google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, November 13, 2019 Gary Larson

Advertisements

Nov 13, 2019

Wednesday, November 13, 2019 Gary Larson

Theme: The Gang's AL there.  Specified places AL contain the letter sequence A-L.  Near as I can tell, that's AL there is to it.

17 A. *Place for an eruption in Hawaii: MAUNA LOA.  This is our beleaguered planet's largest active volcanoe, and among the most active, having erupted 33 times since 1843.  It's summit is about 17 km above its deeply submerged base, which had depressed the ocean floor by 8 km. [source]

19 A. *Place for memorabilia about the 44th President: OBAMA LIBRARY.  On the south side of Chicago in Jackson Park, this is the first Presidential Library to be fully digitized.

54. *Place on "Desperate Housewives": WISTERIA LANE.  This fictional setting is a real street inside Universal Studios, Hollywood.  It has also been used for the original Leave It to Beaver series, Gremlins, The 'Burbs, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

59. *Place for a space cadet: LALA LAND.   Originally, this was - and still is - a term meaning a location for someone out of touch with reality.  Since about 1980 it's also been a disparaging nick-name for Los Angeles, for a variety of reasons. It's also the name of a 2016 movie I never watched that gets 4 1/2 stars from RottonTomatoes

36. Money ... and, in three parts, a hint to the answers to starred clues: WHEREWITHAL.  The ability - usually based on available funding - to accomplish a stated goal.  Here, we have specified locations - real or fictional - providing the WHERE, that also have the letter duo A-L prominently located within. I'm not delighted with the theme, but having each two-word combination split the A-L across the two words adds a touch of elegance.  Alas, this is somewhat offset by having a scatter of vagrant A's, and in once case L's in the theme fill.

Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here, perhaps being a bit too critical.  You may draw your own conclusions.  Let's AL move on and see what else we can locate.

Across:

1. Big name in wax museums: TUSSAUD.  Anna Maria [Marie] TUSSAUD [1761-1850] learned the art of wax modeling as a child.

8. Surpasses: TRUMPS.  A term derived from card games where one suit is TRUMP and can win a trick irrespective of face value, under stated circumstances.

14. Worldwide law enforcement group: INTERPOL.

16. Eradicate: RUBOUT.  By analogy to a rubber eraser.

18. Supreme Egyptian god: AMEN-RA.  Shhh - no religion.

21. Eight British kings: HENRYS.  Or this.




24. Disney doe: ENA. Bambi's mother-in-law, if we may ascribe such human relationships to forest animals.

25. Middling mark: CEE. In scholastic grading systems.  I would give no higher mark to a spelt-out letter.

26. Cries of pain: OWS.  Often accompanied by other, more colorful, word choices.

27. Lab work: TESTS.

30. Sondheim's "Sweeney __": TODD.  The daemon barber of Fleet Street who first appeared in the Victorian era penny dreadful novel series The String of Pearls.

31. "Robinson Crusoe" novelist: DEFOE.  Daniel DEFOE [1660 - 1731] also wrote several other novels, and was a prolific writer on many other subjects, including politics, which earned him some time in prison.  So - no politics either!

34. Shooting star: METEOR.  A chunk of space detritus that gets heated to a glow by friction as it races through the earth's atmosphere

39. Like some dress shirts: NO IRON.  I wouldn't have any other kind.

40. Digital video files: MPEGS.  An international standard for encoding and compressing video files.

43. Part of P.R.: RICO.  The other part is Puerto.  Together they mean Rich Port.

46. Dix plus dix: VINGT.  Twenty in French.

48. Agua, across the Pyrenees: EAU.  Across from Spain.  More French.  Water they talking about?

49. Smart-whip link: AS A.

50. Saigon New Year: TET.

51. Badger at the comedy club: HECKLE.  Derisive and aggressive interruptions from the audience.

58. Put in a pyramid: ENTOMB.

63. Treeless tract: STEPPE.  A flat, unforested grassland in eastern Europe or Asia.

64. Monty Python member: ERIC IDLE. [b. 1943] A British comedian, actor, author and musician.

65. Like many a salad: TOSSED. Mixed lightly until the ingredients are combined.

66. Record collection?: DATA SET.  Not sound recordings, but rather a listing of recorded data.

Down:

1. Allen of TV's "Last Man Standing": TIM.  [b. 1953]  I was not even aware of this show's existence.  I was astounded to learn that the Home improvement series ended 20 years ago.

2. Spanish "a": UNA.  Or one.

3. Name spelled with an alphabet sequence: STU.

4. Tijuana title: SENOR.  An honorific for a gentleman.

5. Sheikdom of song: ARABY.



6. Batting ninth: UP LAST.  Final batter in a baseball line up.

7. Ruination: DOOM. A grim or calamitous fate.

8. Compact cars?: TRAIN SET.  Presumably HO gauge.


9. Latin dance: RUMBA.  Or Samba.  Needs perps.

10. Car service app: UBER.  They lost an amazing $5.2 billion in the 3rd quarter.  The vast majority of this was paper losses; but I wonder if their business model is sustainable. Through June and July their stock was trading in the low 40's.  It's now around $27.

11. Mediterranean gambling mecca: MONACO.  Speaking of gambling - this the world's second smallest country, after The Vatican, bordered on 3 sides by France, and with a Mediterranean coast line.  It is also a tax haven.

12. Sounded content: PURRED.  Like a kitten.

13. Hung around: STAYED.

15. A.L. West team, on scoreboards: LAA.  Los Angeles Angels.  They were 72-90 this year.

20. Allowing: LETTING. permitting.

21. Mortar carrier: HOD.  A V-shaped open trough on a pole.  Best keep your balance.

22. Wool coat wearer: EWE.  She said, sheepishly.

23. Brief warning accompanying a link: NSFWNot Safe For Work, generally indicating some sort of obscene content.

28. Academic retirees: EMERITI.  From Latin, meaning those who have earned their position in retirement through service.

29. Stitch into place: SEW ON.  Attach with needle and thread.

30. Mouth, in slang: TRAP.  As in, "Shut yer TRAP!"

32. Cry of woe: OH NO.  Alas.

33. Fair-hiring abbr.: EEOEqual Employment Opportunity.

35. Omega, to an electrician: OHM.  Resistance measurment.

37. Area between banks: RIVER BED.  The bottom of the river, probably not full of money.

38. Vichyssoise veggie: LEEK.  A plant related to the onion with an elongated cylindrical bulb.  Also the national symbol of Wales.  I have no idea why. Vichyssoise is a creamy potato soup, generally served cold.

41. "Wonder Woman" actress Gadot: GAL. [b 1985] Model, actress, and Miss Israel in 2004.


42. Seek damages: SUE.  Institute legal proceedings to seek redress.

43. Least refined: RAWEST. Most crude

44. Has a passion for: IS INTO.  Indulges in.

45. Social strata: CASTES.  Classes of society.  The crudest people have no class.

47. Name shared by a Grace and a Muse: THALIA. The goddess [or muse] of comedy and idyllic poetry.  The Three Graces are THALIA,  Aglaea and Euphrosyne, goddesses of order and good conduct.  In either case, the name Thalia indicated flourishing and abundance.

50. Phoenix neighbor: TEMPE.  Cities in Arizona.

52. Put on the books: ENACT.  Make into law.

53. Salsa singer Cruz: CELIA. Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (1925 – 2003) was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century.

55. Surpasses: TOPS.  Does better than.

56. Smithwick's brew: ALE.  An Irish Red Ale brewed in Kilkenny.

57. Fat used in baking: LARD.  Comes from a pig, is free of trans-fats.

60. Free-app interrupters: ADSADvertisments.  Small videos that shill for some product or service that you almost certainly do not need.

61. Div. won by the Braves in 2019: NLE.  National League East.  But after a dismal start, the 2nd place Washington Nationals, whose line up is stacked with aging veterans [notably some former Tigers,] went on to win the World Series

62. City of Lions and Tigers: Abbr.: DETroit.  Speaking of sports - this is the city of perpetual sports disappointment.  These cats have neither teeth nor claws.

That's a sad note to end on, yet here we AL are.  The Kitty City is blanketed with snow, and the temperatures are too small to be worth mentioning.  Stay safe out there peeps.  In the press of other things, I'm taking December off from blogging.  See you all in the new year.

Cool regards,
JzB

Notes from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Big Easy, husband of Louisiana Tennis Hall of Famer Diane Simpson. What's the plan today, George?

33 comments:

OwenKL said...

FIWrong. Misspelt MoUNA LOA, and wrong gender for UNo. I just spent an hour on Wiki researching Mauna Loa, and the result is today's poem over at JumbleHints

Wasn't Wisteria Lane first used for Fibber Magee and Molly?

Madam TUSSAUD has a model of TRUMP.
It's made of wax. Flick, it goes thump.
If I were snarky,
Given to malarkey,
I'd mention which was the wiser chump.

INTERPOL would like to RUB OUT
Criminals who any laws flout.
Bad guys they chase
From place to place,
Wherever the crooks hang about!

Pele invited AMEN RA
To her home in MAUNA LOA.
The lava there
Lit Amen's hair,
But the Sun god just said, "Pshaw!"

{X, B, B+.}

Hungry Mother said...

Missed the wordplay on “badger” and didn’t know Ms. Cruz’s first name, so a “C” effort for me today. Enjoyed the hunt anyway.

Lemonade714 said...

Very happy birthday George and many more. Very impressive Diane- congratulations.

I found this easy for a Wednesday but it had some highlights. I enjoyed the reminder of WISTERIA LANE the inclusion of THALIA near CELIA and the continued return of PIG FAT .

But my favorite is the reference to HERMAN'S HERMITS which reminded me of a local show Oo and I attended where Peter Noone entertained for 90 minutes with both the songs of HH and his version of many contemporary singers as well as a very fun patter. If he does a performance near you it is worth seeing.

Thanks Gary and enjoy your vacation Ron.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Got 'er done, but didn't get the theme. Big surprise. Fell into the SAMBA/RUMBA and ENTER/ENACT traps. Otherwise, the sailing was smooth. Thanx, Gary and JzB.

TEMPE: Gimme. My folks retired to Arizona in the '60s and spent many retirement years in Tempe.

HECKLE: Often seen with his fellow magpie Jeckle.

HENRYS: At the peak of popularity for the Herman's Hermits song, we edited it down to just 38 seconds and aired it hourly. It was those crazy top-40 days.

Happy birthday, B-E. Do something fun. Doesn't appear to be a good tennis day, though.

TTP said...

Happy Birthday, Big Easy ! The LSU Tigers are # 1 on your birthday.

The winning streak is over. Again.

Spelled EMERITI emerati. Didn't know did plus dix so the a in VaNGT looked ok to me. A one letter fail.

Didn't know AMENRA, but the perps were kind.

Didn't know WISTERIA LANE as clued but only needed to guess at the second A.

Liked TRAIN SET for "Compact cars?" and DATA SET for "Record collection ?" Had to correct that answer from Disc SET because I didn't pay attention to the question mark.

Also had to change samba to RUMBA.

Anonymous T will be pleased to see "Monthy Python member" ERIC IDLE in this puzzle.

What else...? Oh yeah, I didn't know GAL but the perps filled it in.

Thank you Gary. Fun puzzle.

Thank you JzB. Enjoy your break !

Big Easy said...

Thanks, C.C., for showing a much younger photo of us; the 2005 Masters hat I was wearing disappeared about 10 years ago. George's plan? Going to play pickleball and to lunch with many of the other players. On Wed, 40-50 players show up and usually we'll pick a restaurant and 10-15 go there for lunch.

JzB, I'm glad you had the WHEREWITHAL to see the AL because I couldn't (and still don't) see any connection to money. With both TRUMPS and OBAMA showing up early I thought it might be a presidential theme.


The TRAIN SET clue for "Compact Cars" was a great one; had me stumped for a minute.
NSFW- never seen it but it could be "Not Safe For WIFE"

CELIA Cruz and WISTERIA LANE were unknowns filled by perps.
I've never seen "Last Man Standing" but my son said he's a 21st Century Archie Bunker; Politically Incorrect.

I knew dix + dix = 20 but VINGT was all perps.
Dress shirt? Weddings & funerals only and even though they claim NO IRON, I do it anyway.

Anonymous said...

Today is another example of forcing an unnecessary, unimpressive, and unamusing theme at the expense of the quality of the overall puzzle. See, e.g., Ena, Cee, Ows, a few foreign words (una, vingt, eau), and some abbreviations (LAA, DET, EEO, NSFW). I did like seeing Mauna Loa (not just "Loa"), Interpol, and Eric Idle.

billocohoes said...

Starting with Osiris before AMEN-RA made getting a foothold in the NE tough.

jfromvt said...

I liked this puzzle. I thought it was tougher than a usual Wednesday. Even though the theme was a bit so-so, many of the answers were not apparent and took a little thought, or reaching deep into memory lane to get. Much more interesting than just writing in those standard fill-in answers that are in some puzzles.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

fir, but erased beet for LEEK, and hand up for fixing saMBA.

Had to wait for lyft/UBER and eoe/EEO.

Mini-theme with OHM and HENRYS. Add a farad, watt and hertz and ya got somthin goin on.

Mesa had too few letters, Apache Junction had too many, so it had to be ASU's TEMPE. Home of the Karsten golf course, named for the founder of Ping. Nary a flat spot on the track.

I was a Desperate Housewives addict. (Please tell me where to surrender my man-card.) Until the cheating scandal I never knew Lynette was married to Frank Gallagher. Both are great actors.

HBDTY, Big Easy.

FLN, Yes, Adolph Rupp, the UK loss yesterday is why I thought it would best if they lost to Michigan State. Even better that they lost to an unheralded team. The capper is that coach Walter McCarty was a player on the UK team that won the national championship in 1996. Now when Coach Cal tells these kids that they can never take a single play off during practice or in a game, maybe they'll listen. Don't care about rankings in November, but hopefully they'll be up there in March.

Thanks for the fun but tough-for-Wednesday puzzle, Gary. I was lucky to fill in all the white in Maine. And thanks to JzB for another fun tour.

Anonymous said...

Too much crosswordese and three letter answers for my liking.I agree with Anonymous at 7:55 AM.
Money ... and, in three parts, a hint to the answers to starred clues: WHEREWITHAL. Really? What a stretch.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Ah ha, THALIA is a muse and VINGT is twenty. I’m good!
-A freshman girl I talked to yesterday has an extensive record collection and prefers vinyl to digital music. Frank Sinatra is one of her favorites
-Struggling players usually BAT LAST and play right field
-Omaha’s Lauritsen’s Gardens has a fabulous G-Scale TRAIN SET running
-The kitten Marlon Brando had on his lap in The Godfather PURRED so loudly he had to overdub his dialogue later
-I carried mortar for eight summers and never saw a HOD
-Hmmm… I must be an EMERITI
-TEMPE? Spring training, come and get me!
-In track, an athlete is credited with a P.R. (personal record) when he/she TOPS previous efforts
-Happy Birthday, Big Easy! Geaux Tigers!

Yellowrocks said...

I liked the fill today. My favorites were train set and data set, nice misdirections. The theme was a little weak. Thank you for the very informative review, Jazz.
WHEREWITHAL clued as money seemed very fair. IMO it is quite common. "Another word for wherewithal is resources, which can mean money, energy, support, or some other necessary means." It very frequently refers to money. I don't have the wherewithal to pay over $100 for a dinner.Some millennials do not have the wherewithal or jobs to live independent;y.
CSO to Ferm and Misty who are EMERITI. Do we have any others? Keith?
Do you use LARD? My MIL made piecrust with lard. My mother did not, nor do I. Depending on the filling, I often make a butter crust.

Where does smart as a whip come from? From Historically Speaking,"The fact of the matter is that as early as the 17th century the word smart meant both to be strong, quick, and intense in manner and to be painful. So while a whip might cause pain and smart, someone would be strong, quick, and intense in manner in the same way a whip is strong, quick, and intense.
Idiomation was unable to find an earlier published variation to the idiom than the one in 1821, it is reasonable to believe that the idiom goes back at least to 1800, and most likely much earlier."
Happy birthday, Big Easy. Enjoy your day.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Happy Birthday to Big Easy.

Got the solve OK. Tried to make sense out of the theme but got about the same joy as JzB seemed to get. Had ENter before ENACT.
I like Gary Larson's puzzles, but this one, I was not INTO.
LARD - I remember years ago seeing it marketed in the butter aisle. I think the brand was ESSO.
Being a farm family, we expended lots of calories. Where others would take a mid-morning coffee break, we would have a 2nd "breakfast" (tweede Fröhstück), usually a rye or pumpernickel sandwich with 'Wurst'. My Dad would sometimes schmear LARD on his bread, which I never understood, but he liked it. They didn't do cholesterol then but he lived 'til age 86.


Lucina said...

Hola!

I'm surprised so many found this puzzle difficult. It was a sashay for me though I had to wait on the R at RUMBA. CELIA Cruz was a pro for that and any form of dancing. I watched her biography on Netflix this summer.

Someone I know had a cat named General Motors because she PURRED constantly.

CSO to my late mother, LALA!

I forgot to finish VINGT/THALIA so ended up with a blank cell at the T.

The city of TEMPE is my neighbor to the south. Scottsdale ends and TEMPE begins.

On the few occasions when I watch Last Man Standing I have to turn it off before it's over.

GAL and SUE side by side make me think of a song. Oh, no, that's a boy named SUE.

Happy birthday, Big Easy! It's also my youngest sister's birthday and she is in Cancun for the big wedding that took place over the weekend.

Enjoy your day, everyone!




Misty said...

I have an Emeriti Board meeting at 10am this morning, and so just skimmed through the puzzle over morning coffee. And couldn't believe it: the word EMERITI popped up! Now that's a delightful coincidence! No time to finish the puzzle, but I hope to check back in this afternoon.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Gary Larson, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Jazzbumpa, for a fine review.

Puzzle was easy and tough. The tough parts were too much for me so I did not finish. I also got all the theme answers, but could not figure out the theme. Tough day for me.

Omega and OHM stumped me. I worked with electricity for 36 years and never heard the word Omega in reference to Resistance. Then it hit me. It was the sign for Omega is used as Ohm or resistance. OK. Took me a while.

Could not get ERIC IDLE, THALIA, and CELIA in the SE. Or VINGT right above them.

Got NSFW with perps, but did not know what it meant.

Got TUSSAUD and AMENRA with perps.

Puzzle just seemed a little weird. But, that is OK.

Happy Birthday, Big Easy, and many more.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Tinbeni said...

Jazz: Nice write-up. See you next year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG EASY ! Tonight's "First-Toast" is to YOU !!!

DNF ... Done in by THALIA & CELIA ... they were just blanks.

Weather here is brutal ... down to 67 for the "High" today.

Cheers!

TTP said...



Tinbeni, sorry to hear that the cold weather is brutal. Is that cold enough to kill all the mosquitoes and bugs ? :>)

inanehiker said...

Puzzle had a few challenges - smiled at the fun theme with WHERE WITH AL. I like those that have multiple layers to them. Thanks YR for explaining how wherewithal fit the clue - saved me from putting that together - and I wouldn't have done it so well!
AMEN-RA reminded me of "Night at the Museum" 2 - had Rami Malek playing Akmenra - supposedly a prior pharoah stuck in a mummy case or statue that was freed.
WEES NSFW was totally solved by perps.

Thanks to JZB and Gary!
and HBD to Big Easy!

CrossEyedDave said...

Man this puzzle vexed me!
(or should I say "vexered...")

Right off the get go, I am trying to perp in "trousseau"...
(perps to the rescue...)
Luckily I could not spell in French any better than I can speak it...

Absolutely brutal, but I would not give up!
Little things, like 52d put on the books, I had to painfully
fix "ink in."
(so much so, that this is the 1st puzzle I ever went & got a pencil for...)

56d Smithwicks brew (got to be Tea...) (nope...)

29d stitch into place? Sew up (Bzzt) Sew in (nope) Oh, sew on!
but crossing Dix? Had me looking for French for Twelve...

21a 8 british kings clueing had me looking for a singular name
like Edward (nope 11 of em...) Henry"s"?

51a badger at the comedy club; I wanted Heckler,
thinking Badger was some kind of animal...

58a put in a pyramid = entomb?
Well, maybe. but there is no proof they were ever used as a tomb!

Where with Al is genius though,
because , it is "Where" with "AL"
& yet such a stretch it had me bamboozled into looking for more.

I guess, in Baseball, the stretch is in the seventh inning.
But in Crosswords, it could be anywhere from Wednesday thru Friday...

Happy Birthday Big Easy!
I apologize for your personalized cake, you see this puzzle
had me Googling everything from Arizona maps to Smithwicks,
& I may have Googled "Big Easy" wrong...

Oh, & a CED anywho...
(being CED I like alternate views, so take a ride with me!)

I may be back l8r to post silly wherewithals,
but quite honestly, this puzzle has me exhausted...

OwenKL said...

I was sure it was AMON RA, so I was torn between liMBO, maMBO, or maybe tangO...

One other aspect of the theme -- each of them are different kinds of where: geographic (mountain), library (reference), street (address), and fanciful place (imagination).

CrossEyedDave said...

Well,

I'm back after 24 minutes of watching
inside views of model trains. & actually,
I am a bit disappointed...

There were several instances where the train went thru red lights
(interesting...)
& open RR Crossings
(possibilities...)
but at 8 minutes, after passing a bicycle race,
the train turned around in the tunnel & went back the same way?

But the giant hand with the Iphone taking pictures gave me an idea...

This link was not CED enough for me!

But I have the wherewithal to fix it!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

DNF - I just couldn't commit any letter at the end of VING-. T would never occur to me to follow a G.
Also a FIW at AMEr-RA [started to fill Morocco].
What others said: The cluing seemed more later in the week and lots of names.
Anyone wonder about SET used in two answers and A.L. used in 15d?

Thanks Gary for the puzzle - it was a noodler al-right.

Informative expo JzB. Funny calling DET the Kitty City.

WOs: bEEt
ESPs: TUSSAUD's spelling, AMEN RA, ARABY, EMERITI (spelling), RICO (oh, not Public Relations), plenty more I'm sure.
Fav: ERIC IDLE of course. Not only him but w/o the Python in the SE, I'd not have been able to start that area.

I thought there was an N in CELIA.

{-, B, B+}

Happy Birthday Big Easy!

Cheers, -T

Jayce said...

I had to scratch my head a bit while solving this one. I haven't decided whether the head scratching is a good thing or a bad thing. Mostly good, I think, as head scratching connotes thinking hard and trying to figure something out.

MAUNA --A. Having UP NEXT didn't help.

LAA? Sheesh. NLE? Sheesh. NSFW? WTF?

VINGT? Dis donc! Que se passe-t-il?

À demain!

CrossEyedDave said...

Anywho,who (P.P.S.)

Yesterday, I posted a question to Rich Norris on his Birthday,
in the hopes that he might visit us (& answer my question)
here on the Blog.

A reprint of my question, and b-day wishes follows:

Been very busy of late, & finding virtual cakes for every
occasion can be time consuming...
I usually reserve them for people who actually post on the Blog.
But I make exceptions for exceptional people...

A belated Happy Birthday to HG's DW
plus have you ever tried to find a cake with Oo on it?
I hope you both like this one...

And, does Rich actually read this Blog?
To prove it to me, can you tell us why certain newspapers
have been deleting the constructors names of late?
(after that Sunday fiasco, I think I am going to go straight to the source.)
(LA Times, are you forbidding other papers from printing sources?)
Anywho, Rich, I thought you might this cake...

This is the cake I spent hours trying to find
that would be perfect for an Editor...


& did you show up?
Did you tell us why they are dropping Constructor Names from the puzzles?
& even dropping the Theme on Sundays!?!?

I hate to be the Cake Nazi, but...

TTP said...



CrossEyedDave, try reporting your issue here:

"Customer Service - If you are experiencing a problem with delivery or missing content please email us at tcacustomerservice@tribpub.com, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central Time. After hours please call 800-346-8798, and leave a message. A member of our customer service team will return your call."

Wendybird said...

I made so many mistakes today, I’m too embarassed to list them.
Still fun, though, and I especially loved seeing a Python as a clue. Quotes from Holy Grail are part of our regular discourse. Jack’s family even has an original script, complete with handwritten notes and stage directions. Nice to know there’s another Python fan in the group!

Ol' Man Keith said...

THALIA should have been an easier fill for me than she was. As the Greek goddess of Comedy, she was my patroness whenever I got to play comedic roles--from Sganarelle to Grumio.
That's supposed to be her happy face there, plastered alongside Thespis (the first actor wearing Dionysus' tragic visage) whenever you see the two masks of drama.
Myth and legend combine to remind all actors down the centuries of the need to avoid lisping!
(Why else do you suppose they were called "Thalia" and "Thespis"?!)
~ OMK
____________
DR:
Two diagonals, one on each side. They meet at the second "W" of WHEREWITHAL.
Not much point in searching for an anagram on the mirror side, as that diag contains six--count 'em, six!--"T"s!
Viz., t t t t t t
There are a few "T"s on the near side, too, where we can find the anagram of a delightful object to be found in a crowded apartment in an 8-storey building on New York's lower east side.
I refer to...
"A TENEMENT TOY"!

Wilbur Charles said...

I thought ENA was Bambi's aunt?

Many years ago I was told that a distinguished cadre of (EMERTI?) voted on greatest novels. Don Quixote, "The Idiot"* and Robinson Crusoe were on a short list.

I read 6d as "batted in the ninth". UPLAST in either case

I assume the CSO to Misty(EMERTI?) among others was noted

I thought that RIVER BED was going to be a LEVEE of some kind. Not to speak of IRON ON??? And BASEST and SUET. All told the most difficult Xword in awhile (like weeks)

VINGT is well known, I count my pull-ups in French, but the spelling took a bit. Not to speak of TAPE SET/SUET

The aforesaid ERIC IDLE straightened that out. Lots of blotted ink today.

Re. Kentucky. Is it not obvious that Kentucky players were shaving off the 25 pt spread and slipped up?

I actually used the AL to grok WISTERIA LANE. Not that I ever watched DH.

Right field often rears up and bites the manager who tried to stick "Charlie" out there in the rec softball league.

I was thinking all day that MAUNA LOA was the greatest prescience yet but now I see that Owen got the J theme here.

WC


Lucy Loo's Mom said...

Hello friends, I did this puzzle much earlier today. No time to comment then, but now I can say that I found it a bit odd, but that's what gave it it's where with all! How perfect!
Enjoyed everyone's funny comments. All I can add is that many moons ago my sister lived on the big island of Hawaii. I went to visit her while Maunaloa was erupting. She had booked a cabin for us at Volcanoes National Park, so we were close to the action. It was amazing to see the hot,molten lava just flowing out of giant cracks in the formerly solid landscape. Here's the kicker, being many moons ago there was no digital

Lucy Loo's Mom said...

Woops, there was no digital photography. So at the perfect moment, when the soles of my tennies were literally melting... Click...nothing...out of film!!!! Aaahhgg! All I can say is that in lieu of the photo images, I've gotten a lot of mileage from the story!

I have one more thing to add that should not be construed as political. It is just current, applicable to all involved and it just cracks me up... Yes or No,Quid Pro Quo! The meaning of the phrase is forever changed.

Misty said...

Thank you, Wilbur. And a belated but very happy birthday, Rich--you do so much for this blog that you are our hero! And hope you had a wonderful birthday, Big Easy!