Lemonade here pinch-hitting for Melissa with whom I shared Wednesdays when I first started blogging here. So this is full-circle for me. I described Mr. Deodene's history here and at the NYT in my most recent write-up of a Friday he built last year, so today I will provide this LINK to some of Chuck's life with words. Today is a hidden word puzzle. I have previously written about doing the London Times Cryptic Crossword with my mother when they began running in NEW YORK magazine. Here is a wonderful ARTICLE which was written by composer STEPHEN SONDHEIM. Remember, this was written in 1968; the modern crossword has incorporated much of the fun of cryptics. I know some have expressed interest in Cryptics and this is a good primer. Getting back to our puzzle, we have the "hidden" version. Here there are four themers and a grid-spanning reveal. The word GUEST is hidden in the clue in between the words. The first two and the fourth have the split gue/st, the third gues/t. The reveal is fair, but I had the theme long before then.
For a Wednesday, we also have lots of sparkle like DESKSET, GAS HEAT, REDOUBT, ECSTATIC, IT'S A SNAP, PANCREAS, and the odd SCAT SING. Time to move to the next phase...
17A. Sports page table: LEAGUE STANDINGS (14). Most only think of "standing", but each league has its own.
25A. Dissociative condition: FUGUE STATE (10). Dissociative fugue (formerly called psychogenic fugue, or fugue state) is a psychological state in which a person loses awareness of their identity or other important autobiographical information and also engages in some form of unexpected travel. Psychological amnesia.
37A. Makes a case for, with "of": ARGUES THE MERITS (14). For which the topic of oral pierces could be argued.
49A. Intraoral piercing: TONGUE STUD (10). I received a hole in my tongue playing touch football but never consider putting jewelry in my mouth.
57A. Talk show drop-by ... and a literal feature of 17-, 25-, 37- and 49-Across: GUEST APPEARANCE (15).
Across:
1. Passport stamps: VISAS. Yes but LINK.
6. Improvised knife: SHIV. From "a razor," 1915, variant of chive, thieves' word for "knife" (the1670s) from Romany language.
10. MRI output: SCAN. Actually, it is an image.14. Capital of Ghana: ACCRA. LINK.
15. "Say Anything..." actress Skye: IONE. Her vowel-rich name is more famous than she is here in crossword land.
16. "__ and Abel": Jeffrey Archer novel: KANE. I really enjoyed his works,
20. Plaza payment: TOLL.
21. Feel remorse over: RUE. I would remove the "over."
22. Winter hrs. in St. Louis: CST. Central Standard Time.
23. Blog entry: POST. Please keep them coming.
29. "Who __ to complain?": AM I.
30. Woman college basketball coach Summitt with an NCAA record 1,098 career wins: PAT. This legendary COACH died in 2016 from complications from Alzheimer's. Coach K has eclipsed her victory total and Gino Auriemma is catching up.
31. Nairobi's country: KENYA. More Africa. See map above.
32. Insulin-producing gland: PANCREAS. The key to diabetes.
36. Left or right ending: IST. There are so many other choices.
42. Knot-tying vow: I DO. I did.
43. Like big lottery winners, presumably: ECSTATIC. Such a mixed blessing, historically. STORIES.
44. __ pad: STENO. I still use them.
47. Old Mideast org.: UAR. The United Arab Republic.
48. Reggae precursor: SKA. Ska is still around.
52. Carnival: FAIR.
53. Brightness nos.: IQS.
54. 6-Down's sib: BRO.
55. River swimmers: EELS. Not if C.C. gets them. They become a...
63. Repast: MEAL.
64. Char on a grill: SEAR. I'm not sure how many ways she cooks them.
65. Popular Google service: GMAIL.
66. About: AS TO.
67. Singer from County Donegal: ENYA. Eithne Ní Bhraonáin was born on May 17, 1961, in Gweedore, Donegal, Ireland, almost her birthday.
68. Leaf under a petal: SEPAL. I think I just had that botanical discussion,
Down:
1. Actor Kilmer: VAL. A bad Simon Templar and a bad Bruce Wayne.
2. Floe makeup: ICE. Tin are you okay?
3. Perform like Ella: SCAT SING. Is this a Yoda answer?
4. Insider lingo: ARGOT.
6. 54-Across' sib: SIS.
7. Trending: HOT.
8. Going nowhere, career-wise: IN A RUT.
9. Playhouse, say: VENUE. For a show Mickey Rooney!
10. Navigate slopes: SKI.
11. High-kicking dance: CAN CAN. So many links.
12. Showing insecurity: ANGSTY. A word from the 60s.
13. Snapple rival: NESTEA. This was very hard for me and only the perps did it. I was looking for a more esoteric company.
18. Wee toymaker: ELF. Not Wii.
19. Matching office accessories: DESKSET.
23. Dad: PAPA. I get that from many of my sons' friends.
24. Shortstop Vizquel with 11 Gold Glove Awards: OMAR. bit obscure but talented fielder.
26. __ the crack of dawn: UP AT.
27. House-warming option: GAS HEAT.
28. Aquarium beauty: TETRA.
33. Stage prompting: CUING.
34. Stronghold: REDOUBT. From Bunker Hill to Yorktown, a feature of military actions during the American Revolution was the redoubt. Of course, redoubts were a fixture in worldwide military operations long before, and long after, that war, but those fortifications built of earth, sod and timber were usually more complex than their simple materials suggest. Journal of the American Revolution.35. That, in Toledo: ESO. Our Lucina CSO.
36. Online chats, briefly: IMS.
38. Subdued hue: ECRU. The definition is having the color of raw silk or unbleached linen," from French écru "raw, unbleached.
39. "Simple as can be": ITS A SNAP. A very short period of time (figuratively, the time taken to snap one's fingers), or a task that can be accomplished in such a period. Etymology.
40. __ torch: luau light: TIKI.
41. What a tattoo may cover: SCAR. Why? I know many tattoos but none covering a scar.
44. Mark of shame: STIGMA.
45. Kitchen toppers: TOQUES. This hat has become a regular.
46. Put into power: ENSEAT. Ugh. The only good thing about this word is that it could be part of an anagram puzzle.
47. 2019 Pebble Beach event: US OPEN. Golf. SITE.
50. Wipe: ERASE. Computer hard drives.
51. "Weeds" law org.: DEA. Drug Enforcement Agency.
52. Moth attractor: FLAME.
56. Units of energy: ERGS.
58. __ Poke: retro candy: SLO. Never heard of it. The original Slo Poke Caramel Pop was first introduced in 1926 by the Holloway Candy Company.
59. Settle: PAY. The bill.
60. Time to remember: ERA.
61. "Homeland" org.: CIA. I have never watched the show.
62. Turn in the plumbing: ELL. A cute twist to end our tour.
Thank you Chuck; c'mon back mb and thank you all.
62 comments:
FIR in 37:00 min.
Thank you Chuck Deodene for this enjoyable Wednesday CW.
Thank you Lemonade for your excellent review, and for covering for mellisabee.
Ðave
Good morning!
Came here to learn how a "Leaf under a petal" could be a MEAL. D'oh, d-o misread the number. Didn't much care for ENSEAT or ANGSTY, but who AM I to complain? REDOUBT has nothing to do with DOUBT. Who knew? Got the theme early, so there's that. Thanx, Chuck and thanx to Lemonade for subbing today.
Where is everybody this morning? I'm afraid I don't often write something either, but I do drop by most mornings.
Good gettable puzzle Chuck, and excellent (as usual) review Lemonade!
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. I liked this puzzle. I initially tried Cameo APPEARANCE, before seeing all the GUESTs in the puzzle.
I like Jeffrey Archer's short stories better than his novels. I read KANE and Abel, years ago, which was very good. His recent book is Heads You Win, in which the main characters in two scenarios, base on a decision of a flip of a coin. Interesting concept.
VAL Kilmer was good in the 1985 film Real Genius.
My favorite clue was House Warming Option = GAS HEAT.
QOD: There seems to be enough room in the world for mediocre men, but not for mediocre women, and we have to really work very, very hard. ~ Madeleine Albright (née Marie Jana Korbelová; b. May 15, 1937)
FIR, but had to fix IONa once my VENUE had been selected. WAG at the Natick of KANE x ANGSTY, and that gave me NESTEA. I loved "Weeds" and "Homeland", but have never seen "Breaking Bad" or "Better Call Saul".
FLN, good to hear from you Picard. I am guided by Rickey Nelson's lyrics from "Garden Party": "You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself." We occasionally get interesting people here who get disheartened because few respond to their contributions. I find the process of creating a contribution is the payoff, and if any of my Corner friends comment it is just a bonus. You have had incredible life experiences and I salute you. But I will also admit that I don't see every one of your photos, because I just don't have time to do so.
Congrats to Cornerite Pelican fans on securing the #1 NBA draft pick. Zion will be a HUGE asset.
This year's US OPEN is likely to be Phil Mickelson's last-best chance to complete his career grand slam. He plays well there. He would become golf's oldest man to ever win a major championship.
Thanks to Chuck for the fun, crunchy puzzle. My favorite was "house-warming option" for GAS HEAT. Hand up for not liking ENSEAT, but then again I don't like EN SuiTe either but it is used all the time in real estate. I also liked seeing SKY and SKA in the grid. And thanks to Lemony for the review. I also thought about Tin and Yoda when I filled in those cells.
Omar Visquel is not obscure in Cland
20a --You pay toll on a bridge or roadway. When on a plaza?
"ENSEAT. Ugh. The only good thing about this word is that it could be part of an anagram puzzle."
Don't you mean it could be SEEN AT an anagram?
"ELL. A cute twist" Groan!
Jason and his crew once sought
For a golden fleece a lot.
They did far go
On the Argo,
And spoke a sailor ARGOT!
To CAN-CAN, feet have high to go,
The other, low way is the limbo.
If a FUGE STATE dance
You wish to prance,
To Russia you may need to go!
(4:06)
{B+, B-.}
Omar Visquel should be a HOF'er.
Seemed more difficult than a regular Wed. level puzzle, and took almost 14 minutes.
Good morning. Thank you Chuck and Lemonade.
OwenKL, you pay toll AT A plaza. With the Illinois I-PASS, we no longer gave to stop at the toll road plazas in a handful of states, but do have to stop in Oklahoma on the Will Rogers and Kilpatrick turnpike toll plazas.
7:47 Anon, I'll say. Let's see. Omar Vizquel, Carlos Baerga, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez, Sandy Alomar, Jim Thome, Dennis Martinez, Black Jack McDowell , Orel Hersheiser... The Tribe was loaded with talent in the late '90s.
Musings
-FUGUE state mentioned @ :40
-TOLLS for some famous VENUES
-I sub for some very bad teachers but, “Who AM I to complain?”
-A travelling carnival ran here last week in cold, damp weather
-I thought I was IN A RUT professionally, but it turned out to be a groove
-My new med makes me sensitive to sun and I had a slight rash yesterday from playing golf. Now, my case worker and I must ARGUE THE MERITS of some preventative strategies
FUGUE STATE is more obscure than OMAR to this perfectly sane baseball fan.
I use a trucker's GPS in my motor home. It intones "toll plaza ahead", even where toll is taken only by EZPass / SunPass and has been that way since the road opened.
Lemonade is not pinch-hitting; he's the GUEST host today. I noticed the theme after ARGUES. FUGUE STATE was all perps. Only knew of FUGUE in musical terms. ANGSTY was also a new word for me. Had to change INSERT to ENSEAT.
OMAR & IONE were easy WAGS filled by perps.
I have a few SCARs but hell would freeze over before I would get a tattoo to cover them. TONGUE STUD- with that and tattoos=low IQS. I would call that a STIGMA but think it's wonderful. Too many drinks and way too many drugs.
SLO-Poke- way, way back when I was losing baby teeth, biting a Slo-Poke was a way t help remove the tooth so the permanent tooth could emerge.
FUGUE STATE? How many people are familiar with that phrase? ROGUE STATE is well known... almost 90,000,000 google hits.
I know, who gives a damn, but I find it wonderful to anagram a word with a Q. TOQUES... QUOTES.
Good morning everyone.
Wednesday tough; but eventually finished without look-ups. Not a big fan of imbedded words, but still enjoyed the solving experience.
REDOUBT - The Saratoga Battlefield near my boyhood home has several of them. They don't seem so formidable today but they were state of the art 242 years ago. They were engineered by Tadeusz Kościuszko, who also helped fortify West Point.
TOLL - German has a cousin word - Zoll meaning customs duty. L. German Tol.
We have GAS HEAT Last bill was 31¢/therm; just 5¢ higher than the (prevailing) 26¢/ therm Futures market for delivery at Henry Hub, Louisiana.
It took a bit to finish today's puzzle from Chuck. Lemon did a good job subbing for Melissa.
I liked the brightness numbers, IQS, especially since I was using the MENSA site. Originally I had LUM as a shortened version of LUMEN.
Normally I don't see the theme answers, partly because I don't look for them. The theme didn't help me fill in the puzzle but today's GUEST stood out and was easy to see once the puzzle was filled in.
Although I filled in SEAR for Char on the Grill, I toyed with FISH thinking that Bruce was trying to be clever since Arctic Char is a fish.
HG @ 8:57am: It's interesting that your chart shows that the price to enter NYC is a little steep IMHO. I understand that it takes a lot of money to maintain and operate the various bridges and tunnels, but the prices are high. I imagine that commuters from New Jersey feel the pinch when they have to pay multiple tolls just to get stuck in NYC traffic.
The PA Turnpike is another example of "Tolls Gone Wild". It has been mandated by the PA Legislature that the Turnpike authority has to pay a lot of money for other transit projects that have nothing to do with the Turnpike and are using borrowed money to pay for it. At some time it will reach the tipping point and people will not be able to afford to use the Turnpike.
That's enough rant for now.
Have a great day everyone.
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Chuck and Lemonade.
Some crunch today but I finished (although I jumped all over) and saw the GUESTS.
I had the final A for "Mark of shame" and was thinking of Red A in The Scarlet Letter. Yes that would be a STIGMA.
My moth was attracted to Light before FLAME. Which leads me to my favourite for today, "Brightness nos.=IQS". I was thinking of Lumens at first. (hello oc4)
ANGSTY is just an ugh for me, but a valid "informal" word per Merriam Webster. I wanted ANTSY but it was one letter short.
I'm not a fan of TONGUE STUDS either. ADA cautions against them. But I will credit the wearer with bravery for undergoing the procedure!
You all know by now that a Canadian does NOT wear a TOQUE in the kitchen!
I enjoyed all the Clifton Chronicles by Jeffrey Archer. I am on the wait list for Heads You Win. Will I be ECSTATIC?
Wishing you all a great day.
I liked this puzzle, I thought it was the usual Wednesday level. Thanks, as always, for your expert, informative post, Lemonade.
Just as en suite is common in the real estate world, unseat is very common in the political world. 23 Democrats, so far, are running to unseat the President.
"She joins a field of candidates seeking to unseat current chairwoman Nancy Worley." Washington Times Apr 25, 2019
"To unseat Mr Netanyahu, Blue and White will need to ally with several smaller parties." BBC Apr 5, 2019.
I was expecting the comments on angsty. This is the first time I have seen the word, but no nit from me. It seems angsty is informal and is often applied to teenagers.
Picard, glad to see you're back. Many of us Cornerites appreciate your posts and pictures. As Jinx said, "You can't please everyone." Why do the critics click on the pictures if they don't like them? I have learned to ignore the critics. I think, "Consider the source!" They are not worthy of our attention.
I acknowledged that Omar was very talented but still believe outside rabid fans, not well known. CLEVELAND can do that to people. We in South Florida are forever grateful to the Indians and the 1997 WORLD SERIES.
FUGUE STATE , on the other hand, was difficult unless you have a psychology background. I think of it as more specialized knowledge than obscure but that may just be semantics. I never want to be thought of as anti-semantic.
BE, clever use of GUEST ; OKL, nice Kalinka link, and CSO to me.
Jim B., glad you read and thank you for the kind words.
Jinx. I agree with you about recognition and response when you blog or post. If we the bloggers had our feelings hurt when no one commented on something we wrote that seemed important and perfect, we would all quit pretty quickly. When you write, it is to say something and that is satisfaction.
Canadian Eh! Yes your toque or tuque is not our tall white chef's hat.
"In Canada, tuque /tuːk/ is the common name for a knitted winter hat, or watch cap (sometimes called a beanie in other parts of the world); the spelling "touque", although not recognized by the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, is also sometimes seen in written English."
What do you Canadians call a chef's hat?
As I have said many times, one of the things I enjoy about the Corner is being sent off on missions of curiosity. Today it was Spitz' comment about Tadeusz Kościuszko. Very interesting and enlightened man.
I do not believe he is related to the MUSTARD.
TTP: You'll have to pardon me, but I've never lived or traveled anywhere with tolls. To me, a plaza is a park in the center of town, a courtyard in a hotel or mall. You seem to be implying a definition of a plaza I am unfamiliar with, and so requires further clarification.
Hand up for lum > IQS.
Hand up for missing Picard. I often found him pretentious, but since he backed it up with pictures, he earned the right. And he was interesting!
YR - I have never heard them called anything but "chef's hats". LOL! I use the TOQUE spelling and not the original Tuque spelling. Another example of Canadians adapting to our American neighbours maybe. But it must have the woolly pom-pom IMHO.
I recently donated to the organization for improving the morale of the men and women in our military. They sent me a free gift as a thank you. Not a tote bag or a bumper sticker. It's great. I use it daily when solving the puzzle. It's a very colorful USO PEN!
Delightful Wednesday puzzle, Chuck--many thanks for this treat. I found this a bit of a challenge on my first run-through and feared I would have to cheat to finish. But it all filled in slowly, with many fun surprises along the way. I loved that wee clue for ELF, and the abbreviated brightness numbers for IQS. I had a feeling that kitchen topper was going to be some sort of hat, but couldn't quite remember TOQUES until the letters started to fill in. And the GAS HEAT was another answer that cracked me up. Happily, I got the GUEST APPEARANCES solution at the bottom early on, and that helped find all those other GUESTS--wonderful! Never heard of SLO POKE and am not sure I'd want to taste it. Anyway, lots of fun, thanks again, Chuck. And thank you, Lemonade, for your great GUEST commentary.
Liked your poems, Owen.
Ol'Man Keith, I just wanted to tell you that the rhythm exercise from Jim Donovan (was that his name?) that you recommended to help me with my sleep problem has turned out to be a terrific help. Thank you so much for that great suggestion.
Have a good day, everybody!
FLN
Anon T
Agree about emac. Only knew one person that used it.
Did you every us Perl? Fantastic, powerful , quirky language.
I've forgotten almost all the details of everything.
Kerry_In_Carefree
Hola!
Thank you, Lemonade, for the CSO and for subbing for Melissa! And thank you Chuck Deodene for a sparkling grid!
Tattoos and STUDS in general make me shudder but those anywhere in the facial area, nose, eyebrows and especially on the TONGUE really make me cringe.
My PANCREAS sadly is aging and doesn't function as well as it once did though it's not so bad that I need insulin.
Be Our GUEST from Beauty and the Beast is now buzzing around in my head.
Here in our state we don't have any TOLL roads.
Hand up for disliking ANGSTY.
KENYA and ACCRA provide us with some African geography today.
IQS is my favorite fill, too.
Have a lovely day today, everyone!
Is hearing BE MY GUEST a good or bad thing, Lucy? That was an example of a Link which was being ignored, but now it is in play.
I acquiesce to liking the clue to the fill IQS.
OwenKL, that's good that you've never had to drive a toll road. A "toll plaza" - or simply plaza in this sense, is just another name for a toll gate. Sometimes you pay when you get on, sometimes you pay when you get off. In Chicagoland, there's 294 miles of tollways, and it seems that there are 100 + toll plazas.
With an I-Pass or EZ Pass, if you take the interstates from just south of Madison Wisconsin starting in Illinois, across Indiana, OHIO and PA, you'll pay about $200 in turnpike or toll road fees by the time you get to NJ. That's taking the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) though PA. If you take I-80 across PA, it's a highway and not a turnpike, so no tolls. That's for a two axle passenger vehicle or motorcycle. Semi trucks pay substantially more.
The PA Turnpike (I-76) is the oldest one in the US, and is probably the most expensive to drive from end to end. It's like 60 bucks to drive from the start at the Ohio state line to the end near Philadelphia. If you get on the 476 extension of I-76 and take it to the end, it's nearly $100.
With I-Pass and Ez-Pass, you get a transponder to mount on your windshield or set on your dash, and tolls are collected automatically as you drive under the overhead readers. If you don't have a transponder, you have to stop at the plazas and pay with cash, and the fees are increased substantially, especially in Chicagoland where they are often doubled. So that same trip might cost $300 in tolls.
Many of the states with toll roads have reciprocal billing arrangements with other states. So the I-Pass is often honored by states issuing the EZ-Pass. Oklahoma is different. They have a "Pike Pass" and no reciprocal agreements with any other states as far as I know.
I could go on, but golf beckons. Hope that clears it up a bit.
EZ-Pass: My question is what gives the toll road folks the right to be paid in advance? To get an EZ-Pass you have to fork over payment for future toll trips. As you use up your prepaid tolls, you're forced to replenish the "bank" so you continue prepaying forever. Seems downright unAmerican.
We dont have any toll roads or toll plazas around here because our government funds road construction and upkeep through federal and state taxes and fuel taxes.
Oh wait, that was in 1960. Nevermind.
Val Kilmer was great as Doc Holliday in Tombstone, which itself is a fantastic western, as is Silverado.
Went through this Wednesday puzzle too quickly, which resulted in a bad cell because I didn’t check my work.
Markovers....GUESTAPPEAReNCE/GUESTAPPEARANCE.....geez.
Bad cell....SCATTING/SCATSING....yes, I know that left 23A as POTT....I said I didn’t check my work, haha.
D-O...you don’t have to fund your EZPASS, you can just stop at the toll. No difference to me from keeping a balance on EZ and reloading a cash card for gas/food/shopping. Just a matter of convenience and choice.
D-O - - You have the opportunity to pay in advance so you can use the E-Z pass lane and not stop to pay the toll, or get the entry ticket when starting out. On most toll roads, you can still us a non EZ Pass toll lane and pay as you use it. In NYS, most sections are cheaper if you use EZ Pass. For us it's a no-brainer.
BTW - I pay my newspaper in advance, too, and save ~ $10/month.
A Wednesday treat! Thanks, Chuck, for the puzzle and Lemony for the review.
I found this puzzle quite easy... until I got to the southwest corner. I don’t know why, but I was cruising along, filling in the acrosses (is that a word?) and not even noticing the downs, until I hit deep sand down below. A few perps finally cleared things up and I did finally FIR in 13 minutes.
Favorite clue/answer: Brightness nos/IQS. Least favorite: Showing insecurity/ANGSTY.
I remember SLO-POKEs from the movies: I usually bought one each time I went. I don’t think I ever had one anywhere else.
When I was in college I had a minor in psychology; FUGUE STATE is well known to me.
I-PAS* has saved this Illinoisan hours waiting in line at each toll booth. (GRRR! Every time I type the complete word PAS* my iPad replaces it with my password!)
I liked seeing ARGOT.
Time to do something, I guess. Have a great day, all!
If you see road construction around here, you can bet it's a toll-road that's being built. And the newer roads don't accept cash or credit card -- they have only unmanned EZ-Pass gates. In theory, once the road is paid off, the tolls should stop. But that's never happened. Ever.
Hi All!
Eldest is home from U, Pop arrives tomorrow, and I'm just enjoying life.
That R in ACCRA / ARGOT was the last square to fill after an ABC-run; I'm pleased to see it was correct.
I thought 'GUE' was the theme until the reveal. I was kinda looking forward to knowing what GUE meant. Maybe a missing L(?) to GLUE the theme together? :-)
Thanks Chuck for the puzzle and thanks LEM for your Wednesday GUEST APPEARANCE [stole that from BigE, I did].
WO: cANE b/f Navigating the NE slopes
ESPs: ACCRA, IONE
Fav: c/a for GAS HEAT was devilish and got a chuckle out of me.
Sparkle - what LEM said. There was a lot of fun words and phrases in both the grid and C(L)UING.
{B+, A+ [+ for the link! Thx]}
Hahtoolah - Real Genius is a brilliant movie. It's a Moral Imperative we share it w/ next Gen b/f War.
oC4 - DW and I pay about $250/mo in TOLLs just commuting to work. And that's in Houston!
OKL - This is picture (and story) of a TOLL Plaza
C, Eh! - SEARing an EEL [stole that form Lem] wearing a Canadian TOQUE in the kitchen would be funny. [Bob & Doug] //Hi YR!
Kerry_In_Carefree - perl used to be my hammer for every nail; Larry Wall created a swiss-knife that cut through every problem. Alas!, the world changed and I now bang-out problems in Python. Though, I still have perl in my #!/bin path for quick & dirty one-offs.
SLO Pokes are highly-attractive to one's SISter's hair. Scissors are required to break the atomic-bonds. //Don't ask.
Cheers, -T
D-N-F ... you know I won't enter a certain "3 letter word" ...
Lemon: Great job with the "Pinch Hitting" ... Hmmm, something I will do at Sunset.
Cheers!
Hey! TIN! Where you been?
Angsty?
The puzzle was difficult, but Perpable,
with the exception of Accra crossing Argot...
Being a Natick, I felt no Angst in looking up the Capital of Ghana...
A notable Guest Appearance...
Misty ~
Very glad the sleep technique was effective! I didn't know it could work so quickly.
I don't have any difficulty getting to sleep myself. I just happened across that TED talk while doing my daily exercises. They're a marvel for the range of topics they cover.
Today's pzl was enjoyable. Not hard, but requiring just enough mental exertion to make it worthwhile all the way through. My only write-over was ANGSTY, which I had pre-filled as (misspelled) ANTSEY.
Glad to have perps help with OMAR. There's no way I can keep track of all these baseball types.
From Abner Doubleday to now, the names go on forever. And every season brings that many more new names. Gad!
As to the theme, this was typical for me. I didn't suspect a unifying idea until the very end, and it wasn't until opening Lemon's Corner blog that I realized how fully developed & brilliant the GUEST theme was.
Good on you, Mr. Stowe!
~ OMK
Lemonade:
No, hearing Be Our Guest repeatedly is not a bad thing. It's just tiresome after a while. Fortunately, Angela Lansbury has a pleasant voice. I can't recall who is the male voice. In my head they both sing.
I am familiar with TOLL roads in northern California and when I or one of us from here is driving we, of course, have to pay cash. My friends who live there have their stickers which record the trip.
In high school my daughter belonged to the Dance Troupe. She was the shortest one in the group but was allowed because she was such a good dancer. I have memories of them doing the CANCAN and she dancing her heart out and extending her legs to keep up with the others. Her best friend is six feet and the others were at least 5'10". She is 5'2". Her first husband was 6' and their daughter is 5'10" and she also excels at dancing.
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Chuck! Great GUEST APPEARANCE, Lemony! Great theme.
TONGUE STUD: It hurts so bad to bite one's tongue. I cannot imagine voluntarily letting someone drill a hole in mine. Another thing: how do the studs stay in place? My first ANGSTY thought was, "What does the pin shank do to the innards if the stud is swallowed?"
IQS: the fun of Crossword Corner is communion with others who are intelligent and love word-play as much as I do.
I remember speeding along the Penn Pike in the inside lane, a reefer truck in front of me, a tanker beside me, on the other side a high fence backed by forest, another reefer truck tight in behind me. My rural-raised ANGSTY teenaged daughter got scared of the speed and said, "For God's sake get out of this mess." Me: "Just how do you expect me to do that?" Eventually, we came to a truck stop and pulled in to calm the nerves.
Spitz @ 9:33--
FWIW, my current PG&E* bill shows Tier 1 gas in May at $1.22 a therm; Tier 2 at $1.82 a therm. That's FOUR times, or more, your rate.
* PG&E is Pacific Gas & Electric, sometimes also known and "Pierce, Gouge & Extract", also known for recently filing for bankruptcy because of PG&E's exposure to liabilities for last summer's California wildfires.
PK - Reefer Truck? [@1:29 Cheech & Chong]. Do tell how the nerves were calmed :-) -T
Yellowrocks @ 10:29--
"Just as en suite is common in the real estate world, unseat is very common in the political world. 23 Democrats, so far, are running to unseat the President."
That's quite true, but the cwd answer is ENSEAT, something much rarer, if existent at all.
Wow, Michael, I had enseat for an answer, but spell check changed my search to unseat. Enseat is very rare and probably archaic. I think enseat could mean enthrone, but I agree, "Boo hiss!"
Thanks for the heads up.
AnonT
You ever heard the song Convoy? Or the movie? Good stuff. I'd bet you'd enjoy both. Here is a sample:
"Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth pullin' logs
Cab-over Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin' hogs
We is headin' for bear on I-one-oh
'Bout a mile outta Shaky Town
I says, "Pig Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck.
"And I'm about to put the hammer down."
*"cab over Pete with a reefer on" is trucker speak for an old school Peterbilt semi with a cab forward over the engine and a refrigeratorated trailer.
refrigerated trailer
Wow. Autocorrect really went crazy on that one. Lol
At total risk of over postin' 'cuz I'm on Vacation says...
CW-M - I know The Rubber Duck and the dream of the road I had in my ute. Smokey and the Bandit.
Here's the real CW McCall doin' his thing (on Hee Haw?). I also recall Jerry Reed doin' a bit. Good stuff that made me want to haul-ass cross country b/f I found how to play with zeros & ones...
You know what I'm doin' now on my day off? Watchin' some Rockford Files I missed 'cuz I was only 7yro then. I've run out of Dragnets & Columbos so...
Cheers, -T
Hi Everyone:
I'm posting so late I have little to add, but count me in on the anti Angsty and Enseat entries. I did enjoy the Ell, Elf, Era, Eso and Eel(s) quintet. I saw the Guest repetition but still enjoyed the reveal. No unknowns or w/os, so an easy and quick solve.
Thanks, Chuck, for a mid-week treat and thanks, Lemony for guest hosting for MB. I enjoyed your write-up and links.
I had lunch today with my sister, Eileen, and the restaurant was so cold I was wishing I had mittens on. The outside temperature was 63 and they had the air-conditioner on. As I was paying the check, our waiter apologized and took responsibility. Too many businesses base their cooling/heating thermostat decisions on the calendar, rather than common sense.
Have a great evening.
Picard, welcome back. I always liked your posts and pictures. My philosophy is, "Don't let the turkeys get you down." See above.
FLN. All I can add is a clever troll-Anon has wreaked havoc in here
I too just post away.
I agree, typical Wednesday. I finally got to Winn Dixie after my cardio appt. He's passing me to neurology.
The odd balls were covered by prros although ARGOT and REDOUBT were familiar. As is being in a FUGUE(like a fog,no).
Great news, Misty. I was a little worried about that melatonin. I take a little corner of Midnite
Regressive taxes are all the Vogue these days. Gas prices are geared to demand so a tax there is split between Big Oil and little us.
Once a toll sticker is connected to bank and license plate(s) it's not needed
Also FLN, did “Sexy” account for Splynter's absence?
Those who know IONE don't know OMAR and vv, eh?
What to get eldest? A lock pick.?!!!
And oh, -T, does TECO ring a bell? In the wild west days of MIS
WC
Perps make me prrr
From Merriam:
enseat transitive verb
en·seat | \ ə̇n, en+\
Definition of enseat
: ENTHRONE
They give no examples of usage; sin embargo.
Hello everybody. Just back from running lots of errands and getting teeth cleaned. Nice puzzle. Hand up for holding my nose at ENSEAT and especially ANGSTY. I also didn't like SCATSING. Hand up for liking how IQS was clued and for liking GASHEAT.
"In theory, once the road is paid off, the tolls should stop. But that's never happened. Ever." When I was a lad, the Kentucky Turnpike was paid of an the tolls were removed by court order. After I left, the Mountain Parkway to Hazard also became toll-free. Locally, the Virginia Beach Parkway was paid off and the toll removed shortly before I moved here.
Now that the EZ Pass and the like have been proven reliable, I am all for toll roads. I don't think that someone in Roanoke should pay taxes to build a tunnel under the Elizabeth River in Hampton Roads where I live. And I certainly don't want to pay to build roads in the Virginia suburbs of D.C.
And of course corporations don't pay taxes. Their customers pay taxes that the corporations collect, and to a lesser extent the corporation's owners pay taxes. The owners often being union pension funds, IRA and 401(k) accounts.
Whew! I just returned from a shopping trip and found all kinds of things for my little great-grandson. He will be cozy and snug in his new blankets, crib sheets, tiny socks, etc., etc. I went crazy!
I took ENSEAT as enthrone and thought it might be archaic.
Tin, good to see that you are ok.
IM for me, it is the grocery stores that freeze me. I guess they are trying to preserve the food but enough is enough. It was fun to be back on Wednesday for a change.
Welcome, Kerry in carefree. we generally play nice here.
Final word; anyone else do C.C.'s NYT today? Just got to it.
WC - Yes, a lock pick set. Eldest and I love puzzles and the nutty idea that someone can build something to keep others out. Sure, we could get bolt cutters (actually, I have a "key to the city") but that's not only NOT graceful but then the target knows you got in [see: cut lock].
As for picking locks, both Girls learned how (*ahem*) on simple latches to get into each others' diary. Aint we stinkers? :-)
Cheers, -T
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