Theme: Tool Box - all the answers around the edge of the puzzle are tools, as the reveal explains:
35A. Takes a casual drive ... and a literal description of 10 puzzle answers: TOOLS AROUND
In clockwise order, starting from the top left:
1A. Queen, e.g.: RULER. Measure twice, cut once.
6A. Fell for the joke: BIT.
9A. Put away for future reference: FILE. I'm terrible at filing; if I file something away I'm almost guaranteed to forget about it.
16D. Work (out) with effort, as an agreement: HAMMER ... closely followed by ..
45D. Swindle: CHISEL
63A. Fire __: DRILL
62A. Spied: SAW
61A. Laryngitis symptom: RASP
37D. Polo need: MALLET
1D. Wi-Fi conduit: ROUTER. Any network, as a matter of fact, not just a wireless one.
Nice theme from Bruce today. Even with the puzzle completed it took me a few beats to notice all the tools around the edge of the puzzle, I was looking for entries with a tool wrapped "around" the word at first. The trick of this theme is to clue the entries other than referencing the tool itself. The only one which comes close to breaking this rule is the MALLET entry - a polo mallet is very close to the tool.
Some fresh entries in the fill including TURNOVERS, USB DRIVES, CK ONE and UPRATE. Let's see what else we've got to discuss:
Across:
13. ArkivMusic.com purchase: OPERA. "The source for classical music" according to their website.
14. Sch. with a Tempe campus: A.S.U. Arizona State.
15. Flooded: AWASH
17. "Little Book of Mind-Power" author: URI GELLER. Didn't take long to guess this one once the UR was in place. Huckster of the highest order, this chap. Pretended to bend spoons all with the power of his mind.
19. Battery inventor Alessandro: VOLTA. I wonder why "volt" dropped the final "a"? After all, Ohm and Ampère kept their last letters. We should be told.
20. Stand food: TACO
21. Danish city named for a Norse god: ODENSE. Not ODESSA then, as I confused myself.
23. Place for a shot: ARM
24. Gate info: E.T.A. Estimated Time of Arrival. An aircraft arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time is considered to be "on time". Incidentally, departure time is when you push back from the gate, so as long as you're off the gate, you've departed on time, even if you then spend an hour getting de-iced and another hour waiting in line to take off.
25. Conversation stumbles: ERS, along with ahs, ums and fillers "you know", "kind of" and all the other irritants.
26. Gives the nod: OK'S
27. Hasty escape: LAM. Interesting, I'd not seen the verb form like this before, I was more familiar with "on the lam".
28. Superman specialty: RESCUE
30. Wrigley Field feature: IVY. Baseball's famous Chicago landmark. If a ball gets stuck in the ivy, it's ruled a double; a runner at first can't advance beyond third base.
31. Like beds in cleaned hotel rooms: MADE
32. Peter of "9-1-1": KRAUSE. Crosses all the way. He's been seen a lot on TV, but I don't think he ever crossed my path of consciousness:
34. Tunisian currency: DINAR
37. Bearings: MIENS
39. Casual eatery: BISTRO
40. Ending to avoid?: -ANCE. I'm not a big fan of these types of fill, neither the suffix nor the prefix variants. There's a prefix example at 59A also.
41. Interject: ADD
42. Touchdown site: TARMAC
46. "Well, __-di-dah!": LAH
47. Shooting initials: SLR
48. "Jeopardy!" record-setter Jennings: KEN
49. Spa emanation: AAH
50. Source of some '60s trips: LSD
51. 1840s-'50s home to Liszt: WEIMAR
53. End of an old boast: VICI
54. Military camp: ÉTAPE. Specifially, a place to camp after a day's march. Étape is also used to describe a day's stage in a cycle race, particularly le Tour de France.
56. Luxury accommodations for bigwigs: VIP SUITES
58. Church offering: TITHE
59. Prefix with warrior: ECO-
60. 1960 Wimbledon champ Fraser: NEALE. More crosses. I'd never heard of this chap, but he's got a very impressive grand slam tournament record, not just at Wimbledon. He won the men's singles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, doubles at all four majors, and mixed doubles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. Not bad for an amateur!
Down:
2. Raise from three to four stars, as a hotel: UPRATE. I like the word. I've seen it used more in a performance-improvement context, but it works for me here too.
3. Classic cameras: LEICAS
4. So: ERGO. Cogito, Ergo sum. I think, therefore (so) I am.
5. Singer Carly __ Jepsen: RAE. I know her from the crosswords now. Her music isn't really to my taste, but I'm sure Carly Rae doesn't care.
6. Gets thinner on top: BALDS. Balds? Nope, doesn't work for me. "He is balding" sure. "He balds?" Not likely.
7. "So THAT's what's going on here!": I SEE
8. Hoops goofs: TURNOVERS. I was trying to make AIR BALLS work somehow.
9. BFFs: FAVES
10. __ Jima: IWO
11. Space cadet's world: LA LA LAND. "And the Oscar goes to ......" Ooops!
12. Erik of "CHiPs": ESTRADA
18. Cosmetics giant: L'OREAL
22. What's up?: SKY. Cloudy skies here today.
25. Pierre's bills: EUROS
29. Designer fragrance: CK ONE. Calvin Klein cologne.
30. "To repeat ... ": I SAID ...
31. Trivial: MINOR
33. PC storage options: USB DRIVES. I tried "STICKS" first, that didn't work out so well.
34. "Hands of Stone" boxer Roberto: DURAN
35. Fortune 500 IT company: TECH DATA. I know I should have, but oddly I've never heard of this outfit. For a company with revenues last year of $37bn, that's quite a surprise.
36. Frisky whiskered critters: OTTERS. Clever, too. They've been seen to use stones as tools to open shellfish.
38. Excited: IN A STIR
41. Tap outflow: ALE
43. Tiki bar cocktail: MAI TAI. Second Thursday in a row that we're drinking mai tais.
44. Small battery: AA CELL
47. Win the first four World Series games: SWEEP. The last time it happened was 2012 when the Giants swept the Tigers.
48. "Whammo!": KAPOW!
52. Flaky mineral: MICA
53. Contender: VIER. "She is vying for the title".
55. Acidity nos.: PHS
57. German conjunction: UND. "Donner und blitz", thunder and lightning.
Here's the grid, colorfully identifying the theme entries around the edge, and with that I'm done.
Steve
35A. Takes a casual drive ... and a literal description of 10 puzzle answers: TOOLS AROUND
In clockwise order, starting from the top left:
1A. Queen, e.g.: RULER. Measure twice, cut once.
6A. Fell for the joke: BIT.
9A. Put away for future reference: FILE. I'm terrible at filing; if I file something away I'm almost guaranteed to forget about it.
16D. Work (out) with effort, as an agreement: HAMMER ... closely followed by ..
45D. Swindle: CHISEL
63A. Fire __: DRILL
62A. Spied: SAW
61A. Laryngitis symptom: RASP
37D. Polo need: MALLET
1D. Wi-Fi conduit: ROUTER. Any network, as a matter of fact, not just a wireless one.
Nice theme from Bruce today. Even with the puzzle completed it took me a few beats to notice all the tools around the edge of the puzzle, I was looking for entries with a tool wrapped "around" the word at first. The trick of this theme is to clue the entries other than referencing the tool itself. The only one which comes close to breaking this rule is the MALLET entry - a polo mallet is very close to the tool.
Some fresh entries in the fill including TURNOVERS, USB DRIVES, CK ONE and UPRATE. Let's see what else we've got to discuss:
Across:
13. ArkivMusic.com purchase: OPERA. "The source for classical music" according to their website.
14. Sch. with a Tempe campus: A.S.U. Arizona State.
15. Flooded: AWASH
17. "Little Book of Mind-Power" author: URI GELLER. Didn't take long to guess this one once the UR was in place. Huckster of the highest order, this chap. Pretended to bend spoons all with the power of his mind.
19. Battery inventor Alessandro: VOLTA. I wonder why "volt" dropped the final "a"? After all, Ohm and Ampère kept their last letters. We should be told.
20. Stand food: TACO
21. Danish city named for a Norse god: ODENSE. Not ODESSA then, as I confused myself.
23. Place for a shot: ARM
24. Gate info: E.T.A. Estimated Time of Arrival. An aircraft arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time is considered to be "on time". Incidentally, departure time is when you push back from the gate, so as long as you're off the gate, you've departed on time, even if you then spend an hour getting de-iced and another hour waiting in line to take off.
25. Conversation stumbles: ERS, along with ahs, ums and fillers "you know", "kind of" and all the other irritants.
26. Gives the nod: OK'S
27. Hasty escape: LAM. Interesting, I'd not seen the verb form like this before, I was more familiar with "on the lam".
28. Superman specialty: RESCUE
30. Wrigley Field feature: IVY. Baseball's famous Chicago landmark. If a ball gets stuck in the ivy, it's ruled a double; a runner at first can't advance beyond third base.
31. Like beds in cleaned hotel rooms: MADE
32. Peter of "9-1-1": KRAUSE. Crosses all the way. He's been seen a lot on TV, but I don't think he ever crossed my path of consciousness:
34. Tunisian currency: DINAR
37. Bearings: MIENS
39. Casual eatery: BISTRO
40. Ending to avoid?: -ANCE. I'm not a big fan of these types of fill, neither the suffix nor the prefix variants. There's a prefix example at 59A also.
41. Interject: ADD
42. Touchdown site: TARMAC
46. "Well, __-di-dah!": LAH
47. Shooting initials: SLR
48. "Jeopardy!" record-setter Jennings: KEN
49. Spa emanation: AAH
50. Source of some '60s trips: LSD
51. 1840s-'50s home to Liszt: WEIMAR
53. End of an old boast: VICI
54. Military camp: ÉTAPE. Specifially, a place to camp after a day's march. Étape is also used to describe a day's stage in a cycle race, particularly le Tour de France.
56. Luxury accommodations for bigwigs: VIP SUITES
58. Church offering: TITHE
59. Prefix with warrior: ECO-
60. 1960 Wimbledon champ Fraser: NEALE. More crosses. I'd never heard of this chap, but he's got a very impressive grand slam tournament record, not just at Wimbledon. He won the men's singles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, doubles at all four majors, and mixed doubles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. Not bad for an amateur!
Down:
2. Raise from three to four stars, as a hotel: UPRATE. I like the word. I've seen it used more in a performance-improvement context, but it works for me here too.
3. Classic cameras: LEICAS
4. So: ERGO. Cogito, Ergo sum. I think, therefore (so) I am.
5. Singer Carly __ Jepsen: RAE. I know her from the crosswords now. Her music isn't really to my taste, but I'm sure Carly Rae doesn't care.
6. Gets thinner on top: BALDS. Balds? Nope, doesn't work for me. "He is balding" sure. "He balds?" Not likely.
7. "So THAT's what's going on here!": I SEE
8. Hoops goofs: TURNOVERS. I was trying to make AIR BALLS work somehow.
9. BFFs: FAVES
10. __ Jima: IWO
11. Space cadet's world: LA LA LAND. "And the Oscar goes to ......" Ooops!
12. Erik of "CHiPs": ESTRADA
18. Cosmetics giant: L'OREAL
22. What's up?: SKY. Cloudy skies here today.
25. Pierre's bills: EUROS
29. Designer fragrance: CK ONE. Calvin Klein cologne.
30. "To repeat ... ": I SAID ...
31. Trivial: MINOR
33. PC storage options: USB DRIVES. I tried "STICKS" first, that didn't work out so well.
34. "Hands of Stone" boxer Roberto: DURAN
35. Fortune 500 IT company: TECH DATA. I know I should have, but oddly I've never heard of this outfit. For a company with revenues last year of $37bn, that's quite a surprise.
36. Frisky whiskered critters: OTTERS. Clever, too. They've been seen to use stones as tools to open shellfish.
38. Excited: IN A STIR
41. Tap outflow: ALE
43. Tiki bar cocktail: MAI TAI. Second Thursday in a row that we're drinking mai tais.
44. Small battery: AA CELL
47. Win the first four World Series games: SWEEP. The last time it happened was 2012 when the Giants swept the Tigers.
48. "Whammo!": KAPOW!
52. Flaky mineral: MICA
53. Contender: VIER. "She is vying for the title".
55. Acidity nos.: PHS
57. German conjunction: UND. "Donner und blitz", thunder and lightning.
Here's the grid, colorfully identifying the theme entries around the edge, and with that I'm done.
Steve
FIWrong. CcONE + LOREeL + cReUSE. L'OREAL I've sen advertised enough, but got the spellig wrong. The other two were both unknowns, out of my wheelhouse. Also missed the theme unti I read the reveal. Noticed HAMMER/MALLET, but missed the significance of the others.
ReplyDeleteU.S.B. DRIVES are not MADE on Earth.
The first two ways you plug it in never work.
An ultra-dimensional plane
Is all that can explain
How the third of two sides fits its berth.
TURN OVER a rock and you'll find
Ugly bugs of all wriggly kinds.
While they're IN A STIR,
Put the rock where it were,
That's where souls of dead politicians are confined!
A BALDING ostrich from Upper VOLTA
Tends to be an extremely messy molt'a.
AWASH in its feathers
Our cleaning endeavors
Involve SWEEPING them where we're not s'pposed'a
{A-, A, A-.}
A fun run from Bruce and Steve. Thank you both.
ReplyDeleteLiving in Florida, and learning the company has been around since 1974, I am more embarrassed to not know <TECH DATA but it was news to me. I also did not know Peter of "9-1-1": KRAUSE neither the show, nor the actor. Another "learning" moment was ArkivMusic.com though I doubt I will ever buy any opera music. I enjoyed the LA LA LAND cso so close to Linda's birthday.
Not a single rose or heart...Happy birthday to our onetime Valentine Marti and to all the intelligent, wonderful beautiful women who are part of the Corner, and especially our leader C.C. and my sweet wife a very Happy Valentine's Day.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteBzzzzzzzt! That K at the CKONE/KRAUSE cross remained empty. There were just too many possibilities to even make a stab at it. DNF. I did notice the TOOL box. Thanx, Bruce and Steve.
ROUTER: I had problems streaming video until I replaced my old WIFI ROUTER with an Orbi. Pricey, but rock solid.
BALDS: Not yet, but workin' on it. I've noticed some thinning in front. Sessst lah vye, as they say in Utah.
I never noticed all the TOOLS on the perimeter while completing the puzzle but I usually don't try to figure out themes, only fill the squares. And if I see a clue such as 35A, I avoid reading it because it makes the puzzle easier if it is solved before the rest.
ReplyDeleteBut it was a DNF two days in a row. I misspelled LOREAL as LOREIL (sloppy handwriting) and guessed CRUISE. I'd never heard of KRAUSE or the show "911", and guessed Coco Chanel had a fragrance C.C.ONE. CK ONE-unknown to me.
TECHDATA- Steve, you're not the only one who had never heard of it. It was all perps.
URI GELLER- heard the name before but it was perped.
ETA- I've NEVER seen it on a flight schedule at an airport; it's always ARR
WEIMAR- didn't know but it was an easy guess.
BIT- I hate it when I break a small tool BIT and end up having to buy a whole set just to replace one bit
Steve-ALL the tennis players were amateurs until 1968. Rod Laver turned pro and wasn't allowed to play in the Majors for seven years. The players got tired of doing all the work while the Clubs (Wimbledon & Forest Hills) made all the money. Remember when there was a tennis (and golf) season? It ended with the US Open and really didn't start up again until Spring. The 'amateurs' (they were really pros) supposedly went to work at their real jobs to earn a living.
Got it done with lots of perps. Had CKONE but had no idea.
ReplyDeleteKEPOW! Doh!
ReplyDeleteFIR, but it feels like a DNF because I missed Bruce's very clever "toolbox" gambit until I checked in with Steve. Erased nra for SLR, nikons for LEICAS, and reRATE for UPRATE. The Caterpillar diesel in our motor home will DErate itself if it gets in trouble (high temp, low oil pressure, etc). That leaves just enough power to limp to the repair shop.
ReplyDeleteMy ROUTER uses WiFi for WAN access. That allows me to set up my DVR, Roku, laptop and printer to the router, then use a campground or other WiFi when available and my phone's mobile hotspot feature when others aren't available.
Like D-O, I changed my home router and range extenders for an Orbi and love it. Big (3 floors + basement) old (105 years old) houses are hard to connect with pre-mesh equipment.
Kind of an IT subtheme today with BIT, FILE, ROUTER, USB DRIVES and TECH DATA.
Thanks for the fun exercise, Bruce. My favorite was "Pierre's bills" for EUROS. Had me going for far too long. And thanks to Steve for the fun tour. Sorry there wasn't any food today.
What Bob said FIR with a few look ups and WAGS that ended up right.
ReplyDeleteCaught on to the TOOLSAROUND after seeing HAMMER CHISEL + FILE.
First fill was ASU - knew Tempe - went golfing at the nine hole Salomar course on thursdays a few winters ago .
Cheers
I liked the way the tools ran in a box around the edges of the puzzle. Most of this puzzle went quickly. I had to change Ari Teller to Uri Geller to set up the NW. My hangup was in the middle of the west coast because I spelled MIEN as MEIN. Seeing it in print, it becomes obvious. I before E except after C and other exceptions. too. That gave me 38 D, IN, and 40 A, ANCE to finish that section. Perps supplied -RAUSE and Krause was the only recognizable name that fit. Finally the E in ANCE gave me CK ONE and the TA DA. We have had CK ONE before. Now I will associate it with Calvin Klein and not be stumped again.
ReplyDeleteKRAUSE, TECH DATA and NEALE were the only unknowns, but perps and wags sufficed.
I used to confuse Odessa in the Ukraine and Odense in Denmark. Now I remember reading about the vacation dachas in Odessa on the Black Sea. After visiting Denmark I can picture Odense on the map of Denmark. Also, I read a true thriller about the Danish resistance movement where Odense was featured. Wikipedia says,"Despite great personal risk, the Danish resistance movement, with the assistance of many Danish citizens, managed to evacuate 7,220 of Denmark's 7,800 Jews, plus 686 non-Jewish spouses, by sea to nearby neutral Sweden." This matches with the novel I read.
RERATE before UPRATE. My FAVE was What's up for SKY.
Thanks for the interesting review, Steve.
Happy Valentine's day to all the virtual family here, men and women. I am fond of you all. Happy Valentine's Day to the lurkers, too. You are welcome to join us any time.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteFIR but guessed at URI GELLER, WEIMAR, und CK ONE. UND was the only 3 letter German conjunction I could quickly think of. Did not see how the theme worked until reading Steve's intro. But the TOOL fills were easy. Some typical puzzle fill like VIER and ETAPE.
UND - Germans abbreviate it a lot to u. I don't really see the point of that as one is only saving the insertion of one letter. So the efficiency quotient of the abbreviation is quite small. (Not like bo's'n.)
Hope you all have a fine Valentine's Day; and watch those sugars!
Good morning. Thank you Bruce and Steve. Happy Valentines Day to all !
ReplyDeleteDidn't notice the theme until the reveal.
You didn't have to be an XTULMKR to recognize each of the tools.
Didn't know KRAUSE but knew CK ONE.
Didn't know NEALE but each perp was solid.
Not familiar with TECH DATA.
First spelled ODENSE as ODENSK. That's where Hans Christian Anderson was born.
Semi-CSO to Dudley at "Touchdown site"
If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning. I'd hammer in the evening...
A poor craftsman blames his tools.
I sense a "No Mas" reference coming.
Jinx, I think Steve had a TACO and TURNOVERS for food at the BISTRO today. Hmm, maybe I'll pick up a package of puff pastry for this weekend.
Thanks Steve! I had the Valentine's Day puzzle in the LAT last year also, but this one was a little short on Valentine-related entries. Maybe Uri Geller could make it work! :)
ReplyDeleteI could easily relate to this week's intro in A Word A Day. I feel compelled to share it.
ReplyDelete"To redo is to do again, but to react does not mean to act again. Illogical is the opposite of logical, but illustrate is not the opposite of lustrate.
Welcome to the English language! Trying to find logic in language, any language, is futile. Thousands of years of human use has produced a contraption that does a job, but looks and works like it’s held together with chewing gum and baling wire. (You mean to tell me the word colonel has an R sound? About half the letters in the spelling of the word knowledge are just for show?)"
Great puzzle
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteWell, Mr. Haight continues his wordplay trickery (and diversion tactics) with this very clever and satisfying solve. It was not a walk in the park, by any means, due to several unknowns: Odense, Volta, Krause, Neale, and Tech Data, but perps were fair, for the most part. My w/os were Royal/Ruler and Lauder/L'Oreal. Hanging onto Lauder for far too long caused much angst in that section but, finally, after I changed Tours Around to Tools Around, everything fell into place. That's when I figured out the various tools around the sides and smiled. Talk about an Aha moment! My favorite C/As were: Shooting initials=SLR and What's up?=Sky. Unlike Steve, I wasn't keen on Up rate but agree on Balds and would add Vier, as well, as so so fill. Nice CSO to Lucina at ASU.
Thanks, Bruce, for keeping us on our toes and thanks, Steve, for the fun tour.
Happy Valentine's Day to all.
FLN
billocohoes, thanks for the Nipper photo. He was my work day watch dog for 16 years.
Inanehiker, have a safe trip and best wishes to your brother.
Have a great day.
YR, my favorites are "inability" and "inflammability". BTW, I have been called out for saying "the Ukraine", but since you use it it must be OK. A Grammar Policewoman once told me it was like saying "the Canada".
ReplyDeleteTTP - I guess some consider tacos to be food. A lot of restaurants in Norfolk have Taco Tuesday specials. Servers call it "cat night". They claim that's for "Cheap-Ass Tacos", and I do hope there isn't a less pleasant implication. But I did miss TURNOVERS. YUM! Can't eat a bistro, though.
Musings
ReplyDelete-The 9 o’clock position cost me two bad cells. I got MIENS, had no idea on the proper nouns and had A SAD ending to avoid
-FIRE DRILLS on very cold days meant someone set it off on purpose or by accident. BTW, kids say “on accident” :-(
-Me too, guys, this is our new ROUTER
has a satellite unit and my WI FI is now very strong now out here in my sun room
-Young clerk in bakery this morning had a wrist to shoulder ARM tattoo honoring her uncle
-The WEIMAR Republic was a breeding ground for the Nazi takeover
-Problems with even MADE beds in a VIP SUITE Yuk!
-HGTV recently featured people searching for homes in Vietnam and Okinawa but not IWO JIMA
-Present tense - I SAY, I SAY
-A SWEEP by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals this year is very possible
Jinx, thanks for pointing out that The Ukraine is incorrect. Apparently I am almost 30 years behind the times, 1991, to be exact. Your grammar policewoman is correct this time.
ReplyDeleteNot The Ukraine
We like tacos at our house, but prefer homemade to Taco Bell's We use fresh ground meat, fresh tomatoes and lettuce, spices and freshly grated cheese. We buy the shells and heat them up, as does a Mexican friend. We use way more meat than Taco Bell does.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Bruce and Steve.
ReplyDeleteI needed one Google help to give me the W in WEIMAR, which gave me SWEEP for the Tada.
I got the theme part-way through the CW which helped to fill in those TOOLS all AROUND the perimeter. Clever!
I waited for perps for ODENSE. I wanted Odenske but there was no room for the K.
VOLTA was an EWAG. (I wanted Volte until HAMMER forced the A.)
Many other unknowns like URI GELLER, KRAUSE, NEALE, TECH DATA, ArkivMusic.com. CK ONE, were answered by the perps. Sign of a good CW.
Hand up for NRA before SLR. Wrong type of shooting. But we did have LEICAS also to nudge us in the right direction.
We have had LAM in verb form previously but it still seems odd to me.
Apparently ETAPE is an archaic meaning for "military camp". Perps again.
Yes, I smiled at the CSO for LaLaLinda. (We had LAH also)
TTP - thanks for pointing out the CSO to XTULMKR.
Happy Valentine's Day to you all.
Good Morning, Steve and friends. Interesting puzzle, but I must admit that I didn't take the time to look for the TOOLS surrounding the grid.
ReplyDeleteFor any podcast listeners out there, KEN Jennings has regular podcast called Omnibus, which is very funny.
I learned that something that Gets Thinner on Top is not Taper but BALDS.
I also learned that Touchdown Site in not a Football reference, but rather and airplane reference.
My favorite clues were: Place for a Shot = ARM and What's Up = SKY
I also laughed at Like Beds in Cleaned Hotel Rooms = MADE, since those beds are would be made by the Maid.
Happy Valentine's Day!
QOD: Life is too short to spend hoping that the perfectly arched eyebrow or hottest new lip shade will mask an ugly heart. ~ Kevyn Aucoin (Feb. 14, 1962 ~ May 7, 2002)
Massive rain here in southern California this morning and so no newspaper was delivered (yet). It's available online, but although I tried and tried, I just can't get the puzzle printed or capable of being worked on the screen. Each time I try printing another part of the newspaper, not the puzzle, gets printed. So, am not sure I can do it today, but will keep trying.
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day, everybody. On days like this, I really miss my sweet Rowland.
Thank you, Bruce Haight, for the challenge. This was hard.
ReplyDeleteI started with my alma mater, ASU, then the NE blossomed all the way down. I didn't notice the TOOLS until 35A then checked the edges and there they all were except in the NW.
URIGELLER stumped me completely and had to LIU and I wasn't sure about Peter KRAUSE though I had all but the K and CKONE didn't make sense. OH, CK ONE. I don't use those fragrances, only Carolina Herrera and White Shoulders.
TACO/LEICAS was the only fill for a long time then ERGO. Finally it all came together.
Jinx:
Please explain: "I guess some consider TACOS to be food. . . " And please don't even compare Taco Bell fare to real TACOS.
I always make my own, fry the corn tortillas, use either leftover steak or ground beef and fresh lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. I also make my own hot sauce. There are reportedly more tacos served in the U.S. than in Mexico.
I liked seeing DURAN and ESTRADA as well as LALA which was my mother's nickname.
Favorite clues were for SKY and EUROS.
Thank you, Steve; what do you think about TACOS? You usually are quite vocal about food so I'm curious.
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Misty, have you tried The Washington Post site for the puzzle? I do it every morning on my iPad, or I can print it out.
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine’s Day to all, from a very rainy Arizona. FYIArizona became the 48th state on this day in 1912!
Hi everybody. I enjoyed the puzzle and the write up. Thanks. WEES. Count me with those who solved the puzzle but was looking in he wrong place for the tools. Rats!
ReplyDeleteRe. Uri Geller: I really dislike this guy and others of his ilk. If he claimed to be a magician who could bend spoons, etc., then OK. But to claim he was doing with mental powers, shameful.
It rained all night; really hard at times.
Yuman, thank you for the suggestion. I googled The Washington Post and saw the links to all the sections and articles but found no link to the crossword puzzle, I'm afraid. So still not able to do it--but I appreciated your suggestion.
ReplyDeleteUri Geller was busted on the Tonight Show by James "the Amazing" Randi
ReplyDeleteTTP: Thanks for the recognition.
ReplyDelete34D Brought to mind this song.
48D: Sound made by 34D?
Misty, I don't know if this will be a clickable link, but I also have done the CW on the WaPo site when my paper is late.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/crossword-puzzles/
And you can do the Jumble directly on Owen's site..
ReplyDeleteI usually like Bruce Haight's puzzles and this was no exception. I almost didn't make it through the CKONE/KRAUSE/MIENS/ANCE/TECHDATA minefield but made some lucky guesses. I still don't see what "Bearings" and MIENS have to do with each other, but will look it up. I have to say, my nose wrinkled big time at VIER, even though I understand "one who vies" could be termed a vier. I'm not saying it's wrong, so please don't quote dictionaries at me; I'm just saying I didn't like it much. My nose also wrinkled at BALDS. Yes, I do understand that sometimes a little glue is required in constructing a puzzle. This was, IMO, a good puzzle.
ReplyDeleteBoth of our grandchildren grew up in Tempe and are ASU graduates.
I love well-made tacos. Some of the best tacos I ever enjoyed were at various little hole-in-the-wall joints in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico.
Happy Valentine's Day and good wishes to you all.
I feel thoroughly masticated and expectorated. And why are SLR shooting initials?
ReplyDeleteBecky
YR, an occasional error just shows you are human. A 99.9999% of the time correct human, but human. I liked the link.
ReplyDeleteLucina, I do like soft-shell tacos. But when I get a combo that has a traditional taco, I just dump the filling into something, usually the salad. I guess it's odd that I like chimichangas as much as burritos.
Misty, here's the URL where I get the CW: http://games.latimes.com/games/daily-crossword/
I make a hard copy there every day, and it hasn't failed in weeks. You have to watch a 15 second video. If it doesn't work you may have to make an exception in your ad blocker.
You can't expect to rate if you expectorate!
ReplyDeleteBecky, you can shoot photos with SLR cameras.
ReplyDeleteMy BIL added -er to almost every verb in Scrabble. While most were technically correct many were rarely used in speaking or writing.
ReplyDeleteMisty:
ReplyDeleteI've always had good luck with the Mensa site if I need to print the puzzle.
Jinx:
As I understand it, you don't like the filling in tacos or is it the crispy shell? I much prefer the crispiness. Yum yum
OwenKL: Loved the USB poem. USB ports are some type of corollary to Murphey's Law; given two choices, the third is most likely to be correct.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteSLR...Single Lens Reflex camera.
So this Thursday puzzle would seem to be the definition of “crunchy”.
No toehold in the NW so I went to the bottom and worked up.
Didn’t fill in any guesses and waited for crosses and “ah hah” moments...this worked....
No markovers today, this may be a personal record which is sure to end sooner than later.
Lucina, I don't like the crunchy shell. Weird - I like salsa and crunchy chips, made from either corn or wheat. My taste buds are about as consistent as the English language! Another thing is that I love fajitas, but don't make little burritos like normal people. I use a knife and fork and use the tortillas as pushers.
ReplyDeleteI used to eat tamales at a wonderful restaurant in LA, near the boarder of San Fernando and Pacoima. When I would go in they would call out the employee who spoke English. I'll bet yours are even better than theirs. Their regulars would preorder them by the dozen around the holidays.
Jinx: YR thouht she was wrong once, but she was mistaken.
ReplyDeleteClickable links
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON POST
LA TIMES
Becky, you are clearly a classy broad who can make being chewed up and spit out sound fancy.
Now you understand I came to be here 10 years ago trying to explain an answer I knew was correct but did not know why. I do not remember, and I was not yet Lemonade the first day.
Of course, once it was explained, I felt like an idiot.
A very clever theme - well executed by Mr. Haight!
ReplyDeleteBut, typically, I wasn't aware of it while in the throes of solving. I did well enough w/o the "help" of the TOOLS AROUND hint.
I just needed a couple of national emergencies to break into the more opaque sectors, and so count this as a job well done. It seemed daunting at first but really only needed to get past a lot of smart-alec cluing.
No newspaper again, Misty.
This is getting to be a sorry joke. Our old carrier has been replaced, but the new one seems rain-averse. I wonder if I would do better to subscribe to the Sunday-only option? That might allow me to access the digital edition every day--and, as far as the paper version goes, only be disappointed once a week.
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal today, NW to SE. It delivers a choice anagram for students of the drama.
For those like me who prefer a longer and more complex storyline than most contemporary two- and three-act plays deliver, today's anagram harkens back to Gustav Freyer's, Die Technik des Dramas (1890), which provides a detailed analysis of the classic five-act structure.
From Incitement to Denouement, Freyer provides us with the twists & turns of a richer and ...
"VASTER PLOTLINE"!
Misty ~
ReplyDeleteSorry your delivery was down today too.
Printing the LA Times digital Xwd is tricky. If you try to print using the select feature, it can take forever for the robot to leaf through all the "pages." I find it works to size the Xwd to fit your screen and then take a "screen shot"--a photo of the screen--and print that.
Be sure your photo is detailed enough to print the clues clearly. Before you print, be sure to upgrade the photo (increase the dpi & sharpen the image).
~ OMK
When somebody asks "What's up"? I usually answer "Prices". It's almost always true.
ReplyDeleteHere's another good example of how refusing to watch TV commercials puts one at a disadvantage in doing crossword puzzles. I've definitely never heard of CK One and couldn't even imagine that as the name of anything. I suppose I've heard of L'Oreal but, having LORE, couldn't come up with the right ending, partly because I couldn't think of Peter KRAUSE. Seeing his picture and repeating the name reminded me of his character in the first one of the great Aaron Sorkin's TV shows I saw, Sports Night. He was much younger then (as was I).
I know something about Liszt, but certainly not where he lived at any particular time. Also wasn't aware that Weimar was a place - only that the Weimar Republic was one of Germany's failed attempts at post WW-I government. Also had no hope of knowing the name of a 1960 champ at anything.
Husker @1026 - In addition to "on accident" I've been hearing a lot of (mostly young) people saying "all of THE sudden". Strange but not as bad to my ear as "where you're AT" or "my mother took my sister and I (or myself) to the store". Or to my eyes as people wearing baseball caps backward. And leaving them on in restaurants. And adding apostrophe s to random plural words.
Jace @1340 I'm with you on BALDS and VIER. Bleh. Otherwise a good, challenging puzzle with an especially clever and well executed theme.
Jinx:
ReplyDeleteYou are certainly entitled to your opinions and your tastes! Thank you for explaining. I am accustomed to the traditional Hispanic food since that is how I was reared. My mother, as I'm sure I've said here many times, was a fabulous cook and everything she made was utterly delicious.
During Lent when meat was not allowed, we usually had tostadas so I love the crunchiness of the corn tortillas. Her tacos were amazing and she loved to have a big crowd come and enjoy dinner. Sometimes she would just call us all and tell us she was cooking something or other and we should come to eat. We did.
"Classy broad."
ReplyDeleteAre you flipping serious!!!?
Welcome to a new century....if you can handle it.
Ol'Man Keith, I do get the LA Times in my Inbox every day. Thanks for the advice on the puzzle and I know how to make it large, but don't know how to do a "screen shot," unfortunately. Hopefully, if it's not too rainy tomorrow we'll get our papers again.
ReplyDeleteMisty ~
ReplyDeleteOn my iMac, I take a screen shot by pressing Command-Shift-4. Then I outline the desired portion with my mouse and click it.
If you have a PC, you should have a "Print Screen" button (PrtSc) right after the F12 button. Press your Windows button (Win) at the same time as PrtSc, and this will print your entire screen. If this doesn't work, try pressing fn or ctrl at the same time as the others.
You'll probably want to crop the image before printing it.
~ OMK
I’ve been having trouble getting the puzzle to print on the LA Times website as well so I googled LA Times Crossword and found a link to it from the Chicago Tribune. I often have to print the puzzle because someone has been snatching my paper �� I hope they are looking for a job in the ads and find one soon and leave my paper alone ��
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteBruce, you got me again. The puzzle was hard-sussin' fun (I liked your title Steve) but I left both the K and the N out of CK ONE. I noticed the theme and it helped in the NW and SE corners. A swell offering, Thanks.
Great expo (especially the dodgy "on-time" numbers) Steve.
WOs: reRATE (hi Jinx!) and I started writing ether ("the air") as my WiFi conduit.
ESPs: NEALE, kRAUSE, WEIMAR, UND, DURAN
Fav: IVY as clued. Pitchers reported to Spring Training today.
{A+, A, B+} //link for your A+
Misty - Lucina beat me to it (but I have a link :-)) when you want a printed puzzle go to Mensa's site (requires Flash, so, for iThings, use Yuman's or Lem's links).
Lucina - Amen Sister. Taco Bell is NOT Mexican nor Tex-Mex fare.
Jinx, I'm a fan of the soft-shell corn or flour ones over "crunch" too; I always seem to crack the hard-shells too much and end-up wearing half the fillings.
OMK - That was the funniest line of the day..." and, as far as the paper version goes, only be disappointed once a week." Thank you.
As for those who sac'd the carrier, has have also been sac'd [Python 3:50]*
DR is a stretch :-)
I knew URI GELLER. He's sometimes mentioned with awe on the Crazy People Show (which is why I call CoastToCoastAM that).
Mike S. I often add apostrophe s but usually it's on accident.
//I'll see myself out :-)
Cheers, -T
*I was talking to a buddy how this would never work today because of kids consume movies (on their iPhones). He said his son kept "hitting the jump-forward 15-seconds button."
What are you doing?
"Skipping the credits"
No, those are part of the movie and funny!
Mien and bearing can both refer to a person's appearance or demeanor. There are slightly different nuances to these words. Most likely they are second order synonyms. Dictionaries could explain that, but dictionaries do not speak to likes and dislikes. We all know words we do not much care for.
ReplyDelete.
FIR with WAGs on the CK ONE and KRAUSE. It helped that I knew CK Noir. And nothing else fit. I had a strange brain freeze on USB. Universal Serial Bus. I'll leave it to Anon-T to talk Bus. Mainframe world, right -T?
ReplyDeleteI knew I'd know NEALE Fraser when I got a perp or two. The Boston Globe had a dedicated Tennis writer*. And looking up his name I came upon this (Misty take note:
'Once, when an interviewer persisted in drawing comparisons between Nabokov and Joyce, he [Nabokov]replied, “Oh, yes, let people compare me to Joyce by all means, but my English is patball to Joyce’s champion game.” '**
This was no walk in the park for me. It got easier as I moved south.
Jinx , just because there's no feline critters hanging around TB... There's no rats either. I'd be more worried about the Chinese restaurants
HG, I beg to differ. Several girls in my HS class got pregnant from toilet seats. Take their word for it.
NBA talk,? Another separate post. But, I think you meant Weimar was the interim Government between the Kaiser and Hitler. "Winter" by LEN Deighton is a good historical novel of that period.
Misty you have to save the file before printing it.
And, I just started watching golf and it sure is raining out your way.
WC
* Bud Collins. The Globe even had a yachting writer who later invented a column of criticism of sports media.
** Nabokov talking Tennis
WC
" I started writing ether ("the air") as my WiFi conduit." Good one -T
ReplyDeleteMIEN of course is French as in le mien= Mine. I better check. OED thinks it comes from French"Demeanor" which is also a synonym for mien, bearing etc
Bored? Good let's talk NBA Warriors. They have a guy, Cousins whom they're bringing along slowly. With him they can field five all-stars. I would give them an even chance of repeating. Too many good teams and East is no walk over.
"The Greek"* is now the best NBA er.
WC
* Giannis
Talk about "ether"
DeleteWC
eins, zwei, drei, vier ...
ReplyDeleteWC - I've been around a while...
ReplyDeleteJCL & Mainframes
(when I was young and again in college)
Switches, ATM & ethernet (3COM & Cabletron),
I do acknowledge
Minis, Micros, Unix, VAX,
NT, BSD, Kali Linux
Poetically, I can wax
ROUTERs, firewalls, IDS control the packets
in accordance with RFCs
[cited in brackets]
Knowledge all in hunting
rackets.
{F-}
If you're still up, check out what the kids at MIT put out If Dr. Seuss wrote technical manuals. //Hi Picard!
Oh, your question. Yes, Universal Serial Bus. Universal because of their quantum qualities. :-)
Cheers, -T
Thank you all, OMK, Lucina, AnonT, Wlbur, and Zoe. If I don't get the paper tomorrow I'll try your various suggestions and hope one of them works to let me print the puzzle. It's really sad not to have an LA Times crossword puzzle to discuss with all you guys in the morning. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Misty. I really enjoy reading your posts so I hope you have a puzzle tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteAnon-T @1956 You found another one! ON accident. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteMike S. I assume you know that was just me being double-cute with the conversation today at the Corner :-)
ReplyDeleteDW sent me a pic while she was on approach into Siberia. Looks like something out of the movie Frozen. That poor Louisiana girl is going freeze her a** off.
Nite, -T
Should be...
ReplyDelete'DW sent me a pic from when she was on approach'...
//My sister was bitten by a Moose once, while she was carving... [oh, nevermind]
G'Nite!, -T
-T of course. Ha ha. I know there are others, my old brain just can't retain.
ReplyDelete