Theme: On/Off Switch - replacing one with the other in the theme entries, to whit:
17A. Exhale over scalding coffee?: BLOW ON STEAM. I can't get started without a nice cup of hot Joe. I cracked my (glass) french press this morning ignoring the instructions not to stir the grounds with a metal spoon. I just ordered a stainless steel replacement. That solves one problem.
27A. Discontinue slanted material in articles?: CUT OFF THE BIAS. To cut on the bias is a tailoring term, cutting on a diagonal across the weave.
45A. Visit some animal shelter residents?: CALL ON THE DOGS. My brother and his wife vacation each year on Skiathos, one of the Greek islands. The local animal shelter lets registered visitors take a dog out for a walk, for a fee - a kind of "Rent-a-Dog" service.
61A. Delay passing a congressional bill?: PUT OFF AN ACT. Which is what a filibuster is for. Great word, by the way.
When you see Gail and Bruce on a by-line, you know that you're in for a smooth experience. These two are pros at the constructing game. This one is no exception (although I do have one Yuk! moment, more on that shortly). A nice theme, nothing contrived.
I do question the central PODIUMS entry being clued in the same way as the theme entries (the ..? convention) - it bugged me that it had nothing to do with the theme, but was front and center as if it did. Unless I missed something, entirely possible!
Without further ado, let's go and see what jumps out.
Across:
1. New England sch.: UMASS. Didn't even blink! University of Massachusetts.
6. Dominant: ALPHA
11. Chest protector: BIB
14. Up: RISEN
15. Stunt cyclist, e.g.: DARER. This is my "yuk!" moment. Technically correct, but "in the language?" Not so much, IMHO.
16. Valuable extraction: ORE
19. Bit of muesli: OAT
20. Mariners' home, familiarly: SAFECO. Safeco Field, home of Seattle Mariners baseball. It's on the waterfront next door to the football and soccer stadium. Great locations, both.
21. Bilingual subj.: E.S.L. English as a Second Language.
22. July 4th events, briefly: BBQS
23. Five-O cop: DANO. The one with the book.
25. James or Jones of jazz: ETTA
32. Letters of urgency: ASAP. It seems to go without saying in my business world. Everyone wants everything yesterday, and mainly for free.
34. Long of "In Too Deep": NIA. Thank you crosses. Here she is:
35. Broad neckwear: ASCOT. I got tripped up a little here as I had "BARB" for Ms. Streisand before I came back to this one.
36. One in an airport queue: CAB
37. Talking points?: PODIUMS
40. Memorable 1969 bride: ONO
41. Harry's Hogwarts nemesis: DRACO. Potter, meet your nemesis, Malfoy. I think that's right. He's pretty slick at the old "occlumency" thing, apparently.
43. Letters in an unfilled sched. slot: TBA. Could have been TBD, my first thought. Wasn't.
44. From the top: ANEW
49. Classroom "I know! I know!": OH! OH!
50. First name in country: REBA. McEntire.
51. Did a number: SANG. Reba's probably done one or two in her time.
54. Small application: DAB
56. Ear inflammation: OTITIS. I swear it was OTOSIS, so that was a bump in the road for a moment.
60. Fire: AXE. Not a fire axe? No, not a fire axe, The pink slip kind of axe.
63. General Mills cereal: KIX
64. Metal giant: ALCOA. Aluminium. Heh heh - that's cool, no objection from Spellcheck.
65. Debate topic: ISSUE
66. Id follower?: EST
67. Conductor Zubin: MEHTA. Here he is leading the LA Phil through Mozart's Bassoon Concerto K.191.
68. Arms treaty subj.: N-TEST
Down:
1. Cities, informally: URBS. I like this - if the suburbs are a distance from the city, the city must be the urb. Awesome.
2. Kunis of "Black Swan": MILA
3. Starting on: AS OF
4. Clinched: SEWED UP. Vive d'equipe de France! Allez Les Bleus! France clinched the World Cup last Sunday with a win over less-fancied Croatia. Formidable! They day after Bastille Day too.
5. Treaded winter vehicle: SNO-CAT
6. Wikipedia lacks them: ADS. I thought of EDS first, in spite of knowing full well that there are editors. I'll give these folks a plug - when they have their next fundraiser, consider contributing. No amount too small.
7. Untimely?: LATE
8. Like alarm clocks: PRE-SET.
9. Part of HMO: HEALTH. Maintenance Organization.
10. Half of a very high price?: ARM. Add the leg and you're emptying your wallet. Can you pay a leg for a moderately high-priced item?
11. Schmo: BOOB
12. Green Zone country: IRAQ
13. Action at the track: BETS
18. "That's all wrong!": NO! NO! NO!
22. Streisand, in fanzines: BABS. Not BARB. My bad.
24. "The Wizard __": OF ID. Trap well and truly fallen into. Not Oz. I love the strip:
26. They usually end up in hot water: TEAS. Teabags was my first thought, I wasn't a million miles off.
27. Plotting group: CABAL
28. Hill of country: FAITH. More country singers. She should do a duet with Reba. Actually, I just found that she did. You can go look for it if you like, it's on YouTube.
29. iPhone array: ICONS. I used to create icons as a programmer back in the day when you had a canvas of only 16x16 dots and 255 colors. I think I spent too much time messing around with Paintbrush, and not enough time testing my code, in hindsight.
30. Top-drawer: A-ONE
31. Stash: STOW
32. Adapter letters: AC/DC
33. "Waitress" Tony nominee Bareilles: SARA. More gratitude to the cross-Gods from me. I should send 'em a thank-you gift.
37. "Hunny" lover: POOH. Tiggers don't like it though, as wonderfully drawn by E.H. Shepard.
38. Lyft alternative: UBER
39. Fashioned from: MADE OF
42. Heavy shoe: CLOG
44. Saying nay to: AGAINST
46. Plant root growth: NODULE
47. Pastoral roofing: THATCH. I lived in a thatched cottage before I moved to the US. It's been extended and refurbished since I lived there, but still very much recognizable. Thanks to Google Spy - I mean Maps - for the update.
48. Get one's hands on: OBTAIN
51. Sushi go-with: SAKE. I've got a nice selection in the pantry and the fridge for when the sushi moment strikes.
52. Allies' enemy: AXIS. Germany, Italy and Japan in WWII, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey in WWI.
53. Coming right up: NEXT
55. One in an UGG box: BOOT. Apparently you can't buy new, genuine Uggs from an eBay store It's against the retailer agreement to sell them on auction sites. So now you know.
57. Shock, in a way: TASE
58. Post-op areas: ICU'S
59. "Leave it in" mark: STET. When pundits, recently, were calling for Dele Alli to be dropped from the England World Cup soccer team, I started calling him "Stet" Alli. I thought it was funny. Apparently I was in a minority of one.
61. Bobby's wife on "Dallas": PAM. She had the permanently-surprised look and acted with her eyebrows. Linda Gray, who portrayed JR's wife, emoted primarily with her chin.
62. Pilot-licensing org.: F.A.A. Federal Aviation Authority.
And - here's the grid.
This blog now complete, errors and omissions excepted. Just need to post my new disclaimer:
Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information provided on the Thursday Blog, whether disseminated via browser, social media sites and/or mobile applications, Blogger Steve makes no express or implied warranty as to the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of the information. Blogger Steve provides this information via all online services and platforms on an "as is" basis. While there may be changes to information on topics covered on the Thursday Blog, these changes may or may not be made available electronically on the main page.
There, that should cover my ass this week. Here's the grid!
Steve
17A. Exhale over scalding coffee?: BLOW ON STEAM. I can't get started without a nice cup of hot Joe. I cracked my (glass) french press this morning ignoring the instructions not to stir the grounds with a metal spoon. I just ordered a stainless steel replacement. That solves one problem.
27A. Discontinue slanted material in articles?: CUT OFF THE BIAS. To cut on the bias is a tailoring term, cutting on a diagonal across the weave.
45A. Visit some animal shelter residents?: CALL ON THE DOGS. My brother and his wife vacation each year on Skiathos, one of the Greek islands. The local animal shelter lets registered visitors take a dog out for a walk, for a fee - a kind of "Rent-a-Dog" service.
61A. Delay passing a congressional bill?: PUT OFF AN ACT. Which is what a filibuster is for. Great word, by the way.
When you see Gail and Bruce on a by-line, you know that you're in for a smooth experience. These two are pros at the constructing game. This one is no exception (although I do have one Yuk! moment, more on that shortly). A nice theme, nothing contrived.
I do question the central PODIUMS entry being clued in the same way as the theme entries (the ..? convention) - it bugged me that it had nothing to do with the theme, but was front and center as if it did. Unless I missed something, entirely possible!
Without further ado, let's go and see what jumps out.
Across:
1. New England sch.: UMASS. Didn't even blink! University of Massachusetts.
6. Dominant: ALPHA
11. Chest protector: BIB
14. Up: RISEN
15. Stunt cyclist, e.g.: DARER. This is my "yuk!" moment. Technically correct, but "in the language?" Not so much, IMHO.
16. Valuable extraction: ORE
19. Bit of muesli: OAT
20. Mariners' home, familiarly: SAFECO. Safeco Field, home of Seattle Mariners baseball. It's on the waterfront next door to the football and soccer stadium. Great locations, both.
21. Bilingual subj.: E.S.L. English as a Second Language.
22. July 4th events, briefly: BBQS
23. Five-O cop: DANO. The one with the book.
25. James or Jones of jazz: ETTA
32. Letters of urgency: ASAP. It seems to go without saying in my business world. Everyone wants everything yesterday, and mainly for free.
34. Long of "In Too Deep": NIA. Thank you crosses. Here she is:
35. Broad neckwear: ASCOT. I got tripped up a little here as I had "BARB" for Ms. Streisand before I came back to this one.
36. One in an airport queue: CAB
37. Talking points?: PODIUMS
40. Memorable 1969 bride: ONO
41. Harry's Hogwarts nemesis: DRACO. Potter, meet your nemesis, Malfoy. I think that's right. He's pretty slick at the old "occlumency" thing, apparently.
43. Letters in an unfilled sched. slot: TBA. Could have been TBD, my first thought. Wasn't.
44. From the top: ANEW
49. Classroom "I know! I know!": OH! OH!
50. First name in country: REBA. McEntire.
51. Did a number: SANG. Reba's probably done one or two in her time.
54. Small application: DAB
56. Ear inflammation: OTITIS. I swear it was OTOSIS, so that was a bump in the road for a moment.
60. Fire: AXE. Not a fire axe? No, not a fire axe, The pink slip kind of axe.
63. General Mills cereal: KIX
64. Metal giant: ALCOA. Aluminium. Heh heh - that's cool, no objection from Spellcheck.
65. Debate topic: ISSUE
66. Id follower?: EST
67. Conductor Zubin: MEHTA. Here he is leading the LA Phil through Mozart's Bassoon Concerto K.191.
68. Arms treaty subj.: N-TEST
Down:
1. Cities, informally: URBS. I like this - if the suburbs are a distance from the city, the city must be the urb. Awesome.
2. Kunis of "Black Swan": MILA
3. Starting on: AS OF
4. Clinched: SEWED UP. Vive d'equipe de France! Allez Les Bleus! France clinched the World Cup last Sunday with a win over less-fancied Croatia. Formidable! They day after Bastille Day too.
5. Treaded winter vehicle: SNO-CAT
6. Wikipedia lacks them: ADS. I thought of EDS first, in spite of knowing full well that there are editors. I'll give these folks a plug - when they have their next fundraiser, consider contributing. No amount too small.
7. Untimely?: LATE
8. Like alarm clocks: PRE-SET.
9. Part of HMO: HEALTH. Maintenance Organization.
10. Half of a very high price?: ARM. Add the leg and you're emptying your wallet. Can you pay a leg for a moderately high-priced item?
11. Schmo: BOOB
12. Green Zone country: IRAQ
13. Action at the track: BETS
18. "That's all wrong!": NO! NO! NO!
22. Streisand, in fanzines: BABS. Not BARB. My bad.
24. "The Wizard __": OF ID. Trap well and truly fallen into. Not Oz. I love the strip:
26. They usually end up in hot water: TEAS. Teabags was my first thought, I wasn't a million miles off.
27. Plotting group: CABAL
28. Hill of country: FAITH. More country singers. She should do a duet with Reba. Actually, I just found that she did. You can go look for it if you like, it's on YouTube.
29. iPhone array: ICONS. I used to create icons as a programmer back in the day when you had a canvas of only 16x16 dots and 255 colors. I think I spent too much time messing around with Paintbrush, and not enough time testing my code, in hindsight.
30. Top-drawer: A-ONE
31. Stash: STOW
32. Adapter letters: AC/DC
33. "Waitress" Tony nominee Bareilles: SARA. More gratitude to the cross-Gods from me. I should send 'em a thank-you gift.
37. "Hunny" lover: POOH. Tiggers don't like it though, as wonderfully drawn by E.H. Shepard.
38. Lyft alternative: UBER
39. Fashioned from: MADE OF
42. Heavy shoe: CLOG
44. Saying nay to: AGAINST
46. Plant root growth: NODULE
47. Pastoral roofing: THATCH. I lived in a thatched cottage before I moved to the US. It's been extended and refurbished since I lived there, but still very much recognizable. Thanks to Google Spy - I mean Maps - for the update.
48. Get one's hands on: OBTAIN
51. Sushi go-with: SAKE. I've got a nice selection in the pantry and the fridge for when the sushi moment strikes.
52. Allies' enemy: AXIS. Germany, Italy and Japan in WWII, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey in WWI.
53. Coming right up: NEXT
55. One in an UGG box: BOOT. Apparently you can't buy new, genuine Uggs from an eBay store It's against the retailer agreement to sell them on auction sites. So now you know.
57. Shock, in a way: TASE
58. Post-op areas: ICU'S
59. "Leave it in" mark: STET. When pundits, recently, were calling for Dele Alli to be dropped from the England World Cup soccer team, I started calling him "Stet" Alli. I thought it was funny. Apparently I was in a minority of one.
61. Bobby's wife on "Dallas": PAM. She had the permanently-surprised look and acted with her eyebrows. Linda Gray, who portrayed JR's wife, emoted primarily with her chin.
62. Pilot-licensing org.: F.A.A. Federal Aviation Authority.
And - here's the grid.
This blog now complete, errors and omissions excepted. Just need to post my new disclaimer:
Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information provided on the Thursday Blog, whether disseminated via browser, social media sites and/or mobile applications, Blogger Steve makes no express or implied warranty as to the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of the information. Blogger Steve provides this information via all online services and platforms on an "as is" basis. While there may be changes to information on topics covered on the Thursday Blog, these changes may or may not be made available electronically on the main page.
There, that should cover my ass this week. Here's the grid!
Steve
67 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Gail, Bruce and Steve!
Nice, easy puzzle!
Easier than Wednesday, which I worked today also! (Thanks to Jeffrey and JzB!)
UMASS and SAFECO needed a few perps as did SARA and PAM.
Have lost 51 pounds on Keto diet. (They have a wheelchair at Facey Medical, where I went Tuesday.) Thirty more to go!
Enjoyed all 80-something posts yesterday. (I am in Wiki, as someone pointed out.)
Have a great day!
My eldest grandson goes by Dan-O, though he hasn't gone to college yet.
DAN-O went to college at U. MASS.
He labored to OBTAIN the grades to pass.
At physics he did swell.
English? Down the well.
That's why asking someone's weight, he'd say, "U MASS?"
SARA had an idea, she thought it would be smooth
To take a cylinder of mesh and put it on while nude.
Indeed, she put on two
To do what a bra should do --
Some guys were really turned on by her BOOB tubes!
Good Morning Corner Cloggers.
Thanks Ms. Gail Grabowski and Mr. Bruce Venzke for this challenging Thursday CWP which required P & P to FIR in 31:07.
Thanks Blogger Steve for the CYA review. Nice PIC of your cottage. Does the thatch impart a fragrance in the cottage?
Picard FLN Thanks for the Rubics³.
Ðave
Steve, I nominate this for the Corner blog of the year, the disclaimer at the end is priceless. The puzzle itself was also fun with a simple but clever theme.
I did not know "Waitress" Tony nominee Bareilles: SARA and was surprised to see ASCOT again. Also the Horshack - Classroom "I know! I know!": OH! OH!.
-ITIS means inflammation, e.g. arthritis, pancreatitis etc.
Bobby's wife PAM was played by Victoria Principal who I met during the filming of THE NAKED APE . She was a star, I was an extra. She was very nice.
Cutting on the bias refers to more than sewing, which I do not do. CUT STEAK .
Thank you Steve and GAB.
Did you mean "to wit"?
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
I am here much earlier than usual.
Puzzle was not easy, but I got it done. Just like yesterday.
Caught the theme after I was done.
Some tough ones; MEHTA, OTITIS, DRACO, NIA, MILA, SARA, and FAITH. Perps and wags.
JJM: Read my note from yesterday.
Weather looks great today. Meeting with the cornerites for lunch. Should be fun!
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Good morning!
U OF R.I. (which gave me FROM), OF OZ and BARB went in, and then the Wite-Out came out. Got the theme at the second long answer, and that helped a lot. Thanx, GG and BV, I really enjoyed the Would/Wouldn't theme. Steve, I thought Stet Alli was very funny, even though I've never heard of him before. You disclaimer was great, too.
SAFECO: Tried to work out what city that was supposed to be. D'oh!
Call off the dogs: I sent that message to Methodist Hospital when they kept robo-calling me to watch a video. I finally went to the site, "logged in" and pressed play and closed my browser. Then I got robo-calls to finish watching the video. Jeez!
ALCOA: Steve, IIRC, the Sunday afternoon magazine program Omnibus was sponsored by ALCOA, and Alistair Cooke pronounced it "Aluminium."
Too much work for not enough reward.
Creative theme - not surprising given our constructors!
Thanks for all the kind words about my mom- she has been in rehab almost a week and is making progress. I hope she works hard at her rehab - she is somewhat allergic to exercise which doesn't help- but I hope she wants to go back to being independent to keep at it!
Thanks Steve and Gail/Bruce!
Hand up for OZ
AXIS only applies to WWII. During the Great War Germany et al were called the Central Powers.
Comment re "Dallas" actresses reminded me of Dorothy Parker's review of Katherine Hepburn: “She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.” (Parker later said it was a joke)
Isn't the plural of podium: podia?
Good morning everyone.
Steve, thanks for the declaration of your weasel wordly acceptance conditions. Publishing it in mouse print makes it more legal.
Another GG and BV puzzle. Thanks. Cute ON/OFF theme. Solve was cavitating at first but then dug in in the SE and E and progressed W. @ 24d, had "of Oz" before "OF ID". Guess I fell into the trap. FIR. BZ to the authors.
THATCH - German Reetdach or "reed covering'. My aunt in northern Germany still had a thatched roof when we visited with her in the mid '60's. It was about a foot thick. I think most of the roofs have been converted to modern materials by now.
Anon @ 0804. Well, you could LIU. But you must be too busy, so it's easier to just shoot from the hip. If you did, you would find that either is acceptable.
Thank you Gail and Bruce, and thank you Steve. Loved the disclaimer.
Bounced around following the path of least resistance. Was staring at C-LLo-THEDOGS and wondered why there wasn't enough space for OFF. Moved on and quickly had a similar dilemma at PUT OFF AN ACT. That was my aha! moment.
Had NIA before I read the Wizard clue, so didn't fall into that trap. Didn't know SA-A or D-ACO but guessed that blank cell needed an R.
Thought Steve was kidding when I read OTITIS and his comment. Didn't see the clue and never saw the answer. Looked back at the grid, and sure enough, there it was at 56A.
Gotta get moving. For those interested, I posted the link to the Reader's Digest - Regional Sayings and Phrases in yesterday's comments.
Hi Y'all! Got the simple ON-OFF theme early which helped. Good one, Gail & Bruce. Really clever, Steve.
UMASS was all perps. Had some lucky WAGs on this, like URBS. Knew all the proper names except DRACO, but never heard of Streisand being called BABS. Grated on my sense of respecting her.
FAA: my USAF-ret. son works for them now. 2nd CSO this week.
My friend picked me up at SeaTac and was rushing to make the ferry to the Olympic Peninsula. We got stuck in the heavy traffic around SAFECO Field just before the start of a game. We missed the ferry and had to wait a long time for the next. My friend called the field some choice names but I didn't remember any of them being SAFECO.
Spitz, well said. LIU
OFF/ON SWITCH, very clever. I like interesting themes like this one. Great puzzle and expo.
Zubin Mehta appears frequently on NPR.
Alan loves REBA's old sitcoms and has all the seasons on DVD He used to watch it endlessly. Now he is into the old Brady Bunch and Everyone Loves Raymond, again, endlessly.
I like Kirin beer with my sushi. I don't care for most sake. A friend had a bottle of extremely expensive sake which he shared. That I liked, but it is too rich for my wallet.
Inanehiker, I must have missed the post on your mom while I was away. Sorry to hear she has a problem. What happened? I hope she continues to improve and regains her independence.
OMK from last night. You caught me but good! I make no apologies for High Noon. I haven’t heard or thought of it in , oh, 50 or 60 years. And I probably did hear it wrong then.
As for confusing the Elizabeths there is no excuse. There aren’t even that many of them! And Henry hardly had an armada when Jacquetta whistled up her wind.... if she did.
I’ll take my lashes with a wet noodle. Perhaps I was bewitched.
Loved today’s puzzle, especially Id follower. Thanks Gail and Bruce. Excellent expo!
A+
Hi gang -
Typical Thursday experience. Lots of hunting and pecking, moments of despair and aha, and eventually all finished.
Sadly, though, wrong today. Couldn't give p SEWN, even when spelt SEWEN. So, NANO for DAN-O. H 5-O is too far in the past, I guess.
I like the theme and most of the puzzle. A few too many proper names for my taste. [Optimum number is 0.]
I SANG a song at rehearsal last night. I'm not Cab, but gave it my best shot.
Cool regards!
JzB
OMK & SwampCat, maybe Frankie Laine said "his and," but Tex Ritter, who sang it on the movie soundtrack, said "his'n."
Nope, just listened to Frankie Laine, and he clearly says "his'n" at the 1:30 point.
Musings
-I loved your write-up and disclaimer Steve!
-SA_A/D_ACO Natick turned out to be pretty obvious
-Dem. Harry Reid changed the filibuster rules when he was the Sen. Maj. leader and now regrets it mightily
-CAB and its destroyer UBER in the same puzzle
-When REBA sang the national anthem at a Husker/Sooner FB game, she inserted a lot of extra notes
-Omaha Public Schools has a big shortfall and has decided to AXE administrators who never see kids!
-Granddaughter’s boyfriend is a national champion debater and is teaching this skill in China and Korea this summer
-My PRESET, internal alarm clock never fails to work. I’ve forgotten how to set the alarm on my 30 year old radio/alarm
-My father was a product of the “Dirty 30’s” and STASHED everything. It took three days to clean out his garage and basement
-FORE!
D-O er al, How interesting that HIS’N has risen to the level of debate. I wonder if the written lyrics might be more formal/correct but singing the words involves less strict pronunciation. We’re not talking grand opera here!
Sloppy typing! ET AL*
Hi everybody.
I finished this fairly quickly and enjoyed all of it. Thanks.
I love Fred Thursday. I like his face, the predictability of his sandwiches, etc. I especially like it when he says, "Mind how you go now."
Locally, there will be a transit of the ISS in front of the moon this evening. It doesn't last long. I will try to catch it though my IS binoculars.
Good Morning:
A late week puzzle from Gail and Bruce is rare but most welcome, especially when it's such an enjoyable solve. I ran into a few stumbling blocks but the perps were fair, so all of the wrinkles got ironed out. (How's that for mixing metaphors!) The theme was evident after filing in the second theme answer. The most clever and comical, IMO, was Call on the dogs. I, too, fell into the Oz ~ Id trap but Poziums just didn't cut it. Also had Boor/Boob and Mira/Mila, which was just careless as I know Mila Kunis vs Mira Sorvino. CSO to Keith at Ascot. I will never see that word again without seeing a young, Ascot-ed Keith! Urbs took me a while because I was seeing Cites instead of Cities. Fun to see both Cab and Uber. My favorite C/A was Half of a very high price=Arm. Harry Potter joins the Smurfs, Muppets, The Simpsons, et al references that will always require perps for Moi.
Thanks, Gail and Bruce, for a truly delightful offering and thanks, Steve, for your equally delightful expo and for the Zubin Mehta link. I so enjoyed his conducting of The Three Tenors performances. Zubin and Luciano were a theatrical match made in Heaven. BTW, I agree with you on Darer.
Ferm, congrats on your weight loss. Keep up the good work!
inanehiker, I hope the PT goes well for your Mom.
Looking forward to hearing about the Chicago contingent's culinary caper! (Sorry, I can't resist alliteration!)
Have a great day.
Puzzle is done, but no time right now.
(must take the Dog to the Dog Park)
But FLN,
In Australia, back in the early 60's,
drinking fountains were called bubblers because
there was no mouth guard, and the water came straight up
out of the hole and fell back on itself.
I remember this distinctly having played with a toy fad
that was all the rage at the time. (& now is just unknown trivia.)
It was a slightly oversized plastic capsule (or pill) with
a smiley face that was weighted at one end.
You would place the capsule on the running water stream and it would
dance there suspended for as long as the water was running...
Growing up in Manhattan, we would buy our (low/high top) sneakers
from Modells Sporting Goods, and always thought of them
as basketball shoes.
Tennis shoes are unique, look nothing like sneakers/basketball shoes
and remind me of something some people call "boaters."
will play later...
Found a fresh interface that some of you may prefer. Check it out, but check the settings first, since red-letters on is the default. http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/games/ct-crossword-puzzles-htmlstory.html.
Owen, I like that new interface too. I couldn't figure out how to turn off red letters.
I missed yesterday, I guess a good time was had by all. I have the paper somewhere.
One day off and i was Rusty .Ironically I FIR but slowly and a lot of mess.
IM, I read several HP's but then wrote SNAPE. And STET. And... Never picked up on the theme until TTP@848 .
Although I like themes, I can never Grok them .
I was trying to make BROWN work for 1A. I also had RITA as in Coolidge . Spitz, "mouse print?" . Lol.
Swamp cat . You weren't necessarily wrong on your Elizabeth/witch post . There is no "right" .It's like Astrology, the second* most boring subject in the world .*
I'll stop here.
WC
* Crosswords is first hence The Corner
I liked the theme. Really. Thanks to Gail and Bruce, but was a bit put OFF that the puzzle didn't have that ON. The ACDC could have been twisted into a hint to the puzzle, possibly, but I'll use Steve's disclaimer: I make no express or implied warranty as to the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of my comments.
Hey - C.E.Dave - Bubblers are the preferred term in Rhode Island for drinking fountain, (less syllables). When I was in grade school, we all couldn't wait to drink from the bubblers and stick gum in them so the next hapless student would get sprayed.
Mention of U of RI. My alma mater (URI).
Owen! Do you know this SARA lady well? I'd like to meet her - could start a clothing line.
Woohoo! Woohoo! I got a Gail and Bruce Thursday puzzle without a single mistake--Woohoo! Mind you, I worked hard at it and had to do lots of double-takes, like others, e.g. ID instead of OZ, BOOR instead of BOOB, KIX instead of TRIX (wasn't going to fit), etc. But it all got done, even with the large number of names that I know mainly from puzzles (FAITH, ETTA, REBA, MILA, SARA, MEHTA)--well, I knew MEHTA already. I also had ME ME before OH OH for a while. But it all worked, and when I was done, I even got the theme, which was funny and cute. Many thanks, Gail and Bruce, and great write-up as always, Steve. No disclaimer needed, of course, but fun.
The ARM and a (LEG) cracked me up.
One question: how and why is IRAQ a "Green Zone"?
Fermatprime, congratulations on the significant weight loss! Keep it up!
Have a great day, everybody!
From yesterday:
PK: Glad the RUBRICK/RUBIK was just a temporary lapse!
D4E4H: Glad you enjoyed the RUBIK excursion, too. You seem to have mastered HTML codes that I have not seen before to get the cube effect.
I was quite slow to catch onto the theme. But when I did I found it clever and enjoyable! I did not find the fill so easy, though. SNOCAT/DANO/SAFECO had me stuck awhile. Anyone else think PODCAST before PODIUMS?
Hand up for falling for the misdirections: BARB/BABS OZ/ID. Learning moment about CUT ON THE BIAS. That had me stuck for quite awhile as I was sure I was wrong. But I was wrong. FIR!
Steve: Thanks for the classic WIZARD OF ID on the Golden Rule! I remember when it was first published!
I was slow to get BBQS for July 4. This was one of my July 4 events!
Warning: Partial nudity at link below!
Burning Man offered the Titty Totter to display another kind of BOOB.
Fermatprime: Congratulations on your weight loss! Best wishes to reach your future goal. I had this in my notes to write earlier and still missed it.
SwampCat: You whet my curiosity to learn more about Elizabeth, the witch, so your posts were not in vain. As for the wrong lyrics to "High Noon". I still don't know who is right. The group of girls I ran with in high school went around singing their own made-up versions (or "virgins" as one girl mis-said) of songs, so my remembered lyrics may be from that silliness. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm not demented, nosireebob!
Picard: I see the home-grown version of Titty Totter every day. I'm not going to click on your link. Too sad.
If I counted correctly, there are 21 answers that I think of as being proper nouns. Seemed like a lot to me.
Misty....the Green Zone in Iraq is a high security area where diplomats and government officials are. It’s always Big News when something bad occurs in the Green Zone.
This was a nice puzzle. I was on the wavelength and went right through after falling for “OZ” b4 “ID”. Also had CADRE b4 CABAL. And that was it.
Terry @ 1241 - I count 22. Seemed a little high to me, too. But I don't think it took away from the puzzle quality. It is a Thursday with more acronyms, titles, place and people names. Don't know if the editor has a specific goal about this. I do the whole puzzle in caps anyway for precision in reading my fill.
As an aside, in German, every noun is capitalized; in French, months and days of the year are not capitalized, religions are not capitalized, nationalities and languages are not capitalized (unless they are proper nouns), par exemple.
As Dave indicated "tennis shoes" can refer to a specific type of shoe designed for tennis players. In parts of the country where people don't say sneakers, do you use tennis shoes generically for all types? I think here "sneakers" pretty well covers tennis shoes, walking shoes, basketball shoes, cross trainers and others.
In re the Reader's Digest chart: We use "garage sale" if the sale is based in or in front of the garage on the driveway. We used "yard sale" if it is based in the yard. Mostly we have "garage sales," unless the sale involves multiple families like those put on by churches and other organizations. We say fountain, water fountain, and drinking fountain. Machts mix. Never bubbler. We mostly use just plain "you" when speaking to a group. The chart has no votes for that. If there is any doubt we use "all of you."
Sub, hoagie, hero and grinder is another regionally based choice
PK, there are two books I have used to learn of Elizabeth Woodville: Edward IV, by Charles Ross, and Government andCommentary in England 1450 - 1501. Both are rather dry.
On line (Google). See
English Monarchs.co.uk. Look for Edward IV
ALSO: Amazing Women in History- Elizabeth Woodville. This is a bit breezy and includes the references to witchcraft. Elizabeth is said to have “bewitched “ Edward to get him to marry her.
She was not well liked , and in this tempestuous period , one accusation is as good as another.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun Gail and Bruce, and Steve (loved your disclaimer!).
I got the On/ Off theme which helped the solve. Is it too much of a stretch to think of getting On/Off the PODIUMS in answer to Steve's question about including it in the theme?
I see that I actually FIW because my Chest protector was a Rib. I had a nit about ROOB being the wrong spelling for Rube and was going to LIU to see if it was an alternate. LOL!
Hand up for Oz before ID. But then we had ID in 66A clue. Isn't that a NO NO NO?
Other hand up for Me Me Before OH OH.
I too thought of OMK with ASCOT, YR with the Wikipedia clue,and Trix before KIX.
I noted the CAB and UBER connection, but wasn't sure if I liked the cross of CAB and CABAL!? Gluey?
My heavy shoe was a BOOT but then I needed it to be in the UGG box. CLOG replaced it.
I waited for BBQS to decide between Iran or IRAQ.
Enjoy the day.
When the lightbulb went from OFF to On with ARM, I LOLed. Brilliant clue.
I loved this puzzle. I loved the ON/OFF switch and the clue for ARM. I, too, will from now on always think of Keith when I see the word ASCOT. Hand up for OZ until POZIUM showed up and BARB until ABCOT showed up.
Congratulations on your weight loss, fermatprime! I'm so happy for you and am rooting for you to TAKE OFF that remaining 30.
Steve, your STET Alli comment is priceless, as is that mouse print (hi, Spitzboov!) disclaimer.
Super duper good wishes to you all.
Here CAB is a vehicle meaning taxicab. Its origin is from cabriolet. Cabernet is a type of grape grown in a certain region or the wine made from it. As my mom would say, that is a horse of a different color.
If Cab referring to the wine and cabernet were used in the same puzzle it would be a NO NO NO.
I think here it is akin to ale and alert in a puzzle, no relationship, no repetition.
Ferm, congratulations on your weight loss. It is an inspiration to me to do the same.
ACK!
Reading the Blog, I did not remember "darer."
So I looked at my dead tree inkblot and discovered
I NEVER FINISHED THE CENTRAL TOP PORTION???
AACK!
Hmm, I must have been sidetracked by Safeco, and Mehta,
both of which I had circled as WAGs to check...
Also, due to perps, I never saw Boob.
(Thankfully Picard made up for that...)
Well, an incomplete puzzle. Not sure what to link
for the informative trivia portion of my post...
How bout' Thatching 101
I was always interested in how to thatch a roof,
and every video describes different methods that can be useful.
So I look at them all, it may come in handy some day
when DW throws me out of the house & I have to live in the woods...
Oh well, some days your on, aand some days your off...
PSA: Save Energy!
Spitzbooz: you guessed correctly. I was in a rush, so asked an innocent question (whether the plural of podium was podia). I'm not sure why that offended you so.
Well and behold, someone left Wednesday's newspaper at McDonald's and I knocked off Wednesday fairly quick . 83 comments?
I needed an easy one after this tough Thursday . And I have this note:
PK, your "mis-said" or a classic malpropism.
WC
Anon @ 1431 - It may have been an innocent question, which I can accept, but , to me, still presumes that the editor made a mistake on simple grammar or spelling which seems unlikely and is borne out by many years of doing these puzzles. If you were busy, you could have checked it out later, or waited to post until you had checked your sources. I do.
I liked no no no in the puzzle,
even if it was kind of repetative...
Musical interlude...
The Grabowski/Venzke team has done it again. A fine Thursday offering from our own dynamic duo!
I am happy to report a clean Ta- DA! - although, like Steve I was a little puzzled by the theme marking. Was it just a typo that "Talking points?" (PODIUMS) had a question mark? I think CanadianEh's suggestion a valiant try at a justification, but I can't buy it.
Anyway, it didn't hold me up for too long. I repeat: Ta- DA!
Irish Miss and Jayce ~ Thanks for remarking on my ASCOTted photo. I had to root around to find that one, and it brought back memories. The room where I was sitting was a large living room, shared with two flatmates, and used for rehearsals when I directed the local amateur Players in what turned out to be the Midlands premiere of Brecht's Mother Courage, the second show I ever had the chutzpah to stage.
(Man, what we didn't fear to do in the '60s!)
Swamp Cat ~ Thanks sincerely for acknowledging my critique. It takes a mighty fine person to ...
D-O ~ (re. "High Noon") Between "his, and" and "HIS'N," it is all in the pause and the listener's ear. Despite variations introduced by different artists, I guess the ultimate answer belongs to lyricist Ned Washington.
~ OMK
____________
Diagonal Report: Three today, NW to SE. The bottom line yields a political report (not taking sides, mind you):
The pollster was tired of going door to door. From previous canvasses he knew these neighborhoods well. From Main Street to Denver Avenue, he always found the homeowners’ responses to his questions to conform to the box on his report sheet marked “Stnd (for ‘standard’) right-wing” biases. Below Denver through Garfield Drive, the answers were less extreme, and so conformed to the “Mod (’moderate’) right” box.
Today was no different, and he was tired. “Too damn tired,” he muttered to himself . He looked at the long stretch of road ahead of him, from Garfield South through Custer Blvd—the most populous neighborhood of all.
In the last several polls, these blocks had been steadily shifting their opinions, indicating they were tired of the daily news reports of a reactionary leader who was disappointing them on healthcare and taxation, embarrassing them with his personal behavior, and confusing key issues with his double talk.
“Do I still need to go door to door?,” he wondered.
“Nah,” he told himself, and marked the box
“STND LEFT TRENDS” – and for once went home early.
Husker @ 9;35 -- We are all Adult Children of Depression-Era Parents [hey, a new acronym: ACDEPS], because we stash everything ... "Just might need it sometime." I suspect that's why all these self-storage places thrive.
When my wife's mom died suddenly, we had to go through the painful necessity of cleaning out the dresser drawers. We found one ENTIRE DRAWER filled to the brim with small scraps of wrapping paper, saved "just in case" of need. We are talking 2" x 2" size scraps.....
Fairly easy, though I'd've never got the Mariner Q. Could think only of the
Ancient Mariner, and water water everywhere -- but there's one that I still
don't get.
Can someone explain Id follower - est?
Oh Michael! You must start a 12 Step group!!!
My mother saved wet paper towels... hung them over the faucet to dry. Hey! They were just wet, not greasy or nasty.
I spent my childhood ridiculing those paper towels. Now I spread wet paper towels over my faucet.
But you know the real horror? I caught my 40-yr-old daughter doing the same thing.
We will never really recover from the depression
Dear Helen d'Marlowe:
Yes, "id est" is a phrase in Latin, usually translated as 'that is', and used to explain a prior word or phrase. Example: ... crossword, i.e. [id est], a generator of learning.
Dear Swamp Cat:
You know what the real problem is? We reach the point where we MUST clean the junk out, and we become paralyzed in trying to do so. "Gee, we got this when we went to Hooptyville back in 1958...it's a sacred relic!" So we stand there, dithering for minutes, tiring ourselves out in the process, exercising our ACDEPS'* genes, and then postponing a decision by holding on to the object!
* See above at 5:32.
Ah Michael you are so wise. I have downsized three times in the last few years. One,when my husband died and I had to get rid of the Big House. I cried when curators carted off books I had collected in high school!
Then I moved into a smaller house. With an attic! NEVER have an attic. I stashed away the plastic dishes we used when we lived on the boat. WHAT? I’ll never live on a boat again, and that original boat has been long ago sold . But I might need those dishes.....just in case.
Then I moved into an apartment. Really had to get rid of stuff. But I kept the letters my mom wrote me in college...., 50 years ago!!
Stuff.... it chains us.
Thanks Michael (5:42 PM ) Thump on my head! Now that you've said it, I realize yes, I know that! But you had to say it for me to recall that I know it ...
Nice blog here.
Helen
Welcome Helen!
Thank you, AnonPVX, for explaining the IRAQ Green Zone to me. We learn a lot of new things on the blog, don't we?
Funny to see Id EST and Wizard OF ID in the same puzzle
Welcome aboard Helen of Marlowe.
Welcome, Helen of Marlowe
From Agnes of Troy 😉
I'm not a hoarder, per se, (as my 1500 sq. ft. empty basement proves) but I have held on to outdated paperwork, bank statements, duplicate policies, etc. that needs to be purged and disposed of. I did make a big dent, though, by recently getting rid of the contents of a four-drawer filing cabinet.) My clothes closet is a neat as a pin but could also use a purging. Isn't it funny how we accumulate so much clothing but only wear the same favorites over and over? My two sock drawers, OTOH, need an intervention! Maybe this conversation will spur some much-needed action!
Hi All!
D'Oh! PAM not PAt... FIW.
Thanks G&B for a fun puzzle; themers eluded me for a long time as I hunt&pecked about like JzB but I got it at CUT OFF THE BAIS; then things filled much faster. What I thought of the theme? D-O said it best (LOL! #N'T).
Steve, are you always this funny or do you just save it up for Thursday? The trap as fell'd, Disclaimer (LOL Spitz!), Alli*, etc. Thanks for the giggly expo.
Anyone else read 20a as Marines and try to enter Quantico? I did, and with NONONO in place, started the fill backwards.
I'm not sure why, but I knew BABS; Maybe it was SNL's Coffee Talk(?).
WOs: @3d - At it (curses Quantico!), TBD, and hand up OF Oz. //hey, Id is in 66a's clue
ESPs: DRACO/SARA (R was WAG'd), PA-, -EHTA (T was WAG'd -- Bzzzt!)
un-Fav: Paying an ARM anda leg for anything.
NODULE is a fun word.
{B+, groan ;-)}
Hand up -- OMK's Young self came to mind's-eye at ASCOT. //Funny Diag report!
YR - For Alan? NPR's Market Place noted the Brady Bunch house is on the market; got $1.9MM?
JzB - I thought I was getting you doin' Minnie the Moocher not the Blues Brothers :-)
CSO to CED at "OH OH" [he linked it two(?) days ago]. //I had that Ringo record.
Welcome Helen - I was going to ask the same thing (and find that I knew!(ish) too).
Swamp & Michael - NO, do not step in my Garage!!!! I may need some of this stuff to repair, uh, some, uh, thing! Look, this little bit of screening can be used for, um, well... We don't know yet until we threw it away last week.
//Gramps was the one who instilled this in me...[G-ACDEP?]. He'd find broken Bics on the side of the road, take them home to remove the flint, and add to his baby-jar of flints for his Zippo. ["I don't have to buy flints," he'd say proudly.]
Cheers, -T
*Wouldn't the copy 'Dele [STET] Alli' keep just Alli in the paper? :-)
Fun! Just about right (for me) for a Thursday. FIR in a bit less than 20 minims. Hand up for Oz before ID.
billocohes, you beat me to the comment about the Central Powers (WWI) v. the Axis Powers (WWII). By a lot! That’s what I get for meeting the other cornerites for lunch instead of doing the important stuff first. ;)
Steve, I believe FAA is the Federal Aviation Administration. (You probably covered that in your mouse print [ :-) ] disclaimer.) Great writeup today; thanks.
Bit of muesli is an OAT? Are we sure it’s not a MUE? Or perhaps a SLI possibly?
Favorite today: ARM.
Michael, Swamp Cat, we had to get everything out of the house I grew up in when my mother needed to go into assisted living. She had been telling us for months that she was going through all her things and had practically emptied the house. Then we came to move her—could hardly tell she had thrown anything away. ACDEPS, indeed!
I am also not a fan of words like DARER. I dare say (!) that it’s a valid word but I have never heard/seen it outside of the realm of cruciverbalism.
I saw several places online which defined URB as a "back formation from suburb." NO. It is a Latin word meaning "the city." (Actually the spelling is URBS.) The Chicago motto is "Urbs in horto"—City in a garden.
There’s probably something else I was going to say, but it must not have been too important because now I can’t remember.
Have a good evening, all.
I've done major cleanouts of three houses for grandparents, mother-in-law, & mother then the monstrous task of cleaning out a big machine shed, two story barn & my big house. This cured me, I thought, of accumulating and saving. I might have to move again before long, so guess what I save now? Cardboard boxes. I realize if I just cut the tape and flatten out all my boxes, I would probably have a guest room again. I must have accumulated a few things too to have so many boxes from Amazon & my computer box & my printer box & my vacuum cleaner boxes. I really am going to get started cleaning out this week.
My youngest grandson is 12, is it safe to dump the little kid toys I saved from when my kids were little? Well, I might have a great grandchild in about five or six years... Or one of my nephews might bring their little ones. Just because they haven't been here in the last 15 years...
" Curses Quantico". As in "I've gotta get outta this place". Best thing? Pugel Sticks.
WC
Every time I click a link Google throws what it knows I like. So I've got Gary Busey singing Buddy Holly songs in the background.
PK - as soon as you jettison the toys, they'll visit. Toss it ASAP and have plenty of food on hand :-)
Cheers, -T
Tony, you are probably right. LOL! At my age, I'm not sure I can tolerate a bunch of little ones for very long so maybe I'll keep the toys. My one nephew is fostering 4 or 5 children in addition to their three which makes 8 kids under 8.
Here's a site that talks about witches doing their Wiccan best to help dear old England.
The Cone of Power
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