Let's see what else the good doctor has for us today:
Across:
1. Little more than a drop: THIMBLEFUL.
11. Gossip: DISH - Some in the teacher's lounge can really DISH the DIRT
15. Simile for "luve" in a classic poem: RED RED ROSE - Robert Burns
16. "__ the valley of Death ... ": Tennyson: INTO - Now Lord Tennyson's poetry makes an appearance but on a far rougher note17. C.S. Lewis, for one: ALLEGORIST - Continuing in the literary vein, some say his The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a Christian ALLEGORY
18. High seas adverb: THAR - THAR, she blows! Where? THAR!
19. Declared one's innocence, say: PLED 23. "I'm innocent": NOT ME - It means either I didn't do it or you can't prove I did.
20. Over and done with: PAST - American generals started fighting the Civil War using Napoleonic tactics of the PAST despite new weaponry
21. Trio in H2O: ATOMS - Two hydrogens and one oxygen
22. Varnish option: MATTE.
24. __ Brava: Spanish tourist site: COSTA - What does it cost to rent this vacation home along Spain's COSTA Brava (wild coast)?
28. Emailers, e.g.: USERS.
30. Bentley of "American Beauty": WES - Thora Birch and Mena Suvari were also in this movie and have appeared in our crosswords
31. Nadya Suleman, in 2009 headlines: OCTO MOM - Public opinion turned against her when it was discovered that she already had six children and was on public assistance
33. No-frills flight feature: LOW FARE - Probably has a very limited wine list
35. Martial artist/musician Steven: SEAGAL - Here ya go! So tough, he doesn't even use a pick on this fun tune
36. Straighten up: NEATEN.
37. Instruments also called rumba shakers: MARACAS - Just in case you don't know
39. Genetic identifiers: MARKERS - Your saliva, uh, speaks
40. Connections: INS - When boss's son gets a job for which someone else is much more qualified
41. Isabella I's birth city: AVILA - She was born in the Castilian town of Madrigal de las Altas Torres, ÁVILA and married Ferdinand of Aragon. Of course they are most famous for financing a certain sailor from Genoa, Italy
43. To the point: TERSE - I'll take TERSE over TMI anytime!
44. Snake targets: CLOGS.
46. Factor of diez: CINCO - Si, CINCO veces dos es igual a diez (Yes, five times two equals ten)
48. More than just eats: DINES.
49. Texter's "May I say": IMHO.
50. "__ Before Chanel": 2009 film: COCO - Meh...54. Military group: UNIT.
55. "Sgt. Pepper" collectible: ALBUM COVER - Here's the cover and who's on it
57. Shakers, but not movers: SECT - Shakers are a millenarian nontrinitarian restorationist Christian SECT founded circa 1747. Huh?
58. Workers behind bars: LION TAMERS - They prefer being called LION TRAINERS as LIONS can not really be tamed
59. Deuce topper: TREY.
60. Connect with by nailing, say: FASTEN ONTO.
Down:
1. Yap: TRAP -Two crude mouth references
2. Inferno: HELL.
3. Not occupied: IDLE.
4. '60s role for Bamboo Harvester: MR ED - His real name of course, of course. He seemed to have more 14. Stable judgment?: HORSE SENSE than the other characters in this sit com
5. Entreat: BEG.
6. Parkinson's drug: L DOPA - An intriguing, touching movie about L DOPA
7. Post-printing problem: ERRATUM - Computers make correcting an ERRATUM (uptown word for an error) much more doable
8. Palms off (on): FOISTS
9. Company co-founded by J.P. Morgan: US STEEL - A captain of industry/robber baron
10. Reason for a court replay: LET - To see if the tennis serve touched the net (called a LET). If it did the point is replayed. Volleyball has changed the rule so that a serve that hits the net is in play
11. Likewise: DITTO - He couldn't bring himself to say the word
12. Like a stereotypical cannibal captive: IN HOT WATER
13. Claudius and Porky Pig: STAMMERERS - King George (corrected) VI also
21. Be called: ANSWER TO.
22. "Dream a Little Dream of Me" singer: MAMA CASS - "She had to overcome John Phillips' concern that her voice was too low for his (Mamas and Papas) arrangements, that her physical appearance would be an obstacle to the band's success and that her temperament was incompatible with his." Yeah, she was the odd one!
24. Matter of space: COSMIC DUST - If you're interested
25. Port-to-port connector: OCEAN LINER.
27. Cover-up in Nero's time: TOGA.
29. Novelist Jaffe: RONA - Here 'ya go
32. Scandinavian patron: OLAV.
34. Art buyer's concern: FAKE - Which one is real? (answer at bottom of blog)
38. Strait of Messina isola: SICILIA - An image from space of where the two-mile bridge connecting isola of SICILIA (island of Sicily) with the Italian region of Calabria might be built over the Strait of Messina
39. It often follows a breakout: MAN HUNT - The movie and TV show The Fugitive traced the MAN HUNT for Dr. Richard Kimble
42. Transitional situations: LIMBOS - I'm sure Dr. Ed would consider "Pole dances" as a very marginal clue 😏
45. Big name in oil: GETTY.
47. Title in a Dumas title: COMTE - Yeah right, I was the only one who put in COUNT first instead of this French word for Count. My wife's maiden name was Christo (nee Christo) and she had a cousin named Monte.50. Lake of Lombardy: COMO - Lake COMO is in the northern Italian administration district of Lombardy which abuts Switzerland
51. Spot for pots: OVEN.
52. Marriage doc.: CERT - Not LISC it turns out
53. Roughly: OR SO.
55. Loser to Franklin in '36: ALF - Uh, what does a landslide look like...
56. Spam holder: CAN - My city of Fremont, NE makes a lot of Spam and in 2011 its citizens built the world's largest open-faced sandwich (Guinness) using that product
Add a comment and then take two aspirin and call Dr. Ed in the morning!
The real American Gothic is on the right.
35 comments:
FIWrong.
In NW, misspelt ALLoGORIST, wrong tense on PLEa, didn't notice MRoa.
In S, WAGged wrong on SavILIA, AVaLA, and vINCO.
I thought THIMBLEFUL should be THIMBLE FULL, but looked it up and it's in a dictionary.
A femmina from SICILIA
Migrated to Espaina from Italia.
"In Spain the rain
Falls on the plain
Around the city of ÁVILA."*
Masons were first craftsmen nimble,
Whose tools became Mystic Symbols.
The distaff side,
With needlework pride,
Created their own Mystic THIMBLES!**
His LUVE is like a RED, RED ROSE,
Dressed in thorns from feet to nose.
Red with rage
If he had strayed,
And yet her beauty could curl his toes!
For HORSE SENSE go see MR. ED,
Heed the TERSE words he has said:
Eat too much? "Neigh!"
Drink a lot? "Neigh!"
Vote for Trump? "You're out of your head!"
*I have no idea if Avila is on the plains.
**There are, SFAIK, no such things as Mystic Thimbles.
{Á-, B+, B+, A-.}
Good morning!
Looked impossible. Looked daunting. Looked difficult. Looked possible. Looked finished. Three stacked tens in each corner -- how do they do that? Plus Dr. Ed managed a reference to Mr. Ed. Impressive. Thanx, Dr. Ed and Husker. (What indicates that the one on the left is a fake? The stripes?)
OCTOMOM -- Wasn't she arrested for littering?
Sergeant Pepper's -- There are two versions on my music server, the original and the 2017 Remix by George Martin's son, Giles. I found the differences to be subtle.
Not a fan. A simile is a comparison with like or as. Red red rose is only part of one. Also, there are never replays on lets. Next.
The bridge between Sicily and the mainland of Italy will never be built. Just ask any Sicilian.
What a nice Saturday challenge and discussion from Dr. Ed and HG. Unlike Gary, I found the rotating triple 10 stacks made this a much faster Saturday solve. Starting with THIMBLEFUL and RED RED ROSE was a great way to start. We had lots of music and geography and The write up taught me much.
I had no knowledge of the coincidental name relationship between DESIDERIO Arnaz and his bride Lucille DESIREE Ball. Also a reminder of the irony of KEVIN SPACEY playing the victim of unwanted homosexual advances in this classic scene from AMERICAN BEAUTY.
We also have a significant CSO to me with 57A- Shakers, but not movers: SECT
I went to school on this SHAKER SITE in New Lebanon NY. I lived in this building known as ANN LEE COTTAGE in the upper left dormer room. It also was where I saw the news about JFK's assassination.
The dress was all wrong in the left painting.
Good morning.
Well that was a challenge ! Had to put the puzzle down and walk away for a bit. Much better when I came back. Remembered that Scott Hamilton was a figure skater, and then STARS ON ICE practically jumped off the page. That cleared up the mess I made in the SW.
Great job, Husker Gary. Thanks for the good links and imagery. You must favor IMDb >)
The Shakers also had a farm near what is now the Albany County Airport. Mother Ann Lee is buried there. Celibacy makes it hard for a religious sect to survive.
The King's Speech is about George VI, not Henry.
I tried this before but apparently it failed.
22D: It was a nice recording but she sang the bridge in the wrong key.
Good morning. Mr. Sessa's puzzle fell into my lap today and jumped back up finished. Went NW to SE, only changing ASK to BEG. It was the fastest Saturday that I think I'd ever completed. Just one unknown-WES Bentley. Many gimmes for a Saturday- MR ED, SEAGAL, COCO, MAMA CASS, US STEEL, L-LOPA, RONA
THIMBLEFUL & IMHO- usually about the same amount of advice
Spanish theme with COSTA, AVILA, & CINCO
LOW FARE flights- always. I understand why it's necessary for airlines to provide food and drink on transoceanic flights but why is it necessary for flights of just a few hours. All it does is make people line up for the restroom.
NOT ME- Gary it's usually "you can't prove I did". That's why so many criminals are running loose.
Good morning everyone.
Had 'dirt' before DISH, and 'count' before COMTE, but got everything else OK. Had the OLA(v or f) head scratcher, too, but it looked like AVILA was solid. I always enjoy Ed's puzzles. CSO to him @ MR ED.
NEATEN = Titivate (a high seas verb)
So THAR you are. Have a nice weekend everyone.
The past tense of "plead" is PLEADED, not PLED. Most court reporters, let alone most judges and attorneys, do not know this. Go ahead, type "pled" in this box; it gets a squiggly red line under it.
Dictionary gives:
plead verb
\ ˈplēd \
pleaded\ ˈplē-dəd \ or pled also plead\ ˈpled \; pleading
Good Morning:
I thought this puzzle had outstanding cluing all around, but my two favorites were:
Stable judgment=Horse sense
Workers behind bars=Lion tamers
The highlight of the grid was the Mr. Ed entry which brought an audio chuckle. I had numerous w/os including: Ounze/Cinco (Got my languages, math and spelling mixed up), Zorro/Comte (don't ask), Dirt/Dish (Noun before verb choice), and AES/Alf (clue was clear but brain wasn't). I like the SE corner visual of Como, Coco, Or so, Onto. The commonality of Porky Pig and Claudius had me stumped until the perps led the way to Stammerers. I like the word Foists and I also liked the very low number (6) of three letter words. To me, this puzzle had it all: Lively fill, excellent cluing, a clean grid, and enough crunch to make you work, but not pull your hair out.
Thank you, Dr. Ed, for one of the more enjoyable solves I've had in a while and thanks, HG, for your boundless enthusiasm and learning moments which are hallmarks of your Saturday summaries. (Costa Brava is unknown to me, but I have been to Costa del Sol, many, many years ago.)
I got my flu shot yesterday, so I should be prepared to ward off those dastardly bugs and germs. I also shopped for a new electric blanket as my present one is kaput. Target is right near my doctor's office, so, after my appointment, I popped in there, but had no luck. Their selection was limited in size, style, and color, which surprised me. OTOH, someone told me that these blankets are not as popular as they once were. Anyway, I found one online at Walmart and should receive it in about a week, free shipping included.
Have a great day.
Grammar Girl say PLED is a colloquial past tense of plead although the AP Style book and lawyers used PLEADED. We often find colloquialisms here.
oops- Grammar Girl says
Another puzzle with way too many proper names for my taste.
I forgot to compliment Dr. Ed on his adorable best friend in the photo. He/She looks like a handsome and regal King Charles Spaniel.
Nothing like looking forward to a puzzle, then realizing it's a bunch of obtuse, arcane items...no fun. Meh!
Again, either I've become a temporary genius or this was an extra ordinarily easy Saturday puzzle. Finished first if all and in record time. There should have been a French prompt in the Dumas clue to solicit a French answer. ("Titre" instead of "title?") Otherwise few corrections.
Beautiful sunny day in upstate NY's Mohawk Valley. Still warm enough to do the puzzle outside surrounded by glorious Fall foliage
You are correct. Every decade or so there's talk of a bridge connecting Calabria with Sicily..it will never happen. Maybe a "sottopassagio?"...lol
Hola!
Thank you, Dr. Ed! This was fun and for the most part easy. I like your photo and especially your best friend.
I was surprised to learn of a connection between Claudius and Porky Pig! The Costa Brava is not familiar to me but like Irish Miss, I have been to the Costa del Sol and traveled throughout much of Spain.
Queen Isabella may be best known to Americans as the sponsor of Columbus but her significant contribution to Spain was the union of Aragon and Castile by her marriage to Ferdinand. She was a true renaissance queen as depicted in the book, Isabella of Castile by Nancy Rubin. I highly recommend it. As an aside, I learned that one of her attendants was Catarina Sandoval.
AVILA, like most medieval cities, is surrounded by walls.
Hand up for COUNT before COMTE.
The SW almost beat me mostly because I was overthinking "snake targets" until CLOGS occurred to me. Then the DUST settled and it all came together.
This was a nice challenge and well reviewed by Husker Gary who I am sure possesses more than HORSE SENSE.
Have a sensational Saturday, everyone!
Musings
-I deserve three lashes with a wet noodle for entering Henry instead of George! I watched the fine BBC series The Crown and two documentaries on the Windsors recently and enjoyed both immensely (especially how WWI necessitated dropping their German titles and renaming their royal house Windsor).
-Stammering and all, George VI and his wife Elizabeth were an inspiration to their subjects during the dark days of WWII
-When a movie is mentioned in the puzzle, I feel posting the Rotten Tomatoes summation and rating gives a very nice feel for the work
-I will never have enough money (or interest) to invest huge sums for artwork or diamonds which differ only slightly from a good, but much cheaper, uh, less costly, expert copy.
-Thanks so much for the kind words, Lucina. I have been likened to at least one part of a horse
Husker: Outstanding write-up explaining my Ink Blot.
GO BIG RED !!!
Cheers!
Don't white-wash Queen Isabella, Lucina. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand established the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, more commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition. Although originally intended to root out so-called heretics among Jewish and Islam converts to Catholicism, In 1492 and in 1502, the King and Queen issued Edicts of Expulsions ordering Jews and Muslims to convert to Catholicism or be expelled. Those who neither converted or left their home country were tortured and murdered. Those who converted were also living in peril, as the Inquisitors could challenge their faith at any time. Interestingly, the Inquisition was not abolished until 1834. Also of interest is that this year, Spain is now offering citizenship to Jews whose families were expelled 500 years ago.
Gary, you amaze me. I too thought of the obligatory BB clue: AL '54 BA Champ Bobby instead of that pesky island.
Tolkien had a fallout over Lewis allegory. I would call JRR's method parallelling as in "The Ring"=ABomb.
Re. PAST; And the WWI Generals did the same.
I love that clue "Pole dancers"
Owen, I've got to giveya all W's today. Throw in a +. -T would love these.
Louis, a LET is exactly a replay. The server serves again.
Tin, I was going to say inky mess, especially the SW. Perhaps my brain was CLOGged up but I had extreme difficulty with this. I did FIR so I'm thrilled. I knew it was CASS but just couldn't think of that name or even why one uses a Snake on a toilet.
Re. COMTE. I mentioned yesterday that Montaigne's work probably should have been ESSAI. Inconsistent.
WC
Somebody had to do it...
Super Saturday. Thanks for the fun Ed and HuskerG.
I found this to be a crunchy CW, mainly because of all the names (but expected on Sat.).
I had a sea of white on my first pass, and had to visit Mr. Google to get a toehold with ALF, WES, SEAGAL, COCO, MR ED, that "luve" poem simile, and the Dumas title. (Hand up for filling in Count even after I looked it up! I agree with ray o sunshine that a French prompt would have been appropriate.)
Many learning moments (probably soon to be forgotten). (I'll call ALf, as clued, a Canadian disadvantage. Do Americans even remember him?)
I had Ahoy (but not an adv.) before THAR. When perps gave MOM, I recalled OCTOMOM.
GETTY filled with perps.
Too bad the clue for ALBUM COVER was not, "Abbey Road" collectible, with the 50th anniversary of that album's release the other day (Sept. 26).
But an article from 2011 in Spin says "an adapted sleeve for the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that puts the faces of Capitol Records executives on the Fab Four members is worth roughly £70,000, or almost $112,000, according to Record Collector magazine." Now that's a collectible. Wonder what it's worth in 2019.
MARACAS are Shakers but not a SECT. (I was so sure of a plural answer for 57A that I penned in the final S, only to change it to T because Getsy made no sense as an oil baron.)
The L in L-DOPA stands for levo. "Its development in the late 1960s represents one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of medicine. Plain levodopa produces nausea and vomiting. It is combined with carbidopa to prevent this side effect. The well-known combined carbidopa/levodopa name brand formulation is called Sinemet®." parkinson.org
Best wishes to you all.
Desper-otto said it so well I wish to repeat it: "Looked impossible. Looked daunting. Looked difficult. Looked possible. Looked finished. Three stacked tens in each corner -- how do they do that?" I love Ed Sessa's puzzles and enjoyed the heck out of this one.
I also love Gary's write-ups and enjoyed the heck out of this one.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Ed Sessa, for fine puzzle. Thank you, Husker Gary, for a fine review.
Wow, this puzzle really beat me up. I could not finish. The NW corner did me in.
Puzzle was very tough, but I got most of with a lot of work.
In the NW, the three long ones were out of my wheelhouse. Most of the perps were not easy to get. The only ones I got were HELL, IDLE, and US STEEL. Anyhow, that happens.
OCTO MOM was with perps. After coming here I remembered that incident. Hope she is doing well with 14 kids.
Liked IN HOT WATER. Good one.
Anyhow, I am going to run. I hope I get the Sunday crossword. Hate to lose two in a row.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
I fully expected a tough pzl today--after yesterday's piece o' cake. Thank you, Mr. Sessa, for letting us off the hook. This was fun, not at all like a typical week-ending tooth-pull.
Husker G ~ FAKE - Wrong Buzzer!
(Don't fall for it, Desper-otto!)
Both images of "American Gothic" are copies.
Provenance? I suspect you took a photo of a photo to post for the Corner.
~ OMK
I do not mean to whitewash Isabella but she was under the influence of her confessor, Torquemada, who, I believe, is mainly to blame for those persecutions. That she conspired with him is certainly not to her credit but does not completely overshadow the good she did for her country. I can only say that she was very young, a dedicated Catholic and therefore easily manipulated by said confessor.
Our family maintains the lore that in that distant past our ancestors were "conversos" that is, converted Jews which many did to save themselves from exile or death.
DNF. Like Abejo, I had trouble from Vancouver to Winnipeg. Like we see most every week, a puzzle that is a cake walk for many is ungetable for others.
Learned my shakers weren't salt, I didn't deny the charge, the actor wasn't seegal, my inferno wasn't fire, that I wasn't free or open but IDOL, that my pots don't sit on a sill, and that my Dumass self doesn't know a count from a comte.
Finally got our motorhome back, 7 weeks and $7,700 later. No one said it would be cheap, just fun.
Cute puzzle, Dr. Ed. And thanks to Gary for the review.
IDLE, not IDol.
Well, this was a killer. Then it wasn’t. Then it was again... ad nauseum. Every time I thought I was on a roll Dr Sessa lay down in front of me and >thump< another speed bump. Finally I just went away and did something else (cleaned the refrigerator, if you must know) and when I got back the rest seemed to fall together quickly. Thanks to Dr S and, as usual on a Saturday, to Husker Gary for the writeup.
I liked seeing THIMBLEFUL and ALLEGORIST. Neat words.
LDOPA fell right away but ERRATUM took an embarrassing amount of time.
Costa xxxxx: had no idea, but it seemed that BRAVO should fit and by gum it did.
I liked seeing COSMIC DUST right next to an OCEAN LINER.
I actually didn’t feel that there were more proper names than usual.
Dinner bell. Have fun the rest of the weekend.
I get it. Bamboo Harvester was Mr Ed's original name before he became bilingual. I had many interesting chats with ol' Ed in the day.
Among my many wrong turns was FLUFFS. THIMBLE FUL got the NW going. Port has become USB in these days. I too put in SALT knowing it was wrong. I even tried COST BENEFIT for that space clue.
The East was merely a difficult Saturday. It was just as D-O and Jayce said. With the emphasis on hopeless.
WC
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