Theme: EVIL'R. The good Doctors Doom and Octopus might be so, but see below for a more rounded explanation.
20A. *Doctor Octopus or Doctor Doom: SUPERVILLAIN. A villain with superhuman powers. I took a test to reveal my supervillain name, and it's time to meet .... PROFESSOR ARMAGEDON!
Try it out for yourselves here.
29A. *"The Big Country" Oscar winner: BURL IVES. Here's a good excuse for a music link that has nothing to do with Burl Ives - "In a Big Country" by Big Country. Points deducted for lack of originality, but it's still a catchy ditty.
37A. *Quick and careless treatment: ONCE-OVER-LIGHTLY. Not a phrase I was familiar with (with which I was not familiar, according to the Grammar Police.) It seems other people are though, so a learning experience for me.
44A. *On-the-scene reporter's opening: WE'RE LIVE ...
53A. Metaphor for one feeling slighted ... and what's hidden in the answers to starred clues: CHOPPED LIVER. I like the chopped liver sandwich at my local deli, so the insult doesn't work for me. Chopped raw turnip would be better, slighted-wise.
So, LIVER in a few different forms. The *asterisking of the theme entries are part of puzzle protocol, the two eight-letter entries are matched by other non-themed 8's, so the asterisk keeps things on the straight and narrow.
What else? Let's go see!
Across:
1. PlayStation handheld game: VITA. No clue, skip and move on, wait for the crosses for help.
5. Appliance with a vent: DRYER
10. Gremlins, e.g.: AMC'S. This entry filled itself in for me, I only saw it just now. The AMC Gremlin, I've seen a few restored ones here in LA. The lime-green one is particularly fetching:
14. Airline to Israel: EL AL. Is there more than one Israeli airline? I want to see the listing El Al, et al.
15. Gaucho's rope: REATA
16. World Cup skiing champ Lindsey: VONN
17. Do-fa link: RE-MI
18. Hawkeye: IOWAN. Trivia of the day - "Hawkeye" Pierce in the M*A*S*H series is not so-nicknamed because he was from Iowa, he was born in Maine. The nickname comes from "The Last of the Mohicans" and he was so-dubbed by his father.
19. A.D. part: ANNO
23. Chicago mayor Rahm: EMANUEL. YAY! Finally I know how to spell this name - no doubled consonants. Finally!
24. Obdurate: STONY
28. Nonverbal comm. method: A.S.L. American Sign Language. I know essentials, some useful at tiresome social events ("Ready to go?") or crowded bars ("Where's the bathroom?").
32. Holds up: LASTS
35. Twofer coupon acronym: BOGO. Buy One, Get One.
36. "Selma" setting: Abbr.: ALA. bama. The movie "Selma" was set partly in Selma, which is in Alabama. Seems a long way round for a clue to get to the point.
41. Freudian topic: EGO
42. Umpteen: MANY
43. "What __ has seen ... ": 1 Corinthians: NO EYE
47. Ball club: BAT. I like this. Tell me, is a college football team a "ball club"? I find it oddly irritating when I hear coaches interviewed on the telly and they make that reference.
48. Colleague of Sonia: ELENA. Supreme Court judges Sotomayor and Kagan. I've not heard anything in the news for a while about the Supreme Court. Things must be running smoothly over there.
49. Money-laundering business in "Breaking Bad": CAR WASH. I think I saw the first three episodes of the series, and the car wash was in the first scene, as I recall. Odd for me to know something like this.
57. First name at Woodstock: JIMI. Second name at Woodstock: Hendrix.
60. Bandanna kin: DO-RAG. Kin? I thought these were the same thing. I just read an internet article that runs to about 3,000 words explaining the difference. I won't bore you with the details. The things our bloggers put themselves through for veracity.
61. Gambling mecca: RENO. Mecca? I think that's a rather strong word for Reno. It's like saying Medina is more Mecca than Mecca. Vegas might argue the point.
62. Yemen neighbor: OMAN
63. Words of defeat: I LOSE.
64. God with a bow: EROS
65. Ma with a bow: YO-YO. Quickly - name another cellist. No, not Josephine du Pré nor Pablo Casals, too easy.
66. Not as worn: NEWER
67. Ukr. and Lith., once: SSR'S. Soviet Socialist Republics, as we all knew.
Down:
1. Frost lines?: VERSE. Very nice - not the "rimes" but the "rhymes". Robert Frost.
2. Intestinal part: ILEUM
3. Clearwater neighbor: TAMPA.
4. Drive away: ALIENATE
5. Blather: DRIVEL
6. Work on more, as a squeaky hinge: RE-OIL
7. Two-master: YAWL. Ketch or Yawl. Both sailboats. Both two-masted vessels. Compare and Contrast. Essays due by Friday, please. Here's one .. or the other, I'm not quite sure. Bonus question - how do folks from the south address a fleet of two-masted sailboats? Spoiler alert: It's not "All Ketch".
8. "Too many to list" abbr.: ET AL. First EL AL. Now the competitor, ET AL. They fly on Saturdays.
9. __ close second: RAN A
10. Forward, in Firenze: AVANTI.
11. MLK Day, e.g.: MON. day.
12. "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" channel: CNN. I have no words for how sad the news of his suicide made me feel. Please call 1-800-275-8055 if you or a loved one are feeling alone and helpless. Please.
13. __-Caps: SNO
21. "Empire Falls" novelist Richard: RUSSO. I read "Nobody's Fool" first, was immediately hooked. A great writer.
22. Puerto Rico, e.g.: Abbr.: ISL. La Isla del Incanto? Not so much since Hurricane Maria. A desperately sad situation.
25. Almost round: OVATE
26. Singer Furtado: NELLY. NELLI slowed me down.
27. Belgian violin virtuoso Eugène __: YSAYE. Who? No, really, who? Name three famous Belgians. OK, name two. Is Eugène Ysaye on your list? No, and Hercule Poirot doesn't count, he's a fictional character. Here's one, you'll know him if you have any interest in the Tour de France:
29. Carried: BORNE
30. "This could get __": UGLY
31. King at Versailles: ROI
32. "Camelot" composer: LOEWE. I think LOWE, LOEW and HMMMM in that order. One day I'll get it straight.
33. Generous donor: ANGEL. In theatrical parlance, originally. An investor in a stage production.
34. Gettysburg Address unit: SCORE "Four Score and Seven Years Ago ..." Lincoln's opening line, giving everyone a couple of seconds to do the mental arithmetic to figure "Oh, 1776! Why didn't he just say that?"
35. Wally's little bro: BEAV. Leave it to Beaver, or Leav to Beav. L2B in modern parlance.
38. Southern Conf. school: V.M.I. Virginia Military Institute. New pupils are fondly called "Rats".
39. Twist: GNARL
40. Prepares to steal, probably: HOT-WIRES
45. Affluent Los Angeles district: ENCINO
46. "Well, __-di-dah!": LAH
47. Nag: BADGER
49. Desist: CEASE. What a lawyer demands "Cease and Desist" is he just covering the bases on a slight technicality, or getting paid by the word and using tautology?
50. Professes: AVERS
51. Monterrey title: SEÑOR
52. __ Perot: H. ROSS. I knew ROSS, but suspected a prior letter. H for Henry.
54. Valhalla VIP: ODIN. Wanted THOR. was wrong.
55. Firehouse fixture: POLE. Almost tempted by HOSE. Resisted.
56. Front at sea: PROW. The sharp end.
57. Good feeling: JOY
58. "I think," in texts: IMO. "In my opinion". I've always seen it IMHO, with a self-effacing "humble" for good measure. Don't be fooled, the texter is never humble.
59. Might: MAY. Nice Thursday clue/answer. "Might" could equally be looking for a word for "strength" - not in this case.
Well, apparently Football Isn't Coming Home, so I'm working on polishing up my French for Sunday's final. Allez Les Bleus!
Et ....... voici la grille:
Etienne
20A. *Doctor Octopus or Doctor Doom: SUPERVILLAIN. A villain with superhuman powers. I took a test to reveal my supervillain name, and it's time to meet .... PROFESSOR ARMAGEDON!
Try it out for yourselves here.
29A. *"The Big Country" Oscar winner: BURL IVES. Here's a good excuse for a music link that has nothing to do with Burl Ives - "In a Big Country" by Big Country. Points deducted for lack of originality, but it's still a catchy ditty.
44A. *On-the-scene reporter's opening: WE'RE LIVE ...
53A. Metaphor for one feeling slighted ... and what's hidden in the answers to starred clues: CHOPPED LIVER. I like the chopped liver sandwich at my local deli, so the insult doesn't work for me. Chopped raw turnip would be better, slighted-wise.
So, LIVER in a few different forms. The *asterisking of the theme entries are part of puzzle protocol, the two eight-letter entries are matched by other non-themed 8's, so the asterisk keeps things on the straight and narrow.
What else? Let's go see!
Across:
1. PlayStation handheld game: VITA. No clue, skip and move on, wait for the crosses for help.
5. Appliance with a vent: DRYER
10. Gremlins, e.g.: AMC'S. This entry filled itself in for me, I only saw it just now. The AMC Gremlin, I've seen a few restored ones here in LA. The lime-green one is particularly fetching:
14. Airline to Israel: EL AL. Is there more than one Israeli airline? I want to see the listing El Al, et al.
15. Gaucho's rope: REATA
16. World Cup skiing champ Lindsey: VONN
17. Do-fa link: RE-MI
18. Hawkeye: IOWAN. Trivia of the day - "Hawkeye" Pierce in the M*A*S*H series is not so-nicknamed because he was from Iowa, he was born in Maine. The nickname comes from "The Last of the Mohicans" and he was so-dubbed by his father.
19. A.D. part: ANNO
23. Chicago mayor Rahm: EMANUEL. YAY! Finally I know how to spell this name - no doubled consonants. Finally!
24. Obdurate: STONY
28. Nonverbal comm. method: A.S.L. American Sign Language. I know essentials, some useful at tiresome social events ("Ready to go?") or crowded bars ("Where's the bathroom?").
32. Holds up: LASTS
35. Twofer coupon acronym: BOGO. Buy One, Get One.
36. "Selma" setting: Abbr.: ALA. bama. The movie "Selma" was set partly in Selma, which is in Alabama. Seems a long way round for a clue to get to the point.
41. Freudian topic: EGO
42. Umpteen: MANY
43. "What __ has seen ... ": 1 Corinthians: NO EYE
47. Ball club: BAT. I like this. Tell me, is a college football team a "ball club"? I find it oddly irritating when I hear coaches interviewed on the telly and they make that reference.
48. Colleague of Sonia: ELENA. Supreme Court judges Sotomayor and Kagan. I've not heard anything in the news for a while about the Supreme Court. Things must be running smoothly over there.
49. Money-laundering business in "Breaking Bad": CAR WASH. I think I saw the first three episodes of the series, and the car wash was in the first scene, as I recall. Odd for me to know something like this.
57. First name at Woodstock: JIMI. Second name at Woodstock: Hendrix.
60. Bandanna kin: DO-RAG. Kin? I thought these were the same thing. I just read an internet article that runs to about 3,000 words explaining the difference. I won't bore you with the details. The things our bloggers put themselves through for veracity.
61. Gambling mecca: RENO. Mecca? I think that's a rather strong word for Reno. It's like saying Medina is more Mecca than Mecca. Vegas might argue the point.
62. Yemen neighbor: OMAN
63. Words of defeat: I LOSE.
64. God with a bow: EROS
65. Ma with a bow: YO-YO. Quickly - name another cellist. No, not Josephine du Pré nor Pablo Casals, too easy.
66. Not as worn: NEWER
67. Ukr. and Lith., once: SSR'S. Soviet Socialist Republics, as we all knew.
Down:
1. Frost lines?: VERSE. Very nice - not the "rimes" but the "rhymes". Robert Frost.
2. Intestinal part: ILEUM
3. Clearwater neighbor: TAMPA.
4. Drive away: ALIENATE
5. Blather: DRIVEL
6. Work on more, as a squeaky hinge: RE-OIL
7. Two-master: YAWL. Ketch or Yawl. Both sailboats. Both two-masted vessels. Compare and Contrast. Essays due by Friday, please. Here's one .. or the other, I'm not quite sure. Bonus question - how do folks from the south address a fleet of two-masted sailboats? Spoiler alert: It's not "All Ketch".
8. "Too many to list" abbr.: ET AL. First EL AL. Now the competitor, ET AL. They fly on Saturdays.
9. __ close second: RAN A
10. Forward, in Firenze: AVANTI.
11. MLK Day, e.g.: MON. day.
12. "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" channel: CNN. I have no words for how sad the news of his suicide made me feel. Please call 1-800-275-8055 if you or a loved one are feeling alone and helpless. Please.
13. __-Caps: SNO
21. "Empire Falls" novelist Richard: RUSSO. I read "Nobody's Fool" first, was immediately hooked. A great writer.
22. Puerto Rico, e.g.: Abbr.: ISL. La Isla del Incanto? Not so much since Hurricane Maria. A desperately sad situation.
25. Almost round: OVATE
26. Singer Furtado: NELLY. NELLI slowed me down.
27. Belgian violin virtuoso Eugène __: YSAYE. Who? No, really, who? Name three famous Belgians. OK, name two. Is Eugène Ysaye on your list? No, and Hercule Poirot doesn't count, he's a fictional character. Here's one, you'll know him if you have any interest in the Tour de France:
29. Carried: BORNE
30. "This could get __": UGLY
31. King at Versailles: ROI
32. "Camelot" composer: LOEWE. I think LOWE, LOEW and HMMMM in that order. One day I'll get it straight.
33. Generous donor: ANGEL. In theatrical parlance, originally. An investor in a stage production.
34. Gettysburg Address unit: SCORE "Four Score and Seven Years Ago ..." Lincoln's opening line, giving everyone a couple of seconds to do the mental arithmetic to figure "Oh, 1776! Why didn't he just say that?"
35. Wally's little bro: BEAV. Leave it to Beaver, or Leav to Beav. L2B in modern parlance.
38. Southern Conf. school: V.M.I. Virginia Military Institute. New pupils are fondly called "Rats".
39. Twist: GNARL
40. Prepares to steal, probably: HOT-WIRES
45. Affluent Los Angeles district: ENCINO
46. "Well, __-di-dah!": LAH
47. Nag: BADGER
49. Desist: CEASE. What a lawyer demands "Cease and Desist" is he just covering the bases on a slight technicality, or getting paid by the word and using tautology?
50. Professes: AVERS
51. Monterrey title: SEÑOR
52. __ Perot: H. ROSS. I knew ROSS, but suspected a prior letter. H for Henry.
54. Valhalla VIP: ODIN. Wanted THOR. was wrong.
55. Firehouse fixture: POLE. Almost tempted by HOSE. Resisted.
56. Front at sea: PROW. The sharp end.
57. Good feeling: JOY
58. "I think," in texts: IMO. "In my opinion". I've always seen it IMHO, with a self-effacing "humble" for good measure. Don't be fooled, the texter is never humble.
59. Might: MAY. Nice Thursday clue/answer. "Might" could equally be looking for a word for "strength" - not in this case.
Well, apparently Football Isn't Coming Home, so I'm working on polishing up my French for Sunday's final. Allez Les Bleus!
Et ....... voici la grille:
Etienne
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteJust happened to be awake, so here goes. Didn’t breeze right through, had to take educated guesses here and there, but got it done. Burl Ives represents a blast from the past; he was a favorite of my mom.
So, Steve, yawl versus ketch: well, they’re both two-masted all right, and unlike a schooner, the larger mainmast is forward of the smaller additional mast, called a mizzenmast. It is the placement of the mizzenmast that divides yawls from ketches. Generally, if the mizzen is forward of the rudder post, it’s a ketch; aft of the rudder post, it’s a yawl. A yawl will typically have a tiny little sail on the mizzen so as not overpower the helm.
Good morning
ReplyDeleteA very fun but crunchy Thursday with a nicely lighthearted write-up from Étienne, who must be rather sad after England's World Cup loss. Nice job hopping the French bus, Steve.
Frank, you know we are all nonplussed when 1 across doe not fill. VITA ? MY kids are too old, and the grandchildren too young. Other unknowns, as clued NO EYE CAR WASH and the LAT debut of Eugène Ysaÿe. This "incomporable" VIOLINIST with the wonderful letters has been in the NYT many times since 1953, but all new to me.
I did love the wit of the reveal and enigmatic phrase, "What am I, chopped liver?"
I loved the ET AL EL AL comment, thanks Steve and Frank.
To me: a ball club refers to a baseball team. 18a ummm duh! Everyone knows that, right? Badger is a big ten member. Big Country was fun to see again. And...I always enjoyed watching Anthony Bourdain. Especially the episode with his rock star friends from Rancho de la Luna. They were there for the terrorist event in Paris. I feel for them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr. Frank Virzi for this bear of a CWP. The theme helped me in an EVILR way, and yet I BAILed several times to complete the work.
ReplyDeleteThank you Steve for your excellent review.
Ðave
Oh and I forgot, CAR WASH was a hilariously heart warming movie from the 70s. I wish I could link highlights or music from it but also, I am unable to do so.
ReplyDeleteDNF¡ Several gaps and red letters in both NE and SE corners¡ Had IMPS instead of AMCS (a prescient brand), STONE > STONY, CAR CASH > CAR WASH, and a few others thru misspellings and/or not checking perps¡
ReplyDeleteI did spot the common letters and rearranged them to LIVER, just didn't think of the reveal phrase before I got to it. Should have, I used to have a girlfriend who used it a lot.
Vietnamese king Lý Phật Tử was fat and UGLY.
He received a secret message of immediacy
The paper was clear,
But his wise vizier
Said, "Hold it ONCE OVER LIGHT, LÝ!"
A SUPER VILLAIN has tied to the tracks poor NELLY!
A train is coming to squish her to jelly!
Will the hero arrive?
Will she survive?
It's a movie WE RE-LIVE any night on the telly!
{C, A-.}
Good Morning, Steve and friends. Youch! This was a toughie for me. Never a good sign when I can't complete 1-A and 1-D on the first pass. I immediately and confidently wrote in Poems for Frost Lines, slowly the VERSE appeared. But, as Professor Armageddon, I carried on and persevered!
ReplyDeleteI knew immediately that the Ball Club was a BAT and not a team.
Holds Up = LASTS was a nice misdirection.
I learned that the First Name at Woodstock is not Arlo but JIMI.
QOD: You can cut all the flowers, but you can’t stop spring. ~ Pablo Neruda (né Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, July 12, 1904 ~ Sept. 23, 1973) [I learned of Pablo Neruda from our dear friend Clear Ayes.]
DNF, not even close. I was going to look up an obscure name or two, but then realized I just don't care. A great puzzle for People Magazine, it seems out of place to me in the LAT.
ReplyDeleteDudley is right. But if the boat has a wheel an observer can't know where the rudder post is. An easier way is to remember "yawl is small". If anyone cares, the back sail is sometimes called the "jigger", and in big wind it is often set together with just the front-most sail - jib and jigger. Nice way to ride out a storm.
Thanks to Steve and condolences on the futbol disappointment.
SW Also had Arlo before Jimi appeared, also considered Joan.
ReplyDeleteNE and below, lots of proper names that filled with perps.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteInked in POEMS right off the BAT (Hi there, Hahtoolah!). Later I TOTED when it should've BORNE (not Jason). Wite-Out saved the day. I'd call YSAYE a Natick, but it doesn't rise to that level. It's just cruel. Especially when placed beside the also obscure (at least to me) NELLY. Not sure how I managed to get 'em both right. Thanx for the excursion, Frank.
Steve, I thought of you at the end of yesterday's game, but Croatia won it fair and square. It drives me crazy that instead of stopping the clock, they wait until the end of regulation play and add those lost minutes back in. RE: Breaking Bad, I don't think they bought that CARWASH until a late season in the show's run.
ASL: CSO to Lucina.
YAWL: CSO to Jinx and Dudley (I knew YAWL as a pilot. Didn't know you were a sailor too.)
BADGER: CSO to moi, though I admit that I never attended a single game.
IMO: Steve, your IMHO comment reminds me of "with all due respect." There's never any respect involved, but sometimes none is due.
A meh puzzle for me. Too many abbreviations and fill in the blank clues. No real flow.
ReplyDeleteA repost from last night:
ReplyDeleteHahtoolah, Your QOD: "Old age is a special problem for me because I’ve never been able to shed the mental image I have of myself ~ a lad of about 19. ~ E.B. White (July 11, 1899 ~ Oct. 1, 1985)"
SwampCat wrote" My stepmother remarried at age 65. As we were getting her dressed up for the wedding she looked in the mirror and said, “ Inside that old lady’s body is an 18 year old girl.”
- - I have been telling my co-residences today that "We are 18 year old souls in bodies that can't keep up."
Ðave
Well, I made a mess of this one, at least in the NE, but I don't like LIVER anyway.
ReplyDeleteThanks Frank, thanks Steve !
Imps for Gremlins kept me from the solve. Well that, and the Belgian violin virtuoso. I had STONe for obdurate so he was eSAYE.
Never thought of Lindsey VONN. Read skating rather than skiing. So AVANTI never appeared.
I like that "In a Big Country" song. First time seeing the video. The lead has a Patrick Swayze resemblance.
3 famous Belgians ? Chimay, Stella Artois, and waffles. For good measure, Belgian frites, and Belgian draft horses.
What did you say ? The lime-green one is particularly retching ?
D-O, agree about "stoppage time." Why should the referee be the only one who knows when the game will end? The clock is stopped during delays in American college soccer.
ReplyDeleteSteve, it is NOT necessarily an error to end a sentence with a preposition, just one of "their" rules repeated by generations without thinking. Still, it's something up with which the Grammar Police will not put. (Churchill?)
Actually, it was Ike.
DeleteWhat a slog. Way too many proper names. I lost count after ten. Not to mention abbreviations and fill in the blanks.
ReplyDeleteWas this puzzle CHOPPED LIVER? Hell No!!! My EGO made me work on it for an extra 15 minutes but the result was still......I LOSE. The Mid-Atlantic coast was an impossibility for me. I've never heard of NELLY Furtado (Futardo NELLY?), YSAYE, the Corinthians NO EYE, Never seen Breaking Bad- WAGged CAR CASH, or the saying ONCE OVER LIGHTLY. Tried OVOID for OVATE, OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) for ALAbama, and neither Obdurate nor STONY are words that I have ever used.
ReplyDeleteVITA, LOEWE, AVANTI (Studebaker?), Richard RUSSO-perps
AMC Gremlin- listed in the TOP-10 of the worst cars ever produced in the USA.
ONCE OVER was in place but LIGHTLY- sounds like a request for fried eggs.
"Twist"- thought IRONY, DANCE, SNARL, and GNARL but could make nothing work.
Famous Belgians you want Steve- I know TWO- WAFFLES & BLUE MOON beer(never tried 'Shock Top BELGIAN Beer)
I left out STELL ARTOIS
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jinx about the names. I hate puzzles that are obscure trivia contests. I struggled in a lot of places, was jubilant when some revealed themselves, but gave up with several gaps in the mid-section.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the soccer, Steve, but the good news is your French is getting a brushing up, although it's pretty good as is!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI found this on the challenging side and needed lots of perps to complete it. The completely unknowns were Vita, Super Villain, and Ysaye. My only w/os were Arlo/Jimi and Riata/Reata. Russo was a gimme as I've read several of his books and he is from Gloversville, NY. I've heard of Nelly Furtado but I couldn't tell you if he's a he or she's a she. I noticed the El Al ~ Et al entries and seeing Burl Ives evokes the image of him as Big Daddy in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." (Great title, IMO) CSO to Wilbur at Tampa. The theme was well hidden and the reveal a surprise, to me, anyway. I love chopped liver!
Thanks, Frank, for a Friday brain-buster and thanks, Steve, for the jolly good tour. Sorry for the WC disappointment. (I know as much about soccer as I know about yawls and ketches!)
CED, FLN, I hope you've recovered from your escapades with Layla.
Have a great day.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteDid y'all git YAWL. Thanks Dudley and Jinx for expanding on its comparison with 'ketch'.
FIR. Just needed to be patient. Some WAGging was needed. Much bright, varied fill triggering some new learnings such as the BOGO acronym, and CAR WASH.
The CHOPPED LIVER reveal helped get BURL IVES. Did not know he got an Oscar.
CSO to Tinman on Clearwater - TAMPA.
PROW - Listed as a synonym for 'stem'. On our DD, I can't recall PROW being used. The expression 'stem to stern' is in the language and frequently heard.
I have OILed hinges; don't think I've RE-OILed them. Well maybe. I guess if the squeak doesn't go away after the first squirt, one might RE-OIL. But I digress.
IM, now that's a different "take" on a WC disappointment! Just ask Mrs. Wolowitz.
ReplyDeleteNot to speak of my Haiku FLN at J-ville
DeleteWC
* That's Owen's new Jumble blog . Wonderfully crafted .The blog not the Haiku
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteGood theme, but beyond that, I did not enjoy this at all. As has been mentioned, too many proper names. The NELLY - YSAYE - BURLIVES cluster really is inexcusable. Add in AVANTI and it borders on criminal.
Did like GNARL. Looks like an old Anglo-Saxon word, but who knows?. It's derived from Middle English knurl, possibly related to Old Norse knǫrr.
Never watched Bourdain on any network.
Did Perot's friends just call him H?
Had the _MCS, but still couldn't suss the Gremlins. O MAN, I LOSE.
On a brighter note, had my cataract consultation yesterday. After a deep dive, with bright lights and aggressive dilation, we determined that surgery is not happening any time soon. It's out there in the future somewhere. We just don't know when.
Cool regards!
JzB
ReplyDeleteI had to switch to Red Letters with half of the puzzle blank. I agree with what many others have said about the obscure (at least to me) names and clues. I assume that Frank Virzi had to work hard to come up with them. I know Steve outdid himself in explaining it all to us. Way to go Steve. (as was said in "The Hunt for Red October" when the sub Dallas saved the Sub Red October from the torpedo)
IM, Did you get your latest delivery from Gibbles?
Not much else to say about the puzzle. Waiting for a killer tomorrow.
Three Arts festivals in the area this week, so getting ready to browse through the various offerings in Boalsburg, State College and Philipsburg. I don't buy much, but it is interesting to see the uniqueness and talent of the artisans. Between the three fesitvals there are around 600 booths to look at. Plus there is usually a lot of local foods to sample.
Have a great day everyone.
JzB - I had to look it up but GNARL in German is Knorren. Maybe they borrowed it from the Norse, too.
ReplyDeleteGood news on your eyes. I had 10 years of watch and wait, and finally got to the "ready" stage. Interference with night driving and rainy night driving is what tipped it for me. Only one eye so far.
Musings
ReplyDelete-Replacing STOCI with STONY gave me obscure YSAYE
-Musberger’s iconic LIVE catchphrase (:07)
-My powerful leaf blower cleans out that DRYER vent in a hurry
-I heard of VONN when she was dating this guy
-Our CAR WASH starts with four boys with power sprayers and we needed them all yesterday for our bug-splattered windshield and grill
-Those people who use “ball club” for FB also talk of that FB team’s homerun threat
-Racism and a bandana/DORAG
-Heads, I talk about my ILEUM. Tails, I spare my friends. It’s tails
-Politicians have to decide who they can afford to ALIENATE
-AVERS/AVOWS? I progressively had A _ _ _ _, A V _ _ _, A V _ _ S. Sigh…
-Me too on Stem, Spitz
-A fun read as always Steve. I wonder if the rest of the world finds our FB as boring as we do their FB
I enjoyed what little I got of this puzzle. I got overconfident when Frost lines for VERSE was so obvious. ELAL was easy too. Then the roof caved in. I had Joan before JIMI so I got JOY. The only other gimme was YAWL. Ketch wouldn’t fit. I guess every sailor learns the difference even if most of us never run into a YAWL.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the challenge. Etienne, merci.
Billocohoes, you beat me to the Churchill quote, one of my favorites when accosted by the grammar police.
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Frank. Liked your amusing expo, Steve.
ReplyDeleteOnce again a first word I didn't know: VITA. Doesn't sound like a game. I knew all the names except TSAYE & RUSSO - ESP.
But I immediately filled in AVANTI. So proud.
This puzzle went faster for me than some Fridays and I liked it, but the corners jammed full of names struck me as unfair. I know BURL IVES, but I backed into that one and had LIVES which obscured the man's name. Forgot he had an Oscar.
I got the theme with the reveal but it took a lot of perps to finally suss CHOPPED LIVER. I was familiar with the "What am I, etc." from TV, novels.
No idea what kind of VILLAIN Dr. O & Dr. D were.
Steve, ONCE OVER LIGHTLY sometimes refers to housekeeping habits as opposed to deep cleaning scrubbing etc.
Brother had a Gremlin. He loved it. We snickered behind his back.
Gimmee: I'm reading Noah Gordon's "Shaman" which gives some history of the Indian Hawkeye who was an IOWAN. (Really like it, YR. Thanks.)
Steve: I wonder where you've been that you haven't heard about the new Supreme Court nominee? Nuff said. Politics.
DNF,
ReplyDeletetoo many names, misdirections to even get a foothold
to start sussing...
Ovoid b/4 ovate
Sex b/4 ego
absolutely nothing b/4 gnarl...
HG, using a blower to clean dryer lint?
what a novel idea!
Oh well,
at least now I know what to put on
my nametag at the next crossword convention...
DO @ 9:12 ~ I get a kick out of your "eagle eye" that never misses a chance to turn our simple comments into humorous reinterpretations. I still remember when I said I had several people for lunch one day and your riposte was something like "Wow, you must have been really hungry!" What tickles my fancy even more is your almost daily admission of not getting the theme! How can you be so observant with our comments and so oblivious to the most obvious themes? As the King said, "Tis a puzzlement! 😇
ReplyDeleteoc4beach @ 9:25 ~ No, I haven't. In fact, I haven't even received the email they send once the order is shipped, giving you tracking information. From past experiences, I know that it takes several days from when you place an order to when they actually ship it. Once shipped, it arrives in two days vis USPS. (I placed my order on Sunday so I should be hearing from them soon.) I do miss not having any to munch on, which is a reminder to re-order when I'm down to the last few bags! 🙃
Interesting puzzle this morning. Like others, I figured it would be impossible with all the names, but Franj must have figured that and surrounded them with items we could get. As a result I slowly got almost all of this puzzle with just a bit of a blip in the YSAYE corner. And there was all that LIVER after the reveal--CHOPPED up just as Franj predicted. So, many thanks, for a fun puzzle, Franj, and great write-up as always, Etienne. Only, you need to watch a bit more US news--the Supreme Court all over the place in the past week.
ReplyDeleteLike others, had to fix some predictables, like replacing ARLO with JIMI. But I surprisingly got BAT right away, even though sports is not my strong point. Never heard of BOGO, but loved seeing YOYO in the puzzle. And had no problem with RENO as the gambling mecca.
JazzB, great to hear you can postpone your cataract surgery. I was able to do that with mine for a number of years until I realized I would have trouble reading airport and street signs on a planned Europe trip. Then the time had come. Had great results with my vision after the surgery, but sadly, my conjunctivitus is not clearing up, even though I've been using prescription drops for much of the week. Oh well, that's life.
Have a great day, everybody!
I took Steve's Supreme Court comment as tongue-cheek sarcasm.
ReplyDeleteThis was a FUN Thursday puzzle. Though I never did see the theme until Steve's excellent write-up.
ReplyDeleteGO CROATIA !!!
Cheers!
Thanks, Steve for the amusing review. I was thinking the same thing about EL AL and ET AL. Especially so since the CHOPPED LIVER expression is of American Jewish origin. Thanks for the explanation about HAWKEYE Pierce. But he was from Vermont in early TV episodes. Not sure why they made the switch to Crabapple Cove, Maine.
ReplyDeleteClever theme, but I did not figure it out until after the complete solve and then some more head scratching. Thought I FIR, but I FIW with LOEHE/HERE LIVE which seemed about as good. Hand up too many proper names.
Dudley and Jinx: Thanks for the expositions on YAWLs.
RANA means Frog in Spanish. It is the Latin genus name of "true frogs". My original study was herpetology.
Warning: The following link involves nudity:
Here are my Burning Man photos of another use of a POLE. This was the theme camp that we hosted.
Here are my G-rated MLK event photos and videos from last year.
AVANTI Popolo is the commonly known title of the Italian song Bandiera Rossa. The words start around 34 seconds in.
It is the theme song of the Italian Communist Party. Remember, they were our allies against Mussolini.
From yesterday:
ReplyDeleteWilbur Charles and PK: Thank you for the kind words!
PK: Glad you enjoyed my SEWAGE treatment plant photos. I don't think the peacocks cost much to maintain. I cannot remember the story behind them and they seem to be gone now. I bicycled past there yesterday afternoon and did not see any. I just emailed the main office there to see if they know the history.
Utica has its own La Banda Rossa
ReplyDeletePicard: I was told by neighbors who had peacocks that they are valuable because they eat a lot of bugs. Flies might be a problem around a waste treatment plant. My neighbors had a hog farrowing operation which produce a lot of flies. Peacocks seem duty bound to scream in the early morning when windows are open to catch the breeze. I'm, therefore, not fond of peacocks. My neighbors also thought the peacocks added an "elegance" to their place. How elegant can you get on a hog farm?
ReplyDeleteUm....I wasn’t aware that anyone who ever watched MASH thought Pierce was from Iowa. RADAR was from Iowa.
ReplyDeleteI got the solve without having any fun....my opinion of this “Trivial Pursuit” puzzle was 30D. It was.
Not much time to post as I have to go collect my sister from the airport and then have lunch together with our third sister and I've been on the telephone all morning since 9:30.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle was fairly easy if a bit strange in some areas such as YSAYE but I accepted it because it's a foreign name. I also never saw Breaking Bad but CARWASH was easily grokked.
EL Al is becoming common in CWs and I had ARLO before JIMI.
That's all I have time for at the moment. I'll read you all later.
Have a happy day, everyone! No leaks from yesterday's rain. Yay!
Testing Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Frank and Steve.
ReplyDeleteI got the theme early which helped with the fill, but I see on arriving here that I FIW. My reporter said "HERE LIVE" and since I did not know LOEWE, Loehe looked just as good (and no worse than YSAYE which fortunately filled in with perps).
Hand up for Arlo before JIMI and Toted before BORNE. My gremlins were Imps before AMCS. I did know NELLY and ELENA (I am getting those Supreme Court justices memorized!).
I always want to spell it Dew-rag; aren't they meant to absorb the sweat (dew). LOL!
I smiled at the consecutive clues "God with a bow" and Ma with a bow".
Also smiled at Steve's comment "Very nice - not the "rimes" but the "rhymes". Robert Frost."
FLN (in case some did not see my late post)- Many thanks for the birthday wishes and kind comments. I am blessed to share this blog with you all and add a little Canadian flavoUr.
Enjoy the rest of the day.
Re. Mohicans. We had COOPER recently and I ended up read JF's bio. Mark Twain didn't like the Leatherstocking Tales.
ReplyDeleteSTONY took awhile. Thought of STAID. Not to speak of NO/ONE/MAN. Finally worked it out.
I quickly penned POEMS. Forgot to change the P. I'm still taking FIR.
When I was in Jr high, we trooped across town to see Aunt Jemima on stage. Loved it. PC wasn't even in it's germination stage.
Misty I'm sorry about the conjunctivitis issue. Blame it on Belgium? Rio is*.
This was a xword for someone with a lot of time on his hands. I slogged and slogged, cursed the double proper names. I'm reading an old book by an Englishman recreating St Paul's journeys circa 1930s.
WC
* Brazil got knocked out by Belgium. Thought Brazil was the best team I saw.
PS I did like the write-up and both of those l'icks
ReplyDeleteI can't believe Fri will be tougher than today
WC
UGH!
ReplyDeleteFor the first time in quite a while, DNF. You may not have noticed, but there were TOO MANY NAMES! [end of rant]
Seriously—76 clues today, and 13 of them (at least; I might have missed some) were names. If I’ve done my maths correctly, that’s over 17%. Nearly one out of every five. Not fun for me and apparently I’m not alone.
Being a gamer for a very long time, I was surprised that there was a console (VITA) that I had never heard of. Live and learn.
Steve, your writeup was excellent, as usual. The "my maths" was a SO to you.
Maybe tomorrow…
The "Bro's" I know wear a "Do-Rag!" Not a do-rag.
ReplyDeleteDu-Rag
DeleteI can't say I liked this puzzle. As Jazzbumpa said, "Good theme, but beyond that, I did not enjoy this at all." As Jinx said, "A great puzzle for People Magazine." As kazie said, this puzzle was simply an "obscure trivia contest." Or as AnonymousPVX called it, a "Trivial Pursuit" puzzle.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that in this font stem looks like stern.
Good wishes to you all.
Picard!
ReplyDeleteHoly Camoly!
Now you know what to post if you want people to rave about your pics!
But what is the story behind all this!
(Do tell...)
(I'm sure it's not chopped liver...)
Ta- DA!
ReplyDeleteA tough but do-able pzl from Mr. Virzi - the kind of pzl that seems insurmountable until P&P&P pay off with the win. I did not like the conjunction of proper names, but I did enjoy much of the cluing.
"Ma with a bow" almost did me in. Funny, because I am very familiar with YOYO Ma's work and have met him on one occasion. Steve asked for another cellist's name, and then invalidated the two that leap to mind.
But, LOL, I could name my former sister-in-law - if I wanted!
Yes, ET AL as a 2nd Israeli line was funny! Now, can anybody think of another Aussie airline than QANTAS?
(How about QUANTAS, the line for AutoCorrecters?)
~ OMK
____________
Diagonal Report: Two today - the mainline (NW to SE) and the mirror (NE to SW).
The main line offers the following anagram tale:
Lu was an attractive but somewhat empty-headed young dancer. Pete, the manager of her favorite club, asked her repeatedly to contain some of the more graphic aspects of her moves on the dance floor. But Lu was not one to practice restraint. In fact she, and a group of unofficial female followers, had been working on a series of new gyrations and explicit gestures that they intended to present in the semi-nude on Saturday night, a group bacchanalia that would be their “signature” choreography.
When Pete got word of this, he went directly to Lu and tried to talk her out of her plan. It was all in vain, for Lu was nothing if not a determined exhibitionist.
When Saturday midnight rolled around she signaled to her cohort and they all stripped their excess clothing and went into their joyous routine!
What was the fallout? Well, it turned out to be such a hit with the rest of Pete’s clientele that he signed Lu to a contract and paid for a huge sign to be placed on the roof of his club, advertising,
“LU (the) BIMBO’S REVELRY!”
.
Okay, Owen, how ever did you learn about the early Lý dynasty? If you want obscure, I think the emperor Hậu Lý Nam Đế will do.
ReplyDeleteC-eh @ 2:22 -- It's called a 'do-rag' 'cause it's for the hair-DO.
ReplyDeleteCrossEyedDave: Are you referring to my POLE photos? So far you are the only one who seems to have noticed! These are exactly the situations that mystify me. Glad you enjoyed them!
ReplyDeletePK: Thanks for the further stories and interest in the peacocks!
As it turns out I was asking at a very lucky moment. The one person who knows about the peacocks at our SEWAGE treatment plant was just about to retire after 31 years! Below was the forwarded full story. (They are off by at least two years since my photos were from 1995. But I trust that the overall story is correct.)
“…it was around 1997 that we picked up a trio of peacocks from animal rescue that was thought would add to the lush landscaping we had here…within a couple years those three turned into twelve peacocks and the noise they made began irritate everyone working, it started to sound like a jungle here…But the straw that broke the camel’s back was that the peacocks started crossing over into the airport terminal and would go inside the buildings and baggage handling facility, that the airport would call us to come chase them back. This became a daily ritual, so we rounded them up one day and gave them to a nearby ranch who let them loose on their property in Winchester Canyon.”
d-o
ReplyDeleteThank you for the CSO but I shall have to decline. I taught ESL(English as a second language) and would love to know ASL(American sign language) but have never had the pleasure of learning it.
What an exhausting day this has been and now it's time to start dinner!
Lucina, I never thought to say I am familiar with ASL. I have a severe hearing loss and attended school with totally deaf people. We had a signer tell us of the lecture and I picked up a lot of ASL.
ReplyDeleteThe most fun is that “thank you” is the usual sign for a kiss. Fingers to lips. But “you are welcome “ is the same sign. I send you a kiss and you send a kiss back to me.
Somehow that pleased me very much!
Picard, at first blush I was fairly sure I strongly objected to the pole pictures. Just to be sure, I reviewed them again and thought they were OK. Purely as a tiebreaker I reviewed them yet again. Yup, not a single thing to complain about in those pictures. Nothing at all.
ReplyDeleteBTW, they couldn't haven't gotten twelve peacocks from the original three. One or two of the adopted peafowl must have been hens.
Picard: I had to laugh at your peacock story & Jinx's BTW. My neighbor's peacocks also got to roaming. They often were seen standing in the middle of a nearby road which had little travel except during harvest when it was a main thoroughfare for big grain trucks on their way to the elevators half a mile away. I'll spare you the gory details of that wheat harvest time. One pair was taken to the rest home which was built on a square with a patio garden area in the middle. The peafowl were to be contained in the center. But they didn't clip their wings. The cock liked to fly up and sit on the edge of the building and splatter a window below. Not much appreciated. Old people with rooms overlooking the patio complained of the noise even though most of them were somewhat deaf. I never heard what finally happened to them, but they disappeared. My mother was a resident at the time. She claimed she couldn't go out to the patio anymore because the cock chased her. Oh, the drama!
ReplyDeleteAll the talk about Begium and I am surprised not even Tinbeni mentioned that Budweiser is owned by a Belgian Company. Frog is not a nice thing to a person of French descent. We went back to the Escargot Bistro with a couple of friends and it was excellent again. Come to town, we will take you.
ReplyDeleteET AL again! I know ET means "and", but who is that guy AL?
ReplyDeleteSteve - great writeup as always. Re: 65a - Mstislav Rostropovich, Julian Lloyd Webber. And by the way, it's
ReplyDeleteJacqueline du Pré, a genuine child prodigy who started a brilliant solo career at a very young age and tragically had to stop playing at age 28 and died at 42 of MS. Fascinating Wiki, including 2 more great cellists' names, her teachers: William Pleeth and Paul Tortelier.
27d - I have more interest in a violinist than I do in La Tour, but don't recognize this name either.
Picard - nice pics of MLK parade and the Italian sing-along. Oh, yeah, the ones of the pole dancers weren't too bad either. Seriously, I did enjoy all the bare flesh, and was impressed with the amount of skill and strength it must take to do that - especially the horizontal positions where they're just hanging on with their legs - wow! Now that's more like what Burning Man is all about in my mind...
As European I always struggle with brand names (amcs), culture (beav??), mayors (emanuel) and civil war (score huh?). But actually these could be guessed. Puzzled as all here with Ysaye (the author googled it, I’m sure).
ReplyDeleteNo problem at all with Vita, Car wash or Avanti, I guess I am younger generation than most of other solvers here.
Actually not bad result for English as a second language guy...
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteWhat Jinx & EES... I'm sporting CED's "Chopped Liver" name-tag as I type. Jeesh.
Thanks for the effort Frank (or is it Franj? - that's what the paper printed) but it was kind of a fun-sponge [see: names]. The bottom filled fine but much OVER LIGHTLY is unfinished. Didn't help I was smart-by-half and insisted on ROy for OVERLY sH--- [I had sNARL]. DNF. //other than that, I thought the theme was cool and it got me BURL IVES (hi Spitz!)
Thanks for the expo Steve. Great fun to refill the empty the sponge [I loved the Title you gave it!; EL AL, ET AL - good show!]
Did you also answer Chess for hobby? And 'let them fight it out'? Perhaps that's why I got the same SUPER VILLAIN monicker as you on the quiz.
Other misfill - "hERE, LIVE (At the UGLY scene of puzzle carnage...)"
Fav: Ma with a bow was great misdirection IMO. //C, Eh!, I missed that sequence of Ma & God... I was bouncing around too much I guess. Nice catch.
{B, A}
WC - I wouldn't bet tomorrow is harder than today... For what seems like months now, I've not been able to FIR on Thurs. and have to rely on Steve's grid while Lem & I just nod together at Fri's answers.
TTP - a much needed LOL @7:33a w/ retching Grimlins.
PK - I'm a tech geek and have many gamer friends (add WikWak to that list) and I've never heard of VITA either; I'll assume it was as floppish as the Microsoft Zune and Ford's Edsel.
IM - I'm still enjoying my Gibble's but I think you should be more proactive and submit a new order when your current order arrives. They do take their time in PA. :-)
Lucina - I leaned ASL in BSA and more advanced stuff w/ my Mom at community college class she took when I was 10. It only came in handy once [now, if I'd had payed attn in Spanish class...] - I was buying crawfish in S. LA and they said 10 more minutes for the next batch.
A black guy looked like he was getting seriously frustrated that no one would take his order. Somehow, I sussed he was deaf and hence didn't hear the "hold time." I was able to sign to him and assuage his frustration. He was so happy someone could explain it to him. [I eventually had to take out my Palm Treo 650 and type messages to him - I wasn't that good in ASL :-)]
Y SAYE it? I will, 'Cuz that c/a is just SUPER evil.
PK - your Mom was upset because, even at her age, a cock was chasing her?
//I'll see myself out...
Wish I had fun links for YAWL but it's back to work.
Cheers, -T
Tony: My mom was so strait laced that even in college she wouldn't date because she didn't want to worry her mother. When she finally went out with my dad she would take her girl friend along as chaperone. How she had 5 children, I'll never know.
ReplyDeletePK:
ReplyDeleteLOL about your mom being strait laced yet having five children. Pardon me for saying so, but I'll bet she learned to undo her laces and likely from your dad.
I have to say I did not find this puzzle as difficult as most of you seemed to have; I finished in usual time but could not post until very late. LOEWE, YSAYSE, HROSS, JIMI, YOYO, EMANUEL, BURL IVES, with the exception of YSAYSE and Furtado, are commonly known names (to me) in politics, the arts and cinema. Normally that many names would bother me if I they were unknown and I can understand why some would object to them. The unknown ones I mentioned were sussed with little trouble.
AnonT:
How very kind of you to sense that deaf man's discomfort and to step up to help him.
PK - I'm w/ Lucina on LOL @strait (un)lace...
ReplyDeleteWork is never done but I am - for today.
On my way out... I found y'all a fun link: An AMC Gremlin on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee w/ Seinfeld & Jon Stewart. Don't say I never did nothin' for ya. :-)
Cheers, -T