Theme: Scramble - as the nicely-placed reveal tells us:
60A. Simple salad ... and what the starts of the five other longest answers are?: MIXED GREENS. I like it when the reveal is placed towards the bottom of the puzzle, it gives you a chance to figure out the theme before you get to it. This time, it was key to me going back and unlocking some of the theme entries, SEGA and VOILE in this case.
17A. U.S. gaming release of 1989: SEGA GENESIS. Sage green. I'd never heard of the console, mainly because it was marketed as the Mega Drive in Europe.
24A. Chiffon-like materials: VOILE FABRICS. Olive green. Often used for sheer window drapes.
33A. Future first lady wed in 1842: MARY TODD Army green. Crosses all the way here. Mary Todd before she married Abraham Lincoln. She had a tough life, not only did she witness her husband being assassinated, but out of four children only one outlived her.
41A. Foam toy: NERF BALL Fern green. The brand is now owned by Hasbro, and annual Nerf sales are estimated at more than $400 million. Enthusiasts claim that the name is an acronym for "non-expanding recreational foam".
49A Rocky Mountains nickname: MILE HIGH CITY Lime green. Denver, home to Denver International Airport terminal which is more than half a mile long, and I always seem to arrive at Gate 95 and have to walk the 0.66 miles to Gate 17 for my LAX connection. (Gate 17 is the first gate in Terminal B, for reasons unknown to me).
Joe returns for what I think is his fourth LAT appearance. Straightforward theme once you tumble to the gimmick, some of the theme entries were obtuse enough that I needed the reveal, as I mentioned above. Let's see what else catches the eye:
Across:
1. Analyze critically: PARSE
6. Counting gadgets: ABACI. "Counting" seems a little simplistic for what you can do with an abacus.
11. Business address abbr.: STE. Suite.
14. Michener novel with astronauts: SPACE. Never heard of the book, crosses all the way.
15. Answer an insult with an insult, say: REACT
16. Short flight: HOP. The shortest commercial flights I have taken were between LAX and Carlsbad, about 80 miles as the crow flies. You'd think it would be better to drive, but the traffic between LA and San Diego is so unpredictable I'd have kept missing meetings. The airport is so tiny that almost everybody waits in a bar called "The Landings" about 20 feet from the terminal until they open security, usually about ten minutes before the flight is scheduled to depart. The planes that land there aren't exactly big:
19. It often follows you: ARE. I am, you are, he/she/it is.
20. Ivan or Nicholas: TSAR
21. Actor Chaney: LON
22. Windy home, probably: AERIE. Nice cluing.
28. Left the country?: SECEDED. Another nice clue. Some inventive stuff today.
31. Piccadilly Circus statue: EROS. Except it's not. The statue is commonly referred to as Eros, but actually it depicts his brother, Anteros. The statue is a memorial to the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, and Anteros, "the God of selfless love" symbolizes the Earl's philanthropy and his efforts to replace child labor with school education. It's a total waste of time trying to tell people this, however, but I still like to try.
32. Plain text: PROSE
37. It's all around us: AIR. Depends on whether you happen to be on dry land or not.
38. Hangs on a line?: WAITS. Seems a good excuse to revisit this Blondie hit from 1978.
40. Word from a bull: BUY
44. Line to the audience: ASIDE
46. Took the bus: RODE
47. Becomes a burden: IMPOSES
53. Give a speech: ORATE
54. Longing: YEN
55. Cheese with an edible rind: BRIE. Pretty much all cheese rinds are edible, except those made from wax or other such stuff. I always eat the rind.
59. Beans or baloney: ROT. Beans? I didn't see this until now, the crosses filled it in for me. I'd not heard of the synonym "beans" before. Webster's list about 60 synonyms for "baloney".
64. Aardvark snack: ANT
65. European woman's name meaning "peace": IRENA. Common in Russia and Poland, hence the "European" part of the clue.
66. Safe places?: BANKS
67. Caustic chemical: LYE
68. State of northeast India: ASSAM. Famous for its tea - strong and favorful. I usually blend it in with some Earl Grey for the bergamot flavor.
69. Temporarily unavailable: IN USE
Down:
1. "Hey!": PSST!
2. Gibbons, e.g.: APES
3. Music featuring sitars: RAGA
4. Often colorful accessories: SCARVES
5. Neurologist's printout, briefly: EEG. I always get mixed up with EKG. This instance was no exception - SPACE fixed my error, SPACK didn't look quite right.
6. "Dover Beach" poet: ARNOLD.
7. __ Bag: eponymous '70s designer label: BEENE. Geoffrey Beene created the brand in 1974 as a low-cost alternative to his haute couture offerings.
8. Remote batteries: AAS. Not always, one of my TV remotes uses AAA batteries.
9. Third-century date: CCI. 201 A.D.
10. Delivery announcement: IT'S A BOY!
11. Puppeteer Lewis: SHARI
12. Tire-shaped: TORIC. I tried OVOID at first, which didn't really make a ton of sense.
13. They're heavier than foils: EPÉES. In Olympic fencing, the foil's target is limited to the torso. In the epée competition, you can hit your opponent anywhere, including the head and feet, recreating the fighting capabilities of the weapons in actual combat.
18. Nobelist Wiesel: ELIE. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
23. Once, old-style: ERST
25. Poem of homage: ODE
26. Skillful deed: FEAT
27. SFO postings: ARRS. Arrivals at San Francisco International airport.
28. Time period: SPAN
29. Buffalo's county: ERIE
30. Irish pop group family name: CORR. I haven't heard much from this musical family recently. Four siblings, here's one of their singles from 2009.
33. End of a corporal's URL: MIL. Reserved for the U.S. Department of Defense.
34. Sapporo sashes: OBIS. The city, not the beer.
35. "Seriously, man!": DUDE!
36. Adds highlights to, perhaps: DYES
38. Arabian arroyo: WADI. I learned this from my Dad, who was posted to North Africa during WWII. He was a gunner in the Royal Artillery, but transferred to the Medical Corps when he discovered he would earn an extra sixpence a week.
39. Words after shake or break: A LEG
42. Worry: FRET
43. Czech Republic region: BOHEMIA. Leading moment for me. I always assumed, for no good reason, that it was somewhere in Germany.
44. Likely: APT
45. Nutrient-rich legume: SOYBEAN
47. Winter eave buildup: ICE DAM. I'd never heard of this before. Here's an example:
48. "Merciless" Flash Gordon foe: MING. Thank you, crosses. No clue.
49. Story lesson: MORAL
50. Device common on "Seinfeld": IRONY. Don't talk to Alanis Morissette about this. She was teased mercilessly that all the situations she described in her song "Ironic" were not, actually, ironic.
51. Starbucks order: LATTE
52. Spotted African predator: HYENA
56. OPTI-FREE rival: RENU. Contact lens cleaners. I don't have contacts, so I'd not heard of either of them.
57. Contents of many cartridges: INKS
58. To be, to Brutus: ESSE
61. Apr. addressee: I.R.S. Nice clue, I enjoyed this one. See how you can get cunning with what seems to be simple fill?
62. Crosses (out): X'ES
63. Slugger's stat: RBI. No explanation needed? Runs Batted In in baseball.
And with that, I think I'm done, save for posting the grid.
Steve
60A. Simple salad ... and what the starts of the five other longest answers are?: MIXED GREENS. I like it when the reveal is placed towards the bottom of the puzzle, it gives you a chance to figure out the theme before you get to it. This time, it was key to me going back and unlocking some of the theme entries, SEGA and VOILE in this case.
17A. U.S. gaming release of 1989: SEGA GENESIS. Sage green. I'd never heard of the console, mainly because it was marketed as the Mega Drive in Europe.
24A. Chiffon-like materials: VOILE FABRICS. Olive green. Often used for sheer window drapes.
33A. Future first lady wed in 1842: MARY TODD Army green. Crosses all the way here. Mary Todd before she married Abraham Lincoln. She had a tough life, not only did she witness her husband being assassinated, but out of four children only one outlived her.
41A. Foam toy: NERF BALL Fern green. The brand is now owned by Hasbro, and annual Nerf sales are estimated at more than $400 million. Enthusiasts claim that the name is an acronym for "non-expanding recreational foam".
49A Rocky Mountains nickname: MILE HIGH CITY Lime green. Denver, home to Denver International Airport terminal which is more than half a mile long, and I always seem to arrive at Gate 95 and have to walk the 0.66 miles to Gate 17 for my LAX connection. (Gate 17 is the first gate in Terminal B, for reasons unknown to me).
Joe returns for what I think is his fourth LAT appearance. Straightforward theme once you tumble to the gimmick, some of the theme entries were obtuse enough that I needed the reveal, as I mentioned above. Let's see what else catches the eye:
Across:
1. Analyze critically: PARSE
6. Counting gadgets: ABACI. "Counting" seems a little simplistic for what you can do with an abacus.
11. Business address abbr.: STE. Suite.
14. Michener novel with astronauts: SPACE. Never heard of the book, crosses all the way.
15. Answer an insult with an insult, say: REACT
16. Short flight: HOP. The shortest commercial flights I have taken were between LAX and Carlsbad, about 80 miles as the crow flies. You'd think it would be better to drive, but the traffic between LA and San Diego is so unpredictable I'd have kept missing meetings. The airport is so tiny that almost everybody waits in a bar called "The Landings" about 20 feet from the terminal until they open security, usually about ten minutes before the flight is scheduled to depart. The planes that land there aren't exactly big:
19. It often follows you: ARE. I am, you are, he/she/it is.
20. Ivan or Nicholas: TSAR
21. Actor Chaney: LON
22. Windy home, probably: AERIE. Nice cluing.
28. Left the country?: SECEDED. Another nice clue. Some inventive stuff today.
31. Piccadilly Circus statue: EROS. Except it's not. The statue is commonly referred to as Eros, but actually it depicts his brother, Anteros. The statue is a memorial to the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, and Anteros, "the God of selfless love" symbolizes the Earl's philanthropy and his efforts to replace child labor with school education. It's a total waste of time trying to tell people this, however, but I still like to try.
32. Plain text: PROSE
37. It's all around us: AIR. Depends on whether you happen to be on dry land or not.
38. Hangs on a line?: WAITS. Seems a good excuse to revisit this Blondie hit from 1978.
40. Word from a bull: BUY
44. Line to the audience: ASIDE
46. Took the bus: RODE
47. Becomes a burden: IMPOSES
53. Give a speech: ORATE
54. Longing: YEN
55. Cheese with an edible rind: BRIE. Pretty much all cheese rinds are edible, except those made from wax or other such stuff. I always eat the rind.
59. Beans or baloney: ROT. Beans? I didn't see this until now, the crosses filled it in for me. I'd not heard of the synonym "beans" before. Webster's list about 60 synonyms for "baloney".
64. Aardvark snack: ANT
65. European woman's name meaning "peace": IRENA. Common in Russia and Poland, hence the "European" part of the clue.
66. Safe places?: BANKS
67. Caustic chemical: LYE
68. State of northeast India: ASSAM. Famous for its tea - strong and favorful. I usually blend it in with some Earl Grey for the bergamot flavor.
69. Temporarily unavailable: IN USE
Down:
1. "Hey!": PSST!
2. Gibbons, e.g.: APES
3. Music featuring sitars: RAGA
4. Often colorful accessories: SCARVES
5. Neurologist's printout, briefly: EEG. I always get mixed up with EKG. This instance was no exception - SPACE fixed my error, SPACK didn't look quite right.
6. "Dover Beach" poet: ARNOLD.
The sea is calm tonight.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
That's a cross-channel ferry in the background of this picture. The Dover-Calais crossing is the shortest of the routes across the English Channel.
7. __ Bag: eponymous '70s designer label: BEENE. Geoffrey Beene created the brand in 1974 as a low-cost alternative to his haute couture offerings.
8. Remote batteries: AAS. Not always, one of my TV remotes uses AAA batteries.
9. Third-century date: CCI. 201 A.D.
10. Delivery announcement: IT'S A BOY!
11. Puppeteer Lewis: SHARI
12. Tire-shaped: TORIC. I tried OVOID at first, which didn't really make a ton of sense.
13. They're heavier than foils: EPÉES. In Olympic fencing, the foil's target is limited to the torso. In the epée competition, you can hit your opponent anywhere, including the head and feet, recreating the fighting capabilities of the weapons in actual combat.
18. Nobelist Wiesel: ELIE. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
23. Once, old-style: ERST
25. Poem of homage: ODE
26. Skillful deed: FEAT
27. SFO postings: ARRS. Arrivals at San Francisco International airport.
28. Time period: SPAN
29. Buffalo's county: ERIE
30. Irish pop group family name: CORR. I haven't heard much from this musical family recently. Four siblings, here's one of their singles from 2009.
33. End of a corporal's URL: MIL. Reserved for the U.S. Department of Defense.
34. Sapporo sashes: OBIS. The city, not the beer.
35. "Seriously, man!": DUDE!
36. Adds highlights to, perhaps: DYES
38. Arabian arroyo: WADI. I learned this from my Dad, who was posted to North Africa during WWII. He was a gunner in the Royal Artillery, but transferred to the Medical Corps when he discovered he would earn an extra sixpence a week.
39. Words after shake or break: A LEG
42. Worry: FRET
43. Czech Republic region: BOHEMIA. Leading moment for me. I always assumed, for no good reason, that it was somewhere in Germany.
44. Likely: APT
45. Nutrient-rich legume: SOYBEAN
47. Winter eave buildup: ICE DAM. I'd never heard of this before. Here's an example:
48. "Merciless" Flash Gordon foe: MING. Thank you, crosses. No clue.
49. Story lesson: MORAL
50. Device common on "Seinfeld": IRONY. Don't talk to Alanis Morissette about this. She was teased mercilessly that all the situations she described in her song "Ironic" were not, actually, ironic.
51. Starbucks order: LATTE
52. Spotted African predator: HYENA
56. OPTI-FREE rival: RENU. Contact lens cleaners. I don't have contacts, so I'd not heard of either of them.
57. Contents of many cartridges: INKS
58. To be, to Brutus: ESSE
61. Apr. addressee: I.R.S. Nice clue, I enjoyed this one. See how you can get cunning with what seems to be simple fill?
62. Crosses (out): X'ES
63. Slugger's stat: RBI. No explanation needed? Runs Batted In in baseball.
And with that, I think I'm done, save for posting the grid.
Steve
Good morning Steve and Corner. This was a very nicely done theme and puzzle, with some difficulty. While I knew SEGA Sage as a type of green did not jump into my mind.
ReplyDeleteCORR and ICEDAM were all perps. My mother's name was IRENE so that was fun and remember you telling us about the ANTEROS statue.
My shortest flight was Gainesville to Jacksonville (9 minutes in the air) in order to get to Atlanta on my way to Bradley Field in Connecticut.
Thanks, Steve and Joe.
FIR, but erased ariel for IRENA, SHeRI, TORId, icicle for ICE DAM, and ETAS for ARRS. Save ARRS for 9/19, the International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Where does a pirate send his April envelope? The eye ARR ess, of course.
ReplyDeleteBreaking camp and returning home tomorrow, so will probably just copy the mail after I attempt the Friday puzzle in the late afternoon.
Thanks to Joe for the Thursday toughie. Favorites were "word from a bull" for BUY and "Buffalo's county" for ERIE - such a fresh take on stale fill. And thanks to Steve for the fun review, but I expected a Queen link for Bohemia.
Oh yeah, my shortest flight was from Lexington, KY to Cincinnati (actually Covington, KY). There were only two passengers on the red eye flight, and the stewardess (in those pre-woke days) came back to asked me if I had ever flown before. I said yes, but I would leave that job to those guys (in those pre-woke days) up in the nose. She laughed and said that she wouldn't wake the others to do the pre-flight demos if I knew about seat belts and O2 masks.
ReplyDeleteI've flown from Miami to Key West a bunch of times, but the prop jets used there are slower and the trip doesn't seem quick.
Anybody that can’t use a seat belt is too stupid to fly. Eliminate that piece from the pre-flight demo.
DeleteFIR in 37:49 min.
ReplyDeleteTerrific Thursday Theme mates!
Thank you Joe Schewe for this enjoyable CW.
Thank you Steve for your excellent review.
Ðave
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteLooked for, but didn't find any hidden salads. D-o strikes again....strikes out, that is. No problems with the solve, though. I wonder how Joe pronounces his last name. I went to H.S. with a girl named Schewe, and she pronounced it shay-vee. Maybe he'll stop by and tell us. Thanx, Joe and Steve.
ICE DAM: They can be very destructive. The ice backup creeps under the shingles, and that turns to water when the ice melts. Roof leaks are seldom cheap repairs.
Hi Y'all! Liked the puzzle and filled it pretty easily, thanks, Joe. However, I was completely skunked on the GREENS. Could not see a single one of those color names.
ReplyDeleteMy home county had a colony of Czech pioneer descendants who had a wild party house out in the country called BOHEMIAn Hall. They had a great polka band. I was forbidden to go there as a teenager. So as soon as BO perped in, I was confident in the rest.
Short HOP for me was Salina, KS to Denver. Running for the far-away gate, I followed a guy through a doorway which turned out to be a limited access area and was trapped in a hallway where I couldn't get out thru any of the several doors. Knocking didn't raise anyone. Luckily, another guy came along soon and guessed my problem and let me out. Made my flight to San Diego. Coming home we were delayed in Denver for hours because of a tornadic storm in Kansas. Later found out while I was there, my DIL was huddled under a Kansas overpass with a group of church kids during the tornado's passing. They were trying to drive to Colorado for a white-water rafting trip which was anticlimactic after seeing the storms. Many years ago.
I've been on many short flight as well. Almost always on a "puddle jumper" aircraft such as the Fairchild Metroliner, the Embraer EMB 120 or the Fokker 50. But my most unusual short flights were from SLC to JAC and also SJU to STT. I cant remember the exact aircraft but I know they were unusually large, such as a 727 or MD80.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for this was the periodic high passenger demand for the small destinations. The first, out of Salt Lake City, was to JAC Jackson, WY and in the summer it was Yellowstone visitors and the winter it was for Jackson Hole ski resort passengers.
The second was STT Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. The need for the larger aircraft was to ferry passengers to the cruise ship departure ports although I was going on to St.John which required an small boat trip.
More memories from my travel agent days. Such fun times.
Here's one for Cross Eyed Dave and Dudley if hes lurking.
ReplyDeleteSt. Thomas landing
Forgot to mention that the STT flight was out of San Juan, Puerto Rico(SJU). It is 68 miles.
ReplyDeleteThe jet never even leveled off. It was just an ascent then a descent. UP and then down south, as it were.
After completing the puzzle I lightly glanced over the theme fills but didn't see the GREENS. Sage & fern 'green' are new terms in my book.
ReplyDeleteSPACE- and easy WAG
ARNOLD- unknown- is it the first or last name? CORR- unknown
ARRS- that's what all the screens show; it's never ETA.
Shortest flight? Back in 1972-74 I flew every Monday from Shreveport to New Orleans but the Delta DC-9 stopped in Baton Rouge on the way. BTR to MSY is 78 miles by car, 65 air miles. Friday was a nonstop by a now defunct airline (Royale)back to Shreveport. $29.00 Delta; $20 for Royale.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a delightful solve any my idea of a perfect puzzle: A cute theme, well hidden, lots of fresh fill, and some thoughtful cluing. My favorite C/As were: Left the country=Seceded and Word from a bull=Buy. When I filled in Mixed Greens, I thought we were going to find Lettuce, Endive, etc. I did a double take at Sage, thinking, that's an herb not a green but, after parsing Olive and Fern, I caught on. I almost missed Army but I knew there were 5 from the reveal clue, so I just kept looking until it popped out. My only w/o was Holds/Waits and unknowns were Ming, Arnold, and Corr. Nice CSO to Abejo with the ubiquitous Erie.
Thanks, Joe, for a truly enjoyable solve and thanks, Steve, for the grand tour. I always enjoy your culinary comments and your travel experiences and observations.
Looking forward to a family cookout on Sunday. I hope we have a nice day; we're certainly due for one.
Where is YR and CED?
Have a great day.
Quick and easy romp through the puzzle this AM. CORR was the only unfamiliar entry, although a perp or two were needed to suggest some of the fill. BTW, Steve, thanks for the CORRS clip. Lovely. With the reveal I found the mixed greens. Having the greens at the start of the lines helped. Their names reminded me of a box of Crayolas. BTW, how do YOU pronounce crayon. Rather than being right or wrong, I believe there are regional differences.
ReplyDeletePronunciation
Some years we have had quite large ice dams in our gutters. Sometimes they let water back up into the interior of the homes. Last year our HOA renovated the exterior of our building and built in better insulation and checks against water intrusion. As they redo the whole development it is costing each owner about $200 a month in extra fees for the next five years.
There are so any idioms using beans. Beans can mean baloney in some instances. Full of baloney means full of nonsense, but full of beans means lively, spirited. We were told as children that we were full of beans.
Spill the beans- blab reveal a secret
Cool beans - excellent
Doesn't know beans - knows very little
Knows his beans - knows a lot about
Hill of beans - not very much. It doesn't amount to a hill of beans.
Hangs on the line is also know as TELEPHONE H-E- double hockey sticks.
ReplyDeleteI encountered it several times yesterday. A robot takes your info. Then you get a telephone tree which doesn't include the category you need, followed by two more useless trees. Then you might try to guess which choice will lead to an actual person. After that you hang on the line for what seems like forever. When you finally get a person they ask for the same info you gave to start. 45 minutes gone and maybe you have found satisfaction. Maybe not.
End of rant.
Good Morning, folks. Thank you, Joe Schewe, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteDid not catch the theme until I came here. In too much of a hurry to look. I should slow down. Theme turned out to be very good and clever.
I see ERIE made it today. There happen to be three ERIE Counties along the lake. One in Ohio, one in Pennsylvania, and one in New York. Plus the lake itself and of course the major metropolitan city of ERIE. All derived from the Eriez indians. All my ancestors going back a few generations were from Chautauqua County in New York state. My great grandfather, Newton Lincoln, was the Chautauqua County Clerk. Lincoln happens to be my middle name. But, enough of that.
MARY TODD was easy for 33A. Of course she became a Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln museum in Springfield, IL, is a great way to spend a day.
BOHEMIA was easy. I love what they call Bohemian food. It is Czech and Slovak, lots of pork, sauerkraut, potatoes, etc.
CORR was unknown, perps.
I had a problem with SCARFES because I did not spell it correctly. When I turned on my thinking cap, I entered SCARVES and got the tada!
Had left over hamburger for breakfast with a slab of Vidalia onion on it. Boy, was that good!
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Ice dams are a big problem in the North, can cause water buildup when there snow and ice melts, resulting in water seeping into the building. Thankfully we are finally getting a stretch of warmer weather here in Vermont. But still some snow on top of the higher mountains.
ReplyDeleteFLN: I didn't realize I was working from the wrong grid and hadn't done today's puzzle yet, and finished up two l'icks before I caught my error. They're both a bit on the racy side.
ReplyDeleteFrom the hills of TORA Bora
To the shores of Bora Bora
Lust may SMOLDER
When roues grow boulder
And they dally among the DAHLIA!
When sailors would moor in the LEE
Of the isles of old Hawai'i
Would they WORK AROUND
To a native town,
And to wahinis, lie for a LEI!
{B+, B.}
FIWrong. A pure natick at BEEMy and VOILy, a misspelling at SHeRI, and an unchecked word pre-filled by perps at eRE.
ReplyDeleteThe theme also escaped me. Even after the reveal, I searched first for anagrams of GREEN, then of veggies.
Some SAGE advice is an ARMY line,
Don't be too tense OLIVE the time.
Go in FERN hour
Take a nap or shower,
Have a drink with a twist of LIME!
{B-.}
Now to go back and read Last nites comments, today's expo, and today's comments.
Musings
ReplyDelete-VOILE/OLIVE finally gave me the fun theme.
-This article claims MARY TODD suffered from pernicious amnesia (B12 deficiency)
-Insult REACTION – “I’m rubber, you’re glue…”
-LON, Bela and Boris made a good living by being typecast
-Our roofer said he left his Mexico City home because the AIR is so bad
-Anyone else go for DRIES for “Hangs on a line”
-Hitler thought DOVER to CALAIS would be the D-Day route in 1944
-Hiding your light under a bushel? Putting the female form in a bag or sack
-When I last subbed in a Lit class, seniors were reading this book
-MIL’s family immigrated from BOHEMIA and spoke Czech at home in Primrose, NE
-One Seinfeld IRONY – George insults Steinbrenner who immediately hires him
-I always enjoy your perspective, Steve
My shortest flight was after getting in a fight with three cops in phoenix and then trying to run away. They caught me after I made it about one block. I laugh about it now. Not so funny then. It hurt... a lot.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone! Thanks to Joe Schewe for a fun Thursday romp, and to Steve for the enjoyable tour. Needed the reveal to suss the theme – a nice “aha” moment when I got it.
ReplyDeleteFIR after correcting Geoffrey’s last name from BEaNE to BEENE. No problem with Beans = Rot at 59A. My Dad used to exclaim “Bean soup!” when he thought someone or something was full of baloney. Like Steve, I always assumed BOHEMIA was a region in Germany – today’s learning moment.
YR – I share your exasperation with getting stuck in Phone Tree He _ _. In addition to the unhelpful canned choices, they’ll often direct you to the company’s on-line “help” site, which is equally frustrating. If I had a problem that could be solved through the “help” site, I wouldn’t be calling in the first place. As Jayce would say, “Sheesh!”
Hope all are safe from the latest round of severe weather.
Have a great day all!
Hi Gang -
ReplyDeleteSTE [really?] crossing EPEE was my natick. So a DNF, alas.
Plus totally could not suss the theme. I was stuck on salad greens, not hues.
Got everything else
Good puzzle, but I couldn't find the wave length.
Cool Regards,
JzB
I know alot of you probably hate those Geico commercials but I find many of them hilarious. That is until the repetition becomes annoying. But today's puzzle brought this one to mind. I wasn't going to bring it UP but it has become an ear worm I'd like to get rid of and maybe sharing it will help me to get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteITS A BOY
I share my weird sense of humor with some younger kids at work but I had to explain this one to them. After I explained how collect calling worked and why sometimes it was necessary, I also had to explain what a payphone was and why they were located in hospitals, restaurants and airports.
ReplyDeleteToday's puzzle from from Joe Schewe was a good Thursday level puzzle that I was able to get in under 20 minutes today (that's a good time for me.)
As always, Steve explained a lot that perps filled in for me that I didn't get, like the theme. Didn't get the green until the explanation.
There were a few words/names that I didn't know like CORR, IRENA, ASSAM and EROS. These were filled in by perps.
I remembered MING the Merciless from the Flash Gordon serials at the Saturday afternoon movie matinees when I was a kid in late 40's and early 50's. It cost us 14¢ to go to the movies then. We would look for pop bottles and turn them in for their 2¢ bottle deposit. Seven of them got us into the theater and a couple more got us some penny candy. We were able to walk down town alone to the movie theater without fear of being kidnapped. Times were much simpler then.
The first line of severe storms that have plagued the country west of here is about to hit us. I can hear the thunder and the sky is getting very black to the west. I think I'll sign off for a while and disconnect my computer.
See you later.
I don't know if this counts but when I was in a hurry to catch a flight because of a emergency trip to one of our plants. I took a helicopter from the top of the Pan Am building (later the MetLife) to La Guardia (LGA).
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! Woohoo! I almost got this whole delightful Joe Schewe puzzle with just two problems--had SEGA but didn't quite get GENESIS because I didn't know BEENE. And I had IRENE instead of IRENA even though it made the ICE clue look strange. My sweet sister was named IRENE (we lost her to lymphoma when she was just 28) and I just couldn't imagine changing the spelling. But what a great pleasure to get everything else--many thanks, Joe. I too loved the bull's roaring BUY, and the delivery announcement BOY--very cute clues and answers. It was fun to be reminded of SHARI LEWIS--her puppet was a little lamb, wasn't it? ERIE comes up pretty frequently in puzzles, it seems. I also liked the plain text PROSE. And your write-up is always a treat, Steve--many thanks for that too.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day, everybody.
ReplyDeleteThis was a nice Thursday puzzle.
One markover.....ICEJAM/ICEDAM....should have known this, (1) Ice jams are rivers and (2) I grew up in New England.
From yesterday.....I found Mr. Carson’s performance a hoot. I also love how those on his side will make any excuse for his bumbling know-nothing responses about his own department. I have NO DOUBT of his brain surgery skills, none at all. His performance in other areas, included his mumbling attempt at the Presidency, makes me think he may be a surgical savant. “Only the best people” indeed. Note: I’m a complete independent with zero loyalty to either side, which I find frees me to see things as they are as opposed to bending over backwards to explain idiocy.
And that’s that, see you tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThe first line of storms has rolled through this part of PA. More to come.
One of the shortest regularly scheduled flights that I have taken was from Houston Intercontinental (IAH) (Bush) airport to Ellington Field near the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). A distance of 28.27 miles as the crow flies, or more appropriately as the Puddle Jumper flies. If you flew just to IAH from Washington, DC, the cost was higher than continuing on to Ellington, so it was worth flying the short leg rather than trying to drive around Houston to get to JSC. I think there was also a shorter flight to Houston Hobby airport from Houston Intercontinental airport, but I never took that one.
Stay dry.
PVX, I think Carson is just cool, calm and collected. The Right Stuff describes test pilots as keeping their cool, talking calmly and deliberately even when in crisis mode, and even when the pilot is facing certain death. I'll bet those skills are important in the world of complex surgery as well. (Not for me - I think I have some Julius C. Dithers genetics in me.)
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the name CORR, but perps left me no other choice.
ReplyDelete(Was anyone else thinking BONO?)
This felt about right for a Thursday puzz. Slow but steady going from top to bottom.
As an ex-fencer, I was gladdened to see "foil" mentioned, even if only to clue EPEE.
Ah, yes, Matthew ARNOLD and his Dover Beach! --the very first poem we all learned in our undergrad Oral Interp class.
A grey morning here in SoCal. Hope it burns off by mid-day...
~ OMK
____________
DR: One mirror-side diagonal.
Today's anagram honors the fellow who's newly engaged, the...
"BETROTHAL LAD"!
OOH OOH OC4, I had forgotten that "cheapest fare" factor. The short HOP I described was part of a round trip flying from LAX to LEX (Bluegrass Field). Since it was so close, I checked the fares from LAX to COV (Cincinnati), thinking I could just drive the short distance to and from Lexington. But it was quite a bit cheaper to fly from LAX to COV, then on to LEX on the same plane than it was to get off the plane in COV.
ReplyDeleteCincinnati's airport code is CVG even though it is located just outside of Covington, KY.
ReplyDeleteCheaper fares:
There were countless routes where is was cheaper to fly an additional leg to get a cheaper fare. The airlines would sometimes charge higher fares to fly in/out of larger airports rather than smaller nearby airports. Always had a tough time explaining that to my clients. The one pitfall was checked luggage. Your checked bag would continue on to the final destination wether you deplaned or not. I wasn't around post-911 but I know airlines wouldn't allow a bag to continue to fly without a passenger. You know when an unruly drunk gets into a fight with the authorities and gets tossed, they have to climb around in the cargo hull to retrieve his bag in case it's a ruse to sneak something illegal on the plane.
Another trick to get a cheaper fare was what we called back-to-back super savers. A super saver was a promotional fare that required 14 day advance ticketing and a Saturday night stay over. For businessmen that would make multiple trips to the same destion weekly but wanted to home before the weekend, you manipulate the dates to achieve the Saturday night stay over without staying past Friday. The traveller had to carry multiple tickets be careful not to hand over the wrong boarding pass last he/she would be busted. Had a couple clients who had trouble with this so I would repackage his ticket and itineraries to help him through the process.
Hola!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like almost everyone has chimed in today even the west coasters. But insomnia had me up until 5 A.M. so my day/night is reversed.
But anyway, the puzzle was a delight, thank you, Joe Schewe and Steve for your always amusing and illuminating review.
This proved to be a quick romp and I even knew SEGAGENESIS which I believe I've purchased as gifts at one time or another. TORIC is burned in my brain by its appearance on CWDs a few times. I believe it was Argyle (R.I.P.) who posted a photo once.
Some of the happiest five years of my life were those I spent in the MILEHIGHCITY in the 60s when it was a smallish city with lovely people. It's now very large though I suppose the people are still nice.
BOHEMIA is familiar to me from reading some authors from that region and most recently reading Poland by Michener as I have mentioned before.
IRENA is also Spanish so no problem there. Here the commercials for RENU are almost as ubiquitous as those for Geico so I knew that instantly. ICEDAM gave me pause since we don't have that problem and I can't recall every hearing that term.
However, because our weather is so unseasonably cool right now, snow is falling in Flagstaff! Here it's in the 70s. That's incredible for almost the end of May.
OwenKL:
You seem to be particularly adept when writing about sensual subjects. Well done today!
I hope you are all enjoying the day!
Hello everyone.
ReplyDeleteGot almost all of it, some with WAG help. But I needed an assist with the VOILE / BEENE crossing. Didn't help that I couldn't suss the 'olive' anagram.
ERIE County - Hand up for being a former denizen; as was Misty. The ERIE County Fair is the 4th largest in North America.
BOHEMIA - During my youth, our neighboring farmers were Czechs, but from Moravia; Brno.
Aardvark - Means 'earth pig' in Dutch or Afrikaans. (the 'v' is pronounced like the 'f' in fee.)
You must live in a warm part of the country. Here in Michigan we are very familiar with ice dams, and so the clue was easy for me. Great photo you posted, that's exactly how they look. Some winters we fill old panty hose with rock salt and lay them in the gutters. That sometimes helps.
ReplyDeleteGary, spellcheck must have gotcha. MARY TODD might have had pernicious ANEMIA not amnesia.
ReplyDeleteI too didn't see the greens. I also had to do a red-letter alphabet run at the Natick crossing of VOILE and BEENE. But other than that, Mary Todd, I enjoyed the puzzle. Smiled at seeing ERIE and AERIE. I liked the clever and original cluing; it's hard to come up with good clues. Denver may be a mile high, but Flagstaff (hi, Lucina) is at about 7000 feet; takes a few days to get used to the thin AIR.
ReplyDeleteI have a very special memory of one evening in Denver. Went for a drink at a nice bar after work where an excellent jazz trio was playing. When they took a break, the bass player sat down at the bar next to me and we struck up a conversation. It turns out he was the principal bass player of the Denver Symphony Orchestra and enjoyed playing jazz in his spare time. Heck of a nice guy. Unfortunately I don't remember his name. This was in the late 1980's.
Good wishes to you all.
Wagon, right you are. CVG, not COV.
ReplyDeleteI remember $19 standby fares from LAX to LAS. Used to get off work in Palos Verdes, zip to LAX, hop a plane t Vegas, play blackjack all night, then catch a flight back in the afternoon. No reservations needed as the airlines had plenty of capacity in those days.
I forgot to mention that I thought it was clever that all the colors were anagrams. Well done, Joe.
ReplyDeleteWe just had a sudden thunder boomer. It hit so nearby I jumped a foot while waiting in my car. It rained bucketfuls and then cleared up in just 15 minutes.
We don’t have ICEDAMS down here in the swamp, but with all the rain and the rising rivers the dams that hold back the water from our spillways are being opened to relieve the flooding. The Bonne Carre that sends Mississippi River water into Lake Pontchartrain is being opened for the second time this year for the first time. The Morganza designed to protect Baton Rouge (hi Hahtoolah) and the middle of the State is being opened for the third time in its existence. We really have a lot of water this year!
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle and expo were wonderful! Thanks guys!
Owen, you are on a roll!!
YR @ 0922 (and others) re: Telephone Tree (yes I'll say it) HELL - I've found the following works with varying degrees of success at different "customer (dis) service" numbers:
ReplyDelete1) As soon as the robot answers, start pressing "0" repeatedly.
or
2) If the robot recognizes speech, say "person", "agent" or "representative" over and over.
I usually get connected and only have to give my info once. Whether the person who eventually answers can speak intelligible English or understand a simple question is often another matter.
There are a couple of websites that can help too:
dialahuman.com - has a list of companies and what technique to use with each, and gethuman.com - has a search bar where you can put in a company name. Returns a whole page of info on best ways to contact the company and get connected to a person.
Mike, I have always done that. It used to work more often than it does now. I suppose we are finding more and more automation and fewer human interactions. The companies do everything possible to keep us interacting with technology or going to the internet instead of providing human interactions because it costs less. I have found some relief on sites such as you mention. Thanks for the tips.
ReplyDeleteI have met reps who speak English so poorly that, when they do not undestand the problem, they are reduced to reading a list of possible problems. "None of the above!" It is too bad that customers are so poorly respected. Service reps are paid so little that the job attracts many who cannot communicate effectively.
OMK, did you do the WSJ puzzle yesterday called KUDOS? It is right up your alley.
ReplyDeleteI've also used the Mike Sherline trick of hitting O repeatedly when a robot answers. It works about half the time if you keep at it even when the robot complains you are not following directions. It is very satisfying when it works.
When I was booking a flight to go back to Ithaca to get married (1965), I discovered I could save a few dollars by going to Chicago/Detroit/Rochester/Syracuse/Ithaca rather than the most direct route. Big mistake! There was bad weather resulting in a bumpy flight. I got sick as a dog landing in Detroit. I must have been green when Barbara met me at the plane in Ithaca.
I remember Covington from a crucial NFC East final game in the Orange Bowl. By the intricate geometry of 1986, if NE won KC went to the playoffs, else Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteChris Collingsworth, with a young lovely, watched the game in “a bar in Covington”. And ABC had a camera in the bar. “Dangerous”* Dan Marino's comeback was thwarted and “Collingsworth's sweet companion had begun to cry”. Okay, ARNOLD it was not. In those days ”Casey” take-offs were my mod.
Btw, I thought they wanted BEANY bags. I had the two E's but kept Y.
"But other than that, Mary Todd, I enjoyed the puzzle". Good one, Jayce
Lucina, yes, risque is Owen's go to .
WC
** DD apparently was a 30s-40s character. Btw…
Beating Miami took the Pats to the MILE HIGH City where even Brady has problems
Bill G ~
ReplyDeleteThanks for thinking of me & my diag obsession. I just now downloaded it. How good of WSJ to make it so available...
~ OMK
PK, Thanks for the gentle correction! It is thought her B12 deficiency was part of many of her medical issues.
ReplyDeleteJazzbumpa @10:39, you weren’t alone.
ReplyDeleteOwenkl and Jerome @10;11
ReplyDeleteThanksfor the chuckles.
Anybody else notice that today's USA Today puzzle was authored by Zhouqin Burnikel?
ReplyDeleteDid you watch the remake of All in the Family/The Jeffersons last night? I was sceptical as I tuned in, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The show is still timely today.
ReplyDeleteJeopardy! tonight was a real competition, a nail biter. Wonderful. But the Final Jeopardy! answer was so easy I thought I must be missing something.For those who missed the drama of the former shows, here it is.
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThank you Joe for a fun (and doable!) Thursday puzzle. I'll second IM's praise on the execution.
Thank you Steve for the informative review.
I know @31 (even if it is wrong) because you discussed it a while back. You tried and succeeded.
Thank goodness for the theme... I had VO----FABRICS and had NO idea. Then I figured out my Greens and guessed OLIVE. Then I had to guess where the ILE went. BEE-- was going to be BEENE*(?) and was down to two letters to place. That whole little area was a bit SUDOKU-y.
Never heard of SPACE (the novel) but WAG'd it w/ only S & E filled.
WOs: SHeRI Lewis; @33d I read corporate and started Com b/f checking 33a which, growing up in Lincoln Land, I knew MARY TODD.
ESPs (and CWAGs*): ELIE, CORR, MING, ESSE, ERST, CCI (only the 1st C is a gimme), LON, VOILE, WADI, ARNOLD, IRENA.
//You know, Joe - maybe this wasn't so doable :-)
Fav: SHARI - just being reminded of Lamb Chop gives me a little smile. //Yes, Misty.
Runner-up: ANT and the Aardvark. [5:01]
.MIL - my 1st non-.edu email address was 38eig.tinker.af.mil. EIG - Engineering and Installation Group. They've added CyberSPACE to it now.
{B+, B+ | A-}
Straight-forward DR today
HaHa Jerome
YR - don't forget BEANS == Noggins.
JzB - we just had STE last week!
IM - I recall CED said he was headed to FL. While not totally radio silent, he doesn't post as oft 'cuz iPhone.
HG - you're going to have to explain this one "Hiding your light under a bushel? Putting the female form in a bag or sack"
Abejo - I grew up in SPI about 6 blocks from Lincoln's Tomb. Pop still lives there and I've been to the Presidential museum a couple of times. Have you ever been out to New Salem?
oc4 - you've probably told me before but... What were you doing at JSC? Also, I recall someone telling me there was a "maintenance" HOP from HOU to IAH because maintenance was done at IAH. D-O, TTP, TxMs - ya'll'd know better - what say ye?
Cheers, -T
*wait, that has nothing to do with BEAN Bags popular in the '70? I figured, maybe it started "posh" (designer label) b/f becoming standard dorm furniture. Everything you wanted to know and more...
**Copious WAGs :-)
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Joe and Steve.
ReplyDeleteI'm late to the party with company in the house today and tomorrow . . . and watching that exciting basketball game that the Raptors WON, Toronto fans are hyped.
Back to the CW which had a few ink blots.
Hand up for ETAS before ARRS, and ICE jam before DAM (and this Canadian has seen both).
Yes HuskerG, I had Dries before WAITS; I thought it was a great clue/answer.
I saw SHARI going down and knew it was not Tel on that business cards but STE which we discussed here recently.
Another hand up for looking for types of salads not colours for the theme. SAGE salad, OLIVE salad, FERN salad (a new way to serve fiddleheads), LIME salad. Perhaps if I had seen ARMY, I might have turned green. I'll blame it on the late hour.
I note that MIL crosses the mixed ARMY.
I also noted Beans in the clue at 59A and SOYBEAN at 45D. I think the rules about dupes have been relaxed.
TTFN.
ReplyDeleteAnon-T @ 8:45 PM: I spent about 35 years of my career working on NASA programs as an engineer and program manager. I was variously stationed at Grumman Aerospace on Long Island, at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, NASA HQ in DC, and at the Reston, VA Space Station Program Office. I spent a lot of time traveling to all of the NASA centers with JSC being my most frequent destination. I spent a lot of extended TDY time there mostly at the Residence Inn and Clear Lake Hilton. I loved the food down there and I keep in touch with a lot of friends there from my working days.
Thanks again, Bill G.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed "Kudos" from the WSJ.
It's rare that I find a diagonal that (a) uses all the letters and (b) plays them straightforwardly (i.e., not anagrammatically).
Too bad another couldn't have run on the mirror side as well! But that would be "gift horses," wouldn't it?
~ OMK