60. "Careful now" ... and a hint to what's hidden in 17-, 27- and 46-Across: EASY DOES IT.
Unless I'm missing something else [always a possibility] this indicates that in the two-or-three-word theme entries, the penultimate word ends in E, and the last word starts with Z; the spoken letters E-Z being phonetically equivalent to EASY. See - it's not hard.
17. Marmalade ingredient: ORANGE ZEST. So, it's ZEST, not PEEL, as I originally entered, and the jar in my fridge lists as an ingredient. I'm a big fan of this jam-like preserve, but my lovely wife doesn't like it at all.
27. Sign near school playgrounds: DRUG FREE ZONE. Keeping our kids clean and sober.
46. Theoretical lowest temperature: ABSOLUTE ZERO. Take some cold comfort in knowing there is a limit to how cold it can get. This is ZERO on the Kelvin scale, -273.15 Celsius, or -459.67 Fahrenheit. Anyone for some ice cream?
Hi gang, JazzBumpa on duty. Let's proceed and see how E-Z today's puzzle is.
Across:
1. Far direction?: EAST. There's a near EAST and a far EAST, which can be reached by traveling west. That is circular reasoning.
5. Frankfurt's river: ODER. Es gibt twei Frankurt. Frankfurt am Main und Fankfurt an der Oder. The Oder river rises in the Czech Republic and flows north-ish through Poland and defines 187 Km of the Germany-Poland border. At 525 Km, the Main is the longest river completely contained in Germany. It meanders in every direction imaginable, but ultimately westward, where it joins the Danube at the city of Mainz. Strangely, the two names are not related.
9. Word repeated in a historic FDR quote: FEAR. Nothing to FEAR here, move right along.
13. Formal "no" from 14-Across: VETO. A bill passed by both houses of congress can be signed into law by 14. A or vetoed. To over-ride a veto requires a two-thirds majority vote in both houses.
14. White House VIP: POTUS. President Of The United States.
16. Tomb Raider's __ Croft: LARA.
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19. Takes the stage: IS ON. After waiting in the wings, perhaps.
20. Hunter constellation: ORION.
21. Violent windstorm: TEMPEST. Traces utimately back to Latin Tempus, meaning time, via Tempastas, meaning season.
23. Ceaselessly: NO END. Going on and on and . . .
26. City in Florida or Italy: NAPLES. NAPLES [Napoli] Italy is a city in southern Italy, not far from Mt. Vesuvius. It dates to the 2nd millennium, B. C. and has many centuries of important art and architecture. NAPLES, FLA is an up-scale city in souther FLA on the Gulf of Mexico, surrounded by miles of white sand beaches.
31. Geological period: EON. In geology and astronomy, one billion years; casually, an indefinite but very long time period.
32. __ trap: SET A. Literally, make a trap ready to catch an animal; figuratively, invent a plan to catch someone doing something wrong.
33. Bear in two constellations: URSA. Major and Minor, AKA Big and Little Dippers.
36. Symbol of rank: BADGE.
39. Former U.N. leader Hammarskjöld: DAG. Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the 2nd Secretary General of the U. N.
40. Biblical song: PSALM. A sacred hymn, specifically in the O.T Book of Psalms. Here is a setting of Psalm 74 in the Russian chant style by Russian composer Pavel Chesnikov, arranged by Holland, that we performed last year. One of the most beautiful compositions I've ever played.
43. Sardine holders: TINS. Metal containers. Cans also fits.
45. Philosopher __-tzu: LAO. Ancient Chinese philosopher and writer, and founder of Taosim. Quote: "Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."
50. Brownish horse: SORREL. A horse of various reddish-brown hues, with same color or lighter mane and tail. Sometimes also called chestnut; there is confusion and controversy about the two names.
53. Yarn: STORY. Generally one that challenges the willing suspension of disbelief.
54. Mathematical proposition: THEOREM. A proposition that is not self-evident, but can be proven by a chain of reasoning.
56. City near the Great Salt Lake: OGDEN. In the Bee Hive State.
59. Prego competitor: RAGU. Pasta Sauces.
64. Turkmenistan neighbor: IRAN. Turkmenistan is South of Uzbekistan, North of Afghanistan, North-east of Iran.
65. Green __: THUMB. High level of gardening ability.
66. Actress Blanchett: CATE. Among her many other roles, she portrayed the Elf Queen Galadriel.
69. Topple from power: OUST. Via the voting booth, or revolution.
Down:
1. Bolivian leader Morales: EVO. President since 2006, and the first to come from the indigenous population.
2. Prefix with dynamic: AERO-. Relating to the motion physics of air or other fluids around moving bodies.
3. Headliner: STAR. An actor or other performer, not a celestial body.
4. Weight-training activity: TONING. Body definition from moderate muscle building and loss of fat.
5. Bar gadgets: OPENERS. For various kinds of bottles.
6. Egg qty.: DOZ. They usually come in cartons of 12. Note abrv. in cl. & ans.
7. Bastille Day saison: ETE. French Summer.
8. Fall color: RUST. This year sure is going by quickly. Autumn leaves are various shades of red.
9. Diving gear: FLIPPERS. Quasi-fish feet.
10. Prop for Picasso: EASEL. Art supporter.
11. Came up: AROSE. Emerged, became apparant.
12. Flies off the handle: RANTS. Loses it.
15. Shorthand expert, for short: STENOgrapher.
18. Cause for an "Oops!": GOOF. Error, mistake, faux pas.
22. "Don't be such a baby!": MAN UP. Be brave or tough enough to deal with it.
24. Must: NEED TO. Meet or satisfy a requirement.
25. Nuts and bolts, so to speak: DETAILS. God is there - or the devil, depending on your point of view.
27. Cotillion girl: DEButant. Young ladies introduced to polite society at a formal ball.
28. Katy Perry hit with the lyric "Louder, louder than a lion": ROAR.
30. Hershey bar in a red-and-yellow wrapper: ZAGNUT. Peanut brittle and cocoanut with a small amount of cocoa - no chocolate to melt and make a mess.
34. Mall event: SALE. Price reduction promotion.
35. Bygone apple spray: ALAR. Daminozide, a plant growth regulator used to keep unripe apples from falling off the tree from 1963 to 1989, when it was voluntarily withdrawn doe to cancer fears.
37. Skirt: GO AROUND. Evade, avoid.
38. Fireplace bit: EMBER. Glowing ash.
41. Sound from the pasture: MOO. The song of cows.
44. Stuck with, as a friend: STOOD BY. A friend, indeed.
47. Wintry mix component: SLEET. Frozen rain.
48. Therefore: ERGO. Hence, for that reason, consequently.
49. Bayou music style: ZYDECO.
51. Midwestern hub: O'HARE. Chicago airport.
52. Lear daughter: REGAN. The middle child. Her sisters are Cordelia and the eldest, unfortunately named Goneril.
55. Half a fish: MAHI. No better than half a fly. MEH!
57. Jacob's twin: ESAU. Biblical antagonists.
58. Quibbles: NITS. Half a fish, for example.
61. Bottom line: SUM. Of an added-up column of numbers.
62. Singer Sumac: YMA. [1923-2008] Peruvian coluratura soprano with a vocal range of over 4 1/2 octaves.
63. Saigon holiday: TET. Vietnamese lunar new year.
That's it. Not to hard, not too E-Z, and not bad, though I had my half-nit, or so. Thus endeth another Wednesday.
Cool regards!
JzB
Note from C.C.:
Here is a picture of JD's grandson Truman at his 5th grade graduation. Click here to see all the Truman pictures I've archived. JD joined our blog shortly after Truman was born, so he grew up with our blog.
71 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Bill and JzB!
Got the theme
A few unknowns, easily filled: OGDEN, IRAN, EVO, ROAR and ZAGNUT.
Hope to see you tomorrow!
I wonder if Bill is known as EZ? He has upped his game with his second 2018 publication with some interesting fill. I enjoyed the two cities (Naples) foreshadowing JzB's comment bout Frankfurt and the stargazing.
also, the placement of
FEAR with the FDR reference, VETO and POTUS was cool.
Dziękuję Ci Bill and JzB.
Thank you Mr. Bill Zagozewski fr this enjoyable CWP. I FIR in 23:03.
Thanks Jazzbumpa for you educational review.
_____
J
Can you see any thing about the houses that stands out?
_____
Ðave
Good morning!
Made a few GOOFs on this one: ACTS/IS ON, HEM/SUM, PEEL/ZEST. Still, I finished in good time, so life is good. Hey, I even got the theme when it was all over. Thanx, Bill and JzB.
ZAGNUT: I remember seeing it in my ute, but didn't know it was still around. Also didn't know it was made by Hershey. A Hershey bar with no chocolate? Go figure...
EZ: At our Guam AFN station we received word that JO2 Tim Leigh would be joining our staff. Before he arrived we decided his air name should be E.Z. Leigh. (We thought his last name was pronounced Lay, actually it turned out to be Lee.)
Hi Y'all! Fun & fast today, thanks, Bill. Took just one minute longer than yesterday at 12:15 min.
Great expo, JzB, but for some reason, I can't access any of your clips except the two star ones. It's my bum browser. I do appreciate those star charts because for some reason it never sunk in that URSA Major & Minor were the dippers. Even I was able to pick those out in my 'ute. Orion, never.
"Do not handicap your children by making their lives EASY," quote attributed to Lazarus Long, a fictional character in science fiction novels by Robert A. Heinlein.
Today was a bit of a grind, so the eraser is now closer to it's end. ZYDECO new to me, but I decided on CATE rather then Kate. I had no idea who the POTUS was, but the perps were solid. Liked Flappers, but FLIPPERS won because IS ON made more sense then as as on.
I can't ever recall seeing a DRUG FREE ZONE near a school. Are there any such zone anywhere?
.
Gotta run, today Casey goes to Doggie Day Care to romp wit5h his buddies. Insures tonight will be a restful sleep for Lucy an I.
See ya
Good Morning, JazzB and friends. This was an EZ Wednesday puzzle. Seeing all the Z's at the end of the long answers gave a hint to the theme before getting to the unifier.
We haven't seen YMA Sumac in a long time. She used to make frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.
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.
QOD: When you have a passion for something then you tend not only to be better at it, but you work harder at it, too. ~ Vera Wang (b. June 27, 1949)
Hondo, in our town we have a phone-free zone near the elementary school. There's also a "No Soliciting" sign, but I don't think it means what you think it means.
PK, did you read a lot of Heinlein's books? I devoured 'em. I remember another feature of his novels was the concept of the Fair Witness. What color is that house? FW: It's white on this side. Lazarus Long had a number of nubile female assistants. When he needed something, he'd shout, "Front!" That way he didn't have to remember whose turn it was.
Oops, time to "march" before it gets too hot.
FIR, but erased DAk and net for SUM.
JzB - Thanks for the fine tour, but the devil isn't in the DETAILS, it's in the vacuum. Ask any dog.
Speaking of dogs, DW's first Irish Wolfhound was named ORION. When he passed we got another named Sirius, ORION's hunting dog. When we got old we decided to switch to small dogs - greyhounds.
We have a lot of those DRUG FREE SCHOOL ZONE signs around here. I have it on good authority that San Francisco will soon establish SCHOOL FREE DRUG ZONEs.
Growing up in eastern Kentucky I saw plenty of bumper stickers declaring "You can rape your state but don't STRIP MINE".
Thanks for the fun puzzle, Bill Z. Even if you are a sexist pig - the term is PERSON UP, and if you have to scrap the whole damn puzzle and start over again, so be it. Actually my only nit is "diving gear" for FLIPPERS. Divers wear fins, which are exactly the same as flippers but are much more expensive.
Fun puzzle today thanks Bill Zagozewski.
Thanks also JB for the review.
Mcd’s coffee still warm so not too difficult.
Only slip up was KATE for CATE.
Didn’t catch the theme tho I noticed the Zs.
I remember my Dad listening intently to the news on the radio when the plane carrying DAG HAMMERSKOLD went down.
Then as now any global tragedies or significant events world wide were quickly tied to eschatological omens by many .
Had not thought of ZEST as peel but it worked.
Fastest puzzle of the week so far. LARA and EVO filled themselves. ACTS before IS ON. HEM before SUM.
Thanks for all the interesting info, JzB. Also, thanks for Autumn Leaves. I love everything Ol' Blue Eyes sang.
Every school in NJ and many other states have multiple DRUG FREE ZONE signs surrounding each public school. Penalties for drug dealing are higher in those zones. I doubt that it does any good. Drugs are not allowed outside the drug free zones, as well.
When people stir up trouble over nothing, I call it a tempest in a tea pot. We had a square dance guest from another club who made a big deal over our having an unsanctioned dance competing with her home club. Not so. We were just going out to dinner as a club. She caused the other club to be up in arms with us. Much ado over nothing. She had no dog in that fight. Grr!
STRIP MINING has made many of WV's beautiful mountains ugly and denuded. Sigh!
Hahtoolah, your quote is so true. I have a passion for crosswords, so I put much P&P into them and have become successful most of the time. I am not that passionate about Sudoku or Jumbles, so I have little patience and thus little success with them.
Zest is just the outer colored part of the peel using for flavoring. I have a marvelous zester, fast and easy. It eliminates getting the white part of the peel which is bitter.
EZ is an understatement for this puzzle, with not a single unknown, a rarity for my. Very little A&E cluing. CATE & YMA.
Far EAST, the Mid EAST, and then there's Mid WEST, formerly the Northwest Territory. Now called the Mid-WEST but it's in the EASTern part of the US, unless you want to count Iowa and Nebraska. But wait, it's up NORTH. Go figure.
POTUS & VETO -why doesn't any president ever veto the budget busting bills that put our country deeper and deeper in debt? Oh, no politics. I don't want to hear any RANTS about it. There's NO END to that problem.
ZYDECO- I wouldn't label it 'Bayou music style'. It's black Cajun music. Rockin' Doopsy Jr. lives next door to my insurance agent. Your should see him perform.
JD, what lovely grandchildren.
FLN, in my teaching days I found that young girls were just as interested in science as the boys were. At around the fifth grade, science became uncool for girls. I have read that in school attended only by girls, the girls are much more interested and often excel in the STEM fields.
DDBeeMc here. 55. Half a fish. Usually called Mahi-Mahi (Hawaiian for "Very stong"). Mahi is half of Mahi-Mahi. Not really a filleted fish. Nice puZZle today. ZZ does it!
DDBeeMc here. 55. Half a fish. Usually called Mahi-Mahi (Hawaiian for "Very stong"). Mahi is half of Mahi-Mahi. Nice puZZle today. ZZ does it!
13:58 for me today... I think I was under-caffeinated.
All of us amateur astronomers know that some of the most beautiful and photogenic deep-space objects (within our galaxy) are located in or near the sword of ORION. JzB's map omits the sword, so it's worthy of note. When I was a kid, I thought I could see three stars in the sword. However, and I can't remember precisely, at least one of those stars is nebulae. So this may be the only sky location where a nebula (or more) is visible with the naked eye. The horsehead nebula and the Great Magellanic Cloud, et al, are in this spot.
Hasta manaña.
EZ puzzle today. Thanks, Bill! I remember DAG and the tragedy of that plane crash. I use ORANGE ZEST in a lot of recipes.
Most of our schools are DRUG FREE ZONEs and also cell free zones. Not sure how much good it does.
ZYDECO was gimme. Big Easy, haven’t you noticed everything connected in any way with Louisiana is called “bayou “ or “Cajun ? Can’t fight it!
JzB, thanks for the tour.
Jayce FLN... I agree with your take on LYS. Just because it’s old doesn’t make it right. Think of “ye olde shoppe”. Sure, once that was the correct spelling, but not now.
Great puzzle, easy solve - only a few unknowns, easily perped.
Desper-Otto @7:27 - I also read a lot of Heinlein in my ute. As I recall, it was not Lazarus Long who yelled "Front!" to call for a nubile female assistant - it was Jubal Harshaw, in "Stranger in a Strange Land", which was one of my favorites. This was also the novel that introduced the "Fair Witness" - one of whom was Anne, who was one of the aforementioned nubile assistants.
Good morning everyone.
Thanks to everyone who wished us well on our anniversary yesterday.
Main oder ODER? Das ist die Frage! Frankfurt am Main is a large metropolitan area while the lesser known Frankfurt a. d. ODER is more of a backwater albeit an important border crossing into Poland now. The Main is a major Rhine tributary, while the ODER is a Baltic feeder.
FIR, but had 'tornado' before TEMPEST. Themewise, I got the Z's easily in the 4th from end position, but only got the EZ part after the reveal. I SKIRTED around words like SORREL and ROAR until the perps were solid.
URSA and ORION helped make things easy. Btw, ORION can be easily seen from late Fall to early Spring, advancing westward across the night sky about 4 min's per night. URSA is circumpolar for most US viewers.
Musings
-ORION is visible in the late summer sky just before dawn when I go out to get my Omaha World Herald
-We were in NAPLES, IT during a garbage strike
-Joe Friday’s rank changed from the first BADGE to the second one
-A lovely write-up and piece of music, Jazz!
-If marginal actors and singers get their names in here, why not David OGDEN Stiers (M*A*S*H’s Winchester)
-Hacks from both sides of the aisle are getting OUSTED as people are fed up with “good old boy/girl” politics
-Their fearless ability to become AEROdynamic is breathtaking
-I thought a bar OPENER was, “What’s your sign?”
-“When out on the lawn there AROSE such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.”
-Devil is in the DETAILS – I’m trying to set up a golf date with my grandchildren in Lincoln this weekend but we have to pick the other granddaughter from at the airport on Sunday and our gay friend wants us to come to his party on Saturday.
-A lot of MALLS in Omaha are now for SALE
-The new bypass allows us to SKIRT Wahoo, NE and take 8 minutes off our Lincoln trek
-Development is exploding around here and there is a lot of “STRIP mining” of dirt to raise areas out of the flood plain
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Bill Zagzewski, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Jazzbumpa, for a fine review.
Got off to a rough start up North, but went South for a while and came back to the North and then easily got through it. Oh well.
Theme came easily.
ZYDECO was totally unknown to me. Thank you perps.
I worked in OGDEN, Utah. Lots of Mormon things there, which I did visit. Always curious. I learned how they keep extensive records of people, and forever.
I remember well when Dag Hammarskjold, and all the other passengers on the plane, died. I believe it was either shot down or exploded in the air, which reeks of murder or assassination.
I remember the ZAGNUT bar, but I do not believe I have ever eaten one. Maybe some day.
Off to my day.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Good Morning:
This was a pretty straightforward Wednesday with no real stumbling blocks. I, too, had Acts/Is on and also Era/Eon. I have never heard of Zagnut which is an odd name for a candy bar. Then again, O Henry, Butterfingers, and Milky Way, etc. are a little strange, too. I saw the numerous Zs but didn't make the EZ connection until the reveal and that brought a smile and an Aha. Nice CSO to CED at Naples. (We lived in Naples from 1985-88.)
Thanks, Bill Z, for a mid-week treat and thanks, JzB, for another outstanding review.
JD, those boys have certainly grown! Enjoyed seeing their progression through the pictures.
If the weatherman is correct, we're in for a heat wave this weekend; 98 on Sunday. TG for AC!
Have a great day.
Today's puzzle was certainly EZ. Thank you, Bill Zagozewski.
My only hesitation was at ODER/Yser until OPENERS and DOZ confirmed ODER.
Only because ZYDECO has been discussed here at the Corner did I know of it. CATE Blanchett is a superb actress. She was outstanding in Blue Jasmine and as Queen Elizabeth I.
I starkly recall the death of DAG Hammarskjold; it was a shock when that plane went down and suspicions AROSE instantly about foul play.
My sister, her family and I plan to visit our other sister in California area this weekend. Beach time!
JD:
Your handsome grandson is growing up! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, JazzB, for your insightful Blog and I enjoyed your music.
Have an EZ day, today, everyone!
"Ye Olde Tea Shoppe" is intended to be quaint and is not used otherwise. After a lot of research on many sites, I see that fleur de lis and fleur de lys are serious and legitimate alternate spellings. -LIS, is perhaps, a little more common. The -LYS spelling is neither wrong nor quaint. There are many current citations for its use in written literature. Amazon sells some items spelled -LIS and some spelled -LYS. It is a matter of personal preference, not right or wrong. Why is anything we are not accustomed to automatically wrong?
Britannica: Fleur-de-lis, (French: “lily flower”), also spelled fleur-de-lys, also called flower-de-luce, stylized emblem or device much used in ornamentation and, particularly, in heraldry, long associated with the French crown.
D-O: I hadn't known of Heinlein or his books until last night. I read the quote in a Dana Stabenow book & googled Lazarus Long. I thought the EASY part was apt for today's puzzle. I copied the quote to send to my niece who was recently agonizing about whether to continue to do everything herself or train her little kids. I was strictly a trainer with my own. If I had to work, so did they, we did work together a lot and it was more fun for us all that way, usually yakking our way through.
D-O hope you didn't get overheated on your "March". I did mine inside with the A/C going and the carpet EZ on my undercarriage parts.
Maybe worth noting: six "Z" words written in a puzzle by Bill Zegozewski who has two "Z's" in his name. Certainly not a coincidence.
I like ZYDECO music which compels one to dance. I watched several ZYDECO dance videos on YouTube. Looks like fun but has some pretty raunchy moves I don't think I would bring myself to do in public even in my ute.
Thank you, Jay B, I sit corrected. A memory is a wonderful thing, IIRC.
Hi gang -
In my 'ute I also devoured everything by Heinlein I could get my hands on, even the obscure short stories. He pretty much lost it later in life. The Number of The Beast is a flaming train wreck.
Pleasant puzzle - I enjoyed all your comments.
JD - watch out. Before you know it, he'll be in college. Trust me - I know these things.
Cool regards!
JzB
Fun and EZ puzzle! I enjoyed the clechos - including ETE and TET - frequent crossword answers but opposite ends of the year and opposite parts of the world.
I'm not heading into work until this afternoon so enjoyed the blog JzB and the wide ranging musical links from Russian classical to Katy Perry and The Clash!
the ZYDECO was especially fun - and my learning moment for the day, as I have only seen it written and would have pronounced it Zy - DECK' - oh, but the performer prounounced it
Zy-deh -COE'
Thanks JzB and Bill!
YR: Stop already! You have beaten that Fleur-de-Lys into the ground. We really don't care. Do U?
I loved this puzzle and almost had a perfect morning, even though I'd never heard of either ZAGNUT or ZYDEKO, but there was the problem, having put KATE instead of CATE. Still, one tiny error can't spoil a lot of fun, and I got the EZ theme without any problem. So, many thanks Bill, for a fun Wednesday morning, and I always appreciate your write-ups, Jazz B.
Irish Miss, I too wanted ACTS and ERA at first.
Cool picture of young Truman.
I also got the Sudoku, Kenken, and Jumble this morning without. Feels good.
Have a great Wednesday, everybody!
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Bill and JazzB.
I got the EZ theme and LOLed because this Canadian pronounces it E-Zed!
We saw an excellent production of the TEMPEST, starring Martha Henry, at the Stratford Festival in the spring. Smiled to see Lear also in the CW.
In the same vein, I had Acts before IS ON.
I had Sand before SET A trap, Peel before ZEST, and Green Acres before THUMB.
ZAGUT and ZYDECO were unknown but filled in with perps. I also waited for perps to decide between TINS and cans.
I thought maybe we had a CSO to Madame D with Yarn but it turned out to be the other meaning with STORY.
Also noted "remain undecided" and "Haven't decided yet" consecutive clues.
I have never seen a DRUG FREE ZONE sign near a school playground here. But when cannabis is legalized in Canada in October, store locations in close proximity to schools are to be discouraged.
Congrats to Truman on graduating Gr. 5.
Off with DH to celebrate our anniversary at one of the local vineyards!
Enjoy the day.
Sometimes you are just on the same wavelength, I went right through this. It’s nice when that happens.
Canadian Eh! - Happy Anniversary. A little Prince of Wales afterward?
YR - I, too, feel LYS has been unfairly maligned. I agree with your analysis.
PK @ 1048 - Re: "Certainly not a coincidence. " I felt the same way about the idea for the Z's. Also think that ZAGNUT came from ZAGozewski.
As others said, today was an easy puzzle with only a few erasures. Great puzzle from Bill Z. and great write-up by jZb. Perfect that the two Z's did Z puzzle today.
Only a few missteps today, ACTS vs. ISON, ORANGEPEEL vs. ORANGEZEST, ERA vs EON and KATE vs. CATE. Perps helped fill in the unknowns and correct the missteps.
Took DW to the new movie "Ocean's 8" last night. Not a bad movie. It was an enjoyable bang-bang-bang show with a few twists. I half expected to see George Clooney in a cameo, but didn't. Cate Blanchet and Sandra Bullock were the top stars who got most of the camera time, the others to a lesser degree. It was worth the Tuesday $5.50 special price with free popcorn.
I like ZYDECO and got the answer quickly. I like the music, and the dancing is interesting to watch. How many of us would be able to move like this? I know I couldn't.
Raining today, but the forecast is for hot this weekend.
Have a great day everyone.
Thanks Bill and JzB.
As Rainman wrote, the sword handle underneath Orion's belt is the location of The Great Nebula in Orion, a big, beautiful nebula. It's the middle star in the handle. I think the Magellanic Clouds, however, are only visible from far southern locations.
Great picture of Truman, and a wonderful retrospective of your grandchildren JD.
I read Heinlein also in my youth, but I agree his writing did not improve with time. He became a bit obsessed with sex and free love as he aged. Not that I am opposed to sex, I am just not much into reading about it nor do I condone incest.
OC you are the first person I know who saw the Ocean's 8 movie. I guess with your maybe, we may go.
Jazz: Nice write-up!
Geez, this was such an EASY DOES IT solve I had to check if today was Monday.
Liked the CSO ... TINS.
Cheers!
Lemon: The free popcorn helped make it worthwhile.
The repairman just called to say he's on the way and I can't wait! I've been without an oven for over a month and though I use it less in summer, still need it. Luckily I have a good toaster oven and microwave.
It seems that some are still questioning the spelling of -Lys, i.e., Swamp Cat at 9:11 so some clarity is called for. I believe YR is responding to that.
I also noticed the many Z's in the puZZle and assumed it was not a coincidence for Mr. Z.
CATE seems to be an Australian variation. Recently I heard of another CATE from Australia though I don't recall her surname or why she was mentioned. If Kazie comments perhaps she can enlighten us.
Interesting differences in the J today!
"Puzzling Thoughts":
Pretty much ZZZipped through this despite a few hiccups along the way. As did oc4beach, I too noticed the Bill Z and jZb connection in constructor and recapper. All we needed was a little ZZ Top to ice the cake! (For you, -T)
My first UNDO was at 32a, where I wanted to hit from a SAND trap, before SET A came to view; others were THEORUM/SLUSH > THEOREM/SLEET & NET > SUM.
Misty --> congrats on getting the Jumble. I wondered if the pun was going to be too "out there". And how about those jumbled word clues they used?! I don't know about you, but I'm seeing a big difference between 2018 version of Jumble, and previous years ... just saying! 😀
20a brought to mind this ditty I created last fall:
At Lover's Lane there were parked many cars,
With nighttime view of the planets, like Mars.
When her date, Roosevelt,
Showed her ORION's Belt,
She said, "meh, I'll just give it 3 Stars."
And then today offered me a chance to Moe-ku, albeit with a slightly different (5-7-7) syllabic scheme:
Isaac lamented
About twin son's invention:
Never saw ESAU's seesaw.
Nice puzzle; I liked it. Was looking for the theme to be in the 4-letter 2nd word all of which start with Z. Then looked at the first letter of the first word, not the last letter. Didn't get the theme until I figured out the reveal, which at first I entered as TAKE IT EASY. Wrong again! *Whoosh*
You, Ron, seem to put a lot of thought and effort into your write-ups, which I greatly appreciate and learn from. Thank you for doing it. Pleasing trombone music, also. So thanks again.
I had a bit of a problem with ZEST vs PEEL. I also feel the same way as Jazzbumpa about MAHI and TSE. Please note that these are just my feelings, my reactions, and bear no resemblance to or in any way can be considered statements of facts or of factual correctness or incorrectness or of the disputation of any facts. The feelings that I, and Ron, have about not liking such entries as TSE and MAHI, clued as "half a whatever," are not and can not be invalidated or rebutted by quoting quantities of factual information.
If I remark that I think Trey Gowdy's hair looks funny to me, it in no way could or should evince a "rebuttal" that in fact his hair is entirely normal. I never, ever, said "Fleur de Lys" in wrong; I simply expressed my emotional reaction to it, much as my granddaughter's reaction to the architecture of many of the buildings at Yale University. After visiting the campus as part of the process of deciding which university she wanted to go to, she remarked to us, "Wow, the whole place is a bunch of castles!" Factually untrue, perhaps, but definitely a valid and understandable observation.
Happy hump day, MikeMikeMikeMike.
I just realized that "Drug Free Zone" sign doesn't make sense. How does being "within 1000 feet of a Drug Free Zone" make it a felony to purchase or sell drugs "in this area"? What "area"? Does being within 1000 feet of a Drug Free area mean I am in that area?
And while I'm complaining, I'll go ahead push the limit of your tolerance by remarking that the Big Dipper is not Ursa Major, merely a part of Ursa Major. That Dreamtime image is extremely misleading and just plain factually wrong to equate Ursa Major with the Big Dipper, or, for that matter and for the same reason, Ursa Minor with the Little Dipper.
Okay, that's all I've got for now.
Hand up this was quite EZ! Hazy memory of YMA and ODER from the past. Otherwise all knowns!
I toured PICASSO's STUDIO in Antibes, France. Apparently they did not allow photos inside.
But I did get this cool photo nearby!
Quantum Computing needs temperatures near ABSOLUTE ZERO. I toured one of our Quantum Computing labs here, but apparently I don't have photos of that, either! The researcher was named Andrew Cleland and he seems to have moved to Chicago. Which brings up...
Here was my subway ride from downtown Chicago to O'HARE!
That is the civilized way to go! Right to the terminal with no traffic and not much money!
In Santa Barbara we have a magnificent mural of FDR's FOUR FREEDOMS. I do have a photo, but I can't find it. It will be easier to take a new photo! Below is the text of the FOUR FREEDOMS speech. Number four is Freedom from FEAR. Number three is Freedom from WANT.
=========
In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression–everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way–everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want–which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear–which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor–anywhere in the world.
Moe, lover's lane ditty, thumbs up.
Lucina, thanks. Jayce, I know where you were coming from. I was not thinking of you. Sorry, if you thought so. I like the way you express your likes and dislikes, instead of pontificating, personal preference rather than right or wrong. I personally dislike fill like hard g, but I cannot say it is wrong.
.
Jayce, thanks for straightening me out on the dippers. Are Ursa Major & Minor then each single stars in the dippers? Guess I still don't know what they are.
It wasn't easy choosing a video tour of Orion,
but this one is rather unique...
Easy does it?
A slight segue into dancing...
The segue into dancing explained...
Well, off to find a video tour of Ursa Major and Minor
(I hope it is going to be easier than Orion...)
Nice work from Mr. Zagozewski and JazzB! Good, clear cluing and a well-illustrated response.
I didn't notice the theme until reading the blog, although I am always aware of something unusual whenever "Z"s show up.
Misty, I think ZYDECO was the undoing of several colleagues. It almost did me in because I have heard the Cajun music without seeing its name in writing. So my first fill was ZYDEGO, with a hard "G" before the last syllable. Fortunately, CATE saved me - as I have often seen her name in print.
And in my checkered theater career I've had the privilege of playing both Prospero and Lear, so I appreciated today's pzl in a very personal way.
~ OMK
PS. Oh, the Jumble was fun. Again, very easy. I am waiting to see if a hard one will ever come along again...
____________
Diagonal Report: Today we have an abundance of diags, three on the NW to SE slant, and one on the mirror side, NE to SW.
I found the 3-way side too busy to search for anagrams.
Ah! but the mirror side yielded the following story:
The ship was sinking. All the rodents headed for the anchor chains to desert their floating home - unaware that their temporary route of disembarkation would lead only to a watery grave.
As the last and slowest critter reached the rail, he looked down and saw the futility of his fellows as their chains led them beneath the waves.
From his lifeboat, sailor Billy Budd saw this last little fellow staring down. Taking pity on him, Billy threw out a new line, calling,
“SO, RAT, GRASP A ROPE!”
.
Yellowrocks, thanks for clarifying. I'm glad you understood what I was trying to say: nothing more than observing that, like Trey Gowdy's hair, the spelling of Lys simply looks funny to me. By the way, I share your dislike for fill like HARD G, and others' dislike for seemingly forced abbreviations, specific examples of which I can't think of at the moment.
PK, the Big Dipper is a wonderful group of stars, being so easily seen and recognized in the night sky. It forms, however, only the rump and tail of Ursa Major, The Great Bear, which is much larger and, IMO, pretty hard to see. Here is a picture that shows it pretty clearly.
Best wishes to you all.
Ol' Man Keith, nifty sinking ship story! Of course it would be none other than Billy Budd to offer a sensible solution.
So, Lucina, are you headed for Carmel (full name Carmel-by-the-Sea)?
Finding a suitable video of the Dippers is not so easy,
there are so many awful videos on YouTube to sift thru.
(bad music, bad animation etc...)
This was the best I could find.
Note that looking at this jumble of stars seems quite chaotic,
and if you are located in a dark sky area, the volume of stars can be
intimidating. However, if like me, you are near a city like New York,
The Big Dipper is about the only thing you can see in the night sky
as it contains very bright stars that can shine thru the light pollution.
An excellent tool, "IF" you have an Apple Smart Phone, is Sky Walk 2.
( A wonder of modern technology if you ask me...)
Now once you are familiar with the night sky, you are going to want to see more.
I highly recommend a visit to Maui, Hawaii. Climb Mt Haleakala in the dark to watch the sunrise!
At 10,000 feet (next to all the telescopes) the night sky is an amazement,
however at 10,000 feet it is very cold!
So, you run to the viewing shelter as fast as you can
passing a sign that says "Do not run at this altitude!"
Once inside, if you can get your heart to slow down from lack of oxygen,
you can enjoy all the marvels of creation.
However, going back down the road you came up in the dark is liable to
give you a lifetime fear of heights...
(& you thought this was going to be easy!)
Oh, I forgot to mention,
Skywalk 2 in its basic form is a free App for Apple Smartphones.
If you download it, 1st thing you ant to do is turn of the music!
(very annoying)
The most amazing thing is with the compass setting (upper left hand icon)
let's say you see a star, you hold up the phone to it like you were going to
take a picture of it, and "there it is" on the phone!
You can skew in any direction, in real time, and it will show you what you are looking at!
We just got a new refrigerator, a Samsung giant my wife ordered.
I have to admit our old American fridge wasn't too many generations younger than the ice box I remember as a child. I was actually very attached to it, but the old must make way for the new, no?
Plus ça change ...
This new guy, a huge stainless steel entity, dominates the kitchen. An open door floods the room with light. My wife calls his interior "awesome." Various alarms and beeps sound off when any of us humans err in handling him.
I have nicknamed him "Robby."
~ OMK
Hi All!
Breezy Wednesday Bill Z(ed). Thank you for the EZ on the brain puzzle; after 10 days of little sleep, I needed that.
Great expo JzB; icing was The Clash & Frankie. Thanks.
Jinx, your 'expo' was pretty good too :-)
Zagnut seemed like one of those candy-bars you only found at the bowling alley or skating rink; seldom see them in the candy aisle.
With NOLA just down I-10, ZYDECO was EZ.
WO: Ok, hand up, ZYDEgO 1st; then kATE, then finally the soft(ish)-C
ESPs: YMA, ODER, LARA, CATE
Fav: FDR's FEAR. Listen for it after the theatrics (first lyrics): Rush's The Weapon [7m]
{} {lol, cute; thanks for the Lil' Old Band from Texas tune}
Welcome DDBeemc.
Thanks for sharing the pic JD. What JzB said - 2nd year of tuition comin' up.
OMK - I think you found your new hobby :-). LOL on the Diag.
Jayce - just wait a sec. I'm sure I have an annoying abriv. around here somewhere :-)
Happy Anniversary C, Eh! Today's little story is just for you... ;-)
Today I wore my "Because you can't always blame Canada" Splunk t-shirt and then took Youngest to the orthodontist -- who I realized was Canadian when I saw "University of Toronto" on her wall. Ooops.
At the end of Grillin'-Up Youngest, she (ortho) asked:
"Are you Canadian? I am. [sic - insert her held back 'eh?' here]"
"I know, I saw the diploma in your office....
"No, I'm not Canadian. The shirt is an IT joke, like, um, errors are not always the fault of the Canadian office. So we have to dig deeper into the logs (it's what Splunk does). But, It's true, we Can't always blame 'em, eh?"
I'm not sure she was amused... The bill was $3k.
Cheers, -T
I can't write now, it's time for Supper.
Ðave
Green ACRES before Green THUMB.
Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
Isn't a "city near the Great Salt Lake" Salt Lake City?
Didn't refresh before posting says...
OMK - A side-by-side? With the ice-maker that takes 1/8-hour to fill your glass? That needs the manual to understand the squiglies on the panel? That binds you making left-overs hard to find?
That beeps "Danger Will Robinson" when you leave the door open too long while stocking it?
Yep(?), we have the same Samsung.
Cheers, -T
Jayce:
Not this time. I have almost fully recovered from my aborted attempt to visit Carmel-by-the-Sea in May. Another time.
My sister lives in Highland, a pleasant and usually cool (temp) town near San Bernardino and that is where we are going.
My stove will be replaced with a new one as after 25 years of stalwart service this one is retiring. Luckily I have a home warranty service.
About "Drug Free Zone" signs: the word you're looking for is "EYEWASH", something that gives the illusion of action, without taking any real action. (I know this sounds a bit cynical, but everyone feels like they have accomplished something by putting up signs, yet the drugs are still there. There is a lot of 'eyewash' around these days.)
Add me to the 'Hooray for Heinlein' list. I first read him somewhere around 1950, and agree that his later work was self-indulgent and missed having a good editor ... but some of his stories from before and after World War II are classics. Who else would think of travelling in elephants??
Michael - we call it "security theatre," Been to an airport lately?
Sign? Sign? Everywhere a funny sign.
//I probably owe that link to CED. -T
ANON T -
Yep, Robby's a Samsung side-by-side. We didn't get the icemaker-in-the-door as ice seems readily available just inside the lower drawer.
Since I am usually in my power chair, this is a lot easier than having to stand to retrieve frozen items from a top freezer.
Now Eggos, ice cream, and vodka roll right out to me. And I can also store my regular cold items, lunch meats and condiments, leftover soups & cold drinks, in the lower inside-door shelves.
Kool.
~ OMK
Lucina, ah yes, Highland. Nice town. You have visited there before. When you said "Beach time!" I thought you were headed for Carmel.
LW is still watching the World Cup. I just heard her yell "Shoot!" and then loudly wail "Awww!" Her favorite team, Germany, got eliminated by South Korea yesterday and is out from the rest of the tournament. Back when she was a much younger woman, she had this sorta kinda crush on the German star player by the name of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and she still has a well-worn, beat up old shirt (jersey?) with the number 11 on it.
She just hollered "Oh yes!" at the TV.
Wishing you all a very good evening.
Jayce:
The beach is one hour away from Highland. Worth the drive! We also plan to visit a 92 year old uncle who lives in assisted living in Victorville.
AnonT:
Hilarious signs!
The Big Dipper has been bandied about today. Its curved handle is very useful to locate 2 other stars, Arcturus and Spica.
With your mind’s eye, draw an imaginary line following the curve in the Dipper’s handle until you come to an orange star, Arcturus, the third individual brightest star in the night sky; in Boötes . Continue following the arc to Spica, in Virgo.
-T, thanks for the sure signs that there are clever idiots everywhere. Makes life worth living. I've seen homemade signs in a few restaurants that declare "Unattended children will be given an espresso and a puppy". A photo of mine was published in the National Lampoon. Near the big So Cal airport, the sign identified the LAX MEDICAL CLINIC.
Lucina, I'm sure you know about the darling little hamlet near Victorville: Apple Valley. I used to race my land yacht in a dry lake bed just outside of town. (Not so little - I LIU, and it has a population of 75,000. Doesn't feel like it.)
I'm afraid of the new refrigerators. Don't open the door, just tap it and the panel lights up showing a camera shot inside. If the doorbell rings, the panel shows who's at the door. Can it be long before it conspires with Siri to order healthy food and nag us if we take something out that tastes good like lasagna.
Jinx, I’m with you! I don’t want to be nagged to be healthy! LOL
JzB - excellent writeup, as always. The arrangement & rendition of the psalm by your trombone (and tuba) choir was sublime. And Sinatra singing "Autumn Leaves" (I think it's Nelson Riddle's arrangement) overwhelms me with nostalgia and renews my appreciation for the high quality that "pop" music COULD have in an earlier time. What a stark contrast with the other two "musical" links!
By the way, I agree that if someone's offended by someone else stating an opinion, it shouldn't be the problem of the opinion stater. Anybody remember The Bill of No Rights? Very insightful. One of the most important (and pertinent) ones, in my opinion, is You Do Not Have a Right Not To Be Offended.
I don't like adding e to words, acronyms and abbreviations ending in vowels to make plurals, such as ODed (OD'd). Also potato - I know the e is right, and the plural looks funny without it, I just don't like it. The worst to me are violations of simple grammar & usage - using I or myself where me is called for (as I recently ranted about here), and adding uncalled for apostrophes before the esses in plural words. I even see it here occasionally, and am shocked and dismayed as I consider this such an erudite crowd.
Oops. Obviously OD'd is past tense, not plural. Guess I was thinking ahead to potato(s). Well, that's what I meant, anyway.
AnonT- I LOLed at your story.
Gotta love us Canadians, all meek and mild and saying we're sorry, and then taking advantage of you economically!
She will be good if she is a U of T grad - my alma mater.
Thanks for all the Anniversary wishes.
The Jumble was a struggle for me as usual but several light bulbs were subconsciously switched on and everything finally fell into place.
Okay, all the star gazing has left me even more confused, but thanks for trying. I suddenly realized that I actually haven't seen the stars since I moved to the city 15 years ago -- too much light pollution turns the night sky a strange yellow. I do enjoy the moon occasionally out of one window. Since I don't travel now, I may never see the URSAs at all. On the farm, the nice black sky gave up a panorama of glittery jewels despite a security light. Just a little homesick for there.
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