: KAY.
87. No. 2 at the statehouse: LT GOV.
89. "You got that right!": I'LL SAY.
90. Film lover: CINEASTE. I've only heard of "Cinephile".
91. Small amount: LITTLE.
92. "Is that __?": A NO.
94. Carb-loaded: STARCHY. All my meals are starchy. That's how I was raised.
95. Gym unit: REP.
99. Inlet or cove: ARM.
100. Some rechargeable shavers: BRAUNS.
101. One offering quarters: LESSOR.
103. Albania's capital: TIRANA.
104. Actresses Linney and Dern: LAURAS.
105. Gives a seat to: ELECTS.
107. Seafood serving: PRAWN.
108. Tough bosses to work for: OGRES.
109. Hard to come by: RARE. Like his rookie card, thought I much prefer the 1956 Topps.
114. Seer's claim: ESP.
116. Open carriage: SHAY.
117. Meas. checked after tire rotation: PSI.
118. Cariou of "Sweeney Todd": LEN.
119. "__ the season ... ": TIS.
121. Pueblo pronoun: ESA.
122. Frozen Wasser: EIS.
Husker Gary has updated our Crossword Corner Map. Please click below to enlarge. Or you can just click here.
Please email Gary gschlapfer@gmail.com if you want to be included or excluded in the map. Thanks for the time and efforts you've put into the map, Gary!
C.C.
42 comments:
FIWrong¡ 61a I had ABR(eviation) instead of ACR(oss), and didn't even see the down clue because it was filled by perps before I got to it¡
The gimmick I did get with the first one I filled in, and it speeded up all the rest. I didn't even notice the title until I was nearly done, I get so used to not having them during the rest of the week.
The OTHER day I went to the zoo.
A gorilla there tried to play a KAZOO!
So I pulled out my flute
And gave it a toot,
And he bade me goodbye with a TOOTLE, TOO!
Atoms forming diamonds are in a CRYSTAL LATTICE,
Clematis in gardens may climb up a wooden trellis.
They all are ordered so
With a plan of where to go --
Why can't my figures do the same, wherever my Excel is?
An Albanian came from TIRANA
And said. "This here's what I wanna --
I've got money to risk
To raise an OBELISK,
And from the top, I'll hang a PIÑATA!
{B-, B, C+.}
Greetings are in order to each of you Corner citizens.
- - Thank you Mr. Paul Coulter for this challenging CW. I worked it in two sittings and grocked the theme at 22A which made the other 6 theme answers easy to fill in. All went well except for the "G" at 15D. I used "BAC-up" to reveal it. I enjoyed the CW, and found it to be stimulating.
- - Thank you C.C. for your excellent review. At 14D you wrote "In my TEC days, Dior was one of our biggest clients." What does "TEC" mean, and when and where did you have TEC days?
- - At 48D you showed two women. It wasn't clear to me who was the young woman so I LIU. She is Oona Castilla Chaplin. A member of the Chaplin family, she is the daughter of actress Geraldine Chaplin, the granddaughter of English filmmaker and actor Charlie Chaplin, and the great-granddaughter of American playwright Eugene O'Neill.[1] She was named after her maternal grandmother Oona O'Neill, Charlie's wife, who is the older woman pictured.
Picard FLN at 10:43 PM
- - When I read this post, I realized I had skipped your earlier videos so I watched them. After the tram ride I enjoyed belly dancers, Persian dancers, etc. I finally gave up because I don't understand Farsi. (من فارسی را نمی فهمم) (آیا می توانید به فارسی بخوانید و بنویسید؟) Can you read and write in Farsi? Oh yes speak also? (آه بله نیز صحبت می کنید؟)
Ðave
Thanks C.C. - I hadn't thought about the mirrored groups being words, themselves. It wasn't my intention, but I guess they're all valid entries. Thanks to Owen also - I got such a chuckle from your image of the kazoo-playing gorilla. And thanks to Husker Gary for the map - it's so nice to see where folks are writing from.
Three weeks ago, the wonderful constructor Brendan Quigley had a Sunday puzzle in the syndicated CRooked Crosswords. Its theme was identical to "Mirror Images," and three of the theme answers were the same. Coincidentally, they were the first three in my grid. It happens to all constructors, and Brendan was very nice when I emailed to let him know about my upcoming LAT. The next week, a NYT Sunday theme from Sam Ezersky was identical to one I have in the Fireball queue. Back in October, C.C. gave me a head's-up that my LAT "Past Due" had the same theme as one she'd soon have in the WSJ. We all check various databases before developing a theme to see if it's been done before, but given the long lead times between a puzzle's acceptance and its publication, these overlaps are inevitable. In the constructors' community, no one gets upset, though it may look strange to solvers if they happen to do both puzzles. I tend to favor unusual themes, but there are a lot of terrific constructors these days who like to push boundaries. So from time to time, we get these duplicate themes that have "crossed in the queue."
Went smoothly and never saw the theme until I was finished. Thom McAn brings back memories. My mom would bring me for new shoes each year before school started. Is Thom McAn still in business? BTW, back then (50s) school never stated before Labor Day.
Whose IDEA was it To come up with the word CINEASTE? Well hello Paul. Thanks for stopping by. And CINEASTE following yesterdays INAMORATA? TGFP. And including COUTURIER and TIRANA, words you know but really don't know how to spell, in the same puzzle. A tough puzzle for a Sunday. OTHER unknowns filled by perps- MUMM, CASUS, PEN PAL, KCAL, MARL, Nevada BARR, LEN.
Initially misspelling OBELISK as OBOLISK delayed the building of the ICE HOUSE (IGLOO was too short). As for the Mirror Images, the circles in ATLANTIC CITY gave the theme away.
Bob Niles- as for the start of school- when I went to ELHI ( a crossword word), the first day was ALWAYS the Tuesday after Labor DAY. Holidays were Thursday & Friday for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve through New Years day (went back on Jan 2), and we got out at noon on Good Friday. That was it. No Fall break, no spring break, no test days. But we had all of June, July, and August off.
Good Morning.
Thanks, Paul. The challenge was quite doable once I found the "reflections," for which I liked the fill. I thought source of stress was kids! I do know they destroy the ability to sleep soundly: from newborns needing to eat at all hours to teenagers trying to come in at all hours.
Thanks, C.C., for another detailed Sunday tour. I learned about TONAL LANGUAGES here, and it made sense as I listened to Vietnamese ladies speaking to each other.
FLN: Anon T: The tales of your day Beer Hopping made me realize how young you must be. At this point in my life, that adventure would leave me dead! What fun. AND see, a Cardinal fan can have fun with Cub fans! Somehow, there's a great short story in there. ;-) This old English teacher says: Get writing!
From Mary Schmich's column in today's Chicago Trib: To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with Spring. ~George Santayana
Have a restful day--sunny or not.
Good morning!
This morning got off to a bad start -- computer announced it needed to reboot in order to correct some hard-drive errors. After 90 minutes it came back to life, but has been acting sluggish. Then it was time for a 3-mile "march." I just now finished the puzzle...sort of.
I noticed the circle and noticed the palindromic letters. Guess I should have read the puzzle title. Yes, I fell into the MOET trap. What finally did me in was TH_OW_ACK. Looks obvious when written horizontally, but was a complete mystery when vertical. Didn't know MARL or BARR, so I "finished" with two empty cells. Thanx for the challenge, Paul, (and for dropping in) and to C.C. for the expo.
Bob Niles, back in the day our school schedule was identical to Big Easy's. The last day of school was always iffy, though -- depended on how many snow days we took during the winter.
ICEHOUSE: That's what folks call neighborhood beer joints down here.
LEN Cariou: Familiar as grandpa Reagan on Blue Bloods.
Good Morning:
Based on the title and the early fill of Atlantic City, the theme was obvious and helped with some of the other theme answers. There were some tricky areas that required perps but, overall a typical Sunday solve. My Mumm was Moët at first and other w/os were: Hokem/Hooey, Gust/Gale, and Pal/Lad. Unknowns were Marl, Cineaste, Tirana, and Crystal Lattice. Smiled at Oer/Oar but frowned at Pseud; I know it's appeared before but it's too wobbly, IMO. Esai Morales is becoming as ubiquitous as Erie, almost.
Thanks, Paul, for a smooth solve and for stopping by and thanks, CC, for the terrific tour.
Hey, Argyle, hope you're feeling better!
Big Easy, your school year schedule was exactly like mine except we didn't finish until late June. I can remember taking final exams in sweltering weather. The only reprieve was not having to wear our heavy serge uniforms and starched white blouses, but we still had to dress appropriately by the 1950's Catholic school standards.
Have a great day.
Musings
-A just right, clever puzzle and this lifelong gardener in farm country learned MARL
-ELECTRIC CIRCUIT boards for teaching and/or logic. Which is which?
-Very different NEWSPAPER REPORTS on the same info
-A girl where I sub wants to throw the shot for Costa Rica in 2020 Olympics because her dad was born there
-Me – “What will your mother say if you get a tattoo,Brooke?” Brooke – “Nothing, she has 19 of them’” Me – “Oh”
-A pretentious pronunciation of PAPIER MACHE (1:23)
-When OONA chose Charlie her famous dad, Eugene O’Neill, disowned her
-Husker FB 2018 – “They can’t do any worse!” “You got that right!”
-LAURA Dern’s dad, Bruce, plays a creepy Joe Kennedy in this movie
-I showed a coed freshmen class of 25 a video Friday about the stress of teenage pregnancy. Hey, it ain’t 1960 anymore!
Hi Y'all! Had I read the title, this clever theme would have been apparent, but no circles and I didn't look for the theme until I was done. It would have been helpful in the solve. Thanks, Paul. Very informative, thank you, C.C.
As it was, I struggled with a lot of unknowns. WEES. However, I have read all of Nevada BARR's books and enjoyed them except for one.
My last fill was the upper middle section with LANGUAGE/INTRA/EGO/CASUS/TOSSES/AS FAR AS/GELT. I know what GELT is and I know what cabbage is, but don't like them as synonyms.
Been on the farm a long time, never heard of MARL.
Good Morning, C.C. and friends. I caught the theme with ATLANTIC CITY. Knowing to look for the double letters helped with the rest of the theme clues.
Hand up for falling into the Moët / MUMM trap.
I also tried Brand Name in lieu of COUTURIER for the Dior and Klein clue.
I discovered Langston Hughes in middle school. I really like his work. Here is his I, TOO poem.
A terrific storm passed through here yesterday. Today it is sunny, but very cold!
QOD: Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt. ~ Leonardo da Vinci (Apr. 15, 1452 ~ May 2, 1519)
This was fun! Thank you, Paul Coulter and thank you for visiting our Corner.
ATLANTICCity gave me the pattern so at every circle once I had the first or last two letters, I just filled in the rest. Easy! Not so easy was some of the other fill. Hand up for MOEN before MUMM and I vaguely recalled Langston's Hughes' I TOO.
My last fill was OSCARS because I was expecting a winter weather word and since we don't hear that here, I was stymied for a long time.
ARNO was a given; I have recollections of walking along its banks in Florence.
Long ago I read one of Nevada BARR's mysteries and liked it, as I recall.
I liked the clue for PINATA. GELD/cabbage is an interesting one. CINEASTE? Never heard that one. My friend who visited me had a strikingly pretty Anne Klein purse.
C.C., thank you for your dedication and elucidation of connections I would not think of. My first encounter with the ICEHOUSES you mention was in Grumpy Old Men.
Argyle, I hope you are feeling much better.
Have a lovely day, everyone! We are back in the 80s which is normal for April.
PK:
And here I thought MARL would be a given for you. I immediately thought, "PK will know this." I'm glad I wasn't the only one in the dark about that.
Paul C. at 7:04 AM
- - Thanks for visiting the Corner and explaining how CWs that appear to be copies happen.
Hahtoolah at 11:49 AM
- - Thanks for the link to "I too." I read the whole article, and found this poem of his "Harlem" which is also profound. I relate to the message in each poem, and I am a middle class Caucasian.
- - 34D __ belli: act of war : CASUS - - I haven't checked today to see the latest on the bombing of Syria, but found this entry to be ominous.
- - It seems no one knows what MARL is so I LIU Splynter would know.
TOOTLEs and TTFN,
Ðave
Lots of learning today, and I never got the theme, maybe because I didn't have the circles and did not feel the need to bother. After all, I was finished.
Just returned from central America where I had even less puzzle success. Learning to solve a crossword in a foreign language is not easy; requires learning two languages.
Lucina, thank you for thinking of me.
MARL definition, Geology. a friable earthy deposit consisting of clay and calcium carbonate, used especially as a fertilizer for soils deficient in lime.
I finally LIU. We wouldn't have used this on our land as a fertilizer maybe because our soil is not deficient in lime. However, from this definition, some of our local soil where my farms are located might be classed as MARL. We have large deposits of limestone. My former home was built of limestone by pioneers to the region.
ICE HOUSE - In München-Gladbach it would be called an EIS Haus.
We used an ICE HOUSE to store blocks of Hudson River ice to keep dairy milk cold until it was picked up each day. After WWII ended, the electric grid was extended to our farm and it wasn't needed anymore.
SHAY - Also a kind of geared steam locomotive.
- - Further MARL info, a table showing MARL between Mudstone, and Limestone. In my ute we broadcast lime periodically to "sweeten" the soil, and yet I had never heard of MARL till today.
- - We would also spread manure to return the nutrients to the soil. In the warranty papers for John Deere, "We stand behind all of our products except our manure spreaders."
Enough of the finer particles of life "poopier mache."
Ðave
I was sure I FIW but I was wrong. MUMM just had to be wrong! Hand up for MOET. Has anyone heard of MUMM? I was thinking it was a word in Champagne (France). I was also sure MARL and CINEASTE were wrong. But I was wrong. FIR!
CC: Thanks for the Mickey Mantle images and more. I always thought of LONG TIME NO SEE as being a mock of Native Americans. Wikipedia agrees with both of us.
I saw this beautiful TOAD during our stay in Tucson.
Not sure why TOAD is used in a bad way. They don't bite. They eat bugs. Shakespeare noted the beauty of the "jewel" of the eye of the TOAD. I visited the shoe collection of IMELDA back in 1991 on my first Philippines visit. I don't seem to have any photos. Perhaps it was not permitted. I have photos of OBELISKs in several countries.
PAPIER-MACHE is the art of choice for our Solstice Parade. Here Claire is creating a unicorn!
Here my friend Kim is putting the finishing touches on that unicorn. Such expressiveness is what makes PAPIER-MACHE so special in the right hands!
D4E4H: Glad you were able to enjoy my videos of the tram and my Middle Eastern dancer friends!
PK: I hope you were able to figure out how to view my Cirque video. They were so graceful on stilts and the lights were quite unique and magical.
Several words I did not know before; don't know how long I'll remember them. I liked this puzzle and appreciate its construction. I like the word OBELISK; kinda rolls off the tongue. I like the way Sir Cedric Hardwicke, who played Pharaoh Seti I in the movie The Ten Commandments, pronounced it when he said, "His name shall be struck off every obelisk ..."
Best wishes to you all.
CC and Husker Gary: Thanks for the map! I see these fellow Southern California people and I am curious where exactly you live? We are in Santa Barbara.
FermatPrime, BillG, Steve, Misty, OlManKeith
Here is another video I made of the Cirque people at our final party, strolling through the crowd on stilts!
Rainman at 12:53 PM
- - Where have you been all my life? You asked "What is your father's middle name?" "Thomas" I reply. Can you remember when you phrased the question? CW-ing in central America, huh, in what languages were the CWs constructed? I asked C.C. if she knew of Chinese CWs, with a "no" answer. I read of Japanese CWs.
Picard at 1:18 PM
- - Everything reminds me of "Pictures of my life." Your beautiful toad reminded me of a time circa 1971 - 1986 when I was certain we were bothered by rats because I could see their droppings. Dissection of a dropping revealed the exoskeletons of insects. We had happy hoppy toads. I washed my hands to prevent "Frog" fecal to oral contamination. No warts for me. I did not want people to ask "Warts Gnu wi' you?"
- - Claire's Unicorn looks like a 15 point buck, but wait, that was just the "Mane event." "Oh I see." "What does that stand for?" "Oh I see." TBBT
Ðave
The title and the circles gave away the clever theme. I guessed how it would work out before I started. The circles weren't necessary, but knowing the theme was contained in 6 letters greatly helped the solve.
I had the CINE- early on. Knowing dynast, enthusiast, pederast, CINEASTE became obvious, but I didn't expect the final E.
PLATEN is known only to those of us who used actual typewriters.
I thought MOET. MUMM was all perps.
I never hear "Long time, no see," these days.
Hahtoolah, thanks for linking I TOO, very powerful.
CC, AMAH seems very normal to me.
BOSSES before TOSSES. IV/INTRA resolved that one.
PAM causes hard to remove build up in non stick frying pans.
My GPS voice uses the th sound in thing for Thomas. Jarring.
We used to have many Thom McAns stores. Kmart, Sears and Walmart took over the brand. I don't notice it much any more. It used to be more middle of the road.
I got MARL from the M. I think I know it from novels. My older son poo-poos my preference for fiction over nonfiction, but I have learned a lot that way.
CABBAGE and GELT are both common terms for money. Cabbage, again,was known from fiction.
I forgot CGI, Computer Generated Imagery, but finally I thought of the VW and the G in GAS fueled CGI.
I have seen interesting documentaries on ice harvesting and ice houses. The history of the lake at a resort I worked for during college, harvested ice in the winter.
Speaking of winter, yesterday people wore summer attire, shorts and flip flops. Today it is 45 degrees cooler and we are wearing winter parkas again.
Thank you for checking in with us, Paul. Fascinating to hear about accidental coincidences in crossword construction--what an interesting activity you guys have. And C.C. I still remember being so amazed when your first puzzles began to appear. They've gotten more and more complicated and interesting over time, so my thanks to the wonderful world of constructors!
I got most of this Sunday puzzle, and thanks to the circles, the strange theme became clear pretty early on. But unlike many others, my 22 across began as ISLAND rather than ATLANTIC, so that corner was one of the last to fill in, and only after cheating. The irony, of course, is that my family used to make summer visits to ATLANTIC CITY all the time when I was a kid and I knew the place well, back in the day. But it just didn't come to mind this morning--maybe because I didn't gamble in my youth.
Owen, I just loved your first limerick.
Picard, I live in Laguna Beach. Where do you live?
Have a great Sunday, everybody.
Hahtoolah @11:49.
Great quote by L. da Vinci. In that light, T.S. Eliot's idea that "Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood" applies to painting (and other arts) also. I believe this to be true. I have often spent time at the Art Institute of Chicago reacting to something I didn't quite understand. For me, that also happens with music.
Thank you for that.
Sunday workout. Thanks for the fun, Paul and C.C.
Thanks for dropping by Paul.
I got the Mirror theme which helped the fill.
Hand up for ABR before ACR (hellow OwenKL), Moet before MUUM, and giving PSEUD a meh (like IM)!
My noodle concoction was more like RAMEN before IDEA. Arid changed to SERE.
DH gave me Lime but perps would not let it stand. (I will add MARL to my CW memory bank!)
Unknowns (some due to Canadian disadvantage) included KCAL, BARR, CINEASTE, and CGI (thanks YR for saving me from LIU although I think we have had it before).
Cabbage=GELT was not a common usage for me.
CTNS and RRS took a while for the light to dawn.
Loved the clue for KAZOO. The sound of TOOTLE and HOOEY gives me a smile also.
Welcome back Rainman.
I see that I am alone in the Great White North on the map. Care to join me, Northern Boy?
D4, DH worked for Deere so I have heard that line. LOL!
Ice storm here for yesterday and today. Everything cancelled and everyone is staying home. We are not getting the worst of it thankfully and no power outage.
Enjoy the evening.
Picard:
That is some impressive papier MACHE! I used to have my 4th graders make masks with papier MACHE. It was a fun activity that besides art could also be tied in to history. The students seemed to like it and enjoyed their results. We used balloons to form the shapes.
Third week in a row that, after three hours of angst, I gave up and copied the fills. In nearly fifty years of solving LAT puzzles, this is the longest run of failures for me (two in a row several years ago was the most ..till now). Is it me or are the puzzles getting more esoteric? Are the clues more flippant and ridiculous?? Am I being silly to eschew the use of the dozens of "cheat sites"? Are my cognitive abilities slipping do quickly that I soon will be unable to solve ANY of my beloved puzzles? My Sundays will be a bore if I do! HELP!
Bobbi:
I don't know what to tell you because I thought this was one of the easiest Sunday puzzles in a while and if you had circles that was easier still because you could pre-fill them once you had at least two or three letters. Maybe you are expecting to solve cold by filling in words in isolation.
I try to establish a hook and work around that. I hope you don't give up.
Fun puzzle. No, of course I didn't get it all, but I was proud that I got SOME of the clever fills.
Loved 102a - "Hennessy Fennesy TOODLES the flute and the music is something grand." What fun! (McNamara's Band.)
111a . I had dinner with Nevada BARR two weeks ago. She is delightful!! Interesting mysteries too, for those of you who care.
My favorite was "one getting smashed at a party". No hesitation at all at PIÑATA, clever!
Thanks Paul, and CC for all the fun.
Hahtoolah, I hope you had no problems with that dreadful all day storm. I was safe and sound, but I had friends who lost power and had Street flooding.
NoNoNo Owen!! All A's. I laughed out loud!
Picard, Manhattan Beach for us.
- - HG, I just reviewed your second update to the map. Thank you for making it show us so well. The Cornerites are well spread in CA, well represented in FL, and crowded in the NE.
- - CanadianEh! is carrying an entire country alone, and there are wide swaths of blank states with no names at all. Go figure!
Ðave
It was just a pipe dream that Alan would be okay. He has all the symptoms back again. It often takes months for these setbacks to resolve. He was well for so many months this time I thought maybe it was conquered.
Swampcat: that storm was intense, but we were safe and never lost power. Thank you for asking. Glad you survived, too.
Swamp Cat:
How do you know Nevada Barr?
Yellowrocks, best wishes for you and Alan. I'm so sorry...
Argyle, good wishes and thoughts going your way each day. I hope things are going well.
I just slogged away and stopped with a whole lotta white showing. I went to dinner with Betsy and Phil and CINAPHILE came into my head, like CC said but alas no cigar . So I slogged some more and STARCHY and THROWBACK and a bunch of others filled and I was left with a few blanks. GAZOO need a K,
Amazing I got the full FIR with no cheats and amazing I got BRAUN, 47A, LESSOR and others . Bobbi, you're right this was very difficult, the theme was vital to my solve. Hardest of the weekend .
I have golf from the afternoon tape and I'm hearing that my afternoon nap missed a severe storm warning.
Spitz, you inadvertently told me about 122D, EIS being "Frozen wasser" .
I agree with the rest: W's across the board Owen. Thx to CC for a great write-up.
I can't believe I got the whole thing .
WC
PS. As alluded to, veteran xworders will recall certain fill. Ex. APHID, RAMEN etc.
The theme and circles helped in completing the long answers, but still a challenge. 82D clue Atavism was new to me, didn’t get that and 80 and 81D. Otherwise, a fun puzzle!
For CC:
And Vietnamese (classical Northern style) has five tones. Southerners, from Saigon, say, tend to be 'mushier' and run their tones to between 3.5 and 4 (or so it sounds to my Northern-trained ears).
I read most on Nevada Barr's novels until one where her writing was too good. It involved caving (Mammoth Caves, I think) and her descriptions were so good they gave me the willies! I'm not particularly claustrophobic, but I couldn't read that one very far at all, and haven't read another since!
Well, by this time of day everything needing to be said has been said; WEES about E (Everything). Just three comments.
I think I have either read or listened to every one of Nevada Barr's books. They are always good.
One of my former students (I had her some time in the early to mid '70s) was a brittle diabetic. When she was at the U of IL she lost her sight but not her focus and visions for herself. She went to Seeing Eye Dog training and has since had several good canine companions. Several years ago she published her first book, LONG TIME NO SEE. She lives just south of the Chicago Loop and is a frequent guest on WBEZ, the NPR station in Chicago. Guess whom I thought of right away while solving this puzzle!
And finally, I just really enjoyed all the sparkly fill!
That’s it; nearly bed time.
Bye.
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