Title: Where did he hide my LEGO?
You have to go back more than 9 years to see the first puzzle by this team reviewed here at the CORNER. Then you have to travel 9,811 miles to watch me prepare this write-up from Thung Saliam, Sukhothai Province, Thailand. I am no world traveler like Steve, but we are here as Oo's son honors her by being ordained a monk for 7 days.
Back to the write-up; I remarked in their offering back in 2009 about coincidence in puzzles, and here we are again. Just after commented on Mark McClain's use of the black space in his Sunday effort, this team goes one better and has the black space represent the word BLOCK, which is of course is what a black space is. Wonderful. And for the icing on the cake the symmetry of the break 9/5 to 5/9 3/11 to 11/3 extraordinary.
We also find ALL HOURS REHEATED AIR LEAK APPENDS ATONING EAT AWAY and PARIAHS as long fill to thrill
17A. Impediment: STUMBLING (9) (BLOCK) and 19A. Neighborhood gathering: (BLOCK) PARTY.(5). Once a again, a grid -spanning set.
25A. Beach application: SUN (3) (BLOCK) and 28A. Billion-dollar pharmaceuticals: (BLOCK) BUSTER DRUGS.(11). This slowed me down as I did not know this PHRASE.
61A. Local anesthesia effect: NERVE.(5) (BLOCK) and 62A . Device with pulleys: (BLOCK) AND TACKLE (9).
The reveal:
67A. Word aptly represented by four black squares in this puzzle: BLOCK.
1. Bad cut: GASH. A gruesone way to begin.
5. And: ALSO.
9. __ Ababa: ADDIS. This is a regular fill on Friday.
14. Natural skin soother: ALOE.
15. Good earth: LOAM. There is a Department of Agriculture official definition on recotd.
16. Datum in a forensic database: PRINT. Fingerprint. NCIS is not the same especially with Abby gone.
20. Outcasts: PARIAHS.
21. Boiling point?: KETTLE. My favorite cute clue because it is the lo action of the boling.
22. "No seats" sign: SRO. Standing Room Only.
23. Score after deuce: AD IN. A tenns term appears after the Andre Agassi comments yesterday.
34. More than suspect: KNOW.
36. Early 20th-century touring cars: REOS. Ransom E. Olds liked naming things after himself.
37. Part of a joke: SETUP.
38. Lingering effect: ECHO. Another cute clue/fill.
39. Not as dotty: SANER. Does anyone use the term "dotty" anymore?
41. Colorado tributary: GILA.
42. Massey of old films: ILONA. She was a star. LINK.
44. Thoroughbred's dad: SIRE.
45. "Git!": SCAT.
50. Pushed the doorbell: RANG.
51. Night school subj.: ESL. Oo going to learn English cemented our relationship.
53. Scandinavian bar exchange: SKOALS. L' Chaim, A votre sante! Slainte!
57. Corrode: EAT AWAY.
64. Words in some English resort town names: ON SEA.
65. Major fit: RAGE. Rageaholics are all too common.
66. First name in homespun humor: ERMA.
68. Watched carefully: EYED.
69. Exchange jabs: SPAR. Boxing or
Down:
1. [You can't mean that!]: GASP.
2. Wasatch Mountains resort: ALTA. This is the LINK. I am much more familiar with Park City.
3. __ grapes: SOUR. Aesop anyone?
4. Some Chrysler engines: HEMIS.
5. Around-the-clock: ALL HOURS.
6. Half a Daily Planet byline: LOIS. Lane of Superman fame.
7. __ Antonio: SAN.
8. Texting interjection: OMG.
9. Tacks on: APPENDS.
10. "Phooey!": DRAT.
11. __-cheap: DIRT.
12. Like some JFK flights: INTL. 15 hours and 32 minutes later we landed in GUANGZHOU! Guangzhou is a sprawling port city northwest of Hong Kong on the Pearl River. The city features avant-garde architecture such as Zaha Hadid’s Guangzhou Opera House (known as the “double pebble”); the carved box-shaped Guangdong Museum; and the iconic Canton TV Tower skyscraper, resembling a thin hourglass
13. Lid issue: STYE. This ailment appears also very often.
18. Verbal jab: BARB. See 69A.
21. Cassis apéritif: KIR. LINK.
23. Penitent: ATONING. Many ways to do this.
24. Mirage site: DESERT. Where it is -site, not what it is -sight.
25. Knitter's coil: SKEIN.
26. Family reunion attendee: UNCLE.
27. At all: NO HOW.
29. A pass may cover one: SEASON. Tickets for the Opera?
30. Brief rules?: REGS.
31. City in New York's Mohawk Valley: UTICA.
32. Stalin-era prison: GULAG. Not to be confued with the German Stalag.
33. Dramatic outpouring: SPATE.
35. Policy __: WONK. An unknown for me but in terms dictionary as a person who takes an excessive interest in political policy.
40. Readied, as leftovers: REHEATED.
43. Puncture consequence: AIR LEAK. I guess, but it sounds forced.
47. Court figures, for short: DAS.
48. Ensenada pronoun: ESTA. A Spanish word.
52. Velcro alternative: LACES. Pretty funny that laces are not the alterntive.
53. Nose-in-the-air sort: SNOB.
54. __ Ration: KEN-L.
55. Guesstimate phrase: OR SO.
56. With, on le menu: AVEC. Our French word of the day.
57. Do landscaping work: EDGE.
58. Dr. Johnny Fever's fictional station: WKRP. In Cincinnati...
59. Soprano Gluck: ALMA. Our only musical interlude and I cannot get YouTube to load. There is a beautiful video of Alma and her husband, violinist Efrem Zimbalist, singing to their child Efrem Zimbalist Jr., who would become famous in his own right from TV shows 77 Sunset Strip and FBI and as the father of Stephanie who was Remington Steele.
60. Sommelier's concern: YEAR. The vintage of the wine.
62. "__ you out of your mind?": ARE.
63. "All opposed" reply: NAY. And the votes are in and i loved this puzzle.
I hope you enjoyed this tour of another creative puzzle. Welcome back Bonnie and Victor and Sawa dee ko from Thailand. Lemonade out.
47 comments:
FIWrong. Wasn't sure if it was SKEeN or SKEaN, tho perps had already disabused me of SKEne or clews. (I'll blame Mdm D.F. for that one for not teaching me better!) If the actor/ress wasn't Raymond, I had no idea who it was.
The theme I caught early, and it helped a lot today!
BUSTER Brown the shoe-shine guy,
Also dealt LACED DRUGS on the sly.
His shoe-shine BLOCK
Had a false top,
It was his wax that made high-heels high!
To everything there is a best SEASON,
Although there isn't always a reason.
A GILA monster
Can cause a stir
On a cruise ship floating ON SEA, son.
{B+, C.}
Please forgive all the typos but the computer I was using is not available to proof read and I had to rely on my phone and the print is quite small
Most of them don’t change any meanings
Good morning Cornerites.
Thank you Ms.Bonnie L. Gentry and Mr. Victor Fleming for this challenging Friday CW. I perped and wagged until I met the Natick at 42 A ILONA, and 35 D WONK.
The "N"d
Thank you Lemonade for your excellent review.
Ðave
Hi Y'all! While not fully understanding the black BLOCKS were part of the theme, I was mentally missing the word BLOCK in appropriate places so I count that as getting the theme. When the word BLOCK was needed, I filled it in without question. Bravo, Bonnie & Victor for a fun new gimmick & interesting puzzle.
Bravo, Lemonade, for another great expo from half-way round the world. How old is Oo's son? By the way, you are forgiven for the typos. It's a marvel that you can send a blog AT ALL.
DNK: hand up for BLOCK BUSTER DRUGS, WONK, ALTA, AD IN, ILONA (altho I filled it in WAG like I knew her).
Velcro alternative: = LACES? Gave me pause until I remembered Velcro closures on some shoes for kids & old people who can't tie shoes.
SEASON passes out here are more likely to be for ball games rather than opera. We sometimes get SEASON passes for symphony or other series concerts especially on university campuses.
Fun theme, but not at Friday level of difficulty...more like Wednesday.
Goos Morning, Lemonade and friends. Very clever theme. I caught the gimmick after getting enough letters to fill in NEW KIDS ON THE. Then the light bulb went on and I understood why the SFP was not the Beach Application. I already had the SU_ so could complete SUN (Block) for that answer.
CSO to Madame Defarge with the Knitter's Coil = SKEIN.
ALMA Glock and ILONA Massey have made enough guest appearances in the puzzles that I have finally learned their names.
My favorite clue was Velco Alternative = LACES.
QOD: The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space. ~ Carl Sagan (né Carl Edward Sagan; Nov. 9, 1934 ~ Dec. 20, 1996)
Good morning!
Unbelievable! D-o got the theme. Well, to the same extent that PK got it. Very cute. No Wite-Out required today. CSO's to IM and Spitz with UTICA, and to Mme Defarge with SKEIN. I agree that nobody says "Dotty" anymore, but nobody ever said SANER. Well done, Bonnie and Victor. Lemonade, enjoy your Asian vacation.
PK, I may be old, but I'm not "one of those old people who can't tie shoes." My hook'n'loop New Balance walking shoes are the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned. In the past six years I've worn out two pair and am working on number three. No walking today, though. It's wet, clammy, and 35° colder than it was on Wednesday. Ugh!
D-O: Congrats on getting the theme. I am ATONING for my incorrect statement by hereby modifying it to read: "people who don't want to bother to tie shoes". Sorry I struck a NERVE. LOL! I got my mom a pair when she couldn't tie shoes anymore. She couldn't figure out the Velcro by then either but she loved those shoes.
FIR Friday! Wouldn't have finished without the theme, mainly because of filling in Shoo before erasing it for SCAT.
I wonder if Merck made any money on its [block]BUSTER DRUG Vioxx. Wasn't on the market very long, and they would have had to have sold a lot of pills to make up for their R&D costs, $5 billion bad-drug lawsuit settlement, and $830 million SEC fine.
PK, like D-O I had Velcro closures on my New Balance kicks. Even though I'm older now, I buy a lace-up variety because they are more comfortable.
I think we've already bandied about the pronunciation of GILA - HE lah - unless you are a Zonie making fun of the tourists.
FLN - Oas, that was a wonderful love story. Obviously written from the heart. DW and I had to endure some starter marriages before we finally got it right.
Thanks to Bonnie and Victor for the Friday puzzle that even I could finish. My favorite was WKRP, just for the memories. And thanks to Lemonade for persevering while in the tube. Fine review.
Same on the theme, but didn’t notice needing it at 42A so couldn’t see AGE as an obstruction. Got “block” right off with STUMBLING so was expecting beta blocker for drug.
I think NOHOW should be clued “not” at all.
Was I ever STUMBLING (perps) around on this one, especially after I confidently filled WONDER DRUGS. I completed the Eastern seaboard and was thinking that maybe the clue for AGE was an obstruction, as in being incapable. After NEW KIDS ON THE, the missing BLOCK was realized.
If BLOCK had not been the fill for 67A, I wouldn't have finished because there was no chance of filling SKOALS (chewing tobacco) or ON SEA.
NAY-why don't our representatives just say 'Yes or No'?
SUN works without BLOCK for "Beach application." Some of us go to the beach just for the sun.
Ditto what billocohoes said: NOHOW nohow!
Did anyone else notice that if one word of the 24-D clue and the answer were reversed, it would take only a slight respelling to support the exchange? "Desert sight": MIRAGE.
Does Big Easy's quibble with NAY (along with AYE and YEA, I would presume) violate the "no politics" prohibition on comments?
Good morning everyone.
With the "BLOCK" thing, this had kind of a rebus feel to it. I wanted to insert BLOCK at 61a, but perps didn't work, and then I read the clue to 67a, and voilà, FIR; no searches needed.
UTICA - CSO å moi. I believe it's the only 5-lettered city in the Mohawk Valley; the others are Schenectady, Amsterdam, and Little Falls.
Re NAY - I would think the use of NAY is per the rules of the Parliamentarian. (I don't think a discussion of NAY, by itself, is political.)
Hi Gang -
Fist heard "policy WONK" referring to WJC when he was prez. Similar to NERD in math and science.
I put in STUMBLING, and thought - what is going on here? Then I saw PARTY, and went --- oh . . .
This is a rebus puzzle. Pffft!
Clever, well executed, lots of other good fill, so kudos for all that.
But it still leaves me cold.
Kind of like the season's first snow fall that I woke up to this morning. There's about 1 1/2 inch and still drifting down.
Winter is coming, but we can still dream of spring.
Cool regards [so to speak]
JzB
Good Morning.
First noticeable snowfall this morning. Won't stick around long, but I'm sure glad I cut the rest of my hostas yesterday. My landscaping consists of a patio with a variety of hostas and pots of flowers for color. We have a townhome.
Since D-O abandoned me this morning leaving me at the gate with no idea how the theme was working, I feel quite lonely. I can usually count on him to be the other character here who struggles with theme. ;-) Still a fine puzzle. I was able to fill with crosses, but. . . . Thanks, Bonnie and Victor.
Lemonade, thanks for the explication. I needed you to help me with theme, and now it makes so much sense I feel silly. Nicely done. Safe travels. Enjoy!
My fave, of course: SKEIN! Owen, I'm sorry to have failed you. ;-) Skein is pronounced skane. It comes from the French escaigne. The g is silent and the ai is pronounced as a long a because the e at the end does that in French. A skein is a large loop of yards of yarn twisted into something that resembles a figure 8 with one end pulled through the other to keep it from tangling. One does not knit from the skein. The result would be a deadly mess. So it needs to be wound into a ball. I even wind manufacturer created "pull skeins" into a ball. Sometimes pulling the end in the center out results in a condition know as "Yarn vomit"--not kidding. A giant snaggle. More than you wanted to know, certainment! By the way, skein also refers to geese in flight, whereas the collective noun for them on the ground is gaggle. TMI, eh?
Speaking of geese, Canadian, Eh: Are you still certain you don't want all these Canadas back?
Have a fine day and a relaxing weekend.
D-O, I agree with your assessment of 'dotty'. I've never seen the word except in puzzles.
Anon@ 8:13- it has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with passing any legislation, no matter which faction passed it. Thanks Spitzboov, as the 'chicken' anon doesn't want to show its/his/her face.
Musings
-สวัสดี Lemon!
-What a fun gimmick that took me way too long to figure out. AGE for obstructinon? Oh!
-A BLOCKBUSTER dinosaur
-With a BLOCK AND TACKLE in my room I had the smallest girl lift the biggest boy up into the ceiling. Kids really got the point!
-We’ve tilled a bunch of LOAM into our garden - so that soil is now very rich
-Husker VB sells hundreds of SRO tickets for its games and SEASON tickets are hard to come by
-Saltburn BY THE Sea - but ON?
-Fireworks go off at ALL HOURS at the end of June and first of July
-I have to use this tape to stop AIR LEAKS from my CPAP machine. But my lovely bride AVERS (hey I used that word!) that the occasional LEAKS beat snoring
Musings
-Big Easy – I don’t see how your comment could be less political. Why they cast that vote might be political but how is not
-I’m subbing today and the road between my house and here has been beautifully resurfaced. However, since it is new, the inch of new snow has made it a skating rink and the state will not put anything on it. Cue Slip, Slidin’ Away
I got the theme very quickly, made solving a little easier but not by much. I thought the cluing was very tough and sometimes didn't make sense to me.
No " Tada" for me as I couldn't get the "N" in ONSEA and the perp going down, I had KE?L.
Snowing in Chicago.....ugh!
Well, apparently I'm not as dotty today as I was yesterday and finished Bonnie's and Victor's puzzle without incident. Yay! And though I usually do it in pencil, it was not handy and so I used pen. Remarkable!
Like Hahtoolah, I've seen ILONA Massey and ALMA Gluck in many puzzles and know them instantly. I also got the theme! At NEWKIDONTHE I realized BLOCK was missing and filled it when called for. I'm on a roll!
I'll take a CSO at GILA and DESERT.
Thank you, Bonnie and Victor and Lemonade for an effort above and beyond from so far away! I don't quite understand about Oo's son becoming a monk. Is it in seven days or for seven days? And congratulations to him.
Have an excellent day, everyone! Reaching 80's today.
Interesting and complicated Friday puzzle, Bonnie and Victor--many thanks! No, I didn't get the theme (well, totally) until the blog, but I got most of the puzzle before I had to cheat and enjoyed the clues (like "lingering effect" for ECHO). Like Jinx, I had SHOO before SCAT until I realized the city had to be UTICA. Once I read Lemonade's explanation of the BLOCK theme, I found it all pretty amazing. Great way to end the week.
Loved your write-up this morning, Lemonade. Kept picturing you on that plane the whole time I was reading it, and understood the cause of the typos even before you explained them. Amazing that you could do the job under those conditions--many thanks! And I wish you and your wife a wonderful journey and a great family celebration!
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody!
Hi Everyone:
Late to the dance due to my old friend "Sidetracked Susie"! As HG said, getting the theme took much longer than it should have and, in my case, caused much frustration. My only w/o was Addenda/Addends/Appends; is Addends even a word? Anyway, once that got corrected, I got my Tada. I liked ESL crossing Esta, Gash crossing Gasp, and the Alta ~ Alma and Aloe ~ Also pairings, plus the kissing cousins, Loam and Dirt. Wasn't keen on Air leak and I, also, found some of the cluing off kilter. Nice CSO to Madame Defarge (Skein) and Spitz (Utica).
Thanks, Bonnie and Victor, for a challenging offering and thanks, Lemony, for the extra special write-up. Enjoy your family festivities.
FLN
billocohoes, thank you for the rice flour info. I'll check Hannaford's health food aisle.
Lucina, I hope you're feeling tip-top today!
Anonymous T, cute photo of the Dads; hope the dance goes well tonight,
Oas, you were a pretty smart cookie at 16 and even smarter at 20!
YR, sorry to hear of Alan's setback and DIL's accident.
Have a great day.
-I loved this theme. I skipped around at first. NEWK----- had to be new kid on the block. AHA! Then I went back and saw stumbling block and block party. After that, it was off to the races and a quick finish.
Lemonade and Oo, enjoy your trip. Congrats to Oo's son. It was good of you to publish your fine review long distance.
-I find DOTTY in novels frequently. And it is Still found in book reviews.
"Despite folksy characters with fragrant names like Sitter Mavis, who must mind her dotty mother, and Clara Breedlove, who radiates maternal warmth, the play is subtler than that."
-New York Times Jun 22, 2017
"She goes from dotty and naïve to cutting and malicious in an instant—she is mean and vulnerable, befuddled and knowing, desperate and self-assured." -The New Yorker Jan 20, 2016
-Lucina, glad you are feeling chipper again.
-AnonymousT and Irish Miss, thanks for your concern. In spite of the negative test, I am sure Alan has a urinary infection. He is taking antibiotics and is a little better, but is still weak and achy, and still has the urinary symptoms. Usually it takes 2 or 3 days to get well with the antibiotics.
-Around 7:30 PM Wednesday my DIL tripped and hit the edge of a curb in NYC resulting in a broken hip. She was taken by ambulance to one of the busiest hospitals in the city. She was not even triaged or offered pain meds until early Thursday morning when she saw her first nurse. By this morning she had not yet seen the orthopedist. Her operation is scheduled for 1:00 PM today. I wish she had been nearer home and Princeton Hospital when it happened.
I love Erma Bombeck's humor. Two of her books are, "If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries What Am I Doing in the Pits" "The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank."
Sheesh!
Normally, I look forward to Fridays theme helping me with the solve,
not today...
Talk about off my wavelength/out of my wheelhouse!
addis ababa?
Wasatch mountains? Mount Nebo, the new Natick...
Git = Shoo!
Boiling point = the spot under the Kettle...
Xword staples helped = Adin/reos/Avec
Words used by English towns? I was sure it had something to do with Sex!
Velcro alternative= Duct tape...
62&63down could both have been filled in with "yes."
Anywho, this was an exercise I could have done without...
IM, the brand is Bob’s Red Mill. You can also order it online at bobsredmill.com
They have brown and white rice flour, both plain and organic, and also a sweet white rice flour
Spitzboov, the Mohawk Valley does have Fonda. True it’s only a village, but it is the county seat and has a stock car track. Named for an ancestor of the American acting family.
Hi All!
Technical DNF - I had to lookup ADDIS (I got the same Wiki CED!) and AVEC or those corners were not going to fill.
Thanks Bonnie & Victor for this in-side-the-grid gimmick, I liked it.
Thanks Lem for the long-distance expo and for explaining KEN-L (now I remember it!)
WOs: SKieN //MdF: sounds like an 'a'? No wonder it breaks i-before-e
ESPs: ALTA, ILONA, GILA, ALMA, AD IN, SANER (as clued)
Fav: I'm with Jinx on WKRP (in Cincinnati)
LACES was a pretty dern good c/a.
Theme: I had B___K @67a. AND TACKLE was my first themer finally all the way filled, I paused, "isn't it block and tackle?," looked back over @67a, and the penny dropped. I filled BUSTER DRUGS w/only the Us in place.
{B+, B}
IM - I'm with you on some odd cluing - Is a SPATE always dramatic? //I think of spate as 'a lot'
JzB - that's also when I recall WONK becoming part of the vernacular.
HG - as requested Simon & Garfunkel on cue.
MdF - Re: Yarn Vomit. I just had to LIU; something Hyper-Improbable 'came up'. [HHGTTG :28]
Cheers, -T
STUMBLING and PARTY gave me the gimmick, so then NERVE made sense. I shrugged a bit at blockAGE because, unlike all the other block answers, this one is not separate words.
Enjoyed your write-up, Lemonade. I ECHO Lucina's question about the 7 days.
Gotta go. Good wishes to you all.
Not a big fan of the REBUS puzzle, but this one was okay. Didn’t even see the theme until almost done.
Had SPF b4 SUN and AIRLOSS b4 AIRLEAK.
Agree that this was an easier Friday level puzzle compared to the usual. Which means tomorrow will be a bear.
See you then.
TA ~DA!
A very cool pzl. Clever theme, well worth the time spent in solving.
I didn't notice anything until reaching 46A, where NEW KIDS ON THE begged for the word BLOCK to be filled somewhere!
Right away I began searching for the theme's giveaway clue, which wasn't so obvious - tucked away at 67A.
Many folk are having a rough go of it these days in SoCal. Right on the heels of the Borderline Bar killings, we now have two enormous residential fires. The Santa Ana winds have been blowing all night and keeping firefighters hard at work. Many homes have been completely burned out.
The local and network TV channels are reporting continuously. The fires still rage in Malibu and Ventura - an hour north of here. I used to live up there, so it doesn't feel very far away.
The affected neighborhoods look exactly like ours and - what's especially frightening - are not all that close to wooded areas. The message is that your home can burn even if you're not near a forest. The winds are capable of spreading embers over large distances, raining havoc on homes that owners may have thought safe.
I hope other SoCal Cornerites are safe! I know Misty and Picard are not in the immediate danger area. Am I missing anyone else?
A sad situation...
~ OMK
____________
DR: Another abundant day. Three diags NW to SE, and one NE to SW. Four in all!
The near anchor line offers an anagram that reminds me of a TCM movie I watched last night, starring Rod Taylor as Sir Francis Drake. Drake is supposedly an ancestor of mine, and his crew of privateers might well be referenced by the phrase...
"ROUGH MARINERS."
Billcohoes @ 1334 - There are other villages as well. I was limiting my comments to incorporated cities as in the clue.
BTW; Part of the city of Cohoes is hydrologically in the Mohawk Valley at the river's mouth.
OMk, those fires,are so scary. Thoughts and prayers for all in their path.
Spate is not always dramatic, but it can be.
Spate can mean a sudden onrush, as in flood waters, or the spate of mailed pipe bombs recently. Quite dramatic!
Well, yeah, the Cohoes Falls. On other message boards, I list my location as Gateway to the Mohawk Valley. I grew up in Amsterdam
OMK, I'm in the same general area as some of the others you mentioned as you can see from Gary's blog map. I hope the fires stay away and are under control soon. Very sad...
YR: Your DIL's hospital experience sounds like a nightmare. Hope she gets the treatment she needs. Prayers. Also for Alan. He has such a time.
Prayers also for those in the path of fires in northern & southern CAL. Another nightmare!
YR: For UTI symptoms, I like Cystex, red OTC pills that calm the bladder irritation/inflamation.
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Bonnie and Victor, and Lemonade (thanks for blogging from a distance).
I got the theme with NEW KID ON THE and went back to see the BLOCKs. I had seen the reveal at 67A and at first thought the theme centered around the single black squares (there were 6 not 4). I had to look a little harder to pick the correct ones; and then I saw that BLOCK fit with both the preceding and following words. Clever. (And Lemon has pointed out the symmetry - even more clever!)
Like IM, I noticed the cross of GASH/GASP (also ALMA/ERMA) and smiled at ALMA, ALTA (I would have clued as a Can. province).(Actually I had to LIU to learn that ALTA is in Utah.)
I noticed the CSOs with SKEIN and UTICA. I'll take one at 28A.
DH gave me HEMI (what do I know about engines!) and confirmed Block AND TACKLE.
MadameD - No, we will gift those geese to the world! Messy things.
YR - sorry to hear of Alan's problem and your DIL's situation. I thought hospital wait times were a Canadian thing.
Stay safe in SoCal.
Best wishes to you all for the rest of the day.
Nothing apropos say...
NEY, this isn't meant to wade into politics - it was just interesting and sent me down a rabbit hole...
There was a Readers Digest of this WaPost article on a doctored video of Acasta accosting (aptronymn? :-)) a WH intern. [WaPost, so we know the hue] in today's paper. That lead me to this 'archive' of doctored photos (and lots of stuff to un-learn(?)).
California fires research (where is Ventura (highway)? [America 3:46]) led me to this near real-time map. God Speed to The Corner's California Contingent. #StaySafe
And now for something completely different: Youngest, who's totally into Broadway, shared this SNL spoof/sketch with me. Who's parents' indeed?...
Rain all day and the sky is clearing. Temps anticipated in the "F! it's cold"s for the Daughters & Dad half-time debacle-palooza tonight. WikWak, can I borrow a quick nap?
Cheers, -T
Thank you all for your kind words. The 7 days are in progress and then he will return to the work world
The head monk in his monastery did a mission to California. Lived there long enough to become a citizen before returning to Thailand. We have had some very interesting discussions in English about life
I will post picks or send to C.C. when I can
Well, I tell ya,,,
Maybe I was a little overbearing in my review...
(or maybe I just had a bad day...)
So I looked up Blockhead on Google,
(this is why I read the Blog...)
Which led to Charlie brown getting kissed?
Twice?
(I never saw this stuff before...)
Which led to Woodstock's nest.
Which somehow led to Ventura Highway thanks Anon-T
(20 minutes, for serious guitarists only...)
Which led me to this rant about closing all these windows!
(YouTube rabbithole got me again...)
When all I wanted to say was I apologize for my rant about this tough puzzle!
Yes, prayers for all the Californians in the path of the fires. Very scary. Thank you for giving us the update, Ol'Man Keith.
Got the theme almost immediately with STUMBLING! After that it was a fairly fun, easy ride for a Friday! I was impressed with the construction skill to have the BLOCK used twice as the them answers were all in pairs!
Some clever clues. I liked the KETTLE clue especially! NO HOW was a bit odd, though, especially crossed with unknown ILONA. FIR!
Lucina I definitely thought of you with GILA and DESERT!
Here are a few photos I took in the area around GILA Bend, Arizona.
I love that area of the DESERT with the Saguaro Cacti! Somewhere I have photos of GILA monsters in the zoo. But I have missed seeing any in the wild so far. I will keep looking!
Here I was recently with our former State Assembly Member DAS Williams
He was term limited out and is now on our County Board of Supervisors. We were out on a cruise for his birthday.
I have been saddened to see the rise of the term Policy WONK. It used to be that we took pride in being informed, engaged citizens. When did our president switch from calling us "fellow citizens" to "folks"? As far as I am concerned, we should all be Policy WONKs and wear it with pride!
OlManKeith thanks for checking in with people on the California fires. Yes, we are about 60 miles from the current fires. Crazy that the fires started at about the same time as the mass shooting. Several of my friends have checked in as Safe on Facebook.
Lemony, I first became aware of , and impressed by, the ritual of becoming a monk in someone’s honor with the stories of the kids trapped in the flooded mine in Thailand. Many of them became monks in honor of their leader or their rescue. Such a great tribute!!
Jinx, in the BIGG Pharma world that's pin money. Then again, 5 billion here, 5 billion there, it starts to add up.
Mme D. No. I especially liked learning about SKEIN of geese. Reminds me of the fella who used to say "Wannabyaduck?". Huh. "Wannabyaduck?". "Give ya a free goose"
It certainly started Wednesday easy but got sticky as I moved from NW to W. I actually inked in WONK/KNOW and was sure I was wrong.
Getting 67a BLOCK cleared things up but I never caught on that both sides of the block were BLOCK.
Sorry about your DIL YR.
I liked the xword. And as always, L's write-up
WC
Good evening, folks. Thank you, Bonnie L. Gentry and Victor Fleming, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
This puzzle was tough, but I persevered. Finished it while traveling back from Wheaton and the election commission.
The theme was tough to get a first, but I got the BLOCK.
ILONA was unknown. Wanted WILL before ERMA became the word. ALMA was unknown. Perps.
LOIS was tough, but made sense.
AVEC was totally perps.
Anyhow, I have to run. Perry Mason is starting. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
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Greetings!
Thanks to Bonnie, Victor and Lemonade!
Had no problems. More like NYT puzzle than before. Quite a surprise.
YR: best wishes for Alan!
Hope to see you tomorrow!
If anyone is up this late, these California fires are due not only to Santa Ana winds, but to EXTREME dryness.
The normal rainfall in Vacaville is 1.4 inches by last Sunday; this year it is only 0.07" (1.8 mm) -- essentially nothing.
To add to this, the 10-day forecast today shows that -- maybe, just maybe -- there's a 40% chance of AM showers ... on November 22nd.
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