Theme: To Enlightenment - find the path.
17A. *Look for a specific passage in, as a book: PAGE THROUGH. Flip, flip, flip - there it is! I've done this a thousand times. I like the phrase.
26A. *About 22% of an average 18-hole golf course: PAR THREES. A "classic" par-72 18-hole golf course will have four par-threes, four par-fives and 10 par-fours. Of course (ha!), all is variable. Muirfield, one of the "classic" links courses in Scotland began with just 14 holes. St. Andrews began life with 22 holes. They met in the middle at 18.
37A. *Point where it starts to hurt: PAIN THRESHOLD. Ow!
61A. Explorers ... and ones who can determine what the answers to starred clues have in common?: PATHFINDERS
Nice clean puzzle from Mark, the reveal is nicely-placed at the foot of the puzzle, and the hint is clear - look for "PATH" in the theme entries. Symmetry with the theme entries starting with "PA" and broken with the second part beginning with "TH". Pleasing, maybe just to me.
Let's go and look around:
Across:
1. Space station wear: G-SUITS. Nice enough entry, but you don't wear a G-suit in the space station, where there's zero G's - you don't need one. Fighter pilots wear them.
7. "Walk Like __": Four Seasons hit: A MAN. The best version of this I ever heard was by a British a cappella group I saw performing in a pub in London in 1980. Sadly, no recording of that survives, but here's the single they recorded in 1983 that went to number 1. They were quite amazing. No special effects, just voices.
11. Sharp-tack link: A SA
14. Stage of intensity: DEGREE
15. Pitch a fit: RANT
16. Happened upon: MET
19. It's near the midpoint of the Miss. River: ST. L. St. Loius. No "on scoreboards" reference?
20. Rap sheet data: CRIMES
21. Place Sundance liked to see: ETTA. Very nice. Etta Place, mysterious associate of the Butch and Sundance "Wild Bunch".
22. "Gotcha!": PSYCH! I'd never heard this before - the "gotcha" moment after a teasing lie. "Hey - your car is getting towed! Psych!".
28. Every time: ALWAYS
30. Key: ISLET
31. Salt formula: NACL. Good old Sodium Chloride. Don't under-use it when you cook.
32. Sprain application: ICEBAG. I'd be more likely to use an ice pack, but that's just me.
42. Watch creepily: LEER AT
43. Corn syrup brand: KARO. My sister-in-law in England asked me to bring some over on my last trip. She's just starting a cake-decorating business, and apparently neither corn syrup nor marshmallow fluff exist across the pond. Who'd a thunk it?
45. Chimney plumes: SMOKE
49. Largest cat in the genus Leopardus: OCELOT. Pretty! They can hunt by low speed-stalking, or high-speed in-your-face full-on assault. They like to swim too. Don't be a small mammal or an iguana.
56. Change as needed: ADAPT
57. Musical meter maid: RITA. The Beatles "lovely" one.
58. Exposes, in a way: RATS ON
60. Gender-neutral possessive: ITS. No apostrophe. If you're not sure - "It's an apostrophe". Contraction of "it is".
66. Numeric prefix: TRI-
67. Tête output: IDEÉ. "Je pense, donc je suis"
68. Canadian dollar coin: LOONIE. I liked the story that a loonie was smuggled in and frozen in the rink at center ice in the hockey arena at the Salt Lake Olympics and Canada won the gold medal in the men's tournament for the first time in 50 years.
69. Buddhist school: ZEN
70. Give up: CEDE
71. Con target: STOOGE
Down:
1. Macroeconomics abbr.: GDP. Gross Domestic Product. I studied Economics at school back when Adam Smith wrote "The Wealth of Nations" and no-one could agree how to measure GDP. I don't think it's changed.
2. Bering, for one: SEA. Thank you, Dutchman Vitus Bering for exploring it, so the rest of us didn't have to go up there and freeze our nadgers off.
3. Footwear brand: UGG
4. Wrath: IRE
5. Easily peeved: TETCHY
6. Very, to Schumann: SEHR. Your German lesson for the day.
7. Candle emanation: AROMA. We had "SMOKE" earlier, so here's an alternative.
8. Catcher Joe with a trio of consecutive Gold Glove Awards (2008-10): MAUER. Thank you, crosses. C.C. would have known this without pause - he is the first baseman for the Minnesota Twins.
9. Fretful feeling: ANGST
10. Indefinite ordinal: NTH. It must have been tempting to clue this with reference to 14A.
11. Heineken brand: AMSTEL. They used to be competitors. The Amstel river flows through Amsterdam. Heineken bought them out in 1968. The best bargain in Amsterdam used to be the Heineken brewery tour before these things were common. The tour lasted about 30 minutes, then you could spend as long as you liked in the tasting room for the princely sum of about $2. Eventually word spread too wide, and like all good things, the tour came to an end.
12. Parlor piece: SETTEE
13. Finally: AT LAST
18. Material flaw: RIP
21. LPN workplaces: ER'S. Emergency Rooms where those amazing Licensed Practical Nurses ply their trade.
22. __ for gold: PAN
23. Open-handed hit: SLAP
24. Fem. advocacy group: YWCA. Young Women's Christian Association. I was a member of the London Central YMCA for quite a few years - they had the most amazingly affordable gym and swimming pool for many, many miles around and slap-dab in the center of London. I even made the swim team. I believe that year they were short of talent.
25. City WSW of Bogotá: CALI
27. Expensive: HIGH
29. Where it's at: SITE. I didn't see this until now, crosses filled it in for me.
33. 2008 biopic starring Benicio del Toro: CHE. The famous "Che Lives" poster from the 70's. My sister had one on her bedroom wall:
34. Blow it: ERR
35. Arthur with two Emmys and a Tony: BEA
36. Concerning: AS TO
38. Met or Nat: NL'ER. More baseball to keep C.C. happy!
39. Signed off on: OK'ED
40. Refrain syllables: LA LA.
41. Stop talking about: DROP
44. Legendary Giant: OTT. Mel. Baseball!
45. Quick squirt: SPRITZ
46. __ d'hôtel: MAÎTRE. The one you need to impress to get a table at a popular restaurant.
47. Decides to join: OPTS IN
48. Mauna __: KEA. or LOA. Wait for the crosses.
50. "All the Light We __ See": 2015 Pulitzer novel: CANNOT. This is really fantastic book that I read a couple of years ago. If you want to see a brilliant mind at work, read Anthonys Duerr's wonderful novel.
52. Woodworking, e.g.: TRADE
53. Despised: HATED
54. "With this ring, __ ... ": I THEE
55. Bad check letters: NSF. "Not Sufficient Funds". This can have rather unhappy consequences.
59. Lubricates: OILS
61. Photo: PIC
62. __-wop: DOO
63. Roxy Music co-founder: ENO. Brian, he of "Elevator Music". Roxy Music really were ground-breakers in pop - here's their first big hit from 1972. I remember watching Bryan Ferry and wondering which planet he came from! Brian Eno is the guy with the blond hair and psychedelic tie on the other side of the stage from Bryan Ferry. David Bowie and his "Ziggy Stardust" persona landed the same year. Good times.
64. Fix badly?: RIG. But if you rig it well, is it still fixed badly?
65. Observe: SEE.
That's about it from me - I've still got Roxy Music rocking in the background, so I'll sign off with the grid!
(with Roxy Music seguing into the Bob Dylan-penned song "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall")
Steve
17A. *Look for a specific passage in, as a book: PAGE THROUGH. Flip, flip, flip - there it is! I've done this a thousand times. I like the phrase.
26A. *About 22% of an average 18-hole golf course: PAR THREES. A "classic" par-72 18-hole golf course will have four par-threes, four par-fives and 10 par-fours. Of course (ha!), all is variable. Muirfield, one of the "classic" links courses in Scotland began with just 14 holes. St. Andrews began life with 22 holes. They met in the middle at 18.
37A. *Point where it starts to hurt: PAIN THRESHOLD. Ow!
51A. *Like baklava layers: PAPER-THIN. Food! You should be able to read a newspaper through the pastry when it's rolled out.
61A. Explorers ... and ones who can determine what the answers to starred clues have in common?: PATHFINDERS
Nice clean puzzle from Mark, the reveal is nicely-placed at the foot of the puzzle, and the hint is clear - look for "PATH" in the theme entries. Symmetry with the theme entries starting with "PA" and broken with the second part beginning with "TH". Pleasing, maybe just to me.
Let's go and look around:
Across:
1. Space station wear: G-SUITS. Nice enough entry, but you don't wear a G-suit in the space station, where there's zero G's - you don't need one. Fighter pilots wear them.
7. "Walk Like __": Four Seasons hit: A MAN. The best version of this I ever heard was by a British a cappella group I saw performing in a pub in London in 1980. Sadly, no recording of that survives, but here's the single they recorded in 1983 that went to number 1. They were quite amazing. No special effects, just voices.
11. Sharp-tack link: A SA
14. Stage of intensity: DEGREE
15. Pitch a fit: RANT
16. Happened upon: MET
19. It's near the midpoint of the Miss. River: ST. L. St. Loius. No "on scoreboards" reference?
20. Rap sheet data: CRIMES
21. Place Sundance liked to see: ETTA. Very nice. Etta Place, mysterious associate of the Butch and Sundance "Wild Bunch".
22. "Gotcha!": PSYCH! I'd never heard this before - the "gotcha" moment after a teasing lie. "Hey - your car is getting towed! Psych!".
28. Every time: ALWAYS
30. Key: ISLET
31. Salt formula: NACL. Good old Sodium Chloride. Don't under-use it when you cook.
32. Sprain application: ICEBAG. I'd be more likely to use an ice pack, but that's just me.
42. Watch creepily: LEER AT
43. Corn syrup brand: KARO. My sister-in-law in England asked me to bring some over on my last trip. She's just starting a cake-decorating business, and apparently neither corn syrup nor marshmallow fluff exist across the pond. Who'd a thunk it?
45. Chimney plumes: SMOKE
49. Largest cat in the genus Leopardus: OCELOT. Pretty! They can hunt by low speed-stalking, or high-speed in-your-face full-on assault. They like to swim too. Don't be a small mammal or an iguana.
56. Change as needed: ADAPT
57. Musical meter maid: RITA. The Beatles "lovely" one.
58. Exposes, in a way: RATS ON
60. Gender-neutral possessive: ITS. No apostrophe. If you're not sure - "It's an apostrophe". Contraction of "it is".
66. Numeric prefix: TRI-
67. Tête output: IDEÉ. "Je pense, donc je suis"
68. Canadian dollar coin: LOONIE. I liked the story that a loonie was smuggled in and frozen in the rink at center ice in the hockey arena at the Salt Lake Olympics and Canada won the gold medal in the men's tournament for the first time in 50 years.
69. Buddhist school: ZEN
70. Give up: CEDE
71. Con target: STOOGE
Down:
1. Macroeconomics abbr.: GDP. Gross Domestic Product. I studied Economics at school back when Adam Smith wrote "The Wealth of Nations" and no-one could agree how to measure GDP. I don't think it's changed.
2. Bering, for one: SEA. Thank you, Dutchman Vitus Bering for exploring it, so the rest of us didn't have to go up there and freeze our nadgers off.
3. Footwear brand: UGG
4. Wrath: IRE
5. Easily peeved: TETCHY
6. Very, to Schumann: SEHR. Your German lesson for the day.
7. Candle emanation: AROMA. We had "SMOKE" earlier, so here's an alternative.
8. Catcher Joe with a trio of consecutive Gold Glove Awards (2008-10): MAUER. Thank you, crosses. C.C. would have known this without pause - he is the first baseman for the Minnesota Twins.
9. Fretful feeling: ANGST
10. Indefinite ordinal: NTH. It must have been tempting to clue this with reference to 14A.
11. Heineken brand: AMSTEL. They used to be competitors. The Amstel river flows through Amsterdam. Heineken bought them out in 1968. The best bargain in Amsterdam used to be the Heineken brewery tour before these things were common. The tour lasted about 30 minutes, then you could spend as long as you liked in the tasting room for the princely sum of about $2. Eventually word spread too wide, and like all good things, the tour came to an end.
12. Parlor piece: SETTEE
13. Finally: AT LAST
18. Material flaw: RIP
21. LPN workplaces: ER'S. Emergency Rooms where those amazing Licensed Practical Nurses ply their trade.
22. __ for gold: PAN
23. Open-handed hit: SLAP
24. Fem. advocacy group: YWCA. Young Women's Christian Association. I was a member of the London Central YMCA for quite a few years - they had the most amazingly affordable gym and swimming pool for many, many miles around and slap-dab in the center of London. I even made the swim team. I believe that year they were short of talent.
25. City WSW of Bogotá: CALI
27. Expensive: HIGH
29. Where it's at: SITE. I didn't see this until now, crosses filled it in for me.
33. 2008 biopic starring Benicio del Toro: CHE. The famous "Che Lives" poster from the 70's. My sister had one on her bedroom wall:
34. Blow it: ERR
35. Arthur with two Emmys and a Tony: BEA
36. Concerning: AS TO
38. Met or Nat: NL'ER. More baseball to keep C.C. happy!
39. Signed off on: OK'ED
40. Refrain syllables: LA LA.
41. Stop talking about: DROP
44. Legendary Giant: OTT. Mel. Baseball!
45. Quick squirt: SPRITZ
46. __ d'hôtel: MAÎTRE. The one you need to impress to get a table at a popular restaurant.
47. Decides to join: OPTS IN
48. Mauna __: KEA. or LOA. Wait for the crosses.
50. "All the Light We __ See": 2015 Pulitzer novel: CANNOT. This is really fantastic book that I read a couple of years ago. If you want to see a brilliant mind at work, read Anthonys Duerr's wonderful novel.
52. Woodworking, e.g.: TRADE
53. Despised: HATED
54. "With this ring, __ ... ": I THEE
55. Bad check letters: NSF. "Not Sufficient Funds". This can have rather unhappy consequences.
59. Lubricates: OILS
61. Photo: PIC
62. __-wop: DOO
63. Roxy Music co-founder: ENO. Brian, he of "Elevator Music". Roxy Music really were ground-breakers in pop - here's their first big hit from 1972. I remember watching Bryan Ferry and wondering which planet he came from! Brian Eno is the guy with the blond hair and psychedelic tie on the other side of the stage from Bryan Ferry. David Bowie and his "Ziggy Stardust" persona landed the same year. Good times.
64. Fix badly?: RIG. But if you rig it well, is it still fixed badly?
65. Observe: SEE.
That's about it from me - I've still got Roxy Music rocking in the background, so I'll sign off with the grid!
(with Roxy Music seguing into the Bob Dylan-penned song "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall")
Steve
79 comments:
testing
Swell puzzle. Thanks to Mark and Steve!
No problems!
Awake ask night worrying about money problems!
Bought a new macbook pro but cannot use it to blog.
Please help!
Cannot get my address on there! Won't accept my posts. Has email address with my other one. Need to get this straightened out!!!
Hard to keep two laptops on the bed!
Have a great day!
Hello Puzzlers -
Zoomed through mostly. Still no signs of updates over at Cruciverb.
I seem to be on Steve’s wavelength today. First, I agree that a G-suit isn’t much use in space, unless it has some therapeutic use not related to the high-G environment of a fighter aircraft. Second, I liked the theme symmetry. Third, there’s the Heineken brewery tour: I experienced the low cost of getting a little baked, Dutch style, back in 1983. The tour was exceptionally well run. There were perhaps a hundred in the group, separated into manageable batches, moving through the factory at a good clip. The tour guide pointed out the mix of Amstel and Heineken bottles in the bottling machine - same beer, two different labels. In no time we were shown into a sizable beer hall and the “samples” started flowing. Now, this is all very well when you’re a young traveler trying to have a little fun, but the thing is: the tours were only offered in the morning. I found it inconvenient to wander around Amsterdam with a pretty strong buzz before I’d even had lunch!
A terrific Thursday to Yous Guys!
- - Thank you Mr. Mark McClain for your impossible CW on which, by using the P, P, Ptr Principle I eventually FIR in 35:38. The Natick in the NW corner of GSUITS, and GDP posed a G D Problem till somehow I WAGed the "G."
- - Thank you Steve for your fine review.
Ðave
Steve, it’s Mel Ott, not Merl. Fun puzzle and good write up.
Bonus: "Etta" [as in "James"] crossing "AtLast" in the northeast. Nifty!
Good morning!
GNP made DEGREE slow to appear this morning. I've heard TOUCHY, but never TETCHY. PRIORS went in, so AROMA came out. AROMA went back in so CRIMES would fit. Grrrrrr. Steve, I totally agree with you regarding G-SUITS, not so much about Merl Loius. Not sure what "nadgers" is/are, but I think I got the gist of what you said. Thanx for the outing, Mark.
NSF: Ended my 30+ year relationship with Chase. I deposited a payment from my neighbor. It was returned NSF. My neighbor's bank had made an error, and reversed his NSF fee. Chase refused to reverse the NSF they'd charged me for depositing the check. (Plus, I don't understand why the recipient should be penalized for depositing an NSF check?) Bye-bye, Chase.
Great Thursday challenge, Mark, and another super tour through the grid, Steve. Thanks to you both.
TETCHY? Hmmmm, looked it up and it really is a word. Like D-Otto above, I've heard touchy, but never TETCHY. Never too old to learn, I guess.
Have to agree 100% with Steve, "All the Light We CANNOT See" (50D) is definitely worth the read. Just drew me in and spit me out at the end, much, much worse for the wear.
Still snowing here. Usually I'd be golfing (or performing a poor imitation of that) by now, but this spring has defied any semblance of normalcy. Have to stay positive, though.....right, Argyle (and all the Cornerites)? ;-)
A great day, all.....
Tetchy and psych ????
Pretty easy for Thurs. Never heard of TETCHY and SEHR, but got them with the across answers. Still had to check the answer grid to make sure!
Selling children? The lady on TV said, "Don't miss our $40-off Spring sale." D-O heard, "Don't miss our $40 offspring sale." Phrasing and emphasis do matter.
FIR, but had to fix AgnST and AMSdEL. Bad spellers of the world, UNTIE! Also changed "our" to "its".
I thought yesterday that NASL was ALMOST salt, then we got NACL today. My chemistry PhD sister reminded me yesterday that the periodic table is 300 years old.
We discussed PSYCH the last time we had it as fill. I still don't like it in this context. You kids get off my lawn!
If I RIG a bid in a bad way, the fix is in. Same for a race (horse, political, etc.).
I had no idea that our CW elevator music friend ENO had the Roxy Music connection.
Thanks Mark and Steve. Fun start to the day.
Didn't know UGG had two G's, had UGs so didn't get NE until the reveal.
Didn't know TETCHY was a word by itself thought it was an Appalachian-area dialect for touchy.
I also noticed ETTA crossing AT LAST, the song reminded me my mother's favorite song was ALWAYS by Irving Berlin.
Golf season is supposed to start this afternoon, we'll see if the course wants us to play with temp in the 30s, or if many show up.
Yep, TETCHY is hillbilly for TOUCHY.
And the correct spelling of the past tense of OK is OK'd, not OKED (OKED means being had by an OKIE).
Good morning everyone.
SEHR gut gemacht. You too, Steve.
Very nice puzzle from Mark. Did not 'get' the theme before coming here, but the theme phrases were fun to fill. Had 'priors' before CRIMES. Thought the clue for 21a 'place' for ETTA was utterly superb. SO to CanadianEh! with LOONIE. Thought TETCHY was dialect, but it's in the dictionary.
Bering SEA - Vitus Bering was a Dane. I believe he held the rank of Admiral.
SMOKE - On our DD, the air make-up to the boilers was optimum when the SMOKE from the stacks was a "light brown haze".
Re: chimney, I would often hear 'chimbley' from some of my classmates. The dictionary says it is dialect.
Guten morgen. Vielen danke Mark McClain und Steve. SEHR gut !
"Place Sundance liked to see" was my favorite this morning. I didn't notice the AT LAST crossing it. Nice catch Barry T.
We've had TETCHY before. October 20, 2015, Gareth Bain.
PSYCH ! seems to be used in the manner of "April fools !"
Fun puzzle. FIR. I needed the reveal to show me the paths. I am kind of surprised that mistakes like G SUITS pass the vetting.
Walk Like a Man was new to me. I thought of Walk Like an Egyptian. Mauer was also new to me.
We have seen Psych in this sense in the LA puzzles before. Tetchy seems common enough.
Sehr gut, very good. Thanks to my German minor and PA Dutch lineage.
DO, Chase's decision seems so unfair. I find the bigger banks have less discretion than smaller banks in solving such problems. When my bank merged with Bank of America, I bailed, partly due to that and partly to the numerous extra fees.
Loonie, hi, Canadian Eh!
Amstel, just for you, Tinman.
My mom rolled her buttery Christmas sand tarts so thin you could see the oilcloth pattern underneath. I come close, but I don't hold a candle to her. They still are very crisp and melt in your mouth.
They say I have a very high pain threshold. I feel sorry for those whose lumbar disc problems must be even more painful than mine.
Alan has been in bad shape for 6 out of the last 8 days. I can no longer let that effect my health. While he is sleeping I will go back to the gym.
LIU Origin of tetchy is not hillbilly. Bing: "late 16th century: probably from a variant of Scotstache‘blotch, fault’, from Old Frenchteche." I have heard it here in this metropolitan area and often read it in novels.
LIU Free Dictionary, " OK'ed or OK'd, OK'·ing, OK's or o·kayed or o·kay·ing or o·kays." There are often many correct answers.
Good Morning:
I saw the P T repetition but never put two and two together until the PA TH reveal which brought a big Aha! There were a few hiccups along the way, but nothing the perps couldn't handle. Tetchy is quite familiar from Westerns: I can practically hear Festus (sp?) from "Gunsmoke" saying that to Sheriff Dillon. Psych as a Gotcha doesn't make sense to me but I guess every generation has their way with words. (Cat's Meow and Bee's Knees aren't exactly literary gems, either.) Nice CSO to CanadianEh with Loonie.
Thanks, Mark, for a Thursday treat and thanks, Steve, for a cheerful tour.
Howdy, Argyle, hope you're feeling better!
Have a great day.
If anyone downloads music, I highly recommend "Mia and Sebastian's Theme" from "La La Land." It is one of the most beautiful and haunting melodies I've heard in a long time. There are many renditions to chose from but the one I downloaded is by Kyle Landry. Happy listening!
Spitz, during the auction scene in Oklahoma! Aunt Eller (Charlotte Greenwood) tries to spur bidding to provide a new "chimbley" for the school.
Oh, and Steve, the reason the Scots settled on eighteen holes for a golf course is that there are only seventeen shots in a fifth of whisky.
That's the story I heard, and I'm sticking to it.
Cruciverb not up again today......feeling very tetchy.
Musings
-Our town and our festival is named for The PATHFINDER
-I second Steve’s G-SUIT comment in his great write-up
-St. L is 2 hrs. south of the hometown of the Mississippi’s most famous denizen
-Subbing in grade school is hard because kids ALWYS RAT ON each other
-Freezing the LOONIE would be a great trick when hockey ice is about ¾” thick
-T _ _ C H Y – I wasn’t TETCHED in the haid to want TOUCHY
-For some reason I remember SEHR GUT for “very good” in Deutsch
-I’d be shocked if C.C. doesn’t have an autographed Joe MAUER card
-When I took 100 kids to Sea World, the owners, Anheuser Busch, offered beer tasting but I forewent the offer
-SITE is where it’s at not SITU
-CHE – one man’s freedom fighter is another’s terrorist
-Knowing when to DROP a subject is a marital asset
-OPT IN/ADJUST – “When in Rome…”
I believe in wavelengths! Must have been on the right one today. I sped thru this puzzle and didn’t notice the things I didn’t know had been filled by crosses .
Thanks, Mark. You always find a fresh way to say things, Steve!
Argyle, keep on keeping on!
Thanks, Steve, for the nice write-up! MEA CULPA on the clue for G-SUITS. Got them mixed up with SPACE SUITS in my mind (but, I suppose when an astronaut is shot up to a space station, and she's wearing a G-SUIT, once on the space station she'd take it off and put it away someplace so . . . NAH!). VIELEN DANKE to all who weren't too off-put by the German word in this grid. I'm always pushing the envelope on foreign entries, much to the dismay of some editors (but obviously not Rich in this case).
Well, this morning's puzzle was sooooo hard — PSYCH! (I prefer the more common "psyched you out," but to each his own, I guess.
I don’t recall ever hearing of that ETTA.
I've been banking at the same building for 50 years, but I’ve had 5 banks in that time. Mergers and acquisitions galore.
WALK LIKE A MAN, by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, was a staple of my ute.
LOONIE was a nice SO to CanadianEh! and northern boy. I love those coins! Why can’t we have cool money like that?
Thanks, Mark, for a fun puzzle (even if I did have to do it on the LAT site. Feeling a bit TETCHY now that Cruciverb seems to be on vacation; I wish they’d at least put a note on the board, explaining why there’s no puzzle). And thanks, Steve, for your informative explanations.
Have a great day, all!
@Unknown 6:34 - Fixed, thanks!
Can some one help Fermat?
(I find Apple very confusing...)
FIW,
Never did get the G in suit,
maybe because I really wanted T-Shirt...
The Etta Place clue was excellent!
Still I had no trouble finding the path...
P.S.- They may walk like men, but they sing like girls...
Interesting comments about TETCHY, I didn't even think twice about it. Perhaps it's common usage in the UK; I wouldn't have crossed my mind that it was dialect, very much "in the language" for me.
Thank you, Mark, for a fun Thursday puzzle which helped get an otherwise gloomy morning off to a better start. It looked really tough to me at first, but I slowly worked my way up from the bottom and eventually got almost everything except for two little cheats. And I loved getting the theme which helped me finish the top. The ETTA place clue was my favorite. And I even got AMSTEL even though I don't drink beer. Anyway, this was fun, and made me feel better on a day when I didn't get the tough Sudoku or even the Kenken or the Jumble. I always get the Kenken, so that, and the rain, is what made the morning a bit tough. But the puzzle helped and Steve's write-up is always a pleasure. So many thanks, again. (Okay--"nadgers"?)
So sorry to hear about all your various problems, Fermatprime. And sorry also to hear that Alan has had such a difficult week, Yellowrocks. Glad you're going to the gym.
Have a good day, Argyle, and everyone else, too
Hey, the rain stopped and the sun just came out. That helps, doesn't it?
So, Steve, you were around when Adam Smith wrote his tome? I thought you were younger. LOL I'm sorry but my inner grammarian made me do it. Thank you for your ALWAYS entertaining expo.
Thank you, Mark McClain for your great grid and for stopping by to explain GSUIT.
The Y in PSYCH was my last fill only because of YWCA. It still doesn't make sense to me but then so little of the younger generation does.
I'm surprised to learn that the OCELOT is the largest cat among its genus.
Barry T:
Nice catch of ETTA/ATLAST.
CSO to my mother LALA. And hi, Canadian Eh! at LOONIE.
MAUER was a pure guess and finished CRIMES for me. And I'm so proud of myself that I grokked PARTHREE! I didn't, however, see the theme which is not unusual for me.
I also highly recommend All the Light We Cannot See; it was one of our book club choices and so very good.
How are you doing, Argyle? Well, I hope.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Thanks Mark and Steve. I struggled but eventually emerged to the concluding "Tada" noise at the end.
I used to enjoy taking friends, relatives and visitors to the Anheuser Busch brewery tour along with the adjacent Busch Gardens park. (It was in the San Fernando valley, about a half-hour north of here, close to Fermatprime.) They had music, bird shows and free beer; one draft each at the Busch Pavilion, the Bud Pavilion and the Michelobe Pavilion. It was about the best beer you could get because it was super fresh, straight from the brewery. (Unlike wine, beer doesn't age well. It's best when really fresh.) Alas, all of that fun and free beer is long gone now...
CrossEyedDave I agree Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons singing "Walk Like A MAN" was hard to take seriously with those annoying shrill voices. Perhaps each generation has to do something to annoy their parents.
Stuck with SAND TRAPS before PAR THREES. Anyone else?
Stuck with ANTSY before ANGST. Anyone else?
Unknowns: KARO, MAUER, SEHR. Hazy memory of ETTA as clued from past puzzles. Never thought of the YWCA as an "advocacy" organization. Am I missing something?
In any case, as a hiker/explorer I enjoyed the theme and FIR!
Here is a photo of Deckers Headquarters, maker of UGG Australia. This in fact is a mile from our home in Goleta, CA! UGG never was in Australia!
In case my post last night was too late:
Here are photos from 2009 when I hiked all the way up to Grass Mountain with some friends. Now you can see the California Poppies up close!
Son Of Musings
-When I was in Middle School, one kid would offer a high five and then quickly withdraw that hand and yell “PSYCH” when a reply was on the way
First of all, I thank all of you who gave information and advice about cataract surgery yesterday. I'm glad to know more about what to expect.
Second of all, I liked this puzzle. I usually like Mark's work. Hand up for immediately thinking of Walk Like an Egyptian. Agree with comments about GSUIT, and echo Picard's question of how the YWCA is an advocacy group.
Hooray for fresh beer!
Good one by Mark. Steve's guided tour through the grid was a tour de force. I was able to get through the puzzle without Red Letters or look ups today, that is until the web page froze with only 2 letters to fill in. So I figured what the two letters would be and moved to Steve's explanation. Luckily I was right.
I didn't get the theme until I read Steve's explanation, but I didn't need it to solve the puzzle.
Perps were my savior again today giving me SEHR, MAUER, PSYCH, RITA and OCELOT. We've had ENO so many times recently I automatically put it in for the three letter music reference.
I agree with Steve and HG on G-SUITS. The Suits (EMU) used on the Space Station are primarily for EVA's in a Zero-G environment outside the station and basically protect astronauts from the extremes of working in a vacuum. Also, the suits used during launch to the ISS in the Shuttle or Soyuz do not require G-force protection because the maximum G-forces experienced are about 3 G's. A high-G roller coaster can exert over 6 G's. However, there is some research being done with a suit similar to a G-suit to help promote proper blood flow in the astronauts in weightless conditions to help prevent blood from pooling in the extremities while working inside the ISS.
Also, are there any Canadians other than CanadianEh and northernboy who read the blog?
Rain and snow squalls again today. When will it end.
Wikipedia" YWCA. Advocacy Section
"Although "YWCA" is often associated with hostels and fitness centres, the World YWCA is a human rights-based organization with activities across the world such as advocacy of gender equality and women's empowerment, trainings on SRHR and HIV, dialogues between young girls and religious leaders and across generations. The World YWCA states its purpose as: "Develop the leadership and collective power of women and girls around the world to achieve human rights, health, security, dignity, freedom, justice and peace for all people".
Lovely flowers, Picard.
Misty, I found my cataract surgery not at all uncomfortable or scary. I am sure you will do well, too.
Hi, Argyle. I am wishing you steady progress.
Dudley at 4:49 AM, Mark McClain at 9:56 AM, and oc4beach at 12:39 PM
- - Per Wiki' "A g-suit, or the more accurately named anti-g suit, is a flight suit worn by aviators and astronauts who are subject to high levels of acceleration force." Please do not shoot the messenger, me.
- - Mark, Thanks for visiting the Corner.
Barry T. at 6:45 AM
- - Here is The lady.
TTP at 8:38 AM
- - Wrote "We've had TETCHY before. October 20, 2015, Gareth Bain." - - I thought it looked familiar.
Ðave
I hate to be an A******* about it but why would you buy a computer that you didn't know how to use? Especially an expensive MacPro. Its been a while since I used a Mac but unless you are using some exotic feature, the applications run pretty much the same as on windows. The best thing you can do with a Mac is go to the Genius bar with a prepared list of questions.
pretty easy run today but I came on to the blog to see if anyone else had a problem with "tetchy". My aunt was from the Ozarks and she used to say it but I also thought it was part of the accent. I only understood about half what she said anyway being from Detroit and speaking "perfect" unaccented American English. Seriously almost every state and big city has some accent that is imitated in Jokes or TV shows. I have never had anyone comment on a Michigan accent !
Misty, Jayce: When I had my cataracts done, the doctor gave me a few choice about what type of lenses I wanted. I could have both set for distance, or for reading, or one for reading and one for distance. He wasn't too keen on the later, but said many people do it which is similar to having contact lenses set with one for reading and one for distance vision.
I opted for the distance lenses and only need to wear glasses when I'm reading. I wear bifocals that basically have a slight correction for astigmatism in the top and the reading prescription in the bottom. I've worn glasses forever, so it's not a problem wearing them to just read.
Chuck Lindgren at 12:58 PM
- - Your choice of "expletive deleted" was a little heavy, but shows a concern for fermatprime's problems. She lives in Northridge, CA. Her profile includes her e-mail address, and I have her phone number. I believe you live in So Cal also. Be a dear, and help her with her "new macbook pro."
Ðave
Thanks, Yellowrocks and Oc4beach, for good wishes and advice on the cataracts. Much appreciated.
Fresh Beer?
Would you believe I have a 35 year old bottle of beer in my Kitchen cabinet
that I have never been able to open...
It's an Amstel light with a Heineken cap.
I thought it might be worth something, but now today I find that
they are bottled in the same plant? Oh well...
Picard,
Trivia:
The California Poppy is the State flower!
but you can't make opium from them...
The path in Central Park...
The path at my house...
I wish I could find this path!
And, of course...
Picard, I enjoy your phloral photos. We went to Death Valley years ago in the spring. If you slowed down and got low to the desert floor, there were lots of wild 'belly flowers.' They were small and beautiful. (And yes, Antsy before ANGST.)
Re. fresh beer tasing better. We went to a Jewish deli with my BIL and his family. I order a beer with lunch. The waitress set a can of Bud on the table and poured it for me. I drank a few swallows and stopped. It was musty and didn't taste very good. I looked at the 'Born On' date printed on the can. It was over a year old. I told the waitress. She was clueless about it but took it back politely.
Bill G, PLEASE assure me that the Tommy's across the street from the brewery is still there. Nothing better after a Dodgers game than a burger, dog, fries or all three, all with chili on them. Then on to my place in Topanga. Great hangover prevention!
Hi Y'all! I did FIND the PATH to solve this baby! Great one, Mark! Great expo, Steve!
My daughter came back from her stint in New Zealand and made Baklava PAPER THIN for us. Truly she had an international experience with that Greek recipe in a country first settled by Scots. Now she lives on HIGH Street. Two CSOs to her.
19a "near midpoint of the Miss. River". I was trying to think of the name of an island in the river. StL dawned soon.
SMOKE & ANGST are CSOs to me lately. My new neighbor is driving me nuts with wood log bonfires on his patio which suck SMOKE down into my roof vents and fill my house. He is a fire bug. I get very PSYCHed out.
Hand up for wanting "walk like an Egyp". Even tried Cairo which didn't fit either.
LPN: My 52-yr-old SIL is an LPN who has been "encouraged" by his employer to upgrade to an RN. He chose a school which will allow him to use his 30 years of experience to test out of some things. Hitting the books at that age is tough. Cuts into his biking too.
Chuck: I take exception to your remark to Fermatprime, "why would anyone buy a computer they don't know how to use?" How are you supposed to learn until you have one? Especially those of us who aren't readily mobile. Please, apologize to her.
Cleverly clued.
A tough time getting a foothold on this from Mr. McClain! But once in, this pzl yielded some pleasant surprises. My personal fave was ETTA.
Like Steve, I have done a PAGE THROUGH many a time. I have to say that one of the great advantages of e-books is the "Search" function. No more flipping pages, trying to remember whether it was on the recto or verso side!
And the instant dictionary! I still love real books, but now when I come across an unfamiliar word on a page, I catch myself putting my index finger on the word, just hoping for the definition to magically appear.
____________
Diagonal Report: Again no diagonals.
DNF. Couldn't get the NW; G-SUITS was the main hangup. Never took economics; from cws could be GDP or GNP. DEGREE for whatever reason didn't occur to me. Neither did UGGs, although my daughter and granddaughter wore them. I think TETCHY is dialect in the US; I do recall "teched" from Appalachia.
Mauna blank could be KEA or LOA; I already had the K from SMOKE.
Only know AMSTEL from cws.
An informative discussion on PSYCH
Falsetto was common in the popular muusic of the 60's and 70's; probably taken from R&B, probably derived from mbube and earlier traditional styles.
This was a nice Thursday Birthday puzzle. Yes it’s my BD and it’s a “big” one.
No issues with the puzzle....G-SUITS excepted..as others have noted. No danger of blood pooling in the legs when there’s nothing to make it do that. Otherwise, not even a scratch out.
The PSYCH reference is https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/psych
Jinx, I haven't been there in a really long time but I think the Anheuser Busch brewery and Busch Gardens in the San Fernando Valley is no more. Tommy's is still around though.
Wik Wak, you (we) are of an age to remember the beautiful Katharine Ross as ETTA Place in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Ross and Redford as Etta and Sundance in the movie, Newman as Butch behind
https://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMzI5MzcxNjEtZjgyZS00MzhhLWE3MWYtZTU1Njk5MWQ2MTI4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjUwNzk3NDc@._V1_.jpg
The real Sundance Kid and Etta
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/26/Sundance_Kid_and_wife-clean.jpg/330px-Sundance_Kid_and_wife-clean.jpg
Mensa left off the percent sign in the clue for 26A which forced me to wait for the perps to reveal what "22 of an average 18-hole golf course" could possibly be.
I agree that the first two sentences of Mr. Lindgren's remarks are completely inappropriate.
AnonymousPVX:
Happy birthday! You should check in with C.C. so she can add you to her list and CEDave would make you CGI cake!
Hand up for ANTSY then ANGST.
fermatprime, if you are reading this, try the following with your two Macs. Create an Apple account, if you don't already have one. Do that on both computers. Then back up your old Mac to the Apple cloud. After it is finished, set your new Mac to "restore" from the cloud all the info from the old Mac. That should get your new Mac going.
fermatprime, I should have said create an Apple account and then log into it on both computers. (Don't create two accounts.)
Well I PAssedTHrough this McLain's PATH puzzle faster than a normal Thursday level one. "TETCHY" ( is that a real word) was a strange fill but other than that MAUER was really the only unknown. PSYCH- I know, only from crossword puzzles. I've never heard it either.
G-SUIT- I was thinking S(pace) SUIT. I though only fighter pilots wore them due to all the quick turns they had to do. Maybe used for the launch.
We always said: "Walk like a Man", SING LIKE A GIRL for Frankie Valli.
CHE- murderer, what else can you say. Why he remains popular stumps me.
D-O, make your neighbor pay for YOUR NSF charge.
Chuck Lindgren_ Apple 'Genius Bar' employees ain't too smart. If they were they certainly wouldn't be working for $15.00/hour. As far as buying an expensive MacPro, unless you have a specific need- a total waste of money. And unless you are into internet gaming and need an expensive graphics card, the cheap Windows computers will cover 99% of what you need. Just remember to get the one with the most RAM. Storage really doesn't matter any more; it's so cheap that it's basically FREE. Nobody (with any sense) bothers to make CDs or DVDs.
@Bill G & Jinx - The brewery's still there, it's just the Gardens that are no more. Tommy's is going strong.
Ironic, BE. I'm getting ready to burn 15 finalized CDs with files related to classes I'm teaching next week. They are handouts to DoD employees, who cannot bring writable mass storage devices into their building. But as anyone who has read my ramblings here on the Corner knows, I'm not likely to be accused of having any sense.
CrossEyedDave at 1:46 PM
- - On the page of PICs with "The path at my house..." I eventually came to one of a self propelled lawnmower tied to a pole in the middle of the yard, caption "Lazy," sub caption "I wish we'd have thought of this sooner."
- - I did think of it. In high school shop, I used a lathe to make a spool whose circumference matched the width of the mower. I sat on the porch while it cut the front yard.
- - Gary Larson penned a Far Side cartoon of a dog which had pushed a mower in an S pattern across the lawn. His master scolded "You call that mowing the lawn. Bad dog, no treat." I enjoyed many of his cartoons just now as I looked for this elusive one. Darn.
AnonymousPVX at 3:31 PM
- - Happy 65th BD!
Ðave
Don't think you looked too hard
My friend Becky and I just saw an amazing performance titled "Nathan Gunn: Flying Solo" at the Laguna Playhouse. It's a one person performance, plus piano, that includes narrative, opera, a variety of music, and is quite impressive and astonishing. If it comes to your area, I highly recommend it.
Of course I have an Apple account! Have been using Macs since 1987. Resent the remark about not knowing how to use one! (Have even taken them apart.) My previous one is in the shop due to faulty keyboard. I just need this one to accept my blog posts! Everything else is peachy. This new computer is a heck of a lot faster!
Chico Marx was playing piano for a woman taking singing lessons.
"You sing high, huh?"
"Yes, I have a falsetto voice."
"That'sa funny, my last pupil, she had a false set o' teeth."
I bet in their vaudeville act he said something other than "teeth."
Fermat here. I just posted as Anonymous. That will have to do until I can solve the problem.
I figured it out!
Hey, Fermatprime!! Glad to have you "back" !! I have always struggled with new devises .
Hate to tell you this, FermatPrime: Whatever you did is still not correct.
It shows your email address instead of your blog name and avatar.
Anon @7:56. Go crawl back under your rock. Yes, Fermat's email shows, but she is Blue and back to posting. Celebrate the little victories.
We have been fortunate lately to have had fewer than usual snarky posts. It looks as if the pendulum may be swinging back again. I hope not...
Anonymous at 6:58 PM
- - I forgive your "snarky remarky." ¿How could you know how much effort I expended sans results? You even deserve the dreaded Signo de Interrogación al revés Español, "¿" and yet I have the nerve to ask you to share with me the URL to which you went to find my beloved cartoon. Thank you for that. Next were you able to search at the site, and it so how?
- - Please adopt an avatar so we know it is you when you post. So far today there have been 6 anon posts, way too many. ¡Any is way too many!
If you choose to aid me, thank you.
Ðave
Fermat, I was only trying to help. Sorry you resent it.
billocohoes ,
a very handsome couple! Thanks for posting the pic.
Seems like more than a few TETCHY comments on here today.
Chill, guys. "It's easy: All you need is love."
Hi All!
Thanks Mark for another nice theme'd-puzzle. I too had a "???" at G-SUITS but perps were fine. My biggest hangup was PSaCH (American's Women's College Assoc? for the perp?). I had to do another vowel-run (Hi Lucina!) and then got the Sometimes-Y for the FIR. Thanks for stopping by the Corner and 'splainin' yourself on G-SUIT :-)
Great expo, as always, Steve; Thanks. BBC-TV must be why TETCHY wasn't foreign to my mind.
WO: EMO (I knew it was wrong as soon as I inked)
ESPs: SEHR, MAUER, ETTA (as clue'd [thanks billO! for expounding - Place is a name!], YWCA
Fav: Toss-up between LOONIE (fun! - Hi C, Eh! & NorthernBoy) or RITA meta'r Maid (the tune stuck in my head all day! Sweet!)
HBD PVX!
CED - LOL @ PSYCO-PATH! Thx
Jayce - I'm fairly sure it wasn't you (ChuckL perchance)
Welcome back to Blue Fermat.
Back to work. Cheers, -T
Yellowrocks: Glad you enjoyed my flower photos! And thanks for the explanation of YWCA as an advocacy organization. Learning moment!
CrossEyedDave: Thanks for the Poppy trivia and the Path links.
I always liked this Yogi Berra quote that is very relevant to the Path theme:
"If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else."
BillG: Glad you also enjoyed my flower photos. Yes, Death Valley can have some spectacular flowers if you are there at just the right time.
Here are my photos at Death Valley in 2005 which was a "super bloom" year!
I think people are being a bit too TETCHY about the Anonymous comment at 7:56PM. Yes, FermatPrime is Blue now. But the link is no longer to her profile. I think Anonymous was just trying to let her know in case she wants to fix it. Not every Anonymous comment is malicious or snarky.
Good luck, FermatPrime trying to fix it. Not sure if that requires a fix on your computer or on the blog. I remember I had a very hard time setting up my Picard profile and it had nothing to do with my computer.
After two days, I'm finally posting. Yesterday, I solved at Tropicana Field during the 7th inning . I then read the blog during the 8th and 9th. The 9th got testy; our starling closer, Columme walked the first two .
But a double play bailed him out . I drove a van full of "Friends of Splynter". Btw, my shuttle days are over.
I double checked today unlike yesterday where I had YENNA . So, I caught that they were looking for the French IDEE and KARO not KALO.
Jayce, it certainly wasn't you Ferma was referring to .Btw, your advice was excellent and clear .
And to be fair, I don't think Anon was being snarky, a little direct maybe .
Hbd PVX.
Re. Mark's xword. I neglected to search out the PATHs . Oh, I almost forgot.
Misty I had cataract surgery under Medicare several years ago. I had the base option and two others for several thousand more. I took the base which corrected distance but I now need reading glasses.
Actually I have progressive lens but I find I read better with a 2.75.
I had each eye done out-patient two weeks apart . You'll need someone to take you . I drove the shuttle 3 days after having it done but day one you need darkness .
The drops were a bit expensive. Perhaps you can shop around.
I'm really enjoying Steve's write-ups as I've always enjoyed Owen's l'icks.
Blog posting always puts me asleep . Of course, I have the Valero Open on from tape. "If there's nae wind, there's nae golf". There's plenty of wind in Texas
btw, my man Speith almost pulled it out at the Masters . I like Patrick Reed though .
Enough of me
WC
Wilbur, thank you for your cataract information. Very helpful to know the various options. I'll keep them all in mind.
Fermat...good for you. Figuring it out for yourself is always the best way to learn. Incidentally, Northridge is to Orange County as LA is to San Diego. over 100 miles and 2-4 hours depending on traffic.
I'd still head to the Genius bar. Apple products charge a high premium. When you pay the exorbitant price you are paying for this service. I am sure there is one locally to Northridge.
As far as not buying something until you know how to use it...You wouldn't buy a car unless you know how to drive. When you buy something complicated and expensive you are nuts unless you have a pretty good idea on its basic operations.
No apology...Tough love !
A bit scary to have someone cut on your eyeballs but its a safe operation, I had mine done as a result of the effects of chemo. I opted for the surgeons hands and the simplest lens. I spent about a year working on the reliability of software. I didn't want to put my sight in the hands of some 25 year old software engineer and his 22 year old tester.
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