Theme: Snow Day - the theme comes from the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening":
19A. With 63-Across, ending lines of a poem by 72-Across: AND MILES TO GO
63A. See 19-Across: BEFORE I SLEEP
and the unifier:
72A. Poet who used the starts of 24-, 41- and 55-Across to describe the woods: FROST. Robert Frost, of course. The anniversary of his death was on Tuesday, I wonder if that had anything to do with the puzzle appearing this week?
This then kicks off a new set of theme answers:
24A. Alice Sebold novel, with "The": LOVELY BONES
41A. Harmful spells, in the Potterverse: DARK ARTS
55A. Really cool place?: DEEP FREEZER
Slick puzzle from Mr. Sessa. I was impressed with how the reveal of the author's name sent you back to look at the three seemingly-unrelated entries.
You might also have noticed that the grid is stretched to 16x15 to accommodate the 12-letter theme entries at 19A & 63A.
There's a couple of nice long downs to tie this all together. I enjoyed the solve today; I couldn't recall the final lines of the poem and so had to unpick those entries letter-by-letter. Let's see what else we can find:
Across:
1. Word that appears four times in a 1963 film title: MAD. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. If I listed the stars credited, I'd be here until Christmas. There's a lot.
4. Roof tiles: SLATES
10. Deadens, as a piano string: DAMPS
15. Media agcy.: U.P.I. United Press International, UNIPRESS in the days of reporting news via telegram.
16. Roadster in the Henry Ford Museum: MODEL A. The museum is wonderful, I had the opportunity to visit a few years ago when I was doing some business with Ford in Dearborn. My rental car on that trip was a fire-engine red VW Jetta. I was actually embarrassed when I drove onto the parking lot - my highly-visible car was the only non-Ford or Lincoln to be seen for miles.
17. How sardines are packed: IN OIL I prefer them packed in brine, the fish is oily enough already.
18. Mythical bird: ROC
21. Hydrocarbon group: ALKYL. The "Y" almost had me stumped, I could not for the life of me remember the crossing "YEGG". I stared it down in the end with an alphabet run.
23. 1995-2006 New York governor George: PATAKI
27. The W in kWh: WATT. Kilowatt Hours.
31. Athlete's peak performance: A GAME
32. Wines and dines: REGALES. I didn't associate this at all. I'd use "regale" to describe telling an entertaining story. I didn't know the alternative definition.
34. Thrill: BANG
36. Credits list: CAST
39. Place for spectacles: ARENA
40. __ Navy: discount retailer: OLD
44. Gen-__: X'ER. Roughly speaking, born from the mid-60's thru the 70's between the boomers and the millennials.
45. Like universal blood donors: O TYPE. Shouldn't it be TYPE O? You don't have an "A Model" Ford or a "Type E" Jaguar. Just sayin'
47. Nantes notion: IDÉE. French.
48. Drill parts: BITS
49. Symbolized: TOKENED. This is my clunker of the day.
52. Roof features: EAVES
54. WWI battle river: YSER
60. "Indubitably!": IT IS SO!
62. Hot pot spot: STOVE
68. __ Van Winkle: RIP
69. Tolkien ringbearer: FRODO. All Sam Gamgee seemed to say in the movies was "Mr. Frodo! Mr. Frodo!" It got a little wearisome.
70. Tell: RELATE
71. Sheep's call: BAA
73. Old-Timers' Day VIP: EX STAR. Hmmm. Not convinced by this one either.
74. Unspecified amount: ANY
Down:
1. Diego Rivera creation: MURAL. According to Wikipedia, his full name is Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez. Not sure quite how accurate that is, but I'm repeating what I read. Amazing artist.
2. Speed skater Ohno: APOLO
3. "Mary Poppins" and "Mary Poppins Returns" actor: DICK VAN DYKE. I wonder if his cockney accent has improved in the new movie? It was pretty shocking in the original.
4. Component of the "at" sign: SMALL "A"
5. Chaney of horror: LON
6. Toss in: ADD
7. Beat: TEMPO
8. Cuban boy in 2000 headlines: ELIAN
9. One curing meat: SALTER. When I've got my salting boots on, I use Prague Powder #1, aka "pink salt". Pastrami and Irish bacon. Yum!
10. Saucer, e.g.: DISK. I went for DISH at first, which made a very odd-looking NYC mayor at 23-across.
11. Like many '60s-'70s protests: ANTI-WAR
12. __ juice: MOO. Cow's milk.
13. Trough guy: PIG. Very nice clue
14. Road sign caution: SLO. SLO - MISSING "W" AHEAD.
20. Move gently: EASE
22. Safecracker: YEGG. With the Y cross in ALKYL, came close to foxing me.
25. Initial disco hit?: Y.M.C.A.
26. Smokey, for one: BEAR
28. 1964 Anthony Quinn role: ALEXIS ZORBA. Here's a nice rendition of the famous dance, unsuccessfully attempted by Greek taverna-tourists ever since. It seems to be a law in tourist towns in Greece that the taverna plays this at least twice a night.
29. Religious belief: TENET
30. Dynasts of old Russia: TSARS. TS or CZ? Wait for a cross.
33. What H, O or N may represent: GAS. Hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
34. Pirate riches: BOOTY
35. Choir group: ALTOS
37. __ lift: SKI
38. Tiny bit: TAD
41. Lair: DEN
42. Great Barrier __: REEF. You might as well print the letters with the grid for this one. The same might be said for SKI LIFT too.
43. Hot streak: TEAR
46. Stretches: PERIODS
48. Sweet root: BEET. Sweet? I'd call them more peppery than sweet.
50. Actress Falco: EDIE
51. Itch: DESIRE
53. Evening star: VESPER. The planet Venus when it appears in the evening sky. The Romans named the morning incarnation of Venus as "Lucifer" even though they recognized it was the same celestial body. The Vesper is also the cocktail that James Bond orders "shaken, not stirred". Gin, vodka and Kina Lillet.
56. Southend-on-Sea's county: ESSEX. Easy for me, probably not for the majority of you. Dick Van Dyke's cockney character would call it "Sarf-end"
57. Focus group surveys: POLLS
58. Water brand: EVIAN
59. Give back: REPAY
61. Harness race pace: TROT
63. Fave pal: BFF. Bestie or"Best Friend Forever".
64. Be in the wrong: ERR
65. Egg __ yung: FOO. Foo! I mean Food!
66. "Mangia!": EAT!
67. Zeta follower: ETA. The initial reaction is that zeta is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, but it's not by a long way - a long way from omega.
With that, stick a fork in me, I'm done. Here's the grid:
Steve
19A. With 63-Across, ending lines of a poem by 72-Across: AND MILES TO GO
63A. See 19-Across: BEFORE I SLEEP
and the unifier:
72A. Poet who used the starts of 24-, 41- and 55-Across to describe the woods: FROST. Robert Frost, of course. The anniversary of his death was on Tuesday, I wonder if that had anything to do with the puzzle appearing this week?
This then kicks off a new set of theme answers:
24A. Alice Sebold novel, with "The": LOVELY BONES
41A. Harmful spells, in the Potterverse: DARK ARTS
55A. Really cool place?: DEEP FREEZER
Slick puzzle from Mr. Sessa. I was impressed with how the reveal of the author's name sent you back to look at the three seemingly-unrelated entries.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
You might also have noticed that the grid is stretched to 16x15 to accommodate the 12-letter theme entries at 19A & 63A.
There's a couple of nice long downs to tie this all together. I enjoyed the solve today; I couldn't recall the final lines of the poem and so had to unpick those entries letter-by-letter. Let's see what else we can find:
Across:
1. Word that appears four times in a 1963 film title: MAD. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. If I listed the stars credited, I'd be here until Christmas. There's a lot.
4. Roof tiles: SLATES
10. Deadens, as a piano string: DAMPS
15. Media agcy.: U.P.I. United Press International, UNIPRESS in the days of reporting news via telegram.
16. Roadster in the Henry Ford Museum: MODEL A. The museum is wonderful, I had the opportunity to visit a few years ago when I was doing some business with Ford in Dearborn. My rental car on that trip was a fire-engine red VW Jetta. I was actually embarrassed when I drove onto the parking lot - my highly-visible car was the only non-Ford or Lincoln to be seen for miles.
17. How sardines are packed: IN OIL I prefer them packed in brine, the fish is oily enough already.
18. Mythical bird: ROC
21. Hydrocarbon group: ALKYL. The "Y" almost had me stumped, I could not for the life of me remember the crossing "YEGG". I stared it down in the end with an alphabet run.
23. 1995-2006 New York governor George: PATAKI
27. The W in kWh: WATT. Kilowatt Hours.
31. Athlete's peak performance: A GAME
32. Wines and dines: REGALES. I didn't associate this at all. I'd use "regale" to describe telling an entertaining story. I didn't know the alternative definition.
34. Thrill: BANG
36. Credits list: CAST
39. Place for spectacles: ARENA
40. __ Navy: discount retailer: OLD
44. Gen-__: X'ER. Roughly speaking, born from the mid-60's thru the 70's between the boomers and the millennials.
45. Like universal blood donors: O TYPE. Shouldn't it be TYPE O? You don't have an "A Model" Ford or a "Type E" Jaguar. Just sayin'
47. Nantes notion: IDÉE. French.
48. Drill parts: BITS
49. Symbolized: TOKENED. This is my clunker of the day.
52. Roof features: EAVES
54. WWI battle river: YSER
60. "Indubitably!": IT IS SO!
62. Hot pot spot: STOVE
68. __ Van Winkle: RIP
69. Tolkien ringbearer: FRODO. All Sam Gamgee seemed to say in the movies was "Mr. Frodo! Mr. Frodo!" It got a little wearisome.
70. Tell: RELATE
71. Sheep's call: BAA
73. Old-Timers' Day VIP: EX STAR. Hmmm. Not convinced by this one either.
74. Unspecified amount: ANY
Down:
1. Diego Rivera creation: MURAL. According to Wikipedia, his full name is Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez. Not sure quite how accurate that is, but I'm repeating what I read. Amazing artist.
2. Speed skater Ohno: APOLO
3. "Mary Poppins" and "Mary Poppins Returns" actor: DICK VAN DYKE. I wonder if his cockney accent has improved in the new movie? It was pretty shocking in the original.
4. Component of the "at" sign: SMALL "A"
5. Chaney of horror: LON
6. Toss in: ADD
7. Beat: TEMPO
8. Cuban boy in 2000 headlines: ELIAN
9. One curing meat: SALTER. When I've got my salting boots on, I use Prague Powder #1, aka "pink salt". Pastrami and Irish bacon. Yum!
10. Saucer, e.g.: DISK. I went for DISH at first, which made a very odd-looking NYC mayor at 23-across.
11. Like many '60s-'70s protests: ANTI-WAR
12. __ juice: MOO. Cow's milk.
13. Trough guy: PIG. Very nice clue
14. Road sign caution: SLO. SLO - MISSING "W" AHEAD.
20. Move gently: EASE
22. Safecracker: YEGG. With the Y cross in ALKYL, came close to foxing me.
25. Initial disco hit?: Y.M.C.A.
26. Smokey, for one: BEAR
28. 1964 Anthony Quinn role: ALEXIS ZORBA. Here's a nice rendition of the famous dance, unsuccessfully attempted by Greek taverna-tourists ever since. It seems to be a law in tourist towns in Greece that the taverna plays this at least twice a night.
29. Religious belief: TENET
30. Dynasts of old Russia: TSARS. TS or CZ? Wait for a cross.
33. What H, O or N may represent: GAS. Hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
34. Pirate riches: BOOTY
35. Choir group: ALTOS
37. __ lift: SKI
38. Tiny bit: TAD
41. Lair: DEN
42. Great Barrier __: REEF. You might as well print the letters with the grid for this one. The same might be said for SKI LIFT too.
43. Hot streak: TEAR
46. Stretches: PERIODS
48. Sweet root: BEET. Sweet? I'd call them more peppery than sweet.
50. Actress Falco: EDIE
51. Itch: DESIRE
53. Evening star: VESPER. The planet Venus when it appears in the evening sky. The Romans named the morning incarnation of Venus as "Lucifer" even though they recognized it was the same celestial body. The Vesper is also the cocktail that James Bond orders "shaken, not stirred". Gin, vodka and Kina Lillet.
56. Southend-on-Sea's county: ESSEX. Easy for me, probably not for the majority of you. Dick Van Dyke's cockney character would call it "Sarf-end"
57. Focus group surveys: POLLS
58. Water brand: EVIAN
59. Give back: REPAY
61. Harness race pace: TROT
63. Fave pal: BFF. Bestie or"Best Friend Forever".
64. Be in the wrong: ERR
65. Egg __ yung: FOO. Foo! I mean Food!
66. "Mangia!": EAT!
67. Zeta follower: ETA. The initial reaction is that zeta is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, but it's not by a long way - a long way from omega.
With that, stick a fork in me, I'm done. Here's the grid:
Steve
44 comments:
The world isn't MAD, but it's only A GAME.
The CAST may alter, but the cards are the same.
Who won yesterday,
Who cares today?
It's when you're too serious you go insane!
Gaea left the DEEP FREEZER door open
The GAS STOVE heat is only a TOKEN
Warm days in between
Are just to be mean --
Winter gets a BANG out of spirits broken!
A SLATE roof tile got loose from its clamp
There was a drip, drip, drip from the ceiling lamp
Francesca was upset,
She was getting wet!
Her dry phone-cam declared, "Frankie, I don't gif a DAMP!"
{A, A-, B.}
Greetings!
Thanks To Ed and Steve! Have not been staying up late to blog lately, but puzzles have been OK. Only the things perped were: VESPER, ESSEX, ALKYL, TOKENED, EX STAR and ALEXIS.
Have a great day!
Hello Puzzlers -
Breezed right through this one. I remember most of the poem from my school days. Yegg was recalled from mid 2012 puzzle.
Morning, Steve, I had a similar experience. I was scheduled to take an afternoon tour of the GM truck plant in Flint, but having arrived too early, I waited for a bit in a nearby doughnut shop. I felt very self conscious with my shiny burgundy VW Passat in that parking lot.
Interesting article on the copyright permissions of Robert Frost.
Good morning. Slightly tougher than yesterday. Had three typeovers:
- roll to TEAR
- dISH to DISK
- liKENED to TOKENED
I first learned of the Frost poem from the 1977 Charles Bronson movie Telefon.
I just read that Quentin Tarantino used the poem in his 2007 film Death Proof.
The two complete names DICK VAN DYKE and ALEXIS ZORBA were very cool. A puzzle based on a poem that was very important to me growing up in New England was super cool. Robert Frost is THE POET and the poem was one we all know.
Steve, once again a puzzle that benefits from your perspective. Do you ever use PINK POWDER #2 ? I did not know of the of the VESPER as the original James Bond drink and learned about Kina Lillet from your write up.
I liked seeing ELIAN and EVIAN in the same puzzle.
Thanks, Steve and Dr. Ed.
Good morning!
Very neat theme, Ed. I was able to fill in 19a, 63a and 72a once AND MILE... showed up. Did I notice LOVELY, DARK and DEEP? I did not. I remembered YEGG, and ALKYL looked familiar -- we used ALKYD paints on the offshore oil rigs. Interesting to find Mary Poppins, Harry Potter and Frodo (LOTR) references in the puz. I also liked the ELIAN/EVIAN pairing (Hi Lemonade.) Thanx for the tour, Steve. Are you from the "Sarf end?"
VESPER: Learning moment. I did not know it as a cocktail. I remember Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) from the Bond film Casino Royale. I thought Bond's shaken-not-stirred drink was a vodka martini. I guess a VESPER is a specific version of that.
Finished and e-filed our taxes yesterday. I was surprised (shocked, actually) when the IRS accepted the return within 15 minutes. I had read that furloughed employees were supposed to be trained in January on the new tax changes. They missed that training. The article warned that IRS responses would be erratic this year.
Good morning everyone.
Ed Sessa is like an old shoe - Comfortable to solve. Enjoyed Steve's excellent erudite write-up. AndI liked his take on LOVELY, DARK and DEEP. FIR; no searches or erasures needed.
IN OIL - Agree with Steve; we favor tuna in water, too.
At church the SALTER sang from the Psalter.
O-TYPE - Seems stiff. I vote for type - O.
I loved Ed’s offering today. Like Lemonade, I grew up with Frost and long ago memorized Snowy Evening. That part was easy. I struggled with some of the other fill. Lots of unknowns names. Thanks for ‘splaning the hard parts, Steve.
Owen I needed your first poem today!! A+ The rest A’s
Stay warm
I once heard of a news headline about a police officer named Hamm, who apparently arrested a safecracker. It read: "Bank heist foiled: Hamm catches Yegg." That's when I learned the word.
I like it when the theme is from one of my favorite Poets, FROST.
... I always seem to have And miles to go before I sleep' ... LOL ...
Good job on the write-up, Steve. And thank you Ed for a FUN Thursday puzzle.
Needed ESP (Every-Single-Perp) to get 21-a, Hydrocarbon group, ALKYL ...
A "Learning Moment" ... which is always a "Puzzle-Plus" ...
Hope y'all "Up-North" are staying warm.
Cheers!
Very easy, more like a Wednesday puzzle. With only TO GO filled in, the clue for 19A gave away the whole theme for me. MILES TO GO - BEFORE I SLEEP - FROST - LOVELY - DARK - DEEP. I love that poem and memorized it as a kid.
How appropriate are FROST and DEEP FREEZER today!!
I canceled my carpet cleaning because I didn't want the door open to accommodate the drain hose.
I needed perps to suggest some fill, but the only unknown was APOLO. ESP. I know his last name, but not his given name.
DISH before DISK.
BETOKENED for symbolized is much more common than TOKENED, but, hey, it's Friday and it's legit.
We had the word HYPE a while ago. It comes to mind for the whole ELIAN episode. Such excessive media coverage.
I like my tuna in water rather than oil, too.
Wiki: "A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production." Not all refined sugar comes from sugar cane. These are not the beets we serve as vegetables.
YEGG prompted ALKYL.
I don't yet have all forms to file with the IRS.
As Dylan sang, "For the times they are a'changing."
This morning I came across the following article about today's grammar rules. Clicking on 10 more grammar rules under Myth 4 I read this, "Grammar freaks often freak out about 'broken rules.' But most of these examples are simply indicators of a living language that’s in constant flux."
Grammar that we vigorously defend today was considered gauche or impure in time past. What we condemn today will not ruffle anyone's feathers in future years.
Grammar
Musings
-An elegant puzzle from Dr. Sessa I did here in the DEEP FREEZE of eastern Nebraska
-Paul Simon MUTED his guitar to play this song he wrote just after he and Art split up
-I wonder if I’ll use the word YEGG elsewhere today
-Will the referees bring their A-GAME for the Super Bowl?
-Mediocre singers can offset their musical deficiencies with spectacle in the ARENA
-O-TYPE, EXSTAR and TOKENED were ports in a storm
-Colin Cowherd says people today eschew STOVES for microwaves to placate their impatience
-Have you ever used a saucer for this?
-Do you know what a “BEAR in the air” is in CB slang?
-The NBA Golden State Warriors are doing just enough in the regular season to make the playoffs. Then they will go on a TEAR
-Gaseous liquid N (-321˚F) vapor was poured on an actor in Bond’s Golden Eye but a solid piece landed on his head and burned him
-I wonder if the POLLsters have all the egg off their faces from Nov. 2016
Another enjoyable Ed Sessa grind. It took some work and a lot of head scratching to get through it, but ultimately I did with a little help. I liked Steve's tour and the depth that he went into in describing the grid.
A few hitches today and I had to look up the Alice Sebold novel after perps filled it in because I had never heard of it. I read 13D as Tough Guy vs Trough Guy, so that slowed me down for a while. Also, I tried to use O NEGS instead of O TYPE. I agree with Steve that it should be TYPE O, not O TYPE.
Like TTP I (vaguely) remembered the Trigger Phrase "The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep" that was used to activate brainwashed sleeper agents in the Charles Bronson movie "Telefon." At first I thought it was used in the movie "The Manchurian Candidate", but in that movie the Trigger was the Ace of Diamonds. Interestingly the estate of Robert Frost had renewed the copyright on his works so that anyone wanting to use his poetry must get their permission and pay royalties, at least until 2038 when the copyright expires.
HG: You could discuss any safecracking movie like "The Italian Job" or "Ocean's Eleven" and use the term. And "A Bear in the air" is a cop in a plane or helicopter.
Still cold here, but finally above zero. It's +1º now with a high forecast of +12º today. The temperature for Punxsutawney Phil's appearance on Saturday is supposed to be above freezing. Maybe he won't see his shadow and we can have an early spring.
Stay warm everyone.
Thank you, Ed Sessa!
For some reason I solved this sliding all the way down the west side to the bottom, encountered FROST and realized what 19A was. I had AND. I love that poem.
I agree about TYPE O and had to erase that for O TYPE. Two works I've never read, The Hobbit and Harry Potter, but have learned from crosswords, FRODO and today DARK ARTS. However, I knew The LOVELYBONES by Alice Sebold. It was a book club selection for us.
Like others I liked seeing the full names of DICKVANDYKE and ALEXISZORBA. As for Dick's accent I am not a judge and was too mesmerized by his dancing at age 93 to notice!
Drat! YEGG tripped me up. I had YEGi and failed to notice BANI. sigh.
Thank you for the excellent review, Steve.
Have a safe and warm day, everyone!
Good Morning:
Well, do I ever have YEGG on my face this morning. I filled in Frost without reading the entire clue and completely missed the whole thrust of the theme: Lovely, Dark, and Deep. My brain must have been in the FREEZER! I liked a lot of semi-related entries, including Evian and Elian (Hi DO and Lemony), Foo and Moo, Baa and Bff, Eat and Eta, and Moo next to Pig. I wasn't keen on Tokened, Ex Star, or O Type, but, overall, the theme and fill were A Okay! I never knew Zorba's first name but Pataki was a gimme. No w/os but several unknowns: Alkyl, Dark Arts, Frodo, and Vesper.
Thanks, Ed, for a Thursday challenge and thanks, Steve, for the enlightening and entertaining review. BTW, I agree with your comment on Regale.
FLN
PK, so sorry to hear of your DIL's misery. I hope you gets some relief soon. (I don't remember any bandage on my incision but I know I didn't have any discomfort, other than the brace, 24-7.)
Have a great day and stay warm.
Sorry, I hope she gets some relief soon.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Ed Sessa, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
Puzzle went great. I bounced around and got the easy ones, then the tough ones became easy. Used some perps and a lot of wags that worked out.
Liked the theme. Excellent. However, not familiar with the poem. I guess i should look it up and read it.
YEGG was easy. I have known that term most of my life. Not that I am ones of those.
Took me a while to remember PATAKI, but a couple perps helped.
APOLO Ohno was easy. He was real big for a couple olympics.
SMALL A was a thinker for me for a while.
Steve: Really enjoyed the Zorba the Greek dance and music.
Well, I have to take the dog out at 17 below zero. It will not take long.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Got thru it ok, cept' I almost posted a bunch
of links where Sam Gamgee did not say "Mr. Frodo, Mr. Frodo."
But I almost fell asleep...
(p.S. Yellowrocks, I bookmarked "grammer" to read later as I
often start a sentence with But...)
But i gotta walk the dog 1st...
Beets me!
HG, I must request you provide the source of your statement
"Paul Simon MUTED his guitar to play" Me & Julio...
(I don't hear it...)
And (Grammar permitting) Robert Frost must never have owned a cat...
"What is MURAL?", was the question for the answer that Jeopardy was probing for in reference to the type of art Diego Rivera was known for creating. (Wow, that's a tough sentence to form because of the game's format. I doubt I got it correct.) It was in either Tuesday's or Wednesday's episode. I knew the answer and I nailed the Final Jeopardy that night!
Oh, the humanity!
Not until xwords did I learn what a yegg was, but one of the Sherlock Holmes cases that Watson did not publish was "Vanderbilt and the Yeggman."
Wow! What a delightful Ed Sessa puzzle on a Thursday--thank you, Ed! I got everything except for a tiny bit of cheating up north, but loved getting FROST and the sweet lines from the poem. And that turned out not to be the only treat. I've seen only two movies in the last few years, but thankfully I made an effort to see the return of Mary Poppins and couldn't believe the 90 plus year old DICK VAN DYKE dancing. It was wonderful! And then to find Anthony Quinn's ZORBA too--it doesn't get much better than this. All this was followed by Steve's always helpful commentary, making this a great crossword morning.
Hope the FROSTy weather gets better from all those suffering from the cold.
Have a good day, everybody!
Hi Y'all! Thank you, Ed. Your FROST puzzle left me with a LOVELY feeling. Thank you, Steve, for a great expo.
FROST's poem was a standard in HS lit classes apparently. I memorized it just because I liked it so much, so I plugged in all the pieces readily.
I had a bunch of other missed entries that turned red: cha before MAD, Anton before APOLO (thot Anton was his first name followed by APOLO.), SmokER before SALTER, ethYL before ALKYL, YEll before YEGG. I knew YEGG but wrong finger answered.
Didn't know DICK VAN DYKE was in the new Mary Poppins. I thought of him but supposed he was too old.
Knew ZORBA but didn't know he had a first name. Tried Greek both first & last in the spaces. Got ZORBA in the right squares then waited for perps.
Steve & Duddley, I was driving a Ford when I went to work for A GM dealer. I parked out of sight over a block away until I could save enough money for a Buick purchase.
IM: Thank you for your wishes for my DIL. I was surprised she didn't have to wear a neck brace. She has a short thick neck may be why, methinks. Not any wobble normally.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Ed and Steve.
I got the FROST quote but missed seeing the other poem words, LOVELY, DARK, DEEP.
The NW was the last to fill because I was slow to recognize Rivera and APOLO.
Hand up for Dish before DISK, and ONegs before OTYPE. I was wracking my brain for the name of that Cuban boy and entered Evian; then I realized we already had that name for the water. Then I parsed MODEL A. Parsing A GAME also took a while.
VESPERs is a term used by many churches for evening prayer service.
Venus and Jupiter could both be seen before dawn today apparently. I was not outside looking because somebody left the DEEP FREEZER open and we were below 0 F before dawn!
Venus&JupiterAlign
Besides ZORBA the Greek (thanks Steve), do we all have the YMCA earworm all day? Here's a chuckle.
YMCAinChinese
Wishing you all a great day. Stay warm.
YEGG has appeared in many books which I have read; off the top of my head I recall a short story about Nero Wolfe in one of his three/four story compilations where Archie hires a "Yegg." I believe it was EASTER PARADE
The word has been in movies since they began Capture of the 'Yegg' Bank Burglars (1904)
I liked this puzzle and I agree with what each and every one of you said about it.
The movie, Zorba the Greek, has been one of my favorites for a long time. I haven't watched it lately though because it's quite sad in a few places. I get too emotional.
Most of what I know about poetry I learned in Freshman English at Cornell. I love Robert Frost though. I can live happily on a diet of "The Road Not Taken" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."
Quite the crunchy Thursday puzzle, tough but solvable.
They were optional answers, those I left blank for crosses...like 16A MODEL...T or A? had to wait. 10D as well...DIS...K or C?
TOKENED was new to me.
Markovers...because of the waiting, only TREAT__/REGALES.....should have waited there as well.
Mr. Sessa seldom disappoints, today was no exception.
....forgot to note, a bit of a giveaway....after getting 19A, went right to 63A and filled that in.
I know YEGG but as my brain is slowly turning to mush I couldn't recall it. And I also know VESPERS as the evening song of the daily Office which monasteries and some convents intone or recite but didn't realize it is a STAR.
BillG:
WYS (what you said) regarding ZORBA the Greek. I love that movie and get teary watching certain parts.
In Mexico, of course, and some other museums here in the USA, I've seen many of Diego Rivera's MURALs. They are bold and colorful.
Fairly easy str8 forward Thursday puzzle. Prepping for the harder Friday Saturday challenges. Originally put "Dish" for Saucer but actually met our ex governer George PataKi so that was an easy fix. Ran into him when he visited Utica. He was eating in a restaurant shaking hands with customers as he and his entourage was leaving. I asked him mischievously if he had left a tip. He nervously looked over at the table to make sure he had!! Every vote counts!!
This should have been tuesdays! Great job. I knew it would be great and fun when i saw the author. I knew i would ease in and id kick booty on this one.
Ta ~DA!
A fun puzz from Mr. Sessa! This really was enjoyable throughout.
My only disappointment was that the 16x15 grid prevented diagonals from forming. I saw many good letter combos shaping up for anagrams, but w/o the diagonal, none could be counted.
Gotta run. The booming thunder is scaring my dogs, and they need comforting.
~ OMK
Okay. They're sleeping now.
Would Owen or somebody please remind me: What is it we're supposed to say on the first of the month?
Is it "Rabbit Rabbit"?
And why?
~ OMK
OMK...Yes. No idea.
Being rusty in my HP, I thought DAHKUTS(my pronunciation) were evil creatures much like those in FRODO'S world. Not to speak of TYPEEOS
I did the Cubs Xword on line and I now see what red-letters are
Sherlock Holmes had a case with a YEGG Man but I can't find it
I remember VESPER Lynd
Oops D-O beat me to it. I don't get here until late
Gary, they're on a tear right now-10 straight
I see billocoes has the Sherlock ref. When I read that as a kid I wondered about YEGG
That Nero Wolfe novella is not familiar. I thought I read them all.
Typical Thurs level. Had to go slow. The only place to get warm in FLA is the car so I was early for a Mtg and just solved a bit at ten and again at one. MAD was my big get. TORA,TORA, TORA didn't cut it
WC
I solve helter skelter and thus only noticed the theme when I was nearly done.
The poem was read by Frost at the JFK inauguration
OMK: there are variations on the theme, but when I learned of in college, the playful superstition required saying “Rabbit Rabbit” out loud upon awakening on the first day of a month, before anything else. It’s said to bring good luck for the remainder of that month.
OMK - adding to the prior post: because of your W. Mass/Williams connection, it may interest you to know I learned the Rabbit Rabbit business from some students at my then main hangout, Mount Holyoke College. I seem to remember the main purveyor of the “knowledge” came from eastern Pennsylvania, if that has any bearing on its history.
The tradition is common among groups of young girls such as a girl scout troops and cheer squads.
Dudley ~
Thanks!
I did a little Googling and also saw some East Coast/New England origin tales. Variations include saying "White Rabbits" on waking and, if you forget, saying instead "Black Rabbits" when going to sleep that first night.
Or else saying Rabbit backwards, "Tibbar, tibbar"!
But the most interesting story says that RAF pilots would insist on saying "White rabbit" every morning on waking--to prevent being gunned down or their airfield being bombed by the Luftwaffe! Surely, the superstition had to be proved faulty sometime!
All the tales insist that this brings good luck, but the most specific one says that women can assure pregnancy this way, because of the obvious fecundity of these horny little critters.
~ OMK
Late to the party. Temps got into double digits so I ran a couple errands today. Snow overnight tonight and temps near 40* tomorrow. Ol' Man Winter seems a bit erratic these days.
A fairly easy puzzle for Thursday. Thank you, Mr. Sessa, for the puzzle, and thanks, Steve, for the expo.
CED:I was curious about this also. The answer is in the 6th section.
Me and Julio
Our temps are in double digits! Warmer temps are on their way
Well PAT, you're not as late as me tonight. I've been busy and just got around to today's local newspaper and yesterday's WSJ, where I noticed a fine puzzle by C.C.. So I filled them both , with C.C.'s being a tad easier.
As for Sessa's, it was easy for a Thursday, especially the poem and poet.
Never heard of LOVELY BONES and the DARK ARTS was unknown as well. But the theme fills of LOVELY, DARK, & DEEP made no sense to me, as I had never read the poem.
Hi All!
Thank you Ed for this wonderful puzzle. I surprised myself knowing the lines and the poet with little perpage; that helped with the solve. I enjoyed the mini-movie theme and the roof clecho, beat/BEET, and BITS/bit=TAD.
Fun expo Steve. We had the same WO (DISh) and same ABC run at Y in YEGG. Loved your line about It's a MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD World's [3:13 - Trailer] CAST; I nailed it w/ only the ending D.
WO: DISh
ESPs: ALKYL, ALEXIA ZORBA
Fav: DICK VAN DYKE* [WWDTM - 10:45; Steve, DVD explains why his Cockney was so wrong (++ the words to the DVD show-theme!)]
Runner-up: It wasn't until PIG was apparent I finally read it as NOT 'Tough guy.' Nice Ed.
{A+, B+, B}
BigE@8:39p - Big surprise on my end... I would have sworn you were the "Dow Jones" that gives us heads-up when C.C. is in the WSJ.
Lucina - we solved oppositely today. I got the East, bottom, put in FROST, filled B-F---S-EEP, and then --D--L-ST-O. NW was my last fill (MURAL, APOLO, ALKYL, YEGG; all lucky WAGs).
Steve, Dudley, YR: Out of place in a parking lot? Tomorrow I will test-drive a used Civic Si (6 on the floor!) but I will be pulling up in DW's Alfa Giulia which is worth 2x anything on their lot :-)
C, Eh! - LOL YMCA pic.
OMK - Did you say White Rabbit? [2:54 - Yeah, It's Grace (at Woodstock)]
HG - A copper in a chopper...
//I know Oc4 got here first but mine rhymes :-)
I work with a guy named Julio; every time I email or IM him (or, gasp! interact IRL [we are in IT ;-) ]), Paul Simon pops in my head... The Official Video [3:09 - who can get too much Paul?] is fun for the visuals.
Anyone with a MicroCenter nearby? I'm late tonight because first) I worked late [I don't smoke at work - Stratergy], b) MicroCenter has 32G micro-SD cards for $5/ea and Pi-0/WiFi for $5/ea (one per visit/day), and iii) I had to read everyone!
Hear, hear, w/ Grammar YR. And with that, I'll end. Because I can, Over.
Cheers, -T
*Nailed it sans-perps
@-O no, I lived in Sarf London when I first moved to the Smoke. Then I migrated north, so I lived in Norf London. I never made it to the middle bit. To posh, and expensive, for me.
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