Theme: The wheels on the bus ... Round and Round
.
17A. Generous nature: HEART OF GOLD. The Infinite Improbability Drive powered the space ship "Heart of Gold" in Douglas Adams' quite wonderful "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy".
28A. Exercising control over one's own affairs: SELF-GOVERNING
44A. 1945 Physics Nobelist who discovered the exclusion principle: WOLFGANG PAULI
58A. Eighteen holes ... and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters: ROUND OF GOLF. The 18th hole at St. Andrews. Don't hit into the Royal & Ancient clubhouse or the High Street.
A thoroughly entertaining puzzle from Christopher. I think this is a debut for him in the LAT, although I've seen a couple of his puzzles over at the Fireball site where he's known for his puzzles with a hidden super-theme, or "meta".
The theme letters really are a true "round" as they progress through FGOL, LFGO, OFLG and finally landing on GOLF. Nicely done.
I looked for a hidden twist, and eventually satisfied myself by convincing said self that the 18 "holes" are represented by 18 "O"s in the puzzle. Pure fluke, I'm sure, but I found the search entertaining.
Super construction too, those stacked 8's in the downs are not easy to pull off and not force anything to make it happen. Let's see what else jumps out.
Across
1. Barfly: SOT
4. Covered with new grass: SODDED
10. Quick snooze: NAP
13. "Fortunate Son" band, briefly: CCR. Credence Clearwater Revival's unofficial "Most American Song Ever".
14. Imagines: IDEATES. Lovely, vocabulary-expanding word.
16. "Science Friday" host Flatow: IRA. Thank you, crosses.
19. S&L offerings: CDS. I like the quirk in English where the plural of an abbreviation puts the "s" at the end, but the full phrase is pluralized differently - here "Certificates of Deposit".
20. Fortified Portuguese wine: MADEIRA. Fascinating wine-making process. The island of Madeira was the often the last port of call for ships sailing to the West Indies or the New World and fortified wine was able to stand up to the rigors of a long sea voyage.
21. Lingering traces: ECHOES
23. Eternally: ON END
24. Org. Edward Snowden worked for: NSA
27. Cigna rival: AETNA. Originally the Aetna (Fire) Insurance Company of Hartford, CT; the name was meant to evoke thoughts of fire-spewing Mt. Etna.
31. Ultrasound goo: GEL
32. One who minds his manor: LORD. Nice clue.
33. Bridal bio word: NÉE
34. Speak (up): PIPE
37. Arabian Peninsula resident: OMANI
39. Admit, with "up": 'FESS
40. World Cup chant: OLÉ. There's been plenty of those in this World Cup. The group stages wrap up today. Some low-odds favorites are already going home - Spain, Poland and, amazingly, Germany among them.
41. Persian Gulf republic: IRAN. Another World Cup country eliminated in the group stages this week.
42. CBS forensic series: CSI. One of the few shows I actually watched. The original series based in Las Vegas was excellent.
48. Bottled water brand: EVIAN
49. "__ out!": YER. An opportunity for an umpire at the plate to get all theatrical on themselves.
50. Minor dents: DINGS
53. Church official: RECTOR
55. "Just watch me!": I CAN TOO!
57. Programming pioneer Lovelace: ADA
61. Hubbub: DIN
62. Blinking diner sign: EAT HERE. I should hang one of these on my front door!
63. Asian New Year: TET
64. "District 9" extras: E.T.S Sci-Fi horror flick. I probably won't watch it. Horror movies scare the bejasus out of me and I don't sleep well. "The Exorcist" had me sleeping with the light on for a month, and I've never played Side 2 of "Tubular Bells" since.
65. Blended: MELDED
66. Texter's "No way!": OMG!
Down:
1. Loser: SCHMO
2. Indian, for one: OCEAN. Because neither "cuisine" nor "motorcycle" fit, amongst many others.
3. Baseball deals: TRADES
4. Go unused: SIT IDLE. If you're a baseball player, that usually means an impending 3D.
5. Musk, e.g.: ODOR
6. Neutralize, as a snake: DEFANG
7. Peace Nobelist Hammarskjöld: DAG. Sadly, a posthumous Nobel prize. The Secretary-General of the UN died when his plane was apparently shot down on the way to peace negotiations in the Congo.
8. WWII zone: ETO. European Theater of Operations.
9. Take-out order?: DELE. World Cup fans would clue "DELE" as an English national team midfielder!
10. Ingredient in therapeutic gum: NICOTINE
11. Battle of the Bulge region: ARDENNES
12. Excerpts: PASSAGES
15. Microchip found in cameras, briefly: SD CARD. Bzzzzz! Microchip? No, it's not. It's a removable storage medium. I just bought one for my Canon Eos camera.
18. Go back on a promise: RENEGE
22. One with nest eggs: HEN.
25. One-named "A Seat at the Table" singer: SOLANGE
26. HarperCollins romance imprint: AVON. Thank you, crosses. I only know of the cosmetics direct-to-consumer company.
29. Native plants: FLORA. Compare and contrast with FAUNA
30. CNN correspondent Hill: ERICA
34. Coca-Cola sports drink: POWERADE
35. "Two thumbs up!": I LOVED IT!
36. New Orleans NBA team: PELICANS. One of the less-threatening US sports franchise names. Unless you're a fish. Golden State Herrings anyone?
38. Quite a few: MANY
39. Clerk's chore: FILING. My first office job. I was an underwriter's clerk at a London marine insurance company. Thank heavens computers arrived and I punched my (punch card) ticket out of policy-filing hell. I did learn "specie" back in those days though, that's come in handy in recent crosswords.
41. Deliberately overlook: IGNORE
43. Decongestant brand: SUDAFED
45. Blubber: FAT. This filled itself in. I might have been tempted by "CRY" though.
46. Rated (oneself) highly: PRIDED. "I prided myself on well-filed claims forms when I was an underwriter's clerk". Actually no, but I did pride myself on the mirror-finish of the floors I polished in the wee hours at the county hospital prior to my first office job
47. All things considered: IN TOTO
51. Clay being of Jewish folklore: GOLEM
52. Introduction to geometry?: SOFT G. These "soft" answers always stump me until the "ahhhh" moment.
54. Ramble: ROAM
56. Essence: CORE
59. 4 x 4, for short: UTE. "What's a 'ute'?" My Cousin Vinny.
60. Art Ross Trophy org.: NHL "Awarded to the player who leads the league in points at the end of the regular season". Currently held by the splendidly-named Connor McDavid. No doubt about his provenance.
And .. here's the grid. Four World Cup football matches today and I get a day off watching tomorrow, the first rest day in two weeks. It's a tough life!
Steve
.
17A. Generous nature: HEART OF GOLD. The Infinite Improbability Drive powered the space ship "Heart of Gold" in Douglas Adams' quite wonderful "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy".
28A. Exercising control over one's own affairs: SELF-GOVERNING
44A. 1945 Physics Nobelist who discovered the exclusion principle: WOLFGANG PAULI
"The best that most of us can hope to achieve in physics is simply to misunderstand at a deeper level."
58A. Eighteen holes ... and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters: ROUND OF GOLF. The 18th hole at St. Andrews. Don't hit into the Royal & Ancient clubhouse or the High Street.
A thoroughly entertaining puzzle from Christopher. I think this is a debut for him in the LAT, although I've seen a couple of his puzzles over at the Fireball site where he's known for his puzzles with a hidden super-theme, or "meta".
The theme letters really are a true "round" as they progress through FGOL, LFGO, OFLG and finally landing on GOLF. Nicely done.
I looked for a hidden twist, and eventually satisfied myself by convincing said self that the 18 "holes" are represented by 18 "O"s in the puzzle. Pure fluke, I'm sure, but I found the search entertaining.
Super construction too, those stacked 8's in the downs are not easy to pull off and not force anything to make it happen. Let's see what else jumps out.
Across
1. Barfly: SOT
4. Covered with new grass: SODDED
10. Quick snooze: NAP
13. "Fortunate Son" band, briefly: CCR. Credence Clearwater Revival's unofficial "Most American Song Ever".
14. Imagines: IDEATES. Lovely, vocabulary-expanding word.
16. "Science Friday" host Flatow: IRA. Thank you, crosses.
19. S&L offerings: CDS. I like the quirk in English where the plural of an abbreviation puts the "s" at the end, but the full phrase is pluralized differently - here "Certificates of Deposit".
20. Fortified Portuguese wine: MADEIRA. Fascinating wine-making process. The island of Madeira was the often the last port of call for ships sailing to the West Indies or the New World and fortified wine was able to stand up to the rigors of a long sea voyage.
21. Lingering traces: ECHOES
23. Eternally: ON END
24. Org. Edward Snowden worked for: NSA
27. Cigna rival: AETNA. Originally the Aetna (Fire) Insurance Company of Hartford, CT; the name was meant to evoke thoughts of fire-spewing Mt. Etna.
31. Ultrasound goo: GEL
32. One who minds his manor: LORD. Nice clue.
33. Bridal bio word: NÉE
34. Speak (up): PIPE
37. Arabian Peninsula resident: OMANI
39. Admit, with "up": 'FESS
40. World Cup chant: OLÉ. There's been plenty of those in this World Cup. The group stages wrap up today. Some low-odds favorites are already going home - Spain, Poland and, amazingly, Germany among them.
41. Persian Gulf republic: IRAN. Another World Cup country eliminated in the group stages this week.
42. CBS forensic series: CSI. One of the few shows I actually watched. The original series based in Las Vegas was excellent.
48. Bottled water brand: EVIAN
49. "__ out!": YER. An opportunity for an umpire at the plate to get all theatrical on themselves.
50. Minor dents: DINGS
53. Church official: RECTOR
55. "Just watch me!": I CAN TOO!
57. Programming pioneer Lovelace: ADA
61. Hubbub: DIN
62. Blinking diner sign: EAT HERE. I should hang one of these on my front door!
63. Asian New Year: TET
64. "District 9" extras: E.T.S Sci-Fi horror flick. I probably won't watch it. Horror movies scare the bejasus out of me and I don't sleep well. "The Exorcist" had me sleeping with the light on for a month, and I've never played Side 2 of "Tubular Bells" since.
65. Blended: MELDED
66. Texter's "No way!": OMG!
Down:
1. Loser: SCHMO
2. Indian, for one: OCEAN. Because neither "cuisine" nor "motorcycle" fit, amongst many others.
3. Baseball deals: TRADES
4. Go unused: SIT IDLE. If you're a baseball player, that usually means an impending 3D.
5. Musk, e.g.: ODOR
6. Neutralize, as a snake: DEFANG
7. Peace Nobelist Hammarskjöld: DAG. Sadly, a posthumous Nobel prize. The Secretary-General of the UN died when his plane was apparently shot down on the way to peace negotiations in the Congo.
8. WWII zone: ETO. European Theater of Operations.
9. Take-out order?: DELE. World Cup fans would clue "DELE" as an English national team midfielder!
10. Ingredient in therapeutic gum: NICOTINE
11. Battle of the Bulge region: ARDENNES
12. Excerpts: PASSAGES
15. Microchip found in cameras, briefly: SD CARD. Bzzzzz! Microchip? No, it's not. It's a removable storage medium. I just bought one for my Canon Eos camera.
18. Go back on a promise: RENEGE
22. One with nest eggs: HEN.
25. One-named "A Seat at the Table" singer: SOLANGE
26. HarperCollins romance imprint: AVON. Thank you, crosses. I only know of the cosmetics direct-to-consumer company.
29. Native plants: FLORA. Compare and contrast with FAUNA
30. CNN correspondent Hill: ERICA
34. Coca-Cola sports drink: POWERADE
35. "Two thumbs up!": I LOVED IT!
36. New Orleans NBA team: PELICANS. One of the less-threatening US sports franchise names. Unless you're a fish. Golden State Herrings anyone?
38. Quite a few: MANY
39. Clerk's chore: FILING. My first office job. I was an underwriter's clerk at a London marine insurance company. Thank heavens computers arrived and I punched my (punch card) ticket out of policy-filing hell. I did learn "specie" back in those days though, that's come in handy in recent crosswords.
41. Deliberately overlook: IGNORE
43. Decongestant brand: SUDAFED
45. Blubber: FAT. This filled itself in. I might have been tempted by "CRY" though.
46. Rated (oneself) highly: PRIDED. "I prided myself on well-filed claims forms when I was an underwriter's clerk". Actually no, but I did pride myself on the mirror-finish of the floors I polished in the wee hours at the county hospital prior to my first office job
47. All things considered: IN TOTO
51. Clay being of Jewish folklore: GOLEM
52. Introduction to geometry?: SOFT G. These "soft" answers always stump me until the "ahhhh" moment.
54. Ramble: ROAM
56. Essence: CORE
59. 4 x 4, for short: UTE. "What's a 'ute'?" My Cousin Vinny.
60. Art Ross Trophy org.: NHL "Awarded to the player who leads the league in points at the end of the regular season". Currently held by the splendidly-named Connor McDavid. No doubt about his provenance.
And .. here's the grid. Four World Cup football matches today and I get a day off watching tomorrow, the first rest day in two weeks. It's a tough life!
Steve
65 comments:
Hi Y'all! I liked knowing all the top row of entries which gives one hope for success with the puzzle. Thank you, Christopher. However, there were some toughies elsewhere. I LOVED IT when words emerged that I found hopeless at first.
"Indian, for one": not Otoes, Osage, Oneid... but OCEAN. I thought of the motorcycle but didn't fit.
WOLFGANG PAULI? Who dat?
Without SUDAFED, I'm gasping for breath in a few days. Hate to take it. Hate being without it.
"Take out order": not DELi but DELE. I, of all people, should have got that.
"Ingredient in therapeutic gum": thought it would be a deadening agent like NovOcaNE (sp), but it was NICOTINE which could make you dead if used for years. Have we ever had NICOTINE in a puzzle before?
Thanks, Steve, for a great expo. I LOVED IT. I only counted 17 "holes" for GOLF (probably missed one). Thought you were clever to think of all the "O's" as "holes". You made a hole-in-one on my tally pad.
Aha! Went back and counted those "holes" again and got 18. Christopher would be a genius if he meant to do that. Of course, I think all constructors are genius to do what they do.
I do hope this version is good. Madeira is a song I remember well from my hearing days.
There was a FAT GOLEM who was also a SCHMO.
People would IGNORE him wherever he'd go.
A monster, homicidal,
Instead he'd SIT IDLE.
It's hard to be scary with a voice that's soprano!
There was an old SOT, kicked out of IRAN,
Set up housekeeping with a HEN PELICAN.
She lived by the OCEAN,
Salt water her potion,
In time had him drinking un-salted EVIAN!
SOLANGE took a fancy to a guy named WOLFGANG
But he was a vampire, which gave her a pang.
The problem was knotty,
So she had him play HOCKEY.
By the end of the season, he was fully DE-FANGED!
{C+, B-, B+.}
Good Morning, Steve and friends. Despite this being a circle puzzle, it was fairly easy.
One with a Nest Egg = HEN was my favorite clue.
I learned that a Church Elder is not a Deacon but a RECTOR.
This is the second day in a row we've had DAG Hammarskjöld. I linked some info about him yesterday.
I occasionally listen to Science Friday, so knew IRA Flatow.
The Brown PELICAN is the State Bird of Louisiana. It's really a very interesting bird, although, admittedly it does seem like a strange and less than scary team mascot.
For the readers out there, I highly recommend The GOLEM and the Jinni. It is one of my favorite books.
QOD: Human beings are the only creatures who are able to behave irrationally in the name of reason. ~ Ashley Montagu (June 28, 1905 ~ Nov. 26, 1999)
Good morning Cornerites!
Thank you Christopher Adams for this appropriately challenging Thursday CWP. I FIR in 30:46.
Thanks Steve for your educational review.
7D - DAG sure looks familiar. Oh I remember him from yesterday.
59D - 4 x 4, for short: UTE. "What's a 'ute'?" My Cousin Vinny. - - I also would like to know "What's a 'ute'?"
OwenKL at 4:27 AM
Each L'ick was excellent.
I believe I'll have Some Madeira.
_____
J
I love the new Bistro!
_____
Ðave
Based on some puzzles I have seen from Christopher, he put in the 18 Os intentionally. You can go to his PUZZLEWEBSITE .
I did not know the song but I do know Beyonce's SISTER SOLANGE . I did not know Battle of the Bulge region: ARDENNES nd the previously mentioned WOLFGANG PAULI .
Welcome, Chris and thank you, Steve.
23A eternally = onend? I want noend.
Good morning!
Boy, oh boy, did I make a mess out of the bottom of this one. Some of my Wite-Out has Wite-Out on it. My hubbub was an ADO, I MERGED when I blended, and my geometry was SOLID. Bzzzzt! I was sure early on that FLOG was going to be the theme. Wrong, again. Thanx, Christopher and Steve.
AETNA: Thanx, Steve. I had assumed the name was an initialism.
MADEIRA: Remember Madeira, M'dear? Have a listen to the Limeliters. The wordplay in the lyrics is amazing.
DAG: What are the odds that an obscure UN Secretary who died more than 50 years ago would appear in the cw for two days running?
From yesterday, OAS sent me to the dictionary to look up "eschatological." I had no idea it had to do with end-of-the-world stuff. I was thinking cat poop.
FIR, but had to stet SOT and DELE sCout. Hand up for thinking "motorcycle" too. Also erased ado in favor of DIN.
Steve, the NBA teams don't tend to sound ferocious. Lakers, Mavericks, Heat, Blazers, Suns, Celtics, Knickerbockers, Nets, Cavaliers, 76res, Spurs, Rockets, Thunder, Clippers, Pistons, Pacers, Jazz (B), Wizards, Magic, and Nuggets don't exactly strike fear into the hearts of their opponents. Now if there was an NBA team of Lawyers, that would be scary.
The three best things in the world? A drink before and a NAP after.
Thanks to Christopher and Steve for the fun Thursday. I wouldn't have won without the circles.
Smile of the day
Steady today - thanks Steve for adding to the fun recognizing the 18 o's - I was wondering prior to that why it was a ROUND rather than something like a MIXED foursome! My hang up today was putting in ARGONNE before ARDENNES!
Thanks Christopher and Steve!
Whipped around this quickly and then didn't get my "Tada" moment. Of course, "Take Out Order" had to be DELI. Not. But Ichoes is a new word for lingering traces.
Thanks to Cristopher for a head scratcher this morning.
FIW
Enough write overs to get a reprimand and D minus from teacher for neatness.
As Jinx said - changed ado to DIN.
CDS for S&L offerings didn’t compute .
Did not know SOLANGE or NSA.
Jinx some would say smoke after.
I’ve not smoked for 30 years but did enjoy it. Pipes especially.
Cheers Tinbenni
OLE! OLE! Christopher Adams! Thank you for the great grid. I even saw GOLF inside the circles at HEART OF GOLD and PRIDED myself on it. Sports are not my best area.
It was a smooth trot to the bottom where too many options appeared: ADO/DIN, MESHED/MELDED, GIST/CORE but finally ROUND OF GOLF aced it. Clever that there are 18 holes! And clever of you, Steve, to discover that!
DAG Hammarskjold obscure? I think not. At least not for those of us who lived in that time. He was often in the news and it shocked us when he was killed.
Thank you, Hahtoolah, for the book suggestion.
Steve, enjoy your restful Friday and thank you for the informative commentary.
Have a peaceful day, everyone!
This took more P&P than the usual Thursday, but FIR w/o cheats. WOLGANG PAULI was completely unknown, ESP.
Steve, fine blog and nice catch, I didn't see the 18 O's. Clever, Cristopher.
DO, I haven't heard the Madera song in years. LOL
Lucina said, " DAG Hammarskjold obscure? I think not. At least not for those of us who lived in that time. He was often in the news and it shocked us when he was killed." I agree.
For me, meld is mostly a pinochle term. We kids often played it with Mom. When I was very young I thought they were saying melt.
In college we played double pinochle with rounds of beer.
AVON books are romance novels. I call them bodice rippers.
Wikipedia: A Wall St. Journal article in 1980 referred to these bodice rippers as "publishing's answer to the Big Mac: They are juicy, cheap, predictable, and devoured in stupefying quantities by legions of loyal fans." The term "bodice-ripper" is now considered offensive to many in the romance industry.
Good morning everyone.
Looked at the first set of circle fill and the anagram GOLF stood out. That helped fill 58a. One strikethrough; had 'ado' before DIN. No searches were needed. Don't remember hearing of PAULI before, but perps were generous. LOVED the clue for DELE. Somebody carped yesterday about 'hard G'. Rich must have heard; so today we have SOFT G.
Have YER selves a great day.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Christopher Adams, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
Well, this is a Thursday puzzle. And it was not easy. So be it!
Caught the theme early. That helped me somewhat.
Of course I had DELI for the longest time and then switched to DELE after noticing the question mark.
WOLFGANG PAULI was an unknown. Thank you for 13 perps. Same for ARDENNES, but only 8 perps.
Maybe I will play Fortunate Son by CCR.
Supposed to be hot today. I am going to try to sign up for Medicare Part B. Wish me luck.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Good morning. With the circled GOLF letters, the ROUND OF GOLF was an easy WAG. The puzzle? Not so easy. When you've never heard of 'Science Friday' or IRA Flatlow, don't drink wine- Ripple was too short and Thunderbird was too long, MADEIRA was all perps. SD CARD-I've pulled them out of cameras but never knew the name. And the only 'Lovelace' name I knew was LINDA, not ADA. SOLANGE, AVON & ERICA Hill side-by-side was the toughest to finish- all three unknowns. GOLEM is one I had seen in puzzles but Jewish folklore is not something I know anything about-perped.
PELICANS (formerly the HORNETS) & SAINTS- we've got non-threatening team nicknames down here.
Dag Hammarskjold was known by me, but I had absolutely no memory of his death. I wondered why until I looked it up and found he died in Sept. 196l. I made three long-distance moves halfway across the country that year. No access to TV during that time. The month he died I had started a second part-time job which had me working morning, afternoon and most evenings. Small wonder I don't remember a faraway death of a man I'd never met.
I used to read Avon Romances but got disgusted with reading about foolish women who took up with potentially abusive men. I had a friend who wrote steamy novels for them. Didn't know it during the time I had contact with her. Made me laugh when I found out because she was a little chubby business woman who never dated or had a relationship in her life and was proud of it. In the one book I read under the pseudonym I was told was by her, the love scenes were so unrealistic it was laughable. I was told not too be too critical, she had made enough money writing those books to buy her house.
Steven detected the 18 "O's," that Christopher Adams intentionally inserted. I wonder what percent of the puzzlers got that? I write detective novels, mostly as a hobby, since it takes an act of God to get any money out of a publishing company, but sadly I did not catch the holes in this puzzle.
It takes days of work to make up one of these puzzles. We do it partly for pride but mostly for pleasure. The finished product doesn't come out on the first draft, like a novel, or any document for the public. Then to analyze each line and write it down, Steve and the other blogger team members have to take many hours of protracted meandering ideates (Don't use those three words in any novel you may wish to write or the reader will want their money back).
There is a microchip in a SD Card but the cluing is off.
I knew Wolfgang Pauli due to my love of layman physics and astronomy.
I wondered why ROUND OF GOLF needed the circles.
Neil Young searched for a HEART OF GOLD.
39 Down: clue: A nail's need
ON END seemed more of an answer for something on end.
While I LOVED IT seemed more of an answer for what I thought of this puzzle.
Good Morning:
There was a fair amount of crunch today but perps were fair, fortunately, especially with Wolfgang Pauli, Erica (Hill), SD Card, and Powerade. I know Gatorade but not Powerade. W/os included Reseed/Sodded and, foolishly, Elon instead of Odor for Musk. IRA above CDs was cute, even though Ira was a name. Soft G came slowly, as this type of fill usually does. CSO to our Louisana contingent with Pelicans. Overall, an enjoyable solve.
Thanks, Christopher, for a challenging but doable Thursday and thanks, Steve, for your wise and witty review. You have a much sharper eye than I, as the anagrammed "golf" progression and the 18 Os were completely overlooked by me. Great catch on both features.
CanadianEh, a belated Happy Anniversary to you and hubby. 💝
Dave, do you like your new living quarters?
Have a great day.
Canadian Eh! sorry I missed your anniversary. I hope it was delightful.
I had NO END first, but quickly saw that ON END fit, too. On Memorial Day we were In the emergency room for hours ON END. It certainly did seem to be eternal.
I have been reading the Cole Trilogy by Noah Gordon, the first two were some of my all time favorites. I read the first one, The Physician, a year ago and reread it this month, still fascinating. It and the next book, the Shaman, were so riveting I could scarcely put them down. I was sorry to see them end. The third book is awaiting me. You might read this overview to see whether you would like this trilogy.
//www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cole-trilogy-noah-gordon/1112725393
Ogden Nash
An amazing bird is the Pelican.
It's beak can hold more than its belican.
And I don't see how the hellican.
In a rush, off to walk the dog.
Be back to play later,
(there must be some funny district 9 clips,)
(never thought of it a a horror movie...)
And, I am happy to report:
Today Mel Brooks is 92 years old!
Roger, I remember the pelican limerick more like this:
A queer old bird is the pelican,
It's bill holds more than its belly can.
It can store in its beak,
Enough food for a week,
But I don't know how the helican.
A Thursday toughie for me, and I started out with mostly blanks--but slowly, slowly it all begin to fill in until I had to look up only one item since I never heard of WOLFGANG Pauli. But challenging and fun, many thanks, Christopher. I happily got that first GOLF with HEART OF GOLD right away, and that cued me on to the theme. It took me forever to get SCHMO, and I kept thinking that nest egg had to do with an IRA until I finally realized it was HEN. I goofed by putting MOLDED instead of MELDED, but got pretty much everything else. Your write-ups are always a pleasure, Steve, and I hope you get some much-needed rest.
Interesting poems, Owen.
PK, I loved your story about the romance writer.
Have not yet gotten the J, and would appreciate any hints.
Have a great day, everybody!
Here is what I wrote yesterday about DAG Hammarskjöld:
DAG Hammarskjöld was killed at age 56 in a plane crash while on a peace-keeping mission. He is one of a very small handful (4, I think) of individuals to have received a Nobel Prize posthumously. He was awarded the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize.
Fine puzzle today.
Misty, I've found that when there are short 2-letter words, as in today's J, it works to fill those first and then see what's left over for the longer words.
WOLFGANG PAULI was a gimme which got me off to a running start! Without the PAULI exclusion principle, all the electrons in every atom in the universe would collapse down to the lowest energy level and there would be nothing in the universe of interest. We were taught this in public high school in Maryland in the 70s, but maybe earlier generations did not get this.
Thanks for the great review Steve! And for that wonderful PAULI quote! Way interesting if the 18 O's was significant! And I also appreciated the ROUND OF "GOLF". Landing on GOLF! Not a scramble!
I have lots of PELICANS photos. But people have seen PELICANS before. Learning moment that a sports team would adopt that name.
MIT has the second largest network of PASSAGES in the world. Here is my peek inside with my friend Charlie.
In Star Trek, Spock and other Vulcans often MELDED minds to solve difficult problems.
Here are my photos last year of LGBTQ PRIDE in our little city.
Actor FESS Parker built one of our largest hotels.
ADA LOVELACE and the GOLEM are related as explained in this article.
In the 1800s ADA LOVELACE could already see the possibility of Artificial Intelligence as represented by the ancient GOLEM.
Very good Thursday puzzle. Since I used the Mensa site there were no circles, so no way to get the theme. However, it wasn't needed to fill in the blanks. Steve's tour through the grid was enlightening and enjoyable.
I didn't know Pauli was the correct answer for 44(a). I've heard of him but tried to put in Albert Einstein which didn't fit, so I had to wait for perps to fill in enough of the name so I could WAG the rest of it. Perps as usual were the linchpin for getting today's puzzle done.
The weather can't decide what it wants to do. It rains for a little while, then the Sun comes out for a while, then it rains again, etc. It's sorta like washing your hair - Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
Have a good day everyone.
Misty:
For the first word: think vowel starter
The second and the first could be musically related
Third one: could be some kind of pine
Fourth: Spitz would measure with it
Answer: one word is a synonym of elegant
Good luck!
CED:
You beat me to it. Happy birthday, Mel Brooks!
Thank you, Desper-otto. I tried that, although there are different possibilities for the two letter words. But neither one helped me get the longer letters. I keep wanting the first word to be WERE but there are no letters for that. So, still stumped.
The short words are A, TO and IT. The longest word is a synonym for showy, notion, etc. The first two words together are like 'had a hankering.' More?
Musings
-Golf this morning was interrupted by a storm going by that made it darker than this summer’s eclipse with 40mph winds. Did I go home? You must be kidding.
-Our league is a two-man SCRAMBLE format and I thought that would be the gimmick
Round of Golf?
Why it is sometimes called "Flog."
I never thought of District 9 as a Horror movie,
how do you think they got them "rounded up" into one district?
They were too easily appeased by Cat Food!
From Yest:
My Fav SF Writer = Larry Niven.
You must check out his short stories,
but be forewarned! All his stories are intertwined into
an amazing universe!
Case in point:
Actually a case in round...
(Note, no golfers were harmed in Ringworld...)
I liked this puzzle. Neato theme, bringing us the four rounds of golf. I knew PAULI right away but couldn't remember his first name without perp help. ADO became ROW became DIN, and ruined my pleasure at seeing ADO right underneath ADA. My original entry at the nicely clued 32A was EARL, so at least my R was in the right place.
When we had a family get-together in Santa Barbara a few years ago, we stayed at the FESS Parker Double-Tree Inn. Yes, it's a big place, and bit intimidating at first. Bottom line: pretty ordinary and nothing to write home about.
I love pelicans. Klamath Lake in Oregon is known for them. LW and I still like to go over to our favorite beach on the coast and watch them flying/coasting low over the water.
Best wishes to you all.
OAS, I heard it "smoke after" originally, but since so few folks smoke now NAP makes more sense. At least to 50% of the population. Ancillary old juke: "Do you smoke after sex?" "Dunno, I've never looked."
Big Easy, we're a-gonna teach you the difference between Linda Lovelace and ADA Lovelace if we have to cram it down your throat. As you techies know ADA is a modern object-oriented (is that redundant?) programming language.
I've never met a Wolfgang, but I worked with a Wolfdieter at GTE in LA. Called himself Dieter. Sharp guy.
Spain is not out. They play Russia on Sunday.
Well this was a step up from the previous puzzles this week. Lots of legitimate misdirection. I mean, 61A was ADO, like it always is....except it was DIN. PAULI was unknown to me, although I must say DAG is hardly “obscure”, both in and out of puzzledom.
“Air Disasters” did a show on the murder of DAG H., most interesting.
On to Friday.
Bill G., thank you, thank you, thank you--I got it! I should've gotten it sooner, what with the plush setting of the restaurant.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
As an erstwhile GOLFer, I certainly saw the G O L F letters scrambled into the three long solves. Didn't see the 18 "O's", and honestly, didn't look for them. But if it was intentional, kudos to Christopher Adams. Thanks, Steve for the recap
I tried to fit ALSACE into 11d; too few letters. SOMINEX fit for SUDAFED; RANT fit for ROAM, and SCAMP fit for SCHMO
Had to LU Art Ross, and once I saw NHL, I was able to correct my errors on the southern border
SOLANGE, ADA, & SD CARD were WAGs/perped
Misty, think of what an elegant restaurant is. Not "fine" dining, but similar. Kind of an old expression
My kus:
I get impatient
Trying to lose my FAT. I
Just can't weight for it
Just for the record,
You may call me "The Chairman";
Please don't call me SCHMOe
Ta- DA!
Fun from Mr. Adams! And from Steve!
This took a while longer than I expected - for a Thursday. But it yielded its pleasures at a steady tempo. I wasn't sure I remembered the name of WOLFGANG PAULI, but as the perps led me to that fill, it came rushing back. How wonderful to be remembered in the same line of work as Bohr, Einstein, Fermi, etc.
Misty, I was about to help, but I see you got the J. Good for you! I thought at first glance this would be the toughie I've been seeking. Not so. My "formula" is different from desper-otto's - the opposite in fact. I try to find the long word(s) first. Once you've got at least one of those, everything else seems to fall into place.
I guess you could go back and forth between our systems, and one of them would click!
~ OMK
____________
Diagonal Report: Today we have a single slash on the mirror side, NE to SW.
This provides us with the following anagram:
The Cockney researcher was searching for a cure that would end all disease. His friend in the City Morgue told him of a strange finding in their lab, in the form of a corpse with cardiac tissue that had the strangest properties. Under a microscope the tissue showed flecks of gold along the fibers. (See the Xwd 6/28/2018!).
Even more exciting, tiny samplings of the dead man’s atria or ventricles when pulverized and mixed with fruit juices seemed capable of relieving all imbibers of disease symptoms – in other words, a cure-all for any ailment!
When the researcher checked the data, he was heard to yell in joy:
“OI! A PANACEA HEART!”
Misty:
Good for you! I'm glad you got the J. Sometimes those two letter fill are hard to see but most certainly they'll always be prepositions or occasionally interjections, i.e., oh.
Today would be my mothers 103 birthday but she has been gone for 22 years; however, she lives on in crosswords as LALA. Her real name was Catarina Candelaria though she never knew why she was called that from infancy.
My hair is freshly cut and ready for the journey.
Jayce said...
Bottom line: pretty ordinary and nothing to write home about.
Hey! These links are how I bookmark how far I read the Blog!
(Just think optimistically, it's shorter than a round of Golf...)
Thank you also, Chairman Moe, Ol' Man Keith, and Lucina for your kind words. And have a great journey, Lucina.
CED, why don't you just note the time at the bottom of the last post you read and go back to that spot. That's what I do and it works fine for me. Just a thought...
Misty, I'm glad I could help. I get frustrated sometimes too.
Bill G.
Yes, I have done that for years...
(I got bored)
If I can't add something,
What good am I?...
(Hmm, in retrospect, if I overadd, pls let me know...)
Which brings me to D4E4H,
Do you really want me to link "My cousin Vinny, What's a Ute?"
I mean,we have linked it to death here on the Blog.
Maybe you haven't seen it, or maybe you are provoking me...
(P.S. - do not mention Monty Python to Anonymous-T!)
(not that there is anything wrong with that...)
hmm, if only I could find a link of Monty Python doing Rush...
(Just kidding Anon-T, Luv Ya!)
Aw, what the hell,,,
Luv Ya too D4E4H!
Got to wondering why I'd never heard of Wolfgang Pauli. Short answer: I didn't take physics in HS. Google says he lived from 1900-1958. He received the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physics for his 1925 discovery of the Pauli exclusion principal.
CED: your "markers" are alway enjoyable. The more the merrier.
PK: I should have been more clear. I learned of WOLFGANG PAULI in Chemistry class in public school.
I appreciate the puzzles for teaching me popular celebrities in entertainment and sports who I otherwise would not know about.
But without the PAULI exclusion principle, matter as we know it would not exist. I hope people agree that is of more enduring importance than the names of the current celebrities?
Greetings!
Thanks to Christopher and Steve!
No cheats, but needed perp help with: WOLFGANG PAULI (remember the principle), CCR, IRA, OMANI, IRAN, ADA, ARDENNES, ARDENNES, SOLANGE, POWERADE, PELICANS, SUDAFED, CORE and NHL.
Took a while to get rid of our old favorite, ADO!
Enjoyed reading your thoughts today.
Hope to see you tomorrow!
CED:
Bill has some good advice and you could do as he says, but your links are so enjoyable! Keep it up.
Picard: I took chemistry in public high school, but don"t remember any Pauli discussion. Our chemistry class was a riot. We had a first-year teacher who was so shy, he blushed whenever you looked him in the eye. My lab partner was usually a D student and shouldn't have been in there. I had to watch her like a hawk to prevent serious injury. I could have missed the Pauli info.
Bill: your advise to CED is a good tip for me, rather than scrolling around trying to remember what I've read or not.
I completed this CW earlier in the day , but am very late to the party. Thanks to Christopher and Steve.
I got the GOLF theme.
Smiled to see DAG again. DW's high school was named after him.
Thanks also to Irish Miss and Yellowrocks for the Anniversary wishes. Yes, we had a lovely day and a wonderful steak supper, capped off by sharing a large slice of Billy Miner pie. Yum!
I never got to posting yesterday. I fall asleep reading the blog. I had trouble with yesterday's Jumble but not today. I see Misty got it before I could Hint in Rhyme.
Here's my notes as I read today's blog. I joined the DAV so I couldn't get to the xword until one. Then it was NAP time.
Steve excellent write-up; those lousy jobs are the impetus to succeed in school and career. 18 Holes, Monsieur Adams? A piece de resistance.
I always thought the Friday guy was IRA Plato
I had NOEND which made the SW unnecessarily difficult. SCHMO is the word that DNFed me on a NYT Sunday a month ago.
And my go on Blubber was SOB.
Owen, classic l'icks. Btw, did he** really pronounce GOUT as Gowt? Ok poetic license. (Chacun son gout)-goot
I agree. After the first two circles I guessed that getting one letter would reveal the rest. Actually in hindsite, all four were revealed especially since GOLF was obvious.
"Round of GOLF 'Aced' it". Lucina, you're a natural.
Pinochle I noticed was very popular in the South. I refused to learn having had enough vices at the time (1968).
I was a Bridge snob. *
"considered offensive" - Jayce covered this well yesterday.
I agree with Abejo that this was typical Thursday tough.
IM? Foolish. Elon was genius. And I agree, SOFTG was all perps.
Thanks Roger, I'd forgotten that DITTY**
Picard, DEC's old Mill had similar passages. Legend had it that someone got lost for ?days? There was a library in the bowels that I was nervous about navigating to without a trail of bread crumbs.
Ok. TNG =ST Next Generation; VOY=ST Voyager. What is TOS? Not to speak of ENT and DIS. Talk about an Enterprise.
I enjoyed the Fess Parker-Davey Crockett tales as related by Disney in the 50s. As a kid, the DC in Washington was the least interesting but now would be the most interesting. There was a reference to some incident that DC was involved in, possibly from here??
Re. DAG. Norman Mailer had s novel about CIA skullduggery in which he alluded to the ability to knock out Airplanes via advanced Scientific methods. I would think Actuary science would be hard put to rationalizing VIP deaths via Air crashes. Huh?
When I click on a link, I may see different suggested links. But on CED's FESS link was Mickey Mantle's 535th HR. Anyone see that? The Pepitone dusting I could see coming. Great Story. MM, later became a fellowship brother of Splynter. And others.
Geesh, CED; you had to get me watching Cousin Vinny? I'll never get through the blog.
Ok you had to bring up Chem class. Teachers had table of elements hung up over the blackboard. So, when valences are on the test I'm NOT? supposed to look up. Ethics principles were confirmed by my not telling anyone this trick. Did I cheat?
WC
* Too long a story. Chu-Lai, an arrogant Major....deadbeat
** He being the MADEIRA M'Dear guy
constructor here! glad y'all enjoyed it, and i've enjoyed reading the comments. as to the eighteen holes thing...i really wish i could say that was intentional, but that was a wonderful coincidence that i don't think i'd ever have picked up on had it not been pointed out to me. but maybe in the future, i'll think of hiding things like that in otherwise straightforward puzzles (though this does not apply, as far as i'm aware, to next tuesday's new york times puzzle, also by yours truly).
Hey, constructor Chris Adams!
Thanks for stopping by - and thanks again for today's fine Xwd!
While you're think of hiding things, you might give a thought to the possibility of secreting a message along the diagonal. In a symmetrical grid, such as the typical 15X15 pattern, there's a choice of either a backward (NW to SE) or forward (NE to SW) full-grid slash.
I find I can often treat the random collection of letters along the diags as anagrams. And while it's fun making up bizarre "stories" to back up whatever phrase I might discover (or, er, force), it would be a real hoot one day to find a true (un-anagrammed) message tucked into one or more diagonal lines.
Just noodlin'...
~ OMK
Hi All!
Thank you Christopher for a puzzle that ruined a perfectly good walk. Enjoyed the theme; and if you really intentionally only had 18-Os... Brilliant!
Thanks Steve for the great expo and learning re: Madeira. CCR was fun.
WOs: resodd [crap!], I LikED it. Hand up w/ Ado b/f DIN... and, DAr (I 66% remembered Yesterday!) b/f DAG
ESPs: ARDENNES, MADEIRA
Fav: IRA of Science Friday. I listen to it ever Friday and they carry the IgNobels annually.
{A, B, B+} {cute, nice}
LOL CED... I just sent an email to a colleague about another issue orthogonal to what we're currently investigating; hence, Subject: and now for something completely different...
Safe(er) travels (this time) Lucina!
Where I left off - I note the time AND avatar... Makes it much easier to find CED... Those w/o avatar make things a little slower...
Chris - Thanks for stopping by the corner. Alas, the Os were not part of the course.
Sorry all, I'm spent - and still working. It was nice to read y'all but I don't have time to add much fun.
Cheers, -T
AnonT:
But you are fun! Thank you for the good wishes. This time we're driving not flying so no mishaps at the airport and hopefully not on the road either.
WC:
You're a funny guy, too.
R.I.P., Harlan Ellison.
Picard...matter would and will exist whether or not you have a principle to apply.
It's funny how things exist with or without us.
Wilbur, at 10:21 you wrote, "When I click on a link, I may see different suggested links. But on CED's FESS link was Mickey Mantle's 535th HR. Anyone see that?"
The video suggestions you see with the label "Recommended for you" are based on your viewing history.
TTP, I was thinking that too . Google, knows I like 50s baseball, Seinfeld, Larry Bird, etc . Also, things that others in here have linked .
It has a link to the seventh game of the 1952 World Series and I'll probably watch the whole three hours .
Boomer and Hondo might watch it.
Heck, why not CC too.
WC
I might as well post this Jumble gem here so not to clog up Friday. I just finished the Sunday, 6/17 Jumble. The riddle popped out immediately. But..
SCORCH, IMPALA and wait for it, HIATUS were forever hiding.
Perhaps Sunday is the __J's Saturday
WC
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