Theme: Clueless in Los Angeles - but step down and find the unclued related theme entry!
20A. Court address: YOUR + 25A. -: HONOR
18A. World's largest lizard: KOMODO + 23A -: DRAGON
53A. Percussion piece: SNARE + 57A. -: DRUM
55A. Shotgun type: DOUBLE + 62A. -: BARREL. One of my favorite movies is Guy Richie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". Here is Vinnie Jones, who was a professional football player in England before he moved to acting. Trust me, he was pretty much the same on the field as he was in his movie persona:
The reveal tells us:
40A. Instructions for fire safety ... or for completing four puzzle answers: STOP DROP AND ROLL
Great puzzle - you fill in the first part of the theme entry - then you run out of space, but what? Drop down a square and fill in the second word, unclued. So that takes care of the "STOP" and "DROP" in the reveal, but what is this? A ROLL - Honor roll, Dragon roll (sushi, yay!), drum roll and barrel roll. Woo-hoo! A great puzzle from Jack, there is much to like in this one. I think this might be Jack's first puzzle in the LA Times, so Huzzah! for that.
I had no clue regarding the theme until I noticed that I'd filled in "DRUM" with the crosses, and I just guessed at SNARE. Then I looked at a mostly empty grid, and realized what we were dealing with. I love the unlocking the secret of a puzzle, and this one is up there with my favorites. I respect the creative thought that goes into these. Thanks, Jack, you had me bemused for quite some time. Bravo! - Or, as I have learned from watching the great Tour de France this year - "Chapeau"! *
Across:
1. Digital unit: BIT. Bits, bytes, megabytes. No-one thought of terabytes back in the day, that was science fiction. I have a 2TB hard drive to back up my computer, it's the size of Post-It pad and cheap enough to make Captain Kirk's eyes water. We'll come back to the Post-It note at some point, fascinating history for the iconic 3M product.
4. Play the part of: ACT AS
9. Paintball attire, for short: CAMO. I have camo shorts. I think at one point we all did. No longer a fashion item, I wear them hiking (stealth mode so that I don't get eaten by mountain lions).
13. Cry from a card holder: UNO!
14. Religious leader: CLERIC. I didn't really consider a cleric a leader, I thought he/she would be way down on the totem pole, but I guess a flock, and he leads them.
16. Made man?: ADAM. Made from clay, if I recall correctly. Eve was made with clay and a rib?
17. Home for the holidays, say: OFF. I'm off. Actually, not yet, I still have a puzzle to go.
19. Rooftop spinner: VANE. If it's spinning you've got some serious weather heading your way. Buckle up!
22. FDR job-creating program: WPA
27. Catchers with pots: EELERS. Slippery little buggers - have you tried to catch one with your hands?
28. Like the Avengers: HEROIC
31. Twice DVI: MXII. I miscalculated this and ended up with CODEC which I was sure was correct. Nope. Buzzer!
32. Z preceder: A TO. This was a head-scratcher until I parsed it out. A to Z. There's a town near me called Azusa - it was founded as an industrial manufacturing town - they made everything "from A to Z in the USA."
33. Pancake at a seder: LATKE
36. Longtime Sweethearts maker: NECCO. Hands up everyone who has handed out a Love Heart in school! I gave one to Laura. The pain of unrequited love.
43. Marx forte: HUMOR. Not "Communist Revolutionary Theory"? OK, my bad. Not enough squares.
44. Kim and Kourtney's sister: KHLOE. I hate that I know this.
45. Bundle of cash: WAD
46. Toy with a tail: KITE
48. "Spill it": TELL ME
50. Bassett of "American Horror Story": ANGELA. Crosses all the way. I'm sure she's a great actress in a great movie, but never blipped on my radar.
56. Zing: PEP
61. Where Georgia is: ASIA. I struggle with the Europe/Asia divide, it seems very arbitrary
65. Mineral resource: ORE
66. Move: SELL
67. Cocktail garnishes: OLIVES. Why did I go with LEMONS first? That did not work at all. If I order a martini, I get a Gibson - onions, not olives, in my defense.
68. A long time follower?: AGO. "A long long time ago, I can still remember how the music used to make me smile". Let's sing along with Don McLean. I'm sorry you have to click through a couple of ads, but on a side note, why did the post have a picture of Bob Dylan?
69. Scoundrel: HEEL
70. "Aida" setting: EGYPT
71. Dawn phenomenon: DEW. Sundown also, there is a dewpoint in the evening too. That's when it hurts your plants, when you get dew that freezes overnight.
Down:
1. Elevate: BUOY. "Boy" in English-English, Boo-eey in American English. I think after 25 years I prefer the latter.
2. Scoop: INFO.
3. Curds in cubes: TOFU. Food! Mine goes into Pad Thai noodles. Pour boiling water onto the cubes to dry them out - I know it's counter-intertuitive but it works. Then add them to the wok.
4. "Oy!": ACK!
5. High-capacity vehicle?: CLOWN CAR Colorful, and a nightmare for anyone with coulrophobia:
6. Record time?: TEMPO. Is 33/45/78 a tempo? I'm showing my age, everything now is a download. Damn, I'm old.
7. Like noisy fans: AROAR. I suppose so. Still doesn't beat Grantland Rice's "Under a blue-gray sky, the four horsemen of the apocalypse rode again". Sports journalism at its finest.
8. Vicious on stage: SID. The Sex Pistols. I won't link a song, not everyone's cup of tea. I saw them in a basement room in a pub in North London before Sid joined the band, and boy, I have to say they were talented, they caught the moment and caught lightning in a bottle.
9. High-and-mighty: CAVALIER
10. Wise words: ADAGE
11. Regal home: MANOR. Regal? Not so sure, regal means royal. Lords of the Manor were certainly elevated in society, but not royal.
12. Warning signs: OMENS
15. Book form that replaced the scroll: CODEX. Featured in "The Da Vinci Code". And I couldn't remember the spelling.
21. Pi follower: RHO
24. Team in a seasonal verse: REINDEER
26. Boring contraption: OIL DRILL. Hmm. Oil Drill? Not sure that's a thing. "Can you bring me an oil drill"? Said on-one, ever.
28. Diner dish: HASH
29. Words to a backstabber: ET TU! More like a front-stabber if you read the text. I'll give this one a pass.
30. Part of a Clue accusation: ROOM. Colonel Mustard, Candlestick, Library. It's always the blunt instrument that gets you.
31. "Iron Chef America" creation: MEAL. Food! Nice clue. Mystery ingredient, five courses. Just don't get me started on Alton Brown who is the biggest charlatan in food shows, period. I wouldn't trust him to judge my cooking as far as I could throw him, and that's not a long way.
34. Casino gratuity: TOKE. Learning moment. I've tipped the dealers cash or tokens, but never thought of it as a "toke". I must consign that to the memory banks.
35. Canadian road sign letters: KPH, Don't go too fast, eh?
37. Monk's hood: COWL
38. Quahog or geoduck: CLAM. A geoduck is one heck of a clam.
39. Renaissance faire word: OLDE
41. Sphere used to capture a Pikachu, say: POKEBALL. Now this one I need some help with. My brother-in-law is a huge Pokémon Go fan, I'd ask him but he's old enough to know better. What is the sphere thing? It filled itself in.
42. "Zip it!": NOT A PEEP!
47. Fitness portmanteau: TAE-BO. Taekwondo and Boxing. Apparently.
49. Was in charge: LED
50. Small recipe amount: A DASH. Food! I tend to use a couple of dashes.
51. Long time follower?: NO SEE. Clecho with 68A. Nicely done.
52. Chicanery: GUILE
53. Rosemary unit: SPRIG. "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" Plenty of food! today.
54. Brazen: NERVY
58. "Ice __ Truckers": TV reality series: ROAD
59. Impulse: URGE
60. Cry that may mean "I'm out of tuna!": MEOW! Poor kitty.
63. Microbrewery output: ALE
64. WWII craft: LST. Landing Ship, Tank, I believe.
*I learned that the French also "take their hat off" to someone to show respect. They just abbreviate it to "hat" - hence "Chapeau"!
That's it from me today, here's the grid!
Steve
20A. Court address: YOUR + 25A. -: HONOR
18A. World's largest lizard: KOMODO + 23A -: DRAGON
53A. Percussion piece: SNARE + 57A. -: DRUM
55A. Shotgun type: DOUBLE + 62A. -: BARREL. One of my favorite movies is Guy Richie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". Here is Vinnie Jones, who was a professional football player in England before he moved to acting. Trust me, he was pretty much the same on the field as he was in his movie persona:
The reveal tells us:
40A. Instructions for fire safety ... or for completing four puzzle answers: STOP DROP AND ROLL
Great puzzle - you fill in the first part of the theme entry - then you run out of space, but what? Drop down a square and fill in the second word, unclued. So that takes care of the "STOP" and "DROP" in the reveal, but what is this? A ROLL - Honor roll, Dragon roll (sushi, yay!), drum roll and barrel roll. Woo-hoo! A great puzzle from Jack, there is much to like in this one. I think this might be Jack's first puzzle in the LA Times, so Huzzah! for that.
I had no clue regarding the theme until I noticed that I'd filled in "DRUM" with the crosses, and I just guessed at SNARE. Then I looked at a mostly empty grid, and realized what we were dealing with. I love the unlocking the secret of a puzzle, and this one is up there with my favorites. I respect the creative thought that goes into these. Thanks, Jack, you had me bemused for quite some time. Bravo! - Or, as I have learned from watching the great Tour de France this year - "Chapeau"! *
Across:
1. Digital unit: BIT. Bits, bytes, megabytes. No-one thought of terabytes back in the day, that was science fiction. I have a 2TB hard drive to back up my computer, it's the size of Post-It pad and cheap enough to make Captain Kirk's eyes water. We'll come back to the Post-It note at some point, fascinating history for the iconic 3M product.
4. Play the part of: ACT AS
9. Paintball attire, for short: CAMO. I have camo shorts. I think at one point we all did. No longer a fashion item, I wear them hiking (stealth mode so that I don't get eaten by mountain lions).
13. Cry from a card holder: UNO!
14. Religious leader: CLERIC. I didn't really consider a cleric a leader, I thought he/she would be way down on the totem pole, but I guess a flock, and he leads them.
16. Made man?: ADAM. Made from clay, if I recall correctly. Eve was made with clay and a rib?
17. Home for the holidays, say: OFF. I'm off. Actually, not yet, I still have a puzzle to go.
19. Rooftop spinner: VANE. If it's spinning you've got some serious weather heading your way. Buckle up!
22. FDR job-creating program: WPA
27. Catchers with pots: EELERS. Slippery little buggers - have you tried to catch one with your hands?
28. Like the Avengers: HEROIC
31. Twice DVI: MXII. I miscalculated this and ended up with CODEC which I was sure was correct. Nope. Buzzer!
32. Z preceder: A TO. This was a head-scratcher until I parsed it out. A to Z. There's a town near me called Azusa - it was founded as an industrial manufacturing town - they made everything "from A to Z in the USA."
33. Pancake at a seder: LATKE
36. Longtime Sweethearts maker: NECCO. Hands up everyone who has handed out a Love Heart in school! I gave one to Laura. The pain of unrequited love.
43. Marx forte: HUMOR. Not "Communist Revolutionary Theory"? OK, my bad. Not enough squares.
44. Kim and Kourtney's sister: KHLOE. I hate that I know this.
45. Bundle of cash: WAD
46. Toy with a tail: KITE
48. "Spill it": TELL ME
50. Bassett of "American Horror Story": ANGELA. Crosses all the way. I'm sure she's a great actress in a great movie, but never blipped on my radar.
56. Zing: PEP
61. Where Georgia is: ASIA. I struggle with the Europe/Asia divide, it seems very arbitrary
65. Mineral resource: ORE
66. Move: SELL
67. Cocktail garnishes: OLIVES. Why did I go with LEMONS first? That did not work at all. If I order a martini, I get a Gibson - onions, not olives, in my defense.
68. A long time follower?: AGO. "A long long time ago, I can still remember how the music used to make me smile". Let's sing along with Don McLean. I'm sorry you have to click through a couple of ads, but on a side note, why did the post have a picture of Bob Dylan?
69. Scoundrel: HEEL
70. "Aida" setting: EGYPT
71. Dawn phenomenon: DEW. Sundown also, there is a dewpoint in the evening too. That's when it hurts your plants, when you get dew that freezes overnight.
Down:
1. Elevate: BUOY. "Boy" in English-English, Boo-eey in American English. I think after 25 years I prefer the latter.
2. Scoop: INFO.
3. Curds in cubes: TOFU. Food! Mine goes into Pad Thai noodles. Pour boiling water onto the cubes to dry them out - I know it's counter-intertuitive but it works. Then add them to the wok.
4. "Oy!": ACK!
5. High-capacity vehicle?: CLOWN CAR Colorful, and a nightmare for anyone with coulrophobia:
6. Record time?: TEMPO. Is 33/45/78 a tempo? I'm showing my age, everything now is a download. Damn, I'm old.
7. Like noisy fans: AROAR. I suppose so. Still doesn't beat Grantland Rice's "Under a blue-gray sky, the four horsemen of the apocalypse rode again". Sports journalism at its finest.
8. Vicious on stage: SID. The Sex Pistols. I won't link a song, not everyone's cup of tea. I saw them in a basement room in a pub in North London before Sid joined the band, and boy, I have to say they were talented, they caught the moment and caught lightning in a bottle.
9. High-and-mighty: CAVALIER
10. Wise words: ADAGE
11. Regal home: MANOR. Regal? Not so sure, regal means royal. Lords of the Manor were certainly elevated in society, but not royal.
12. Warning signs: OMENS
15. Book form that replaced the scroll: CODEX. Featured in "The Da Vinci Code". And I couldn't remember the spelling.
21. Pi follower: RHO
24. Team in a seasonal verse: REINDEER
26. Boring contraption: OIL DRILL. Hmm. Oil Drill? Not sure that's a thing. "Can you bring me an oil drill"? Said on-one, ever.
28. Diner dish: HASH
29. Words to a backstabber: ET TU! More like a front-stabber if you read the text. I'll give this one a pass.
30. Part of a Clue accusation: ROOM. Colonel Mustard, Candlestick, Library. It's always the blunt instrument that gets you.
31. "Iron Chef America" creation: MEAL. Food! Nice clue. Mystery ingredient, five courses. Just don't get me started on Alton Brown who is the biggest charlatan in food shows, period. I wouldn't trust him to judge my cooking as far as I could throw him, and that's not a long way.
34. Casino gratuity: TOKE. Learning moment. I've tipped the dealers cash or tokens, but never thought of it as a "toke". I must consign that to the memory banks.
35. Canadian road sign letters: KPH, Don't go too fast, eh?
37. Monk's hood: COWL
38. Quahog or geoduck: CLAM. A geoduck is one heck of a clam.
39. Renaissance faire word: OLDE
41. Sphere used to capture a Pikachu, say: POKEBALL. Now this one I need some help with. My brother-in-law is a huge Pokémon Go fan, I'd ask him but he's old enough to know better. What is the sphere thing? It filled itself in.
42. "Zip it!": NOT A PEEP!
47. Fitness portmanteau: TAE-BO. Taekwondo and Boxing. Apparently.
49. Was in charge: LED
50. Small recipe amount: A DASH. Food! I tend to use a couple of dashes.
51. Long time follower?: NO SEE. Clecho with 68A. Nicely done.
52. Chicanery: GUILE
53. Rosemary unit: SPRIG. "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" Plenty of food! today.
54. Brazen: NERVY
58. "Ice __ Truckers": TV reality series: ROAD
59. Impulse: URGE
60. Cry that may mean "I'm out of tuna!": MEOW! Poor kitty.
63. Microbrewery output: ALE
64. WWII craft: LST. Landing Ship, Tank, I believe.
*I learned that the French also "take their hat off" to someone to show respect. They just abbreviate it to "hat" - hence "Chapeau"!
That's it from me today, here's the grid!
Steve
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.
ReplyDeleteWas today Lokiday? That's the day between Saturday and Sunday that's even harder than Saturday. Both the NW and SW corners gave me conniptions! I did finally FIRight. And I did figure out the gimmick eventually, but the reveal wasn't a big help in doing so.
Some of the more amusing w/os TOE > BIT, GIN > UNO, INN > OFF, MUDVILLE > REINDEER. Clue for BUOY wasn't just deceptive, it was (IMHO) wrong! The A in ADASH was unfair. I thought Georgia was on the European side of the divide. Read 3d as 'cards' many times before realizing it was 'curds'.
I did like the 'long time' clues and A TO Z, and MEOW. I'll bet I was one of only a few who knew CODEX.
TELL ME, tell, me, I want to know
Your HEROIC deeds of LONG TIME AGO!
"I drank a flagon
Then slew a DRAGON.
Then locked myself in the COMMODE, OH!"
The once was a gay young CAVALIER
Who rode his horse, sitting on his rear.
Said, "I never walk,
Lest folks would talk
And my DASHING gait hurt my career!"
{B+, B+.}
Just read over Steve's expo, and see I did NOT get the whole gimmick! The ROLL connection I totally missed!
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Very interesting puzzle, Jack! I caught the gimmick after some concentrated mulling over the fills and unfilled spaces. Can't believe I actually got it. Helped me fill HONOR & SNARE. Very clever.
ReplyDeleteSteve: Thank you for another intesting expo. Always like the OLDE English flavor.
We spent a cold Thanksgiving day long AGO watching some drillers try to bring in an oil well on our ranch land. Steve, I can assure you that an OIL DRILL is very real and large to boot. Alas, the hole was dry, but it was an interesting day. Also made this clue a gimmee.
White rabbit, white rabbit. A new month and our second new LAT constructor this week. This was a very creative combination with the added dimension of the ROLL tie in. Welcome, Jack. He also had an equally inventive debut in the WSJ on December 18, 2018.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Boring contraption: OIL DRILL and High-capacity vehicle?: CLOWN CAR
Owen, you were feisty today but buoy can mean elevate- from the dictionary, Winning an award could buoy your spirits as if you are floating with pride. The verb buoy can mean "boost or increase." And CODEX has been used in puzzles for years as well the DaVinci Code.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteCaught the theme when HONOR showed up, and DRAGON confirmed it. Didn't know what to call it, but I saw how it worked. Why do I think I've seen Jack's name before? Yes, I also tried ONIONS before OLIVES, and didn't know that TAE-BO was a portmanteau. Thanx for the tour, Steve. You had lots of ingredients to work with this morning.
BIT: I, too, have a 2TB "Passport" for backing up my music server.
"Asuza": I doubt that Steve would remember Jan and Dean's "Anaheim, Azusa and Cucamonga Sewing Circle Book Review and Timing Association." I won't link it. It's too puerile. In fact, I'm ashamed that I remember it.
BUOY: I guess I pronounce it the British way. I only say Boo-ee when I'm talking about David or Jim.
Good Morning, Steve and friends. After getting a few letters in the "-" entries, I caught the Roll theme before getting the STOP, DROP, AND ROLL.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite clue was Made Man = ADAM
I also liked the Cry that Might Mean "I'm Out of Tuna!" = MEOW.
Boring Contraption = OIL DRILL was also a fun clue.
I, too, hate that I almost knew KHLOE. Well, I knew that the name would begin with K, but needed a few more letters before I remember the full name.
I have never even heard of having LATKE's at a passover seder. Certainly not an any seder I have ever attended. The food is associated with Chanukah. I found, however, that Latke's and be eaten during passover as long as they are made with matzo meal instead of flour.
QOD: Study as if you were going to live forever; live as if you were going to die tomorrow. ~ Maria Mitchell (Aug. 1, 1818 ~ June 28, 1889), American astronomer
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis is a well-crafted, intricately themed gem of a puzzle. That said, the NW corner nearly did me in, but the old P and P won the day. I had Uno but I just couldn't come up with any of the other fill. I kept wanting Toe for the Digital Unit, silly me. Finally, finally, I got Bit, then Bouy, then Your, etc. and I received the much appreciated and well-earned Tada. Phew! Some of the cluing was devilishly deceiving but also pleasing. It took me forever to see how the Stop, Drop, and Roll worked but I did understand it before Steve explained it so well and his highlighting of the grid made it even clearer. The only unknown was Poke Ball, as I'm only familiar with the title of Pokemon. My w/os were Manse/Manor and KMS/KPS. ACK conjured images of cartoon Cathy, and MEOW conjured images of our resident Mr. Meow, AKA, CED.
Thanks, Jack, for a real head scratcher and congrats on your debut and thanks, Steve, for the informative and enlightening expo. I always enjoy your culinary comments and travelogue tidbits.
FLN
Hondo, hope Casey's companionship and TLC will have you good as new real soon!
CanadianEh, Misty, and YR, thanks for your concern. My MD hasn't changed since my last checkup in January, so that is very good news, indeed.
Have a great day.
Worse than Saturday. Didn't know any of the proper names, Necco, Khloe, Angela, etc.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-DOUBLE BARREL finally hit me and, voila, now I get it. Brilliant! HONOR ROLL, DRUM ROLL and BARREL ROLL stood out but I had never heard of DRAGON ROLL but I am not impervious to learning
-Confidently putting in TOE at 1-A was a big hindrance where fun cluing made NW hard enough
-PINCH was no help in SW with equally devilish cluing
-Gabor : 1950’s = Kardashian : 2000’s. Famous for being famous and not much else
-I’ll take the MARX Brothers
-I stayed with the movie version but it never got better
-Going 100 KMH on a 20 C day in Canada turned out to be a legal speed on a beautiful spring day
-My friends from the south call small gnats “NO SEEUMS”
This looked daunting, but starting at the Great Lakes and going clockwise I filled it in normal time. I wanted CHLOE, but TOKE changed the C to K.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got SNARE DRUM, I congratulated myself on knowing the theme which helped with the drops on the western side and let me wag ---- ---p and roll. Steve showed us an additional layer, dragon roll, drum roll, etc. Fabulous, Jack.
We don't hear HASH House much these days. the only hash common to most diners is the breakfast go-with, hash and eggs.
CODEX was a gimme with just one perp.
Hahtoolah, I questioned LATKEs at a Seder, too. They are very popular here for Chanukah.
OIL DRILL seemed odd. It is not a technical name, but it makes sense literally. You drill for oil with an OIL DRILL.
A religious leader is a cleric. A cleric, the pastor or priest, is the leader of a Christian congregation. A CLERIC, a bishop, is the leader of a diocese.
The Supreme Leader in Iran, Khamenei, and his predecessor, Khomeini, are both clerics.
REGAL need not mean just monarch, but "fit for a monarch", magnificent, dignified. A run down manor is no longer regal looking.
Agnes, good news.
I am back to my so-called 80 year old "normal." The pain in my side is gone. I hope to vacuum the whole house and mop the kitchen floor today between rests.
Alan accumulates water in his arthritic knee. Today he is having it aspirated again.
I was able to get the ROLLS for the BARREL, DRAGON, HONOR, & SNARE but missed the KOMODO, SNARE, & DOUBLE connection (although I filled them). YOUR never made it. But unlike Irish Miss the Olympic peninsula got me today. I just couldn't make it work. Wanted either BIT or TOE, thought maybe ONTO would work for 'Scoop', figured that UNO was correct, but YOUR never came to mind- only SIRE. BUOY was never a thought. DNF. The rest filled okay.
ReplyDeleteKHLOE- I didn't know her but figured OJ's Lawyer's relative started with a K and filled it with perps. ANGELA and POKEBALL were other unknowns filled by perps.
NECCO-bankrupt- the plant shut down last Friday, July 26, 2019
OIL DRILL- because drilling rig wouldn't fit? No ROOM.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteGot the shtick about the same way as Steve - with SNARE DRUM. Got all the theme fills OK. Had errors with ANGELA. KPH was devilish but finally parsing STOP DROP AND ROLL brought me to the finish line. Well conceived and clued by JM. A puzzle at several levels - it was fun to solve. BZ
This was outstanding, especially for a debut. Congratulations, Jack. It had a fresh concept, with skillful execution. The payoff was well worth the initial difficulty, though I’m a bit surprised this didn’t run on Friday. It was tricky enough to make a good ACPT puzzle.
ReplyDeleteNot surprisingly, half the ratings so far at Crossword Fiend are low. I've gone there every day for years, and LAT puzzles tend to get treated with a sneeze. Quite often, they're the best puzzle of the day, but the ratings and reviews rarely reflect this. Thank goodness for the nice folks here.
I figured it out like others, and thought I had it, but I spelled Chloe with a C instead of a K. I didn’t know that a casino gratuity was a TOKE, so FIW.
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle that was challenging and fun. Really liked Steve’s write up.
Have a great day everyone.
Paul C., you have hit on one of the great absurdities of crossword commentary- why do the people who rate on the Fiend find it mandatory to diss every LAT puzzle. I cannot express how often C.C., you, Jeffrey Wechsler, Bruce Haight, or other regular and successful creators receive multiple "1" ratings for your efforts. I also never see any of the Fiend bloggers stand up for the constructors. I know Michael Sharp has made a name being nasty but this is way beyond his criticism. Interestingly, when ZDL had his newspaper debut in the WSJ on December 18, 2018, the Fiend gave him a 4.5 rating on 30 comments. Is it Rich Norris they think they are punishing?
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteA fun grid from Jack Murtagh! Thank you. And thank you, Steve.
The eastern seaboard started me on this odyssey and I saw the theme at COMODO DRAGON. Clever! I did not, however, see how the ROLL part fit, so thank you again, Steve.
I, too, thought that KHLOE would start with a K, so just waited for more letters to emerge.
The clues for REINDEER, ADAM, and CLOWN CAR amused me. And I knew CODEX, Owen.
I have no problem with CLERIC as religious leader because bishops, abbots, popes, etc., area all CLERICS.
Have a fantastic day, everyone!
BTW, I am pleased to hear that Vinnie Jones played football the way he plays his roles. He looks perfect for that role.
ReplyDeleteNever fully sussed the theme, but fully solved the puzzle so there's that.
ReplyDeleteWell, this felt more like a Saturday than a Thursday toughie for me, but I still enjoyed it--many thanks, Jack. I did much better in the west than in the east and pretty much got the corners there without problems--but the rest was challenging. However, lots of delightful clues--like the 'made man' for ADAM and the tuna complaint for MEOW. ET TU was a gimme for 'words from a backstabber.' And I got ANGELA Bassett even though I never watch horror flicks. Also loved having the REINDEER turn up. My embarrassing failure was refusing to think of MARX as anyone but KARL and so needed perps to get Groucho's HUMOR. But lots of fun, and I always appreciate your commentary, Steve.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you had a good check up, Irish Miss. And so glad you're feeling okay again, Yellowrocks.
Have a great day, everybody.
Clever puzzle, but it was a toughie, and a rare DNF for me. Never fully got the theme. Had ROLL, so was thinking DRUM roll, BARREL roll. Also had NRA instead of WPA and misspelled KHLOE. On to Friday, it has to be easier than this one.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThis is a Thursday puzzle? Seemed tougher than that.
Almost gave up after filling all but the NW, then just guessed.
Got the solve but not without
Markovers....SOYA/TOFU, GIN/UNO, CABLECAR/CLOWNCAR, CHLOE/KHLOE, ROUE/HEEL.
Quite a few, happy to get the solve.
Never got the theme...it did seem a bit deep. Whatever.
See you Friday.
Hi everybody. The theme was tricky, almost too tricky for me. Also, give me a little credit for kinda knowing Khloe though I wasn't sure about the 'H'. The cluing for the whole puzzle seemed tougher than usual.
ReplyDeleteHash got me thinking. I believe I'll try to fix some corned beef hash with an egg on top for tomorrow's breakfast. I'm starting to salivate already with anticipation.
FIR, but erased gin for UNO, HEROes, and pinch for A DASH. Waited for VaNe / VENT.
ReplyDeleteOdd that I found this one to be a lot easier than yesterday's puzzle, while many more accomplished Cornerites had difficulty. But my hand is up for missing the "roll" part of the theme.
Back in Norfolk from our camping trip. Upon arrival I found that the motorhome had been belching oil during the drive, coating the towed Honda with a thick coat. Didn't get any alarms, but the oil pressure was low when I checked. Tomorrow I'll add enough oil to see if the pressure picks up, then decide whether to drive it to a fixit shop or get it towed. It holds 18 quarts of oil, so I suspect that there is still probably 3 or 4 quarts in the system.
Thanks to Jack for the fun puzzle, and to Steve for the interesting commentary. Good to see Paul c checking in.
@Lemonade - there is a famous picture taken of Vinnie Jones when he played for Wimbledon and he came up against the then "golden boy" of English football, Paul Gascoigne who played for Newcastle at the time. Vinnie was defending a free kick and took steps to ensure that Gascoigne wasn't going to be any trouble.
ReplyDeletehttps://i.pinimg.com/originals/b7/42/44/b7424420e7ce06d1f48d3b7bc87a4a4c.jpg
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Jack (congrats on your debut) and Steve.
ReplyDeleteWell, this CW was a workout, but I got the theme and eventually saw the DROP and ROLLs.
But I had a personal Natick with the cross of 22A WPA and 5D CLOWN CAR. (I'll claim Canadian disadvantage for not knowing WPA, although I am sure we have had it before; that 5D clue was deceptive and I just could not see it! It didn't help that I had that DRAGON spelled as HaMODO)
Hand up to Toe before BIT, and Lift before BUOY (pronounced the British way of course LOL).
I had HAD A word before PEEP.
"Where Georgia is" prompted "On My Mind". (Actually that would be a cute alternate clue) Then I wanted USA or USSR until ASIA finally perped.
Similar light-bulb moment when ATO Z parsed.
I have a serious beef with 35D as No Canadian Road Sign that I know of has KPS. (Even IM and HuskerG had it correct as KM/H). I'll let the constructor, Rich and the proofers claim American disadvantage. (Link has a sample sign and a chart to keep you legal)
SpeedLimits
Enjoy the day.
Ridiculous. No one eats latkes at seders. He’s obviously not Jewish.
ReplyDeleteCanadianEh! - the answer to 35d IS KPH. Where did KPS come from? I don't think anybody said it was KPS or that 44a should be KSLOE.
ReplyDeleteTough, but doable. Ta ~ DA!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had figured out the theme before finishing it. It wd have saved many minutes.
Misty ~ Sometimes I think we share "gimmes"--because of our lit backgrounds. ET TU leapt from the page today.
But then I have a hunch that Julius Caesar is the best known of Will's plays. Most high schools teach it--probably because it lacks the risque jokes, the racy language, that lurks just below the surface in so many of the plays*.
I directed one production of it--for the Texas Shakespeare Festival some decades ago. Before that I had the chance to play two of the key roles. I played Mark Antony for the Oregon Shakespeare festival and later on I was Marcus Brutus for the Rep Company of the Virginia Museum Theater. The latter was a little shocking to my then seven-year old son. He had not seen his dad die on stage before that.
I hadn't realized what a trauma that could be for him.
I spent more time than usual with bedtime stories and favorite songs before he could sleep that night.
~ OMK
____________
* Actually, we did find one "dirty" joke in Caesar. In that season at Oregon, we had too many idle hours, so we "discovered" the off-color, rather Gay gag in Caesar's remark to Antony in Act I, scene 2, line 213.
Ooops!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention the anagram tucked into the mirror diagonal in Mr. Murtagh's pzl.
Some people say cats are the favorite "familiars" of witches; others go for ravens or even owls.
Such familiars can be employed by witches or warlocks, or voodoo shamans, to deliver curses or spells. But Mr. Murtagh seems to base his research on more scientific grounds, on the carriers of medieval plagues.
His reference today is to a...
"FLEABITE HEX"!
This was as tough for me as any Saturday within memory. LIN'ish. I caught the ROLL but not the STOP AND DROP. Still I FIR.
ReplyDeleteI had three blank areas. SW,N and NW. I tried to fit SHIRLeY/ANGELA. Putting POKE w BALL was a V8. I was at Winn Dixie again else I'd've asked Phil. He used to Shanghai me for Pokemon hunts
In the North not connecting KOMODO to DRAGON held me up. Not liking AROAR I tried ARIOT. TEMPO came just in "time". Finally the completely blank NW.
I only had the R from RHO. I had RISE and LIFT. And….WHEY???? BIT,TOFU and BUOY led to YOUR(which is a word heard in court ) I never "Dropped down".
I thought I might have to keep at this all week because the top wasn't working.
WC
PS. Anybody have PEKE for Toy with a tail?
Pps. I had a nice post in Docs but I fell asleep and never sent it. LEN (Deighton) clues get me going
@OMK - we studied Caesar's "Conquest of Gaul" in Latin at school. Some of the narrative just didn't make sense, then I read the unredacted English translation later, and woo! Some nasty stuff going on there!
ReplyDeleteI liked this puzzle. Hand up for getting and appreciating the schtick except for the ROLL part.
ReplyDeleteHave spent the last two and a half days getting LW's new iPhone set up. Not necessarily as easy as the instructions say! The big hang-up was her Whatsapp app, which stubbornly refused to migrate from the old phone to the new one. Actually, if you don't count that, the setup was pretty easy. It took me a lot of messing about to finally get it installed and working for her.
And now my good ole Windows 10 version 1903 won't install. It sits there saying that it is 100% downloaded, and sits there and sits there. It looks like I'm going to have to perform some serious brain surgery to get the damn thing to install. Apparently it is a common problem; there's a ton of articles and web sites about it on the internet.
Good wishes to you all.
Necco stood for New England Confectionery Company.
ReplyDeleteGrantland Rice's exact quote was "Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again", which makes me wonder if he was lying on the ground looking up at them.
What an interesting and sad story about your son being traumatized by watching you play a dying role on stage. Never occurs to us how literally children may take plays acted out by real people. Hope your sweet boy got over his young trauma.
ReplyDeleteWell, he's 53 now and--happily!--shows no signs of missing his old Dad out there in his beautiful home in Arkansas with his art studio and his wife, our Lutheran Pastor Karen.
ReplyDeleteOf course, along the way he passed through an adolsecence where I suspect he would have been just as glad if I had really run on Strato's sword! (It is tough being a teen when Dad lays down the law.)
We are great pals now. He paid me a lovely visit on my 80th b'day.
More good news. My younger son, Matt, is coming out from Texas to visit this weekend-- with my two teenage grand-kids! They arrive Sunday and go back next Weds. Time for Grandpa and Disneyland.
At least one of these destinations has got to be a winner!
~ OMK
Rabbit, Rabbit
ReplyDeleteRabbits, in scientific classification, belong to the Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Class Mammalia, Order Lagomorpha and Family Leporidae. --LINK--
Good morning Cornerites. Note: this greeting was typed at 7:30 A.M., oops time to go to breakfast. Slow forward to 9:00 P.M. CCT (Cruciverbalist Corner Typos).
I'd say WEES, but I haven't read the review or comments, and yet I can say "Excellent review, Steve."
As to you, Jack Murtagh, thank you for this enjoyable Thursday CW. I was able to solve with only one hiccup, the "D" at 55. The SW looked like the star (old snow eyes) with the 6 dwarfs. Grumpy refused to be counted. She's really not all that white. Ask Happy.
Unfortunately at this hour of the day, no one will read these words of witsdome.
So sad,
Ðave
Not true, Dave--some of us will read your commentary and enjoy it very much, as we always do! So glad you're back to checking in with us these days.
ReplyDeleteMike Sherline @ 5:50 pm
ReplyDelete- Thanks for catching my typo. I meant KPH which was this CW's abbreviation for kilometres per hour (and which makes sense when compared to MPH). But the letters on Canadian road signs are KMH (Km/h) so that P is incorrect!
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteFantastic puzzle Jack! Congrats on the LAT debut and thanks for the fun. Theme finally helped me crack the NW corner with the Rosetta "YOUR."
What others said, that NW was a beast. It wasn't till I figured out what STOP DROP AND ROLL (filled with only deer's D in place) meant theme-wise that I was able to fill H-N-R and YOUR. TOFU (that I wanted earlier but for wanting ONE at 1a) and OFF appeared. Remaining fill was easy after that :-)
Great expo Steve. You never fail to crack me up... "[...] a huge Pokémon Go fan, I'd ask him but he's old enough to know better." Priceless.
My brothers made me watch "Lock, Stock" and it was a hoot!
WOs: Torah b/f CODEX, gTO (z-car?) b/f A TO Z, KaMODO.
ESPs: KHLOE, ANGELA, EGYPT (as clued)
Fav: CLOWN CAR was cute
{A, A+}
LOL on the DR.
Mike - I think C, Eh! was thinking Chris Hadfield [Space Oddity] at KPS* :-)
Actually, she was pointing out that ROAD signs in the Great White North are KM/H or KMPH. //and she just said it...
D4 - some of us are still here! //and Misty just said it :-)
At least I refreshed b/f posting. :-)
Cheers, -T
*KM/S for speed!
Anonymous T from 7-29 at 10:44 PM asked re: ice cream "What's your favorite flavor outside of choc & vanilla?"
ReplyDeleteMay I have 3 favorites? I like Butter Pecan, Salted Caramel, and what ever is in my cone or bowl.
Ðave
D4E4H:
ReplyDeleteYou know those of us out West will be around late at night to read your posts as well as those of others who post later. It sounds like you like ice cream! I do, too, but can no longer eat it, or better said, should not eat it. The consequences, though, are not good when I do.
Lucy,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you must not eat ice cream. What happens when you do?
Ðave
Dave, I read your late words and enjoyed them as always.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the criticism of KPS. I can understand though if a constructor gets painted into a corner and has to use an iffy clue or answer occasionally.
D4E4H:
ReplyDeleteIf I overdo it and eat too much ice cream as I did at our Church's ice cream social a couple of weeks ago, every cell in my body hurts, and hurts, and hurts. It debilitates me so that I can't do anything. Lesson learned.
Misty, re. OMK as Caesar and the reactions of children. My son Phil had no problem with modern gore but considered Bambi the most devastating horrific film ever crafted.
ReplyDeleteConsider the scene where his father gets the hunter's bullet through the head and he's an instant orphan.
Snow White, although D4's fav, was no picnic either what with the child sent out to be killed.
There's all sort of rumors out there about Disney.
WC
Dave I used to remark that I was "talking to the ether" re. My late posts. I think it was Argyle who told me that the night had many ears.
I woke up after dreaming that I had tomorrow's post scheduled for next Friday. Now that I'm here...
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle today, Jack. Keep 'em coming !
I had just a couple of blank cells by the time I got to the grid spanner reveal. Had the AND ROLL partial, and then read the clue. STOP, DROP. No problem.
Then it was, aha!, HONOR ROLL and DRAGON ROLL. But at that point I didn't get the STOP and DROP. Tried to make sense of HONOR STOP, HONOR DROP, DRAGON STOP and DRAGON DROP. Moved on.
A short time later, DOUBLE BARREL stood out, and then I saw each of the others, but still wasn't seeing the STOP and DROP aspect. Finished the solve, got the TADA, and then another cup of coffee and moved on with my day. Didn't get back to read Steve's write up until much later. Then it was clear. Thanks Steve !
Didn't have much problem in the NW as UNO was obvious to me, and then locked in by INFO. I guess UNO is firmly etched in my mind because if you didn't "cry it out" when you got to your last card, you got penalized. I ended up losing more than once because of failing to call out UNO.
We had a similar rule when playing Spinners dominoes. If you failed to call out "domino" when playing your next to last, you had to draw from the pile. Those games usually came down to my dad and my wife. We could play for hours and I wouldn't win a hand.
Steve, I got TEMPO easily enough... mostly from the perps, but I agree. Song yes, but record, not so much. Neither as a verb or noun. "Cadence" or "Pace" might have been a better clue for TEMPO. Maybe I'm not seeing something with record.
Enjoy your holiday.
CAVALIER is low and mighty, not high and mighty.
ReplyDeleteI'll put this on Friday's too. C-Eh! - thanks for clarifying that your reference to KPS was a typo, and to Anon-T. I now see what you were getting at - so Kilometres per hour is not abbreviated KPH but Km/H. Sort of makes sense, though it seems strange to me that they'd use a capital letter from the middle of a word in an abbreviation. Or was kilometres originally written as kilo metres? Using all caps makes it look more like an acronym, in which case it would have to be KPH. I just wondered where the criticism of KPS was coming from when it wasn't even in the puzzle. IM mentioned it 1st @ 0753 "My w/os were Manse/Manor and KMS/KPS", and Bill G. referred to it again @1214 am. Maybe they were all typos.
ReplyDelete