Theme: ISLE BE BACK - The Terminator's description of today's theme:
16A. Lombardy skiing destination: THE ITALIAN ALPS. Lanai. Lombardy has all sorts going for it, Milan, great food & wine, Lake Como, skiing. No wonder it's beyond my retirement budget. I blame George Clooney for jacking up the prices.
22B. One of many standing in a Mexican bar: TEQUILA BOTTLE. Bali. The tequila would work well in my 48A restaurant "CANTINA BURRATA" below.
36A. Gene Autry Easter song critter: PETER COTTONTAIL. Crete. Unknown critter for me. Another letter-by-letter fill.
48A. Carl Orff opus: CARMINA BURANA. Aruba. Completely unknown to me. I had ***INA BUR*NA at one point, and decided it had to be a restaurant called CANTINA BUR*** and then BURRATA didn't fit. I didn't know the work, but I certainly know "O Fortuna" from the opus. Here's conductor Simon Rattle giving the Berlin Philharmonic the full eyebrow treatment.
Then the reveal:
58A. Vacation spots found in each set of puzzle circles: ISLAND RETREATS.
Lawks-a-mercy, this was a toughie! I did a speed warm-up with the monthly puzzle in the United Airlines in-flight magazine (a pre-Shortz NYT reprint) and then cracked my knuckles for a quick JW Thursday jaunt. 70 minutes later, I'm still not done. That ALBI/CARMINA/ACS/LAVISH/BRUSHY perfect storm almost did for me. Finally, FINALLY teased it out. That "Congratulations" Mr. Pencil box was never so welcome. Cracking stuff.
Let's see what else gave me wounds to lick this week:
Across:
1. Kvetch's phrase: OY GEVALT! What? Right off the bat. I should have seen the omen for bad things to come.
9. Obstruct: DAM UP. JAM UP? No.
14. Military award phrase: FOR VALOR. This is the Medal of Honor awarded to Sgt. John Randolph "J.R." McKinney. I never knew him nor met him, but his memorial page came up when I was searching for a suitable image to post. He was also awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman's Badge (the, "See, I Been there") during the Pacific campaign in WWII. He passed away aged 76 in 1997. Thank you for your service.
15. Cut out for marriage?: ELOPE
18. Feed bit: OAT
19. "Can I get a word in here?": AHEM?
20. Addams cousin: ITT
27. Merged comm. giant: G.T.E.
29. Large garden ornament: URN
30. Viewed warily: EYED
31. Looks down on: DISDAINS. This caused me a huge problem. I know "DISTAINS" and so "TEN**" was just not revealing a fabric. I stared down that section for a loooooong time. Finally, I thought that maybe it might be a "D". I looked up DISTAIN after I was done, and apparently it's archaic. That ages me quite precisely, I guess.
34. Gas __: TAX
41. Extreme degree: NTH
42. Moot point: NON-ISSUE
43. Toulouse-Lautrec's birthplace: ALBI. Pretty place. This is the Pont Vieux ("Old Bridge"). I like the French literalism. Which begs the question, why isn't he called "Albi-Lautrec"? Toulouse is a good 74Kms away. We should be told.
46. Like -trix, at times: Abbr.: FEM.
47. Brief "I think": IMO
54. "Law & Order: __": SVU. Special Victims Unit, apparently.
55. Boy of la casa: NIÑO
56. Farmers' business: Abbr.: INS. I like the commercials, the always jaunty "We are Farmers, bam-de-bam, bom, bam-bam-bam". The spokesperson in the commercials, actor J.K. Simmons is a regular patron of my local Italian restaurant. It's tough not to sing the hook line when he walks in.
64. Stand out: SHINE
65. Behind closed doors: IN SECRET
66. Publicizes showily: HYPES
67. Car named for a small warship: CORVETTE
Down:
1. Many times o'er: OFT
2. Pirate song snippet: YO, HO!
3. Classic circus adjective: GREATEST
4. Site with clickable RSVPs: EVITE
5. Industrial-sized tank: VAT
6. Helen Keller is on its st. quarter: ALA.
7. Brief chuckle: LOL. Brief, as in abbreviated. Nice clue. First instincts here are HAH! or HAW!
8. Dry run: TRIAL
9. Cygnus' brightest star: DENEB
10. Budget rival: ALAMO
11. Gretchen of "Manchester by the Sea": MOL. I think I saw the movie, but either I gave up on it halfway through, fell asleep or it just didn't register.
12. Presumptuous: UPPITY
13. Mortar's partner: PESTLE. Seems obvious when you fill it in, but my first thought was "BRICKS", closely followed by military ballistics. Considering I used my pestle and mortar more often than bricklaying or aerial bombardment, I wondered why I struggled.
17. Revelation reaction: AHA!
21. "Chopped" host Allen: TED. Gimme. One of my favorite shows, and favorite hosts. He's so classy. Never a bad word to say about anyone.
23. Ice cream buy: QUART
24. "Spenser: For Hire" actor: URICH. I tried URIAH first. Yep, that worked just great.
25. __ particular order: IN NO
26. Student's backpack burden: TEXTS. TESTS/TEXTS. I was wrong at first.
27. Econ. indicator: G.D.P.
28. Exec's accessory: TIE
32. Sturdy fabric: DENIM. I spent about 40 minutes on these nine or ten squares. Paid off in the end, although I'm sure the guy next to me on the plane was wondering if I was trying to solve by sheer stare-down tenacity.
33. RR stop: STN.
34. Copier need: TONER
35. Jungian archetype: ANIMA
37. Stir-fry staple: TOFU. I use the extra-silky type in pad thai noodles. Tip - pour boiling water over it to drive out the moisture before you fry it. Counter-intuitive I know.
38. Buddha statues, Japanese silk prints, etc.: ASIAN ART
39. Periodic table suffix: -IUM
40. Celestial feline: LEO
43. Carrier products, briefly: ACS. Aircraft from a carrier? AC voltage carried by your power utility company? Appellation d'origine contrôlée wines imported by Robert Carrier? Questions, questions.
44. Profuse: LAVISH
45. Like some hillsides: BRUSHY. Not GRASSY, then. Darn.
49. Ludicrous: INANE
50. Array just before an odometer reaches 100,000: NINES
51. "So?": AND
52. __ acid: BORIC
53. Family member: NIECE
57. Dele canceler: STET
59. Cup rim: LIP
60. Eclectic musician Brian: ENO. Elevators, Roxy Music and U2. Versatile guy, and very useful in crosswords.
61. Original D & D company: TSR. One day, one day I'll remember this.
62. Prepare to drag: REV. As in your engine, before your drag race. Here's the famous start to the race in Grease, filmed here in LA on the not-exactly-bucolic river bed under the 6th Street Bridge.
63. Sault __ Marie: STE.
The seatbelt sign has been on for most of the ride across the country today. I call it "trampolining" when you're bouncing up and down. Amazing the internet cable doesn't get disconnected, eh?
And it's Sierra Tango Echo Victor Echo signing off from 37,000 feet, or 11,280 meters, give or take, in Euro-money.
Here's the grid:
16A. Lombardy skiing destination: THE ITALIAN ALPS. Lanai. Lombardy has all sorts going for it, Milan, great food & wine, Lake Como, skiing. No wonder it's beyond my retirement budget. I blame George Clooney for jacking up the prices.
22B. One of many standing in a Mexican bar: TEQUILA BOTTLE. Bali. The tequila would work well in my 48A restaurant "CANTINA BURRATA" below.
36A. Gene Autry Easter song critter: PETER COTTONTAIL. Crete. Unknown critter for me. Another letter-by-letter fill.
48A. Carl Orff opus: CARMINA BURANA. Aruba. Completely unknown to me. I had ***INA BUR*NA at one point, and decided it had to be a restaurant called CANTINA BUR*** and then BURRATA didn't fit. I didn't know the work, but I certainly know "O Fortuna" from the opus. Here's conductor Simon Rattle giving the Berlin Philharmonic the full eyebrow treatment.
Then the reveal:
58A. Vacation spots found in each set of puzzle circles: ISLAND RETREATS.
Lawks-a-mercy, this was a toughie! I did a speed warm-up with the monthly puzzle in the United Airlines in-flight magazine (a pre-Shortz NYT reprint) and then cracked my knuckles for a quick JW Thursday jaunt. 70 minutes later, I'm still not done. That ALBI/CARMINA/ACS/LAVISH/BRUSHY perfect storm almost did for me. Finally, FINALLY teased it out. That "Congratulations" Mr. Pencil box was never so welcome. Cracking stuff.
Let's see what else gave me wounds to lick this week:
Across:
1. Kvetch's phrase: OY GEVALT! What? Right off the bat. I should have seen the omen for bad things to come.
9. Obstruct: DAM UP. JAM UP? No.
14. Military award phrase: FOR VALOR. This is the Medal of Honor awarded to Sgt. John Randolph "J.R." McKinney. I never knew him nor met him, but his memorial page came up when I was searching for a suitable image to post. He was also awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman's Badge (the, "See, I Been there") during the Pacific campaign in WWII. He passed away aged 76 in 1997. Thank you for your service.
15. Cut out for marriage?: ELOPE
18. Feed bit: OAT
19. "Can I get a word in here?": AHEM?
20. Addams cousin: ITT
27. Merged comm. giant: G.T.E.
29. Large garden ornament: URN
30. Viewed warily: EYED
31. Looks down on: DISDAINS. This caused me a huge problem. I know "DISTAINS" and so "TEN**" was just not revealing a fabric. I stared down that section for a loooooong time. Finally, I thought that maybe it might be a "D". I looked up DISTAIN after I was done, and apparently it's archaic. That ages me quite precisely, I guess.
34. Gas __: TAX
41. Extreme degree: NTH
42. Moot point: NON-ISSUE
43. Toulouse-Lautrec's birthplace: ALBI. Pretty place. This is the Pont Vieux ("Old Bridge"). I like the French literalism. Which begs the question, why isn't he called "Albi-Lautrec"? Toulouse is a good 74Kms away. We should be told.
46. Like -trix, at times: Abbr.: FEM.
47. Brief "I think": IMO
54. "Law & Order: __": SVU. Special Victims Unit, apparently.
55. Boy of la casa: NIÑO
56. Farmers' business: Abbr.: INS. I like the commercials, the always jaunty "We are Farmers, bam-de-bam, bom, bam-bam-bam". The spokesperson in the commercials, actor J.K. Simmons is a regular patron of my local Italian restaurant. It's tough not to sing the hook line when he walks in.
64. Stand out: SHINE
65. Behind closed doors: IN SECRET
66. Publicizes showily: HYPES
67. Car named for a small warship: CORVETTE
Down:
1. Many times o'er: OFT
2. Pirate song snippet: YO, HO!
Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest —
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest —
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Robert Louis Stevenson
3. Classic circus adjective: GREATEST
4. Site with clickable RSVPs: EVITE
5. Industrial-sized tank: VAT
6. Helen Keller is on its st. quarter: ALA.
7. Brief chuckle: LOL. Brief, as in abbreviated. Nice clue. First instincts here are HAH! or HAW!
8. Dry run: TRIAL
9. Cygnus' brightest star: DENEB
10. Budget rival: ALAMO
11. Gretchen of "Manchester by the Sea": MOL. I think I saw the movie, but either I gave up on it halfway through, fell asleep or it just didn't register.
12. Presumptuous: UPPITY
13. Mortar's partner: PESTLE. Seems obvious when you fill it in, but my first thought was "BRICKS", closely followed by military ballistics. Considering I used my pestle and mortar more often than bricklaying or aerial bombardment, I wondered why I struggled.
17. Revelation reaction: AHA!
21. "Chopped" host Allen: TED. Gimme. One of my favorite shows, and favorite hosts. He's so classy. Never a bad word to say about anyone.
23. Ice cream buy: QUART
24. "Spenser: For Hire" actor: URICH. I tried URIAH first. Yep, that worked just great.
25. __ particular order: IN NO
26. Student's backpack burden: TEXTS. TESTS/TEXTS. I was wrong at first.
27. Econ. indicator: G.D.P.
28. Exec's accessory: TIE
32. Sturdy fabric: DENIM. I spent about 40 minutes on these nine or ten squares. Paid off in the end, although I'm sure the guy next to me on the plane was wondering if I was trying to solve by sheer stare-down tenacity.
33. RR stop: STN.
34. Copier need: TONER
35. Jungian archetype: ANIMA
37. Stir-fry staple: TOFU. I use the extra-silky type in pad thai noodles. Tip - pour boiling water over it to drive out the moisture before you fry it. Counter-intuitive I know.
38. Buddha statues, Japanese silk prints, etc.: ASIAN ART
39. Periodic table suffix: -IUM
40. Celestial feline: LEO
43. Carrier products, briefly: ACS. Aircraft from a carrier? AC voltage carried by your power utility company? Appellation d'origine contrôlée wines imported by Robert Carrier? Questions, questions.
44. Profuse: LAVISH
45. Like some hillsides: BRUSHY. Not GRASSY, then. Darn.
49. Ludicrous: INANE
50. Array just before an odometer reaches 100,000: NINES
51. "So?": AND
52. __ acid: BORIC
53. Family member: NIECE
57. Dele canceler: STET
59. Cup rim: LIP
60. Eclectic musician Brian: ENO. Elevators, Roxy Music and U2. Versatile guy, and very useful in crosswords.
61. Original D & D company: TSR. One day, one day I'll remember this.
62. Prepare to drag: REV. As in your engine, before your drag race. Here's the famous start to the race in Grease, filmed here in LA on the not-exactly-bucolic river bed under the 6th Street Bridge.
63. Sault __ Marie: STE.
The seatbelt sign has been on for most of the ride across the country today. I call it "trampolining" when you're bouncing up and down. Amazing the internet cable doesn't get disconnected, eh?
And it's Sierra Tango Echo Victor Echo signing off from 37,000 feet, or 11,280 meters, give or take, in Euro-money.
Here's the grid:
70 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Jeffrey and Steve!
One square cheat: did not know things and eventually got a headache (glasses not right yet, thanks to Lenscrafters.)
Still crazy hot. Time for me to turn in.
Hope to see you tomorrow!
No problem on the puzzle solve, but I did it on the Mensa site, so no circles. The first three all included a scrambled letter sequence ALI, so I thought that would be it. I hadn't filled in the 4th themer (which needed ESP since I'd never heard of work or composer) when I got to the reveal and found I'd been chasing the wrong rabbit! Once I had the reveal it still took a while because I didn't get the significance of RETREAT, so was looking for ISLANDS forward first, and possibly with letters scattered rather than all together. But the V-8 finally hit, so I did finally get them without circles!
A Yiddish yodeler from THE ITALIAN ALPS
Would see the world, and gain some pelf!
So he booked a concert tour,
But playbills HYPED "Yoda-ler"
Storm-troopers and Jedi packed the halls, OY GEVALT!
PETER was a contractor from the isle of CRETE
Said, "I love kids, and they call me Pete!"
Till one day, with intent
They defaced his cement --
"I love them in abstract, but not in concrete!"
ASIAN ART is renowned --
Ming vases, silk prints, statues --
GREATEST is haiku!
{A-, A, A.}
I LOVE your title Steve!
This was a workout for me despite my extensive JW experience. The biggest roadblock being my mental block that completely wiped the Hawaiian island LANAI from my memory banks.
Where to start? We have had CARMINA BURANA as a clue a few times before, the most recent being in Jeffrey’s APRIL 7, 2017 puzzle. It also includes OY.
I am surprised Steve that you have not heard PETER COTTONTAIL hopping down the bunny trail a billion times like I have. It was popular back when I was little and reappears every Easter.
I never heard of the spelling DISTAIN, but that is your handicap Steve, with Americans changing so many words. I also did not know ALBI . I do know the actor ROBERT URICH who played one of my literary heroes SPENSER who while not quite enough of a thug, played the part well.
Thank you Steve and Jeffrey for slowing my morning down.
Hi,
another tough Thursday. I stumbled on YOHO/OYGEVALT - had HOHO and ALBI/BRUSHY.
Had Carmina Burana straight away and had to guess PETERCOTTONTAIL.
Article about Easter tradition in Slovakia:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/06/easter-monday-tradition-whipping-slovakia-girls-health
I didn't like the Lombardi clue - I was trying to fill an actual resort, than had Alps and wanted to fill in specific, only to find it is just Italian.
Scorching hot here in Vienna (37 degrees Celsius - 99 Fahrenheits). Not much fun with business dress code.
Good morning Cornerites, and Cornerettes.
- - Thank you Mr. Jeffrey Wechsler for this impossible Thursday challenge. On my first pass across, the entire NW was blank. I had the theme, but only grocked it in time to aruba-tize.
- - I had to BAIL at 9 A - DAMUP. I needed the "D" with the Natick, 9 D - DENEB. I didn't know Cygnus let alone it's brightest star. For DAMUP, I could not see the "M", so BAILed again. I also had a Natick with MOL which I had never heard.
- - I BAILED at 39 D - IUM. I needed the "U", and could not see NONISSUE.
- - I finally finished in 51:54.
- - Thank you Steve for your excellent review.
Ðave
Good Morning, Steve and friends. I really don't like the puzzles with circles. Although I found this to be an easy (for Thursday) puzzle to complete, I completely missed the theme. I was looking for islands to be spelled correctly - not backwards. I know, the RETREAT, should have clued me in to the reversals.
The German composer, Carl Orff (1895 ~ 1982) is a complete unknown to me (and will probably remain so), thus the perps gave me CARMINE BURANA.
Hand up for Distain before DISDAIN.
I also learned that the burdens in students' backpacks are not Books, but TEXTS.
Cut Out For Marriage was a fresh new clue for ELOPE.
Today is the birthday of my NIECE. Her father's birthday is next Thursday. At that time he will be exactly twice her age.
QOD: Do your best when no one is looking. If you do that, then you can be successful in anything that you put your mind to. ~ Bob Cousy (né Robert Joseph Cousy; b. Aug. 9, 1928)
Good morning!
Lemon, ya stole my line! I loved Steve's title, too. Got the theme when BALI showed up, but it didn't affect the solve. My sole Wite-Out moment was to change STA to STN. Thanx, JW for the romp.
CARMINA BURANA: I've got the Royal Philharmonic recording on my music server.
ALBI: Never heard of it. I thought he was named Toulouse because he wasn't uptight.
Steve, I had to look up "lawks-a-mercy." I've always heard it as "lawsamercy" -- the hick, rube version. BTW, Carrier is a manufacturer of air conditioners: ACs.
I've never ever heard anyone say oy gevalt or brushy in conversation. Despite many arcane clues, I did FIR. Nice theme though.
Good Morning,
Working my way through a To-Do list before I leave tomorrow morning for Dallas. I am helping my son-in-law with his three boys and my daughter's two--grandkids all. She's in Denver for the long weekend (and monthly) for coursework and exams to become trained in Muscle Activation Technique. I don't know what scares me more: five boys aged 11-14 or the Dallas heat. I'll try to lurk, but I doubt the possibility of any quiet time. :)
Steve, I really needed your help today. Thanks for the tour. Jeff, you did me in with this one. I had to leave and return several times. Nothing seemed to stick for me on the first couple runs. Maybe my mind is just on my lists. Thanks for the challenge.
Off to begin the rest of my day. Be well everyone. Catch up with you next week.
I managed to get all but the top three lines, which I finally gave up on and came here to see what was what. I also couldn't see LANAI without the help of other letters around it. For ITALIAN ALPS I was expecting a more precisely Italian-named location. I probably wouldn't have got as far as I did without the break in the middle to retreat to the Sudoku for something less taxing.
Steve, how you could get it all done on a flight amazes me!
FIW, having ANItA and DENeM. BAD SPELLERS OF THE WORLD UNTIE!!!
I wouldn't have gotten close without the clever theme and circles. Great puzzle Jeffrey. All those unknowns but not really a Natick in the bunch. And thanks to Steve for the lofty tour.
I'm teaching a 40-hour project management class next week. The materials have completely changed since I last taught it, so I'm constantly thinking up ways to improve comprehension and tweaking the presentations as a consequence. I may be largely absent for a few days - have fun with the weekend challenges.
Krijo's LINK
Somewhat crunchy, but solved it in almost normal Thursday time. I got the theme, but the circles didn't help much.
I saw an outdoor staging of Carmina Burana. I liked the music, not so much the story, but then it is a collection of old poems set to music.
We hear many Yiddish phrases here, but I have never heard OY GEVALT. It took ESP and was my last fill.
My first thought for DRY RUN was WADI.
Yes, Peter Cottontail is played often in the Easter season in the US.
We use brushy frequently to describe areas covered in brush. Somehow I connect it with decriptions of hikes.
DISDAIN as a verb: "But President Trump disdained the deal, saying it was too weak and did not do enough to curb Iran’s other 'malign behavior." Los Angeles Times Aug 6, 2018. (Just an example of usage, not making a political point.) The verb form of distain is used more often in writing than in speaking.
Cut out for marriage/elope was my favorite clue.
WEES about this being a challenge! I just left the NW for awhile and found footholds elsewhere and worked back. I did catch a break as our local symphony and symphony chorus just did a performance of CARMINA BURANA in February - otherwise that section would have needed to be all filled by perps!
I used to have a little music box that was shaped like an egg when I was little. As I turned the crank it would play "Here comes PETER COTTONTAIL hopping down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity Easter's on it's way" this will definitely be my earworm for today!
Thanks Steve for a fun write-up and JW for the puzzle!
Good morning. Thank you Jeffrey and thank you Steve.
Didn't find this one hard at all, but it made me think outside the box with many of the clues. Finished in just over 28 minutes while watching the morning news. Only had to piece together four or five fills, such as OY GEVALT and ASIAN ART. No circles at MENSA and I didn't bother looking for the vacation spots. Still, a very enjoyable puzzle.
But no TADA. Two errors. 1) Hit the N key instead of the M key, so had DAn UP instead of DAM UP, and 2) Guessed wrong with BUReNA / ANIMe.
On to the day ! Hope yours is pleasant.
Filled 2D with hOHO and never looked back.
"Manchester by the Sea" was a depressing movie about a depressed guy. The most depressing thing about the movie was that I wasted 2 hours watching it.
21D; Saw the movie. Boring. Almost killed it half way thru but decided to finish it. Not worth it. Didn’t remember her from this film but I knew her from “Boardwalk Empire”.
I believe Carrier sells AC's (air conditioners). Perhaps this was the intent for this clue.
OY GEVALT! Enough already! That was painful. You win, Jeffrey!
But it was fun struggling. DISDAIN was a NON ISSUE for me. I’ve seen it spelled both ways. PETER COTONTAIL is a childhood memory. DENAB is well known; A friend had a sailboat named Cygnus.
AHEM seems to appear more often in print than in speech. Does anyone actually say it out loud? But it was an easy CW guess.
Now that it’s all over i realize how clever this puzzle is. Great job, Jeffrey. Ya beat me fair and square! Thanks for the Battle.
Steve, I don’t know how you did it but I appreciate your thorough walk through!
Owen, both yesterday and today were perfect!!
Musings
-A Yiddish phrase, Jungian terminology, an obscure opus, Gretchen somebody, ALBI, France (not ASTI, Italy) et al. A hard earned “got ‘er done”!
-Our garden ornament is a “glow in the dark” ORB
-A GAS TAX seems to me a fair way to raise money
-Fem. TRIX – Here’s two of them
-Who is this NIÑO and how does he control my weather? :)
-HYPE and GREATEST
-Appending LOL tries to take the sting out of some harsh comments
-Have you ever seen a druggist USE a mortar and PESTLE?
-We bought our grandkids their backpacks for the year at nearly $100 a pop
-uranIUM not florINE
-Witty write-up Steve! I worked on my Saturday blog last night while standing up at a table waiting an hour for an Apple technician. Where there’s a will…
Yes, Carrier AC, was my first thought, the most straight forward answer. My AC system, a Carrier, is 27 years old and on its last legs. I hope it lasts the summer. I was told five years ago that it wouldn't last much longer, but every year I keep on using it.
Good Morning:
Another brain buster from our resident Wizard of Wordplay, Mr. Wechsler. This was not a particularly difficult puzzle but it took quite awhile to get a few toeholds. I've seen Carmina Burana before but it didn't parse too easily, maybe because I was sure there was a K in there somewhere. Other perps-required entries were: Albi, Mol, Anima, and TSR. My w/os were Jam/Dam, Folic/Boric, and a classic Wechsler misdirect, Farmers' business=Agr(iculture)/Ins(urance). Starting off with Oy Gevalt was challenging, although I think I've seen it in literature. Not too fond of Brushy but the clever theme and execution more than make up for one, little nit. Speaking of the theme, I saw the reversed islands early on, but was still surprised and pleased with the reveal,
Thanks, Jeffrey W, for a worthy Thursday challenge and thanks, Steve, for your fun and informative review.
Kazie, don't be a stranger!
Madame Defarge, good luck with the boys!
Lemony, I share your memories of Robert Urich as Spenser which I enjoyed watching, despite never having read any of the novels. I also remember his performance as Jake Spoon in "Lonesome Dove." IIRC, Jake was an unsavory character who met an unfortunate demise.
Urich died much too long at 56.
FLN
YR, I hope Alan feels better soon. What a roller coaster of health challenges you've both endured.
Jinx, your grandfather and the refrigerator story was priceless.
CED, your milk cubby/neighbor story was frightening but, fortunately, had a happy ending.
billocohoes, I well remember the Freihhofer horse-drawn wagon, clip-clopping down the cobblestones, in the wee hours of the morning, delivering bread, doughnuts, coffee cakes and, most of all, their delicious chocolate chip cookies, which were a brown bag lunch treat during my high school years. I believe Entemann's bought out Freihofer but still use the Freihofer name. Recently, I happened to notice a box of their chocolate chip cookies in the market, priced at $4.99, a far cry from what my mother could have afforded.
Have a great day.
Good morning everyone.
I enjoyed today's Jeff offering even though I had to look up ALBI. Got other unknowns easily enough from perps. Carrier ACS was easy since we had a whole house AC installed this Spring. (Basking a lot in it during this summer's humid weather.) Liked the theme once I saw the RETREATS were backwords. At least they were well known locations. CARMINA BURANA came with perp help.
Have heard OY GEVALT over the years from Yiddish (exposed) speakers. Used to hear it on TV once in a while.
Akin to German "Gewalt". My Mom would occasionally admonish me not to do something "mit Gewalt" (with force.)
CORVETTE - Our Navy has no corvettes at this time. The UK operated some in WWI and WWII. There's a good read "Three Corvettes", an anthology based on true events, by Nicholas Monsarrat who served on them and who also wrote "The Cruel Sea".
Crying, "foul" on 46A -trix at times.It's a suffix. fem. is an abbreviation.
-ess hostess, actress. -ette suffragette -ine heroine. -trix aviatrix executrix
Swampcat @ 9:49 ~ Coincidentally, I have friends, Sue and Ed, whose sailboats were Cygnus and Cygnus II. They sailed Cygnus II half way around the world back in the 80's. Even more coincidentally, I just spoke with Sue on Sunday and with Ed yesterday afternoon. They just returned from a month in Australia where Sue gave presentations at a nursing conference. Sue has recently been hired as Dean of Nursing at Marymount College in Newburgh, NY. (My husband and I spent many a "happy hour" on both boats!)
This puzzle must have cost many hours for Jeffrey Wechsler. It baffled me for about two and I think I stumbled in all the same places Steve had. Terrific puzzle, an exercise in mental gymnastics and then some. But who would have thought CARMINA BURANA would be inserted into a crossword?
I no longer have time to make up stories with the answers to the clues. This one begged me to think up a detective in the Italian Alps, going after the greatest corvette thief on earth who sold the cars to places in Lanai, Bali, Aruba and Crete. Mr Urich found the perp in an opera house drinking from a tequila bottle watching a Carmina Burana performance. The lavish sets for the uppity crowd, who were all dressed to the nines, would have added atmosphere to the story.
Thanks,
With all the recent discussions of home sales/deliveries, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the Fuller Brush Man or the Kirby Vacuum Salesman. Those Kirby's had some real Rube Goldberg attachments -- you could even turn one into a lathe.
Yes, the Kirbys were and are still fascinating. But a lot of folk realize they just don't like the heavier weight and end up selling them for a fraction of the original value. I recently bought a newer model for $140 with all the bells and whistles. My housekeeper loves it. I think Warren Buffet liked them a lot, too. He added the company to his Berkshire Hathaway group. Went down to the Kirby store where I saw the same one priced at $1,100.
Great puzzle today, I thought. I didn't have the circles but if I had, I'm sure they wouldn't have helped me solve any faster. 20:33. Just enough crunch for a satisfying solve. Thanks to JW and Steve.
All those vacation places mentioned therein would normally give me an acute sense of wanderlust, but I just got back from eastern Canada where I visited six of the ten provinces, and I can tell you I have two new favorite cities: Montreal and Halifax. St. John's Newfoundland ain't bad, neither. Charlottetown and PEI are just gorgeous and very livable. (How can farms be that beautiful and pristine? Please explain it.)
I felt safer in each of these destinations than I do in my own nabe, sad to say. Quebec City, although overrun with tourists, is a must see once in one's life. Dined at Raymond's, my namesake restaurant in St. John's and highly recommend it, although for fine dining, you can't beat The (Erna's) Elderberry House in Oakhurst. And my old haunt, San Francisco, has a seemingly infinite number of fine dining spots, and I didn't need to tell you that.
Best to all.
Thank you, JW, for nearly exploding my brain! However, I managed to fill most of it once I found a toehold. It helped to suss the ISLANDRETREATS.
I love the music from CARMINABURANA and once saw it performed on stage. The story isn't as impressive as the music.
Natick at ALBI/BRUSHY. Not grassy.
Doctor's appointment and hair cut day so I'm off.
Thank you, Steve. You amaze me. Not only is your review excellent but delivering it from above is impressive, indeed.
Have a delightful day, everyone!
AHA, a Thursday toughie from JW. Thanks for the fun, Jeff and Steve.
This was a FIW for me today with the crosses of ALBI and BRUSHY and SVU.
My mind must have been in the same mode as yours, Steve. I had Grassy (and Trashy?) before BRUSHY (no idea about SVU); perps forced Uriah to change to URICH; I debated between Distains and DISDAINS (DENIM decided it), moved from Books to Tests (they're not a burden!) to TEXTS, wanted Tenons or Bricks before PESTLE (even though it was a CSO). OY GEVALT was a brutal way to start the CW; that fill was all perps as my Yiddish is not very good.
Steve, I imagine that you know the British Beatrix Potter's, The Tale of Peter Rabbit rather than American Thornton Burgess' PETER COTTONTAIL but have you never heard the song "Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail" (I will not link for fear of earworm!)
It took a long time to dredge Farmers' INS out of this Canadian brain. I did not recognize the D&D as short for Dungeons and Dragons, but I would not have known TSR anyway. Perps to the rescue.
I wanted Folic Acid (to prevent spinal bifida) before BORIC (to kill ants).
Sometimes it is STA and other times STN - waited for perps to decide.
Enjoy the day.
Hi Gang -
Brilliant puzzle, and title, too.
S.T.E.V.E. - shall we call you Sierra for short?
OY GAVALT was a total unknown. Had to look up ALBI, then the SW corner fell into place.
Didn't know Corvette was a boat.
Had TAQUI_ _ _ and never corrected it so FIW, alas.
Speaking of ACS - my step son had to have a part replaced on his, and discovered it was installed in 1974.
My other step son and his wife dropped their kids off at our house and went up to Mackinaw ISLAND RETREAT for a couple days. So we had a parade of grands in and out from Sunday through yesterday. So much fun when they're together, but - wow - we are tired.
Cool regards!
JzB
Wow...welcome to Saturday, 2 days early.
I would have put this down except I couldn’t let Mr. Wechsler beat me...and the solve finally came. But geez, how tough was this?
The Corvette will be my next convertible, love them.
From yesterday...we had a milkman from 1984 to ~ 1988 in Wallingford, Ct, Guida’s dairy. They discontinued home delivery in the 90’s I believe.
Hi Y'all! OY GEVALT? Jeffrey that's just cruel. Still have no clue what it means after reading the blog. Thought this was an interesting SLOG, but didn't spend as much time as Steve. Thank you for your service, Steve. You deserve a medal. I wonder if some of your problem in solving was due to lack of sufficient oxygen since you were high in the sky. Oh, Thanks to Jeffrey too who had to be high on something to put this together.
No circles. I guess RETREAT in this case meant going backwards. Didn't pick out any ISLANDS in the theme. I saw LANAI but forgot it was anything other than a porch. Duh!
I started solving with both acrosses and downs and got two entries at first pass including DENIM. Then got a toe hold and worked backwards to fill most of the top tier with WAGs and perps.
Also did not know: DENEB, ALBI, MOL, ANIMA, how to spell URICH, TSR. Thank you, CanadianEh! for mentioning Dungeons & Dragons -- had no clue what D & D was. TSR was ESP. I had a lot of perps and filled in the rest of CARMINA BURANA. I was shocked it was right because I had no idea what it is other than a musical work. Name was familiar. Never heard of Orff.
CED: FLN was kept enthralled by your story. Some little kids have lives no one knows about.
Carrier/ACS = air conditioning units made by Carrier Co.
Now that I've read your comments, I see that Lemonade@5:43 actually linked the Peter Cottontail earworm for your listening enjoyment. LOL!
Our Switzerland/Austria tour took us briefly into THE ITALIAN ALPS with stops in Bellinzona (there was snow in Sept.), beautiful view along the coast of Lake Maggiore and a stop in Stresa.
Krijo - I LOLed last night at CED's link re giving out free deodorant in the Vienna subway, but It would not be a laughing matter to those of you who are actually having to cope with the excessive heat (and still adhere to dress code!) OY GEVALT!
Rainman- we should hire you for a Canadian tourist ad. Glad that you enjoyed our beautiful, comparatively safe country. Tell me that you didn't miss Niagara Falls or Toronto! You must return to do the 4 western provinces (or have you already done that?)
Anon@10:11 - I wanted some abbrev. of Suffix for the 46A "Like -trix, at times: Abbr." clue also.
But when FEM filled in with perps, I recognized -trix as a suffix from Latin which denotes feminine nouns or adjectives ie. executrix vs. the male executor.
Merriam Webster defines -trix as "female that does or is associated with a (specified) thing - aviatrix"
Carmina Burana came right away as it is one of my favorite pieces of music. Orff was a bit of a one hit wonder, but oh what a hit - powerfully rhythmic, tuneful, dramatic, comedic, sarcastic ... sui generus. If all you've heard of it are advert and movie sound track snippets you owe it to yourself to swallow the whole Wurst - a secular cantata consisting of 25 songs with texts from the drunken, licentious scribblings of the monks of the medieval monastery in Benediktbeuern, Bavaria. There is no other work like it in Western music. A musical riot.
Well, much as I love Jeffrey Wechsler puzzles, this Thursday was bound to be a toughie, and it was. I did get most of the bottom, though, including the reveal, before I started cheating. Had lots of silly starts, like AGR (agriculture) before INS, and MILES before NINES. Also put CORVETTE before CHEVETTE (I drive a 2004 Suburu, and clearly don't know cars). Still, lots of fun, thanks, Jeffrey. And your sky-write-ups are always amazing, Steve.
Can someone tell me what OY GEVALT means? Spitboov came close to explaining it, but I still don't get it.
Liked your second poem, Owen.
Have a good week with grandkids, Madame Defarge.
Hope Alan feels better soon, Yellowrocks.
Have a good day, everybody.
As others have said, Carmina Burana is indeed a beautiful and powerful work. I wonder what inspired Orff to write it?
Thanks, waseeley, for your recommendation; I intend to heed it.
Carrier is an air-conditioner manufacturer.
"Then the big flock of turkeys eluded us in an impenetrable, brushy ravine.
from Tales of Lonely Trails by Zane Gray.
I have often seen brushy in other novels and in hiking and birding guides.
"Indigo Buntings breed in a variety of brushy and weedy habitats along edges of cultivated land, woods, roads, powerline rights-of-way, and in openings in coniferous and deciduous forests."
Thanks Irish Miss, Misty and Candaian Eh for your kind thoughts of Alan. It really lifts my spirits to know I am not alone.
I attended a special needs residential placement workshop last winter. Today I made an appointment with an attorneys' practice recommended at the workshop . This law practice is only for special needs problems.They must have handled many cases like ours in the past year, so they should be conversant in the latest requirements, which change very frequently.
Alan has had a bad stomach virus ever since Sunday. The doctor says there is nothing we can do but wait for it to run its course, maybe for as long as a week. We are leaving soon for WV. I hope everything will be okay.
'Oy gevalt' is Yiddish. It's a combination of 'oh my goodness' and 'uh-oh'.
I’m puzzled that the clue for 46a which contained “-trix “ was confusing. I assumed the Abbr referred to the answer, FEM. which is indeed an abbreviation. Trix is just a suffix meaning feminine, as several others have said.
It is interesting to see those feminine endings in puzzles as they don’t seem to be used in real life in these feminist days.
Ladies of the stage and screen are actors not actresses. The change has been around for a long time now.
Almost got the whole thing!
Had to look up Albi,
Mol was a total WAG,
but FEM crossing ANIMA was impossible...
Of course it led to more research:
Jungian
Anima
Moot = non issue, interesting!
I am afraid the Ents would disagree...
Ent Moot
(Also a possible description of your railroad delays...)
Deneb is interesting, and the entire Cygnus constellation is fascinating.
But most of its beauty requires high power telescopes and time lapse photography.
There is one must see in Cygnus for the beginner, a double star called Albireo.
It is directly at the opposite end of Cygnus from Deneb. (the head of the swan)
and with a small scope, or even binoculars, can be resolved into its two stars.
An amazing combination of Blue, and Gold.
Steve: Hand up loved your title ISLE BE BACK. Enjoyed the theme, too!
I must have been on Jeffrey Wechsler's wavelength today because I got through with few serious problems. OY GEVALT was a term I grew up hearing, so that helped me and probably was a hindrance to others. DENEB I know from our astronomy club.
The HOHO/YOHO discussion has come up before. It was a learning moment for me, too. The biggest concern for me: Unknown names MOL, ALBI, URICH. CARMINA BURANA utterly unknown. The theme helped there!
Husker Gary: I agree with you that a GAS TAX is a very fair tax. That is why historically it has been one of the most popular taxes. It really should be called a user fee rather than a TAX. It has never come close to covering all of the actual user costs.
Here is one brief history of the GAS TAX
Here I visited my NIECE Hannah at her biopsychology laboratory. She was making measurements on mouse hippocampi at the time.
Here Weird Al Yankovic sings how he keeps a couple QUARTs of ICE CREAM in his locker in "I Love Rocky Road"
I have photos in THE ITALIAN ALPS and in BALI. Perhaps another time.
Husker Gary: Thanks for the Chinese AviaTRIX story!
From yesterday:
CrossEyedDave: Oh, my. That is a memorably amazing story. I am so glad that it had such a happy ending for everyone. Looking forward to future installments of the story.
Mike Sherline: Where did you live in the Maryland suburbs? I went to high school in Silver Spring in the 70s.
Oy Gevalt is a nice yiddish phrase. Gewalt originally means violence in German or maybe something harsh.
I could not sleep so well last couple of nights. Ed Sheeran had two concerts in two days and the music was just unbearable. Is he also so big in USA? I still do not get his popularity.
A true JW toughie. Got it done, but took about a half an hour. No circles since I used the Mensa site. Not thrilled with circles in puzzles.
Steve did an admirable job as our tour guide today.
Having lived in a Jewish community on Long Island OY GEVALT was heard all the time, but I didn't know how to spell it. Perps solved that problem. It can be loosely translated into many phrases, but usually it meant OMG.
I had HERTZ and PSST crossing at first instead of ALAMO and AHEM. That hung me up for a while, but eventially ITALIAN ALPS and TEQUILLA BOTTLE filled in and straightened me out.
I was a fan of Robert Parker's "Spenser" books, but when they made a TV series out of it and cast Robert Urich as the hero, I just couldn't take it. Urich did not match the mental image that I had of Spenser. I gave up on the TV show and the Spenser books that followed. TV and movies don't always do justice to the characters in books. Another case of this is Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher by Lee Child. He doesn't fit the image. All of this is just my opinion.
Have a great day everyone.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
1A took me a while Got it towards the end. OY GEVALT
DENEB, perps.
Spelled PESTLE wrong on first pass. AL
Spelled 22A as TALQUILA Fixed that later to TEQUILA
AC'S was easy. I knew Carrier made Air Conditioners.
Spelled DISDAINS as DISTAINS. Fixed before I finished with DENIM.
Theme was fine once I figured it out. Was not looking for backward spelling.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Misty ~
Krijo comes closest, I think, with a reference to "violence." Or, I would think, to "strength," in the sense of "personal power."
Not knowing Yiddish, but growing up near Yiddish speakers, I understood OY GEVALT to mean "Oh, give me strength!"
Ta- DA! This seemed easy for a Wechsler, and also filled with typical treats. A very enjoyable pzl.
~ OMK
____________
Diagonal Report: One clean slash NW to SE. Too many vowels (plus a "Q" in the middle) to be good for an anagram.
Sadly I have forgotten where in Britain Steve hails from, but for some reason I think of Manchester. Which brings me back to Academy Award nominee MANCHESTER BY THE SEA which we watched at home, all the way to the end, convinced there had to be some reason it was so well received by critics. No, it was horrible; Casey Affleck was horrible, the plot was...well you get the idea.
Owen ~
Really got a kick out of your 2nd verse! A classic IMHO.
As for your Haiku, wouldn't "famed" ("fam'd") work better for you than "renowned"?
Just a thought.
Lemonade ~
I didn't dislike Manchester as much as you, but I wasn't all that impressed either. It helps to remember that Oscars are awarded by peers. There is no suggestion of objectivity when honors are decided by the people with whom you work - or in certain cases by those who want to work with you.
The new "pop" film category, just announced, may give the Academy more headaches than they expect. Why not just run a "viewers' choice" award?
~ OMK
I just came across a saying that is too good not to share.
“English is weird.
It can be understood through tough, thorough thought though.”
It doesn’t take much to entertain me.
OY GEVALT - Wiktionary gives these meanings:
"Oh, God!"
"uh-oh!"
"Enough already."
DENEB - Part of the Summer Triangle along with Vega and Altair. Deneb has a declination of ~ 45º, so it would pass directly overhead to an observer at the Latitude of Northern NY. All three are in the list of 57 selected stars for celestial navigation.
FLN - IM and B Cohoes. The village wherein I attended grade school was served by a Freihofer horse-drawn wagon. While the breadman went door-to-door making deliveries, the horse plodded slowly along on his own, to keep up, so the breadman wouldn't have to keep walking back to advance the breadwagon.
Ol'Man Keith and others, many thanks for the different ways Oy Gevalt may be interpreted. I'm guessing the inflection with which it is said probably influences the expression's meaning in that particular context. Anyway, always great to learn something new.
And speaking of door to door deliveries.
After my father died times were very hard for us. My mother sold their fledgling restaurant, cleaned houses during the week and on the weekends made tamales to sell. We would load them onto my little brother's red wagon and walk the neighborhood selling them door to door by the dozen. This was a regular routine for us every Saturday. In a short time people recognized us and would eagerly wait for us to buy them. The money enhanced our meager income and taught us many lessons for life.
I guess it late enough that the breakfast crowd has gone
and I can try to entertain thru silliness.
(Irish Miss would say I was being Impish...)
Hmm, i tried to look for a Jewish slang phrase meaning "whatever"
to add under my Irish Miss comment,
but the closest I could find was:
Gey gezunterheyt: Go in good health
(Yeah, go do whatever you like. Fine, don't listen to me. See if I care anymore.)
(Hmm, not the expression I was looking for.
I wouldn't post if I didn't want you to listen to me,
and I do care!)
Does anyone know Yiddish for "whatever"
so I can properly respond to Irish Miss?
(in a kind manner , of course...)
Anywho,
That Peter Cottontail Easter song, (Gene Autry)
reminded me of another bunny song,
that is oh so much more sillier...
Actually, I am posting to test out a free program I downloaded
that I use for making videos of our Battle of Britain Spitfire sorties.
I was curious to see if I could take a clip from YouTube that was not
available any other way.
I went full screen, and copied this section of the full movie,
but slowed the speed down to 75% to offset the speed up they
use to avoid copyrights.
If this works, you can expect many more short movie clips
in response to CW's, Anons, Whatever... (dang! I need A Yiddish phrase for that!)
I give you, "hop hop hop hop hippity hop"
OY GEVALT!
FLN. C-eh, your "!" Clued me. eg. Tim Hortons.
Re. French=Hockey. Two things. Prior to the sixties hockey players developed on ponds which left out France. 2. Montreal had exclusive territorial rights to Quebec juniors. My point, though, had to do with the French heritage. Perhaps 1 and 2 led us to believe Frenchmen were naturals.
Back to the present...
Well, my yiddish and pop-tec knowledge deserted me eg non existent. That was from RLS (pirate ditty)? I had HOHO, TRASHY (Some are). I should have known ALBI. I was discombobulated because I did xword before funnies. Pop-tec = shows like SVU, NCIS etc
Here, I'll make up for it:
Whence this?
Telling tales and biting nails
Just a line I heard in Sirius. HG will have it.
Lemony, I agree, Urich just doesn't look tough. But neither did the Fonz.
Wow, Bob Cousy is 90 today. Personifies the word immortal. Btw, they called traveling in his day.
My problem was like HG I also had ASTI, changed S to L but not the T.
Gas TAX:
We just had our monthly Oil Cos gauging ie 25c bump. Favorable economic indicators have consistently produced it. This is money in bank(tank?) - especially since the cost of oil in the tanks hasn't changed, only futures prices.
My only surprise was that it took until the 8th, I expected it five days ago and was telling people to keep their tanks full. PS. I didn't take my own advice. *
I believe AHEM is onomatopoeia .
WC
* My main car is deisel which barely changes during these operations . I understand rationing but the excessive profit should be taxed not fatten the fat.
More than you ever wanted to known about OY GEVALT! It is a very common expression heard said by the older generation of Eastern European Jews. I am surprised by all the discussion is caused today.
Hahtoolah I was also surprised at the reaction to OY GEVALT because I have heard it often. But that’s what’s so fascinating to me about our Corner! We all have so many different life experiences and therefore easy to come by knowledge.
Mazeltov! (Spelling???)
Hahtoolah - shrayen gevalt and Gey shray gevalt have direct German word equivalents:
shrayen gevalt: Schreien Gewalt
Gey shray gevalt : Geh schreie Gewalt
OY GEVALT - I taught in a school that was about 30% Jewish, 30% Catholic, 30% Asian of all types of ancestry, mostly Chinese, Taiwanese and Indian (South Asian.) The other 10% was Protestant. The kids used to asked “Are you Jewish or Catholic?” A response of “neither” left them dumbfounded, if they saw that you weren’t Asian.
I heard many Yiddish phrases from the kids and their parents. I am sure that OY GEVALT is used a great deal among the Jewish people, but it was not a phrase that we goyim heard. That surprises me because in the following list I was familiar with more than 75% of the phrases. Many Yiddish phrases have become common among English speaking non-Jews.
Have you heard these?
As SwampCat said, "We have so many different experiences." It is fun to share them.
Oc4beach: I agree that Tom Cruise is just NOT Jack Reacher. Jack Reacher is described as well over 6 feet (6'6"?) and has a much different personality.
Thanks for the definitions of OY GEVALT. Glad to know what I'm saying if I ever feel the urge to say it. Where I grew up there were protestants and Catholics and "mixed marriages" were frowned on. No blacks or other tanned ethnicities. Did have one Chinese family who ran a restaurant. No racial bias either. The closest Jewish enclave was 60 miles away. I picked up on OY vey much later in life.
With supreme irony, the Carrier Dome in Syracuse was built without air conditioning. They probably didn't think about football possibly at the end of August or lacrosse in late May. I believe it's going to be added during the next renovation.
I think we can blame the "through, though, thorough, thought" spelling problem on the French. Too bad Noah Webster didn't address them along with his other spelling simplifications.
ALBI is near Toulouse. The artist's father was Count of Toulouse and Vicomte de Lautrec, among other titles
YR, thanks for the list of Americanized Yiddish and JW for the Thursday fun.
oc4beach @1:42, I am currently reading "No Middle Name, The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Short Stories." I cannot imagine Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher.
- - To "Grock" or "Parse", that is the question. At 5:48 AM I grocked the theme in time to aruba-tize.
- - Irish Miss at 10:00 AM parsed Carmina Burana. I know she used the correct word, but I questioned my choice so I LIU.
- - Per the Urban Dictionary Grock means - understand,appreciate actively and profoundly, fully comprehend; also, to think about, listen to, play, or contemplate something or someone with full love and understanding, even ecstacy. I am satisfied that I used it correctly.
- - Per Dictionary.com the 3rd meaning of Parse is to analyze (something, as a speech or behavior) to discover its implications or uncover a deeper meaning. That is what she did.
- - Class dismissed.
Ðave
I kknow that language is dynamic -- constantly changing -- but here's a very small personal nit: I was exposed to Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" at a pretty early age, and forevermore "grock" seems wrong to me because it's not "grok".
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who doesn't think Tom Cruise is a good fit to play Jack Reacher.
Yr:
Thank you for that list of Yiddish expressions. I know exactly 18 of them, most of which I learned or have encountered in books I've read or in crosswords. I fear that my Yiddish exposure has been very limited. That's the marvelous thing about crosswords and this Blog!
I believe Carrier (Carrier products briefly)43 down is an air conditioning company.(ACs)
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