Theme: PLUMBERS (60. '70s covert White House intelligence group ... and, in a more
conventional sense, a hint to the starts of the answers to starred
clues)
17. *Secret stage exit: TRAPDOOR.
25. *Forte of Savion Glover and Gregory Hines: TAP DANCING.
35. *Impractical hope: PIPE DREAM.
51. *Pass/fail metaphor: SINK OR SWIM.
Boomer here, filling in another blog gap.
Hail, Hail the gang's all here. We are still concerned about a wicked hail storm we had on Monday this week. Hoping our new replaced roof from last spring was not damaged.
Hail, Hail the gang's all here. We are still concerned about a wicked hail storm we had on Monday this week. Hoping our new replaced roof from last spring was not damaged.
Across:
1. "__ your age!": ACT. If someone told me that, I would need to walk bent over and drool. Maybe I could fall and not get up.
4. Many 4WD autos: SUVS.
Got a Grand Caravan right now, but C.C. and I are considering an SUV. I
went through a Bronco and two Explorers in years gone by, but the van
is providing us with dependable service, so we might wait a year or two.
Vehicles are expensive and I really do not like the back and forth when
buying a vehicle. Do any of you own a Hyundai Santa Fe?
8. Oafish: CLUMSY.
14. Feel badly about: RUE. Wasn't she one of the Golden Girls??
15. Slightly: A BIT. The plumber might need to change a bit to drill a hole in the wall.
16. 100-lawmaker group: SENATE. After this weekend, I hope they can get together and pass some gun control legislation, but I don't have a lot of hope.
19. Gets ready to drive: TEES UP. That is me about 10:00 AM today. Fore!!
20. Tempe sch.: ASU.
21. Out of the wind: ALEE.
23. A, in many orgs.: ASSN.
24. Frosts, as cupcakes: ICES. Not just cupcakes. You should see our 10,000 lakes in about 5 months.
28. Comes clean?: BATHES. Taking advantage of the plumbing.
30. Persuaded: WON OVER.
31. Northern Iraqi city: MOSUL.
32. Indian flatbread: NAAN.
34. Botch the job: ERR. To ERR is human, but it could cause an unearned run.
39. Brief writer, briefly: ATT.
Boo! CBS is having some dispute with AT&T's DirecTV so I am
unable to watch the end of PGA tournaments. Hope they settle before the
NFL season starts .
42. Blew away: AWED.
43. Pick up the tab: TREAT. Are you hungry for a treat. Want food that's fun to eat. Then go to the Golden Arches, in your neighborhood ...
47. Low-cost product: CHEAPIE. We get great deals on watermelon at Aldi, but be careful. Sometimes if you go for the Cheapie, you get what you asked for.
50. Midsize Chevy: IMPALA. My family had a 1962 model back then. Two door hardtop, nice car.
54. Cruise stopover: ISLE.
Right in our Minneapolis city of lakes we have "Lake of the Isles".
You may have seen it on the intro of the Mary Tyler Moore show. C.C.
and I have walked that path many times.
55. Night in Paris: NUIT.
 |
Boomer, Lake of the Isles, 2016 |
56. Array in a British pantry: TINS. I don't think you have to be British, although we don't have a pantry. We keep them in a drawer.
57. Lobster dinner accessory: BIB.
58. Become fond of: WARM TO.
63. Singer who was 15 in 2009 when his debut EP "My World" was released: BIEBER.
Of course I am into baseball cards, and I have to mention that Topps
made a huge error on Cleveland pitcher Shane Bieber's 2019 baseball
card, referring to him as "Justin" on the back of the card.
64. "Downton Abbey" title: EARL. I think he was a Duke.
65. Droop: SAG.
66. Passions: ARDORS.
67. Salon colors: DYES. Too strong, just use a tint.
68. "Inside the NBA" network: TNT. NBA has their own DirecTV channel but Ted Turner has a piece of everything.
Down:
1. Sotheby's showing: ART. I cannot believe the prices they get at some of their auctions.
2. Liqueur named for an island: CURACAO.
3. Dollhouse dishes: TEA SETS. I have three sisters. I believe each of them had one or two of these.
4. Downcast: SAD.
5. WWII subs: U-BOATS.
6. It's tuned an octave higher than a cello: VIOLA. Twins pitcher Frank helped win the World Series in 1987. I was there.
7. Penicillin target: STREP.
8. Omaha winter hrs.: CST. Same as Minneapolis and my friend Husker Gary.
9. Womack of country: LEEANN. Leeann Chin is an Asian restaurant chain famous in Minnesota but has expanded to about 50 locations throughout the Midwest.
10. Worldwide cultural org.: UNESCO.
11. Enormous: MASSIVE.
12. Major upset, say: STUNNER. Even the 1962 Mets won 40 games. Lost 120, finished 60 games behind the pennant winning Giants, but got revenge in 1969.
13. Slangy "Sure": YEP.
18. Pecs builder: PUSHUP.
I was never able to do more than 30, now I would struggle to do 3.
Richard Gere did pretty well in "Officer and a Gentleman".
22. Name of eight English kings: EDWARD. The Royals keep naming their kids after themselves.
24. PC pioneer: IBM. They used to have a hand in everything electronic. Now I think IBM stands for International BIG Machines.
26. Tops: A-ONE. I don't think I was ever A-ONE. However in 1968 I was ONE-A and then I was Drafted.
27. Watchdog warning: GRR.
29. New Haven collegian: ELI.
32. Most recent: NEWEST. Twins NEWEST member Sam Dyson, already on the IL with sore biceps. He needs to get well and lower his 91.00 ERA.
33. Fruit drink suffix: ADE. LemonADE in the shade.
36. Pliers unit: PAIR. Never knew why they were called pairs since they are one piece. Not like shoes, socks, gloves, or dice.
37. Bill-filled device: ATM. My bank only dispenses 20s, In Las Vegas you can get 100s then you go to the craps table and turn them into 20s.
38. Onetime Dr Pepper rival: MR PIBB.
39. Apt. coolers: ACS.
40. Vanishing point?: THIN AIR. See 100s in 37-Down.
41. Like many veteran professors: TENURED. I am a tenured baseball card collector. C.C. is a tenured crossword constructor.
44. Least challenging: EASIEST.
45. High-fiber Kellogg's cereal: ALL-BRAN. I have also seen their 40% Bran Flakes. Makes about as much sense as if General Mills had 40% Cheerios.
46. __ kwon do: TAE.
48. With hands on hips: AKIMBO.
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49. Wizard with a scar: POTTER. M.A.S.H. Colonel Sherman Potter played by Harry Morgan. I remember him from "Dragnet" also.
50. Confident reply: I'M SURE.
52. Cleaned with a cloth: WIPED. I get fairly wiped out trying to finish Saturday's puzzles.
53. Woodwork pattern: INLAY. I have not heard much about the Cathedral Notre Dame. I am sure it had many INLAID treasures.
58. Fighters' org.: WBA.
59. "Grey's Anatomy" sets, briefly: ORS.
My father served in the Pacific islands as a medic in WWII. We had a
copy of "Grey's Anatomy" on the bookshelf at home. I never opened the
book, I could not even pronounce the title.
61. D.C. United org.: MLS.
I see kids playing soccer on the local fields, but I WILL NEVER attend a
major league soccer game because they tore down one of my favorite
bowling centers to build a stadium for the team.
62. Police dept. rank: SGT. SGT. Joe Friday played by Jack Webb in "Dragnet"
Boomer
Hi Y'all! I'M SURE this wasn't the EASIEST Wed. puzzle we've had, but I didn't have to red-run at all. Thanks for a PLUMB good one, Mark! Thanks also to our fun "pinch hitter", Boomer.
ReplyDeleteI got the theme when PIPE showed up and confidently typed in SINK OR SWIM where I was stumped. Fun mundane theme.
Pliers have two movable parts to grab things so I guess that's the PAIR.
Never could WARM TO BIEBER myself, but knew to whom the clue referred. Thought it was cozy to have BIEBER tucked into the puzzle between WARM TO & ARDOR. He sure incited that in many girls.
Surprised to have TEES UP & PUSH UP in the same puzzle. What's UP with that?
Thought of our illustrious Minn. friends when I saw the weather report about the "hard water". HAIL to our chiefs isn't something we want. Good luck with the new roof.
Time to go have my morning ALL BRAN with raisins & applesauce (in one bowl) a nuked egg (separately).
Thank you, Boomer, for the shout out. On the SUV front, we now have a Honda HRV. We enjoy it, and it was not ridiculously expensive.
ReplyDeleteMark gave us a nice hump day challenge with only ATT as a clunker to me as that is an abbreviation that I have only seen in puzzles. You know Y.
I think TINS is a reference to the British use of the word to signify CANS which would be hard to fit in most drawers.
The controversy about MR PIBB surprised me.
Thank you, gentleman.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteThis was a Wite-Out-free morning. Needed the reveal to get the theme, though. Enjoyed it Mark. Boomer, you've been earning lotsa overtime lately. (Listened to a radio talk yesterday about the dearth of bowling venues and the need to get young folks involved in the sport if it's to survive.)
ATM: I'm still in talks with my bank trying to get my Debit Card connected to my new checking account. I'm getting sick of the "Transaction Denied" at the ATM. Yesterday they decided that I need a new Debit Card. Probably in ten days...
SUV: Bought a new one this week, not a Santa Fe, though. To you techie drivers, since there is no mechanical key to unlock and start the vehicle, what do you do when the battery in the "fob" dies? Walk?
ATT: DirecTV is giving me a free 3-months of a pseudo-premium program package. The only included channel that interests me is the Smithsonian Channel. Can't view it though, due to the ATT/CBS dispute.
A-ONE: Boomer, I also fell victim to that ONE-A debacle back in the pre-lottery days.
BIEBER: In addition to the Shane/Justin mixup, where was one this week with a prominent figure (who shall remain nameless) offering hopes and prayers for the residents of Toledo -- it should'a been Dayton.
Always thought of the IMPALA as a full-size Chevy, not a mid-size.
ReplyDeleteUnless you're actually planning to drive off-road, I think Grand Caravan is, as a 'CAR', superior in almost every way to an SUV.
ReplyDeleteWell, from the start I had feeling this was not going to be a good day and I was dead on. An FIW, thanks to the SW corner.
AKIMBO was the guilty party. Can't ever remember speaking it, writing it or reading it. Those revelations are probably wrong, but I jus tcould not.remember. I'll blame my Prep School and college. Sent my wife to Paris twice and she did not know NUIT. I had NAuT. BIEBER WAS new to me too. BOTTOM LINE...ITHE SW WAS A TOTAL SCREW UP.
Otherwise I thought this was a puzzle with a nice Wed challenge.
Stormy day predicted soI think I will just relax and watch BLUE BLOODS repeats starting at 11:00 AM. Tomorrow Med testing starts and by suppertime on Thursday, I'll be pretty gruesome. Fortunately Lucy knows what to expect.
I'm awash of this puzzle and NIXon it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mark, for midweek entertainment. I struggled A BIT in the SW corner but it all came together. The theme seemed easy but I missed the joke until PLUMBERS appeared.
ReplyDeleteFavorite was BATHE for come clean.
Boomer, do you get paid extra for all this overtime! I think you touched a sore spot with those pliers. Even I was going to comment that if you ever broke a cheap PAIR you’d learn that one pliar is useless. But I won’t...
Thanks for the tour.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteGot ABIT bolluxed up with WARM(ed)TO, but everything else clicked. Sigh. Enjoyed sussing the PLUMBing theme. Kudos to Mark.
Interesting etymology for AKIMBO (Middle Ages English).
Today's palindromes:
NAAN
BIT
TNT
(Guiness says the longest palindromic word in the OED is "detartrated".).
Have a great day.
Good Morning.
ReplyDeleteThat was some Wednesday fun. Thanks, Mark. I loved thinking about Gregory Hines. He was such a fine dancer. I love tap and the fact that his USPS stamp shows his toe up so we can see his taps. He paid a wonderful tribute to Gene Kelly when Kelly was celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors. Probably on You Tube.
Boomer, you completed another fine tour today. You make me laugh. Merci beaucoup!
Have a delightful day today.
Spitz, I think you meant BIB.
ReplyDeleteD-O - - I meant BIB. Thank you. I've been doing a lot of that lately. Sic transit gloria.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-This clip has to be moviedom’s most famous TRAP DOOR scene (2:00)
-Our PLUMBER just snaked out a SINK drain for us and said egg shells were the culprit
-“ACT your age!”. My tells others she is married to an eternal 14-yr-old
-Cool BIEBER story/pic Boomer!
-When we saw Yesterday Saturday night, one of the trailers was for the Downton Abbey movie coming out. We are so there!
-I recently learned what aluminum foil has to do with hair DYEING
-When teaching in west Omaha during winter hrs., It was dark when I drove in and when I came home
-11 people died climbing into the THIN AIR of Mt. Everest this past May
-TENURE is the last refuge of a mediocre teacher
-I can remember Harry Morgan in a TV series before Dragnet in 1954
Good morning! It was a good puzzle morning-just fill in and move on. Thank you Mark and Boomer for a great start to the day.
ReplyDeleteBoomer, we are on our second Hyundai Tucson. We drove the 2012 model for 120,000 miles with only normal maintenance required. We test drove a Santa Fe. It was larger and we liked it; but my SIL had one and traded it for something with better gas mileage, so we chose the model with better mileage. We have no complaints on the Hyundai service or reliability.
We are invited to my daughters for dinner to hear the first day of school highlights from the Kindergartener and second grader. Last night was meet the teacher night and they were both so pumped. It is back to routine again; a school bus driving by the house let us know it was 7:45 am.
Have a great day!
fun puzzle- needed the theme answer to figure out the answers tied together!
ReplyDeleteThanks Boomer - a friend has a Hyundai Tucson that she really likes
Thanks to Mark!
It's very dark all of a sudden here - hadn't seen the forecast yet - so must be a storm coming in!
Re: Downton Abbey: it's Earl, not DuKe. Earl of Grantham.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteJust the thought of the 70s PLUMBERS brings back a flood of memories! Interestingly, John Dean has lately become a consultant on some TV programs.
I'll take a CSO at ASU, one of my alma maters.
Not having read any of the POTTER books, I didn't realize he was a wizard.
BATHES appropriately appears in this puzzle about PLUMBERS.
I, too, am looking forward to the Downton Abbey movie with the EARL and Duchess of Grantham!
Thank you, Mark McClain and Boomer for the fun!
Have a grand day, everyone!
A nice middle-of-the-road puzzle for the middle of the week. Not too easy, not to hard, just like it should be. Good job, Mark. Thank you. I finished in 13+ minutes using only the across clues (not to say I didn't glance at the perps for conformation that my first guess was right. Of course I did on some answers. Ben Franklin said "A stitch in time saves nine." I have a corollary. "A peek at a perp saves a carload of consternation.".)
ReplyDeleteBoomer, what would the corner do without you? Thank you for so ably filling in, not just today but for all the times in the past. Your explications are often more entertaining than the puzzle.
Learning moment: Harry Potter has a scar! A factoid so insignificant that I have already forgotten it.
Pork chops tonight braised in white wine, sauerkraut, onion, garlic, and cracked caraway seed. Mushroom spaetzle w/brown gravy on the side, with baby brussels sprouts in a brown butter sauce, and steamed summer squash. First day in a while I've felt like cooking. Feels kinda good. Cya!
Well, this felt wonderfully like a Monday puzzle to me until I got to the southwest--things got a bit tough there. But in the end I got the whole thing without any cheating--Woohoo!--and many thanks, Mark. Also nice to have you back, Boomer, and I loved your picture by the Lake of the Isles.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of MR PIBB, but got it with the across words. Know AKIMBO only from crossword puzzles but that was the big help in the tough southwest, and helped me get BIEBER. Didn't Justin BIEBER just get married recently? (Hey, I read 'People' magazine). Took me only a minute to get TENURED--but then I've been there for decades. Fun puzzle, especially for a Wednesday--thanks again, Mark.
Prairie Woman, I can't believe school is already starting for kids at the beginning of August. Didn't we used to start after Labor Day in the old days?
Have a good day, everybody.
FIR, and the eraser finally got a day off. DNK Savion nor Glover, NUIT, and having never seen or read H. Potter had no idea about his use of collodion.
ReplyDeleteI'm so old I have a hard time thinking of IBM as a PC pioneer. I think of Altair, Apple and Radio Shack as pioneers. But at least I knew what IBM stands for - It's Better Manually.
Thanks for the easy-ish Wednesday offering, Mark. My favorite was "brief writer, briefly" for ATT. In my business law class the attorney/teacher told us that there are a lot of types of legal briefs, and none of them are brief. And thanks to Boomer for the great fill-in review. Although the job doesn't pay much, I'm sure you enjoy the fringe benefits.
Hi Everyone:
ReplyDeleteLate to the dance due to an incredibly frustrating morning, thanks to the Murphy's Law dictum that seems to permeate our health care system's functionality. I'll spare you the details and dwell on more pleasant subjects, like Mark's puzzle. I saw the theme early on but the reveal was a fun surprise, dirty deeds reminder, notwithstanding. The Wizard with a scar went right over my head as I'm totally ignorant of anything Harry Potter-related, except for what I see in crosswords. Even then, I tend to forget who is who and what is what. Mr first car was a brand new 1964 Impala, white with a turquoise interior. I don't think I've ever had a Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pibb; are they similar in taste? I'm a dyed in the wool Pepsi fan.
Thanks, Mark, for a smooth and satisfying solve and thanks, Boomer, for pinch hitting so often and so successfully. Your humor offset the comedy of errors I was subjected to this morning!
Hondo @ 8:11 ~ Good luck with your tests and aftermath.
Bluehen @ 11:43 ~ I'm glad you're back in the cooking mood as I really enjoy hearing about what you're whipping up in the kitchen! Tonight's menu sounds extra yummy!
Misty @ 11:56 ~ Yes, Justin Bieber recently married Alex Baldwin's niece, Hailey (sp?). How long it will last is another story.
Have a great day.
The puzzle was a super easy one and the PLUMBING theme was obvious with no unknowns (rare for this guy) but I have one question:
ReplyDeleteSince when has the Chevy IMPALA been considered 'midsized'. It's the largest CAR that they make or should I say 'made'. They quit making them last year.I should be embarrassed that I actually knew BIEBER. We always referred to akimbo as a "bitch pose".
I've been laying low since Saturday due to nauseating vertigo. It's a weight loss program that I don't recommend to anybody.
DW has been after me to replace one of my cars. The problem that I have is they don't make one that I desire. I want a car, not a SUV, I want a SAFE car, I want great visibility in all directions, reasonable power, and to be dependable. Price and mpg are secondary items.
I do NOT want a sun roof, eight speakers, satellite radio, 20" tires, dual tailpipes, a turbocharged engine, and absolutely hate electric windows. But just about every car that I consider has all those items.I can't even count the amount of money I've spent over the years replacing motors on electric windows. They ALWAYS break.
Jinx- all the IBM people I knew referred to it as I've Been Moved because they kept getting transferred to other cities. My IBMs were 1130, System 38, and AS400-in that order.
ReplyDeleteThis Wednesday grid went rather quickly.
I do agree that the Impala is full size...even when they called it a mid-size it was still big...unless a wheelbase of 110” isn’t a big car.
No markovers today.
I’m an ATT retiree and am just about done with them. I had DirecTV, it’s great if you don’t mind zero reception when it rains...just like in 1960.
So I switched to ATT UVerse, and that’s been great, until this year...they just dropped NFL Network and NFL Red Zone....no negotiation, just dropped them. Now there’s no NBC because they are fighting Nexstar. Oh, and no surprise, but the NFL stations have been gone for months, NBC for over a month....zero price adjustment.
So goodbye ATT TV, hello Spectrum.
@TripleCrown, Boomer knew that. He was just bein' cute.
ReplyDeleteBE, I don't think it's possible to buy a new vehicle with U-Crank windows. I just went through that exercise, trying to minimize the expensive options. It's tough, because every option is part of a "package" -- it's all or nothing from that package.
Misty, yes, school starts earlier here too. That's because they have to be in session so many days per year (180?), and they are making up for more days off in the winter at Christmas vacation and something locally called Ski Week.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine buying a new or used car without power windows, power steering, power brakes, etc. They used to be options but have become standard since almost everybody wants them.
The last car I had without them was a 1982 VW camping van. When driving alone, it was a real nuisance to roll the passenger window down to get more ventilation. Worse yet, to try to adjust the passenger-side rear-view mirror. The 'modern conveniences' are very convenient. I vaguely remember the effort required to turn the steering wheel when parallel parking without power steering.
Loved the PLUMBERS theme today.
ReplyDeleteCC I am happy you enjoyed our recent hike photos at Rocky Pine Ridge!
IBM helped launch my nanotechnology career with their invention of the Scanning Tunnelling Microscope. The most powerful microscope in the world, which allows "seeing" all the way down to the atomic level.
The inventors Rohrer and Binnig were given the Nobel Prize within just a couple of years of their invention. Our company Digital Instruments turned it into a commercial product. In 1999 I was honored to meet Rohrer at a conference in Seoul, Korea.
Here are a few photos showing the achievements of IBM and Digital Instruments in nanotechnology.
The letters "IBM" are spelled out in those photos with individual xenon atoms!
Thanks for all the comments. Any problems with the puzzle, blame Rich! He obviously wanted to toughen this one up to aggravate you all! ATT is certainly an official abbreviation for attorney, as much as we hate to use it or see it in crosswords. I clued it "Verizon" rival. And "Pliers unit" for PAIR, wow! Mine was "Lousy poker hand". You know, AKIMBO was in my vocabulary long before I started making crosswords, but don't ask me why! Definitely a word that doesn't crop up at cocktail parties. It's from a Middle English word that means "jug handles". Who knew?
ReplyDeleteThanks for chiming in, Mark. It would be much more colorful if drivers in New Jersey used "akimbo" instead of "jug handle" for cloverleaf-style ramps.
ReplyDeleteBoomer, I had a ‘99 Grand Caravan. Had well over 100,000 miles when the body started rusting out and I could look down between my feet and see concrete passing by. Kept it until 2013, when I bought a lightly used Hyundai Santa Fe. I was looking for that specific model because my brother has had two now and with over 150,000 miles he’s about a year away from a new one. I absolutely love mine. It has a very good music system and with over 10,000 songs on a thumb drive it’s always on. 80,000 miles now and ready for the inspection Hyundai recommends. The only service it’s needed has been a fuel system cleanout when I got gasoline AND water from our local BP station.
ReplyDeleteI used to like Mr Pibb but couldn’t always find it. To me, Dr Pepper is better tasting but mostly I drink low-sodium whatever is on sale.
Harry Potter’s scar is an integral part of the entire series.
Husker, I was was also thinking of Harry Morgan in December Bride.
As for the puzzle, I knew since it was a Mark McClain I would enjoy it. And I did. With a Boomer writeup this made it perfect. I felt it was easier than many Wednesdays and FIR in 13 minutes. (Hi, Bluehen!)
I have no idea why but AKIMBO got used a lot in our house as I was growing up.
Well, I gotta run; got people to do and things to see. G’day, all.
When we visited a friend (I had met only on the Internet) back in Maine, I heard so many comments about a soft drink called Moxie, I had to try it. It was like a more medicinal-tasting Dr. Pepper. I liked it OK. I preferred their other two local specialties, lobster and Whoopie Pies.
ReplyDeleteWhen I told my students about our upcoming trip back to Maine, lots of them raised their hands to tell me I should never visit someone I had met only on the Internet. I thanked them for their concern and told them if I didn't show up on Monday, they would have been right.
Thank you, Irish Miss and Bill G, for your helpful responses to my questions.
ReplyDeleteMark, thank you for stopping by and providing more insight into the editorial process. I know ATT is a legitimate abbreviation but do not like it. Always enjoy your puzzles.
ReplyDeleteAnonPVX- I've had U-verse for about six years. The TV reception kept going down and they changed equipment four times in six months and ATT couldn't solve the problem. DW kept wanting to change ISP but the Internet has NEVER gone down. I had a hunch it was fluctuating voltage from the electric company. I bought a uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and plugged the U-Verse equipment into it. Problem solved.
ReplyDeleteD-Otto, $10,000 off savings on things you don't want and will never use is not $10,000 off. Just forcing things you don't want onto you. What a bargain.
Bill G- DW's Mercedes has 'Park assist' and it parks itself; she just can't remember how to operate it. I can and it only takes two steps. And speaking of Power Steering, the PS pump on the Nissan Murano broke two weeks ago. Making a right turn from a stop sign took all my strength. DW thought I was acting. She couldn't turn the wheel. New Pump, belt, & fluid=$478.81
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Mark McClain, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Boomer, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteWent through the puzzle easily until the SW corner. Everything stopped there. I finally got THIN AIR. ARDORS a bit later. TENURED appeared. INLAY was slow in coming. AKIMBO and POTTER were not known. Perps and a wag or two got it done. NUIT was not known. Perps.
Theme was fine once I figured out the PLUMBERS. I remember that group.
I actually wagged CURACAO and got it right. Amazing!
Have to run. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
I haven't had as much time for the Corner lately, as I have been preoccupied with the "mural crisis" at my old high school. Maybe some of you have been reading about the movement by the San Francisco Board of Education to destroy the 83-year old mural on the "Life of Washington" at Washington High, my alma mater. Many of us in the alumni association have been protesting the action, trying to get the courts to prevent losing this treasure.
ReplyDeleteThe motive for painting out the mural is that two of the panels show slaves at Mt.Vernon, and another shows a dead Indian--revealing ol' George as a slave-owner and Indian slayer. The board argues these exert "psychological oppression" on minority students. Our counter-argument is that the artist was showing the good AND bad in Washington's life, certainly an historically accurate view.
Based on these 3 panels, all 13 panels are to be effaced!
Anyway, today's pzl was enjoyable throughout. My thanks to Mr. McClain and to Boomer for the pleasure.
~ OMK
____________
DR: A 3-way on the distaff side.
The central diagonal's anagram honors those who have their own reasons for avoiding antispetics (just next door to the anti-vaxxers?), the...
"IODATION WARY"!
ReplyDeleteWEES, today was an enjoyable, doable romp from Mark with a nice Boomer write-up to go with it.
I don't believe an Impala was originally a mid-sized Chevy. It was my first new car in 1966. I wish I still had it or a restored one like it. It was a Mist Blue, two door Sport Coupe that had hand-cranked windows, an AM radio, a 283 engine with a two barrel carburetor, a two-speed automatic transmission and got about 16mpg. The great thing about it was that I could work on it myself and do the necessary oil changes, tune-ups and maintenance without a degree in electronics. Not the case with today's cars.
I know that car makers have renamed and rebranded some cars of varying sizes that had no resemblance to their ancestors. The Buick Century from the '50s was a large car but the same-named car from today is not.
Let's face it, Cable companies and ISPs are not in business to make you happy with their service, it's to get the most money out of you for the least amount of effort from them. There are a lot of horror stories about cable companies.
Have a great rest of the day.
OMK, you WILL subjugate yourself to the thought police of the PC crowd. If you must have an opinion, they will tell you what it must be. Disobey and you are likely to get cement in a milkshake cup thrown at you. You'll get used to it after a while.
ReplyDeleteJinx ~
ReplyDeleteI am not sure how to read your anti-PC message. Who exactly is telling me what opinion to hold? When (why?) do I get this "cement" milkshake?
WTF?
The good news is that our side seems to be winning hands down. The bad news is that we're up against some minoritarian philistines--no matter whether of the left or right--who happen to be in temporary control.
~ OMK
OC4 beach, I agree about the complexity of modern cars. I am in no way mechanical! I have engineer friends who won’t talk to me.
ReplyDeleteBut somewhere in the 1960s I had a low priced Chevy which had problems I could fix.
One I remember had to do with the starter. When it wouldn’t start, I’d lift the hood and pinch together two doohickeys while I ran very fast (I was much younger!) and turn on the engine. Worked every time and I had no idea what I did.
I’m not sure I even know how to lift the hood now!
WooHoo! (acknowledgement to Misty!) ~
ReplyDeleteI just re-checked today's anagram, and I see I elided 2 letters. This means we have the second Zangot of the week!
The true anagram should be...
"IODINATION WARY"!
(See my 1st posting above for the explanation - and below* for the definition.)
Double WooHoo!!
~ OMK
____________
*Zangot = 14 of 15 letters in use.
8 A -- Oafish: I hear they are tasty when fried, but they are so hard to catch.
ReplyDeleteIf you know how to revive a cordless mouse that suddenly will not work, please e-mail me. See my blogger page for the address.
Dave
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Mark and ?Boomer.
ReplyDeleteI'm late to the party after a busy day. Good thing this CW filled EASIly.
I got the PLUMBERS theme, and am glad that we did not have any of their cracks!
Hand up for trouble in the SW. Soir (didn't we just have that?) changed to NUIT. If I remember my French correctly, Soir means evening and NUIT means night - just a slight distinction.
My British pantry had Teas before TINS. (Where is Nice Cuppa?)
But of course, I knew BIEBER, Canada's gift to teenage girls. He seems to have settled down lately (sometimes we were embarrassed to claim him!)
I did not know MR PIBB (cute crossing BIB) or TNT (as clued-usually it is dynamite) but perps were friendly.
Off to bed. Another busy day tomorrow.
D4- I am groaning over Oafish.
ReplyDeleteQuick and probably redundant answer - does your mouse need new batteries?
D4 -- Or does your mouse's bottom side need cleaning? Sometimes, lint or mung will build up and block the opening so it can't track well, or at all, depending on the flavor of mung involved (caramel mung is especially stressful).
ReplyDelete