Vowel Progression: A E I O U and Sometimes Y.
18-Across. MI5 headquarters named for a London river: THAMES HOUSE. Built in 1930, the building has housed M15 only since 1994.
23-Across. TV show intro tune: THEME SONG.
33-Across. Amount defined by a small sewing gadget: THIMBLEFUL.
42-Across. Boss Tweed's caricaturist: THOMAS NAST. Although he was born in Germany, Thomas Nast (Sept. 27, 1940 ~ Dec. 7, 1902) is considered the Father of the American Cartoon. He created many political cartoons, especially of Boss Tweed during the 1870s. He is also credited with creating the GOP Elephant and the modern version of Santa Claus.
53-Across. Pushed-in bulletin board hardware: THUMB TACK. Also known as Push-Pins.
61-Across. Bouquet garni bunch: THYME SPRIGS.
Across:
1. Cuba, por ejemplo: ISLA. Today's Spanish lesson. Cuba is an Island.
5. Uncanny: EERIE.
10. Hard-to-describe sensation: VIBE. It could be an eerie sensation.
14. Évian evening: SOIR. Today's French lesson. Évian is a brand of mineral water Évian from sources near Évian-les-Bains, in eastern France.
15. Levels of society: STRATA.
16. A party to: IN ON.
17. Facial feature with a bridge: NOSE. Cute clue.
20. From Canada's capital: OTTAWAN. Hi, CanadianEh!
22. Genre that represents things as they are: REALISM.
26. Asian kebab: SATAY. Satay is a Southeast Asian dish of skewered, seasoned grilled meat. I have also heard of a vegetarian version of the dish.
27. "Who wants my jellyfish? / I'm not sellyfish!" poet: NASH. Ogden Nash (né Frederic Ogden Nash; Aug. 19, 1902 ~ May 19, 1971), was an American poet, best known for his humorous poetry. He even rated his own US postage stamp.
28. Seeker of "the way": TAOIST.
31. Door hardware: HASP. I first tried Knob.
37. Play a part (in): ACT.
38. Boardroom VIP: CEO. As in the Chief Executive Officer.
40. The Beatles' "__ Mine": I, ME.
41. Santa __ winds: ANA. [Note: There should be no tilde over the N in the word Ana.]
46. Splash sound: PLOP.
47. On the same wavelength: IN SYNC. If you drop the "I", you get the boy band 'N SYNC.
48. Meticulous to a fault: ANAL.
50. Humana rival: AETNA. Both are health insurance companies.
57. Stars and __: STRIPES.
60. Dragster, e.g.: RACE CAR.
64. Maggie Simpson's sister: LISA. What would a crossword puzzle be without a reference to The Simpsons!
65. Avatar of Vishnu: RAMA.
66. Chef's array: SAUCES.
67. Browse (through): LEAF.
68. What "lama" has, as opposed to "llama": ONE L. Another snippet from Ogden Nash. The poem goes as follows:
The one L Lama, he's a priest
The two L Llama, he's a beast
And so I'll bet my silk pyjama
There isn't any three L Llama
Legend has it that a fire chief replied that his department occasionally responded to a three L Lllama.
69. Implant (in): EMBED.
Scorpion embedded in amber.
70. Type of prof.: ASST. As in an Assistant Professor. A new Ph.D. must work her way through the ranks of Assistant, then Associate, before becoming a full professor at a university.
Down:
1. Childish comeback: IS NOT!
2. Truth, to Shakespeare: SOOTH.
3. Hears out: LISTENS TO.
4. Tourist's guide: AREA MAP.
5. Prefix with centric: ETHNO-. As in Ethnocentric.
6. Historic time span: ERA.
7. Los Angeles NFLer: RAM.
8. Old Roman road: ITER. In present day, ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is the international fusion research and engineering magaproject.
9. Let up: EASE.
10. Break, as laws: VIOLATE.
11. Aleut relative: INUIT.
12. __ nova: Brazilian dance: BOSSA. João Gilberto (June 10, 1931 ~ July 6, 2019), a Brazilian musician, was known as the "Father of the Bossa Nova." The bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s.
13. Foe: ENEMY.
15. Hidden loot: STASH.
19. Red tape, e.g.: HASSLE.
21. Director Craven: WES. Wes Craven (né Wesley Earl Craven; Aug. 2, 1939 ~ Aug. 30, 2015), is best known for his horror films, such as Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street.
24. Utmost degree: Nth.
25. Moo goo __ pan: GAI. Moo goo gai pan is an Americanized version of a Cantonese dish.
29. Fail to include: OMIT.
30. "Big Blue": IBM. As in International Business Machines.
31. Bowler or derby: HAT. Did you know that the Bowler and the Derby are the same hat? The Derby Hat is the term used in the US, while across the pond, the term is Bowler Hat.
32. Otto's "Oh!": ACH. Today's German lesson.
33. Theater award named after Antoinette Perry: TONY. I didn't know this, however, having the first name in the clue, it was easy enough to get to Tony. Antoinette Perry (née Mary Antoinette Perry; June 27, 1888 ~ June 28, 1946 ) was an American actress and stage director. She was the co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, which is an organization to support the theater. It is this organization the now presents the Tony Awards.
34. Misconceptions: FALLACIES.
35. Game with Wild Draw Four cards: UNO.
36. Drink like a cat: LAP. My cat would always barf after drinking milk, so we never gave her milk.
38. Savory finger food: CANAPÉ. Yummers!
39. Wits' end?: ESS. The last letter of the word "Wits" is an "S".
43. Least possible: MINIMAL.
44. Tiny army crawler: ANT.
45. It might be elementary: Abbr.: SCH. As in an Elementary School.
46. Kneecap: PATELLA. About 20 years ago, I was in a car accident and shattered my Patella.
48. Stockpile: AMASS.
49. "Will & Grace" network: NBC.
50. The Jetsons' dog: ASTRO.
51. Wharton's "__ Frome": ETHAN. This book is on my To-Be-Read list, but is so far down on the list that I probably never will read it.
52. "I'm almost afraid to tell you" response: TRY ME!
54. Encouraged: URGED.
55. Barcelona abodes: CASAS. More of today's Spanish lesson.
Casa Milá / Milá House in Barcelona
56. Cheez Whiz maker: KRAFT.
58. In __: existing: ESSE.
59. Inbox annoyance: SPAM.
62. Spice mix for ribs: RUB. I make my own rub for fish.
63. Limited-life sculpture material: ICE. Nice clue.
Here's the Grid:
I'll leave you with a QOD: If you can convince yourself that you look fabulous, you can save yourself the trouble of primping. ~ Andy Warhol (né Andrew Warhola; Aug. 6, 1928 ~ Feb. 22, 1987)
37 comments:
Good morning. I found this to be a bit more of a challenge than most Tuesdays, but my biggest surprise was the inclusion of 48. Meticulous to a fault: ANAL.
Finding 6 five-letter words to make the vowel progression is impressive, and clue/fill from so many linguistic sources was remarkable.
Craig, thank you for your puzzles and Hahtoolah, you really put so much into your write-ups.
FLN, be careful in Vegas Tony.
Hi Y'all! My mind was IN SYNC with Craig's today. Even got a word I didn't know: SOIR (deduced from SOIRee). Got the theme after a little study. Thanks!
Thanks, Hahtoolah, for your interesting expos.
Last fill was the "M" in IBM/I ME (mine) cross. Didn't know the IBM product or the Beatles' song. Started a red-letter run with the "M" and "bingo!"
Forgot SATAY but eventually remembered.
FIR, but erased am NOT for IS NOT. DNK SATAY.
Bob Newhart had a line in a commercial where he said over the landline "I'm not any kind of retentive, I just like things neat."
Howard Stern's father was a recording engineer. I heard Howie play the studio recording session his father conducted when the THEME SONG for Tennessee Tuxedo was being recorded. Something so simple, yet it took take after take with lots of banter between.
Forgot to look for the theme today. Not really needed.
Thanks to Craig for the puzzle. It seemed hard at first, but yielded easily as perps did what they are supposed to do. My favorite was the fresh cluing for ONE L. And thanks to Hahtoolah for the visual tour.
Day two in trying to get my motor home towed to the fixit shop. Yesterday the wrecker driver couldn't figure a way to get the suspension aired up. I think I've got it figured out and we'll try again.
FLN, T- I wish you well in Vegas. Do you use one of the simple +- counting strategies? Are you able to keep separate count of the aces too? Why did the Aggie give up card counting? He always came up with 52.
Just got back from 10 days in the PNW (Pacific Northwest) - so trying to wake up and adjust to the new time zone with the crossword. It was smooth sailing. Though I first thought the theme was TS as well as the TH vowel progression.
Thanks Hatoolah for a fun write-up - not a very familiar Beatles song for me - good to have a link!
Thanks Craig!
Good Morning:
I saw the progression when Theme appeared right after Thames so the remaining themers were easy-peasy; it was an added touch that Thyme was included. I had Castes before Strata but, other than that, it was smooth sailing. I liked the Ess ~ Esse duo and also the Nash ~ Nast combo. Interesting that Nash was born the year Nast died. The Llamas are much more interesting in cluing One L than Scott Turow's book, IMO. Nice CSO to CanadianEh.
Thanks, Craig, for a Tuesday treat and thanks, Hatoolah, for the vibrant visuals and the many learning moments in your commentary.
FLN
oc4beach, keep me posted if you try any of The Whole Shebang snacks, although I doubt if their chips could be any better than Gibble's.
Anonymous T, have fun in Vegas but stay out of trouble. 😈
Have a great day.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Craig Stowe, for fine puzzle. Thank you, Hahtoolah, for a fine review.
Went through the puzzle easily. A couple that caused me to pause and think, and then come back to later.
Finished and then looked for the theme. Discovered it easily. Even included the Y at the end. Very good.
Well, EERIE was as close as I got to ERIE today. Oh well.
THAMES HOUSE was new to me. Makes sense.
I have had tons of Asian Kababs. Never had SATAY. The ones I had were called Chelo Kabab. Either Koobideh or Bargh.
I also liked ONE L. Reminds me of that book we get in crosswords now and then.
Never broke my PATELLA (thank goodness), but I wore out what is behind the PATELLA (my knee joints). That is why I wear knee braces every day.
I thought HUMANA was a hospital chain and AETNA an insurance company. If that is true, how do they rival each other? Of course maybe that is not true. I could easily be wrong. We had a hospital near us named HUMANA for many years. Now is is Alexian Bros. Anyhow.
My sister read Ethan Frome years ago and loved it. I expect I will read it some day. My biggest hurdle is just getting the book. Reading it will be easy. My book for this week is: "Sweet Caroline, Last Child of Camelot" by Christopher Anderson. Non-Fiction.
Off to my day. I have to get a Date and Time battery for my camera. I never knew there was a Date and Time battery until mine failed this past weekend. I get a little smarter each day.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Good morning everyone.
A little gnarly for a Tuesday but I FIR without searches and with only one strikethrough. Got the THEME with THIMBLE, counted, and look for and found the 'Y' in THYME. BZ to Craig.
INUIT - Not sure they and the Aleuts are "relatives" since the paleo migrations are still in an early stage of understanding. DNA analysis is speeding that along. But I think it is generally accepted that the 2 groups were in the later paleo migrations so maybe that makes them 'relatives.'
THIMBLE - German Fingerhut (finger hat). An apt word.
OTTAWA - Is an Ohio county on the shore of L. Erie which includes S. Bass Island where the tall monument to Commodore Perry is located.
OTTAWA sand is an ASTM Test sand and is commonly seen in soil labs. I believe the namesake deposits are in Ottawa, IL.
CSO to C. Eh!
Abejo: I get lots of mail from Humana wanting me to sign up for their medical insurance, supplement to Medicare. This makes them a rival to AETNA which my mother had as the widow of a government retiree. Both look okay, but I don't subscribe to either.
The brilliance of this vowel progression is that all the vowels come between the letters H and M. HAM, HEM, HIM, HOM, HUM, HYM. Big time kudos, Craig.
Good morning.
Craig's Saturday July 27th puzzle took me almost 40 minutes. I more than quartered that time today, and the only mistakes that had to be fixed were typos.
Great puzzle, Craig !
One person's proper procedures are another person's red tape. Or HASSLE.
Me too, Hahtoolah. The first name was enough to understand it would be Tony, even though she was unknown.
Dash T, I believe I saw that Las Vegas set a record high yesterday at 115 degrees. But it's a dry heat, so I've heard.
Not exactly OTTAWANS either since they are really Oakvillians, so they are Ontarioans, but the song "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' to Glide" by The Kings popped into my head outta nowhere early this morning, so I had to play it and read some articles about them. "Nothing but the weekend matters from a Tuesday point of view" - always loved that lyric.
Boomer, Miguel Sanó didn't miss that PATELLA-high pitch, did he ? Crushed it !
Good Morning.
Thanks, Craig, for a fine Tuesday puzzle. I enjoyed it. I fouled up the North Central section by reading the clues wrong: Lao-Tzu--confidently--for TAOIST. Raeding is such a skill! When is my eye doc appt? I also filled Nash for NAST. A little Ogden on the brain. PATELLA--oh, those pesky knee caps. Knees and shoulders were most certainly designed by committee!!
Hahtoolah, what a nice write up! So many interesting links. Thank you.
CSO to Canadian YAY! (Not a typo)
Travel safely Anon -T. Yes, and behave. :-)
Enjoy your day.
Hola!
Thank you, Susan, for an almost excellent review. My one nit? ANA has no tilde!! It is pronounced simply ANA, not an-ya, which is what a tilde means. Otherwise, a masterly commentary.
I was IN SYNC with Craig all the way and even saw the vowel progression by the second one, THEME SONG. Nice!
However, I did falter at NBC and was so sure it was CBS. That gave me ANAL which surprised me to see it.
Humana is most certainly an insurance company. I know several people who have it as their Medicare supplemental insurance.
Learning moment for me was SATAY. I've seen it many time in CWDs and on menus but was unsure of what it is exactly. So it's a kebab.
Canadian Eh? are you an OTTAWAN? Nice CSO to you in any case.
AnonT:
I echo the advice: have fun but be careful
Everyone, you have a wonderful day!
This puzzle was
just what the doctor ordered...
Wonderful Tuesday puzzle, Craig--many thanks for the treat. It was a lot of fun to work my way through this one, and my only confusion came at the end when I certainly saw the vowel progression but figured the theme had to involve THAM, THEM, THIM, THOM, THUM, and THYM rather than just the vowels. No matter, I still loved the vowel and word progression. I liked the ONE L lama/llama clue, and thanks for giving us the whole poem, Hahtoolah. Your write-up was a pleasure, as always.
Missed my physical therapy appointment yesterday because my 2003 Toyota Subaru wouldn't start. Triple AAA came and replaced a decade or more old battery. No complaint--I still love this car after all that time.
Have a great day, everybody.
This Tuesday effort went quickly, nicely clued. Never saw the vowel progression, that was a clever bit.
No markovers today.
Misty, not trying to call you out, but Toyota does not make Subaru.
From yesterday....Swamp Cat...”duo”... I believe it referred to the performers and not the song....”Simon and Garfunkel are a duo, they performed a duet”.
See you Wednesday.
A very nifty puzzle that I enjoyed solving. I loved the THAM, THEM, THIM, THOM, THUM, THYM progression.
Thank you, Hahtoolah, for the terrific write up. I like your sense of humor.
Off to Fry’s Electronics to buy a Solid State Drive (SSD) for my computer and a new Microsoft Windows 10. The “upgrade” to version 1903 totally crashed my system and is unrecoverable; I’m going to have to perform a “clean” reinstall from scratch. Fortunately my data, of which I have a lot, has all been backed up so I can get it all back. Definitely a huge PITA.
Good wishes to you all
Madame de Farge @ 10:25 --
"Knees and shoulders were most certainly designed by committee!!"
True, and you might add the gallbladder to that list ... but the radius/ulna and tibia/fibula combinations have lasted, what?, maybe 400,000,000 years, so it's not all bad.
PVX- not to disagree but the auto industry is changing. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance owns Infiniti, Mitsubishi, and Nissan. Toyota Motor Corp. owns Lexus and Toyota and has a stake in Subaru. Volkswagen Group owns Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, and Volkswagen.
Anon PXY, turns out you're right. I just looked at the AAA receipt from yesterday, and my car is listed as a 2003 Subaru Outback. Here I thought I was driving a Toyota all this time. I clearly don't know my car(s), do I?
As I understand what a kebab is, Satay is just meat on a stick, not kebab. There are veggies, mushrooms or pieces of pineapple - just meat.
Nice to see ol' Ogden NASH honored in the Stowe pzl and with Hahtoolah's follow-up!
Easy fills today, a pleasure all the way. Didn't catch the vowel progression, but of course saw the repeating of "Th" openings.
Misty ~
Sorry about your car trouble. Good ol' Trip-A! I hope the PT is working for you.
I had a nice couple of days with my son and grand-kids visiting. Today they'll be with Unca WaltD from the time his park opens, and then they fly back to TX tomorrow.
~ OMK
Musings
-I can always pick up a VIBE when I am presenting in front of a new group
-Is there any “REALITY Show” on TV that isn’t staged?
-I, ME, MINE? I can pass on hearing it again. We saw Yesterday last week and it was a treat!
-Probably a different RAMA than what is sung here
-Hears out – There’s always two sides
-Many a man has spent time in the SPAM room in our city’s Hormel plant
-RED TAPE has delayed a viaduct in our town for almost two decades now
I thought Sano hit a letter high fastball
let's check the tape
I stand corrected
<a
Dagnabit, they have an ad in there that takes forever
Mea culpa
WC
WC, it was a pitch a batter is supposed to hit right in the middle of the plate. The video emphasizes that even as these accomplished athletes are making multi-millions, they still act like little kids on the field. There is little in life that can compare.
I had lot of smudge today: FRITO/KRAFT, SCAN/LEAF. Etc.
I'm no good with themes although I did notice the TH.
I love Hahtoolah's write-ups
WC
PS. Re. Counting in blackjack. I used to grab the seat to the right of the dealer. Then I'd add up all the up-cards and divide by number of cards. The average for a card should be 6.5 so if the "count" yielded > 6 I'd expect <7 on my next card and vv.
I might say "hit me" on 14 if my system predicted <8
Yes, I was told it was crazy but I eon with it so I'm stick'n to it
WC
WC, you are r-e-a-l-l-y old!
FIR in 41:09 min.
Thank you Craig Stowe for this pleasant Tuesday CW.
Thank you Hahtoolah for your excellent, extensive review. I have yet to study it.
Ðave
Oops, Hi everyone.
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Craig and Hahtoolah.
I zoomed through this CW, saw the T-H-vowel progression-M theme and waited for a reveal. Oh, no reveal, but there is a Y.
One inkblot to change Guy to GAI.
Like IM, I saw NAST and NASH.
Lemonade, I was surprised by ANAL too. Rich must be loosening up.
Is Tinbeni OK with ICE in sculptures? We saw beautiful ICE sculptures at Carnival in Quebec.
Thanks for all the comments (and YAY) on my CSO. But I have never heard anyone from Canada's capital call themselves an OTTAWAN. (Well, who knows what those politicians might say!). While I am an Ontarioan, I do not live in or near Ottawa.
(It took me a minute, TTP, to figure out your reference to Oakvillians. The linked song does refer to Toronto (correctly rhyming with wanna); then I confirmed that the Kings were from Oakville!)
Spitzboov, yes I did notice Ottawa county in the information about Perry that we were reading yesterday.
Wishing you all a great day.
For Canadian eh: "www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-do-canadians-say-eh" Thought of you right away, I did.
Sorry, I tried to make this a clickable link but somehow Blogger decided it didn't want that to happen; it always sent me to a "404 Not Found" page, even though the same exact link, used in another site, worked perfectly. I just copied the entire piece of code from here and pasted it there. What's up, Blogger?
Wonderful puzzle today!!! I loved ONE L. although I first entered it as An el. Interesting that ONE is only one letter off from “an el”. No problem correcting that.
I even got the theme, which I loved! Thomas Nast is a favorite of mine. As is Ogden NASH. Thanks , Hahtoolah , for the whole poem. Another favorite of mine is
Broccoli is not Exocoly
But within an Ininch
Of being spinach.
No I have no idea why that amuses me. I have often said it takes very little to amuse me!
Hahtoolah, I was thrilled by your expo. My knees hurt often. That diagram of knee parts helped me see what might be hurting. Thanks!!
I always thought SATAY had to do
With peanut sauce. Never had it so I can’t opine.
From sometime before, thanks for the expo on DUO/ duet. Yes! That’s what I was trying to say. But you explained it better than I.
Hi, Canadian Eh. I was just having some fun after having seen OTTAWANS in the puzzle. I thought people from the city of Oakville must be called Oakvillians (with that second i of course). Funny how that song just popped in to my head this morning. I read that it was a bigger hit in the US than in Canada. Regardless, the band sure looked like they had a ton of fun playing that song. Very energetic.
Anonymous T FLN , today, August 6, 2019 at 12:17 AM wrote "D4 - I notice you're posting little blurts lately. Can I take that as you are busy in your new digs and all's good?"
Thank you -T for noticing this change in my habits. My screen is set to go black in 10 minutes. It has done so 3 times, and still I don't want to find the words to explain this change. I hope to be able to compose a meaningful reply soon.
All is good.
Ðave
27 A -- NASH -- My favorite poem The tale of Custard the Dragon
Ðave
WikWak@7:43pm -
Interesting article. I love the thought that it is "showing politeness" and "expressing solidarity with the listener".
I'll try to link in case anybody else wants to read it.
WhyDoCanadiansSayEh?
TTP@7:52pm - Some constructor should put Oakvillians (watch you don't spell it Oakvillains!) in a CW. Clue could be "Residents of Canada's Best Place to Live, 2018". (And no, I don't live there either.
Oakville
D4@9:24pm - yes I love it! It has some deeper meanings on reflection I think.
Why do we not believe that we have been brave and "remain crying for a nice safe cage"?
NASH is funny and whimsical, with another level if you look for it.
@CanadianEh at 9:25 PM: I still don’t know why that link kept sending me off into Never-Never Land. Congratulations for making it work!
That same fellow had another article about (aboot) why Canadians say aboot (about) but it’s buried deep in the Atlas Obscura’s archives and I didn’t find it in the short time I had.
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