Theme: Car Wars - auto-fighting for parking spots.
20A. Spotify category for courageous Motown lovers?: INTREPID SOUL. Dodge Intrepid (Thanks for the correction, Big Easy) and a Kia Soul. I like the fresh "Spotify" reference in the clue - a music streaming service where you can pick your flavor of playlist.
28A. One hiking in a Maine national park?: ACADIA EXPLORER. GMC Acadia and a Ford Explorer. I'm not sure I was familiar with "Acadia", neither the park nor the vee-hick-el, but crosses filled it in for me just fine. Beautiful spot here in the park:
47A. Weekend in the Hamptons, say?: SUBURBAN ESCAPE. Chevy Suburban, Ford Escape. Dearborn gets 50% of the auto sales in this puzzle, I'm sure they'd be delighted if that was the case in the real world.
53A. Like a delivery truck blocking your car, maybe ... and a hint to 20-, 28- and 47-Across: DOUBLE-PARKED
Oh no - things were going so well until the reveal. There are two cars, fore-and-aft in each theme entry and .. they're tandem parked, not double-parked. Double-parked in the puzzle would be stacked, above and below. Still possible in a crossword construct - tricky, but possible. Just changing the reveal entry to TANDEM PARKED and everyone (well, pedants like me!) would be even happier.
Wendy and Martha are, I believe, a mother-daughter partnership and are certainly debutants in the LAT. They were published this last August in the WSJ which I'm pretty sure was their first "major". Congratulations to them on their LAT opening salvo - we look forward to many more. Stop by and introduce yourselves if you have time!
Across:
1. Abruptly end a relationship with by ignoring texts, calls and such: GHOST. A fresh new term from the "yoot". But "... with by ..."? I thought that was a typo at first. If the relationship involved a Norwegian named "Frøm", you could have said "... end a relationship with Frøm by avoiding ..", thus making more sense and nailing the ablative with a trifecta. Maybe a comma for readability would help?
6. European airline: SAS. Scandinavian Air Services. Not the only airline to do this, but they had a chain of hotels in Europe also; they figured if they needed hotels to overnight their aircrews, they might as well own the hotels.
9. Uninspiring: VAPID
14. Pizazz: OOMPH
15. Flightless bird: EMU
16. Not in the dark: AWARE
17. Prickly shrub: BRIAR
18. Prefix with match or fire: MIS-
19. One with no hope: GONER
23. Alpine lake: TARN. More a pond, but I'll let it go. Tarn Geneva?
24. Fair-hiring initials: EOE
25. "The Waste Land" monogram: TSE. T.S. Eliot - "Let's not be narrow, nasty and negative". Wise words, pay attention out there.
32. Org. for the Williams sisters: W.T.A. Women's Tennis Association. Founded by the redoubtable Billie-Jean King in a bid for more equitable prize money as offered to the men. That certainly worked out.
33. Blood fluids: SERA
34. Damascus native: SYRIAN
35. Says 22-Down, perhaps: ERRS
37. Octane Booster brand: STP. Is every car and driver in NASCAR sponsored by STP? Or just my brief forays into that world make it appear so?
39. Loan figs.: A.P.R'S Annualized Percentage Rates. I've never fathomed out the difference between interest paid annually at a certain rate, and an APR, but that's just me finding more interesting things to do.
40. "Field of Dreams" actor: LIOTTA. Actor Ray.
43. Cy Young stats: ERA'S
46. Final: Abbr.: ULT
50. Pinafore letters: H.M.S. Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, one of their most popular, certainly on the "Greatest Hits" list. I'd pay good money to see a performance of "The Pirates of Penzance" if any impresario is reading. If only for the Major General with an sly reference to "Pinafore".
51. Hebrew for "day": YOM
52. Small fruit pie: TART
58. Gulf States inlet: BAYOU. Linda Ronstadt is going back to a blue one.
61. Bagel go-with: LOX
62. Flower child's greeting: PEACE
63. Track meet part: EVENT
64. Cooperstown winter hrs.: E.S.T.
65. Legally bar: ESTOP. Seen the word, understand it, still hate it.
66. Sees regularly: DATES
67. Rehab issue: DT'S
68. Angioplasty implant: STENT
Down:
1. Mongolian desert: GOBI
2. Traffic sound: HORN. Hoot, honk, howl (of an engine?) would also fit, so wait for the crosses.
3. Jump over: OMIT
4. Ancient Peloponnesian state: SPARTA
5. Winds (one's way) through: THREADS
6. Some advanced college courses: SEMINARS
7. Surrounded by: AMID
8. Prince Harry's dukedom: SUSSEX. Sussex had to stagger along, dukeless, between the death of Prince Augustus Frederick in 1843 and Prince Harry just this year picking up where Fred left off. Now Sussex is proudly re-Duked, with a Duchess thrown in for good measure. I'm sure the honest burghers of Brighton are dancing on the streets, on the pier, and jauntily on the nude beach.
9. Without much detail: VAGUELY
10. MPs' concern: AWOL
11. Bad review: PAN
12. Steam: IRE
13. German article: DER. The D on it's own isn't enough to choose which gender article you need.
21. __-dieu: PRIE. I call it a kneeler. I like that you can get padded versions to take the pain out of prayer.
22. Unwelcome word from a barber: OOPS
25. Catch in a lie, say: TRIP UP
26. NutraSweet developer: SEARLE
27. Accounting giant __ & Young: ERNST
28. Courtyard that may feature glass elevators: ATRIUM. A bank I worked at in London was owned by a Scottish family, the Flemings (Ian Fleming was part of the family). The building had a lovely glass-enclosed atrium where a bagpiper would play each morning to serenade you into work. The building also had it's own pub, the "Scottish Pound", with a street entrance for the general hoi-polloi, and a back entrance directly from the offices into the bar for the staff. Ah, happy days ... the pub is no more - the bank was sold to Chase in the early 2000's.
29. Pod-bearing trees: CAROBS. Carob is turned into a quite pleasant chocolate substitute to be ...
30. Consumed: EATEN
31. 60 minuti: ORA
32. __ corgi: WELSH
36. R-V link: STU. You either like this one, or dislike it intensely. An alphabet progression with the subtle misdirection in the R-V clue.
38. Excuses: PRETEXTS. Very nice.
41. Casting calls: TRYOUTS
42. "__ Ben Adhem": ABOU
44. "Stat!": ASAP!
45. Skins, as a knee: SCRAPES
48. Strolled: AMBLED
49. Taking it easy: AT REST
53. Finished: DONE. At rest when you're done. Some nicely-done proximal answers today.
54. In need of guidance: LOST
55. "This Is Us" role for Chrissy Metz: KATE. No clue, thank you crosses.
56. Micro or macro subj.: ECON. I took an Economics class at school and loved it. Back then, an economics degree was a BA, not a BSc. It wasn't viewed as "proper" science, more, as Disraeli put it, "Lies, damn lies and statistics".
57. Cabinet div.: DEPT. Dept. of Econ?
58. __ Bath & Beyond: BED. They send me "20% Off" coupons every week. They officially have an expiry date, but in actual fact they never expire.
59. "Selma" director DuVernay: AVA
60. Nevertheless: YET
I'm done - yet, here is the grid:
Steve
20A. Spotify category for courageous Motown lovers?: INTREPID SOUL. Dodge Intrepid (Thanks for the correction, Big Easy) and a Kia Soul. I like the fresh "Spotify" reference in the clue - a music streaming service where you can pick your flavor of playlist.
28A. One hiking in a Maine national park?: ACADIA EXPLORER. GMC Acadia and a Ford Explorer. I'm not sure I was familiar with "Acadia", neither the park nor the vee-hick-el, but crosses filled it in for me just fine. Beautiful spot here in the park:
47A. Weekend in the Hamptons, say?: SUBURBAN ESCAPE. Chevy Suburban, Ford Escape. Dearborn gets 50% of the auto sales in this puzzle, I'm sure they'd be delighted if that was the case in the real world.
53A. Like a delivery truck blocking your car, maybe ... and a hint to 20-, 28- and 47-Across: DOUBLE-PARKED
Oh no - things were going so well until the reveal. There are two cars, fore-and-aft in each theme entry and .. they're tandem parked, not double-parked. Double-parked in the puzzle would be stacked, above and below. Still possible in a crossword construct - tricky, but possible. Just changing the reveal entry to TANDEM PARKED and everyone (well, pedants like me!) would be even happier.
Wendy and Martha are, I believe, a mother-daughter partnership and are certainly debutants in the LAT. They were published this last August in the WSJ which I'm pretty sure was their first "major". Congratulations to them on their LAT opening salvo - we look forward to many more. Stop by and introduce yourselves if you have time!
Across:
1. Abruptly end a relationship with by ignoring texts, calls and such: GHOST. A fresh new term from the "yoot". But "... with by ..."? I thought that was a typo at first. If the relationship involved a Norwegian named "Frøm", you could have said "... end a relationship with Frøm by avoiding ..", thus making more sense and nailing the ablative with a trifecta. Maybe a comma for readability would help?
6. European airline: SAS. Scandinavian Air Services. Not the only airline to do this, but they had a chain of hotels in Europe also; they figured if they needed hotels to overnight their aircrews, they might as well own the hotels.
9. Uninspiring: VAPID
14. Pizazz: OOMPH
15. Flightless bird: EMU
16. Not in the dark: AWARE
17. Prickly shrub: BRIAR
18. Prefix with match or fire: MIS-
19. One with no hope: GONER
23. Alpine lake: TARN. More a pond, but I'll let it go. Tarn Geneva?
24. Fair-hiring initials: EOE
25. "The Waste Land" monogram: TSE. T.S. Eliot - "Let's not be narrow, nasty and negative". Wise words, pay attention out there.
32. Org. for the Williams sisters: W.T.A. Women's Tennis Association. Founded by the redoubtable Billie-Jean King in a bid for more equitable prize money as offered to the men. That certainly worked out.
33. Blood fluids: SERA
34. Damascus native: SYRIAN
35. Says 22-Down, perhaps: ERRS
37. Octane Booster brand: STP. Is every car and driver in NASCAR sponsored by STP? Or just my brief forays into that world make it appear so?
39. Loan figs.: A.P.R'S Annualized Percentage Rates. I've never fathomed out the difference between interest paid annually at a certain rate, and an APR, but that's just me finding more interesting things to do.
40. "Field of Dreams" actor: LIOTTA. Actor Ray.
43. Cy Young stats: ERA'S
46. Final: Abbr.: ULT
50. Pinafore letters: H.M.S. Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, one of their most popular, certainly on the "Greatest Hits" list. I'd pay good money to see a performance of "The Pirates of Penzance" if any impresario is reading. If only for the Major General with an sly reference to "Pinafore".
51. Hebrew for "day": YOM
52. Small fruit pie: TART
58. Gulf States inlet: BAYOU. Linda Ronstadt is going back to a blue one.
61. Bagel go-with: LOX
62. Flower child's greeting: PEACE
63. Track meet part: EVENT
64. Cooperstown winter hrs.: E.S.T.
65. Legally bar: ESTOP. Seen the word, understand it, still hate it.
66. Sees regularly: DATES
67. Rehab issue: DT'S
68. Angioplasty implant: STENT
Down:
1. Mongolian desert: GOBI
2. Traffic sound: HORN. Hoot, honk, howl (of an engine?) would also fit, so wait for the crosses.
3. Jump over: OMIT
4. Ancient Peloponnesian state: SPARTA
5. Winds (one's way) through: THREADS
6. Some advanced college courses: SEMINARS
7. Surrounded by: AMID
8. Prince Harry's dukedom: SUSSEX. Sussex had to stagger along, dukeless, between the death of Prince Augustus Frederick in 1843 and Prince Harry just this year picking up where Fred left off. Now Sussex is proudly re-Duked, with a Duchess thrown in for good measure. I'm sure the honest burghers of Brighton are dancing on the streets, on the pier, and jauntily on the nude beach.
9. Without much detail: VAGUELY
10. MPs' concern: AWOL
11. Bad review: PAN
12. Steam: IRE
13. German article: DER. The D on it's own isn't enough to choose which gender article you need.
21. __-dieu: PRIE. I call it a kneeler. I like that you can get padded versions to take the pain out of prayer.
22. Unwelcome word from a barber: OOPS
25. Catch in a lie, say: TRIP UP
26. NutraSweet developer: SEARLE
27. Accounting giant __ & Young: ERNST
28. Courtyard that may feature glass elevators: ATRIUM. A bank I worked at in London was owned by a Scottish family, the Flemings (Ian Fleming was part of the family). The building had a lovely glass-enclosed atrium where a bagpiper would play each morning to serenade you into work. The building also had it's own pub, the "Scottish Pound", with a street entrance for the general hoi-polloi, and a back entrance directly from the offices into the bar for the staff. Ah, happy days ... the pub is no more - the bank was sold to Chase in the early 2000's.
29. Pod-bearing trees: CAROBS. Carob is turned into a quite pleasant chocolate substitute to be ...
30. Consumed: EATEN
31. 60 minuti: ORA
32. __ corgi: WELSH
36. R-V link: STU. You either like this one, or dislike it intensely. An alphabet progression with the subtle misdirection in the R-V clue.
38. Excuses: PRETEXTS. Very nice.
41. Casting calls: TRYOUTS
42. "__ Ben Adhem": ABOU
"What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men."
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blest,
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.
Leigh Hunt
"Write me as one that loves is fellow men" is the epitaph on Hunt's gravestone in Kensal Green cemetery in London. It's not the most peaceful place in the world, the main railway line from London to the midlands and Manchester is just over the fence.
45. Skins, as a knee: SCRAPES
48. Strolled: AMBLED
49. Taking it easy: AT REST
53. Finished: DONE. At rest when you're done. Some nicely-done proximal answers today.
54. In need of guidance: LOST
55. "This Is Us" role for Chrissy Metz: KATE. No clue, thank you crosses.
56. Micro or macro subj.: ECON. I took an Economics class at school and loved it. Back then, an economics degree was a BA, not a BSc. It wasn't viewed as "proper" science, more, as Disraeli put it, "Lies, damn lies and statistics".
57. Cabinet div.: DEPT. Dept. of Econ?
58. __ Bath & Beyond: BED. They send me "20% Off" coupons every week. They officially have an expiry date, but in actual fact they never expire.
59. "Selma" director DuVernay: AVA
60. Nevertheless: YET
I'm done - yet, here is the grid:
Steve
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Wendy, Martha and Steve!
Things not immediate were: GHOST, W.T.A. , SUSSEX and SEARLE.
Have a great day!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteWhat Fermat said.
Smooth sailing everywhere else. Morning, Steve, enjoyed your tale of Scotland.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteSaw the vehicle mashup when first encountered at 20a. Haven't we seen that before? Maybe not. Got the R-V connection immediately, but "Gulf States" initially had me thinking Oman, Yemen, etc. This one turned into a Wite-Out-free romp. Thanx, Wendy, Martha and Steve.
ACADIA: It's the source of "Cajun." Maybe that's why there's an Evangeline in Louisiana.
ECON: Steve, you say it was Disraeli; I always thought it was Twain. Perhaps it was neither.
ReplyDeleteThe INTREPID was a DODGE, not a FORD.
The car theme was not noticed by me this am. The theme fills were easy to guess but I didn't notice the cars. ACADIA Nat. Park is in Maine but ACADIANA is SW Louisiana and the ACADIANS call themselves CAJUNS.
1A. GHOST- I'd never heard the term. I was thinking E-DUMP or something like that.
I know of the "Field of Dreams" movie but LIOTTA was an unknown.
"This Is Us" role for Chrissy Metz: KATE. No clue, thank you crosses. Ditto for Big Easy.
This talk of Cajuns reminds me of an atypical employment posting.
ReplyDeleteMost times, when aviation companies advertise looking for pilots, they have the usual formal style - everything is crisp and professional. “Applicants must have XXX Hours Pilot in Command in turbine aircraft...” for example. Well, once I came across a Louisiana crop-dusting company that spelled out the usual stuff in its advertising, but added other phrases such as “Must know how to drink, swear, smoke cigarettes, and chase Cajun women...” Apparently these skills are important in the crop dusting world!
Fun Thursday -I got the theme with the ACADIA EXPLORER answer which helped the rest fill more quickly.
ReplyDeleteCostner was one letter too long - so then remembered LIOTTA played his dad in the film who came out of the corn to play ball with his son.
I'm with D-O - with misdirect on the Gulf States - but perps straightened that out1
Thanks Steve and Wendy & Martha!
Ray LIOTTA played Shoeless Joe Jackson, Dwier Brown played John Kinsella. Liotta was also in Goodfellas and many other films. Lately doing an anti-smoking PSA.
ReplyDeleteIsn't ECONomics called "the dismal science?" I think I've read that Disraeli said "Lies, church lies, and statistics" and I'm sure many people have borrowed the phrase.
The SUVs named wouldn't block your car if they're in parking spaces, only if they're DOUBLEPARKED in the travel lane, where each individually could block you.
Liotta was Shoeless Joe Jackson
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Steve and Friends. Getting all the car models came before being DOUBLE PARKED.
ReplyDeleteACADIA National Park is near Bar Harbor on Mt. Desert Island in Maine, so I think of the rocky coast line instead of the quiet lake in the park. One of the highlights of the Park is Thunder Hole. We used to go there often when I was a kid. D-O: to expand on your Acadia-Cajun connection, both originate from Nova Scotia. When the French were kicked out after the British took over, a few of the Acadians moved to Maine, but many went further south to Louisiana, which was then a French territory.
The only actor I remembered from Field of Dreams was Kevin Costner. The perps slowly revealed Ray LIOTTA.I
YOM Kippur literally means Day of Atonement.
I initially tried Honk in lieu of HORN.
I took several SEMINARS while in grad school.
I had to wait for the perps to give me the proper German article.
I had heard the word GHOST used in the manner described in the clue from a teenager.
QOD: Knowledge is the most democratic source of power. ~ Alvin Toffler (Oct. 4, 1928 ~ June 27, 2016)
Lots of new stuff here. Thanks, Wendy and Martha. “Taking it easy” wasn’t laze but AT REST. Nice. I also like YOM and PRIE DIEU in the same puzzle. How ecumenical .
ReplyDeleteI did have one nit with Gulf States Inlet. A BAYOU isn’t usually an inlet, which would be connected to the sea and have a tide. A BAYOU is “dead” water with no current or tide.
Steve, I’m so glad you got to blog Harry and Scotland.. HMS was obvious for Pinafore. My son played the Major General in Pirates so that was a happy memory for me. Thanks.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteSteve - I'm picturing cavorting very jauntily on the nude beach.
Good intro. I appreciate your expanding on Brit related entries.
An entertaining puzzle from Mesdames Wendy and Martha. Thank you.
Mostly fairly easy, but I sputtered in the NE for awhile. Had brig crossing song, but nothing gelled. Was MP military police or a Member of Parliament? But VAPID looked promising and pointed to BRIG and VAGUELY, so INTREPID SOUL looked very good.
DER - The nominative masculine case of 'the'. Die, das, des, dem, den; - not so much.
GHOST - New, but heard it discussed on a talk show last week.
SUSSEX - Bailiwick of the South Saxons.
Gulf States? - Devilish clue. Which ones; the littoral ones around the Persian Gulf or the ones where Hahtoolah, Big Easy and -T live? But after retrogressing (I know; bad grammar) my overthinking, BAYOU soon became obvious.
Have a great day.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a fairly trouble-free Thursday with only two w/os: Honk/Horn and Kapoks/Carobs. My knowledge of trees is the same as my knowledge of cars: little to none, ergo, I needed the reveal to understand the theme. Oddly enough, I didn't know Acadia was a car model but I do know Acadia Park and its Cadillac Mountain. Kate from "This Is Us" was a gimme as I'm a big fan of the show. Bayou was a nice CSO to our Louisiana contingent.
Thanks, Wendy and Martha, for a satisfying solve and thanks, Steve, for the fact-filled analysis. You were in fine fettle, as usual.
Have a great day.
Very easy for a Thursday. I saw the two vehicles in a row right off. I didn't object to this use of double parking. In one sense, the words are side by side, instead of one behind the other.
ReplyDeleteHow up to date with GHOST and SPOTIFY! I am aware of both terms. Ghosting appears in advice columns. My acquaintances don't use the term..
KATE was the only completely unknown. YOM Kippur suggested YOM.
My GPS voice says "suh SEX" for Sussex, with the emphasis on sex. She pronounces the TH in Thomas like the TH in thing.
Speaking of cars, we enjoyed a spectacular sunrise and sunset on Cadillac Mtn. in Acadia National Park. Thunder Hole was also great. Best of all were the Maine lobsters.
Thank you, Steve, for Abou Ben Adam. I have loved that poem since I was a kid.
I love LOX or any type of smoked salmon. We also enjoy fresh salmon. Did you know that not all smoked salmon is called lox?
"Smoked salmon is a blanket term for any salmon: wild, farmed, fillet, steak, cured with hot or cold smoke. Lox refers to salmon cured in a salt-sugar rub or brine (like gravlax). Nova is cured and then cold-smoked (unlike lox or gravlax)."
In the Houston area, the wide drainage works are called bayous. In Louisiana the word is pronounced bye-you, but in Texas it's bye-yo. Don't ask me why.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Subbing in shop today but got puzzle done
-Car brand names seem to be in vogue recently
-WELSH – Corgi and Tom Jones
-Gotta run!
Well this was a "Put-it-down" .... "Pick-it-back-up" (Three times!) solve,
ReplyDeleteBut I was happy to see I "Got-'er-done" ...
Of course, MY Field of Dreams is Yankee Stadium ...
But I remembered who played Shoeless Joe ... LIOTTA was a gimmie.
Also, since (at one time ... or another) in my career I worked for all four of the
"Big-4 Accounting Firms.
ERNST & Young was another gimmie.
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
Fun puzzle, Wendy and Martha--many thanks. As usual, I have to cheat a bit on a Thursday puzzle, but not too much on this one. I don't know cars (well, except for my 2003 Subaru) so didn't get the theme, but was happy Steve explained it to us. Steve, thank you also for posting the Leigh Hunt poem. Is the first line of the poem "ABOU Ben Adhem, may his tribe increase"? I don't know why that phrase kept going through my head. Anyway, thank you again, Wendy, Martha, and Steve, for making this a neat Thursday morning.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your LOX explanation, Yellowrocks.
Have a good day, everybody!
Misty, yes that's the first line.
ReplyDeleteI was almost done before I got the theme figured out. Clever and fun!
ReplyDeleteTwo double Natick crossings for me:
LIOTTA/ABOU and TARN/PRIE
Did WAG both correctly to FIR.
As noted by desper-otto The ACADIA people of Maine and Quebec are the very same people who went to Louisiana and became the ACADIANs/Cajuns. Hence the French-based language.
Here I was HIKING and biking in ACADIA National Park
Car Wars indeed!
Here is an ACADIA National Park brochure that talks of the Auto Wars history of the park.
Quite ironic to name a car after a park that bans cars!
And quite ironic that the park was created by John D Rockefeller, Jr. He made his fortune in the oil business. But he considered cars a nuisance, to use the word of Wilbur Charles yesterday.
According to National Geographic, ACADIA National Park is the seventh most visite National Park. Just after Yellowstone, which is sixth.
I think I’ve been retired and away from teenagers too long… GHOST as clued makes sense, but I have never heard it used that way.
ReplyDeleteIt was the NE that slowed me up the most; for some reason I found it VAGUELY confusing. :P
INTREPID SOUL didn’t wake me up to the theme today, but ACADIA EXPLORER did. We went to Acadia a year ago and loved it (and yes, I did buy a Thunder Hole t-shirt, but it was a quiet day oceanically speaking, and what we heard was more of a mutter).
TSE was a gimme. His Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock was a favorite of mine in college.
Congrats to Wendy and Martha on their LAT debut. And Steve, as Irish Miss said, you’ve never been fettler.
Have a great day, all!
Ray Liotta is doing the Chantix ads, but they are hardly PSAs...he’s being handsomely “compensated”.
ReplyDeleteThis was a Thursday puzzle with some crunch. Themed, but no way the theme gives away anything, nice.
Friday awaits.
DNF,
ReplyDeleteHad trouble in the mid west
not knowing Welsh/Liotta/Errs/Carobs & WTA.
Although, I was able to suss the Naticks with the neighboring perps...
Hmm, which makes me wonder if Rich would allow the answers
36a = rte one thirty five, crossing 40a = rte twenty seven,
to both be clued "Natick location."
Note that route 27 crossing route nine
would have to be clued "North Natick" location...
Yes, double parking has become a problem,
if only we could find a pro-active solution...
Oh, I almost forgot.
ReplyDeleteLike Worf, I would not know Gilbert and Sullivan
if it were not for some popular TV shows...
Thank you, Desper-otto. Strange how poems from childhood stay in our minds. I could probably still recite most of "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" ("Listen my children, and you shall hear/ Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere").
ReplyDeleteMisty, I can probably say about the first six lines of the Midnight Ride, but the only poem I know all the way thru starts with "The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville Nine that day"
ReplyDeleteThis car guy liked this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteBB is one of my #1 favs.
ReplyDeleteYR, you would mention Maine lobsters. I've got a hankering.
That was a good Star Trek HMS segment.
Not too, too hard. A typical Thursday. I didn't catch on that both "Doubles" were parkable items. In South Boston, they double parked since the Irish knew the cops. In the North End the mobsters triple parked. They owned the cops.
PK, end of the Tiger discussion. I never liked Kobe Bryant btw, so I can identify.
Re. Statistics. The so-called Analytics have just about ruined baseball. Failed miserably last night for Oakland
Misty, how about that "Spreading chestnut tree where the village smithy stood" poem
WC
FIRight, and caught the theme before the reveal, so all's right with the world!
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with this picture?
Slept in last night, then had to drive LW to work, then to a Dr. appt., then back to work, so never got to write any l'icks. Is it too late in the day to do it now?
Did I see you in the TRY-OUTS last week?
Or did I see you in the BAYOU, up a creek?
I see U in the Ultimate start,
At the EMU tail, U do your part.
Look back from the emu tail, if it's me you seek!
When dies a determined, INTREPID SOUL,
Engaged in life may be his goal.
Leaving a GHOST,
A spirit host,
While the rest of him goes to Sheol!
{B+, B-.}
This is a xword test designed for really old xword hands. Does anyone remember an old xword clue using the words "Bitter Vetch"?
ReplyDeleteFor me the term is synonymous with obscurity in xwords.
Btw, it's a pod used in ancient times to suppress appetite.
WC
Owen, very clever first poem . A+
ReplyDeleteWC
Ps. I love my weekly trip to the British Isles with Steve . Can we traipse the alleys and byways of London, perhaps stop by 221 Baker Street some day?
No, no, no .... the first words we all recall are, "Whose woods these are I think I know...." (From the days when Frost was the favorite of every English teacher in California.)
ReplyDeleteWilbur and Billocohoes, I guess we all have our favorite childhood poetry memories!
ReplyDeleteI got a real kick out of this pzl from the Brandes/Jones team.
ReplyDeleteTa- DA!
Just about everything I didn't know was solved by a perp or two. And the long fills needed only a few letters to suggest the rest. These two factors turned this into a field of discovery, which I suppose is a main reason for most of us to spend time as cruciverbalists.
Ah, yes! We learned ABOU Ben Adhem in Junior High - the perfect age for enjoying Leigh Hunt's rollicking couplets.
~ OMK
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DR: A 3-way of diags, running NW to SE. The central diagonal gives us a lot of Rs - so many that they verge on being its main anagrammatic word, a bunch of ...
IRRITATORS !
with (faith-and-be)GORRA! left over.
Hi Y'all! Having kept books for two car dealerships, I notice cars more than many women so I really enjoyed this one, thanks, Wendy & Martha.
ReplyDeleteSteve,your jaunty English gents cavorting on nude beaches cracked me up. However, picturing those nudies, I still saw collars (only), ties & bowler hats on them. I'm wondering, too, whether real estate comes with the title of Duke of SUSSEX after being un-duked all those years? By jove, the young Duke needs an income now he has a wife.
Duh! du jour: I knew YOM Kippur meant Day of Atonement but never thought about YOM meaning day. Duh! ESP
DNK: Spotify. GHOST, I did know because someone I care about has GHOSTed me for stating an obvious fact they weren't wanting to acknowledge. They preferred the old ostrich head in the sand technic. Action is needed.
Pod dropper in my yard is "mimosa" before CAROBS, a tree I've never seen.
For once I got R-V link right away. Yay, me!
SwampCat and others: thanks for explaining BAYOU. I thought it was more a back water than an inlet.
My favorite poem: "The moon was a GHOSTly galleon...The Highwayman went riding, riding up to the old inn door..." also knew the first lines of Abu Ben Adem.
WC: Okay, truce! Don't get me started on K.B. either. LOL! Silly of me to get so down on guys who have absolutely no place in my reality.
An ESTOP is used on machinery and some tools. It's full name is EMERGENCY STOP. Very important safety device. Usually a large red button.
ReplyDeleteI got interested in the provenance of "stay the course", as mentioned today. One explanation I found was that, as early as 1885, it was said to refer to race horses staying til the end of a race. Another talks about its use in politics, dating from 1980 with Reagan, and links it to sailing terminology.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found the most fascinating, though, was its use as far back as the 16th century with an opposite type of meaning, where "stay" was a synonym of "stop", so that the phrase meant to interrupt the progress of something.
Idioms and the history of how they come about is so interesting, isn't it, though explanations are seldom certain.
Oops! It was the Jumble blog where that idiom was relevant, not the Corner. Sorry.
DeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteLate to the party - Friday Night Lights was Thursday this week. A home game so I watched Youngest dance.
Thanks Wendy & Martha for a boarder-line evil Thursday puzzle. I confess, I had to look-up ACADIA to finish and the whole central-west was a wag-fest. Also, I thought all the cars were parks (hey, SUBURBAN sound's like a park name!) so Double Park (would) make sense.
Thanks Steve for the vat-o-V8 whack! Cars! Love'd the expo and stories from across the Pond.
WOs: I mangled the spelling of BRIre for a long (too long) time, Marriott Courtyard was going to fit (one R, one T, there!) until HMS forced a change to ATRIUM.
ESPs: I've forgotten all of them by now. SEARLE was certainly one; PRIY(?) and TARN were more w/ lucky WAGs
Fav: c/a for GHOST. Nice and fresh (and I nailed it!)
VAPID xing VAGUELY was cute too.
WEES - I had the same Aha! at YOM (when you kipper, I guess).
{B+, A-}
SandyAnon - Don't sweat it re: J-Site; it was about an interesting idiom and on course w/ the Corner too.
Picard - I've seen the No Bozos logo oft (on the Interwebs, not IRL) which is why I was so interested in the back-story.
Dudley - Cajuns is fun people. I work with a number of them and they are all officey during the day and cammo'd-up at 5p.
D-O: Hand-up, always thought it was Twain. Thanks for the link and thanks OKL for the graph of statistics on it :-)
Um, OK, today is 'First poems put to memory'?
There once was a man from Nantucket... :-)
Cheers, -T
Thanks for the Thursday fun, Wendy and Martha, and Steve.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed with only one inkblot (Sipid to VAPID) but the theme was over my head.
Enjoyed the Sussex info, Steve. I have sunbathed on Brighton beach years ago (and nobody was nude including me LOL). The beach is incredibly stony, nor sandy, and people changed under their towels with amazing skill. There is a hilarious Mr Bean skit but I can't take time to find it for you.
SAS means shoes to me. I have worn them for years and they are comfortable and long lasting. Well-made in San Antonio.
The Acadian story of expulsion from Maritimes is very sad.
Kids don't memorize poetry any more. Will they miss it in their golden years . . Or just look it up on their technology?
Time to ESTOP.
Is this the Mr. Bean sketch C, Eh!?
ReplyDelete"This is the forest primeval". Speaking of ACADIA . I have to go DOUBLE Check that poem .As I recall, 8th grade English (Longfellow again)
ReplyDeleteIntro
I had to reread those beautiful lines
Wc
Speaking of poetry, another fav of mine similar in title to "ABOU" is Abdulbul Abubu Amir. And as I looked it up found that Star Trek link already posted.
ReplyDeleteWiki says that in "Brothers" the Data clone kills while reciting it.
I couldn't find a link.
WC
I remembered it as Abdul el-Bulbul Emir. Looked it up and the first link was to a very bawdy parody, before I found the one I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteIf you read that bawdy one, you may want to wash your eyes out with The Ballad of East and West by Rudyard Kipling.
ReplyDeleteAnonT - yes that's it. He didn't have a towel!
ReplyDelete