Theme: Pun like a Pirate Day - the five theme answers all have a nautical punning groove going on:
17A. Spot to spread out a ship's map, maybe?: BRIDGE TABLE. The map of the ship itself, not a chart. Those already have a chart table to be spread on.
25A. Sailors dealing with a ship's cargo?: HOLD HANDS
37A. Awesome things near the front of a ship?: BOW WOWS
47A. Backwards glance on a ship?: STERN LOOK
57A. Strength measure of the ship cook's spirits?: GALLEY PROOF. Technically, a galley proof is a proof that's been printed out. Electronic versions are "uncorrected proofs", but no-one's going to argue if you call it a galley. Interesting that "galley" is also a type of ship in keeping with the nautical theme. Here's a Roman one;
I found this a little tougher going than the usual Thursday, it took me a little while to get a foothold in the top half, but then things started falling into place. I liked the puns by and large, I think HOLD HANDS was my favorite.
The grid is nicely done with the stacked 8's in the downs at the NE and SW and the fill is fresh and lively. Nicely done.
However, I do have one major gripe today, but we'll get to that in due course.
Across:
1. Hornet and Matador: AMCS. I didn't know this and needed all the crosses. 1970's vehicles manufactured by AMC.
5. Tech-savvy school gp.: A.V. CLUB. The Audiovisual Club.
11. Higher ed. test: G.R.E.
14. Fail to save one's skin?: MOLT. Nice clue, this one, it made me laugh.
15. Bring back to the firm: REHIRE
16. 35-state Western org.: O.A.S. The Organization of American States. All 35 independent states in the Americas are members of the organization.
19. "The Racer's Edge": STP. Originally, it stood for Scientifically-Treated Petroleum. Who knew?
20. "American Gods" actor McShane: IAN. He also starred in a gentle BBC comedy-drama Lovejoy in the 80's, he played the eponymous roguish antiques dealer.
21. Shell material: NACRE
22. Milk by-product: WHEY
23. Yale's Mr. Yale: ELIHU. Nailed it! Thank you, Crosswords Past.
28. Most warm: NICEST
30. Barbershop staple: RAZOR. I talked myself out of YAZOO, I was thinking along the musical lines at first.
31. Industry mogul: CZAR
32. Seedy abode: RAT HOLE. The first flat I lived in in London was above a sweatshop and had no hot water. A rooster lived next door, and the landlord would drop off a pound of bacon, a loaf of bread and two dozen eggs each week so that he could claim he was running a B-and-B (no rent control). We had breakfast, so we're a B-and-B? I moved, eventually, but after a lot of early-morning awakenings from the rooster. I was broke. I was working two jobs (marine insurance filing clerk by day, bartender in an Irish pub by night) but it still a struggle. We've all been there.
36. Sushi choice: EEL
38. Sweetie, in slang: BAE. Short for "babe" or "baby". I don't think you call someone a "bae", you describe someone as your "bae". I think. Check with your nearest teenager.
41. Snore: SAW LOGS
42. Numerous: MANY
43. Gave one's word: SWORE
45. Often recyclable tech products: EWASTE. Electrical or electronic devices.
51. Adams who shot El Capitan: ANSEL I have an Ansel Adams print in my home office of the memorial at Manzanar. He took some wonderful photographs of the camp and the internees.
52. Tiny parasites: LICE
53. Secluded valleys: GLENS
55. __ Lanka: SRI
56. Imaginepeace.com artist: ONO
60. Ref's call: TKO. I tried OUT first, was wrong.
61. "Her cheeks are rosy, she looks a little nosey" girl in a 1962 #1 hit: SHEILA. I'd never heard of this song by Tommy Roe. I'd never heard of Tommy either. This contributed to my gripe, of which more at the bottom.
62. Like crazy: A LOT
63. Sun, in Ibiza: SOL
64. Use a combine: THRESH
65. Soccer followers?: MOMS
Down:
1. Restaurant review factor: AMBIENCE
2. Get all preachy: MORALIZE
3. Kind of psychology: CLINICAL
4. Criterion: Abbr.: STD
5. Neighborhood: AREA
6. Climbing plant: VETCH. Part of Swansea City's old soccer ground, Vetch Field, was quite fantastically re-purposed to a wild flower haven when the club outgrew the facilities and moved to a new stadium. Usually these spaces are redeveloped for commercial or mixed-use properties. Kudos to Swansea for preserving some of the open space.
7. One-named "Hollywood Squares" panelist: CHARO
8. Defamation in print: LIBEL
9. Web address: URL
10. Spelling event: BEE
11. "Jeepers, I wouldn't think of it!": GOSH, NO!
12. Not for kids: RATED R. Be careful with R-RATED and RATED-R - I went with the former initially.
13. 2018 awards event hosted by Danica Patrick: ESPYS
18. African herd: GNUS. What do you call a herd of wildebeest that arrive two hours before midnight? The Ten O'Clock Gnus. I'll get my coat, thank you, I'm here all week.
22. GPS navigation app: WAZE. Is this a first in the LA Times? I can't find another reference.
24. QE2 designation: HER. I wanted "HMS" first. I was wrong. The QE2 was an ocean, later a cruise liner, owned by Cunard, based in Southampton. Her predecessor, the Queen Mary, is permanently-moored in Long Beach. We stayed on board a couple of years ago. My family went to wave her off from Southampton on her final voyage. I never thought all those years later I'd be staying on the ship in California. You never know what life will bring.
26. Drift off: DROWSE
27. Dutch artist Frans: HALS. When I was a kid, we had a print of "The Laughing Cavalier" in our entry hallway - odd because we had very few, if any, prints hanging on the wall. My mother said she "liked his smile".
29. Gardening tool: TROWEL
33. Punching tool: AWL
34. With 42-Down, like some bobsleds: TWO-man or four-man bobs.
35. Harley Davidson's NYSE symbol: HOG
37. Stable environment?: BARN
38. Jazz improv highlight: BASS SOLO. The drum solo is usually a good time to head to the bar for a refresher.
39. Waiting area: ANTE ROOM
40. Some cosmetic procedures: EYE LIFTS
41. Hot under the collar: SORE
42. See 34-Down: MAN
43. Hammered: STINKO. Drunk, badly (and slangily) - in the UK we were "paralytic" - not that I ever was, obviously.
44. "No hard feelings, dude": WE COOL Used in Pulp Fiction, one of my all-time-best-favorite movies. Not to everyone's taste.
46. Winged stinger: WASP
47. Vegas attraction: SLOTS. Took me a while to talk myself off STRIP.
48. Rubberneck: OGLER. Now this presumes that there is a noun for a rubbernecker - oh, wait, there is! It's "rubbernecker". To rubberneck is the verb. One demerit point for this.
49. Stan's slapstick pal: OLLIE. Abbott and Costello. No, wait - who's on first? Laurel and Hardy.
50. Naval bases?: KEELS. Nice clue, made me think a while.
54. Gloating word usually repeated: NYAH. Not NAH? I'm not a fan of these "spell it how you like" words. See also AHH/AAH.
57. Setting at 0 degrees long.: G.S.T.. So her we arrive at my gripe. I'm assuming that GST is supposed to be an abbreviation for Greenwich Standard Time, but that's the problem. The time at the zero meridian is Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT. The only reference to "Greenwich Standard Time" I can find is a source on the web that says it's the time zone in Iceland and Liberia, but when you search "Iceland Time Zone" it comes up as GMT. Ditto for Liberia, furthermore neither of which are on the zero meridian. So I'm calling this out as wrong. If SHEILA had been a little less obscure, maybe I wouldn't have minded so much, but this left me with a DNF, I just couldn't see past GMT.
58. "This is so relaxing!": AHH! Could equally be spelled AAH!
59. West Coast athlete: RAM. Los Angeles NFL player.
And to the victor, the spoils. Not me today, I was done in by GST, SHEILA and spell-it-how-you-like AHH.
Here's the grid!
Steve
17A. Spot to spread out a ship's map, maybe?: BRIDGE TABLE. The map of the ship itself, not a chart. Those already have a chart table to be spread on.
25A. Sailors dealing with a ship's cargo?: HOLD HANDS
37A. Awesome things near the front of a ship?: BOW WOWS
47A. Backwards glance on a ship?: STERN LOOK
57A. Strength measure of the ship cook's spirits?: GALLEY PROOF. Technically, a galley proof is a proof that's been printed out. Electronic versions are "uncorrected proofs", but no-one's going to argue if you call it a galley. Interesting that "galley" is also a type of ship in keeping with the nautical theme. Here's a Roman one;
I found this a little tougher going than the usual Thursday, it took me a little while to get a foothold in the top half, but then things started falling into place. I liked the puns by and large, I think HOLD HANDS was my favorite.
The grid is nicely done with the stacked 8's in the downs at the NE and SW and the fill is fresh and lively. Nicely done.
However, I do have one major gripe today, but we'll get to that in due course.
Across:
1. Hornet and Matador: AMCS. I didn't know this and needed all the crosses. 1970's vehicles manufactured by AMC.
5. Tech-savvy school gp.: A.V. CLUB. The Audiovisual Club.
11. Higher ed. test: G.R.E.
14. Fail to save one's skin?: MOLT. Nice clue, this one, it made me laugh.
15. Bring back to the firm: REHIRE
16. 35-state Western org.: O.A.S. The Organization of American States. All 35 independent states in the Americas are members of the organization.
19. "The Racer's Edge": STP. Originally, it stood for Scientifically-Treated Petroleum. Who knew?
20. "American Gods" actor McShane: IAN. He also starred in a gentle BBC comedy-drama Lovejoy in the 80's, he played the eponymous roguish antiques dealer.
21. Shell material: NACRE
22. Milk by-product: WHEY
23. Yale's Mr. Yale: ELIHU. Nailed it! Thank you, Crosswords Past.
28. Most warm: NICEST
30. Barbershop staple: RAZOR. I talked myself out of YAZOO, I was thinking along the musical lines at first.
31. Industry mogul: CZAR
32. Seedy abode: RAT HOLE. The first flat I lived in in London was above a sweatshop and had no hot water. A rooster lived next door, and the landlord would drop off a pound of bacon, a loaf of bread and two dozen eggs each week so that he could claim he was running a B-and-B (no rent control). We had breakfast, so we're a B-and-B? I moved, eventually, but after a lot of early-morning awakenings from the rooster. I was broke. I was working two jobs (marine insurance filing clerk by day, bartender in an Irish pub by night) but it still a struggle. We've all been there.
36. Sushi choice: EEL
38. Sweetie, in slang: BAE. Short for "babe" or "baby". I don't think you call someone a "bae", you describe someone as your "bae". I think. Check with your nearest teenager.
41. Snore: SAW LOGS
42. Numerous: MANY
43. Gave one's word: SWORE
45. Often recyclable tech products: EWASTE. Electrical or electronic devices.
51. Adams who shot El Capitan: ANSEL I have an Ansel Adams print in my home office of the memorial at Manzanar. He took some wonderful photographs of the camp and the internees.
52. Tiny parasites: LICE
53. Secluded valleys: GLENS
55. __ Lanka: SRI
56. Imaginepeace.com artist: ONO
60. Ref's call: TKO. I tried OUT first, was wrong.
61. "Her cheeks are rosy, she looks a little nosey" girl in a 1962 #1 hit: SHEILA. I'd never heard of this song by Tommy Roe. I'd never heard of Tommy either. This contributed to my gripe, of which more at the bottom.
62. Like crazy: A LOT
63. Sun, in Ibiza: SOL
64. Use a combine: THRESH
65. Soccer followers?: MOMS
Down:
1. Restaurant review factor: AMBIENCE
2. Get all preachy: MORALIZE
3. Kind of psychology: CLINICAL
4. Criterion: Abbr.: STD
5. Neighborhood: AREA
6. Climbing plant: VETCH. Part of Swansea City's old soccer ground, Vetch Field, was quite fantastically re-purposed to a wild flower haven when the club outgrew the facilities and moved to a new stadium. Usually these spaces are redeveloped for commercial or mixed-use properties. Kudos to Swansea for preserving some of the open space.
7. One-named "Hollywood Squares" panelist: CHARO
8. Defamation in print: LIBEL
9. Web address: URL
10. Spelling event: BEE
11. "Jeepers, I wouldn't think of it!": GOSH, NO!
12. Not for kids: RATED R. Be careful with R-RATED and RATED-R - I went with the former initially.
13. 2018 awards event hosted by Danica Patrick: ESPYS
18. African herd: GNUS. What do you call a herd of wildebeest that arrive two hours before midnight? The Ten O'Clock Gnus. I'll get my coat, thank you, I'm here all week.
22. GPS navigation app: WAZE. Is this a first in the LA Times? I can't find another reference.
24. QE2 designation: HER. I wanted "HMS" first. I was wrong. The QE2 was an ocean, later a cruise liner, owned by Cunard, based in Southampton. Her predecessor, the Queen Mary, is permanently-moored in Long Beach. We stayed on board a couple of years ago. My family went to wave her off from Southampton on her final voyage. I never thought all those years later I'd be staying on the ship in California. You never know what life will bring.
26. Drift off: DROWSE
27. Dutch artist Frans: HALS. When I was a kid, we had a print of "The Laughing Cavalier" in our entry hallway - odd because we had very few, if any, prints hanging on the wall. My mother said she "liked his smile".
29. Gardening tool: TROWEL
33. Punching tool: AWL
34. With 42-Down, like some bobsleds: TWO-man or four-man bobs.
35. Harley Davidson's NYSE symbol: HOG
37. Stable environment?: BARN
38. Jazz improv highlight: BASS SOLO. The drum solo is usually a good time to head to the bar for a refresher.
39. Waiting area: ANTE ROOM
40. Some cosmetic procedures: EYE LIFTS
41. Hot under the collar: SORE
42. See 34-Down: MAN
43. Hammered: STINKO. Drunk, badly (and slangily) - in the UK we were "paralytic" - not that I ever was, obviously.
44. "No hard feelings, dude": WE COOL Used in Pulp Fiction, one of my all-time-best-favorite movies. Not to everyone's taste.
46. Winged stinger: WASP
47. Vegas attraction: SLOTS. Took me a while to talk myself off STRIP.
48. Rubberneck: OGLER. Now this presumes that there is a noun for a rubbernecker - oh, wait, there is! It's "rubbernecker". To rubberneck is the verb. One demerit point for this.
49. Stan's slapstick pal: OLLIE. Abbott and Costello. No, wait - who's on first? Laurel and Hardy.
50. Naval bases?: KEELS. Nice clue, made me think a while.
54. Gloating word usually repeated: NYAH. Not NAH? I'm not a fan of these "spell it how you like" words. See also AHH/AAH.
57. Setting at 0 degrees long.: G.S.T.. So her we arrive at my gripe. I'm assuming that GST is supposed to be an abbreviation for Greenwich Standard Time, but that's the problem. The time at the zero meridian is Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT. The only reference to "Greenwich Standard Time" I can find is a source on the web that says it's the time zone in Iceland and Liberia, but when you search "Iceland Time Zone" it comes up as GMT. Ditto for Liberia, furthermore neither of which are on the zero meridian. So I'm calling this out as wrong. If SHEILA had been a little less obscure, maybe I wouldn't have minded so much, but this left me with a DNF, I just couldn't see past GMT.
58. "This is so relaxing!": AHH! Could equally be spelled AAH!
59. West Coast athlete: RAM. Los Angeles NFL player.
And to the victor, the spoils. Not me today, I was done in by GST, SHEILA and spell-it-how-you-like AHH.
Here's the grid!
Steve
Welcome to the last day of February, where you frozen folks can almost smell spring. Good morning Bruce and Steve.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle is a classic example of what is easy for some is hard for others. I had no idea who FRANZ HALS but I was 13 or 14 when TOMMY ROE and SHEILA ruled the radio as a number 1 hit. But, I also loved LOVEJOY which might have been an unknown.
I too enjoy the work of ANSEL ADAMS
Puzzle was fun. Thanks, guys.
FIWrong. GmT < GST, AaH < AHH, and ??EILA > SHEILA.
ReplyDeleteOut in timber country, lumberjacks work like dogs.
To cut the wood to make the stuff in Ikea catalogues.
Their sleep is very sound,
Their snoring is profound.
The tools they use each day are tallied in the SAW LOGS!
{C}
Do schools still have A.V. CLUBS? When I was in grade school, it got me out of a lot of boring classes to watch slightly-less-boring movies. I especially liked Home Ec.
ReplyDeleteBarbershop staple: IRENE, (goodnight Irene, I'll see you in my dreams.)
E-WASTE -- a cobbled=for-this-crossword word?
I also had HMS > HER.
SHOWS > SLOTS
Because of the question mark, I expected ORANGE or BELLY for naval bases.
SouthCentral was last to fill. Still don't know what a "NYAH" is or does, but sometimes you just have to trust the crosses.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteWhen 5 of the first 9 entries involved initials, I feared this was gonna turn into a slog. Things improved further down. I got the nautical references (Steve, I think Bruce meant a chart table -- map table on the bridge.) Stumbled with WE'RE OK before WE GOOD showed up. I liked the stacked eights in the opposite corners -- how does one come up with those? Nice effort, Bruce. Enjoyed the tour, Steve.
SHEILA: Maybe if Steve had been on this side of the pond back in '62, he would've gotten that one. I don't consider it obscure. Other Tommy Roe songs like Sweet Pea or Hats Off To Larry would've been obscure.
AV CLUB: I was a one-person AV Club in H.S. After I got kicked out of seventh period study hall, the principal caught me going home early. He "arranged" for me to utilize that time showing movies downstairs in the grade school and assisting the chemistry teacher with setting up the next day's demonstrations. That V was my final fill after an alphabet run. Didn't recognize VETCH.
I spent way too much time on this puzzle and all I got was frustration. Who comes up with these clues?
ReplyDeleteCartboy, I believe NYAH NYAH is a first cousin to Neener Neener.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Fun, nautical pun theme, thanks, Bruce. But the sea was a bit rough, as Steve noted. Great expo, thanks.
ReplyDeleteBOW WOWS meaning left me asea at first. Big chuckle followed the light dawning. No reveal needed for this puzzle. The theme was self-evident.
Steve, enjoyed your B&B story. I lived in a couple sub-standard places early on. Makes a person appreciate the better times.
AMCS, AVCLUB & GER almost washed me overboard. Then I caught on to AMC, used to drive a Nash Rambler many, many years ago. The AV squares sat empty after I got CLUB -- tried AG being a farm woman. I've heard of VETCH being raised by some people, but had to idea it was a climber. The "V" was a WAG as the only _etch word I knew.
EWASTE: really? I have some, but the recycling facility here either moved or close. Can't find it.
Hand up for trying belly before KEELS and disliking what Steve said about spelling any old way.
D-O: I was on the right side of the pond but never heard of Tommy Roe or SHEILA. Over here it might depend on if you had access to a radio playing all day with the right disc jockey. That year I was mostly barraged with country western which I didn't like while I was trying to work at keeping books.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Steve - tougher than usual Thursday - especially in the NW. Also was stuck on the GMT and never know if it is going to be AAH or AHH - so SHEILA was tough to suss since a name can be anything and I was too young in '62 to know songs on the radio!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand - I loved the theme of different locations in a ship combined with in the language phrases with fun punny clues!
Update on my brother - did well yesterday and was discharged yesterday afternoon. Staying at one of the Fisher Houses across the street from the VA (think Ronald McDonald Houses for Vets) until next Wednesday when the catheter will hopefully come out!
I loved all the fun puns and all the ship parts. Great puzzle. More Friday-like.
ReplyDeleteGMT vs GST did me in. I didn't know Sheila and MHEILA and MAEILA didn't make much sense.
We had an AMC Rambler wagon.
I think bridge table was not used as technical ship furniture, like chart table. It was just that the bridge was used like a table to spread out a nautical map.
Ewaste is what we call electronic waste, but I got the connection. Unwanted electronic equipment here must be signed in and brought to a specified trailer on town hall property.
When I was a teen, my dad used crown vetch as erosion control on a nearby hill.
I liked seeing Ansel Adams. Love his work.
Have a great day.
Nice write-up Steve. Loved the QE2 story!
ReplyDeleteI too jumped on HMS.
Got jammed up with STONED instead of STINKO, and that 'V'.
Vetch looks like the weeds we have growing all around our woods. Never seen it climb the trees, but I've raked tons of it out of our dogs fur!
Ahoy mates. Except for the 'anons@xyz 12:34zm' dorks, the AMBIENCE is always nice at the Corner. I had to navigate carefully to finish this one today. I had to make a WAG on the AV CLUB because I'd never heard of a VETCH; maybe the German spelling of 'fetch'. But KETCH would have fit the nautical theme. But my real trouble was in the Rio Grande valley.
ReplyDeleteAHH should be spelled AAH and it's ALWAYS Greenwich Meridian (not standard) Time (GMT) in my head. And according to Steve, it still is. And what the hell is NYAH? I didn't know the song but MAEIL_ just didn't look like a girl's name. Took a couple of minutes for SHEILA & GST to make it onto the grid.
AMC Hornet- I had one of those POS in 1970.
IAN & HALS- total unknowns; BAE- babe is short for baby; why shorten it more?
HER- I had HMS also before changing it.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI love Bruce's wordplay and sense of humor. Bow Wows, indeed! I needed perps for Sheila, Hals, and EWaste. The theme was obvious early on and helped with the solve, but there was still enough crunch for a Thursday, not to mention an entire puzzle CSO to Spitz and DO! There was also an Easter Egg at Naval Bases=Keels. Additionally, there was a creature sub-theme: Bee, Wasp, Eel, Lice, Gnus, Hog, and Ram!
Thanks, Bruce, for a very enjoyable offering and thanks, Steve, for a fun tour. I'm still chuckling at your B and B rooster neighbor!
Nina, continued best wishes to your brother.
Have a great day.
Remember Tommy Roe and Sweet Pea but not SHEILA
ReplyDelete"Bitter VETCH" used to be a common xword clue for "ERS" but I haven't seen it in years.
Never noticed NYAH, getting it with all the crosses, but I think that's the way I'd say it, if I was the gloating type.
E-WASTE is definitely a thing. The Amazing Race was once in a third-word country where the contestants had to disassemble laptops for the recyclable components.
Started HMS but decided that's only for Royal Navy vessels. Titanic was RMS - Royal Mail Steamer.
Good morning! Thank you Bruce and Steve!
ReplyDeleteI tried the puzzle last night about 1am and managed about 80% of it before drowsiness overtook me. This morning I finished and had the very same problems as Steve. I could have written most of the blog except my rathole story would have been different and less interesting.
I didn’t know Sheila either. 1962 was my junior year in high school, but our family had one radio in the kitchen and my mother ruled the kitchen.
It is nice to hear all the surgical patients are at the next stage of recovery. Wishes for quick healing to all!
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteEventually got it all needing only a couple perp help; BAE, and GST vs GmT. Very clever theme.
STERN LOOK - Was at first thinking AFTer LOOK, but perps steered me to STERN, a much better choice.
GALLEY - is a ship's kitchen in the sense of the clue. I thought BOW WOWS was the COOLest.
THRESH - Akin to German dreschen. L. German döschen, Dutch dorsen.
LICE - One of those juicy English plurals with a vowel change and no 's'. German Läuse, L. German Lüüs, Dutch luizen. (Funny, the Dutch plural is regularly formed by adding the 'en'.)
Kind of a clecho with BAE and SHEILA (Australian slang for 'babe'.)
Tschüüß
Such a difference in enjoyment between puzzles that are designed to frustrate the attempts to solve (thus proving the superiority of the maker!) and those that are clever without being obtuse or borderline incorrect. Too bad the vogue seems to be for the former...
ReplyDeleteGood morning
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the puzzle and write up thanks.
Btw Bae is short for before anyone else.
Have a great day
Fun puzzle with a lot of creative clues. Got NYAH with the fill-ins, but don’t get it.
ReplyDeleteLike others, confidently filled in GMT but Mheila made no sense and vaguely remembered the Tommy Roe song. AV clubs are still around? I was in the computer club in hs learning fortran and the av club ran projectors etc. Got vetch by a somewhat educated WAG. What Steve said about ogler. Despite the nits, a fun puzzle and always enjoyable write up by Steve.
ReplyDeleteJB2
Musings
ReplyDelete-Gaiety on the high seas! Can I say gaiety anymore? :-)
-Moviedom’s most famous AMC product Vehicle name?
-This time of year, teachers find out if they are being REHIRED
-_ _ _ O R yielded a barbershop TENOR first
-BAE joins ELHI, APER, et al as “grin and bear it” fills
-My C-PAP machine ended my SNORING!
-Tommy Roe’s bubblegum hit SHEILA was right in my H.S. wheelhouse Steve!
-THRESH is not a common verb on today’s farms with multifunction machinery
-CHARO was a virtuoso on this instrument but she never forgot what paid the rent
-LIBEL? – “Hey, I resemble that remark!”
-That TROWEL comes in handy when fixing underground sprinkler heads
-Somehow this wonderful movie came and went and we missed it. It’s so hard to find movies to see in Hollywood’s garbage these days
Thank you, Bruce and Steve! This was a Thursday thrill for me. I love puns.
ReplyDeleteBOWWOW was absolutely the best one!
I got off to a slow start in the NW so migrated east and had better results. VETCH and SHEILA finally oozed out from some long forgotten corner of my brain.
Isn't NYAH NYAH one of the hallmarks of the Stooges? Or is it the Little Rascals?
I agree about the whimsical spelling of AHH (I had AAH first) but I suppose a constructor has to do what he has to do and this small nit is a small price to pay for the outstanding grid, IMHO.
CHARO isn't as visible as she once was but I learned recently that her husband committed suicide. Very sad news.
Thank you, Steve, for the treat of a HALS image. The detail in that one is stunning! And we got ANSEL, too.
PK:
I thought of you at THRESH.
Have the NICEST day possible, everyone!
Same here Steve, spell it like you want got me too. I couldn't come up with Sheila because I had Maeile. I had it as Nyeh and Aah. I'd rather have a DNF than spend anymore time on that messy block.
ReplyDeleteI ran smack into the same quicksand many of you did, namely entering GMT, not knowing the "nosey" girl's name, and not knowing whether AAH or AHH was the spelling that would work. And, up top, I also didn't remember VETCH and did an alphabet run to determine that AV CLUB made the most sense. Finally, I agree about rubberneck not being a noun, but a quick dictionary check shows that it can be. I also feel that cluing OGLER as rubberneck rather than rubbernecker was nothing more than a not very clever attempt to make things harder than they needed to be, per Anonymous @ 9:23 AM.
ReplyDeleteFun nautical puns, though, and they all gave me a smile. MOLT was nicely clued, as was MOMS.
GST? No, no, a thousand times no.
Good wishes to you all.
ReplyDeleteSteve, nice write-up, I totally agree with the GST/GMT kerfuffle.
So I’m also with YELLOWROCKS as well.
No markovers.
Incorrect....GMT instead of GST, AAH instead of AHH. These seemed designed to trip you up, unappreciated.
Cannot win them all.
From a young teenage memory “ sweet little Sheila , you’ll know her when you see her , blue eyes and a pony tail . — — me and Sheila go for a ride OH OH OH OH. I love my Sheila dear . Sheila says she loves me says she’ll never leave me true love will never die . We are both so happy —/——
ReplyDeleteYears later we named our firstborn daughter SHEILA
:-)
Hi everybody. I enjoyed the puzzle and the write up. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSteve mentioned that "Pulp Fiction" was one of his favorite movies but that it wasn't to everyone's taste. Count me in that second group. I HATED it. I didn't mind the foul language as much as the ugliness of the plot. It had gotten some good reviews and I knew the director (Quentin Tarantino) a little bit. He ran a video store near here and I used to enjoy talking to him about recommendations for movies to rent. So I went to see "Pulp Fiction" with positive expectations. Alas, my expectations were seriously unmet.
On the other hand, I look forward to seeing "Stan and Ollie" when it shows up on cable.
Gary, you are welcome to use "Gaiety" all you want around me. (Which reminds me...) When I was a freshman in college, two of my childhood buddies talked me into going to Baltimore to a strip show at the Gayety Theater. It greatly exceeded my expectations. I was smitten by "Miss Chili Pepper."
Ta ~ DA!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Mr. Haight's Thurs puzz thoroughly! After uncorking 47A (STERN LOOK) I couldn't wait to release the other punny fills. Each had its own kick, so it's hard to choose a fave.
Maybe HOLD HANDS, in consideration of the burly fellows involved.
GST vs. GMT? I favor the constructor in cases where an obscure (GST) fill can be shown in actual usage somewhere in the world--so long as the perp doesn't make it a true Natick. SHEILA is a common-enough female name to deliver a verdict favoring Mr. Haight, unhappy as we may be.
Lucina ~
I shall accept your advice--and have the NICEST day I can.
~ OMK
____________
DR: We have a single diag on the flip side today.
And it renders an intriguing anagram. I had to mull it over for a while before deciding it is an acknowledgement of that particular fatigue that comes over wolves and coyotes (any other feral canines?) after a very full evening of baying the moon.
Yes, I am talking about ...
"HOWLER WEAKNESS"!
(Keep your pets indoors.)
From before, of course I meant third-worLd
ReplyDeleteHG, I haven’t seen the Wayne’s World movie, so I don’t know if his AMC Pacer had a name of its own. I didn’t recognize Mike Myers in Bohemian Rhapsody as the producer who wouldn’t release BR on a single.
Lucina, Curly Howard was known for “NYuk, NYuk, NYuk” as a chuckle rather than gloating. Don’t know about the Rascals. And from last night(?) you can call me bill, billo, billocohoes or anything else; as my wife says, just don’t call me late for dinner
Well, I can't Kvetch, because I learned "Vetch..."
ReplyDeleteBig fat DNF... NW corner did me in.
It was the dreaded sea of white...
In fact, the whole puzzle was very tough for me, except
two "gimme's" led to more sussing, and more AHA moments.
Very enjoyable, but a lot of head scratching...
Did everything else except, I too had GMT. Which brings me to Steve's nit.
I was sure Steve was going to complain about Rubberneck=Ogler, and he did
and then explained it. Seemed Kosher, moving on, his one nit was GMT?
Wait a sec... Rereading the Rubberneck/ogler explanation suddenly does not
make sense to me anymore, can some one re-explain it?
Could have sworn I never heard of "Sheila." But it turns out
it was as familiar as...
Anywho, an enjoyable defeat. very punny...
Which led to...
Not fun. 17 abbr.and ? clues, the most i have ever seen. Its not even Friday where anything goes. Finished but blah. I put East Coast Sports Awards but didnt fit for 13 down (ESPYS).
ReplyDeleteI remember"Bitter VETCH as an old XW staple*
ReplyDeleteI could hum a few bars but I needed a few perps for SHEILA. I remember a Sheila who was smok'n hot. 14 .
I'll bet YR can prove a Rubberneck is one who ogles. *
I'll bet sans LIU that Neil Sedaka wrote those Roe songs.
WC who never thought he'd FIW this beauty
* Jayce and billocoes thx
HG@10:28
ReplyDeletere: Stan & Ollie
Thanks, I must see that movie!
I was stuck at (one?) point of the puzzle,
and was describing to Daughter #2's boyfriend how
I finally sussed 53a=Glens just from the L in Stan and Ollie,
and he said to me, "who is Stan and Ollie?"
(he had never heard of Laurel & Hardy...)
Well, the puzzle came to a screeching halt!
Out came the Ipad, YouTube, and a forced viewing of "Boiled Eggs & Nuts!"
In which I learned that is not the Title. It is County Hospital,
and finally saw the whole thing. There is more than the clips shown on
previous CW links...
HG, your trowel comment reminded me of my recent, 1st adventure with
fixing those Dang sprinkler heads! I went out and bought a trowel right
after I asked DW if I could use one of her Kitchen spoons...
It seems the Lawn Cutting service we have does not take the time to
stamp down the stuck pop up heads before they mow, and have created carnage
throughout my sprinkler system in Florida.
Not sure what I am going to do with the trowel, as it turns out I did not need it!
Home Depot had replacement Pop Up Sprinkler heads for $2- each, with various
spray patterns. When I went to dig the 1st one out, it was so damaged I took
a pair of pliers and twisted it out. The pop up unit was about 4 inches long
and screwed into the water line! Easy Peasy! No digging required if you are
careful not to drop dirt into the lines! (I have hard soil...)
However,
This same lawn mowing service rewired the timer box electronics
because some zones were not working, and for the life of me,
I cannot figure out how this damn thing is possibly working the way it is currently wired!
The last Zone is dead, but all the other zones are wired through it?!?!
(luckily the neighbors sprinklers cover most of that area.)
I guess I am going to have to call some one.
@Erasure - you're right, I confused myself - of course I meant kazoo. I shouldn't be allowed out on my own sometimes.
ReplyDeleteFIR!!! NYAH, NYAH. Couldn't believe it when I checked - Both WAGS were correct. AV CLUB x VETCH and SHEILA x NYAH. Never heard of an AV CLUB, but my el-hi (which I know only from CWs) only had 360 students - 30 per grade. Couldn't come close to fielding a football team. I was president of the Science Club. English Club, not so much.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought that NYAH NYAH might be lyrics from Steam's stadium favorite "Na Na Kiss Him Goodbye" until I LIU.
Like Bill O I knew Sweet Pea but not Sheila. I wish I had stumbled across Sheila sooner so I could have detested Tommy Roe's music sooner.
Erased ELIAS for ELIHU (will I ever learn), maEILA for SHEILA and i'm COOL for WE COOL. I thought of Gene Wilder and Richard Prior in "Stir Crazy" when I fixed that one.
I never cease to be amazed at Cornerites' tastes in constructors. A lot of folks disliked this one, but I would have liked it even if I missed both WAGs. And I loves me some JeffWech even though he usually kicks my butt. But there is at least one constructor who doesn't please my eye even when I get a rare FIR.
In any case, thanks Bruce for this gem (or should I say GSm). I especially liked BOW WOW, both as an avid sailor and dog lover. And thanks to Steve for the funny review. I once stayed in a London dump that had a coin-operated fireplace, the only heat available. Luckily I found out that Italian coins worked fine and were worth a lot less.
Except that Gene and Richard said "WE bad, that's right WE bad".
ReplyDeleteI grew up with ERS as the answer and BITTER VETCH clue
ReplyDeleteAs you can see, the pre-Shortz world was overrun with this pair.
Date Grid Clue Author Editor
Fri Dec 28, 1973 65A Bitter vetch Unknown Weng
Sun Nov 18, 1973 151A Forage plant Eugene T. Maleska Weng
Sat Oct 13, 1973 63A Bitter vetch Unknown Weng
Sat Jun 2, 1973 43A Bitter vetch Unknown Weng
Wed Sep 20, 1972 21D Hesitant sounds Merl Reagle Weng
Mon Jul 17, 1972 45A Bitter vetch Unknown Weng
Sat Oct 31, 1964 48A Vetch grown in Asia. Unknown Farrar
Thu Mar 13, 1958 57D Common suffixes. H. L. Risteen Farrar
Sun Feb 23, 1958 22D Forage plant. Eugene T. Maleska Farrar
Sun Jan 5, 1958 93D Forage plant. W. E. Jones Farrar
Sun May 28, 1950 102D Forage plant. Eugene Maleska Farrar
Sun Aug 21, 1949 53D Bitter vetch. Leonard Goldberg Farrar
Sun Jun 19, 1949 95A Bitter vetch. Leonard Goldberg Farrar
Sun Nov 21, 1948 17D Vetch. Harold T. Bers Farrar
Sun Jun 27, 1948 34D Vicia orobus. P. J. Lamanna Farrar
Sun Apr 13, 1947 42A Fodder plant. Isaac Kert Farrar
Sun Mar 23, 1947 48A Vicia orobus. W. W. Webster Farrar
Sun Dec 29, 1946 37A Vicia orobus. Harriot Cooke Farrar
Sun Jul 14, 1946 129D Bitter vetch. Harriot T. Cooke Farrar
Sun Mar 31, 1946 48D Bitter vetch. Louis Baron Farrar
Sun Dec 2, 1945 84D Bitter vetch. Alberta N. Burton Farrar
Sun Nov 11, 1945 137D Bitter vetch. Louis Baron Farrar
Sun Nov 12, 1944 130A Bitter vetch. Clara Rushe Farrar
Sun Sep 24, 1944 126D Bitter vetch. I. Kert Farrar
Sun Mar 19, 1944 9D Bitter vetch. Lester Keene Farrar
Sun Jan 30, 1944 98A The bitter vetch. Willard N. Jordan Farrar
Sun Sep 12, 1943 143A Bitter vetch. Alexis P. Boodberg Farrar
Sun Aug 22, 1943 90A Bitter vetch: Bot. Jack Luzzatto Farrar
Sun Aug 1, 1943 18D The bitter vetch. Bert Storey Farrar
Sun Jul 25, 1943 10D Bitter vetch. Howard O. Smith Farrar
Sun May 9, 1943 68A Bitter vetch. P. Joseph Lamanna Farrar
Sun May 2, 1943 121A Bitter vetch. I. Kert Farrar
Sun Nov 15, 1942 81A Bitter vetch. Louis Shields Farrar
Sun Sep 27, 1942 131A Bitter vetch. Charles Erlenkotter Farrar
Sun Jul 19, 1942 142D Bitter vetch. I. Kert Farrar
Sun Jul 5, 1942 72D Vicia orobus. Charles Kuhls Farrar
Those were all before I graduated law school and took a break from solving
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteDNF. NW was white. Google told me that both Hudson and AMC manufactured Hornets.
With AMC, the rest of the NW fell into place. I do not consider ir a successful finish if I have to LIU.
I did not get SHEILA. I agree about 57d; I've seen GMT and UT, but not GST. With the proper perp, I may have remembered the Tommy Roe song. (Lemonade got this before me.)
WEES
I am once again in my apartment, using my own computer. Hopefully I can start working CWs online soon.
ReplyDeleteÐave
Tricky Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Bruce and Steve.
ReplyDeleteI got the nautical theme (and I saw the extra KEELS - hello IM.)
WEES re rubberneck=OGLER.
Another knock against GST is the 4D answer, STD, which would repeat the Standard.
I had Shed before MOLT (same idea!).
I smiled at Soccer MOMS. I was one (and a hockey Mom as well).
CZAR today instead of Tsar, and AHH (meh) instead of Aah.
I wanted NaNa before NYAH. (Hi Jinx)
We have had WAZE here several times in 2018, but often in the clue (ie.for GPS or ST) and not as the answer.
Is AMBIENCE an onomatopoeic word? I like it :-)
OLLIE and Stan have Canadian counterparts in Johnny (Wayne) and Frank (Shuster).
EWASTE is a well-known concept for this Canadian. Ontario has had electronic recycling and stewardship for several years now. Any store that sells electronics must take back EWASTE for recycling.
Wishing you all a great day.
Welcome back, Dave. Good to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteSteve ~
ReplyDeleteI did a double take when I saw your photo of a Roman galley. Except for the oars and lower deck, it looks almost exactly like the model dragon (Drakkar) ship that was one of my b’day presents.
My wife gave me a lovely sleek wooden Viking ship to add to my collection of historical vessels—and also in appreciation of the Scandinavian 12% DNA that Ancestry found lingering in my spit.
Right: "Who's on first" belongs to Abbott & Costello.
I'm with Bill G; eager to see Stan & Ollie when I can stream it.
So what's the signature line for Laurel & Hardy? I vote for "Another Nice Mess (you've gotten me into)."
~ OMK
GST can also mean Greenwich Sidereal Time and Greenwich Solar Time; I do not know what Bruce(or Rich) were thinking.
ReplyDeleteMeh. Thought answers were supposed to be in English; 'we cool' doesn't make the grade.
ReplyDeleteI've been using GMT, or Zulu, since 1963, but never ever saw or heard of GST. I appreciate that constructors have to use Kentucky windage to "git 'er done," but the shot went wild. Plus WEES, of course.
I meant to say that I FIR. But it was like a Saturday. Except we had the themes to garner much needed perp fill
ReplyDeleteI pass on the advantage of WAZE because it's essentially a Social Media APP
C??? I give it a full W. I go by the tummy test. If I get a little NYUK, NYUK it's a keeper(re. Owen's l'ick
Ibiza
Balearic Islands, Spain
Just to satisfy my curiosity
WC
PS. When the clue was Bitter VETCH, what was the answer (re. all those ancient BV examples)
"We cool" is a familiar slang form, perfectly well suited for cruciverbal filling.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't discount it for being associated with a particular subset of Americans--any more than I would take exception to a phrase like "Come with?" for being so blatantly New-Yorkese.
~ OMK
Lemonade:
ReplyDeleteOh, my. That is a vetch-ed list!
Dave:
I laughed heartily at the seagoing puns!
Davd4:
Welcome back! It's good to see you here.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Bruce Haight, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteSlogged through this. Liked the theme once I figured the words out. Very good theme.
I agree with Steve on two items. OGLER and GST. Ogler did not feel right per the clue and GMT is the only answer to 57D clue. No problem with SHEILA. I do remember that song.
Lots of long downs that were a struggle to get, but it is a Thursday, it should be tough.
Have to run. Meeting tonight. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
WC, as above, the answer to bitter VETCH was ERS.
ReplyDeleteI thought L&H's catch phrase was "another FINE mess" (also in the videos you linked)
Canadian EH, onomatopoeiaisms are made-up words that sound like what they're describing - buzz, woof, plop plop fizz fizz, snap crackle pop, etc.
Hudson merged with Nash to form American Motors Corp., but the Hudson Hornet and AMC Hornet were about 20 years apart and unrelated. The Hudson Hornet flathead-six dominated NASCAR in the early fifties.
GMT is common, but Wiki says it's not very precise because the earth wobbles and isn't perfectly round. UTC (coordinated universal time) is preferred for scientific measurements.
OMK, (agreed) ANMYGUI (Maybe US instead of ME?
ReplyDelete~ Mind how you go...
Son of a Vetch...fairly easy Thursday puzzle. Never heard of "bae" used for sweetie though. Had "cars" for one across for awhile till the perps fixed that. Shouldn't "ogler" be a rubbernecker? Rubberneck is a verb.
ReplyDeleteJinx, I agree this a gem, despite one bad cell on an iffy clue. I believe Bruce was trying to amuse and challenge us, not play stump the chump or play oneupmanship.Thanks, Bruce.
ReplyDeleteHi, WC. I think ogler and rubberneck, though both nouns, are more step brothers than twins. Both are gawkers, but ogler is flirtatious or lewd and rubberneck is not. The thesaurus calls them synonyms, but they have different connotations. I find that many crossword fill often are not close synonyms. Flexible thinking helps in solving. Rubberneck is also a noun. Don't be a rubberneck and hold up traffic.
Spitz, I agree the galley in the clue is a ship's kitchen.
My ear worm today is Danny Boy, from glen to glen and down the mountainside.
GST - We've had this before. I think GST is used to talk about the time zone time - much like AST would be used for Nova Scotia.
ReplyDeleteGMT and now, UT, are used to enable global positioning computations from a common standardized reference point. Almanac info on celestial bodies is based on UT.
When I learned celestial navigation, GMT was used.
billocohoes ~
ReplyDeleteI thought it was "fine mess" too. But we must have been mishearing, Check out the videos, and you'll see (hear) "nice" most (or all) of the time.
I see where one of the clips has "Another fine mess" as a caption, even while Ollie is saying "nice" right above it.
~ OMK
The official time in the UK is GMT or BST, depending on the time of year. UT is used worldwide for scientific purposes.
ReplyDeleteGMT or BST
ReplyDeleteYay Dave 2
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteScootch over Steve; I'm going to sit with you (and Jayce, PVX, et.al) on the GMT-bench. I had the same two bad squares and, while maEILA looks funny, many names do. As usual, a great expo mate.
Thanks Bruce for the otherwise fun grid. I enjoyed the nautical theme and the triple-8 stacks; nice.
WOs: hand-up w/ HMS, WAyz b/f WAZE, I was headed for Tick b/f LICE
ESPs: SHEILA should be one... CHARO
Fav: ANTE ROOM. #quaint. MOLT's c/a was cute but I got it w/ just the M.
{A}
Hi D4! Good to see you back at The Corner.
Good news on your brother Inanehiker.
No one called out the blatant CSO to OAS.
@Erasure - I, for one, enjoyed the YAZ(oo).
OMK - That was quite the convoluted DR. Loved it!
CED - I don't say it enough... Fun links.
WE COOL?
WE COOL.
Both a question and answer in brodom.
Cheers, -T
Steve, loved your recap, and I, too, found your "B&B" flat and rooster neighbor experiences hilarious! I'm sure though, at the time, it definitely wasn't. WEES re OGLER and GST. I gave up and changed GMT and AAH, and finally FIR. Fav was BOWWOWS.
ReplyDeleteBilloco: "Bitter VETCH" used to be a common xword clue for "ERS" but I haven't seen it in years." Now that to me is a head-scratcher, but others mentioned it (must have been in my pre-cw days). Can someone please explain how ERS would relate to VETCH? (Tried LIU without success). Thanks!
A slog, but in the end all correct. Not my favorite. Lots of swags followed by revision to the right answer.
ReplyDeleteBillocohoes - yes, just say AMBIENCE with a sultry French accent and it sounds like that relaxed atmosphere with classical music in a wonderful restaurant. Oh well, maybe it is just me. . .
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else catch the prescience of the blog on Jeopardy tonight? Just the other night, Wilbur and OMK discussed the Shakespeare origin behind Doyle giving Sherlock Holmes the phrase "the game is afoot".
Yes! I noticed the reference to "the game is afoot" being attributed to Shakespeare but promulgated by Doyle.
ReplyDeleteNow that the rain stopped and our temperatures are normal again I planted flowers in the patio and it's looking colorful!
Welcome back D4E4H,
ReplyDelete(or should I say, Hey Dave!)
Ol' Man Keith made me click down the YouTube Rabbithole,
& then I realized, he would probably enjoy this more than anyone...
Here ya go OMK:
How it was made...
How it was launched...
(I haven't watched how it was sailed yet, find that link yourself...)
Aw Crap! This is Awesome!
ReplyDeleteHow it was sailed...
if you look closely, you can see the mast twisting in its supports
under the strain. Plus I don't like the look of that crack in the mast...
Too much excitement for me, can't watch the next side link:
storm in the Labrador Sea...
(I am going to bed...)
C, Eh! Funny you say that about "just say AMBIENCE with a sultry French accent." I did and kept wanting it to start my inking with a soft 'O'
ReplyDeleteCED - Crap indeed! That was awesome. I kept looking behind the sailors for land and finally breath'd a sigh of relief when the light-house came to view.
Lucina - What type of cacti did you plant? //ducks :-)
Cheers, -T
AnonT
ReplyDeleteActually I have four agave plants already as well as a jade plant which isn't a cactus but it's a succulent. No, today, I brightened the area with pansies, a geranium and assorted other colorful blooms. Since our normal winter weather is more like spring in other areas, those plants thrive and may or may not survive the assault of summer heat. Thanks for asking!
Dear CED -- How about if we appoint you as Viking Archivist and Cake Maker Supreme for the Corner? Titles well deserved!
ReplyDeleteCED ~
ReplyDeleteBeautiful links!
Many thanks!
~ OMK