Along with REBUS CROSSWORD PUZZLES, I do not believe Rich accepts META PUZZLES. But if you like this concept, you will like this debut puzzle from Andy Morrison. The META is revealed at 37A. Literal and figurative hint to four puzzle answers: MISSING LINK (11) which defeats the meta aspect but gives you a taste of the challenge. We get there with:
18A. Boxing academy?: F
30. Optimist's hopeful list?: GREAT PLA
48A. Wild party in Dallas?: TEXAS RA
58A. Literary alliance?: WRITER'S BLOCK (11). A BLOC is defined as a combination of countries, parties, or groups sharing a common purpose.
A Writer's Block is the bane of all authors.
And there you have the four letters which make up the MISSING LINK. But you will not be missing any links here. You also were treated lots of sparkle with ARSENIO, GARBAGE, GENUINE, IN A SPIN, MACABRE, MIDWEEK, EPHESIAN, ICE WATER, CHAMBERMAID and PACKAGE DEAL
Very impressive Andy.
Across:
1. Yukon supplier: GMC. General Motors makes this full-sized or bigger SUV.
4. __ pants: HAREM. Didn't every one of my age think of this image?
9. Scorned lover of Jason: MEDEA. Thank you
for the shout out Andy, but she was my wife and
killed our children just because I was dumping
her for a Corinthian princess.
If you believe Euripides.
14. Aptly, it rhymes with "spa": AAH. Feels so goood.
15. CNN correspondent Hill: ERICA. never watched her. She is on the right.
16. Big period: EPOCH. Is a period of time in history or a person's life, typically one marked by notable events or particular characteristics. Often the backdrop of 43A. Sword-and-sandal feature, e.g.: EPIC.
17. TV trailblazer: RCA.
20. Loud noises: BAMS.
22. "There, there," e.g.: SOLACE. A Quantum?
23. One at the top of the order: ABBESS. This is a woman who is the head of an abbey of nuns. They are an order.
26. Whirling: IN A SPIN. Perhaps this MUSIC. My granddaughter and her class sang this along with a Christmas carol at her winter show.
33. "Othello" role: IAGO. The epitome of a bad man.
34. Pamphlet ending: EER.
35. Have __ for: A YEN.
36. Colorful bird: MACAW.
41. Field supervisor: COACH.
44. Turkish title: AGA.
47. Award using spelled-out initials: OBIE. Off Broadway.
51. Wednesday, to be exact: MIDWEEK. In German it is Mittwoch.
53. Souvenirs: TOKENS.
54. Plays ball: AGREES.
57. Musical collaboration instruction: A DUE. An Italian misdirection. LINK.
63. A, in Aachen: EIN. I knew there was German coming.
64. Senate staffers: AIDES. No politics, but a quick look at Senate staff JOBS.
65. Coke or Pepsi: BRAND. I stopped drinking soda long ago but was always a Coke person.
66. Young Darth's nickname: ANI. Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader when he gave in to the dark side, but he was a nice boy.
67. Bright: SMART.
68. Hindu mystics: YOGIS. My most recent Lyft driver was a self-proclaimed "Yogi Guru."
69. Ballet composer Delibes: LEO. I had never heard this NAME. Of course, he died 128 years ago so he has not been in the news much. Maybe he was very good.
Down:
1. Refuse: GARBAGE. The classic refuse/refuse heteronym clue.
2. Poe genre: MACABRE.
3. Title servant in a 1946 Paulette Goddard film: CHAMBERMAID. This screenplay was written by the incomparable BURGESS MEREDITH who later married Paulette.
4. Mag mogul: HEF. The late Hugh Hefner, the ultimate playboy.
5. Home of the 2001 World Series champs, on scoreboards: ARIzona. The SERIES.
6. Eighteen-wheelers: RIGS. My brother-in-law was a truck driver for years following in his father's footsteps.
7. Call back?: ECHO. Nice clue.
8. Only deaf performer to win an Oscar: MATLIN.
9. Waikiki, to surfers: MECCA.
10. Recipient of a New Testament epistle attributed to Saint Paul: EPHESIAN.
11. __-wop: DOO. Two songs in particular may lay claim to being the "first" to contain the syllables "doo wop" in the refrain: the 1955 hit, "When You Dance" by The Turbans, in which the chant "doo wop" can be plainly heard; and the 1956 classic "In the Still of the Night" by The Five Satins, with the plaintive "doo wop, doo wah" refrain in the bridge.
12. Prefix with conscious: ECO.
13. Calder Cup org.: AHL. It is Hockey, Eh! LINK.
19. Without: SANS. This is one of the French words we have taken over.
21. Vast expanse: SEA.
24. Tuck away: STASH.
25. 1974 CIA spoof: S*P*Y*S. I have had this Donald Sutherland - Eliot Gould attempt to capitalize and the success of M*A*S*H.
27. Discounted combo: PACKAGE DEAL.
28. Supermarket chain: IGA.
29. "__ is the winter of our discontent": Shak.: NOW. Our Friday Will quote, this one from Richard III, Act I, Scene 1.
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
31. Luau ring: LEI.
32. Architect's addition: ANNEX. Why an architect?
36. Start to manage?: MICRO.
38. Summer refresher: ICE WATER. Sorry Tin.
39. College admissions fig.: GPA. Grade Point Average.
40. Document with bullets: LIST. My boss loves bullets in lists, me- not so much.
41. Cousin of org: COM.
42. Band of Tokyo?: OBI. Obi-Wan Kenobi?
45. Sincere: GENUINE.
46. Hall of fame: ARSENIO. He faded since he took on Johnny.
48. Puerto Rico, e.g.: Abbr.: TERRitory.
49. Barely makes it: EKES BY.
50. Handle preceder: AKA. "Also known as," usually listed as a/k/a.
52. Discharge: EGEST. An obvious anytonym of INGEST if you know Latin, but still an unpleasnat wor.
55. Iberian river: EBRO. Memorize the European rivers!
56. Metallic waste: SLAG.
58. Lived: WAS.
59. Basket border: RIM. Why a basket?
60. Early civil rights activist __ B. Wells: IDA. It is a sad statement for the US that she is known for opposing lynching of black men in the 1890's. LINK.
61. Covert maritime gp.: ONI. Office of Naval Intelligence.
62. Cred. union offerings: CDS.
I thought this was a really fine debut puzzle with some challenge, some fun and some learning experience for both solver and constructor. Thank you Andy and all of you who read and especially those who comment. Lemonade out.
If you think the Kraken is insufficiently MACABRE,
ReplyDeleteAnd it doesn't wake you from dreams with a sob,
You may take SOLACE
From my Uncle Wallace.
Pecked to death by a giant bird -- he was MACAWed!
(This is response to yesterday's Jumble poem. One of Erato's best, I thought, after a couple days of clunkers.)
The CHAMBER MAID was the MISSING LINK
Of how poison got in Mr. Boddy's drink!
She was the distraction
While the viper's extraction
Was poured in his glass by Prudence Pink!
SCORNED LOVER OF JASON, that was MEDEA,
He wooed her and seduced her with Madeira
So sad, in a way
That back in her day
She couldn't denounce him live on the media!
{B+, A, A-.}
ReplyDeleteGreetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks To Andy and Lemonade!
A few hangups: CHAMBERMAID, NHL and ERICA.
Have some kind of flush bug. Computer sick. Needs to visit Apple Store.
Have a great day!
A great puzzle is when you think there's too many unknowables on the first pass, but the next thing you know, it's filled! Then you get that "How'd I do that?" moment!
ReplyDeleteOne red letter though. AHL, not NHL. Spell-Check doesn't recognize it either! (Didn't notice MEDEN till I turned on the red letters.)
Thanks for explaining CC's "Makes out..." last week Lemonade!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's twice this week that d-o got the theme. I think that may be a record. Paul did a lot of epistolizing, but EPHESIAN was the first that came to mind. Nice misdirection in the downs at top left and bottom right. No Wite-Out needed this morning. You say this is a debut? I'm impressed. Well done, Andy. Enjoyed the tour, Lemonade. (I see you found the missing LINK at 13d in your expo.)
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteKinda tough but finally got going well enough with judicious use of WAGS. Got the theme early and kept a tally of the LINK letters as they were allocated. Interesting that the long downs were not a part of the theme. Only red letter help was for the 'M' in MATLIN. That gave me HAREM and HEF and it was done. Strangely I remembered LEO @ 69a.
CED; this Mother Goose & Grimm panel was in today's paper.
Re: 59d
ReplyDeleteI took it as the RIM is the metal circle that hold the net in BASKETball.
Or it just could be referring to a peach basket.
Got the theme. I,too, needed to M for Matlin, giving me harem and Hef.
ReplyDeleteAn architect draws up plans for an annex.
Naismith, you are likely correct that the intention of that clue and fill related to basketball, and YR- I know architects draw plans for an annex, but the clue was not referencing planning. The annex belongs to the building. It is either the owner or the builder who seeks the addition.
ReplyDeleteNot being a movie or TV show watcher, the NE was hard to finish. And when I did, I made a sloppy mistake, leaving the NHL & MEDEN in place. I knew MEDEA but DNF is DNF. I'd never heard of ERICA Hill Or Marlee MATLIN and the epistle clue hinted at the unknown EPHESIAN solved by perps. AHL-unknown.
ReplyDeleteBryden- My newspaper doesn't have red letters. AHL-never heard of it. I left MEDEN in place.
Spitzboov- If you remembered LEO, you must be really "old".
Lemonade & Naismith- ANNEX- isn't that what Russia likes to do to other countries?
As for the MISSING LINK, I noticed it but wasn't aware that LINK was missing in order.
IDA b. Wells, LEO Delibes, and CHAMBER MAID solved by perps.
Waikiki is a district in downtown Honolulu. Is it a 'Surfing MECCA"- not no but hell no. It's a tourist mecca.
Hi Gang -
ReplyDeleteStared at a lot of white space for a long time. Googled MATLIN. CHAMBERMAID was a swag, as was ERICA. ABBOTT before ABBESS. IHL before AHL, but that was the Turner Cup. IT IN before A YEN. Lots of stumbles.
South-east area was last to fill, with the D of A DUI the last entry.
Really surprised I finished it, and did not suss the theme at all.
I don't see this missing letter concept as any kind of rebus, and the theme fill all have a clear surface sense. So - nicely done.
Funny that the Germans say Midweek, while we call that day a corrupted version of Wodenstag, after an old German god.
Froeliche Wochenende!
JzB
It was a toughie, but I was able to finish it. Never heard of HAREM pants, but I knew MATLIN was right. Nice debut for Mr. Morrison.
ReplyDeleteJzB, I did not mean to suggest this as a rebus puzzle, nor as a meta-puzzle, but I was pointing out the trend in puzzles to have a word that is hidden in the theme fill, which, in this case, is LINK. Had Andy not included 37A in the puzzle, the connection would still have existed and would have been a meta reveal - outside the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteA really nice puzzle. Good theme, nice fill, no glue. Took a while to remember Now is the winter vs Tis. A very satisfying solve. And a great write-up by Lemony. Nice way to end the week.
ReplyDeleteJB2
ReplyDeleteGood morning. Thank you Andy and Lemonade.
Didn't put my best foot forward this morning, and stumbled right out of the gate. It got a little better after coffee and breakfast, but the missteps continued. Notably, ruling out antsy pants and fancy pants, and then sticking with cargo pants for way too long. Finally remembered MATLIN when I had --TLIN. I knew her name began with M, and then realized HAREM pants.
Gotta run for now. Chores await.
Thanks Spitzboov! I saw the YouTube Rabbithole comic as the star ledger app works well on my iPad. What does not work at all now is the latimes crossword site, and it used to work great!? So I am really bummed that I could not do today’s puzzle.
ReplyDeleteStrange thing is the la site works fine on my phone, same OS, no go on the iPad all of a sudden.
I would do it on the phone in a pinch, but I would need a magnifying glass, a stylus, and throw a towel over my head to block out the beach sunlight...
Sigh...
Anonymous-T, thanks for fixing last nites 404 error. How do you do it?
I used youtube’s Share option and chose copy link, but it was a dud.
Can you tell me where I went wrong?
Gotta go throw down some red mulch under the front bushes,
The housing assoc. mulch police have threatened (action?) if I don’t respond within 24hours.
CED, can they really make you put down mulch and also specify that it be red? I think I'd "respond" immediately, without leaving my chair.
ReplyDeleteFIR, but my pamphlet ended in "let" instead of EER, I flipped the tucan bird for MACAW, my sword-and-sandal had an epee before it became EPIC, my spoof was i spy before SPYS, my handle preceder was "pan" before AKA, and I was in the majors before the minors with nHL before AHL.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was gainfully employed I learned that in international business what we call "addendum" or "appendix" to a procurement document here is called ANNEX there.
Fun, tough Friday puzzle, Andy. Thanks. And thanks to Lemonade for the always fun tour.
The clue merely said "architect's addition." It didn't say addition to the house. The annex could be the architect's addition to the plan or drawing. There is no SEEK in my set of clues.
ReplyDeleteAn ABC run probably would have given me the H in HAREM and the M could have been wagged.As I near the end of a puzzle sometimes I become impatient. One of my pet peeves is missing something gettable like this.
Musings
ReplyDelete*A worthy but fun Friday challenge and debut
*NHL had to leave as MEDEA had to be
*Yeah, I should have thought of Jeannie, but I thought of him
*A famous ELLA lyric – IN A SPIN, loving the spin that I'm in, under That Old Black Magic called love
*Washington inspired his men by having the words of PAMPHLETEER Thomas Paine read aloud to them the day before they crossed the Delaware for a great victory
*Football : COACH :: Baseball : Manager
*Anyone else have to turn away from HUMPDAY for MIDWWEK?
*Marlee Matlin in a fabulous Seinfeld scene (:56)
*Shakespeare’s depressing take on end of life – “SANS teeth, SANS eyes, SANS taste, SANS everything”
*Audiences gave S*P*Y*S a 17% Rotten Tomatoes rating
*We got a PACKAGE DEAL to Hawaii that was incredibly cheap. The company was out of business the next year
*As you can see, I love bullet points
*The RIM of our bird bath is a ring of ice as the heater can only work so far up the bowl
RIP, Albert Finney: Tom Jones, Erin Brokovich, the Bourne trilogy.
ReplyDeleteHusker, you've got a heated bird bath? Never heard of such an extravagance.
Musings 2
ReplyDelete-Otto, the birds provide great winter entertainment here at our house for us and our kitty. This is the $30 item that lies in the bottom of the bird bath and keeps the water liquid except for the very top RIMS during really cold weather. They have to wash down the sunflower chips with something. :-)
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was an outstanding debut, IMO, particularly at the Friday difficulty level. My only w/os were: Matlee/Matlie/Matlin and Pan/AKA. The w/os were scant because I needed so much perp help, I ended up filling in the correct answer on the first try. I was rewarded by seeing the missing L I N K letters when I had only a few letters of the reveal filled in. My unknowns were too numerous to mention, mostly because of the vague or generalized cluing. For example: Mag mogul had me thinking, Editor, Editor in Chief, etc. Not knowing Erica and not having the H for harem pants didn't help. Sword and sand feature had me bewildered but, as with many other problem areas, perps came to the rescue. Liked the pairings of Obi/Oni, Ani/Ari, Epoch/Epic, and the Obi/OBIE crossing. Nice CSO to Lemony (Jason), especially on his blogging day. Coincidentally, my luncheon guest yesterday just returned from the Dominican Republic and shared many beautiful pictures of her trip, including several of the colorful MACAWS, sitting on her shoulder.
Thanks, Andy, for an impressive debut, (even though it gave me some angst) and thanks, Lemony, for the well-explicated review and, especially for including the Dreidl song. I can picture Charlotte's glee, singing those fun lyrics.
Have a great day.
Thank you, Andy Morrison! If this is your debut, you have a great future in puzzling.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed daunting at first and I jumped around quite a bit but soon light dawned in the East and little by little the connections grew though, of course, I didn't see the theme.
I have crossed the EBRO several times while in Spain.
GMC took a long while and even then I didn't recall that Yukon is an SUV. Thank you, Lemonade; as usual, you fill in the gaps for me.
I didn't know ERICA Hill but it was a good guess. I agree with Big Easy that Waikiki is more of a tourist MECCA. It's actually the North Shore where surfers go. Souvenir TOKENS could have been paired with Waikiki.
Thank you so much, Jason; I always appreciate your SMART and scholarly commentary.
Have a fabulous day, everyone!
ReplyDeleteHusker beat me to it, but this is who I thought of...
OLD BLACK MAGIC
A great puzzle to end the week--many thanks, Andy! I had trouble only in the southeast and never heard of HAREM pants, so missed that one and HEF as well. But I remembered MATLIN right away and can still picture her getting her Oscar. Only I wish I could remember the name of the movie? IAGO was my first fill-in--he shows up in puzzles a lot these days. But I too wanted TIS before I had to settle for NOW. I got the theme answer but didn't get how the LINK was distributed until Lemonade's commentary--great to get the explanation. And although I got OBIE without any problem I didn't know these were initials until the write-up. Anyway, fun puzzle, and helpful commentary--thanks to you both, Andy and Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad got his first job, after getting out of the army, with RCA in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This was in 1955, when I believe they were just starting to develop color television. Dad worked there until his retirement.
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody!
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Andy (congrats on your debut!) and Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteWell, this was a workout; I ECHO James Brydon@4:52 (who does CWs at that hour?) re "unknowables on first pass". I had to stop and come back later to finish (and required 2 Google helps).
But I got the theme; at first I thought it was going to be missing L's but then I got the last missing K. The theme reveal gave me clues for the missing middle I and N.
Let me count the different kinds of pants that I thought of - Hot, Scaredy . . .
My ballet composer was Len before LEO.
I wanted Semi before RIGS but needed the plural.
I thought we had a "summer refresher" CSO to Lemonade; then I thought Iced Tea, but it turned to ICE WATER.
My unknowns requiring Google help were MALTIN and ARSENIO.
Hand up for wanting Tis before NOW for that Shakespeare quote. After all our cold and ice, we can only hope that this winter of our discontent will be made glorious summer!
I loved OBIE crossing OBI, but I noted a dupe that is probably a NoNo. 30A has list in the clue and 40D answer is LIST. (I wanted Word document.)
I'll take a CSO for AHL since the Toronto Marlies are the current holders of the Calder Cup. And yes, even this Canadian started to enter NHL.
Can somebody explain CDS as credit union offerings? This may be a Canadian disadvantage thing, but I am sure we are not referring to the CDS, LPS, and 8 tracks that we have been laughing about the last few days. (Never mind, I LIUed and see that it means Certificate of Deposit, a name that we do not use very much. We use GICs & term deposits more).
Enjoy the day.
38-d Summer refresher??? SCOTCH ... NEAT!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
I don't see the connection between "Sword-and-sandal feature, e.g." and EPIC.... what...?
ReplyDeleteI dont understand the questioning of 32d. If a building is in the need of more space such as a school or hospital, then one would ask an architect to draw up the plans for an ANNEX or simply to "add an Annex". I suppose the clue could have been, Builder's addition but that would be too simple for such a Monday word as ANNEX.
ReplyDeleteThe 42 Down clue "Band of Tokyo?" refers to a waistband used to secure a kimono, not a musical band as intimated in the discussion of clues.
ReplyDeleteAnon@11:56, think of Ben Hur or The Ten Commandments -- swords and sandals.
ReplyDeleteMisty, I'm pretty sure the movie is "Children of a Lesser God". I'm sure that is correct. I may not always be right, but I never lack for confidence.
ReplyDeleteCya!
On refreshing, I see that others have already answered but I will post my thoughts also.
ReplyDeleteMisty - Matlin won the Oscar for Children of a Lesser God. Interesting article and interview about her current part in Quantico.
MATLIN
Anonymous@11:56 - EPIC refers to movie genre (originally based on epic poetry like Iliad, Odyssey), "filmmaking with large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle . . often focused on a heroic character" (Wikipedia). Think of Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, Cleopatra, Lawrence of Arabia and their "sword & sandals feature".
YR (I think it was you who mentioned this book)- I just finished reading Jodi Picoult's A Spark of Light. A gripping story about a controversial topic told in an unusual backward sequence. I thought she gave a balanced view that caused the reader to reexamine their own view/attitudes and respect the other side.
Thank you, Bluehen and CanadianEh, for giving me the name of the film "Children of a Lesser God." Also wonderful to read the interview with Matlin. This all reminded me of how much I love seeing the boy in the television show "Speechless." Even though he is wheelchair bound and can't speak, he is a totally vivid character and I've almost forgotten to think about his disability until thinking of Matlin brought it up this morning.
ReplyDeleteHG:
ReplyDeleteHow impressive that you heat your birdbath! I've never seen or heard of that before. I see in the directions that it cannot "ship to California" instead of cannot be shipped. Using that verb form was discussed here just recently. I believe the passive voice will eventually disappear.
I'm surprised anyone would want Tis before "is" in the Shakespeare quote. Richard III
CanadianEh! - - A CD is a Certificate of Deposit. I looked under Scotia Bank and they offer GIC's. (Guaranteed Investment Certificates). Maybe they'r similar.
ReplyDeleteWaikiki :: MECCA - - I agree with others about surfers preferring Oahu's North coast. JMO on what I've read.
Did ya'll hear about the bingo game in Canada that turned into a RAGER? Apparently a young whippersnapper sat in the usual chair of of slightly older lady who took offense to the breach of etiquette. The friendly game then escalated into a full fledged FIGHT CLUB with several octogenarians throwing fists while the caller yelled out "benign", "hockey stick" and "monkey on the tree."
ReplyDeleteMe thinks these women are hockey fans and just wanted to drop gloves and enforce house rules.
Candian Eh! I am glad you enjoyed a Spark of Light. Jodi Picoult always makes us think and examine our values. Life is usually not simplistic. I just now ordered the ebook from our library to read again. Children of a Lesser God, also helps us to re-examine our assumptions about the deaf.
ReplyDeleteYou who wonder why DO absolutely must put down red mulch do not understand the strong power of Home Owner's Associations. Although we have different issues here, we can be fined for not complying and have a lien placed on our property if we don't pay in a specified amount of time. Our HOA has decided to reface the exteriors of the whole development in a year or two instead of working gradually or scaling down the job requirements to what we can afford. We didn't get to vote on this project. Our HOA fees are being increased now by 50%+ to pay for it. The newer section of our development and a condo development a half mile away have much lower HOA fees. Who will want to buy from us when we are ready to sell? The answer is to get a majority of like minded people to run for the board, but this is difficult. A few of us have tried it, but not being a majority we are overwhelmed.
This took a couple of lookups, to remind myself of names I once knew, to get it done in reasonable time.
ReplyDeleteI found it of some interest while doing it, and even more enjoyable when I read Lemonade's report. I saw the letters missing from the theme answers of course, but frankly missed the specific L-I-N-K absences--the ones that Lemon presented so colorfully!
That was quite a feat, and Mr. Morrison deserves GENUINE praise for it. Kudos!
~ OMK
____________
DR: We have a single diagonal today NW to SE.
It offers an anagram which refers, I believe, to Oxygen, the missing or deficient element for those sleepers who suffer from ...
"GAS APNOEAS"!
Dedicated to Naismith
ReplyDeleteRock Chalk JayHawk -- K U
Becky
Class of '70
Had to fix MACAW. I started with a common error, familiar to others who share Brit ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteI assumed the "Colorful bird" was of Scots-Irish origin, hence spelled as McCAW.
~ OMK
ReplyDeleteThis started tough in the NW so I went to the bottom and worked back up, my usually escape route.
Some nicely misleading clues, all,appropriate. A themed puzzle with no giveaways as well.
Markovers...MYNAH/MACAW, MIS/AKA, SHINY/SMART.
I liked this puzzle. Saw that the answers had a letter missing but didn't see the link with LINK. Fun.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteGood debut by Andy. Lemon, as usual, added the A-HAs with his write-up.
I was able to start with GMC and GARBAGE which gave me a nice toe-hold in the NW. Then GREATPLANS helped get the theme early in the process. However, it still took me over 30 minutes to get through the puzzle without red letters.
GPA stumped me for a while because I figured that you had a GPA after you were in college. We never used the term for high school because all of our grades were numeric. We had a Percentile Average like a 93%, not a GPA.
As usual, perps were very important today.
I knew Marlee Matlin from other shows, plus she is the only deaf actor that I know of. I never saw "Children of a Lessor God" so the Academy Award didn't enter into the clue for me.
I went to the Supermarket today to pick up a few things. I gave the cashier a few coupons that she had trouble scanning. She seemed to scan them and put them in the drawer. The problem was they didn't register, so, I didn't get the discount. When I asked if they registered, she said they had. I was busy bagging my stuff to help her out because there was a line behind me so I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have. I didn't find out until I got home and looked at the tape and realized I should have checked the tape before leaving the store. Another Gotcha.
The day is getting colder and windier with a cold front moving through. Stay warm everyone.
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteAndy got the best of me (and it still wasn't enough)... I had to cheat at CHAMBER MAID after I realized [bullet'd]:*
*The Nurs Maid [sic] was very wrong
*I'd already spent 3 or so hours trying to suss
*there's no #3 :-)
*I have work to do! Hackers and all that...
Thanks Andy for the fun puzzle. I got all the themers SANS the GREAT in PLANS before cheating. I and LOVED the Meta (didn't help w/ 30a but I saw it); such fun. Well done, Sir and congrats on the LAT debut.
Thanks Lem for the expo and explaining ABBESS [oh, du-h]. Nice chuckle was had @9d.
WOs: reflexively put in EPee (Hi Jinx!) when I read Sward @43a. I started Pair @27d. The left-coast is a SEA of split ink.
FIW: MEDEn / NHL
ESPs: MATLIN, LEO
Fav: OBI xing OBIE
Honorable mention: clue for ARSENIO; put me on a path of buildings all over again.
{A, A, A+ #RevengePorn}
FLN - CED: there was an extra quote (") at the end of the URL. Whack it (in the Italian sense (if you know what I mean)) and all was well.
OMK - DR is a stretch :-) McCaw, however.... [lol]
D-O/HG/Lucina: Pop has a heated bird-bath too. What's really funny is when the cat sits in it pretending to be a statuary ANNEX. Like something right out of Tom & Jerry cartoon.
D-O & C, Eh! - thanks for explaining EPIC. I didn't really get it either.
C, Eh! I saw the LIST dupe too and kept thinking it's gotta be Menu (agenda was too many letters). Once I gave in, TEXAS** RAGES filled. I still didn't like seeing Dallas in there (Houston, Austin, San Antonio are all better cities IMHO :-))
When are we going to get YOGIS clued as "Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical., for one"?
Cheers, -T
*D'Oh! HG beat me to it.
**who else waffled between TEXAS / TEXAn?
Thanks desper-otto . You're good!
ReplyDeleteDesper-otto, thanks for the tip Thursday about using FLAC to rip your CDs. I'm going to look into it. I really need to get a turntable for all my old albums. There's something about listening to vinyl... Some days I'll listen to the Bose Wave Radio or play CDs on it, and other days I prefer to listen to the tinny sound of my little Sony radio.
ReplyDeleteDash-T, I enjoyed reading those Yogi Berra quotes. His manner of speech reminded me of a friend in high school. His response to questions was often, "Probably, but I doubt it."
Are you going to the game ?
Did you pass the test ?
Are you going to ask Debbie to the prom ?
Good evening, folks. Thank you, Andy Morrison, for a fine puzzle. Thank you Lemonade, for a fine review.
ReplyDeletePuzzle started slow. I got a word here and there. After a couple hours it was done.
Liked the theme. Very clever. I had MISSING THE K first because of 58A. After a while I fixed that to MISSING LINK.
Needed lots of perps to get through this. No problem.
Very cold this morning. 4 Degrees with a 40 MPH wind. Got the job done and froze.
Sleeping in tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
I agree that Owen's J poem ref. Krakens was great as was today. But Owen has been at the top level for Awhile now.
ReplyDeleteYR, I just vowed not to hit the CC until I got by the HAREM Block. I should naturally have known ARIzona, the famous bloop single off Riveira
Heck, it was just 17 years ago.
I wanted REPO for Callback. SHORT for those pants and incredibly tried to fit GRAPPLE SCHOOL in there.
I got my EBROs and ARNOs mixed up.
HG, reminds me of the promises Andy J made to his Black soldiers*. Much like Paine leaving for France in disgust, Andy sent the slaves back to the plantation after they'd returned their arms. One of them fortuitously learned letters and wrote an account of Jackson's venality.
42D: Future nemesis of 66A(or vv)
But isn't it Waikiki Beach? Ok that wasn't the loint. But for awhile I was grumbling about a TV Guide Xword.
Re. ANNEX. Not to speak of the gift X from TEXAS
WC
* Battle of New Orleans
PS. Oc4: I've had similar experiences at the grocery cashier. In my case discounted items registered as full price.
When I checked the tape I went back and took a picture and showed service the correct price and got my credit. I never buy anything at full price mostly I buy bogos .
Comments on comments:
ReplyDeleteI made no reference to the OBI clue/fill at all because this sash is one of the most common fills. I spoke of the word as used in Star Wars in case people wanted to talk about the movie. There is not much room to discuss Japanese Kimono sashes.
Here in Florida, PUBLIX refunds you the entire purchase price if it is incorrect on your tape.
The MARLEE MATLIN shows her receiving the Oscar for CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD
Abejo, it was worse this morning than last night, and last night was brutal.
ReplyDeleteI bowled last night. About 9:30 or so we were done. The wind was icy brutal when I went to open the sliding door on my old van to put my bowling equipment in. It wouldn't open. Frozen shut. I went to the back of the van and was able to open the top half but the two bottom doors wouldn't open. Got my ball carrier in over the doors. Luckily the driver's door opened, otherwise I was going to have to climb in through the back and over the seats. This morning I pulled it in the garage after DW went to work and let it thaw out. Then sprayed a rag with silicone spray and wiped down all the rubber seals in all the doorways. Hopefully the worst of the brutal weather is behind us.
I had forgotten all about that game until ARIzona appeared. I don't pay much attention to baseball except when the traffic builds up from visitors arriving for the Cactus League games then I know it must be time for spring training. Luckily my errands are short and quick.
ReplyDeleteAnonT:
How are you doing? Any feelings of abandonment yet?
It was a bit chilly even here today, mid 60s. No snow though.
Lucina - yet? That happened about five minutes after she left for the airport. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, Mr. Sad is still up watching Dragnet reruns... Something comforting about the format.
Speaking of cold... It's in the upper 30s in H-Town; wind was wicked this morning. Tomorrow's high and low is forecast to be 47F - that's a -40 degree swing in two days.
Cheers, -T
We had this a couple of days ago, but I found a better resource for Spoons
ReplyDeleteMichael - that is one a hardscrabble lookin' woman but, boy, can she play the hell out of the spoons.
ReplyDeleteWC - I gotsta ask, what's bogos? Can't be bogus-stuff 'cuz, who'd knowing buy that?
D4 - Still out there reading us? You're returning soon, no?
Cheers, -T
Bogo = buy one, get one
ReplyDeleteBecky, after so many down years in Football, it is good that KU basketball remains. But ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK ...
ReplyDeleteI will miss Albert Finney a wonderful and versatile actor. He was wonderful young as TOM JONES and old as ED BLOOM in BIG FISH . Of course, he also was the worst HERCULE POIROT ever.