google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, February 19, 2019 Paul Coulter

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Feb 19, 2019

Tuesday, February 19, 2019 Paul Coulter


"Tastes"

17. *Sore loser's reaction: SOUR GRAPES

58. *Valentine recipient: SWEETHEART

11. *Finale to fight to, with "the": BITTER END.

34. *Hip-hop trio with a condimental name: SALT-N-PEPA

38. Fifth and newest member of the set that includes the starts of the answers to starred clues: UMAMI.


Across:

1. Deep opera voices: BASSI.  Learned this word from doing crosswords.   Before that, I only knew of Shirley Bassey.

6. Quaint "you": THOU.

10. "SOS" pop group: ABBA.  

14. From square one: AGAIN.   Anew.

15. Pair on a Disney World hat: EARS.  Overheard while walking on Main St. USA, "I want one ! "

16. Little brook: RILL.

19. Live __: party hearty: IT UP.

20. Temporary period: INTERIM.

21. Clytemnestra's son: ORESTES.  It's all Greek to me, but the perps made it evident.

23. Soap-making chemical: LYE.

24. Often: A LOT.  Often, a lot is a ton.

26. Road's end?: STER.  This powerful little two-seater was the first Shelby Cobra.  It sold for $13.75M.

27. Versatile vehicle, for short: UTE.

28. Handel's "Messiah" is one: ORATORIO.  I found this article to be a good read.

32. Vertical billiards stroke: MASSE.  The masse is often not allowed because if it is not executed properly, the cue tip can rip the felt.  

35. Not fresh: STALE.

36. Ambient music pioneer Brian: ENO.

37. Apple computer: IMAC.

39. NYPD rank: INSP.   Inspector

40. Zero, like chances: NIL.

41. "Full court" NBA defense: PRESS.   Pistol Pete's basketball coach father was known as Press.  But not for an obsession of coaching that style of defense.  He got that nickname as a boy selling the Pittsburgh Press newspaper on the streets of Aliquippa, PA.   LSU fans know that Dale Brown succeeded Press as head coach of the Tigers
 
42. Pat Conroy's "The Prince of __": TIDES.

43. Corporate info-sharing system: INTRANET.   The internet is the information superhighway for the masses.  It is public.   An intranet is a limited access information superhighway used by companies,  corporations and government entities to disseminate information internally.  It is private. 

45. Hawaiian dish: POI.

46. "Chestnuts roasting __ open fire": ON AN. Jack Frost nipping at your nose. Seems like it was only yesterday.


47. Online craft store: ETSY.

49. Rap sheet abbr.: AKA.   Also Known As.

52. Elks, in Canada: WAPITIS.

55. __ Kodak: EASTMAN.  "You press the button. We'll do the rest." 

57. Top poker cards: ACES.

60. Ready for harvesting: RIPE.

61. Half of Mork's sign-off: NANU.


62. Novelist Joyce Carol __: OATES.

63. Smartphone ancestors, briefly: PDAS.  Personal Digital Assistants

64. Cookbook amt.: TBSP.    Cookbooks sometimes abbreviate it as just a capital T, but that would not work as an answer in crossword puzzles.

65. "Elder" Roman scholar: PLINY.

Down:

1. Fragrant herb: BASIL.

2. Ecstasy's opposite: AGONY.

3. Fry: SAUTE.

4. "Your Highness": SIRE.

5. Unappreciative one: INGRATE.

6. Pedro's "I love you": TE AMO.

7. WWII General __ Arnold: HAP.  One of only five 5 Star Generals in the US Army.   Also, the only General in the US Air Force to have attained the 5 Star rank.

8. Crumbled sundae-topping cookie: OREO.

9. Cold War power: Abbr.: USSR. СССР (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик) is a Russian abbreviation for the Soviet Union or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

10. Noble Brit: ARISTO.

12. Treatment for gray hair: BLUE RINSE. New to me, but now I know what my friend meant when talking about those blue haired ladies.  I thought it was figurative.

13. Swiss peaks: ALPS.

18. Irritate but good: RILE.

22. 90° from sur: ESTE.

25. How food may be seasoned: TO TASTE.   Altitude can change taste.   The combination of dryness and low pressure reduces the sensitivity of your taste buds to sweet and salty foods by around 30%.

27. Trojans' sch.: USC.  The University of Southern California athletic teams are known as the Trojans.

29. Male sheep: RAMS

30. Thrilla in Manila boxer: ALI.

31. "My bad!": OOPS.

32. Revealing skirt: MINI.

33. Protein building block: AMINO ACID.

35. "Peter Pan" pirate: SMEE.  Captain Hook's bosun.

38. Reception server: URN.  Not a person employed as wait staff at a reception.

39. Three, on a sundial: III

41. Breathe heavily: PANT.

42. Kid's favorite store, often: TOY SHOP.

44. Elevates: RAISES.

45. 10th-grader's exam, for short: PSAT.  Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. 

48. Start a golf hole: TEE UP.

49. Vintage violin: AMATI.

50. Megan's "Will & Grace" role: KAREN.


51. Anxious: ANTSY.

52. __ speed: "Star Trek" rate: WARP.   "A reaction between deuterium and antideuterium, tempered through a dilithium crystal assembly, allows 24th century Federation vessels to travel at warp speeds."   If interested, you can read more about the technology in this explanation.

53. Fails to be: ISN'T.  The third person singular (he, she, it) present tense of  To Be is IS.  The negative contraction of To Be is isn't,  but it isn't ain't.   Shakespeare (paraphrased) summed it up nicely: "Is or isn't, that is the question."

54. Q-tip: SWAB.

56. Greenish-blue: TEAL.

59. Nav. rank: ENS.   Ensign. A commissioned officer in the Navy.



50 comments:

OwenKL said...

FLN: CED, your revelation that J K L are skip ahead by 10 seconds is something I'd never heard of before! It will surely enhance my future viewing! It's not just your iPad, either -- I've tested it on my Win10 laptop an it works here, too!

Y'all see the secret in this first poem? I looked up Anni-Frid to be sure of pronunciation, and was surprised to find she's now a real princess!

A fitting poem about a band that did
Begins with a simple rhyme scheme.
Be assured they all harmonize as a team:
Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid

Was Count Basie one of the BASSI?
If he was, then what about Lassie?
Is there an ORATORIO
In praise of the OREO?
When you savor a song, does it TASTE UMAMI?

A nasty little girl was named KAREN.
She'd jump out at people and scare 'em!
This would RILE them so,
That they made her go
To a farm and become an agrarian!

{A, B-, B.}

Paul C. said...

An aspiring constructor emailed me recently, asking how I get my ideas. The thing is, I'm a writer. Now that I'm retired from my "day job," I have a lot more time for it. I always take a long walk with my dog before I start, so I can plan out that day's segment. It's the same with crosswords, which I usually do on Sundays. First you need to come up with a good idea. Two or three ideas, in fact. When I get home, I check the databases to see if anything like this has been done before. Nearly always, at least one of them has. But if I've found something fresh, I do the research to find good theme answers. In this case, the twist is to bend the meaning of the tastes away from food-related phrases. Actually, taste themes have been done before, but UMAMI is an update. I think that's why Rich accepted it, especially crossed by the thematic TOTASTE in the middle.
Anyway, theme phrases or base phrases need to be in the language. That is to say, they should be familiar, or at least, something solvers can infer. You also have to come up with pairs that match in length. Obviously, they can't be too long or too short. It's only then that you're ready to start working on the grid. When you're done, congratulations! But that's actually the easy part. The hard part is hanging in there while grid after grid is rejected by the very limited number of publications that accept submissions. This can be demoralizing for beginners. Which I remember well, since I only started four years ago. But what a thrill when your first puzzle is accepted!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Paul is becoming a regular regular around here. This was a quick slide to the southeast. No problems; no Wite-Out. Got UMAMI before I got the theme. That gave it away. Neat, the way UMAMI crosses TO TASTE at dead center of the grid. Thanx, Paul. Enjoyed the expo, TTP.

IMAC: Not chez d-o. I'll stick with my PC. (Was that a CSO?)

USC: When I was a wee lad the kids in our little town organized a couple of baseball teams, but we needed team names. My dad suggested we could be the Trojans and Sheiks, so that's who we were. It was years later when I recognized the humor of it.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIW, missing my vowel guess at ARISTe x ORATeRIO and the "M" or "N" choice at SnEE x UnAMI. ORESTES and PLINY were also tough for Tuesday. Paul, I loved your description of how you construct puzzles. You have plenty of fans here at the corner, but I have to confess that I'm not one of them. I'm just never on your wavelength.

Yellowrocks said...

Paul, great to hear how you process puzzle construction. I liked this quickly solved early week puzzle with nothing arcane or unknown. Umami is becoming popular and is mentioned in many articles about food and cooking these last few years.
St, Matthew's Passion by Bach is another great oratorio.
I can't remember all the characters in Greek myths, but Orestes and Clytemnestra stand out.
DO, LOL the Trojans and the Sheiks. Thanks for pointing out "Neat, the way UMAMI crosses TO TASTE at dead center of the grid." Fabulous, Paul.
We don't see many blue haired ladies these days. That fad died (dyed?) out 30 years ago. Then the gray haired ladies turned blonde. After that we saw a variety of natural looking colors. Now we see many red haired seniors. I am still keeping my hair salt and pepper, but the salt is taking over. I would love if my hair turned snow white.
In the Aesop fable, the fox tried and tried to jump to get a luscious looking bunch of grapes. After failing repeatedly he opined that the grapes were probably sour after all.If we don't get what we want, we say it wasn't really worth getting.Our Japanese teacher could not understand this saying and after many explanations we could not understand Japanese sayings.She never "got" our light bulb jokes.
Thanks for the fine expo, TTP.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Paul C. Good puzzle; thanks for dropping by.

A little gritty for a Tuesday, but I got it all without help. The NE was the main sticking point but ABBA looked like a good start to it. Liked BITTER END; nautical, too. (Bitter End – Properly, the free or loose end of a line. Originally, the bitter end of a mooring line was taken to the bitts to secure it.).
HAP came easily.
UNAMI was a learning; we only learnt the 4 tastes in HS. I think UNAMI was officially adopted as a taste in the 1980's, although discovered in 1908.
OOPS - TTP, your video clip reminded me that when I was a mere ENS, I witnessed a sailor, who was known for his clumsiness, inadvertently 'catch' an open paint can of red lead on the hatch combing to the forward engine room. and spilling the contents down into the space below making a huge mess The sailor was a Bo's'n striker in the deck department; the affected space was in the engineering department so this did not help with the ship's crew 'politics'. (How would you like to have been the 'fly on the wall' in the Chief's Mess that day?)
HAP - RE: 5 stars. Omar Bradley was the last 5-star and the rank was conferred during the Korean war. The highest rank has been 4-star since then. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs if Staff is the most senior officer today, and the deputy chairman is the 2nd most senior. Both are 4-stars.

Yellowrocks said...

LAT, May 16, 2017
11. Umami detectors : TASTE BUDS. BET. Umami is one of the five basic tastes (together with sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness). It has been described as brothy or meaty.

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Paul and TTP. (Thanks also to Paul for dropping in and giving us some background insights into CW construction.)
Easy-peasy solve today. Across, Down, Zip, Filled! I beat many of you here to the Corner this morning. Then I discovered that, like Jinx, I chose N instead of M in the SMEE, UMAMI cross. D'uh!

Some fresh (not STALE) clues for some old CW staples (OREO, URN).
ARISTO crossing ORESTES which in turn crossed ESTE brought a smile. I also noted TO TASTE in the centre of the grid summing up the theme. We also had (AMINO) ACID if we really have indigestion from too much tasting.
SWAB next to ENS brought a smile also.

I also noted some late seasonal clues with The Christmas Song chestnuts and the Valentine SWEETHEART. The Messiah ORATORIO is most often associated with Christmas but can be linked to Easter also.

Like YR, I have SALTNPEPA hair, with the salt starting to predominate! My hairdresser calls it "silver-ice". No BLUE RINSE here. (I just smiled again when I realized that both those phrases were in the CW.)

Great work today, OwenKL.
Wishing you all a great day.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Nice Job, TTP!
-Those were Mortimer’s ears until Walt’s wife Lillian suggested the change to Mickey
-Joe Phibin became the Green Bay INTERIM coach when Mike McCarthy was fired on 12/2/18
-I spent 57 min. on the phone yesterday with a wonderful Apple tech who fixed four iMAC/iPhone problems by literally taking over our screens while he was in Fort Lauderdale
-Coaches plot revenge against other coaches who PRESS even when they have huge leads at the end of games
-Can I become tired of even that Christmas song in December? YES!!
-I immediately ordered this fabulous movie when we returned from Italy
-A contractor really RILED up my bride by taking 5 weeks to do a 5-day job.
-My sophomore grandson is now receiving brochures from A LOT of colleges because of his very high PSAT scores
-What great insight, Paul!

oc4beach said...


It was great to see Paul's puzzle today. It was a tasty treat today along with TTP's tour through the grid.

A tad crunchy until I figured out the theme of the puzzle. Once I saw it everything fell into place.

Only a few unknowns today: ORESTES, OATES and ARISTO. Perps filled them in.

Paul: Any word on Jeopardy?

Bright and sunny but cold today. Stay warm everyone.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, TTP and friends. I had to check the calendar this morning to be sure that today was Tuesday. Quiet a challenge this morning. I got UMAMI which helped with completing the SOUR GRAPES and BITTER END.

The AGONY and the Ecstasy is 1961 novel about Michelengelo, and was written by Irving Stone. I read it when I was in high school.

I was in line at the post office this morning when the lady ahead of me asked the clerk the price of postage. The clerk responded, "$0.55." The lady then said that she had purchased some forever stamps a few months ago and wanted to know how much more she needed to add to her letters so they would comply with current rates. "No, Ma'am," the clerk responded, "you don't need to add any more, that's why they're called 'forever' stamps." Hmm...

QOD: Fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention. ~ Amy Tan (b. Feb. 19, 1952)

CartBoy said...

C.C. doubleheader at USAToday and WSJ...

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a pretty straightforward Tuesday, but the clever theme was well hidden, much to my delight. My only w/o was Agita/Agony. Smiled at Eastman and thought of HG's musician grandson. I also liked seeing one of my favorite novels, "The Prince of Tides." Pat Conroy was a gifted writer and an incomparable wordsmith, IMO.

Thanks, Paul, for a tasty Tuesday treat and for stopping by and sharing your constructing process and thanks, TTP, for your interesting and informative summary, especially the links and visuals.

FLN

Dave, glad to hear you're feeling better and are going "home" on Friday. Join us soon!

PK, I believe the surgeries my SIL had were necessary as she broke her femur and, later, her wrist, which required two surgeries as the initial one was botched in some way or another.

Thank you all for the kind condolences.

Anonymous T, I hope your DW gets home safe and sound and healthy!

Have a great day.

Paul C. said...

oc4beach - No, I haven't heard from Jeopardy. It's been several months, so I imagine I'll have to keep on trying.

CanadianEh! said...

Here's a photo (that I was trying to link before) of my SALTNPEPA hair.
SALTNPEPA

Roger Walters said...

Do you remember the "taste bud tongue map" from high school biology? We had a lab assignment where we were partnered up to determine said map and provide a lab report showing our results. The teacher proudly warned us that is was rare for anyone to get it 100 pct correct. Well I had the corrected report from when my brother had taken the course a couple years prior and used that to submit a highly accurate(to the teacher's mind) report. The rest of the class failed miserably. The teacher was very upset that someone had submitted an accurate conclusion and accused us of cheating in front of the class. Nothing ever came of it.

Now, 40 years later, it is commonly known that the so-called tongue map is pure hooey and they were teaching us junk science. You'll taste sugar no matter where you place it on the tongue. Same for salt and all the others. Yes the tip of the tongue is more sensitive but the taste buds are not exclusively places as the ridiculous map suggests. It's no wonder students never "got it right" We were mocked for never getting it right. I wonder if those biology teachers regret being so harsh during that "lesson"? Just another brick in the wall, eh?

"Map" on wiki:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue_map

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Paul Coulter, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, TTP, for a fine review.

I bounced around this puzzle quite a bit getting the easy answers, then I was able to get the tough ones, along with the help of some perps. Worked out fine.

Figured out the theme after I finished. Makes sense.

My dad was in the Army Air Corps in WW-II. He was a B-17 pilot based in England and flew thirty-five missions over Europe. I believe Hap Arnold was the commanding General of the Eighth Air Force. Maybe other Air Forces as well. Not sure. But I remember his name as a youth when I used to read through my dad's stuff from the War.

Haven't seen our old friend SMEE for a while.

ORATORIO came easily and was a wag for me. It worked out. Enjoyed the write-up on Handel. Never realized he lived in England. I guess that was where the action was.

23 Degrees this morning. Crossed 66 kids.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Lemonade714 said...

Roger's TASTE BUD MAP .

Roger, this BUD is for you.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Paul - Nope. For Tuesday-thinking, this was too much for me; I missed two letters in ARI-T-O and couldn't perp it to save my solve. I did get the theme and strove to the BITTER END. Excellent grid and, like D-O said, I loved TO TASTE xing UMAMI. //in a way, I 'won' b/c I got the theme - just not all the fill :-) Thanks for stopping by the Corner; I really do like your offerings.

TTP - I just listened to (too?) much ABBA at Mamma Mia! Sunday but really enjoyed your Mork selection. Thanks for the 'Live IT UP' after-party expo.

WOs: Plato b/f PLINY and it took a few perps to fix T'ammo [sic]
ESPs: Felt like everything... Oy!, this was crunchy for my mushy mind*
Fav: I already typed it - UMAMI and TO TASTE crossing. That's art.

{A, A, B} //I'll check on the J.'s SciFi thread later...

D-O: That (Trojans and Sheiks) is too damn funny. #Warp'dHumour

Roger - is that an allusion to We don't need no education...? [Floyd 6:18] Nice.

C, Eh! So, um, that's the back-side...

Cheers, -T
*I didn't sleep much last night; kept waking every time phone beeped... Never heard if DW made the flight out of Tokyo. She was admitted to Country in a hurry [she was very ill] so I don't know if she got a proper visa /WTF is going on. All I can hope is she calls at 2:10p when/if she lands.

Lucina said...

THOU can remind us of how language has changed! It was once acceptable as you.

I had forgotten about UMAMI being the fifth TASTE so I failed to see it as part of the theme. BITTER, SWEET, SOUR and SALT were obvious. It still seems out of place to my EARS.

Thank you, Paul, for your thorough description of how you organize your thoughts in preparation for puzzle construction. That is interesting insight. I was on your wave length for this one.

Canadian Eh!
I like your hair style! I am sure mine is snow white but I'm too vain to let it go and I like the red.

AnonT:
Putin's revenge!

Have a delightful day, everyone!

CrossEyedDave said...

Just bookmarking how far I read the Blog...

Lemonade714 said...

Always a Pleasure PC and TTP, a job well done. It was not a walk in the park but it was a fair Tuesday. My oldest son's father-in-law is named Orestes and he was not fond of his mother. However, he did not kill her. Both abuelo and abuela have died in recent years.

Hope you hear from your wife soon Tony. I am off to seek the WSJ and USA Today; they are usually in the basket at Starbucks.

Thank you, Paul and Tony.

Bill G said...

Hi everybody.

What common foods that I might enjoy would fall into the UMAMI category?

I was just reading something from a friend of mine who is a retired English teacher. She was saying that she just finished reading "A Gentleman in Moscow" and that it was the best book she has read in years. Wow! I guess I had better order it for my Nook. What kind of a book is it? What was your opinion?

Maybe it's time for a mini-vacation...

~ Mind how you go.

Big Easy said...

That's for the explanation Paul. I really don't see anything wrong with repeating another theme, especially if you didn't know about it. Not that it pertains to you but I like the saying: Definition of an original Joke- one that you can't remember who you stole it from.

UMAMI-never heard of it.
ORESTES- to steal a line from TTP, "It's all Greek to me", and the ARISTO might as well have been Greek. The S-cross was the only logical fill.

BLUE RINSE- what ever happened to those blue haired ladies? Oh, they miraculously have blonde or red hair.

The MAC- Maravich Assembly Center at LSU is where the Tigers play basketball. I don't think they were honoring PRESS. Pete averaged 44ppg and that was before they had 3 point shots. With them, he would have averaged 60ppg. It was amazing to watch him play.

AnonymousPVX said...


Bill G....mushrooms are an umami food.

Stamps...I bought $100 worth of forever stamps 9 years ago...still using them....one of the better “investments” haha.

This was a bit crunchy today but

No markovers.

Now for the fun part of my day...At 4 pm I get to take the first dose of SUPREP, followed by the second dose at 8 pm. Guess I know where I’m going to be from 4 til bedtime....

Lucina said...

Bill G:
I just LIU and the reviews are excellent. The book is about a man who was sentenced to live inside a hotel for the rest of his life and meets many fascinating people. Apparently it's to be made into a movie or TV series.

xtulmkr said...

Is that a "for a good time call" number scribbled on the billiard's rules poster?

UMAMI is a new one for my vocabulary which didn't reveal my one error at SnEE.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

PVX, had you invested the $100 in the S&P 500 9 years ago you would have $257 today, plus dividends. The dividends would likely have more than paid for the 10 stamps you use in an average year. My "brilliant" investment was to stock up on incandescent light bulbs when they were starting to be phased out. I'll probably have to pay to have them hauled away when the kids throw me into "the home". I use LED bulbs almost exclusively these days. The oven and microwave have incandescent bulbs, but I can't think of any others.

gmony said...

Save the stump the chumps for Thurs or Fri (26A. Roads end?)

Bill G said...

I agree, I don't see a problem with repeating a theme concept in part. I'd rather do an excellent puzzle with a theme that had appeared before (that I probably wouldn't remember) rather than a so-so puzzle with a brand new theme.

(I watch old movies again also...)

Anonymous T said...

DW landed! I'm going to bed. I'll get at least two hours of snooze while she juggles customs and Houston traffic then I'll start dinner.

Thanks y'all for putting up w/ my angst [what's Japanese prison like? :-)] Cheers, -T

Say no to Oceans 8 said...

Yes Bill you enjoy watching old movies many times but would you enjoy watching old movies being remade?

For example, would you rather watch "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" with Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katherine Hepburn or enjoy the reboot with Bernie Mac, Ashton Kutcher and Zoe Saldana?

Just kidding, but I get why Rich and his peers frown upon repeating a theme without a significant change or improvement.

Ol' Man Keith said...

According to TTP's Billiards sign, the rule ought to be "No improper MASSE strokes allowed"!

Ta ~DA!
Cool pzl today, an easy offering from Mr. Coulter. Thank you for that!
~ OMK
____________
DR:
A couple of diags today, one on each end. Several possible anagrams, so I wonder why I'm choosing to go with ...
"SAUCEY TEASE"?
(Could UMAMI have something to do with it?)

Jayce said...

I liked this tasty puzzle. I figured it out when I got BITTER END and SOUR GRAPES.

I've never really fully bought into the UMAMI thing. I used to experiment with sweet, sour, salt, and bitter while keeping my nose plugged, and could easily taste and distinguish them. Have never been able to discern an UMAMI taste, however. Of course, with my nose not plugged I fully appreciate all the nuances of food, including meat and mushrooms.

Anonymous T, I'm so glad your wife is home.

Good wishes to you all.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Jayce ~
It is a subtle flavor--or sensation--one that cannot be detected by itself but in concert with the other four tastes. I was glad when they came out with it, as it was always a favorite of mine.
The word UMAMI was well chosen, a good descriptor of its mouth-filling satisfaction, as I think of it as the "Yummy" factor.

Bill G ~
A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles, is very fine, indeed--superb in fact. Highly recommended, along with his Rules of Civility.
~ OMK

CrossEyedDave said...

Aristo, Orestes, Oratorio, Ouch!

I previewed many many possible silly links
featuring Taste, Umami, or MSG, and 2 videos.
(one of which was sort of informative for Vegans looking for more taste.)
(but I think the MSG shrunk the Chefs Toque & made him a little crazy)

I was about to post the informative videos, when I thought,
"what have these people done to me to deserve this?"

Anonymous-T, best wishes to YDW. (Your Dear Wife...)
ALso, "what's Japanese prison like?" - there is very little Umami...

Oh wait a sec! I know what I can post!


P.S. If you don't like this movie, you have no taste...

CrossEyedDave said...

I was going to P.P.S.,
(but this is more like Psst!...)

You have got to try the Sausage, Potatoes & Scallion version!

CrossEyedDave said...

Rather than P.P.P.S.

To regurgitate...

Um, Er, To reiterate..

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Thank you, Paul, for a very TASTEful Tuesday puzzle. I am a fan of your work & your drop-in chats. Thank you, TTP, for another expository treat.

Got the theme but I thought TO TASTE was the reveal for awhile. UMAMI just refuses to be a part of my vocabulary or my TASTE buds. Every time I run across UMAMI, I have to look it up and cannot relate it to any mouth sensation.

Girls, I agree that BLUE RINSE is pretty much a thing of the past despite some young women using spray-on blue for shock value. Hand up for having the SALTNPEPPA hair color, silver from a distance. My poor daughter had to have her thyroid removed last year and her beautiful shoulder-length thick wavy brown hair, turned white and thin. She's dying reddish. I didn't recognize her from the back the first time I saw her. Sob! But I didn't tell her how sad I was.

Tried TOYS r us before TOYS HOP. TOYS HOP? Well, some of them do.

IM: sounds like your SIL's surgeries were necessary. Poor lady!

ANON-T: glad your DW got home. When you posted "DW landed! I'm going to bed." I thought she was at the house and you had more in mind than a nap. LOL! Hope she is well enough to participate in the TASTy goodies you had planned.

Lucina said...

PK:
Your reaction to UMAMI is exactly how I feel! I can't get a feeling for it and it sounds foreign to me.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Lucina ~
Because it is foreign. It is Japanese - うま味 - meaning "savory."
They have gastronomic scientists in Japan too, I believe.

I wonder why so many Cornerites have trouble identifying the UMAMI sensation. It has always seemed quite easy to me.
Don't be put off by the MSG link. I don't use any, and you don't need monosodium glutamate to locate UMAMI.
I think of it as the feeling of a happy mouthful, the satisfaction of a tongue immersed in pleasure--when the sides of the tongue blade are embraced by your food.
~ OMK

TTP said...



Thank you all for the kind comments. I feel I didn't do justice to Paul's puzzle.

I didn't want to prejudice the comments, and I'm ok with salt, salty or saltiness as one of the five tastes. Just more used to salty.

The thing about umami... The other primary tastes are so easy to identify on their own. We associate them with easily identifiable tastes. Sour:Lemon. Sweet:Sugar. Salty:Salt (or anchovies!). Bitter:Grapefruit or persimmon.

Like others, I also associate umami with any savory, but especially with eating mushrooms. Particularly morel mushrooms. It's one of the reasons I traipse in the woods hunting them. They have an immediate and lingering taste that is none of the above.

PK, you should have read the review before I edited it. Then you might have used suppository rather than expository.

Dash T, glad your wife got home ok. Your heart surely grew fonder.

Wilbur Charles said...

I see I never posted yesterday. I see a FIW on the N in UNAMI/SNEE. I had an M. Is the dagger a SMEE?

Lots of trouble in NE. I had ARTHUR and ORPHEUS. The theme helped straighten it out
Oh brother. Now I see the M is correct in UNAMI. FIR

ORESTES Minnie Minoso was a famous Chi-Sox and Indian Of-er

WC

RIP Don Newcombe. True integration occurred in Nashua NH with Newk and Campy being very popular in 1948. Newk started the fateful 9th in 1951 . Apres lui, le deluge

Wilbur Charles said...

And... -T, happy to hear that DW arrived at HOU.

WC

billocohoes said...

WC, no, I've seen SNEE as a dagger in xwords. Snee may also mean a cut, and snickersnee is a large knife for fighting.

SMEE is a pintail duck, and also, in Peter Pan, Captain Hook's bosun.

Wilbur Charles said...

Thank billocoes . Getting my smees and snees straight is difficult. What happened to that steel trap mind of my 'ute?

WC

Yellowrocks said...

The umami taste is in beef, cheese, tomatoes and potatoes among other foods. Let's go on a field trip to MacDonalds for a cheeseburger and fries with ketchup.

Lucina said...

TTP:
I very much enjoy your commentary; your straightforward approach is clear and understandable. Thank you for your Tuesday toils.

OMKeith:
Thank you. I do realize UMAMI is a foreign word and have been trying to wrap it around my brain, so to speak, by associating it with familiar foods such as meat. We had a wonderful pot roast for dinner and if that is UMAMI, oh, yum!

AnonT:
I hope Mrs. C. is home and feeling better after her ordeal.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Lucina ~
Yes! Pot roast is definitely a giver of major UMAMI!
You can describe the taste only slightly in terms of Sweet and Sour, but the main flavor is Umami. It fills the mouth with bliss.
Even the mention of it gives me the sense memory of Yum!
~ OMK

Lucy Loo's Mom said...

I love the idea of umami and that you featured it in this puzzle, very enjoyable �� Thanks