google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, August 30, 2019 Joe Deeney

Advertisements

Aug 30, 2019

Friday, August 30, 2019 Joe Deeney



BIRD IDIOMS


18. Fat flier?: ROUND ROBIN.
A round robin is a tournament format in which every player (or team) plays every other player (or team) in order.

26. Frozen flier?: COLD TURKEY.
Cold turkey has come to mean to suddenly stop doing something.  Often associated with quitting smoking. 

40. Feeble flier?: LAME DUCK.
Referring to an elected official who is nearly powerless because they are only holding the position  until the end of the current term.

53. Funny flier?: SILLY GOOSE.
I think the meaning of silly goose has to be taken in context.  It can be playful and it can be insulting.

64. Frugal flier?: BUDGET HAWK.
One who trains the focus of a keen eye and a sharp pencil on a spending plan, looking for opportunities to pare spending.



Each theme "flier" clue was described with an adjective that began with the letter F.   5 theme clues that used only 6 different words.  Pretty neat.   Definitely consistent.

I enjoyed solving this puzzle and spotting the birds hidden in the clues.  I had no idea where we were going until I got one.    I hope you did not find this puzzle "for the birds."  


Across:

1. Letters before QIA: LGBTLGBTQIAPK+ and What It Means

5. "Harrumph!": PSHAW.

10. Chance in a box: AT BAT.

15. "Small world": OH HI.

16. Make it right: ATONE.

17. First two-time Nobelist: CURIEMarie Skłodowska Curie

20. Cuts back: TRIMS.

21. Suffix with violin: IST.

22. For whom Wednesday is named: ODIN.

23. One of a famous 154: SONNETA Guide to the Sonnets of William Shakespeare

24. Ignite: START.

29. Unpleasant look: SNEER.

31. Dress down: BERATE.  Refund: Rebate.  Old car: Beater.  

32. Metaphorical Donne poem: THE FLEA.

34. Rand who created Howard Roark: AYN.  From the book, The Fountainhead.

35. Old phone part: DIAL.   I posted this before.  I love how the parents? encourage the boys to figure out how it works. 


39. Half a matching set: HIS.

43. __ wrongs ...: TWO.  don't make a right.

44. Bet first: OPEN.

46. Phil's twin on "Rugrats": LIL.  Phil and Lil DeVille.  No idea.

47. Eyes slyly: PEEPS AT.

49. Baffler: ENIGMA.

52. Jet: SPRAY.

57. "Creed" actress Thompson: TESSATessa Thompson   No idea.

59. Simultaneity: UNISONBallet Mécanique

60. Rick's "kid": ILSA.   Casablanca

62. Comedy club reactions: HAs.  HA HA HA HA HA !

63. Colorful four-tone toy: SIMON.


67. Vintner's concern: AGING.  Oeno stuff.

68. Didn't dine out: ATE IN.

69. Latin 101 verb: AMAT.   He loves.

70. "That's incorrect": NOT SO.

71. "It __ happened yet": HASN'T.

72. "So Sick" singer: NE-YO.   Shaffer Chimere Smith   No idea.

Down:

1. Sri Lankan primate: LORIS.  So cute.  Don't rub their bellies.


2. The Flying Dutchman, for one: GHOST SHIPA Tale From Holland

3. Group with an extremely high population?: BHUTANESE.   The people of Bhutan.    The country's landscape ranges from lush subtropical plains in the south to the sub-alpine Himalayan mountains in the north, where there are peaks in excess of 7,000 metres (23,000 ft). - Wikipedia

4. Sn, on a table: TIN.   And  27. Pb, on a table: LEAD.     Elements in the Periodic Table, in Group 14 (the Carbon Group), Periods 5 and 6 respectively. 

5. Cowpoke's pal: PARD.

6. Not easily moved: STOIC.

7. Fraternize: HOBNOB.

8. Team's lack?: AN I.

9. Harmless cyst: WEN.

10. Carry on: ACT OUT.

11. Flush: TURN RED.

12. Precipice: BRINK.

13. "Mental Illness" Grammy winner Mann: AIMEE

14. Cross: TESTY.

19. "How about that": DO TELL.

23. Politician's positions: STANCES.

25. One sometimes accused of being blind: REF (eree).  

28. Stop producing opportunities, as a financial market: DRY UP.

30. Adjust, as wheels: REALIGN.

32. Brief while?: THO (ugh).   While I tend to agree that two wrongs don't make a right, sometimes tit for tat feels good.  Though I don't think it's always the best reaction. 

33. Pal of Picasso: AMIGO.

36. "So sad!": IT'S A SHAME.

37. Far off: AWAYS AWAY.

38. Land purchase: LOT.

41. Muppet who doesn't use the pronoun "I": ELMO.

42. Didn't give up on: KEPT AT.

45. __ Column: Trafalgar Square monument: NELSON'S.
Nelson's last and most famous battle was fought off the Spanish cape of Trafalgar, when he defeated Napoleon and the French and Spanish fleets. 

48. Mature leader?: PRE.

50. "12 Years a Slave" Oscar winner Lupita __: NYONG'O.  "12 Years a Slave is a 2013 biographical period drama film and an adaptation of the 1853 slave memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, a New York State-born free African-American man who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C. by two con men in 1841 and sold into slavery."

Nyong'o played the role of Patsey, a slave who works alongside Northup at a Louisiana cotton plantation.

51. Thought-revealing drama techniques: ASIDES.

53. Geena's "Thelma & Louise" co-star: SUSAN.   "It stars Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise, two friends who embark on a road trip with unforeseen consequences."

54. Fictional fencer Montoya: INIGO.  Inigo Montoya is a fictional character in William Goldman's 1973 novel The Princess Bride.

55. Age __: LIMIT.

56. Onetime Rolex rival: ELGIN.   "Elgin was founded in 1864, right as the civil war was coming to an end. The first watch Elgin made, an 18 sized B W Raymond railroad grade watch, was finished in 1867 and over the next 100 years, they went on to produce about 60 million watches. Elgin produced their first wristwatch around 1910." -  The Elgin Watch Collectors Site

Fun Trivia ?  NBA HOF'er Elgin Baylor was named after his father's favorite watch: -  NBA.com - Legends Profile: Elgin Baylor

58. Invite as one's date for: ASK TO.

61. Email folder: SENT.

64. "Harrumph!": BAH.

65. Acting guru Hagen: UTA.
"Hagen was an influential acting teacher who taught, among others, Matthew Broderick, Christine Lahti, Amanda Peet, Jason Robards, Sigourney Weaver, Katie Finneran, Liza Minnelli, Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Lemmon, Charles Nelson Reilly, Manu Tupou, Debbie Allen, Herschel Savage, George Segal, Jon Stewart, and Al Pacino. She was a voice coach to Judy Garland" - Wikipedia

66. Role for Harrison: HAN.   Actor Harrison Ford played Han Solo.




53 comments:

Lemonade714 said...

Well for F sake! I have always enjoyed alliteration and this puzzle does that very well. Many fun clue/fill combinations and some learning moments. I knew the actress but not how to spell NYONG'O. Same story with BHUTANESE.

I have always enjoyed the work of actor MANDY PATINKIN and his performance as INIGO MONTOYA is memorable.

Thank you, Tom and Joe. If like me you are in the path of a hurricane, be safe. Otherwise, enjoy Labor Day.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

The NE and SW gave me fits this morning. I guessed that maybe I was wrong about CURIE, and took it out. Should've taken out PARES. The perps finally came to the rescue. In the opposite corner SIMO_ looked weird and so did NYO_GO. But I WAGged an N. Phew!

ELGIN: I had a Lord Elgin wristwatch in my ute. Now I wear a Casio "atomic" watch.

NYONG'O: What does that make me think of some sort of African antelope? Brain freeze?

So, Lemon, are you going to hunker or flee? I guess I need to check in on my brother. He lives on the Florida Atlantic coast.

desper-otto said...

Forgot to thank Joe for the conundrum. TTP, I loved those birdie cartoons you dredged up.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, TTP and friends. Youch! This was a toughie. When I first saw the fliers in the clue, I initially though that we were referring to some sort of airplane. It wasn't until the COLD TURKEY appeared on my second pass, that I realized we were looking for birds. That helped considerably with completing the rest of the puzzle.

The Flying Dutchman is also an opera by Richard Wagner, which is about the GHOST SHIP.

The SIMON toy is completely new to me.

There's NO I in Team!

CSO to Tinbini with the Sn = TIN. Stay safe, my friend, and everyone else in the path of Dorian.

QOD: You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out. ~ Warren Buffett (b. Aug. 30, 1930)

TTP said...



D'OH ! Missed the obvious CSO to TIN(beni) !


C.C. has a puzzle "Men of Steal" over at:
puzzles.usatoday.com.

Mark McClain has a puzzle "Internet Trading" over at:
merriam-webster.com word games.


Yellowrocks said...

Très difficile! I loved the clever theme. I had much trouble in the SW. I knew it was IN*GO. Which vowel? Very slowly AGE LIMIT, SIMON and AGING dawned on me. I could not remember SUSAN Sarandon, so I LIU, providing enough perps to finish. I never heard of NYONGO, LIL and NEYO. Still lots of fun and a worthy challenge.
Our kids had SIMON. It was fascinating for a while.
BHUTANESE was so tricky. I got it with almost all perps. Ooh! High up in the mountains.
I enjoyed Thelma and Louise and saw it twice.
12 Years a Slave was thought provoking. I read the book and saw the film. Both were great. I am not big on remembering performers names.
TTP, as always, a fine job.

Herb Tarlek said...

I had a SIMON. But not the first iteration. I had the second edition, a super Simon. It was rectangular and had 2 sets of lighted buttons to push. My sister received a Merlin the same Christmas. A hand held game that had several games involving lights and memory. Both good toys for young minds.

Obligatory corner favorite link for 26a:

Oh the humanity

Big Easy said...

Whew! After struggling for a long time, I finished this one. I noticed the bird theme after BUDGET HAWK & SILLY GOOSE but was sweating out finishing the puzzle. Tough, tough ambiguous clues and many unknowns that had to completed by perps. INIGO, LIL, AIMEE Mann, TESSA Thompson, NEYO, NYONGO, & THE FLEA- never heard of any of them.

Just like D-otto, the NE & SW were the hardest to fill. In the NW TIN & GHOST SHIP WERE gimmes but BHUTANESE & LORIS, while known, didn't emerge easily. The LGBT-STUVWXYZ-QIA was just a guess that got it started.

I guess 'Harrumph' can mean anything you want it to mean. BAH & PSHAW don't even come close to meaning the same thing. Had to wait for the perps to fill both.

DIAL- how about the old television warning, "Don't touch that DIAL", not wanting you to change stations.

"Fun-ner Trivia"- when ELGIN Baylor was the coach of the NEW ORLEANS, not Utah, Jazz, his wife and other players' & coaches' wives sat in courtside box seats next to the ones next to the one I sat in, courtesy of some company's season tickets. My friend worked for them.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a delightful theme with lots of tricky cluing and misdirection. Favorite was Rick's "Kid"=Ilsa. I was momentarily tempted to put in Desi but then I realized it was calling for the "Here's looking at you, kid!" Clever, clever. There were several unknowns: Neyo, The Flea, Lil, Tessa, etc. and the NW corner's Loris, Ghost Ship, Bhutanese cluster almost did me in. It took me forever to see what QIA was asking for. I guess the out-of-order sequence threw me off. I finally prevailed and finished w/o help. I was not familiar with Budget Hawk but all the other themers were spot on. Cold Turkey reminded me of the quit smoking PSA's turkey who is beginning to annoy me as much as Limu the Emu. Nice CSO to Tin, though.

Thanks, Joe, for a fun Friday solve and thanks, TTP, for a wonderfully graphic and informative review, especially the images of our feathered friends and thanks for pointing out the alliteration in the clues, which went right over my head.

FLN

PK, what a nice, uplifting treat to have your friend visit. True friends, especially long time ones, are worth their weight in gold.

To those in Dorian's path, stay safe and sound.

Have a great day.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

I liked this rather avian puzzle. Sussing the theme words helped with some of the rest. Had help with SUSAN and LORIS, but made good use of WAGs for the other unknowns. Particularly lucky with SIMON and "THE FLEA". Some new fill added to the interest.
NELSON'S was a gimme. We have seen it; with a solid "patina" of pigeon poo.
Sn - Tin. The Sn, from the Latin lives on through the adjective for TIN, stannous. Similarly Pb comes from plumbum, Latin for LEAD.

Anonymous said...

Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya....

Ouch. 17:06 today, but clever puzzle.

I wasn't familiar with "budget hawk," but perp-able thanks to "frugal."

Tessa & Nyongo are both very good actresses.

I still want to add "get" at the clue, "flush" for "turn red."

Anonymous said...

"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly"- Less Nessman

desper-otto said...

I thought the "big guy" Mr. Carlson said that.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

DNF, looking up INIGO and NYONGO.

At one time there were a handful of men from both parties who actually cared about wasteful government spending. They were called BUDGET HAWKS. Unfortunately they are extinct.

CSO to Hahtoolah too.

Didn't want to give up on the blind ump until SNEER opened my eyes.

These isn't an I in team, but there is an "M" and an "E".

The last V8 can to strike was after I filled BHUTANESE. I was sure that it must be sparsely populated. And it is. "Coloradan" are also a high population, in more ways than one, and it has the right number of letters.

Thanks to Joe for the puzzle that I'm sure will be right in some of our groups' wheelhouse. I'm not woke enough to fully enjoy it. And thanks to TTP for the fun review.

Tinbeni said...

TTP: Excellent, informative write-up. Good job!!!

Fave today, was MY CSO at 4-d, TIN.

Well, now is the funny part of Hurricane Dorian ...
It is a bright, sunny day here in Tarpon Springs today.
You could almost not have a better day ...

Yet that storm is coming ... but it will be here in 4 or 5 days ...
I will probably go to Honeymoon Island tomorrow ... enjoy the beach.

But that storm will be here ... the 100 hour countdown is boring.

Lemon be safe on the "East Coast" ... I'm glad I'm on the "West Coast."

Yes, I will be paying attention to the Weather Channel a lot over the weekend.

Talk with y'all probably on Tuesday or Wednesday next week.

A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.

Cheers!

CanadianEh! said...

Well this was a Friday workout! Thanks for the fun, Joe and TTP.
I had many unknowns today and conceded in the NW corner. But I saw all the birds (although I missed the alliterative F in the clues!). I smiled broadly at ROUND ROBIN.
And I saw the CSO to TIN.

Let me count the inkblots. I thought 10A was referring to some sort of Bet, before the baseball game appeared - AT BAT.
Love is blind - no, today it is the REF (not the baseball Ump).
Hand up for Pares before TRIMS.
I saw Q/A before QIA and wanted Freq (thinking of questions/answers FAQ). Interesting article, TTP, explaining all those initials.
Other unknowns include LORIS, NEYO, AIMEE, INIGO, spelling of NYONG'O.
I see a mixed response here for familiarity with that SIMON toy? Unknown to me.

I did not remember Donne's THE FLEA and I LIUed. I'll leave you to do that for yourself . . . let's just say that the poem and its metaphor is like a Rotary DIAL - an ENIGMA to this current generation.

BHUTAN was not my first thought for a "high" country. Maybe Nepal . . . or Canada (Rocky Mountain High) now that marijuana is legal. (I see Jinx thought of Colorado.)
"Eyes slyly" was Leers before PEEPs perped. (Don't you love that alliteration?)
"Dress down" did not refer to Friday's clothing option.
Yes, IM, it took a moment for the light to dawn with ILSA.

My first thought for the Muppet who doesn't use the pronoun "I" was Miss Piggy with her "MOI"; ELMO fit the spot. At least I is gender neutral (refer back to 1A).

OH HI and START seemed rather bland answers for "Small world" and "Ignite".
I also noted a plethora (love that word!) of little phrases, ATE IN, ASK TO, DRY UP, KEPT AT, NOT SO, ACT OUT. Maybe I am just AGING. BAH!

Wishing you all a great day. (We Canadians are celebrating the start of LaboUr Day Weekend)

Tinbeni said...

oops,

Forgot to mention my FUN plans for today ...

At Noon today I'm getting in my CR-Z and heading to Miami ...

Where I will be enjoying The Rolling Stone's concert tonight.

Then it will be a 5 hour drive back to Villa Incognito over night.

That is the best way to enjoy the coming storm.

Cheers!

Jerome Gunderson said...

Woden, or Odin, Wednesday

Tyr, a god of war, Tuesday

Thor, Thursday

Frigg, Odin's wife, Friday

26 percent of the English language is Norse

Yellowrocks said...

This puzzle was about the birds, but not for the birds. It was quite worthwhile.
It is worthy of praise and admiration rather than...
-BAH which expresses disdain or contempt
-HARRUMPH which voices disapproval in a gruff tone
-PSHAW which also expresses disapproval and contempt.
IMO the three negatives are near enough synonyms.

Jinx, I, too, think it is difficult to find a budget hawk of either party who has any influence.

Glorious day here. Sunny with gentle breezes and temps in the high 70's and low 80's. Just right!
I worry about all of you in Dorian's way. Stay safe.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Joe Deeney, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, TTP, for a fine review.

This was one tough puzzle. Took me a while to wade through it. Caught theme easy enough. That really helped.

Tried BLIND ROBIN before ROUND ROBIN worked much better.

OH HI was clever for small world. Makes sense. That helped me with GHOST SHIP. I had the SHIP part and a few of the letter with perps.

Liked ELGIN for 56D. I live about 7 miles from the original site of the Elgin National Watch Company in Elgin, IL. There were two Masonic Lodges in Elgin for many years. Elgin Lodge #117 and Monitor Lodge #522. Most of the older members of Monitor Lodge were employees of the Elgin National Watch Company. I believe the word Monitor can be associated with a timepiece. My two cents.

AWAYS AWAY was a tough one.

Never heard of THE FLEA. Perps.

Got SONNET with perps and a wag. Did not know it was tied to Shakespeare.

Well, I have to run. My brain is played out after this puzzle. See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Anonymous said...

and Pb leads to plumber

Anonymous said...

Why has MENSA discontinued its LA TIMES CROSSWORD section ?

AnonymousPVX said...


Got an incomplete on this tough Friday grid.

I thought I was PC and knew all the abbreviations, but I never got 1A on my own. Had to look up 4D, and I’m ashamed, haha.

So many markovers, not even worth listing...plus 1A not filled.

I’m actually pleased I got the rest of it.

On to Saturday.

Yuman said...

OH HI “small world”? I must be over thinking I don’t get it.

TTP said...


Yuman, "Small world" as a greeting in unexpectedly meeting an acquaintance somewhere.

Anonymous at 12:12, they didn't tell us why. C.C. has posted the link to the Washington Post at the top right of the Blogger page. If you are on a mobile device, you might have to scroll down and the press the "Load Web Page Version" to see the links on the right side of the page.

Tinman, I'm envious. I blew it when they plated in Chicago and I didn't go.

TTP said...


So much for this new keyborad having fewer tyupos.

David R said...

The phrase is A WAYS AWAY, difficult to parse on first reading.

Irish Miss said...

Correction to my earlier post. The annoying turkey is not on a stop smoking PSA, it's on a commercial for Chantix, a stop smoking aid. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

I liked the theme but that's about all. Way too many proper names, ? clues for me to enjoy this puzzle.

Picard said...

From Yesterday:
Wilbur Charles thanks for asking about me. I had my two week follow up with the surgeon and he said I could start making the transition to eating some real food. He said it would be about 6-8 weeks of transition as the swelling in my esophagus goes down. But some things are permanently off limits. Including carbonated beverages.

I can walk fairly far, but so far only on level ground. My next attempt will be to try to hike a bit uphill.

From last Saturday:
Here I witnessed BETEL nut spitting in the small village of Banaue in Southeast Asia.

They call it Moma. In the middle photo you can see a place where it IS allowed to spit this horrid stuff. Reputed to be the most addictive substance known.

Picard said...

I agree with Anon at 1:45 that I enjoyed today's theme. But too many proper names spoiled it and made it a slog.

Learning moment about SIMON. Never heard of this. The video did not really explain how it is played.

Learning moment about all the extensions of LGBT. DW and I went to our local Pride festival this past weekend. I have some videos which I might share if there is interest.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-I got a last minute call to sub for my friend this morning and then when I got here, it turned out to be all day.
-What a fun challenge Joe gave me this morning!
-LG_T had to be G but I don’t know some of last few letters.
-BHUTANESE was wonderful fill but I struggled mightily
-Play SIMON online!
-Oops, here comes a gaggle of sophomores. Gotta run.

Yellowrocks said...

I still like the Chantix turkey and the Gecko. I have had it with the emu and Flo.
TTP, I always get a keyboard that makes typos, too. LOL

Anonymous said...

One sometimes accused of being blind: I thought of a bat.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't get Miss Piggy to fit.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Ta ~ DA!
I really liked this pzl from Mr. Deeney. It's the kind of challenge that is just beyond my usual range--but do-able with P, P, & P. (Makes you feel smart when you knock 'em off!)

Thank you, TTP for the bright illustrations! I loved the Groucho Goose, 'THO it reminded me that his totem was a duck. ("Say the secret word, and the duck will come down...")
That Chantix TURKEY is a hit at our home. Never mind the product. We never seem to remember what they're selling anyway.
My only beef with those ads is that the narrator tries to tell us the opposite of "COLD TURKEY" is "slow turkey."
"Hah!" I yell at the screen.
The opposite must be "warm turkey."
~ OMK
____________
DR:
No diags today. Asymmetry strikes again!

john28man said...

Anonymous 12:12 and anyone else.

Iffound it here: https://games.latimes.com/games/daily-crossword/

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Big Fat DNF. I could not suss the western-seaboard (except for Themers - those were easy once you got the gimmick).

Thanks Joe for the puzzle. The SW had too many unknown names and I thought a Flying Dutchman was akin to a Whirling Dervish -- both of which I was completely wrong about [they're not a crazy acrobatic dancees?!?] until a Google for a link. Oh, well - at least I've learned something today :-)

Thanks for the expo, TTP (and a peek at the grid so I could continue play).

BAH! Neither a BAT (hi @2:35!), nor UMP (WEES), but a REF. Aha! THE FLEA. I don't know why I know that [blame DW, the English PhD].

I did think SIMON but only had LIMIT's 'M' for perp-support. I should have went with it anyway, I didn't have perp-support for LIMIT - wait, that's NOT SO...

The Central to the East-Coast, however, was easy sailing - only 1 WO at eLSA b/f ILSA. PARD, AT BAT, CURIE, and everything flowed from there.

Fav: A WAYS AWAY. It's just a fun phrase.

FLN - re: D4's request. Alls you have to do is wrap your <a> tag in a <b> tag to make links both Blue and Bold [don't forget to close both tags]. If you don't know how, don't sweat it. But if you do know how - It'll make D4's life a little easier.

{} //You OK?
The well runneth dry on diags today, eh?, OMK?

@9:37 - D-O is correct. It was the Big Guy [@ 3:51]

Picard - The game SIMON is like the end of Close Encounters. The toy beeps and flashes a pattern and then you return the beeps (and flashes) by hitting the corresponding coloUr.* It starts easy with, say, just one tone/color, adds one at each turn, and slowly ramps up to whatever you can handle in rapid succession. Play HG's link for a taste of it.

TIN - Full report from the Stone's concert. They'll be here in Houston on --- oh, crap! Skootch over and make room, TTP; it was 7/27 :-(

Stay safe our Florida Cornerites.

Cheers, -T
*just for you C, Eh! OH, And I loved your re-cap today!

Anonymous T said...

Now clicking everyone's links says...

Apologies to Herb Tarlek - I linked the same clip.

Nice pics Picard!

Cheers, -T

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Loved the feathered theme! I declare, Joe Deeney is a Bird Brain -- and I mean that in the most complimentary way. Thanks! Thanks so much, TTP for your time and humor.

Instead of reiterating WEES about names & games, I will just say I knew SUSAN, INIGO, CURIE and another one.

With a "B" & "ESE" in place, I WAGd BHUTANESE. My nephew spent several years with a Mission here in the states training church-sponsored BHUTANESE immigrants to live in the USA. Lovely hardworking people but had very primitive farming backgrounds. Then they were plopped in a big city knowing little English or how to support themselves. He taught language and such skills as how to manage money, grocery shop, operate a vacuum cleaner & laundry machines & lawn mowers, etc.

My mother, Gma, and three other female relatives had a ROUND ROBIN letter when I was growing up. Each would write a little something of their activities and tuck it in a new envelope with the others to send to the next recipient on their chain. That was when i became PK in print. I read every one as a "younster" since we didn't live close to relatives and they said nice things about me. Sometimes I drew a picture or sent my own news with Mom's letter.

Prayers for the safety of our Floridians! My niece & nephew live down there also. My niece's husband seemed insulted that I might think he, a native of Florida, would be worried about a hurricane. Okay, I'll just pray for your two pre-school children & wife then.

We had three hours of hard rain in the dark morning hours. Lot of boomers but no wind. No sleep either.

Jayce said...

I laughed out loud when I got ROUND ROBIN. The only bird I didn't easily get was BUDGET HAWK because I have not heard that phrase before. Deficit hawk, yes. I also learned that The Flying Dutchman was the ship, not the man. A wrinkle in my brain just changed shape.

I loved the clue for BHUTANESE, which is also pretty neato fill. A WAYS AWAY is awesome, too.

Is PEEPSAT a new kind of satellite?

TTP, thanks for the write-up and the nifty pics.

A big CSO to Susan at, uh, SUSAN.

It's surprising how many of the two-letter symbols for the elements are from the Latin. In addition to Pb for lead and Sn for tin we have Na for the ubiquitous sodium, Fe for iron, and many others. I was surprised at how many there are.

I guess simply LGBT isn't enough.

THE FLEA sounds like a tiny superhero, like The Tick or Antman.

There is no I in team and no I from the mouth of ELMO. I notice, however, there is an I both in TIN and in ICE. Hmmm...

Stay safe, Miami. Blow away, Mar-a-Lago.

Anonymous T said...

Burning a post here say...

LOL! Jayce - PEEP-SAT: the latest NSA sponsored NASA mission.
//BTW, for those with TIN-foil hats [no, this is really a PSA if you can understand it], did you catch this Zero Project [Google lab] report.
TL;DR - update your iThing ASAP.

PK - that "All thunder and no rain /aka hat-no-cattle" of yours pushed down to Houston. I've been waiting an hour for the droplets to lull me to nap. Nope, just Snap, Crackles, and Boom!s.

Cheers, -T

Jayce said...

PK, the training your nephew gave/gives is extremely useful. Knowledge of how to do all those little everyday tasks is so important. Before my parents shipped me off to boarding school my mom taught me how to run a washing machine and vacuum cleaner, how to iron my clothes, how to make a bed, etc. I was very glad to know how to do that stuff.

On a related topic, I lament the disappearance of trade schools and classes in "home ec", shop, etc in public schools. To me, since school is purportedly to prepare one to live in this world, and even to prepare to get a job, teaching such skills, including, say, programming and bookkeeping, are indispensable.

Kim Campbell said...

It's a shame that people's political persuasions allow for otherwise poor behavior. If Mar-a-lago is indeed blown away, the lives lost and jobs lost will devastate more loved ones than you could handle on your conscience. Besides the intended target of your hate would likely reap millions of dollars in benefit due to his insurance.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Yeah Kim I was going to ask Jayce if he also hopes all the groundskeepers, cooks, housekeepers, desk clerks and so on drown in the storm. If not, why not? They will likely be there, since the buildings are probably more substantial than their homes.

Wilbur Charles said...

I couldn't come up with HAN. I did think of SKY(Walker). AWAYS AWAY just beat me silky although I perped it in.

WC

Picard said...

AnonT thank you for explaining SIMON. I did watch the link from Husker Gary but I was not getting what was going on. Now I do.

And thanks for the kind words about my BETEL photos! I have many more interesting photos from that spectacular place. That was enough encouragement for me to upload my videos from our local LGBTQ... event last weekend.

Here are four short Burlesque video clips I made at our local LGBTQ event "Pacific Pride Festival" last weekend.

WARNING: The dancing is PG rated, but some of the "music" lyrics not so much. There were a lot of children there in this public park and the EMCEE (a frequent puzzle entry) had to "explain" this to the children.

JJM said...

I would say that this was the hardest FRI puzzle this year. Took me forever to complete and still I had to red-letter 4 cells. A true stumper.... but fair.

Jayce said...

I regret having made that Mar-a-Lago remark, and apologize for having done so. I understand how it could be construed as being in earnest and that I intended it to be taken literally. I assure you it was said in jest, and that I do not in any way wish harm upon anybody. As sometimes happens, my attempts at humor fall flat and result in my making some really dumb things. I'll be more careful in future.

KC said...

Jayce. You are a stand up guy. If I recall correctly, you've apologized in the past for some minor transgression. Unprompted I think. But I admire a man who can look at something from all angles and you have demonstrated this on multiple occassions. So many posters here(and the internet in general) cannot or will not do so.

Thank You.

Roy said...

I remembered Donne's FLEA poem, but tried "To a" and "On a"; couldn't remember THE.

There are many variations on non-binary genders; the acronym can become extremely long. I usually just think of it as LGBT&.

My complete Shakespeare numbers the SONNETs from I to CLIV, but did I recall that?...

I know BHUTAN is a nation, but couldn't grok ...ESE from the clue.

DNF

CanadianEh! said...

AnonT - Thanks for the proper spelling of colour ( although you missed it on the second one😒).
At first, I didn't see the * and thought you were referring to your proper use of eh with OMK! 👍

Yeah, I was on a roll today.😀

Anonymous said...

I thought many of the answers were obscure. I had trouble on the left hand side of the grid. I like to think with these puzzles, but five of the answers were no where in my acumen.