1. Strong drink, and part 1 of a word ladder: DOUBLE. A DOUBLE is a drink with 2 ounces of liquor. It is also our starting word. Looking ahead, our target word is SHIFT. So, one can work a DOUBLE SHIFT. I've never done that, and let's hope we don't have to. But hold that thought.
20. Tabloid item (part 2): COUPLE. A COUPLE in a tabloid is often referred to as an item. Usually they show up because of some scandal, rumor, or bit of personal news involving them. None of this is anybody's business, of course, but inquiring minds want to know. The changed letters are highlighted in red. Hang on a sec - letters!?! Two of them? Should I call foul on this? Let's defer that answer for the nonce.
28. Two-door cars (part 3): COUPES. Cars with fixed roofs, two doors, and sloping rears. Two letters changed.
36. Brunch order (part 4): CREPES. These are thin pancakes, usually rolled and wrapped around a filling. My favorite is apricot. Again, two letters have changed.
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42. Underground tombs (part 5): CRYPTS. I can't improve on that definition. Nor on the consistent changing of two letters.
48. Arts' partner (part 6): CRAFTS. The skills involved in making things by hand. Or craftally changing two letters at a time.
56. Wanders (part 7): DRIFTS. Travels aimlessly. Or changes by two letters at a time, with a specific aim in mind. Hmmm . . .
68. Work assignments ... and, preceded by 1-Across, the key to creating the word ladder (and part 8 of it): SHIFTS. You can work several kinds of SHIFTS - day, night, third, or swing. But, back to the puzzle, now all becomes clear. Putting the first and last words together, we get DOUBLE SHIFTS - thus the alteration of two letters at a time. Tadah!
That's a bit meta, but certainly clever, and I'll give some extra credit for that.
Hi, Gang. It's JazzBumpa, not feeling at all SHIFTY. So let's double down and see what the rest of this puzzle has to offer.
Across:
7. Kiss: BUSS. From the Latin basiare, probably via French and late Middle English.
11. Injured, as a knee: BUM.
14. Damage: IMPAIR. As, for example, a knee.
15. Private tutoring session: ONE ON ONE.
17. Theater walkways: AISLES. Or in churches.
18. Injured, as an ankle: SPRAINED. When the ligaments are stretched or torn. We are having a rather bad leg day.
19. Cancels a dele: STETS. Editor's marks for delete and let it stand, respectively.
21. The "S" of CSNY: STILLS. I was stuck on NY as being New York. That was a complete dead end. This "S" is Steven Stills of Crosby, STILLS, Nash and Young. Remember them?
25. Genetic material: DNA. Deoxyribonuclaic acid. We all took biochemistry - right?
30. 1975 Tony-winning play about a stableboy: EQUUS. About which I know nothing.
32. Former Boston commuter org.: MTA. Municipal Transit Authority.
35. Small, chirpy bird: WREN. Several varieties.
37. "It can't be!": OH NO. Dang!
39. Unsuccessful Ford: EDSEL. But now a cult classic.
41. Personal care brand with a bird in its logo: DOVE.
44. Mining hauls: ORES. Rocks containing useful metals.
46. Circus safety feature: NET. To catch a falling star.
47. Owl sounds: HOOTS. Do you give one?
50. Piercing tool: AWL. For puncturing leather, not owls.
51. Japanese assent: HAI. Means yes.
53. Sandal parts: STRAPS. Keeps them on your feet.
59. Taxpayer's option: E-FILE. Electronic submission.
61. Neckwear that makes a statement: POWER TIE. It's all nonsense, in my humble opinion.
63. Older, as bread: STALER. Not that I've ever made that specific comparison.
64. Like the print version of an e-book, say: DEAD TREE. Paper pulp source.
65. Abrasion: SCRAPE. Damage due to friction - more pain. Ouch!
66. Cook in oil: FRY.
67. Insolence: SASS. Impudence and rudeness. Thad says, don't do it.
1. Days in Quito: DIAS. In Ecuador, they speak Spanish, todos los días.
2. Drops: OMITS. Leaves out or excludes.
3. Hot and bothered: UPSET. Disturbed, or - if you prefer - excited.
4. Like Estonia and Latvia: BALTIC. Also Lithuania - refers to countries on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, across from Sweden.
5. Stays out of sight: LIES LOW. Avoiding attention and detection, generally for the purpose of staying out of trouble.
6. Trauma ctrs.: ERS. Emergency Rooms.
7. Pear variety: BOSC. Unique in shape and color.
9. Antitoxin: SERUM.
10. Having more lather: SOAPIER.
11. Took a refresher course in: BONED UP ON. You can BONE UP ON it here.
12. Half of deux: UNE. Two divided by two is one. This looks suspiciously like French to me. Numbers in French go hilariously wonky, as you will soon see. My granddaughter Alexa, who has studied French, assures me that every bit of this is true.
16. Zero, in soccer: NIL. Exactly nothing. Probably the same - or something [that is to say: "nothing"] close to it - in French. I hope.
22. Angling needs: LURES. Things that attract the fish. In another puzzle I worked recently the answer to this clue, in the singular, was LINE.
23. Went like the wind: SPED. If I do that, I get winded.
26. Béisbol team complement: NUEVE. A baseball team has 9 players, in any language. Spanish numbers, if I recall correctly, make some sort of sense.
27. Desirable trait: ASSET.
29. Belgian painter James: ENSOR. [1860-1949] Read about him here.
31. Logician's "as was proven": QED. Quod Erat Demonstrandum - loosely, that which was to be demonstrated.
32. Coffee flavor: MOCHA. A coffee-chocolate combination.
33. Host, as a party: THROW.
34. With no discernable pattern: ANY OLD WAY. Whatever.
36. Chin indentation: CLEFT.
38. Back (out): OPT. Choose to not participate.
40. Labeled times: ERAS.
43. Warm-weather wear: T SHIRTS.
45. Warm up before a run: STRETCH.
48. Boston and Chicago: CITIES. Large municipalities.
49. "Green Hills of Africa" journey: SAFARI. From the Arabic word safara - to travel.
52. Union that merged with SAG in 2012: AFTRA. Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
54. Rice dish: PILAF. Cooked in broth with spices and vegetables or meat.
55. Snoozed: SLEPT.
57. See 58-Down: RED. The color of anger.
58. With 57-Down, loses one's cool: SEES. To see red is to become suddenly enraged. From an earlier expression "To see things red," from ca. 1900. Probably not related to a bull fighter's red cape.
60. Part of a Spanish "to be" conjugation: ERES. I'll leave this to a Spanish speaker to explain.
61. Adobe doc suffix: PDF. Portable Document File.
62. Atop, poetically: O'ER. As, for example, ramparts.
63. Griddle sound: SSS. Onomatopoeia, I suppose.
That wraps up another Wednesday. I'll add this, just because I can - a big trombone [and tuba] choir I participate in once a year. This year it was on June 9th.
JzB
57 comments:
Owen, our Corner's very own Laureate,
Has a talent that's aces--and a champion story that
Tells of a lad who brightens our days
With jingles and epics and balladic lays.
On two (count 'em, Two!) daily word pages,
He does it to cheer us--for freak-all in wages.
~ OMK
Cute. Had a little trouble with how many letters were going to change on each step.
Guess we don't really need to know EQUUS, but how do you say it?
Thanks Lewis, and jazzbumps!
I didn't notice there were 2 letters changed in the first shift, and only one letter was changed in the second, so for the rest I thought the word ladder was being awfully sloppy until I got to the reveal at the last one. Lotta w/os but FIRight.
Yeah, I spent half of Monday in the hospital getting a catheter put in through an enlarged prostate. No idea what the next step is until a specialist sees me in a few days. I don't feel well, and have been getting grumpy with LW. About time, she's been getting grumpy with me for ~35 years!
Anyway, no reason to make any of you feel worse.
If a tiny WREN were to BUSS with a DOVE,
Would anybird give a HOOT?
Nah, they're both pretty birds, so anybird
Would probably say they were cute!
If a stallion grand from the EQUUS clan
Liked to dress in leather STRAPS,
Would anyhorse think he had a B and D kink?
Nah, they'd say it went with chaps.
So why is anyman UPSET at human sex
When it doesn't follow the rule?
What someone does with his or her own BUM,
Whatever it is should be cool!
Hmm. There is a looser style of word ladder that allows letter order to be shuffled from one step to the next. In composing my poem, I saw Mr. Rothlein has hidden a double-shift version of that in the six-letter acrosses:
AISLES
STILLS
STRAPS
STALER
SCRAPE
One more word is needed either before or after STRAPS to make it perfect. I'll let someone else figure that out. I'm feeling IMPAIRED.
Good morning!
Had the circles. Noticed that the words were not a true word ladder. Stopped lookin' at the circles. Only needed Wite-Out to change IRATE to UPSET. I've only come across BUSS in books and cws -- never heard anybody say it. "Adobe doc suffix" sent me off the rails trying to figure out what to call a Hopi medicine man. I did not get PDF PDQ. D'oh! Thanx, Lewis and JzB.
Good morning. Thank you Lewis Rothlein and Jazzbumpa.
No circles, but after getting the reveal, managed to figure out DOUBLE SHIFTS.
Had to overcome 3 early errors in the NW as I hastily keyed in quits, beset and goes low. Bzzt, bzzt and bzzt. Never going to make any words out of the 3 crosses from those combos. But after stubbing my toes out the gate, I buckled down and paid attention.
Yes, JzB, I'd OPT for excited rather than disturbed. And that guy was right, you'd have to be an Eric Einstein or something.
Good Morning:
This theme-style was a nice refreshing change of pace and, IMO, an interesting and intricate construction feat. The only unknown was Ensor and the only stumble was seeing CSNY as CSINY which never even existed. Funny how we see what we want to see. This was a Goldie Locks just-right Wednesday.
Thanks, Lewis, for a very enjoyable and satisfying solve and thanks, JzB, for the detailed and spot on summary.
Owen, I hope you feel better soon.
YR, I forgot to say how much I enjoyed hearing about your recent dance party; it sounded like a fun-filled affair.
Have a great day.
Jim B, just key in "pronounce Equus" into you search engine and you should get a audio/video hit or two on how to pronounce the word. If you can't, just say "eck whiss." BTW, PBS Nature had an excellent program "Equus - Story of the Horse" that I found fascinating.
Irish Miss, yes it is funny how our mind's eye sometimes deceives us. I read 1A as "Strong drink and part 1 of a ladder word" and only after getting the perps did I realize it was word ladder.
FLN, Dash T, yes your Google Maps Street View worked fine, but I was perplexed for a moment as I navigated around the corner and looked in the other window. Rodrigue Studios.
BTW, your Blaster link had an extra close quote that resulted in a Page not Found, but taking the quote out of the URL fixed it.
Noticed you had the Crossword Corner up on the far left display in your garage bench scene, but what is the image on the Thinkpad in the middle ? It kind of looks like the Batman logo.
Hi Gang -
Thus was fun today. Every time I watch the French counting video, I get another laugh.
Keith - nicely done.
Owen stay strong, amigo, and feel better soon.
In case it doesn't show on our screen, the Thad Jones tune I linked is called Don't Get Sassy.
Cool regards!
JzB
Love the French counting video. Now I remember why I never did too well in French. Dropped that and went to Latin, then Russian. Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres. Da.
Finished in just under 8 minutes, but I didn't see/understand the theme, and after coming here, I'm not sure it helped. I didn't have circles.
I deducted points for "SSS".
FIR in a whopping 52:47 min.
Good Hump Day Cornerites and Cornerettes.
Thank you Lewis Rothlein for this crunchy Wednesday CW.
Thank you Jazzbumpa for your excellent review.
21 A -- I too was stuck on NY as being New York. I needed your review to make sense, thanks.
Irish Miss at 7:22 AM, I too was trying to make it CSINY. I could not suss CSI so I LIU, "CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION."
Ðave
FIW, missing EQUiS x NiEVE. Erased goes ape for SEES RED, sundsier for SOAPIER, and old school for MED school. Didn't get the theme even after completing the puzzle and re-reading the reveal.
I wanted "ancient rockers" or something similar for Boston and Chicago.
OKL, good to see your return, but the catheter was TMI - yikes! Hope everything turns out OK. Great pome today - truer words were never spoken. Except WREN and DOVE is like MAN and SHEEP. I'm not from Arkansas, so that's not OK with me.
FLN, houses in Florida adult communities like The Villages frequently have a 1-1/2 or 2-1/2 car garages. Separate little door and parking area for the ubiquitous golf cart.
Thanks Lewis and JzB for the fun morning.
Good morning everyone.
JzB; Great explanation of how the circled theme words are supposed to work. I would have made hash out of it.
FIR. No searches needed. Had a bit of an amorphous feel to it but interesting enough.
DOVE - Recommended by my dermatologist, due to sensitive skin.
CREPES filling - I like apricots, too; also lingonberries.
ERES - present simple 2nd person of Ser.
EQUUS - Horse genus. Also includes donkeys and zebras.
Wishing Abejo continued speedy recovery.
Have a great day.
Musings¬
-¬Wow, what a wonderful construction and reveal! (Irish Miss’s first paragraph says this better than I did)
-TMI – I got cornered by a relative on Father’s Day who thought I needed intimate details of his operation
-The grackles are slowly leaving and the WRENS and finches now have a chance at our feeders
-Minor medical issues get treated at Urgent Care which is next door to our hospital’s Emergency Room
-YouTube has helped me many times to BONE UP on a topic
-Jim Furyk shows you can swing ANY OLD WAY you want if you get a good score in golf
-I am doing the puzzle today in one of my many NASA T-SHIRTS
-My Precor STRETCHING machine. I highly recommend it!
-Anyone remember this early game show that had Swingin’ SAFARI as it theme song?
Correction to my earlier post as there was a CSI:NY, starring Gary Senise. Apparently, my brain was as fuzzy as my eyes.
I am a fan of word ladders. Most of them change one letter at a time. Some scramble the letter order and some do not. This double shift is the first I've seen and it keeps the letter order. Crafty, Lewis!
JzB, I always enjoy your blogging. Great info and links. I believe the spelling "CRAFTALLY" is a business name, so spellcheck accepts it. But Lewis CRAFTILY changed two letters at a time. The theme actually was a big help to me.
LAT puzzles seem to love CSNY.
I see the verb BUSS in novels frequently, a buss on the cheek. Today the only references I could find were things like, "His job was bussing tables at the diner." "The PTA had an acrimonious discussion about bussing the children to a different town." There was no "He bussed his sweetheart on the cheek when they met."
Buss, reminds me of this. When I was in high school some kids would ask the unsuspecting, "Did you osculate and interdigitate on your date?" Sounds dirty! Blush. Blush.
Owen - Sorry to hear about your travails. Hope things improve for you soon.
After my prostate brachytherapy 15 years ago, I came home with a catheter inserted. I was told to leave it in for 48 hours; and then I could come in to the doctor's office to remove it or I could do it myself. After 2 days thinking about it I decided to self-remove. I winced but it wasn't needed; it came out slick as snot on a doorknob. BTW - since then I've had to have a cystoscope inserted for bladder exams, twice. Thankfully each inspection showed nothing abnormal.
Good morning everybody! Can anyone explain the theme “Warm Fronts” in the June 18th WSJ?
Off to my Aqua Zumba class
Good Morning.
Thanks, Lewis, for a crunchy puzzle. I did work with the circles and had trouble with my focus. Circles or fill? . . . I had a lot of trouble at LURES and SPED, and I didn't know ENSOR, but EDSEL had to work! So the center is quite a mess. I like crosswords even when they beat me up like this one. I always see something in a new way or learn something new.
JazzB, thanks for a very thorough tour. Nicely done. I always appreciate the time you spend on your explications. Merci.
Feel better QKL!
WikWak: Love account of two incidents of rain!
Off to see Hamilton this afternoon. It will be a fine day, except for--Spolier Alert--the great possibility of rain! Have a sunny one wherever you are.
Yuman, all of the theme answers are of the format h...o...t.
FLN,
My neighbor was right!
I always thought WD-40 was a spray lubricant!
NO wonder my garage door is moaning and groaning!
In an equal opportunity post,
here is what wd-40 can be used for:
Fishing Lure???
Re: Today,
Starting with Double, I assume Tinbeni loves this puzzle...
However, I (like Jinx) FIW'd Equis, & never saw it.
Got the "Q" & knew the "U" across, but got delayed by thinking
there must be a "U" after the "Q" in the DOwns. (Q.E.D.) Bzzt...
Hmm, Q.E.D. somehow appropriate...(in afterthought...)
So, JinX! When I was a kid, we had a game that went
"if two people said the same word at the same time,
the 1st one to say COJINX meant that the other could not
speak until his name was said, or he would owe the other
a Coke."
Hmm, we FIW'd the same word, you posted 1st,
does this mean I owe you a Coke? (Coca-Cola)
(Cont...)
Yuman, the first letter or HEAD of each word of the theme answers spell H.O.T., thus HOT HEADED. This provides a Warm Front.
Hope your Aqua Zumba class provides everything you desire from A to Z.
Hi Y'all! Thank you, Lewis for a SHIFT in puzzle solving. Very nice. Thank you, JzB for coming up with good explanations.
No circles, but no need. I saw the ladder words. However, I was looking for the "rungs" in a more orderly up-n-down position for awhile.
BUM knee, IMPAIR, SPRAINED are a CSO to all of us aging with the battle of life.
CSNY stumped me again for the NUEVEth time.
Uproot before UNPOTS. REELS before LURES. IRATE before UPSET. With all the owies above and SEES RED, the puzzle seems like a prelude to a bad mood.
1a "Strong drink" was a DOUBLE, not "vodka" which might have helped ease all the problems therein.
Owen: anyone would be grumpy with your problems. Hope everything comes out all right soon.
Cannot comment on "Buss,"
(I am still in trouble for my Besa Me comment months ago...)
HG, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
for posting Swinging Safari!
I had no recollection of this music at all,
and yet it brings back warm memories for some reason.
I have no idea what, or why, but it has me toe tapping...
Re: word ladders,
I have only seen them in the Kiddie section of the Sunday Paper.
But I must admit, the double action was twice as much fun...
Re: Power Ties?
I must admit, This is the only way I have used one...
What can we expect in the Future?
Actually, this requires a closer look...
CED, Yes. Make mine a Diet Coke.
YR, your comments remind me of an old joke (the only kind I know). The matron was trying to watch the movie, but the two kids in front of her were BUSSING noisily. If that wasn't enough, the young lady started giggling uncontrollably. The matron leaned forward and said "excuse me miss, are you feeling hysterical?" The young lady turned to her and said "no, he's feeling mine." (I'll see myself out now.)
Spitz, thanks for that clarification. The removal sounds dreadful, and I'm glad it's not.
Wednesday Wow! Thanks for the fun, Lewis and JzB.
Clever DOUBLE SHIFTS today. I FIRed and got the theme.
Hand up for thinking of CSI NY before STILLS filled the spot.
ENSOR required perps.
Lots of anatomy for our MED school students with the BUM knee, SPRAINED ankle, DNA and BONED UP. Count me in for taking biochemistry - tough slog. My mind was on medicine when I thought of Organs rather than plants being removed for transplanting!
Mini bird theme with WREN, DOVE and Owl HOOTS (in a DEAD TREE?).
I mentioned our SAFARI when discussing Giraffes and Acacia leaves the other day.
I smiled to see UNE crossing ONE ON ONE (and more numbers with NUEVE and NIL).
I have heard of Power suits (especially for business women who wish to be taken seriously) but POWER TIE was new to me. But it makes sense.
Was it Jayce FLN who likes hazelnut not MOCHA coffee? And I believe IM likes CLEFT chins (ie Cary Grant).
Feel better soon, Owen.
Hope your recovery is coming along steadily, Abejo.
Wishing you all a great day.
Hola!
Lewis Rothlein, what a crafty fellow you are! It surprised me to see DOUBLE SHIFTS in this word ladder. Usually it's just one.
I have a dispute for the clue in 64A. IMO, the DEADTREE version is actually the print form of an e-book. It's usually the print version that precedes the e-book. I realize it doesn't rise to the level of a real dispute but as a book lover, it rankled me to see it worded that way.
Otherwise, this was a fun romp which didn't require the ladder to solve.
If you really want to know the conjugation of "ser", to be indicating quality, estar indicates to be in place.
yo soy, I am
tu eres, you are (informal) singular
usted es, you are (formal)
nosotros somos, we are
vosotros sois (you are, plural)used in Spain and in very formal situations
ellos, ellas son (they are, male, female respectively)
ustedes son (you are, plural)most commonly used in the U.S.
Thank you, Jazzbumpa, for your entertaining and enlightening commentary.
Les deseo que tengan un dia feliz! I wish you to have a happy day.
@JazzBumpa — Thank you for a most lovely theme explanation and answer delineation of this puzzle of mine.
And thank you to many of the commenters for kind comments and astute observations. Word ladders are an old old genre of crosswords; and I tried to give it a new spin. I had never seen this one before and it was fun to make.
Rich is a pro. He made little changes here and little changes there, changes that burnished what he originally received. I love what he did.
My goal in making a puzzle is always, first, to make something that is satisfying and enjoyable to solve. Your comments have made me feel like I had some success there, so I greatly thank you!
Did you know there's a song about James Ensor? [TMBG - 1:49].
Play later. Cheers, -T
"Like the print version of an e-book" did not bother me. There is such a phrase as "the original version," which would be the print form of most books. I know that "version" often means an adaptation of the original, but not necessarily.
Did you know that there are more and more books that are e-books only? I can't find one e-book that has been reissued as a dead tree version, only print books reissued as e-books.
I adamantly refused to consider e-books for years. When I finally gave in and started reading them, after a year or two I became a convert and now I prefer them. For my upcoming vacation it will be lovely to just bring my Kindle and not have to lug five books or so along for the trip.
I am thankful that the fad of choose your own story ending, characters, or whatever, seems to be dying out.
Here's to reading in any version! A wonderful pastime.
Thanks to DO and Anonymous, can’t believe I didn’t see the HOT, must have water on the brain.
Spitz, could you email your email address to me.
Mark S
YR: I had a friend who published a book of her poetry on Kindle then got someone local to print out a few paper copies for her grandchildren. The poems were very gushy and over-the-top wordy. Anyone who loved poetry and had a chance to flip thru and sample the fare in hard copy would not have plunked down any money for them. I was curious and bought the ebook to see what she had done. She was sarcastic and witty in person. I was shocked at her cloyingly sweet verse.
JzB ~
Where did you find that lugubrious chunk o' music?
The "Etude für das Tiefe Blech" is the saddest, slackest excuse for chamber noise I've heard in a long time.
My German is rusty, so I'm not sure what Tiefe Blech or "deep tin" is supposed to signify. Does it mean "Brass"?
The Ladder was fun. While it wasn't needed to solve the individual fills, it helped to speed things along.
I'm not familiar with the game, so it didn't bother me to see two letters shifted each time. I didn't really think of how they related to the DOUBLE SHIFT theme until reading JzB's helpful blog.
~ OMK
____________
DR: We have three diagonals on the near side. The center line has only two vowels, so the anagram possibilities are few.
I apologize that the only sonorous result is a sibilant, alliterative, defamatory, and misogynistic phrase, i.e. ...
"SPERM SLUTS"!
CanadianEh! ~
I'm the one who likes hazelnut flavored coffee. I'm probably not the only one, but I'm the guy that posted it a couple days ago--when I was also saying I need my daily dose, but only a quarter cup or less.
A little goes a long way with me.
~ OMK
OMK - - Blech means sheet metal.
Herewith from a Google search:
Enrique Crespo was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, but has spent a great deal of his career as a tuba player in German orchestras.
His composition, Bruckner Etude fur das tiefe blech (translated as “Bruckner Etude for the deep metal sheet”), pays tribute to a composer who frequently gives tuba players a leading role in orchestral performances. Crespo wrote this piece, originally for four tubas or trombones, in Bruckner’s style. This arrangement is composed for six trombones.
I can see why JzB favors it.
Blech!
Okay. So I now know what a 'word ladder" is. Duh. "Banana fana fo fana fe fi fo...etc" I noticed the DOUBLE COUPLE COUPES letter replacements but didn't associate it with any named function. But for my first puzzle of the week, it was a DNF; Never heard of EQUUS and guessed NIEVE for the baseball team from the Dominican Republic.
BUM knee and 'trick' knee. I had one due to a torn cartilage; when it went 'out', I couldn't put my foot on the ground. When it was 'in', everything was normal.
Wow, you guys are a tough crowd! Sorry for the rude comments Jzb.
I think that is you on the far right, second row? Or is that you second from the right, second row? Hard to tell and I cant zoom on YouTube.
Either way, it looks like a beautiful venue. Thanks for sharing.
Has no one tried to solve the looser style of word ladder that allows letter order to be shuffled from one step to the next that I saw in this puzzle? A double-shifted shuffled version:
Has no one tried to solve the looser style of word ladder that allows letter order to be shuffled from one step to the next that I saw in this puzzle? A double-shifted shuffled version:
AISLES ~ ~ ~ A_EIL___SS_ 2 letters off from below
STILLS ~ ~ ~ ___ILL__SST 2 letters off from above, 3 letters off from below
STRAPS ~ ~ ~ A_____PRSST 3 letters off from above, 3 letters off from below
STALER ~ ~ ~ A_E_L__RS_T 3 letters off from above, 2 letters off from below
SCRAPE ~ ~ ~ ACE___PRS__ 2 letters off from above
Two more words are needed, one before AND one after STRAPS to make it perfect. My mind is still too muddled to solve it.
Sorry OMK re the coffee. I knew that it was either you or Jayce, didn't have time to go back and check, and chose the wrong person. Let's see if my memory was correct about IM!😀
I enjoyed this puzzle very much, as well as your write-up, JazzB, and all your comments.
I seemed to be on the beam for this Wednesday puzzle.
No issues and no markovers.
Not much to add, it’s been a busy day, at least for me.
See you tomorrow.
CanadianEh @ 4:36 ~ Your memory is excellent. 😎 (I think Lucina is a Cary Grant groupie, also!)
Well TMI is the word of the day what with prostates,catheters,BUMs, "interdigitate" etc. This was the piece de resistance: "it came out slick as snot on a doorknob".
I had trouble especially with the NE. And the design isolatedthe various quadrants. Working backwards I got SPED and LURES this COUPES etc.
I did FIW, How fast? Just before napping off. I drove 2500 miles Thurs-Mon, my first nap.
Madame D. Tell me if Hamilton is political as in today's politics?
Gotta go to walking pool
WC
Oh, yes! Si! Si! El Cary Grant!
This puzzle reminded me of my teaching days when my students in fourth grade worked on word ladders. It is a very good activity to strengthen vocabulary. Of course, it was with simpler words in those days and with only a single shift.
Owen:
Are you feeling better?
For some reason this year the heat has affected me in a painful way which I attribute to diabetes. Never before had I felt so bloated from the heat. I went into the hot tub for a while then took a nap. Now I feel better.
Hi All!
I had a hard time getting started on this puzzle; .pdf was my first ink'd fill.
Lewis, I loved this theme! Fresh and a hoot! I didn't get what was really going on until JzB explained it but I could see there was some pattern and that helped me get 1a [NW was last corner to fill]. Thanks for popping into The Corner.
Fun Expo JzB. I need to go back and see which CSNY tune you selected and watch you Bumpa in the last musical link.
WO: N/A
ESPs: EQUUS, AFTRA, ERES, BUSS, HAI
Fav: eFILE and DEAD-TREE
This puzzle didn't really need circles 'cuz of (part x) in clues...
{A}
Funny DR OMK especially after...
Jinx @10:15 - LOL
PK - I was thinking of hard-liquor too.
MdF - Youngest will be seeing Hamilton next week while visiting Aunt Suzie in SFO. Youngest knows every word to every song and can barely contain herself.
Speaking of Youngest - her and DW set off to NYC this morning at 3:30 [6:15a flight].
TTP - Perceptive; I did have the blog up. The "image" on the middle-screen is actually the edit redacting my employer's logo.
The street-view thing is funny. I took a virtual stroll through the Quarter and passed a cement-truck. When I turned around to go the other way, the truck wasn't there. Not sure how Google ties all the images together but they certainly are from different times.
Except for some technical books (for searchability), I am a fan of the DEAD-TREE version and prefer hard-covers.
So, did anyone listen to the James ENSOR song I posted @10:54? It sounds better on the album (yes, I have it) but I thought "live" would be more fun.
Cheers, -T
Interdigitate-hold hands
Osculate-kiss
Fairly innocent.
JazzB - It's rare for me to disagree with Ol' Man Keith, but I take strong exception to his comment @1333. I thought the piece was beautiful and the ensemble sounded magnificent! OMK, I'm surprised (dismayed) at you being so virulent against something culturally positive, though not to your taste. Not like it's rap or something.
I had the great pleasure of playing in one of the early academic trombone ensembles started by John Marcellus at Catholic U in D.C. in the late '60s. My brother was his student and John invited me to play tuba or electric bass whenever they had a part.
Spitz - thanks for posting results of your research. A more idiomatic translation of the title might be ".....for Low Brass" (deep metal or deep sheet metal). In an orchestra the trombones and tuba are routinely referred to as the low brass; in a band it's trombones, euphoniums and tubas.
Careful Mike, lest you too will disparage something culturally significant yet not to your taste. Now I'm not a huge fan of rap, although there are hundreds of exceptions I enjoy and actually decided to purchase and add to my collection. But there is no denying it's effect on our culture. Millions of people enjoy it for both it6s aesthetic and it's message, whether or not you agree.
Am I the only one who hates circles ?
I like them.
I never see the circles on Mensa, so I just am mildly irritated when they are included. Just another of life's little annoyances I can't do anything about. Takes too much effort to hate.
Good evening, folks. Thank you, Lewis Rothlein, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Jazzbumpa, for a fine review.
Especially liked the MTA. Thank you, Jazzbumpa. One of my favorite songs.
Got the puzzle done easily. The theme was tough to suss. I am not sure I have it yet.
My last to get was NUEVE. I had NIEVE. Finally woke up.
Yes, I got STILLS this time. Last time we had CSNY I had no idea what it was.
Liked DEAD TREE. Even though I do not agree with that thought.
Cubs are winning tonight. 6-3 Top of the ninth.
Spitz: I get my catheter out on Friday. I would never even consider doing it myself.
See you tomorrow, folks.
Abejo
( )
I read an e-book once and found it terribly unsatisfying. I guess I'm too accustomed to the feel of the pages, turning them, all the physicality of it. Our next book club selection is an oldie, Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor.
Circles don't bother me one way or another. I have occasionally found them helpful to the solve but not usually.
YR, yes "interdigitate" didn't belong and I figured it out. But it sounded so good...
Nice of Lewis to drop in. He certainly created a test for a Wednesday. I despaired about finishing that NE. I thought SLAVIC would work.
I always have had trouble with Balkans and Baltic. The latter geographic. Let's LIU Balkan.
Ok. Geopolitical vs geological.
WC
PS. I used to date the CRAFTy Arts girl on the playground.
I just came across this article that I'm sure Husker and Joe will find interesting. I know there are a couple other baseball/sports fans around that might be curious also so I decided to share it here. I hope they have either already seen it or find my link tomorrow
'The Midwest vibe': What Omaha reveals about the state of baseball https://es.pn/2FhEoL2
via @ESPN App http://espn.com/app
If that doesn't help maybe just Google the title as I found it via the app on my smartphone and may be different for a desktop.
Be prepared though, it's a long one and may require a couple sittings to finish. Enjoy.
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