Theme: It's Obvious
Today's
offering is from a another prominent member of the Minnesota crossword
contingent, making his second LAT appearance this week. (I thought only C.C. did that.) Did you notice the WHITE RABBIT? Do you suppose Victor
knew this one was destined to appear on the first of the month, or was
that just serendipity? I like it, in either case.
The
theme on this one was so obvious it jumped off the page. Impossible to
miss. So I sent up an S-O-S to C.C. to let her know that I didn't get
the theme, even with the reveal. Tabloid pairs make up another of the
many black holes in my universe of useless information. Turns out I
didn't need to know about Brangelina, TomKat or Kimye. I was
over-thinking things. "IT" appears twice in every theme answer. As I
said, so simple that IT's impossible to miss. D'oh!
17A. Liveliness: VITALITY.
36A. "To boldly go," e.g.: SPLIT INFINITIVE. Star Trek's gift to the English language.
49A. Cat owner's purchase: KITTY LITTER. There's something wrong with buying kitty litter from a company named Chewy.com.
and the reveal:
59A. Tabloid pair found in 17-, 23-, 36- and 49-Across: IT COUPLE.
I am chagrined, but at least I was VICTORious in my solving efforts.
Across:
1. Light-ly armed fighter?: JEDI. That hyphen made it a dead giveaway.
5. "Better Call Saul" network: AMC.
8. Takes by force: SEIZES. WRESTS would also have worked. Wite-Out, please.
14. Nerve impulse carrier: AXON.
15. Bit of texting mirth: LOL. Laughing Out Loud, like Bernadette.
16. ThinkPad maker: LENOVO. It was the IBM ThinkPad until 2005.
19. "Grumpy" film guys: OLD MEN. Matthau and Lemmon, not dwarfs.
20. Really enjoyed, with "up": ATE.
21. Got 100 on: ACED.
22. Iberian river: EBRO. Fortunately, in cws it's always the same river.
27. To the degree that: AS FAR AS. Tried SO FAR AS, Wite-Out.
30. "It's __!": A DATE. It wasn't A WRAP. More W-O for d-o.
31. Like the Piper: PIED. Because of his multi-colored clothing, not his dessert preference. Could the legend be based on fact?
32. Wrapped up: OVER. Guarantees that 30a wasn't A WRAP.
33. Piece of land: LOT. Why do you suppose it's called a lot rather than a little?
41. Boston winter hrs.: EST.
42. Words before a start date: AS OF.
43. Swedish retail giant: IKEA. I'd never heard of 'em until they opened a store in Houston. King of the flat pack retailers.
44. Color from the French for "mole": TAUPE. We had this recently.
46. Multiplex theater count: SCREENS.
51. Deeply engrossed: RAPT.
52. Nest-building flier: WASP.
Practically all flying creatures build nests. Used to be a label for a
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Probably un-PC today.
53. Wordsmith's ref.: O.E.D.. Oxford English Dictionary
56. Verdict challenge: APPEAL.
61. Throwing money around, in slang: SPENDY. I've seen it, but don't believe I've ever heard it.
62. __ urchin: SEA. SEA, because STREET was too long. I was a street urchin in my ute.
63. Central: MAIN.
64. Chinese bamboo eaters: PANDAS.
65. TV shopper's option: HSN. Home Shopping Network.
66. Tom Stoppard creation: PLAY. Krigo probably recognizes the name. I had to look him up. He co-wrote Shakespeare In Love.
Down:
1. Indonesian island: JAVA. The J was already there. Otherwise I'm sure I would've inked in BALI.
2. __ interview: EXIT. I've mentioned my exit interview from the Navy:
You don't want to ship-over, do you?
Nope.
All right, then. [Navy heaves huge sigh of relief.]
3. Spoil, with "on": DOTE.
4. Ship __ bottle: IN A. Gluey.
5. Keys of music: ALICIA. Didn't fool me. I immediately inked in ALISHA. Wite-out.
6. Church songs: MOTETS. Learning moment. I'd have guessed they were small motels. Here's a sample. I'd rank it right up there with opera.
7. Half a notorious crime duo: CLYDE. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. This is archival footage taken just 5 minutes after the famous 1934 ambush in Louisiana. Their driver, of course, was Clyde's brother Wheel Barrow.
8. __-mo replay: SLO.
I call our black cat whose name is Moe, SLO-MO. DW doesn't like it. I
also call our one-eyed cat, One-Eye. DW doesn't like that, either.
There's a plethora of things DW doesn't like.
9. Slender aquarium swimmer: EEL. Do folks really keep eels in their aquaria? Do they name 'em Morey?
10. Like many a college graduate: IN DEBT. College was so much cheaper back in the day.
11. Resembling the walking dead: ZOMBIE-LIKE. Imhotep!
12. Tennis legend Chris: EVERT. She's 63 now, retired almost 30 years ago.
13. Prefix with gram: SONO.
Don't WAG at this type of clue. It could be aerogram akhagram
ambigram antigram aptagram ashigram attogram autogram babygram barogram
bishgram bologram calogram cenogram datagram debagram decagram decigram
dekagram dygogram echogram ectogram ergogram ethogram fluigram fourgram
genogram gigagram goalgram hemogram hexagram hologram ideogram idiogram
ionogram jhargram kaligram kanagram ketugram khargram kilogram kinegram
kotigram kurigram kymogram lauegram lexigram lipogram logogram mailgram
majigram mamogram marigram masagram megagram messgram metagram miligram
mixogram monogram nabagram nanogram nayagram nitigram nomogram nonogram
octagram ondogram optogram paragram petagram phrogram picogram piragram
polygram renogram saligram sciagram semagram sevagram sewagram shalgram
shongram sinogram skiagram skiogram sonagram sonogram specgram
taligram taxogram tazagram telegram teragram tinygram tomogram tonogram
trangram ursigram vasogram venogram wolfgram xerogram zymogram. Best to
wait for a perp or two. I should have learned this back at 30a.
18. Cowardly Lion portrayer: LAHR. Bert.
23. Desert riverbed: WADI. Usually dry.
24. Sitar master Shankar: RAVI. He introduced the Beatles to the sitar. Norah Jones is his daughter.
25. Yemen's main port: ADEN. Hello, old cw friend.
26. City on the Adriatic: BARI. Not sure why I knew this one. It's the ninth largest city in Italy with a tad over 325,000 residents.
27. Semicircular church area: APSE. This knave only knows this word from cws.
28. Doesn't guzzle: SIPS. Name the song with these lines: "I can drink my liquor faster than a flicker. I can do it quicker and get even sicker."
29. Sharpie, e.g.: FELT TIP PEN. I keep one next to my year-at-a-glance wall calendar.
32. On vacation: OFF. Could'a been OUT. Wite-out.
34. "Cupcake Wars" appliance: OVEN.
35. Drinks with scones: TEAS. Seldom drink tea, have never had a scone.
37. Opposite of slack: TAUT. Sometimes confused with TAUNT, right Owen?
38. Game played with one's "little eye": I SPY. Also an old-timey TV show starring Robert Culp and he-who-shall-not-be-named.
39. Dramatist Coward: NOEL. I would've clued it as "First name of Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary"
40. Level: TIER.
45. Go to: ATTEND.
46. Declares: STATES. For a change it's not AVERS, he opined.
47. Diagnostic pic: CT SCAN. I won't say CAT SCAN, the Anon's brain might explode.
48. Loan default risk: REPO.
49. Iota follower: KAPPA. I finally put the Greek alphabet under the glass at my computer table. Makes it lots easier to "remember."
50. "If only": I WISH.
51. Rough file: RASP. Anybody think of this guy?
53. Iridescent gem: OPAL. A synonym for "iridescent" is "opalescent." Go figure.
54. "East of Eden" director Kazan: ELIA. Those three vowels are just irresistible to crossword constructors.
55. Say no to: DENY.
57. MouthHealthy.org initials: ADA. American Dental Association.
58. Lille lily: LYS. Now we can revive that fleur-de-lis/lys discussion.
60. Diamond authority: UMP. Gratuitous baseball clue/answer.
With C.C.'s gracious help, here's the grid. Now it's your turn. Desper-otto over and out.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Victor, C.C and desper-otto!!
Needed perp help with: LENOVO, TAUPE, SPENDY (weird), SONO and BARI.
LensCrafters talked me into blended lenses. Am not happy. Mistook a W as two Vs in Word Solitaire. Cost me several hours.
Have a great day!
Good morning Corner Writers!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr. Victor Barocas for this enjoyable Wednesday CW. I FIR in 28:26.
Is this an August Fools Joke? Where is Melisssa bee or JazzB?
Thank you Desper-otto with C.C.'s gracious help, for you exhaustive review of grams.
- - Please explain what is important about WHITE RABBIT and the first of the month.
- - "Clyde's brother Wheel Barrow" reminds me of the famous Country Music star Freddy Fender, and his cousin Barry Bumper.
- - D-O, Anything you can do, I can do better.
- - Both sides won the "Cupcake Wars".
Thank you for such a punny time.
Ðave
WHITE RABBIT, white rabbit, starts the month off.
ReplyDeleteGood luck solving puzzles, and avoiding a cough!
May your JEDI crew
Help TO BOLDLY GO to
A future with no ZOMBIES whose heads you must doff!
FIWrong¡ Had LiS instead of LYS, with a slang term crossing which could probably be spelt either way. And LENOVa crossing the unguessed SaNO-gram¡
Even after the reveal, it took me a while to see the theme.
The prescience of the Blog: SwampCat two days ago: "I’ve given up on split infinitives even though the alternative is much more emphatic. To boldly go... is not nearly as positive as BOLDLY to go.. or to go BOLDLY."
In the land of Limerick were two OLD MEN
Who bought what they saw on H.S.N.
Which left them IN DEBT
To the Home Shopping Net,
And blacklisted from there with a FELT TIP PEN!
On Gunsmoke they rode on a noble critter,
A steeds that would make a modern girl twitter!
A victim in the saloon
Of gun-PLAY at noon
The proprietress sent to Doc on her KITTY LITTER!
{B, B, B.}
ReplyDelete{A, A, A.}
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Desper-Otto and friends. This must have been the easiest Wednesday puzzle in my memory. I got the IT COUPLE and so immediately went back and confirmed that there were two "ITs" in my theme fills.
ReplyDeleteIn my family, we always said WHITE RABBIT on the first of the month, so I smiled at seeing this entry today.
I didn't know LENOVO, but it didn't matter as the perps gave me the answer.
I tried Wren before WASP and It's A Girl before It's A DEAL.
Bonnie and Clyde still continue to fascinate us. They were ambushed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
FLN: Lucina, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend, Marilyn. May her memory be a blessing.
QOD: A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities. ~ Herman Melville (Aug. 1, 1819 ~ Sept. 28, 1891)
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit
ReplyDeleteSusan, what does your QOD mean?
Victor, welcome back; IT was a pleasure. Thank you D-O for jumping in to blog today.
Dave 2, here is a brief explanation of the rabbit superstition. Dear departed marti got us going on this rabbit habit.
I agree with the comment on Swamp Cat's comment. Happy hump day as well
Rabbit Rabbit
ReplyDeleteHello Puzzlers -
Now it’s twice that I’ve forgotten fleur-de-lys, instead putting in “lis”. Oops. Otherwise, smooth sailing on this nicely crafted puzzle.
Morning D-O, well done!
Isn't "rough file" a bit redundant? (I know, Yellowstone, I know, "The Dictionary" says . . .)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correct spelling of CT SCAN; but shouldn't the clue for REPO, next door, include a "for short" – or "prob" instead of "risk"?
FIR, but my riverbed was a wash before it was a WADI, my risk was debt before it was REPO, and my hand was up for wren before WASP. I don't think you can be un-PC to WASPs, the last group you can joke about.
ReplyDeleteI thought SPENDY is a synonym for "expensive". Guess I've been using it wrong, not exactly my first malaprop.
Didn't know Mr. Stoppard, BARI (we had "beri" twice yesterday), and was waiting for Tom Bodett to leave the light on for me to sing MOTET 6. Hand up for thinking IBM for ThinkPad, but I've heard of Lenovo electronics.
FLN, x2 for suggesting Misty get a second opinion, but not in the same group. I think an unconnected doc might be more objective. Lucina, my heart aches for you. Thanks to OMK for your comforting words. PK, comedian Artie Lang once said "...if I have an erection lasting four hours I ain't callin' a doctor, I'm callin' a hooker". -T, the Morehead (Ky) U teams are the Eagles. The band "The Eagles" played homecoming one year, and the roadies bought up all the Morehead Eagles tees in the bookstore.
Thanks Victor Barocas for a fine Wednesday puzzle. My favorite was WHITE RABBIT just because I haven't thought of Jefferson Airplane / Jefferson Starship / Starship in a while. I was once a big fan. And thanks to D-O for your fine review. Always a fun time.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteagain two mistake on the DENY/OED/PLAY section. Should have tried harder. I know Tom Stoppard was born in Zlin, Czech Republic or Czechia - current official name. I really enjoyed the Rosenktrantz and Guildenstern are dead movie with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth. Unfortunately I did not get the clue.
Did not know the expression IT COUPLE, but got the theme right. Had BALI before JAVA and got BARI straight away. Should have known OED, well maybe next time I hit 100%.
Lemonade714 at 6:27 AM
ReplyDelete- - Thanks for hopping in with the link to a rabbit hole. I fell in it, and Alice and I want to wish one and all a Hare, Hare day.
Ðave
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Victor Barocas, for a fine puzzle. thank you, Deper-otto and C.C., for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteWell, cruciverb was OK last night, so I worked the puzzle as I was watching Perry Mason. Got 'er done and went bed.
Took me a while to catch the theme, but I did after i got the first theme answer, which was not right off the bat. It was WHITE RABBIT.
I always remember AXON. Took an evening course in anatomy once and learned that. Also viewed a cadaver in that course. At Kishwaukee College.
LENOVO was slow in coming.
SPLIT INFINITIVE came slowly.
Never heard the word SPENDY before. Oh well, I don't get out much.
Tried FELT MARKER until I realized that did not work. TIP PEN appeared.
Off to my day. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Musings
ReplyDelete-I was able “to miserably fail” to get the theme. Forest/trees
-SPEND_/L_S coin flip went to I and not Y. Obscure former and optional latter
-I have no interest in IT COUPLES nor care that some do
-Yeah, as if beautiful Ann Margaret and Sophia Loren would have the hots “to gladly date” these two
-How can a 24-SCREEN multiplex not have one show we want “to anxiously see”?
-Exorbitant costs made Omaha’s world class zoo give up on PANDAS
-A local school board member got into a heated argument with the superintendent and the content of her EXIT interviews
-Cutting costs of college doesn’t seem “to necessarily be” on anyone’s agenda
-What’s My Line first used a FELTTIP PEN and a easel “to shakily sign in” pre-blackboard
-Being “on vacation” will end for millions this month including substitute teachers
-“DENY thy father and refuse thy name”. There goes your inheritance Juliet!
-Nice job, D-O!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
Maybe I need new glasses because, unlike Hatoolah, I missed the theme entirely, until the reveal. No w/os but a few unknowns: White Rabbit, Motets, and Bari. I have never seen or heard the word "Spendy"; my nose is still wrinkled. I immediately thought of Swampcat at Split Infinitive and chuckled.
Thanks, Victor, for a mid-week treat and thanks, DO, for a concise and comical summary. Job well done! I'm still laughing over your cat monikers and especially at "There's a plethora of things DW doesn't like!"
FLN
Lucina, I'm so sorry for your great loss of Marilyn.
TTP, I hope you're back to your normal chipper self!
Misty, as others have mentioned, it seems that your conjunctivitis has gone on too long. I had it once and it lasted only a week, at the most, and there was nothing I could take for it as it wasn't bacterial. I hope it gets resolved soon; you 've had more than your share of eye issues.
Have a great day.
23A: not familiar with Jefferson Airplane music so I never understood this cartoon until now.
ReplyDeletehttps://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/13/4e/1a/134e1abf37b1781db361ec22941e720f.gif
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteAgree with D-O's first paragraph; I was trying to overthink the IT COUPLE stuff. Clever enough, though, to get fill with 2 IT's in each one. Kind of a CSO to Anon-T and others who are in the keep the computers running business.
SPLIT INFINITIVE was raked over the coals the other night.
Never saw SPENDY before, but I'll blindly go with the editor on this one; not worth looking up.
I liked the overall freshness and neat cluing - ____interview, 'Like the Piper', Grumpy _______'.
Victors' style made me want to see what was around the next corner. BZ.
Husker said: "How can a 24-SCREEN multiplex not have one show we want “to anxiously see”?"
The corollary to that is: How can access to 500 cable channels not have anything we want to see?
Fun and fast, Victor. DO, super subbing. I couldn’t suss the theme. V-8 moment. So obvious now.
ReplyDeleteI liked light-ly armed fighter. When my grandson was little he had several light sabers so all his friends could play Star Wars with him.
An "it" couple are a super cool couple who are generally hot. People want to be this couple as they are amazing to look at.
Jinx, you are correct. Spendy can mean both expensive and extravagant (spend thrift). Doesn’t spendthrift seem like an oxymoron? Spellcheck does not like spendy.
Many sites discuss types of files. There are coarse files and smooth files. Smooth files are used for finishing. They are not that rough.
A rasp is a form of file with distinct, individually cut teeth used for coarsely removing large amounts of material. The word rough led me to rasp immediately. Not all files are rasps.
I have a friend who has a glass eye. His license plate reads ONE EYE. He is not shy about it.
I have held my peace for the last two days on the grammar and word usage discussion. I thought and read a great deal about it. I am not a purist and so likely I stand alone. Today I dare to give my take on the split infinitive. In my opinion there is a middle ground. Most references say there is not a hard and fast rule. Sometimes the split infinitive is used even in formal writing
Link text
Link text
One site said we should avoid the split infinitive so as not to upset the grammar police. LOL
Good Morning.
ReplyDeleteI've been on hiatus with my visiting grandson. No time for puzzles of the cross type, only jigsaw. He loves them! We had a grand time with him. I see I have missed some news here. I hope TTP is well. May I offer condolences to you, Lucina.
Thanks, Victor. I did Monday and Tuesday puzzles to warm up for today. I, too, only remembered the IBM Think Pad, but my grandson had a LENOVO with him so I tried that. Yay! Is SPENDY the opposite of thrifty? I've never heard that in use, as I recall. BARI came easily by the letter count. My hand is up for wren before WASP. I suppose we would need a song in the clue to get to wren.
Great tour, D-O. I really appreciate your witty self. Love your cat (nick)names.
I find a rare SPLIT INFINITIVE to be memorable--especially when spoken. I never watched Star Trek, but I remember the tag line.
Have a fine day today.
ReplyDeleteI ran through the puzzle from Victor until I got to the SPENDi/LiS cross. Also, like D-O I didn't get the theme this morning. So officially a FIW because I had to turn on Red Letters to figure out my mistake. Drat. D-O's write-up was an enjoyable tour through the grid.
At first I had GAR for the Slender Swimmer until perps corrected it. My son has Gar in his 200 gallon fishtank. Also, I waited for perps to fill in AMC, VITALITY, EBRO and SPLIT INFINITIVE.
SONO popped up immediately. As a SCORE Mentor I worked with a young entrepreneur, who is a registered medical Sonogram Technician in starting her Elective Sonogram business called Hide & Seek Prenatal Peek. It was an interesting experience helping her get started and after more than a year in business, she is doing well in helping expecting families in bonding with their babies before they are born. Here is a newspaper article about her start-up.
Thinkpads originally came from IBM, but when they decided to get out of the PC business they sold the rights to a Chinese firm (LENOVO) that produced them for IBM.
Have a great day everyone.
Did anybody else try "tied" for level? I needed to fill in most of kitty litter before I realized that was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard the word spendy until I moved from the Bay Area to Portland, and around here it refers to expensive items not extravagant buyers, but maybe in other places the meaning differs.
And for those of you still saying "it depends on what the meaning of near is" today's NYT has a "university near xxx city" involving locations more than an hour's drive apart.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Victor Barocas and D-O! Great job, both. I like your puns, d-o.
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my fastest solves, under 15 minutes. Usually I sip my coffee, chat on the telephone and leisurely work the puzzle. But this one had me RAPT the entire time with only two erasures, RETE/AXON and OUT/OFF. Otherwise, smooth sailing.
LENOVO is on my computer so I see it everyday as the SCREEN opens. A Canadian friend whom I met on one of my trips is from BARI and that's when I first heard of it. I have visited her in Vancouver a couple of times.
LOL at SPLITINFINITIVE and the recent discussion. I've seen SPENDY in news articles and heard it on ET (Entertainment Tonight) which is where I keep up with current celebrity news.
Thank you again for your condolences.
Have a happy day, everyone! Every day is a gift.
Rabbit rabbit !
ReplyDeleteAs Churchill said when a copy editor corrected his grammar because he ended a sentence with a preposition, "This is one thing up with which I will not put."
Someone else quoted it the other day.
Puzzle was fast and furious. Thanks Victor. I wanted Bali before JAVA, but JEDI wouldn't let me. I loved WHITE RABBIT on this first of the month.
D-O, thanks for the funny punny expo.
Owen, All A's!!
Hahtoolah: your link didn't work, and the partial URL wasn't sufficent to figure out where you might have intended.
ReplyDeleteI prefer to think of rabbit in terms of "tradition" instead of "superstition". More inclusive and less likely rub the fur the wrong way with certain people.
Lemon, good article. I hope you just mean "dear departed" Marti is no longer on the blog. If she's past away I hadn't heard, and shall mourn.
D4: I hope you're not having a bad hare day! Thanks for the compliments both here and at _J!
Other links: Magilla and The EBRO/ Iberian rivers map D-o tried to include in his fine expo.
Woohoo! Woohoo! I got this fun Wednesday puzzle--many thanks, Victor. My heart sank when I started because I had only LOL and ACED on the top half at the beginning. But the bottom filled in slowly but steadily, and then I worked my way to the top. There were so many items in this puzzle that I didn't know, but brilliant constructors figure out how to surround the toughies with manageable ones so that even folks who don't know them can slowly get them. That's what happened here, and I'm so thankful. Never heard of BARI or LENOVO or SPENDY, for that matter, but no problem in the end. I too debated WREN before WASP. It was also fun to be reminded about Doc and Kitty on "Gunsmoke." Thanks for the helpful write-up, Desper-otto, and C.C. I loved looking for those double ITs after getting the theme.
ReplyDeleteLemonade, thanks for the RABBIT link. I've always wondered about that expression.
And many thanks for the kind words about my eyes, Irish Miss and others. I hate complaining about them for so long, and wish they'd just clear up.
Have a great month coming up, everybody!
HG @ 8:53, LOL !!
ReplyDeletehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s38PSh-Y4ac
ReplyDeleteScarlett sings as well, in this case about Bonnie and Clyde.
White Rabbit
ReplyDeleteJefferson Airplane, Songwriter: Grace Wing Slick
One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall
And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call
And call Alice, when she was just small
When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low
Go ask Alice, I think she'll know
When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead
And the white knight is talking backwards
And the red queen's off with her head
Remember what the dormouse said
Feed your head, feed your head
Husker Gary: here's the photo I'm sure you meant by "Yeah, as if beautiful Ann Margaret and Sophia Loren would have the hots “to gladly date” these two"
ReplyDeleteWell, this is the CW that my newspaper printed on Monday. They reprinted it today for good measure. Sigh! I will have to find Monday's online. Thanks for the fun, Victor and D'otto. I did mention in my Monday post that one of the answers made me think that it was supposed to be the CW for the first of the month. That would be the WHITE RABBIT.
ReplyDeleteSeveral white-outs. I was thinking of the expression "pay the piper" and had Paid until SIPS forced PIED and a lightbulb moment.
I had the last part of the reveal -PLE- and filled in People. CT SCAN and REPO changed it to COUPLE but I forgot to write-over the O at 60 and then had a Natick at the cross of 60D and 66A, with OM- and LAY. Not knowing Tom Stoppard and being misled from the baseball diamond to the Girl's best friend type, I have a DNF.
Oh well, it was fun and I was in a hurry the other day trying to finish during grandkids' quiet time.
Recovery day today after playground, water park, carousel, beach visits and their soccer games. Besides keeping them fed and watered!
Misty, hope the eyes are improving.
Lucina, condolences on the passing of your friend.
Best wishes of the day to you all.
WHITE RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT, indeed! There could hardly be an apter (more apter?) clue for the first puzzle of the month. Made me smile right out loud, it did. As others have said, this was a speed run today. FIR in 10 minutes. Lots of enjoyable fill. When the cold war was a thing, lots of espionage stories began in BARI, as it was just a fairly short run across the Adriatic Sea to various ports in what was then Yugoslavia.
ReplyDeleteSO glad to see Cruciverb back today! None of the online places to play are as satisfactory as downloading the puzzle from Cruciverb and doing it on my iPad in the Crossword app.
Decision time today; we’re scheduled starting this weekend for a week just south of Yosemite, followed by a week at Tahoe, but the Ferguson fire doesn’t seem to want to play nice. What to do, what to do?
Oh, well. Have a great day, all.
I once entered Italy from Dubrovnik by way of the ferry to BARI. I was new to travel then, and when I paid the taxi driver for a short hop from the pier to our hotel, I gave him what I thought was a fair tip.
ReplyDeleteI knew I had miscalculated when he nearly knelt in front of me - at least bowed several times very deeply - and blessed me and my wife and our children yet unborn.
I had given him, it turned out, at least the equivalent of a week's wages.
Sometime we do good deeds without even thinking ...
Ta- DA! A nice humpday pzl from Mr. Barocas.
~ OMK
____________
Diagonal Report: One today on the mirror side. No anagram (too few vowels).
BTW, Tom Stoppard may be the top-rated dramatist of our time in future theater histories of this era.
ReplyDeleteHis plays are brilliant - funny and incisive, charming and deep. Especially Arcadia and The Real Thing.
I'd rank him far above NOEL Coward, right up there with GB Shaw.
~ OMK
I do not read tabloids, but we have seen "IT COUPLE" here before, I think. Fun theme!
ReplyDeletedesper-otto: Thanks for the -GRAM array! Learning moment! Did anyone else think "It's A TRAP"?
Yes, it was funny that SwampCat had brought up the Star Trek SPLIT INFINITIVE so recently! I am always happy to see a Star Trek reference. If a show is very popular, I do try to watch at least one or two episodes. To see what others might find interesting. And to get the cultural reference.
Jinx: I also only knew SPENDY as meaning "expensive" but apparently it also means one who spends a lot.
Last year DW and I got this unusually cute, clear view of this PANDA at the San Diego Zoo.
Here I was at the spectacular Borobudur World Heritage site in JAVA.
Here is my article on the huge ZOMBIE LIKE gathering here to perform Thriller. Lots of photos and videos.
Here are my photos of our Harbor Festival. Including fresh-caught SEA URCHINS.
Most of our Santa Barbara SEA URCHINS are exported quite profitably to Japan. It is an acquired taste that I have come to appreciate once in awhile.
desper-otto: Thanks also for the PIED Piper back story. Learning moment!
ReplyDeleteThis seemed to come easy, especially for a Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteMISTY...I seldom give advice, especially the unsolicited kind, but I’m thinking that the doctor you are “seeing” seems remarkably unconcerned about your vision issues, especially considering the amount time you have been dealing with this.
There’s a reason for second opinions. Just saying.
And....I’m on Medicare now, I have a great Part D. But I’m in the doughnut hole now...my scrips, which were $115 each last time....are now $775 and $501. Nice.
Picard ~
ReplyDeleteI have a hunch, good sir, that nobody reads tabloids.
~ OMK
OwenKL: Not sure why my White Rabbit link didn't work. Maybe this one works. We always said White Rabbit, but only after a friend from the Philippines told us it would bring good luck. Thus, I always thought it was tradition from that country. Not so, apparently.
ReplyDelete"Albus Lepus Squared"
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of "spendy" crossing French,
(but, whats a constructor gotta do to finish a puzzle!)
OwenKL beat me to Magilla's hotlink. Excellent!
Anywho, one "it" is enough for me.
(though he does have two T's)
Pls note, that no infinitives were split during this pronunciation lesson...
White Rabbit [Jefferson Aireplane 2:28]. Play later, -T
ReplyDeleteI think you're right, AnonPVX, and I will try to ask for another doctor the next time I go to the clinic.
ReplyDeleteMisty - Sorry about your lingering eye problem. A second opinion is a good idea like others have said, but it would work the best if you used someone totally separate from the clinic or office you normally use. The problem though is the wait time until you could be seen. If your primary can't fix you up with someone who can see you quickly, maybe the tack is to go to a totally different clinic for a referral. JM2¢.
ReplyDeleteI remember Pied Piper as the 1957 TV movie that became a yearly special on Thanksgiving. Van Johnson in a dual role as the Piper and as romantic lead, Jim Backus as the king's Emissary, and Claude Rains as the Mayor, in the only singing and dancing role of his long career. Most of the dialogue was from Browning's poem, and Grieg's Hall of the Mountain King was the tune that lured the rats and children.
ReplyDeleteThe entire film is on YOUTUBE (one hour, 27 minutes)
ReplyDeleteFLN
Anon@958. It's me. I'm no fan although I'd be glad to play golf with him. Phil's my son and no fan either. DW on the other hand and 12000 others....
Jon Brydel... We
Thanks for checking in and clarifying. I was thinking Dallas as NASDAQ indeed is simply a bunch of computers talking to each other.
And, Lucina you have our thoughts, prayers and sympathy. Yes, love to hear that Story sometime.
Thanks for the WR link and all the cool 60s music, D-OTTO
The late Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were an IT Couple, eh -T?
Back to Wednesday. I found it a real quicky with no bumps. Never got IT though
D4-Dave, glad to see you're your old punny self.
I guess WASP=UNPC is an oxymoron. Like Coporate Ethics
No not oxymoron. I mean what true WASP would care to object?
ELIA Kazan again, along with LYS.
WC
I liked this puzzle. ZOMBIELIKE, SPLITINFINITIVE, and FELTTIPPEN are outstanding. Didn't see the two "IT"s in the answers because I was looking for specific names of specific IT couples, such as TomKat (now obsolete) or Brangelina (also obsolete?). Wanted It's A GIRL and KILOgram at first.
ReplyDeleteGood wishes to you all.
Excellent write-up, desper-otto! I totally "get" and like your sense of humor and appreciate that you "get" mine as well.
ReplyDeleteCED did you figure out IGDIR?
ReplyDeleteAnother great Owen poem today
WC
PS .I always thought Grace said "KEEP Your head
Picard @ 12:43 -- "Learning moment! Did anyone else think "It's A TRAP"?"
ReplyDeleteNope, I though it was 'It's a DEAL', then that NE side slowly went down in flames.
WC@4:45,
ReplyDeleteHeHe,
yes, I figured it out,
but I can't think of a way to tell you how without getting kicked off the BLog...
Billocohoes@3:29
The entire movie?
(dang it! I gotta bookmark it for later...)
but it Kinda reminds me of a movie I saw when I was 6 or 7,
Gary Lockwood early role, The Magic Sword.
Dang thing gave me nightmares...
but i never forgot it...
Yes, Dave, the entire movie. It's in the public domain now. Spoiler alert, to keep it suitable for a family audience, they added an ending where the piper relents and the children return.
ReplyDeleteWC, I always thought it was FEED your head, but that the previous line was "and the Red Queen's off her head".
OwenKL at 11:38 AM
ReplyDelete- - I'm reminded of my first 3 cars, all VWs, 2 beetles, and then a Rabbit. It had "Hare conditioning."
- - My memory isn't what it used to be. Dudley explained Rabbit Rabbit to me on Jan. 1.
Ðave
Jeopardy tonight has a category Geographical Redundancy. I never realized there are so mnay. Fun.
ReplyDeleteJust got back from the (Orange) County (CA) Fair. I always enjoy looking at the new art on display, especially the work created by teenage artists. They are just starting out, and their appeal lies partly in the degree of technique they have already accomplished and partly in their choice of subject.
ReplyDeleteThis piece caught my eye mainly for the latter reason. The young artist shows an unusual vision, treating the pattern of the girl's dress as an animated swarm. I was also taken by her choice to build the entire painting around a real "found object" - the swatch of denim jeans where the subject has her hand in the pocket. Please check out this Artwork by Sarah Chung.
~ OMK
For those of you who inquired about my son and his wife in the path of the California fires, they seem to be fine for now. They are up in the mountains outside of Redding, and the city of Redding has contained the fire in its midst.
ReplyDeleteOther more dangerous fires are now burning closer to San Francisco.
It’s a mess all around! But thanks for caring .
A banana SPLIT
ReplyDeleteINFINITVE: you find it
To be really a-peeling?
OMGoodness! Haiku Harry you are tooooo funny! LOL!!
ReplyDeleteThe PIED Piper... Was that an allegory of the Children's Crusade? I guess LIU is in order. Except I hate Wikipedia. I don't like it because it's got opinions(though documented) mixed in with facts. )
ReplyDeleteHowever, said documentation can lead in interesting directions. Fe. There was a great Ist century St Ignatius of Antioch. The legend is that he was one of the children blessed by Jesus. And lo and behold tracking Wikipedia there was the source.
Anyway, let's track that PIED Piper-Childrens Crusade connection
WC
Let's try again
ReplyDeleteWell my guess was right . Here's a link to The Children's Crusade
WC
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteI solved the puzzle 2x; first, online, during a lab while waiting for the next exercise. Then, when I got my newspaper back in my hands; again in ink. 'Course, C, Eh! solved it first :-)
Thanks Victor for the puzzle - IT was a lotta fun (a COUPLE of times).
Thanks D-O for stepping in and the wonderful expo. I knew the tone was amiss from the start; then I recognized it and knew it was you! [reaching for the white-out clinched it :-)]
In my second reading of the write-up (when I have time to click; PIED Piper story was cool!), I see now that you'd already linked Jefferson Airplane (and that I typo'd it).
WOs: Donno - they all happened on the lab's computer [oh, wait, FELT TIPped @1st]
ESPs: ELIA, MOTETS, EBRO, BARI, WADI, NOEL (as clue'd)
Fav: WHITE RABBIT; I had the earworm all day!
//Pop had a huge crush on Grace Slick, had that LP, and I, recognizing the drugs / Carroll connection, was warped very early on.
Runner-up: Boldly go == SPLINT INFINITIVE; after Swamp had just said it Monday, I LOL'd.
Sparkle: what Jayce said.
{B, B, A-}
Nailed Lenovo - our company dropped Dell for Lenovo last year; I'm not sure that was a great idea. #tarrifs
Swamp - thanks for the CA update. Good to know they're safe for now.
HG / Spitz - 24 SCREENS/500 channels and nothing to watch. Reminds me of Pink Floyd's lyric in Nobody Home (from The Wall) - "I've got thirteen channels of shit on the T.V to choose from."
WC - LOL; I was thinking along the same lines -- IT Couple == someone from the server team married to someone from the network team [and likely would have been a gay wedding :-)]
Also WC: Aha!, Antioch - that makes sense now - it was one of the castles in Quest for the Holy Grail. (Then there was Castle Arrrrgggg, ascribed as a clue to where the Grail lay.... ["Maybe he was dying as he wrote it." "He wouldn't bother writing Arrrrrgggg if he was dying" "Maybe it was dictate"])
@7:20a Anon - not all files are rough; some are manila and some are .pdfs :-)
Cheers, -T
Thank you too, Spitzboov, for your kind and helpful comments. I really appreciate your advice.
ReplyDeleteMisty, when I had my cataract surgery I had to purchase some very expensive eye drops which were to prevent infection. I took them for three or four days.
ReplyDeleteI hope you were proscribed the same. I'd assumed so.
I too hope it clears up soon.
WC
Thanks, Wilbur--my cataract surgery was in early May and I did indeed use prescription eye drops for six weeks with each eye. But this current condition came on a month later and is apparently viral, not bacterial, which is why they don't want me to use the antibiotic eye drops. But I'll keep you posted on how things go--many thanks for asking and caring.
ReplyDeleteWikWak, we are heading up north next week as well; first to Susanville to visit a friend here for a few months from Ireland. Then to Yosemite Valley, God willing and the fires don't flare. We finally were able to garner 2 rooms and 3 nights. The webcams seem to show some clearing......well, just less smoke. We thought about Mammoth as a Plan B, but now there are two fires there as well. Plan C? Maybe Tahoe? Vacations in California...always an adventure!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Packers and Movers, my other Tesla is now ready to ship to Mars. -E.M.
ReplyDelete//Don't click the link folks - I have a special sandbox I play in. I got their chat-bot and had a little fun w/ it. I'd love to watch whomever in India try to suss my "chat."
Delete me too TTP :-)
Cheers, -T
Winding down the day with the funnies says...
ReplyDeleteHG & Spitz - did y'all see Curtis in today's paper? And, the universe is now in order. Nite. -T