Theme: Minor to Major - The nouns at the start of the theme entries age gracefully:
16A. Mature gentle treatment?: GOAT GLOVES. Kid Gloves
26A. Mature sprightly piano classic?: CAT ON THE KEYS. Kitten on the Keys. This was new to me. I discover it's a ragtime piece by the splendidly-named Zez Confrey.
35A. Mature young infatuation?: DOG LOVE. Puppy Love. Then-teenybopper Donny Osmond broke into the UK pop charts with this Paul Anka song which reached number 1 in 1972, much to my disgust. I was growing my hair and putting my head between the speakers listening to rock, much to the disgust of my father. Happy days!
45A. Mature news newbie?: BEAR REPORTER. Cub Reporter. I like that old reporters are sometimes described as "grizzly" which aligns nicely with this theme entry.
59A. Mature "Agnus Dei" translation?: SHEEP OF GOD. Lamb of God. Food! Wait, no, sorry.
Nicely done by Paul. It was the newshound entry that tipped me off as to the theme, so a quick job was made of the blanks in the themers to that point. Plenty of sparkly fill to keep us happy too.
Across:
1. Correspondence sign-off: BEST. "Best wishes, Steve". What happened to worst and average wishes?
5. Musical series set at McKinley High: GLEE. Didn't see the show, but it pretty much filled itself in.
9. "Wealth of Nations" author Smith: ADAM. The father of economic theory. Published in 1776 this was required reading in my Economics class. We all read the Cliff's Notes version, naturally.
13. Pot for paella: OLLA. Crying foul here. Nothing wrong with the word, but the clue. Paella is made in a pan, not a pot which is more for casseroles.
14. Speaks up?: PRAYS
15. Bit of folklore: TALE
18. B'way hit signs: SROS. What? Is this a thing? "Standing Room Only" in the singular. As an aside, do they still have standing areas in Broadway theaters? I guess it depends on the production.
19. News letters: UPI. Our old (or new friend from last week) United Press International.
20. "Have some": EAT!
21. Decides not to dele: STETS. Used as a verb - I stet, you stet, he/she/it stets.
22. Bodega miss: SENORITA
25. Roe-producing fish: SHAD
30. Canaanite deity: BAAL
32. Half a cocktail: TAI. The Tai-mai. Lime juice, pineapple, orgeat syrup, curaçao, rum. You mix the ingredients in the reverse order for a Mai-tai. Just kidding.
33. Handler of "Sex and the City": EVAN
34. Costa del __: SOL
39. Taking a sick day, presumably: ILL. Because "ditching work to go to the beach" doesn't fit.
40. Trivial, as talk: IDLE
42. Versailles ruler: ROI
43. Mouselike animal: VOLE
49. Salty margarita glass spots: RIMS
50. Low-alcohol beverage: NEAR-BEER. Beer-flavored soda in other words. Sounds very appetizing.
54. Dries gently: BLOTS. Here's an great example of how crossword clues make you re-adjust your thinking. "Dries" in the passive voice leads you to the likes of "evaporates". In the active voice you find yourself blotting a spill. Little clue, small word, great stuff.
56. French menu word: JUS. One of my pet peeves is hearing someone saying "with au jus". Steak au jus already means "with the juice". You don't say "steak with au poivre" so quit with the with. So to speak. Grumble over.
57. Singer Grande's perfume brand: ARI. Ariana was in the news last week showing off her new tattoo, which was intended to be "7 Rings", the title of one of her hits, in Japanese. Unfortunately, the tattoo artist missed out a character, with the result that she was sporting something that read "Small charcoal grill". She tried to fix it, and today now reads "Small charcoal grill finger ♡". She's getting tired of people laughing about it.
58. "__ move": YOUR
63. Air: TUNE Another echo from last week. Do you think you don't know "Londonderry Air"? Yes you do.
64. Word with offering or officer: PEACE
65. "Who __ knows?": ELSE. If more than one person knows, it's no longer a secret.
66. Scandinavian literary work: EDDA
67. Lie next to: ABUT
68. Wedding couple?: DEES. Double-D. Nice clue.
Down:
1. Phony: BOGUS
2. Run secretly to the chapel: ELOPE
3. Dispatched, as a dragon: SLAIN. Or a Jabberwock:
4. Ankle pic: TAT. Painful spot for a tattoo, I'm told.
5. Cavern: GROTTO
6. Brit's facilities: LAV. Tried LOO, was wrong.
7. Bud on a spud: EYE. The start of a new potato plant.
8. Snaky curve: ESS
9. On the line: AT STAKE
10. Stunt performer, say: DAREDEVIL. I get queasy watching people do things at a height, just watching gives me vertigo.
11. Boatloads: A LOT
12. Food in a hall: MESS
14. Braid: PLAIT
17. Notable Ford of the '70s: GERALD. Of course, I was on the Mustang muse at first. Nice clue.
21. "__ Persisted": children's book about inspirational women: SHE
23. Andean tuber: OCA
24. Pit-digging insect: ANTLION. I've never come across this little beastie before. The larva are the pit-diggers to trap their prey. The adults are pretty lacewing types.
25. Handmade blade: SHIV. Especially one made in prison.
27. Eastern "way": TAO
28. Second-oldest Ivy: YALE. Here's another one you might just pre-print in the grid with a clue like this. How many Ivies have four letters? Just one.
29. NBC show since 1975: SNL
30. Portend: BODE
31. Versatile: ALL-AROUND. To me, this has one specific use - it relates to the gymnastic competition. I'd call someone versatile as an "all-rounder". Slightly different.
34. Bro or sis: SIB.
36. Rich rocks: ORES
37. Political initials since 1884: GOP. I started toying with presidents' initials, then the penny dropped with a clang.
38. Exceedingly: EVER SO
41. Asmara's nation: ERITREA. Asmara is the capital. Did I know that? No, nary a clue. Thank you, crosses. I'll try and remember for next time. I won't though.
44. Poetic sphere: ORB
46. Rental ad abbr.: RMS. Rooms.
47. Veto: REJECT
48. Brownish gray: TAUPE
51. Birdie topper: EAGLE. In the golf world, a birdie is one under par, an eagle is two under on a hole.
52. Jagged, as a leaf's edge: EROSE. My word of the day, I think. File under "new vocabulary".
53. Carnival attractions: RIDES.
54. Data unit: BYTE. I like to think the Apple logo has a "byte" taken out of it. I know, I'm a geek.
55. Musician's forte?: LOUD. The pianoforte, to give it its "grand" name, is literally a soft-loud.
59. Place for a chemical peel: SPA. It sounds so brutal. A peel is horrible enough thought, then you add chemicals to the process. No thank you.
60. Lang. of the Torah: HEB.
61. __ minérale: French spring supply: EAU. Mineral water to the non-francophones.
62. Gratified: FED. I can see this being a trap word for an ESL speaker - being "fed up" doesn't mean you're full of gratification.
And on that note, I'm fed by this puzzle. Here's the grid, and here's me saying toodle-pip.
Steve
16A. Mature gentle treatment?: GOAT GLOVES. Kid Gloves
26A. Mature sprightly piano classic?: CAT ON THE KEYS. Kitten on the Keys. This was new to me. I discover it's a ragtime piece by the splendidly-named Zez Confrey.
35A. Mature young infatuation?: DOG LOVE. Puppy Love. Then-teenybopper Donny Osmond broke into the UK pop charts with this Paul Anka song which reached number 1 in 1972, much to my disgust. I was growing my hair and putting my head between the speakers listening to rock, much to the disgust of my father. Happy days!
45A. Mature news newbie?: BEAR REPORTER. Cub Reporter. I like that old reporters are sometimes described as "grizzly" which aligns nicely with this theme entry.
59A. Mature "Agnus Dei" translation?: SHEEP OF GOD. Lamb of God. Food! Wait, no, sorry.
Nicely done by Paul. It was the newshound entry that tipped me off as to the theme, so a quick job was made of the blanks in the themers to that point. Plenty of sparkly fill to keep us happy too.
Across:
1. Correspondence sign-off: BEST. "Best wishes, Steve". What happened to worst and average wishes?
5. Musical series set at McKinley High: GLEE. Didn't see the show, but it pretty much filled itself in.
9. "Wealth of Nations" author Smith: ADAM. The father of economic theory. Published in 1776 this was required reading in my Economics class. We all read the Cliff's Notes version, naturally.
13. Pot for paella: OLLA. Crying foul here. Nothing wrong with the word, but the clue. Paella is made in a pan, not a pot which is more for casseroles.
14. Speaks up?: PRAYS
15. Bit of folklore: TALE
18. B'way hit signs: SROS. What? Is this a thing? "Standing Room Only" in the singular. As an aside, do they still have standing areas in Broadway theaters? I guess it depends on the production.
19. News letters: UPI. Our old (or new friend from last week) United Press International.
20. "Have some": EAT!
21. Decides not to dele: STETS. Used as a verb - I stet, you stet, he/she/it stets.
22. Bodega miss: SENORITA
25. Roe-producing fish: SHAD
30. Canaanite deity: BAAL
32. Half a cocktail: TAI. The Tai-mai. Lime juice, pineapple, orgeat syrup, curaçao, rum. You mix the ingredients in the reverse order for a Mai-tai. Just kidding.
33. Handler of "Sex and the City": EVAN
34. Costa del __: SOL
39. Taking a sick day, presumably: ILL. Because "ditching work to go to the beach" doesn't fit.
40. Trivial, as talk: IDLE
42. Versailles ruler: ROI
43. Mouselike animal: VOLE
49. Salty margarita glass spots: RIMS
50. Low-alcohol beverage: NEAR-BEER. Beer-flavored soda in other words. Sounds very appetizing.
54. Dries gently: BLOTS. Here's an great example of how crossword clues make you re-adjust your thinking. "Dries" in the passive voice leads you to the likes of "evaporates". In the active voice you find yourself blotting a spill. Little clue, small word, great stuff.
56. French menu word: JUS. One of my pet peeves is hearing someone saying "with au jus". Steak au jus already means "with the juice". You don't say "steak with au poivre" so quit with the with. So to speak. Grumble over.
57. Singer Grande's perfume brand: ARI. Ariana was in the news last week showing off her new tattoo, which was intended to be "7 Rings", the title of one of her hits, in Japanese. Unfortunately, the tattoo artist missed out a character, with the result that she was sporting something that read "Small charcoal grill". She tried to fix it, and today now reads "Small charcoal grill finger ♡". She's getting tired of people laughing about it.
58. "__ move": YOUR
63. Air: TUNE Another echo from last week. Do you think you don't know "Londonderry Air"? Yes you do.
64. Word with offering or officer: PEACE
65. "Who __ knows?": ELSE. If more than one person knows, it's no longer a secret.
66. Scandinavian literary work: EDDA
67. Lie next to: ABUT
68. Wedding couple?: DEES. Double-D. Nice clue.
Down:
1. Phony: BOGUS
2. Run secretly to the chapel: ELOPE
3. Dispatched, as a dragon: SLAIN. Or a Jabberwock:
And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.
Lewis Carroll, "Jabberwocky"
4. Ankle pic: TAT. Painful spot for a tattoo, I'm told.
5. Cavern: GROTTO
6. Brit's facilities: LAV. Tried LOO, was wrong.
7. Bud on a spud: EYE. The start of a new potato plant.
8. Snaky curve: ESS
9. On the line: AT STAKE
10. Stunt performer, say: DAREDEVIL. I get queasy watching people do things at a height, just watching gives me vertigo.
11. Boatloads: A LOT
12. Food in a hall: MESS
14. Braid: PLAIT
17. Notable Ford of the '70s: GERALD. Of course, I was on the Mustang muse at first. Nice clue.
21. "__ Persisted": children's book about inspirational women: SHE
23. Andean tuber: OCA
24. Pit-digging insect: ANTLION. I've never come across this little beastie before. The larva are the pit-diggers to trap their prey. The adults are pretty lacewing types.
25. Handmade blade: SHIV. Especially one made in prison.
27. Eastern "way": TAO
28. Second-oldest Ivy: YALE. Here's another one you might just pre-print in the grid with a clue like this. How many Ivies have four letters? Just one.
29. NBC show since 1975: SNL
30. Portend: BODE
31. Versatile: ALL-AROUND. To me, this has one specific use - it relates to the gymnastic competition. I'd call someone versatile as an "all-rounder". Slightly different.
34. Bro or sis: SIB.
36. Rich rocks: ORES
37. Political initials since 1884: GOP. I started toying with presidents' initials, then the penny dropped with a clang.
38. Exceedingly: EVER SO
41. Asmara's nation: ERITREA. Asmara is the capital. Did I know that? No, nary a clue. Thank you, crosses. I'll try and remember for next time. I won't though.
44. Poetic sphere: ORB
46. Rental ad abbr.: RMS. Rooms.
47. Veto: REJECT
48. Brownish gray: TAUPE
51. Birdie topper: EAGLE. In the golf world, a birdie is one under par, an eagle is two under on a hole.
52. Jagged, as a leaf's edge: EROSE. My word of the day, I think. File under "new vocabulary".
53. Carnival attractions: RIDES.
54. Data unit: BYTE. I like to think the Apple logo has a "byte" taken out of it. I know, I'm a geek.
55. Musician's forte?: LOUD. The pianoforte, to give it its "grand" name, is literally a soft-loud.
59. Place for a chemical peel: SPA. It sounds so brutal. A peel is horrible enough thought, then you add chemicals to the process. No thank you.
60. Lang. of the Torah: HEB.
61. __ minérale: French spring supply: EAU. Mineral water to the non-francophones.
62. Gratified: FED. I can see this being a trap word for an ESL speaker - being "fed up" doesn't mean you're full of gratification.
And on that note, I'm fed by this puzzle. Here's the grid, and here's me saying toodle-pip.
Steve
61 comments:
Once upon a time, a little VOLE
Thought it time to leave his hidey hole.
The air was keen,
The grass was green,
Then a DOG came along and ate him whole!
The BEST TALE is one told with GLEE!
Laughter should be sincere and free!
It clears the lungs of geese,
And fills the heart with PEACE --
But where those geese came from sure beats me!
One hardly ever sees an IDLE EAGLE.
They are usually doing something regal
Hunting like a ROI,
Soaring high with joy,
And they never cheat at cards, that's illegal!
Once upon a time a largish DOG
Hadn't EATEN, so was in a hunger fog.
Then he spied in the grass
A tiny moving mass --
He later wrote about it in his blog!
{B, B+, A-, A.}
Another very entertaining puzzle from PC with an equally entertaining but feisty write-up from Steve. There plenty of food references for our resident food critic, so the fun abounded.
Defending - SROS would be an appropriate plural for a number of signs on Broadway when multiple shows are sold out. Yes, they have standing room in theaters or did when last I was there.
EROSE seems to be one of Paul's favorites as he has used it often
Like jagged edges lat Paul Coulter Mon May 14, 2018
Notched, as a maple leaf lat Paul Coulter Sun Dec 24, 2017
Irregularly notched lat Paul Coulter Sun Nov 19, 2017
Uneven, as a leaf's edge lat Paul Coulter Sun Jun 05, 2016
Both Rich and C.C. have also used this word.
I loved your GRIZZly comment, Steve.
My English challenged wife likes to try new cocktails and has become fond of what she orders as TAI_MAI
ERITREA and its capitol are things I learned here.
Thanks guys
Good morning!
Yesterday was really busy. Today we start later, so I get a chance to visit here.
I enjoyed this PC puzzle, and d-o even managed to figure out the theme (image of blind squirrel finding acorn). I also fell into the LOO/LAV trap. My Ford began life as a TORINO. Never heard of an ANTLION -- Merriam Webster tells me that it's two words: ANT LION. Somehow I recognized Asmara; must've learned it here. Thanx Paul. Enjoyed the repast, Steve.
I'm with Steve - the theme answers were all big blank spaces until BEAR REPORTER filled and then I could go back and fill in the rest.
Perps came to the rescue when I couldn't figure out the Ford car that was in the 70s.
Thanks Steve and Paul!
Off to work!
Hi gang -
LOVE this theme. Though it's a bit transparent, once you suss it.
FORD is a person not a car. MAI before TAI, as it should be.
Yesterday's BESTIE now today's BEST.
London dairy air? Are cows allowed in the city?
Mostly good fill. Most handle this puzzle with GOAT GLOVES to avoid politics and religion
FED for gratified isn't a very tight fit.
DEES for wedding pair sadly ended this puzzle on a very sour note.. I really dislike this kind of self-referential clue.
Streets in my sub are still icy. Should get up to 50 today, so that ought to help.
Happy Thursday.
JzB
Thanks, Steve, and sorry about the vertigo. Lemonade - EROSE isn't exactly a favorite word, it just has friendly letters. Owen - thanks as always for the limericks. I thought the IDLE EAGLE one was particularly good.
This is the first time I've had two puzzles run on the same day in two major syndications. Please check out my other grid on the Universal site. I get such a kick that it now runs in my hometown paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, among many others.
About the grid, my working title was "A Puzzle for Grown-ups." Now you can say you've done an R-rated puzzle, so to speak. The only significant change from what I submitted was DOGBOWL (playing on the counter-Super Bowl show featuring cute puppies.) Rich felt it would be confusing, since a dog bowl is a real thing.
FIW: I had mAI in my icy drink instead of TAI. I even thought that the perp might be ANT LION (or an unstable ANTL ION), but didn't change my entry.
Erased lite beer for NEAR BEER. When I lived there, you couldn't buy near beer on Sunday in Atlanta because it contained a trace of alcohol. Hand up for erasing Loo for LAV.
From previous CWs I remember that many Cornerites share my fond memories of the Blue GROTTO on the island of Capri (CAPree, not caPREE).
I wanted HRC for "political initials since 1884". Also for "_ _ _ Persisted".
I know of ERITREA because Howard Stern's sidekick Robin Quivers spends a of of time and money trying to improve the life and prospects for girls of that impoverished nation. I was once a regular listener.
Steve - I used to cringe at locals in Hazard, KY calling the most ritzy restaurant in the area "the La Citadel". I'll bet they ordered their roast beef "with au jus" as well. Thanks for the fun review, BTW.
BTW: should anyone ask, I'm the Virginian who has never donned blackface.
Pretty much what Jinx said.
Loved the theme which I sussed quickly, so this was a walk in the park. Typing on my Kindle is a PIA. I am waiting until I can get to my computer to post.
Good morning every.
Steve; you and some of the other moderators have a smooth graceful way of explaining how the puzzle themes work. I feel I write clumsily in comparison. So I tip my hat.
FIR. Not so hard for a Thurs. I worked most of it from right to left and from the bottom up. So I got SHEEP OF GOD as the 1st theme fill and saw where we were going with that. Many fine clues. Had Prods and Loo before PRAYS and LAV. I first heard of ADAM Smith in an early economics course. Well done, Paul. BZ
SLAIN - Dutch is 'slaan', to kill.
TTP from yesterday's peeves. I did CC's WSJ puzzle last evening and it had the clue "No _____'. The fill was PROB, (No PROB) so she stuck our noses into "no problem", too. Sigh.
Tschüß.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Paul and Steve.
I got the theme from the bottom up (like Spitzboov) but had lots of BLOTches.
CAT ON THE KEYS was the last to fill; the piano classic was unknown to me.
KittenOnTheKeys
Hand up for Lite before NEAR BEER and Loo before LAV. Another hand up for being misdirected to cars before presidents with the Ford clue.
My blade was a Smee before a SHIV. (I was confusing with CW favourite Snee!)
My half a cocktail was a Mae (West) before TAI, and "dries gently" was Blows before BLOTS.
I also had Object before REJECT.
EROSE is an old CW favourite that I learned years ago.
This Canadian tried Dem, Rep before GOP filled the spot. (I had to Google to remind myself that the initials stand for Grand Old Party.) No politics, but even this Canadian filled in SHE persisted without blinking an EYE.
I smiled broadly at GOAT GLOVES, although I had a couple of issues with superfluous plurals (ESSes not DEES!) today. I would say "Kid glove treatment", not "Kid gloveS treatment". And like Steve, I balked at the plural SROS (but acknowledged that the clue did have the plural signs).
I also would not need the second A in ALL AROUND. I would say All Round for versatile.
After much discussion FLN, I knew that STETS as a verb would bring many groans.
DH would LOL if I said that we ABUTted every night. (Sorry AnonT if this make you lonesome for your own DW!)
Wishing you all a great day. We still have ice here so I am staying inside.
ANT LION was new.
So that's how Danny Boy's title is spelled. I wondered why an Englishman would put words to an Irish folk tune for a tribute to British bums and name it "London Derriere."
A Paul Coulter sparkly puzzle and bright expo by Steve today. Life is good! Thank you gentlemen. I finished in pretty good time for a Thursday - 15.34 mins. Once the theme became apparent, the theme entries nearly filled themselves and I didn't need to even look at several of the down clues.
Steve, not that you need my second, but I completely agree with your cry of "foul" for 13a. Also thanks for the link to Londonderry Air/Danny Boy, a long time favorite song of mine. I wish I knew how to link it, but my favorite version of DB is by Elvis Presley, of all people. I don't like his total body of work all that much, but he nailed that particular song. I remember when I was studying on that sceptered isle, I admired quite a few London derrieres.
Like others, I had to change lav for loo. And while I'm at it, I initially wanted fish as the answer to 23a. Wiktionary defines "roe" as fish eggs. Since that is how fish reproduce and all fish produce eggs, the generic term fish is more appropriate than the specific term "shad". And yes I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule that all fish make eggs, but name one off the top of your head.
OKL, your posts are always a treat, but you really outdid yourself today. Well done. Thank you.
Cya!
SHAD Roe are a seasonal delicacy and are specifically sought out by their fans. SHAD roe are "in the language" IMHO and I think the clue was fair. Many folks have heard of them or eat them, but some haven't.
Not everyone has read of BAAL, either. It's Thursday in LAT land.
Good Morning:
We're seeing a lot of Mr. Coulter lately and, ala Martha Stewart, "That's a good thing!" I loved the theme which I caught at Bear Reporter. I never heard of Kitten on the Keyboard but it was easy to suss out. I also never heard of Ant Lion but it fit nicely with the other creatures. My only w/o was Refuse/Reject and perps took care of a couple of unknowns, as clued: Evan and Eritrea. My favorite C/As were Speaks up=Prays and Wedding couple=Dees.
Thanks, Paul, for a fun, smile-inducing romp (I loved your Puppy Bowl but I see Rich's point) and thanks, Steve, for a hale and hearty review and for including that soulful rendition of "Danny Boy." ☘
Vis a vis yesterdays scam calls, I just received one with the Spam ? alert. I'll have to Google as see if it has been "outed."
FLN
Lucina, happy to hear that your friend is home and hope his recovery is speedy.
Pat, glad your eye problem wasn't serious, although it must have been quite unsettling at the time. I had a couple of eye issues last year, so I know how worrisome it can be.
My good friend, Carole, is coming for lunch and a long-overdue catch-up session.
Have a great day
Musings
-What a fun gimmick! Having never heard of KITTEN ON THE KEYS and having ARMY ANT made for a speed bump
-YOUR Move White: A pretty easy checkmate in one move
-If you watch Scandal, you never know who ELSE knows all the secrets
-Famous last words for some DAREDEVILS
-The best ALL AROUND baseball players excel at the “5 tools” – Speed, Arm Strength, Fielding, Hitting for average, Hitting for power. I know who Hondo would name.
-UNFED trolls and anons on blogs usually go away
-Lie next to ABUT stood out to me also, Canadian Eh :-)
-While practicing You Raise Me UP to sing in church I was struck by its similarity to Danny Boy Here’s why
Hi All!
Boy did I shank this puzzle... [DNF]. I've not slept much since DW left (last text at 3a from Germany but nothing yet about landing in Moscow (flightaware ain't so much on that side of the 'curtain')) and that's my (lame) excuse.
Thanks Paul for the fun theme. I thought I had it (the theme) at SHEEP OF OLD(?) but finally caught on when DOG LOVE filled. I then fixed Beet REPORTER and GO-T---yES finally got me to think RUSH!. [Kid GLOVES w/ Lyrics 'cuz I couldn't find a good live version]. Loo went to LAV and I got a little more play-time.
Steve - that was a hella'va expo. You had me rolling in the aisles GUV.
Ford was NOT a car-wreck/mash-up of GTO LTD. Try, not EAT, stayed in place too. Yam was right out.
I did get ERITRiA [sic] 'cuz I learned it here, at The Corner, in the last few weeks.
{A, B, B, A} //looks like a Swedish band :-)
Play later, I'm going to try to sleep again. -T
Cute, fun puzzle. Thanks!
Another enjoyable PC puzzle. And Steve's wit shows through in his tour through the grid.
I filled it in, but mostly with perps and brute force. I didn't see the theme until I read Steve's explanation.
No problem with SROS, or SHAD, or ABUT.
Foggy here today. Maybe that explains my mental processes today.
Good morning. Thank you Paul and thank you Steve.
Hand up for putting in LOO first, MAI first, and for trying to think of a Ford vehicle first. And in a strange turn of events, I filled in the puzzle, got the tada, and never saw the theme until reading Steve's expo. Just when I think I'm channeling D-O, he actually gets a theme.
BTW D-O, Dash T and I were wondering what format you use when ripping your CDs to your music server.
Happy to have remembered TUNE for the clue "Air" from last Friday's crossword, and Steve reinforced it with that tune "Londonberry Air" today. That an air I've heard before.
Spitzboov, I saw that too ! If C.C. does it, it's NO PROB in my book.
What am I not understanding? Wedding couple is Dees? Double d's? Huh?
@10:49 - There are two Ds in the word weDDing. It's Paul / Rich being cute with us. And Steve being more so w/ boobies :-) Cheers, -T
Paul, nice of you to drop in. I am happy to see that almost all your work was left unchanged. Great theme.
A favorite was speaks up = prays
Spitz, right on. Shad row is a well-known delicacy in some places, although not in my house. Shad roe is in the lyrics for "Let’s Do It"
Electric eels I might add do it
Though it shocks em I know
Why ask if shad do it, waiter bring me
shad roe.
All-around is used frequently in sports, but I have heard it used in many other contexts, as well.
*The happy mom said she was so thankful to the “all-around lovely people” at the hotel for making her “cry." Fox News Jan 10, 2019
*While perhaps they’re not the all-around best products, $80 is a cheap price to pay for a full suite of PC accessories. The Verge Dec 5, 2018
Canadian Eh!, I think all round (without the other A) is more common in Canada and the UK. I don't hear it here. I read it only in books by UK authors. US authors use all-around.
All the pictures I could find of Spanish paella show it in a shallow pan, not an olla.
Musing 2
-Kids were discussing skiing here at school and RABBIT SLOPE came to my mind for today's gimmick.
-BTW, it is near zero here in Eastern Nebraska today and the heating in this school is not uniform. It is especially cold in the LOOS/LAVS. An activity in these where being seated is required can be quite a sensory experience.
DW called from Russia! ALL(a)ROUND good: Un-bumpy flight, her room is cute, there's a nearby Starbucks(? - isn't he (ex-CEO) running for President too?), and the taxi driver didn't take her for a 'ride.' Smiling at others wasn't a problem either, for her anyway. :-)
Now, I can rest. (Jinx - I said I don't do well...)
C, -T
Woohoo! Woohoo! Thank you, thank you, Paul, for a delightful, fun puzzle that I finished without a single error today! Yay! This felt a little challenging on my first run-through, but once the GOAT filled in at the top northwest corner, I got the animal theme and the rest was exciting fun. My only worry was whether it was CAT or BAT, and I wouldn't know what a baby bat was called, and I didn't know the piano classic. But, yay! CAT turned out to be right! I had no problem with things like SROS, and managed to change LOO to LAV early on. Had to laugh out loud when I finally realized that the Ford wasn't going to be a car but a politician. And loved all the special effects in your write-up, Steve, even including a little poetry.
AnonT, so glad your wife arrived safely and is comfortable in Russia.
Have a great day, everybody!
Husker Gary - I didn't think of RABBITSLOPE. That would've been a good one for the middle. To me, DOGLOVE looks too much like DO GLOVE, and we already have GOATGLOVES.
I'll read you all later because it's late.
Steve, I'm with you on the nit with OLLA. My first thought was sarten (pan, pronounced sar TEN) because that is what's used for paella. I also questioned SROS.
Hand up for LOO before LAV and thinking DEES was clever.
I really enjoyed this cute theme. Thank you, Paul Coulter and Steve.
Enjoy some PEACE today, everyone!
This was a nicely constructed puzzle, themed but no giveaways. Thanks.
I grew up in New England, when I went to elementary school we always called the bathroom the lav. But never loo. So I fell into that trap as well.
Markovers...LOO/LAV...that was it. Next time I’ll wait for crosses.
It’s 78° here. AC is on...this is warm even for SC, normal temp is 61°. Not a complaint.
The mention of "the au jus"..in combination with the pet peeve discussion from yesterday made me think of a particular phrase. It's not really a pet peeve, but as Southern Californian, I often see "the Los Angeles Angels" and always notice that it's redundant on both ends.
Thanks, Steve, for that excerpt from one of my favorite poems, Jabberwocky. Lewis Carroll is constantly fascinating. I toured VA for a year impersonating him in a one-man show many, many years ago. Later on, when I was directing a college recruitment team (to go into high schools to "sell" our university) we found that Jabberwocky was easily adapted as an opening Hip-Hop number.
Ta ~DA!
A very enjoyable puzz today from our Mr. Coulter. I didn't crack the theme until half-way through, but when the penny dropped it was a wonderful "Aha" moment. Much appreciated!
~ OMK
____________
DR: A 3-way on the mirror side.
Nothing special today in the anagram world. The most I could squeeze out was a reference to a mythic locale, one that has given the lexicographers of idioms some worry. They don't all agree on its significance. A bare majority think it is synonymous with Mr. Carroll's "rabbit hole." But I prefer the idea that it represents a place of "worthless purpose," such that when one places something into it, that something has been lost for no good. I am speaking, of course, of seeing something go down ...
"THE RAT HOLE"!
Just a note in passing:
-FYI - I am getting a class of seventh graders coming in just now to complete a worksheet where the vocab includes a. Testes, b. Urethra, c. Epididymis, d. Semen, e. Vas deferens, f. Testosterone, g. Penis, Then we move on to the female parts!
-It ain't 1960 anymore!
Paul, thank you for stopping by and your comments. Gary, like many of under C.C.'s wing as puzzle collaborators, come up with a few clue gems like his RABBIT SLOPE .
I agree I was careless by using the term "favorite" for your use of EROSE all constructors who are successful have fallback words. C.C. uses ELATE. An EROSE by any other name is just as sweet. In fact, speaking of collaborations, she used EROSE in a puzzle she scripted with Dennis from the blog.
Lucy, you did not like my SRO explanation? Current STANDING ROOM TICKETS .
HG, good luck.
-T, great news.
p.s. and then I won't bother you again.
It is amazing that this group of mixed gender 12-13 year olds are working out of FULLY illustrated books and are as matter of fact about it as if this were math class.
-To quote Minnesotan Robert Zimmerman, "The times they are a'changin'"
Old man, toured Virginia as Lewis Carrol, eh? Good thing he was a white guy so no need for Shinola.
HG: do you think kids should learn this from the street? If so, they are apt to get a lot of mis-information. Parents are too often embarrassed to discuss with their children. Better to have a well-informed 3rd party teach sex Ed and reach the kids with accurate info.
I was wondering if my postings would be misunderstood and they were. I am very much in favor of the kids getting his information in an academic setting at this age. I was merely contrasting what this method in to what we were and were not taught at 12. I usually sub in math and science and don't get into any Family Consumer Science classes.
Toodle-pip?
Had to look that one up. Listed by Google as "Wonderfully British."
Alice @ 1:24 ~
Yep. In fact I had to wear a pale base, as the Rev. Dodgson (AKA Lewis Carroll) was a melancholic indoors chap.
The hardest thing I had to learn was how to handle his famous stutter. When you're doing an hour show, a stutter really complicates things. I made sure to hit the "Ds," to show how his nickname as the "Dodo" arose from his name.
"How d'you do? My name is Charles Lutwidge Do-do-Dodgson!"
~ OMK
Has anyone heard from Fermatprime recently? I miss her cryptic comments.
Lemonade:
When I first posted I had not yet read all the comments and now having read yours and everyone else's comments, I understand.
This was such a fun puzzle especially after realizing that the mature animals replaced the young ones. Good job, Paul Coulter!
EROSE has been used in puzzles for years and long before C.C. became a constructor.
It's such a treat to have a Brit comment and give us is perspective on so many aspects of the puzzle.
AnonT:
It's good to know the Mrs. arrived safely.
HG:
You are so right, IMHO, that students should learn the correct terminology for all body parts. I applaud school curricula that do so. Quite often parents vote down teaching sex education thus depriving their children of important lessons.
OwenKL:
I loved your poems today!
HG, the times surely are changing. I am surprised. When I was teaching simple machines, the mere mention of screw and nuts caused winks and furtive nudging. I didn't react at all, so they soon stopped. I guess that works with trolls, too.
I had my washer serviced early this morning. It died 3 1/2 weeks ago. I had it repaired, and after one load it died again, this time with sopping wet sheets in it. I had to wait until a team of two could come out and take it apart. They spent an hour checking, cleaning and refurbishing the whole works. It seems okay now. I am sure that if I had no contract, they would have just said the machine was beyond repair. Oh, for the days when appliances lasted 25 years or more.
Pat and IM, glad to hear your eye problems are not as concerning as they once were.
Lucina, good news that your friend is doing better.
My DIL makes excellent paella.I have not made it. It is very costly.
I received an air fryer as a Christmas present. Have any of you tried one? Any tips would be appreciated.
I'm still having trouble posting. No idea why
Loved this puzzle. I got the clever theme with GOAT GLOVES. Thanks Paul.
Steve, thanks for the expo.
Owen you have been great all week!
It's Thursday with a Monday level puzzle. With all due respect to the constructor (who graciously stopped by, Thanks Paul), I find these types of puzzles corny and hokey. After the GOAT GLOVES instead of KID gloves, there was no mystery to solve. And the clues were very easy with only ARI, EVAN, and SHE solved by perps. How did MR. Handler 'handle' the...well I won't get into that. Never saw the show or movie.
Jinx & TTP & others- changing LOO to LAV was my only bump today.
Bluehen- I agree with you on the ROE. We always gave them to the cats.
Anon T- Russia in the winter? Not my cup of tea ( which I don't drink anyway). Now we have some Russian 'collusion'; expect a subpoena soon.
HG-semen? In my 7th grade English, there was a student with a last name of SEAman. Oh, and my wife taught sex-ed as part of her Biology class, but it was 10th graders not 7th.
Hi everybody.
Gary, I have been a science teacher also early on. I liked it and was pretty good at it too but if I just had one or two science classes in addition to the regular math classes, preparing for a science lab was a lot of extra work. I enjoyed teaching "Family Life" (sex-ed) too. The kids would be embarrassed for the first day or so. Then they got comfortable with the vocabulary and asking questions and things ran smoothly from then on.
Five tool baseball players? From back in the old days, Mantle and Mays come to mind.
I used to love shad roe but I haven't had it in a long while. You have to make an effort to find it locally.
HG: Making sex boring schoolwork. That's even better than abstention classes!
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Paul! Great expo, Steve!
Got the theme on first pass with GOAT GLOVES, altho I had to stop and mull that over a bit. My first mental image was a GOAT wearing GLOVES on its hooves.
My music teacher mom used to play "Kitten ON THE KEYS" by memory for fun. Her two little girls always had to break into dance with the lively tune. We tried to dance like kittens with our paws in front of us.
Ankle TAT: I saw a girl I knew with a TAT of Disney dwarfs sashaying around her ankle. Until that moment, I never realized how thick her ankles were -- seven dwarf size.
Didn't we have a clue with ERITREA's capital recently. Must have because I knew it.
Loved this puzzle. No time to post. Our garage door just fell off and we’re talking with a number of outfits that fix/replace garage doors.
TTP & Anon-T: (For the rest of the corner crowd, this is gonna get technical, so feel free to tune out.) The files on my music server are in FLAC format -- "Free Lossless Audio Codec." I'm not smart enough to convert them -- the "ripping" software does it automagically. It's like a ZIP process for audio files -- takes less storage space on the hard-drive, but expands to exactly what it was originally when you play it back. I've got a few albums purchased as both MP3 and FLAC, and the FLAC codec sounds much, much better. I also bought a couple of HD albums -- they require a humongous amount of storage space -- 90MB per song vs 20MB for the average song in FLAC. An HD album wouldn't fit on a conventional CD. Frankly, my elderly ears can't hear any improvement over CD quality, so I quit wasting my money on 'em. (I'm not convinced that younger ears could hear any improvement, either.)
Steve
Really enjoyed your write up today .
Had a busy day and got started a half hour late so had no time to comment earlier.
The puzzle and blog comments were the only fun things that happened for me today.
My DW on the other hand was in her glory having an oil painting day with our only grand daughter.
Grand daughter’s hubby, a geologist/ scientist was out on the field for a couple of days and she had a break from studies as well . DW and her are talented in art and love the togetherness of painting at our home.Because of the drifting and blowing snow I picked her up and when the day was done I got stuck in the snowdrift on our yard . I changed to the all wheel drive Santa Fe and took her home . Came back home and learned again how to rock and wiggle your way out of a snow drift. Trick is not to let the tires spin as that creates ice under your tire and you are toast. Got her out without shoveling . Friend of mine had a heart attack two weeks ago while shoveling snow.
I love Summer!!
Tinbenni
A glass or two of Calfornia Red Silk to melow out the day.
Cheers
Hey Alice,
West Virginia is so ashamed by the goings-on in my home state they have proposed changing its name to East Kentucky.
Ol'Man Keith, just saw your comments yesterday about your dental problems. So sorry to hear about them--sounds very demanding and troublesome--hope you're coping okay. I have the opposite history or yours. My Dad didn't want to have to pay for having a wisdom tooth removed in my teens and told the dentist to go for the cheaper option of removing a tooth. Not long after that the tooth next to the empty spot had to come out, and I soon learned from a different dentist that before long my top teeth would start dropping into that bottom spot and I would lose them too. So there I was at 20, in danger of losing all the teeth on the right side of my face. After I got my first teaching job I found a good dentist and he put a bridge on the bottom. It cost something like $2000--a total fortune for me, but I still have that bridge today working perfectly--fifty or more years later! And my dental visit yesterday was excellent and they congratulated me on the good care I was giving my teeth. So, my heart goes out to you and take good care of yourself and your dental issues.
My head's almost clear say...
Benadryl to sleep makes everything a bit fuzzy when you come to.
DW is doing well and just called at 2:30a her time. Thank you all for putting up with my mania.
FLAC is a good format. Thanks for the technical D-O. I think you're right on high-Hz, though, I hear Laurel .
HG - I said 'boobies.' I will atone and audit your class*... BTW, Rogue IPA (in your "Hold my beer and watch this" link) is stellar. BTBTW, For anyone wanting a decent NEAR BEER, Clausthaler 2x Dry-hopped (from Germany) is palatable.
Paul - I noticed the double-GLOVE pattern too and thought of Spinal Tap. [it's a parody folks].
Jinx @8:14a & 6:12p - LOL; I guess you're next in line to be Gov'ner of VA, er, East KY.
Cheers, -T
*Anyone else have the gym-teacher teach sex-ed? Oh, no... not the Trojan & banana...
and, that, was at a Catholic H.S.!
I worked this one as it rained all day. Nice to have a pleasant diversion. Thank you, Paul C. I liked this puzzle. Thank you, Steve. for your wonderful expo.
Of course, I didn't get the theme. I was at a total loss on this one.
FLN: JzB, thanks for letting me know that the eye symptoms can go on for months. Very few flashes today and a new floater that matches the picture of my retina from Tuesday. I don't know what my BP was up to and am glad of it.
60* and rain today, 21* tonight and flurries. Mother Nature and Ole' Man Winter are really messing with us.
I had some misdirections that made the theme hard to grok.
MAUVE<TAUPE; OVERLY<EVERSO. Plus I'm terrible at themes like this.
But I did FIR. WAG at CAT-ANTLION.
I was at the VA. I got an APAP for apnea.
WC
Hmm, I am not sure “mature” is in my wheelhouse...
This is the only kitten on the keys I know...
@#$&* IPad sucks
I got your 180 CED; Aristocats. -T
Lemonade:
I just now had time to go back and read your link on SROS and found it interesting. When I have visited NY and wanted to see a show, my friend who lives there goes to the cancellation line and in every case, enough tickets have been cancelled so that we can attend at half price. I never knew about the SROS and I'm not sure that now I could stand through an entire show.
Thanks, Misty, I'm grateful for your concern. I am managing all right. It's mainly a matter of wondering whether my latest prognosis needs to be as expensive as this. We rarely hear of anyone getting second or third opinions on dental care, and it's just not in our standard response to dental practice.
It also points up how far we have come with medical/dental insurance. Decades ago, insurance covered almost everything, but now prices have risen to the point where our co-pays more than equal the portion we used to pay w/o insurance.
~ OMK
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