Theme: Acronym Antics - the revealing acronym tells us what ties the theme entries together, to whit:
66A. Bottomless buffet acronym spelled out by the ends of 17-, 31-, 43- and 60-Across: A.Y.C.E.
So we go back and find:
17A. "Are we done here?": IS THAT ALL?
31A. "Tsk tsk": SHAME ON YOU
43A. "Might be able to help": I THINK I CAN
60A. "Not hungry, but not not hungry either": I COULD EAT
I'm super-conflicted about this puzzle - on the one hand, the fill was wonderful - modern cultural references, unusual but great words, fresh clues for old chestnuts - "A"'s all around. And then we get to the theme. I just thought it was a lot less than lackluster - the theme words were, well, the same as the theme words. The "ALL YOU CAN EAT" reveal has theme entries which end in the same word, with the same part of speech or definition. It was all just "meh". I'd have preferred the theme entries to end with those letters, not with that word. In fact, almost to point up the example, I COULD EAT has CAR SEAT directly above it. I'd call that out as bad anyway, but it served a purpose to make my point.
I've been binge-watching "The Great British Bake-Off" recently, so in the words of one of the judges who, while always critical, looks for the positive "Your flavors were great, but it looked terrible".
Let's trot smartly along and look at the sparkle:
Across:
1. Dermatology issue: CYST. ACNE went in, ACNE came out. What did I say about being too impulsive?
5. Sources of foreign aid?: AU PAIRS. Great clue. I fondly remember Jette, a Danish au pair I dated in London so many moons ago the moon was still young.
12. Learned: HEARD. "So I heard".
14. Sacagawea's people: SHOSHONE. Nailed it! Getting better at American history. Sure taken long enough!
16. Aquarium growth: ALGAE
19. Rio neighborhood of song: IPANEMA. I've been fortunate to visit Ipanema. I walked by the beach, and ate a snack of grilled chicken hearts with a mid-morning beer. It was the weekend, in my defense, but I do enjoy the Brazilian vibe.
21. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" writer David: SEDARIS. Great author, not to everyone's taste.
22. Takes turns?: SPINS. Spins around, turns around.
24. Coarse cloth: TWEED
25. When an early voyage may start: AT DAWN. On the morning tide.
28. Metal giant: ALCOA. Aluminum/Aluminium. Spell-check likes them both, to my delight.
33. Harsh cry: YAWP. Great fill. Could be many things, YELP disqualified because of 2D, but what a great word. This one made my Word of the Day list.
37. Light touch: PAT
38. Chocolate treat: BROWNIE. Are all brownies chocolate? A question I've never asked myself, I suppose they are.
40. Letter before sigma: RHO
41. __ song: SWAN
45. "... let's play two!" ballplayer Banks: ERNIE. The Cubs' legend was a journalist's dream for quotes, this one:
"It's a beautiful day for a baseball game, let's play two!" and this after he retired from playing a game he loved: "I've never worked a day in my life". What a great man. Banks was named to the CTA board in 1969 and said "For one thing, I want to make sure that the "E" always stops at Wrigley".
47. Set of chromosomes: GENOME
48. Avalanche: SPATE. I see a spate as a minor avalanche. From the same family though.
51. Din: NOISE
53. Traveling tot's spot: CAR SEAT
56. Sounded indignant: SNORTED. You can snort when you laugh, snort when you're indignant, or snort when you're an overpaid bond trader. We'll leave that one alone.
62. Of service: UTILE. I wish this word was "utilized" more often. It's so elegant.
63. A-ha hit that won six MTV Video Music Awards: TAKE ON ME
64. Assisted through difficulty, with "over": TIDED
65. Macy's logo feature: RED STAR. Also a Serbian soccer team with a great history. "Red Star Belgrade" in English, "FK Crvena zvezda" in their native tongue. Hard to see how to get one from the other.
Down:
1. Tazo choice: CHAI
2. App with many pans: YELP
3. "Star Wars," for one: SAGA
4. Classic Pontiac: TRANS-AM
5. Malay or Mongol: ASIAN
6. Stammering syllables: UHS. Hesitant syllables, yes, stammering? No. I stammered quite terribly as a child and a teen, I couldn't make a phone call until I was in my early 20's. I found my own answer, but watching "The King's Speech" was difficult.
7. Kettles and kitties: POTS. "Kitties" had me wondering, then - Oh! The ante in a poker game - pay into the kitty, or the pot.
8. Second African-American inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame: ASHE. Pop quiz - who was the first?*
9. "There was no other choice": I HAD TO.
10. Disintegrate, as old wood: ROT AWAY. Fresh, nice fill.
11. Drum kit item: SNARE
13. Area that's hard to find while surfing?: DEEP WEB. You'll never find it while you're surfing. The parallel universe of the internet.
15. "A Jew Today" writer Wiesel: ELIE
18. Trip letters: LSD. Leave by Saturday Dinnertime? No, not quite.
20. Study on the side: MINOR IN. The verb, not the noun. I was a little stumped by this one. I got MINOR through crosses, then tried to see what would slot in the last two squares.
23. Pouring instruction: SAY WHEN. Don't ask me that.
25. Well of Souls threats in "Raiders of the Lost Ark": ASPS. Yay! Not a "Nile biter". Huzzah for Indiana Jones!
26. Soften: THAW
27. Info: DATA
29. Actress Anderson: LONI
30. Bringing up to speed: CUING IN. I think this is wrong. If I was bringing someone up to speed, I'd "clue them in". If I was marking their entrance, I'd "cue them in",
32. Formal "It wasn't me": NOT I
34. With the bow, in music: ARCO. Cheap gas in SoCal, that's how I remember this one.
35. "Pow!" relative: WHAM
36. Fried Dixie bread: PONE
39. Just makes: EKES OUT
42. Kimono sash ornament: NETSUKE. A lovely word. A storage purse which hung from the obi which evolved into a highly-decorative item. I know a Japanese lady who has a beautiful scrimshaw netsuke hard-carved around 150 years ago.
44. Subject of Newton's first law: INERTIA
46. Nearly fell: REELED. You reel from a punch, but don't go down.
48. Poli __: SCI. I was wondering about this the other day - what is the curriculum for Political Science? It seems to me to be more of an art form. I need to read up on it.
49. Agreement: PACT
50. Like a cheering crowd: AROAR
52. JusSimple juicer maker: OSTER. I will remember this brand until the day I day. I think I told you before, I dropped an Oster blender jug and tried to cushion the impact on my tile kitchen floor with my bare foot. The result? The jug bounced off my foot, cracked a toe and shattered anyway when it hit the floor. I was picking up shards of glass for days.
54. Foofaraws: ADOS
55. Camping gear: TENT
57. Orderly: TIDY
58. Power co. output: ELEC. Least favorite fill of the day.
59. "__ Dinah": Frankie Avalon hit: DEDE
61. Doc's org.: A.M.A.
And so to close, to sleep, to dream. Here's the grid!
Steve
66A. Bottomless buffet acronym spelled out by the ends of 17-, 31-, 43- and 60-Across: A.Y.C.E.
So we go back and find:
17A. "Are we done here?": IS THAT ALL?
31A. "Tsk tsk": SHAME ON YOU
43A. "Might be able to help": I THINK I CAN
60A. "Not hungry, but not not hungry either": I COULD EAT
I'm super-conflicted about this puzzle - on the one hand, the fill was wonderful - modern cultural references, unusual but great words, fresh clues for old chestnuts - "A"'s all around. And then we get to the theme. I just thought it was a lot less than lackluster - the theme words were, well, the same as the theme words. The "ALL YOU CAN EAT" reveal has theme entries which end in the same word, with the same part of speech or definition. It was all just "meh". I'd have preferred the theme entries to end with those letters, not with that word. In fact, almost to point up the example, I COULD EAT has CAR SEAT directly above it. I'd call that out as bad anyway, but it served a purpose to make my point.
I've been binge-watching "The Great British Bake-Off" recently, so in the words of one of the judges who, while always critical, looks for the positive "Your flavors were great, but it looked terrible".
Let's trot smartly along and look at the sparkle:
Across:
1. Dermatology issue: CYST. ACNE went in, ACNE came out. What did I say about being too impulsive?
5. Sources of foreign aid?: AU PAIRS. Great clue. I fondly remember Jette, a Danish au pair I dated in London so many moons ago the moon was still young.
12. Learned: HEARD. "So I heard".
14. Sacagawea's people: SHOSHONE. Nailed it! Getting better at American history. Sure taken long enough!
16. Aquarium growth: ALGAE
19. Rio neighborhood of song: IPANEMA. I've been fortunate to visit Ipanema. I walked by the beach, and ate a snack of grilled chicken hearts with a mid-morning beer. It was the weekend, in my defense, but I do enjoy the Brazilian vibe.
21. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" writer David: SEDARIS. Great author, not to everyone's taste.
22. Takes turns?: SPINS. Spins around, turns around.
24. Coarse cloth: TWEED
25. When an early voyage may start: AT DAWN. On the morning tide.
28. Metal giant: ALCOA. Aluminum/Aluminium. Spell-check likes them both, to my delight.
33. Harsh cry: YAWP. Great fill. Could be many things, YELP disqualified because of 2D, but what a great word. This one made my Word of the Day list.
37. Light touch: PAT
38. Chocolate treat: BROWNIE. Are all brownies chocolate? A question I've never asked myself, I suppose they are.
40. Letter before sigma: RHO
41. __ song: SWAN
45. "... let's play two!" ballplayer Banks: ERNIE. The Cubs' legend was a journalist's dream for quotes, this one:
"It's a beautiful day for a baseball game, let's play two!" and this after he retired from playing a game he loved: "I've never worked a day in my life". What a great man. Banks was named to the CTA board in 1969 and said "For one thing, I want to make sure that the "E" always stops at Wrigley".
47. Set of chromosomes: GENOME
48. Avalanche: SPATE. I see a spate as a minor avalanche. From the same family though.
51. Din: NOISE
53. Traveling tot's spot: CAR SEAT
56. Sounded indignant: SNORTED. You can snort when you laugh, snort when you're indignant, or snort when you're an overpaid bond trader. We'll leave that one alone.
62. Of service: UTILE. I wish this word was "utilized" more often. It's so elegant.
63. A-ha hit that won six MTV Video Music Awards: TAKE ON ME
64. Assisted through difficulty, with "over": TIDED
65. Macy's logo feature: RED STAR. Also a Serbian soccer team with a great history. "Red Star Belgrade" in English, "FK Crvena zvezda" in their native tongue. Hard to see how to get one from the other.
Down:
1. Tazo choice: CHAI
2. App with many pans: YELP
3. "Star Wars," for one: SAGA
4. Classic Pontiac: TRANS-AM
5. Malay or Mongol: ASIAN
6. Stammering syllables: UHS. Hesitant syllables, yes, stammering? No. I stammered quite terribly as a child and a teen, I couldn't make a phone call until I was in my early 20's. I found my own answer, but watching "The King's Speech" was difficult.
7. Kettles and kitties: POTS. "Kitties" had me wondering, then - Oh! The ante in a poker game - pay into the kitty, or the pot.
8. Second African-American inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame: ASHE. Pop quiz - who was the first?*
9. "There was no other choice": I HAD TO.
10. Disintegrate, as old wood: ROT AWAY. Fresh, nice fill.
11. Drum kit item: SNARE
13. Area that's hard to find while surfing?: DEEP WEB. You'll never find it while you're surfing. The parallel universe of the internet.
15. "A Jew Today" writer Wiesel: ELIE
18. Trip letters: LSD. Leave by Saturday Dinnertime? No, not quite.
20. Study on the side: MINOR IN. The verb, not the noun. I was a little stumped by this one. I got MINOR through crosses, then tried to see what would slot in the last two squares.
23. Pouring instruction: SAY WHEN. Don't ask me that.
25. Well of Souls threats in "Raiders of the Lost Ark": ASPS. Yay! Not a "Nile biter". Huzzah for Indiana Jones!
26. Soften: THAW
27. Info: DATA
29. Actress Anderson: LONI
30. Bringing up to speed: CUING IN. I think this is wrong. If I was bringing someone up to speed, I'd "clue them in". If I was marking their entrance, I'd "cue them in",
32. Formal "It wasn't me": NOT I
34. With the bow, in music: ARCO. Cheap gas in SoCal, that's how I remember this one.
35. "Pow!" relative: WHAM
36. Fried Dixie bread: PONE
39. Just makes: EKES OUT
42. Kimono sash ornament: NETSUKE. A lovely word. A storage purse which hung from the obi which evolved into a highly-decorative item. I know a Japanese lady who has a beautiful scrimshaw netsuke hard-carved around 150 years ago.
44. Subject of Newton's first law: INERTIA
46. Nearly fell: REELED. You reel from a punch, but don't go down.
48. Poli __: SCI. I was wondering about this the other day - what is the curriculum for Political Science? It seems to me to be more of an art form. I need to read up on it.
49. Agreement: PACT
50. Like a cheering crowd: AROAR
52. JusSimple juicer maker: OSTER. I will remember this brand until the day I day. I think I told you before, I dropped an Oster blender jug and tried to cushion the impact on my tile kitchen floor with my bare foot. The result? The jug bounced off my foot, cracked a toe and shattered anyway when it hit the floor. I was picking up shards of glass for days.
54. Foofaraws: ADOS
55. Camping gear: TENT
57. Orderly: TIDY
58. Power co. output: ELEC. Least favorite fill of the day.
59. "__ Dinah": Frankie Avalon hit: DEDE
61. Doc's org.: A.M.A.
And so to close, to sleep, to dream. Here's the grid!
Steve
54 comments:
DNF. DEGN. Didn't Even Get Near!. And this is only Thursday? When I resorted to red, I still had a lot of white, but what was revealed was RASH>CYST, RED-EYE>AT DAWN, EASE>THAW, and YELP>YAWP. YAWP? Ya gotta be kidding me!
Other errors taken care of by perps: GRAND AM>TRANS AM, IT CAN'T HURT>I THINK I CAN, AIDE>TIDY, ENERGY_>INERTIA.
And I'll take a Thumper on the theme.
Could a BROWNIE or Gnome
Result from a faulty GENOME?
"I THINK IT CAN,"
Says a Leprechaun.
"Especially in places like Nome!"
{A-.}
Hard puzzle today
Quick and easy for me this morning. The theme helped me with its last entry. CUINGIN looks so weird to me.
Started with ACNE, changed it to Rash, and changed it to CYST. And thus the SAGA started.
Longest Thursday in a long time. No TADA at WaPo, but I got it unaided and just over 25 minutes.
Had to piece together more than a few answers. Never HEARD of SEDARIS and NETSUKE. Didn't know DEDE Dinah.
I liked the clue for DEEP WEB.
Put in YELP for "Harsh cry" but realized I already had it at 2D. Not familiar with YAWP, but I HAD TO leave it in because the perps required it.
Took a moment to figure out CUING IN and MINOR IN. Didn't especially care for CUING IN. Ditto for AT DAWN because I overthought it.
Had to read the clue "Not hungry, but not not hungry either" three times to see the third not.
Steve, I think Ernie said El or elevated. Probably just a type on your part. BTW, the Red Line runs to Wrigley, and it's an easy and cost efficient way to get to the game from downtown.
LSD - Lake Shore Drive. There's a proposed ordinance to rename a southern section Lake Shore Drive in honor of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. du Sable was the first non-indigenous settler of what would become Chicago. Recently, Congress Parkway was renamed Ida B Wells Street in honor of the civil rights leader.
Great puzzle, Christopher. A fine review, Steve.
Good morning!
Steve, I took the same pause at MINOR IN. CUING IN was slow to appear. But I really got stuck at TA_EONME and NETSU_E. No idea on either of 'em. An alphabet run yielded too many possibilities. I finally WAGged a K. Whew, that was close. Thanx, Christopher and Steve.
IPANEMA: Managed to get there one time. Wow, those swim suits are tiny.
SHOSHONE: Sacagawea shows up soon after I mentioned her the other day. Literally. I got a Sacagawea dollar in yesterday's mail.
DEDE: That was a truly forgettable ditty. It would've gone nowhere, without the assistance of Dick Clark on American Bandstand. Don't know why, but Clark really pushed the careers of Frankie Avalon and his Philly buddy, Fabian.
Typo, not type.
Steve, we really like "The Great British Bake-Off." DW loves it and has probably seen every episode of every season at least twice. I think Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood are the perfect hosts and judges.
She is so polite and encouraging in her constructive critiques. He is the perfect gentleman towards Mary and you can tell he adores her. We love when they show their techniques for creating some of those extravagant baked goods. Just wish the measurements were in a language we understood.
I like Mel as well, but no longer care for Sue Perkins after she badgered Iain about his baked Alaska that did not set, and he ended up throwing it in the trash. Then the foofaraw about whether Diane had left Iain's bake out of the fridge too long. Yeah, we're hooked.
Good Morning, Steve and friends. I had the same reaction to today's theme as Steve. I thought the cluing was clever, but was left wanting more from the theme.
Hand up for Acne before settling on CYST.
I also learned that Orderly is not Neat, but TIDY.
Arthur ASHE must be the man of the week. This is the 3rd time he has visited the puzzle this week.
I laughed at Sources of Foreign Aid = AU PAIR.
I am currently reading The Hare with Amber Eyes, by Edmund de Waal. It is a memoir of his family and it begins because an ancestor collected NETSUKEs. Had I not been reading this book, I probably would have scratched my head over today's clue and answer.
I am not a big fan of chocolate, but I do like Blonde Brownies.
QOD: So far as I know, anything worth hearing is not usually uttered at seven o’clock in the morning; and if it is, it will generally be repeated at a more reasonable hour for a larger and more wakeful audience. ~ Moss Hart (Oct. 24, 1904 ~ Dec. 20, 1961), American playwright
Another name change in the offing ?
Middle schoolers in fight to change name of Douglas Park to Douglass Park
"The goal? A simple but powerful one. The students want to add an extra “s” to change the name from Stephen Douglas Park to Frederick Douglass Park."
"...someone meticulously placed an extra “s” on every single sign in Douglas Park."
I got the acronym quickly, even though I’ve never seen it used in real life, so that helped with the solve.. Overall, a fairly easy Thursday in my opinion, even though some of the answers were fills for me.
Seen enough of ASHE. His legend lives on in the Crosswords.
I've also never seen the acronym, so I think it's really just initials. Finished just under 10:30.
I appreciate that the review included some criticism, not just obligatory praise.
Sedaris is funny. Netsukes is new to me. "Take On Me" still holds up - the song and the video.
I had YOWL for a loud cry....had to go back to it a few times, but finally had to put in YAWP even though I never heard of it. Otherwise a pretty fun puzzle. Also never heard of DEEP WEB only DARK WEB but obviously it didn’t fit.
Good morning everyone.
Congrats to C-Eh! on the new grandchild. Wishing everyone well.
A bit crunchy today, especially in the NW. Wanted 'acne' or 'rash' but the potential perps seemed to want CYST. So I finally acquiesced. Getting IPANEMA spelt right also added to the head=scratching. I agree with Steve as to the theme's shortcomings. Not too fond of all the compound fill either. I didn't need help with YELP, but did need a nudge with TRANS-AM because of the CYST quandary.
LSD - Dock Landing Ship. 'Gator Navy. They support amphibious operations including landings via Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC), conventional landing craft and helicopters, onto hostile shores:
USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), San Diego, CA
USS Carter Hall (LSD 50), Little Creek, VA
USS Oak Hill (LSD 51), Little Creek, VA
USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52), San Diego, CA, and:
USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41), Little Creek, VA
USS Germantown (LSD 42), Sasebo, Japan
USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), Mayport, FL
USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), Little Creek, VA
USS Comstock (LSD 45), San Diego, CA
USS Tortuga (LSD 46), Little Creek, VA
USS Rushmore (LSD 47), San Diego, CA
USS Ashland (LSD 48), Sasebo, Japan
My guess for the first would be Althea Gibson
Steve - no "h" in "to wit"
Had tHAI before CHAI
Althea Gibson was the first African American inducted in the Tennis Hall of Fame
I know a lot of acronyms and even the Corner has its own acronyms but AYCE is one I've never heard. I try to stay away from a buffet (except Jimmy and I'd love to meet Warren). This was a tough puzzle to finish for a Thursday. The Great WHITE North was white until the end. I went south and worked up from there, with NETSUKE & YAWP filled by perps. Brand new words for me and Adele.
The NE was the last to fall, with SEDARIS an unknown and AU PAIRS finishing the puzzle after the V8 moment hit. 1D-Tazo is a complete unknown but CHAI was a good WAG-acronym. DARK WEB had to be changed to DEEP WEB, which was a new term for me.
Dermatology issue- I've had them all. Basal cell, squamous cell, melanoma, cysts, wens- just no acne.
ALTHEA GIBSON 1971 USTA HOF- (two acronyms). That's an easy one. Especially since DW was on various national USTA boards. The National Men's 60 and older tennis championships are being held at NOLTC (my tennis club) this week. At the dinner Monday night it was announced that a personal friend and one of our club members, Mike McNulty, will be the president of the USTA in 2020.
Jinx- Andy SIDARIS grew up in my hometown, Shreveport, and was the director of ABC's "Wide World OF Sports".
YAWP??? I'm sure it's in the dictionary but come on. Crossing Kimono sash with a-ha hit was just wrong. This one landed in slog territory for me and on a Thursday.
Interesting fill. This should have been a themeless, as the theme was not that impressive or needed. I see AYCE is an acronym that is now in use. New to me.
I had lots of white with scattered gimmes at the start. P&P.
I tried YOWL first, but the perp had to be Arco. ABC run provided the P. I didn't think of YAWP or PONE.
The K in TAKE ON ME and NETSUKI was a natick I guessed correctly. Just now I looked up netsuki. New to me. It is not a pouch but the ornament that fastens the pouch to the obi.The pouch is called the sagemono. Netsuki is the "ornamental togglelike piece, usually of carved ivory, used to attach a medicine box, pipe, or tobacco pouch to the obi (sash) of a Japanese man's traditional dress."
Netsuki are no longer used, so this is a fairly obscure fill.
"Still, as Japanese fashion became more influenced by the West, netsuke disappeared from everyday use. Westerners took up the collector’s mantle. ‘In the Meiji period, right after Japan opened to the West in 1854, Americans and Europeans discovered netsuke and immediately started collecting them,’ Goodall says. ‘Westerners were so intrigued by netsuke that carvers continued to make a living by selling them to Westerners.’
read more
I think SPATE refers to the second meaning of avalanche, a sudden arrival or occurrence of something in overwhelming quantities.
CUING used this way seems a little gluey.
not sure how to respond to this puzzle,
as I had to cheat to find out what was going on...
(it was a sea of white, with a few moguls...)
Good for skiing, solving, not so much...
I did have a good time reading the late night from yesterdays Blog.
I found this as a side link to Anon-T's Cereal link,
Yesterday I learned about Ethel, today, it's Margaret...
Had fun with this puzzle. Lots of white space at first and thought it would beat me.
But I persevered and let my mind roam....
finished it without help or Google.
I love David Sedaris. Have three of his books. Heard him years ago on NPR and checked him out.
I find him heart warming, raunchy and human
Hmm, how to respond to this puzzle?
it gave me indigestion...
Had to turn on Red Letters after only filling in about a third of the answers. Still took slightly less than 30 minutes. Didn't take that long to read Steve's interesting tour through the grid, though.
I had RASH before CYST so that got the NW corner off to a bad start. YELP before YAWP (which I would have spelled YAP) was a little off-putting for me.
I remembered DEDE Dinah from my ute watching Dick Clark on American Bandstand. I generally listen to 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's music on Sirius/XM when I'm driving and they have a tendency to repeat many of the same songs over and over and over again so I also knew TAKE ON ME. I've heard it a lot recently. When I'm in DW's vehicle (Jeep Wrangler) the music is Classic Country.
Steve, like Hatoolah's link stated, Brownies without Chocolate are Blondies. I like them both. Chocolate Chip Cookies and Snicker-doodles are good too. Actually any desert with or without chocolate is one of my favorites. I sort of have a sweet tooth.
If you've ever been to Las Vegas or just about any beach town, AYCE is very popular at buffets and some non-buffet restaurants. Maryland Blue Crabs, Shrimp and Crab Legs are some of the most sought after items on the buffets. It's best to go hungry to an AYCE Buffet.
The S in ASIAN and ASHE helped fill in SHOSHONE for Sacagawea's people. I got a Sacagawea Dollar coin in change the other day as a quarter. I didn't notice it at the time and I imagine the cashier had no idea what it was.
Fall is starting to assert itself and the 90 degree days are gone in the NE. Leaves are turning and falling and pretty soon we won't have to cut the grass any more. I hope you all are enjoying the change of season.
Have a great day.
Musings
-I agree with the first part of Steve’s assessment paragraph but did not dislike the theme/reveal as much as my friend did, although I too have never seen the acronym AYCE before.
-A learned discussion of how to pronounce Sacajawea
-Sometime today I will look up the difference between ALLELE and GENOME
-Me too on Spate, Steve
-A great teaching scene with a barbaric YAWP! (1:45)
-I wince when I think of the horrible CAR SEAT we used in the late 60’s
-Could there be a bigger difference between Macy’s RED STAR and Mao’s?
-I had to look it up but then I well remembered the first African American tennis player inducted
-NOT I is fine but I prefer It Ain’t Me Babe
Avalanche/spate, no problem, no nit.
Some thesauruses list avalanche and spate as synonyms. Flood and cascade also are synonyms of both words.
I found these similar references.
An avalanche of criticism / A spate of criticism
An avalanche of fatalities / A spate of fatalities
An avalanche of paperwork / A spate of paperwork
CanadianEh congratulations on the early arrival grandchild!
YAWP/PONE cross a WAG for me to FIR. YAWP is in the dictionary. Learning moment.
TAKE ON ME we have seen before. I love that video. Never knew the title until seeing it here.
Here I was at IPANEMA fifteen years ago.
Beautiful people and beautiful scenery but terrible crime and now a totally criminal government. The people deserve better.
Here I was at SHOSHONE Falls in Idaho.
Has anyone else been there? It is truly spectacular and I found it by accident!
I saw David SEDARIS perform here. He is amusing, but I don't think I will pay to see him again. I don't seem to have any photos.
Hola!
Today started in a disappointing way without a newspaper in my driveway and then no puzzle from my go to place, Mensa. Finally I found it on the Chicago Tribune site. Whew! Thank you, Chi Trib!!
No constructor was listed, either, and I didn't recognize the style. But once I started working on it, the fun began. I HAD TO find the LHF first then connect the letters to finish some long fill.
Luckily CHAI, ADOS, ELIE, PONE, ALCOA, LONI and some others came immediately to mind. And yesterday I solved C.C.'s TENT puzzle so that came forward. It was a TIDY solve except for NETSUKE of which I've never heard and thank you all for the explanation. Hahtoolah, that sounds like a good book.
And speaking of good books, I actually have a copy of David SEDARIS' Me Talk Pretty One Day so that aided in the fill, too.
I experienced no INERTIA as I skipped around until it was all done. YAWP took a long time to emerge after YELP but knew ARCO had to be right and WHAM too.
Buffets are like poison for me so I don't frequent them and didn't know the acronym, AYCE, yet it makes sense.
Steve, you are in excellent form today. Thank you for the chuckles.
Have a grand day, everyone!
Picard:
Those are brilliant photos! Thank you for sharing. How did you get the aerial view?
Hi All!
I too am conflicted about this puzzle. The fill was fresh [I'll RAIL AT DEEP WEB in a moment] but it felt like a "constructor is smarter than you, dumbass! [two Ss TTP ;-)]." A slog AT DAWN.
FIW at 15d. sLiE is wrong but I learnt how SEDARiS [sic] is spelt. Thanks Christopher for the fun puzzle that, as Steve said, had great cluing and fill.
Steve - I'd hate to say you're my favorite expo-er 'cuz I love everyone's unique take every day; yours is special wit I look forward too [it's gotta be your smarter than me English accent]
I HEARD of SEDARIS on NPR's Fresh Air [29m mentions Macy's too!]. David is deeply intro(ecto?)spective. I also liked this Sunday AM bit I found //I gave up a seat yesterday to prove I'm not that old, yet :-)
Orderly was never going to be Nurse. I never EAT at bars w/ a sneeze guard.
//My buddy (chum?) says of buffets: "You get to pick how you are going to be sick; Chicken ala vomit or beef out the bum."
FIW: SHOSHONs/SEDARaS.
WOs: sing Song. Hand up for YELP entered 2x [D'Oh!]
Fav: This is difficult today because there was so much sparkle.... AUPAIRS was cute, TRANS AM made me think of Sammy Hagar [song sucks; no link], I just linked WKRP [sans LONI] FLN... Oy! A-ha! must be it.
OK, DEEP WEB? Really? The media calls it the Dark Web and it's just an alterNet. Get yourself a TOR browser if you really want to be a carder [rip off credit cards], hire a hit man, or just need a sack of smack. Take note: 1/2 the folks are the Dark Web are Narcs baiting your butt [two Ts TTP :-)]
{Solid A}
Jinx - I am also a Mary Ann / Bailey kinda guy [clip where (I think) she ate Johnny's BROWNIES].
Picard - nice pix!
HG - Williams looked upto Winters. Thanks you and CED for the clips!
SHAME ON ME. I've gone over my 20 lines.
Have a great day! Cheers, -T
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Christopher Adams, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
Picard: Nice photos!
Puzzle went easily for a Thursday. I caught the theme after 66A. I liked the theme. No problem here.
Puzzle went easily, but with plenty of holes after the first pass. Went back and filled them in using some deep thinking.
Tried several words before CYST became it.
NE corner filled in easily. Enough short Downs that the long Acrosses all worked out.
YAWP took me a while. Perps helped.
We recently had ARCO, with a similar definition. Recently, within a couple months.
NERSUKE was unknown. Perps.
Have to guard again this afternoon. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
I liked this puzzle. Hand up for putting in ACNE and then having to take it out. I loved the clue for AU PAIRS. I learned that the constructor wanted SPATE instead of SLIDE. That K was almost a Natick for me, too.
Steve, excellent review.
In the story Horton Hears a Who one small Who bellows out "Yopp!" which enables all the doubters to hear them.
Good wishes to you all.
Hi gang - read daily, post rarely.
Jinx - I received a magazine-style insert in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday called "Puzzles to Go". There are three Sunday LA Times crossword puzzles included but they are different than yours. Let me know if you want the titles and constructors. I think Joyce is assisting Rich on these puzzles because they are from 2013. At my age, they'll seem like new puzzles even if I solved them back in 2013 :-). There are also four puzzles simply labeled "LA Times Crossword"s that appear to be reprints of old weekday puzzles. There are also lots more puzzles in the insert like Sudoku, Word Jumbles, Quote Acrostics and Word Searches. I'm only interested in the crossword puzzles.
K-Dub, thanks, that explains it. I don't think I had started doing crosswords yet in 2013, or at least not Sunday offerings. My insert had lots of other puzzle types too, and I also don't try those.
EXTRACTION
A very short story
by Jayce
It was exactly a week ago I willingly surrendered my two upper wisdom teeth. They were riddled with cavities and my dentist and I agreed it made more sense to extract them than fill the cavities. So he referred me to an oral surgeon.
The first meeting with Scott, the oral surgeon, was pleasant and informal to the point of being on a first name basis, yet perfectly professional at the same time. I learned what the procedure entailed and when I asked to be "sent to Happy Land" he assured me he would do that. Apparently most of his patients want that.
A week later my wife and I showed up for the appointment. She had to be there to drive me home, as I would be too groggy to drive myself. After I was ensconced in the dental chair, Scott explained what was happening as the assistant attached various sensors to my body, to monitor my blood pressure, oxygenation, heartbeat, and breathing. In all seriousness Scott asked me how much alcohol I usually drink. As he snugged a "nose pillow" to my nose, through which I inhaled nitrous oxide, aka laughing gas, to calm me, I told him I has totally abstained from all alcohol during the previous week in anticipation of the procedure. As Scott started an IV going, he said that was good of me. I asked him if he was a white wine guy or red wine guy. Red, he said, as he administered the general anesthetic.
My eyes closed, then my eyes opened.
"Wow, are we done?" I asked incredulously.
"Yap, all done," he replied. I could feel what felt like a big wad of cotton stuffed into each cheek. It was gauze, not cotton. I was helped to a comfortable chair in an anteroom to recover while the nurse supplied me with a package of extra gauze bandages and explained to me how to fold them and position them in my mouth to apply pressure to the now empty sockets in my gums. In the meantime my wife brought the car around.
After about 5 minutes I was assisted into the passenger seat, we waved goodbye, and my wife drove us home. I think I was exceptionally chatty during the ride.
Perhaps I am just lucky, although I prefer to think this is the norm, but I had no pain whatsoever, even after the "novocain" (they actually use lidocaine these days) wore off. By that evening all the bleeding had stopped so I didn't need any more wads of stuff in my cheeks. I never needed, nor took, any of the powerful pain pills he had prescribed.
And for the next 7 days I enjoyed some fabulous soups and broths that my darling wife happily cooked up for my nourishment.
Steve - the link I fubar'd[:39] in my 'accent' aside. I'm sure, all here, will certainly agree. :-) -T
Ta ~ DA!
Didn't think I would be able to declare victory. It was tough getting a toehold in today's pzl, but I managed to start way down at the bottom with AROAR, one of our common Xwd "repeaters."
I agree with Steve that CUING IN is CLUEd incorrectly. CLUING IN is the right usage for "Bringing up to speed."
~ OMK
____________
Dr: One diagonal on the near end.
Today’s anagram reminds me of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, in which porcine farm critters—Hogs!—rise to the top of a new class structure. In my imagination I can see the book’s world updated to include police units of swine, including a special airport branch of TSA officers, led by a chief...
“SCREENING PIG”!
Sorry, YAWP isn't a word... and never heard of SEDARIS. But, overall it was a fun and easy solve today.
Fav: Sources of foreign aid... AU PAIRS
Picard, your shot of the sand castle in IPANEMA is awesome.
Hahtoolah, I loved De Waal's 'Hare w/ the Amber Eyes' and learned about netsuke there. And, a Moss Hart quote is always great. I read his Act One autobiography- it's a classic, but I think it's out of print now.
Forgot to add:
Jayce, same thing exactly for a dental implant. Just got one and expected significant pain, but it never happened! I highly recommend it.
Jayce,
(a very short story...?)
I can appreciate what you went thru
(Dennis is another thing altogether...)
as on Sept. 3rd, I had a wisdom tooth removed,
and especially the tooth in front of it.
Don't get me wrong, but after that "I kept my mouth shut!"
CC has a thing, no politics/religion on the Blog.
(perhaps we should add Dental Procedures?)
(Will it pass the Breakfast crowd?)
Case in point:
I was awake for the whole thing,
the wisdom tooth was fully erupted, but pushed the tooth in front sideways to make room.
I thought it would be easy, as they were both above the gumline.
Little did I know he had to use a pair of pliers to break the tooth in half
because, while the tooth was sideways, the roots were not,
making a hook that required breaking the tooth into pieces to get it out...
(The wisdom tooth was easy in comparison.)
Sadly, I still miss them both.
(even tho the damn thing was abscessed...)
Welcome Lucy Loo's Mom!
(Didn't I tell you we a a fun bunch!)
Mr Stupidity strikes again. I had AH for stammering syllable. When it resulted in AAPAIRS what could that be? American Airline free tickets to Paris?
I had no idea what a MINORIN was. Native of Minora?? Speaking of "looking weird"
-T, had link to WKRP and LONI the other night(ton)
Re. CUING IN: Owen had a J poem(tod) , where two spies recited cue words.
Steve, re. Your OSTER story, send Mr S back, all is forgiven, now that I know he doesn't just pick on me
Re. 1a, when I got the T I inked WART
D-O, not to speak of Annette Funicello, she of the Disneyland troupe and her infamous "falsies". And TTP, lol
Jinx, my TBTimes did NOT have that supplement* and I'm urinatable. Angry that is. And as you already have heard Joyce=Patti
Thx anon@828. Great athlete. Ten years before AA.
"Defense de fumer". I remember "Expectoration forbidden" signs on the MTA El platforms. Hilarious link CED
Jayce, I had some teeth pulled a few months ago. I took 1 ½ pain pills. I'm not supposed to take Advil.
WC
* Did I miss it? Winn Dixie keeps Sunday around, I'll check again
Yawp is not an obscure word, duly noted in dictionaries. It is used by prestigious publications. I have seen it often.
"His hearing aids emit occasional yawps of feedback." New York Times, May 19, 2017
"I watched him nimbly pop up onto his surfboard and disappear with a barbaric yawp over the crest." Wall Street Journal, Jun 8, 2016
"One woman claims that she swims six laps every day and then beats her chest, emitting loud yawps." Washington Post, Oct 27, 2015
Wilbur, the sign which always made me giggle was "Einfahrt verboten." I wanted to ask, "How about two?"
Whinging...
I've tolerated 'elevator music' for years as a fact of life. It used to be gently in the background, a minor annoyance and a poor substitute for 'real' music. I was at the supermarket today and would have paid a modest amount of money to have the music shut off. It had no noticeable melody and the words/music were annoying and mainly repetitive. Dreadful.
I used to go to a local coffee shop where they would recognize me and switch their insipid music to 50s format.
Gone all day.
Caught up.
Jinx, your post was deleted.
TTP, no harm no foul.
Scratched my case of 1 across "acne" that turned into a "rash" and finally a "cyst".
One of the funniest shot stories about Christmas store Santas is David Sedaris' short story "Holidays on Ice" that takes place in Macy's (with the "red star" logo feature).
Put "Shame shame" instead of on you. "aide" for orderly and spelled "Loni" Lani.
All perp corrected.
Thought "Ipanema" was it's own city. So the Girl goes walking in Rio?
Newton discovered "Inertia" when the apple fell on his head and he didn't want to move
I'll look for that one, Ray. The Ocala flea market has a couple of terrific book resellers, and I'll bet I'll find a copy there. For general Christmas hilarity, I recommend The Joyous Season by Patrick Dennis.
@Ray - Ipanema is a district in Rio, the beach is between Copacabana and Leblon, in fact you'd be hard pressed to tell which was which as the beaches are a continuous run of sand between Sugarloaf Mountain (with the famous cable car) and the rocky headland at the end of Leblon.
Thanks, all, for the various corrections. I did laugh at "type" being its own typo, forgive my chuckle.
For those who know the "Take On Me" video, this is one funny "take" - the guy basically writes new lyrics to well-known videos describing the story as it unfolds - they are called "Literal Videos". He's a talented musician and vocalist and pulls it off very well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HE9OQ4FnkQ
Carol and I FIR in 44:06 min.
Good evening Cornerites.
Thank you Christopher Adams for your pleasant Thursday CW.
Thank you Steve for your excellent review.
Ðave
As I recall there was a famous girl from IPANEMA
Lucina, AnonT, Abejo, Alice thank you for the kind words about my photos.
Lucina the aerial shots were from the "Christ the Redeemer" statue on Corcovado Mountain. Rio has these extraordinary peaks that stick up almost vertically.
Wilbur Charles yes there was a famous IPANEMA girl. But as you can see from my photos she was not the only beauty there.
48D - You can always tell that a discipline is not a science when its name contains the word 'science'.
Did anyone watch Steve's Literal Video? I LOL'd at "ass full of pipe-wrench."
IMHO Jinx's aside was funny but not needed. Beyond the pale?, No.
D4 - Re: Carol; you need to put a ring on it :-)
Cheers, -T
Picard:
I wondered if that is where you took it from. It's a great shot!
I really hope my newspaper arrives tomorrow. I missed it all day.
This is not a political or religious debate forum. These are hot buttons that provoke deep feelings. Feelings and emotions easily overflow.
Let us not allow divisiveness to creep in and degrade this blog, causing yet more readers and posters to leave.
Please refrain from this type of commentary in the future.
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