Theme: Dog Show
17A. *Line never spoken by James Cagney: YOU DIRTY RAT! Well, "you dirty yellow-bellied rat" comes close. c.f. "Play it again, Sam".
23A. *Rock pile at a prehistoric gravesite: BURIAL CAIRN. There are some fine cairns, none prehistoric, in my neighborhood at the tree near the top of Mount Lee, better known as the "Hollywood Sign" hill. I hope there aren't bodies buried underneath. We used to picnic and play on Stonehenge before everyone got serious about the stones. Not cairns, I know, but happy memories of climbing a sarsen stone or two.
40A. *Like Juárez, vis-à-vis El Paso: ACROSS THE BORDER
50A. *Far-fetched, as a story: COCK AND BULL. There are arguments aplenty about the origin of this phrase, most involving two inns on the coaching route from the Midlands to London. However, it's difficult to argue that these lines from John Day's 1608 play Law Trickes were not the first usage - "What a tale of a cock and a bull he told my father".
Which brings us to the, quite frankly, inexplicable reveal:
64A. "__, Batman!": Robin's cry upon spotting the ends of the answers to starred clues?: HOLY TERRIER
So ... we've got four dog breeds which happen to be terriers - fair enough, so far. Now how to tie them together? How about an entry which has TERRIER in it, and has nothing to do with anything else in the puzzle, neither was the phrase ever used in the comic books, nor the TV shows nor the movie series?
I'm completely baffled by this one. I can't see a play on words with "HOLY", there's nothing to tie "YOU DIRTY", "BURIAL", "ACROSS THE" and "COCK AND" to each other. It's totally random. Honestly, this is "*Far-fetched, as a crossword theme" as you can get.
Maybe "YOU DIRTY RAT" was meant to clue us into the reveal was a line never spoken? Or was it all just COCK AND BULL?
There is plenty else to like though, I just wish Mark and/or Rich had been able to come up with a better reveal, or even go with no reveal at all and just find a substitute for that awful 64A.
That being said, let's see what else we've got, and please, if I'm missing the blindingly obvious, let me know via the comments.
Across:
1. Distillery mixture: MASH. Tried BRAN. Was wrong. Always good to get off on the wrong foot.
5. The Flyers' Gritty, e.g.: MASCOT. He's got about as much to do with Philadelphia and hockey as "HOLY TERRIERS!" Maybe this is the theme?
11. Poke fun at: RIB
14. __-inflammatory: ANTI
15. Corrida figure: EL TORO. Denizens of Southern California will remember the "El Toro Y" traffic warnings, a junction between the 5 and the 405 which every day caused alarums and excursions at rush hour.
16. Important card: ACE
19. Cutting remark: DIG
20. 4,300-mile range: ANDES
21. Novelist Waugh: ALEC. A very talented family. His brother Evelyn wrote two of my favorite novels, "Brideshead Revisted" and "Scoop!".
22. "In __ of gifts ... ": LIEU
26. Protect with a levee: EMBANK
30. Canon SLR: EOS. That's one high-end camera. I have a Canon Rebel, mostly to take pictures of my N-scale model railway - you just can't get the depth of field with the iPhone, although in some (bad modelling!) cases that's not such a bad thing!
31. Gorilla expert Fossey: DIAN
32. A pop: EACH
36. Sail (through): COAST
43. MGM part: METRO. Movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, with Sam Goldwyn's name in eye-catching italics. The consummate self-promoter that he was, as Sam Goldfish, formed "Goldwyn" as a co-partnership with Edgar and Archie Selwyn. The name was to be either "Selfish" or "Goldwyn", so not hard to figure out which was the preferred choice. Immediately after the partnership was formed, Sam legally ditched his last name, and replaced it with "Goldwyn". The rest, as they say, is history.
44. Cork's place: EIRE
45. Racing legend Earnhardt: DALE
46. Brouhaha: ADO
48. Held to account: LIABLE
56. Car rental giant: AVIS
57. "Royal" seaside bird: TERN. Here's a turn for the better:
58. Spare: EXTRA
63. GQ or EW: MAG. A magazine. "EW" is "Entertainment Weekly", and though "GQ" purports to be "Gentlemen's Quarterly", it's published monthly. I'm not sure the full name has been used since the mid 60's. and certainly not since 1970.
66. Lyft driver's ballpark fig.: E.T.A.
67. Café option: AU LAIT. Coffee with hot milk added. I'm not sure what would happen if you ordered coffee with cold milk in France, the entire world is quiet on the subject. Here's the hot version:
68. Real estate ad number: AREA
69. Anthem contraction: O'ER
70. "Hard to Stop" air conditioners: TRANES
71. Use one's outside voice: YELL
Down:
1. "The Good Place" Emmy nominee Rudolph: MAYA, Minnie Riperton's ("Loving You") daughter. Who knew? No me, I just looked her up.
2. In a trice: ANON. I'd rather go with "soon" than "in a trice". If I want something "anon", it's "soon" - not right now, but not next February, more when it's convenient for the giver. If I want something "in a trice", it's more demanding "now", "ASAP" or "STAT". Funny how the "now" words are very recent.
3. Poker choice: STUD. A variant of the gambling game. Most of what you see today is Texas Hold 'Em.
4. Keep out of sight: HIDE
5. Debussy's "La __": MER. An orchestral piece. It takes a little while to get going, so you can listen to it "anon". Actually, it's been playing for 15 minutes while i work my way down this blog, and it's never really ever got started. Not on my favorites list to this point.
6. Chancel feature: ALTAR
7. Tablet accessories: STYLI. They still exist, mostly in the electronic form to draw on your iPad or other "small, portable, electronic devices" as the airlines like to call them.
8. Chick with Grammys: COREA
9. Soothsayer: ORACLE
10. Little one: TOT
11. Circle lines: RADII. Bones, too.
12. Less approachable: ICIER
13. Started: BEGUN
18. Library ID: ISBN. What happened to the good old Dewey Decimal System? Do librarians still use it?
22. Hall of Fame Dodger manager Tommy: LA SORDA
24. Luau strings: UKES
25. Estée contemporary: COCO. Lauder. Chanel.
26. Mild cheese: EDAM. I tried BRIE first, all the time grumbling that it's not always mild. Then I was wrong, so I ungrumbled. (Degrumbled?)
27. Nursery rhyme trio: MICE. Not PIGS then. A lot of backspacing/wite-out today.
28. Frequent prank caller to Moe's Tavern: BART
29. Arctic garb: ANORAKS
33. Snacked, say: ATE
34. McBride of "Hawaii Five-0": CHI
35. Sailor's pronoun: HER. "Thar she blows!" and sundry other stuff.
37. Very little: A DAB
38. Market: SELL
39. Walnut or pecan: TREE
41. Bar mixer: SODA. Not on my bar. Tonic, please!
42. Round signal: BELL This is quite nice - the end of a round in a boxing contest, but alarm bells tend to be round too.
47. Like a band in a bus: ON TOUR. Jackson Browne's paean to his tour team, recorded across the street from where I used to live - at the BBC's Maida Vale studios. I often used to pop in on my way back from work to see what was going on, sadly I missed this session in the (very tiny) auditorium.
49. "The Sopranos" actor Robert: ILER
50. Brief appearance: CAMEO
51. Egg-shaped: OVATE. Darn, I confidently put OVOID and then backed off, letter by letter.
52. Cuban export: CIGAR
53. Street of mystery: DELLA
54. "Trumbo" Oscar nominee Cranston: BRYAN. More famous for "Breaking Bad", a title I have tried on numerous occasions to make into a crossword theme. Never got there!
55. Set free: UNTIE
59. CT scan component: X-RAY
60. Run out of gas: TIRE. People tire, cars stop. I had a Jaguar XJS which had a gas gauge that never worked (quelle surprise!) and I had to estimate when I needed to fill up based on the mileage since the last time I topped up the tank. Sure enough, I ran dry on the 134 freeway in Toluca Lake - directly on an overpass above a gas station. A quick scoot down the embankment, a gallon in a plastic can and I was on my way in about five minutes flat.
61. Traditional dance: REEL
62. Mostly depleted sea: ARAL
64. Party accessory: HAT
65. UFO passengers, supposedly: ET'S
A sad day for grammarians everywhere, the Apostrophe Protection Society has this week disbanded, saying that "ignorance and laziness have won".
D'oh! May the greengrocers' plural live forever.
Steve
Oh, sorry, here'res' the grid. I like posting grid's.
17A. *Line never spoken by James Cagney: YOU DIRTY RAT! Well, "you dirty yellow-bellied rat" comes close. c.f. "Play it again, Sam".
23A. *Rock pile at a prehistoric gravesite: BURIAL CAIRN. There are some fine cairns, none prehistoric, in my neighborhood at the tree near the top of Mount Lee, better known as the "Hollywood Sign" hill. I hope there aren't bodies buried underneath. We used to picnic and play on Stonehenge before everyone got serious about the stones. Not cairns, I know, but happy memories of climbing a sarsen stone or two.
40A. *Like Juárez, vis-à-vis El Paso: ACROSS THE BORDER
50A. *Far-fetched, as a story: COCK AND BULL. There are arguments aplenty about the origin of this phrase, most involving two inns on the coaching route from the Midlands to London. However, it's difficult to argue that these lines from John Day's 1608 play Law Trickes were not the first usage - "What a tale of a cock and a bull he told my father".
Which brings us to the, quite frankly, inexplicable reveal:
64A. "__, Batman!": Robin's cry upon spotting the ends of the answers to starred clues?: HOLY TERRIER
So ... we've got four dog breeds which happen to be terriers - fair enough, so far. Now how to tie them together? How about an entry which has TERRIER in it, and has nothing to do with anything else in the puzzle, neither was the phrase ever used in the comic books, nor the TV shows nor the movie series?
I'm completely baffled by this one. I can't see a play on words with "HOLY", there's nothing to tie "YOU DIRTY", "BURIAL", "ACROSS THE" and "COCK AND" to each other. It's totally random. Honestly, this is "*Far-fetched, as a crossword theme" as you can get.
Maybe "YOU DIRTY RAT" was meant to clue us into the reveal was a line never spoken? Or was it all just COCK AND BULL?
There is plenty else to like though, I just wish Mark and/or Rich had been able to come up with a better reveal, or even go with no reveal at all and just find a substitute for that awful 64A.
That being said, let's see what else we've got, and please, if I'm missing the blindingly obvious, let me know via the comments.
Across:
1. Distillery mixture: MASH. Tried BRAN. Was wrong. Always good to get off on the wrong foot.
5. The Flyers' Gritty, e.g.: MASCOT. He's got about as much to do with Philadelphia and hockey as "HOLY TERRIERS!" Maybe this is the theme?
11. Poke fun at: RIB
14. __-inflammatory: ANTI
15. Corrida figure: EL TORO. Denizens of Southern California will remember the "El Toro Y" traffic warnings, a junction between the 5 and the 405 which every day caused alarums and excursions at rush hour.
16. Important card: ACE
19. Cutting remark: DIG
20. 4,300-mile range: ANDES
21. Novelist Waugh: ALEC. A very talented family. His brother Evelyn wrote two of my favorite novels, "Brideshead Revisted" and "Scoop!".
22. "In __ of gifts ... ": LIEU
26. Protect with a levee: EMBANK
30. Canon SLR: EOS. That's one high-end camera. I have a Canon Rebel, mostly to take pictures of my N-scale model railway - you just can't get the depth of field with the iPhone, although in some (bad modelling!) cases that's not such a bad thing!
31. Gorilla expert Fossey: DIAN
32. A pop: EACH
36. Sail (through): COAST
43. MGM part: METRO. Movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, with Sam Goldwyn's name in eye-catching italics. The consummate self-promoter that he was, as Sam Goldfish, formed "Goldwyn" as a co-partnership with Edgar and Archie Selwyn. The name was to be either "Selfish" or "Goldwyn", so not hard to figure out which was the preferred choice. Immediately after the partnership was formed, Sam legally ditched his last name, and replaced it with "Goldwyn". The rest, as they say, is history.
44. Cork's place: EIRE
45. Racing legend Earnhardt: DALE
46. Brouhaha: ADO
48. Held to account: LIABLE
56. Car rental giant: AVIS
57. "Royal" seaside bird: TERN. Here's a turn for the better:
58. Spare: EXTRA
63. GQ or EW: MAG. A magazine. "EW" is "Entertainment Weekly", and though "GQ" purports to be "Gentlemen's Quarterly", it's published monthly. I'm not sure the full name has been used since the mid 60's. and certainly not since 1970.
66. Lyft driver's ballpark fig.: E.T.A.
67. Café option: AU LAIT. Coffee with hot milk added. I'm not sure what would happen if you ordered coffee with cold milk in France, the entire world is quiet on the subject. Here's the hot version:
68. Real estate ad number: AREA
69. Anthem contraction: O'ER
70. "Hard to Stop" air conditioners: TRANES
71. Use one's outside voice: YELL
Down:
1. "The Good Place" Emmy nominee Rudolph: MAYA, Minnie Riperton's ("Loving You") daughter. Who knew? No me, I just looked her up.
2. In a trice: ANON. I'd rather go with "soon" than "in a trice". If I want something "anon", it's "soon" - not right now, but not next February, more when it's convenient for the giver. If I want something "in a trice", it's more demanding "now", "ASAP" or "STAT". Funny how the "now" words are very recent.
3. Poker choice: STUD. A variant of the gambling game. Most of what you see today is Texas Hold 'Em.
4. Keep out of sight: HIDE
5. Debussy's "La __": MER. An orchestral piece. It takes a little while to get going, so you can listen to it "anon". Actually, it's been playing for 15 minutes while i work my way down this blog, and it's never really ever got started. Not on my favorites list to this point.
6. Chancel feature: ALTAR
7. Tablet accessories: STYLI. They still exist, mostly in the electronic form to draw on your iPad or other "small, portable, electronic devices" as the airlines like to call them.
8. Chick with Grammys: COREA
9. Soothsayer: ORACLE
10. Little one: TOT
11. Circle lines: RADII. Bones, too.
12. Less approachable: ICIER
13. Started: BEGUN
18. Library ID: ISBN. What happened to the good old Dewey Decimal System? Do librarians still use it?
22. Hall of Fame Dodger manager Tommy: LA SORDA
24. Luau strings: UKES
25. Estée contemporary: COCO. Lauder. Chanel.
26. Mild cheese: EDAM. I tried BRIE first, all the time grumbling that it's not always mild. Then I was wrong, so I ungrumbled. (Degrumbled?)
27. Nursery rhyme trio: MICE. Not PIGS then. A lot of backspacing/wite-out today.
28. Frequent prank caller to Moe's Tavern: BART
29. Arctic garb: ANORAKS
33. Snacked, say: ATE
34. McBride of "Hawaii Five-0": CHI
35. Sailor's pronoun: HER. "Thar she blows!" and sundry other stuff.
37. Very little: A DAB
38. Market: SELL
39. Walnut or pecan: TREE
41. Bar mixer: SODA. Not on my bar. Tonic, please!
42. Round signal: BELL This is quite nice - the end of a round in a boxing contest, but alarm bells tend to be round too.
47. Like a band in a bus: ON TOUR. Jackson Browne's paean to his tour team, recorded across the street from where I used to live - at the BBC's Maida Vale studios. I often used to pop in on my way back from work to see what was going on, sadly I missed this session in the (very tiny) auditorium.
49. "The Sopranos" actor Robert: ILER
50. Brief appearance: CAMEO
51. Egg-shaped: OVATE. Darn, I confidently put OVOID and then backed off, letter by letter.
52. Cuban export: CIGAR
53. Street of mystery: DELLA
54. "Trumbo" Oscar nominee Cranston: BRYAN. More famous for "Breaking Bad", a title I have tried on numerous occasions to make into a crossword theme. Never got there!
55. Set free: UNTIE
59. CT scan component: X-RAY
60. Run out of gas: TIRE. People tire, cars stop. I had a Jaguar XJS which had a gas gauge that never worked (quelle surprise!) and I had to estimate when I needed to fill up based on the mileage since the last time I topped up the tank. Sure enough, I ran dry on the 134 freeway in Toluca Lake - directly on an overpass above a gas station. A quick scoot down the embankment, a gallon in a plastic can and I was on my way in about five minutes flat.
61. Traditional dance: REEL
62. Mostly depleted sea: ARAL
64. Party accessory: HAT
65. UFO passengers, supposedly: ET'S
A sad day for grammarians everywhere, the Apostrophe Protection Society has this week disbanded, saying that "ignorance and laziness have won".
D'oh! May the greengrocers' plural live forever.
Steve
Oh, sorry, here'res' the grid. I like posting grid's.
54 comments:
Count me in on the list of people completely baffled by HOLY TERRIER. Is this supposed to be a pun on "holy terror"? The other theme answers aren't puns. Robin said "Holy (word or phrase)" literally hundreds of times on the 60s TV series, but I don't think any of them were puns (or the word "terrier"). There's no dog breed named "holy terrier," either. Or any reason why Robin (or Batman) should be part of the crossword theme.
I also don't like the fact that you can't know what the "holy" phrase is unless you've figured out the theme. The word after "holy" could literally be any word in the universe.
So I've run out of reasons why HOLY TERRIER isn't just a string of two random words. I'm hoping Mark McClain, who has stopped by this blog before, can explain what he was going for here. I liked the puzzle, otherwise.
I enjoy a puzzle where the theme and the reveal are not easy to see. The more I look at the puzzle, the more confused I am which is a bit thrilling. I do hope Mark stops by and explains.
My Jaguar not only ran out of gas but kept losing battery life. Both issues left me stranded, including when I was trying to bring my then-wife and fist child home from the hospital. Aaron ended up riding in a limousine owned by a friend. Sadly, for some reason, he does not recall the ride.
ROBERT ILER has pretty much disappeared from public notice except for the handy letters needed for crossword constructors.
MAYA RUDOLPH was born in Gainesville while I was there in law school. Her mother, MINNIE RIPPERTON was a client of a firm I went to work after graduation.
Thanks, Steve and Mark.
Shout-out to Mark and Steve - fun puzzle but a bit on the easy side for a Thursday.
After some consideration, I believe the Robin line is not a reveal. The other long answers had to be solved to complete the puzzle. It is a reverse reveal.
"Holy ______, Batman!" Robin's cry upon SPOTTING THE ENDS OF THE ANSWERS to the other starred clues.
We are to be Robin and fill in the ubiquitous "Holy" quote with the theme.
FIW, being unwilling to give up DIs for DIG. I knew that the HVAC company wasn't like a choo-choo, but had to erase TRAine. UNTIE!
One of my DW's heirlooms is a letter sent to her mother on the death of her father. It was on Dodger stationary and signed by Tommy Lasorda. My sister has a baseball he signed during spring training in Vero Beach. He was an aspiting pitcher, not a manager, then.
Have a CIGAR.
Both Steve and Lemonade had electrical trouble with their British cars? Say it isn't so!
Thanks to Mark for the fun puzzle. I've never seen a single episode of Batman nor the movie, so I didn't rankle at the reveal. And thanks to Steve for the great tour. You can add Carl Sagan's "billions and billions" to the list of phrases that weren't said. Thank you Johnny Carson for that one.
I don't think this theme/reveal is much more of a stretch than many others, but in full transparency, I have become an anti-themer. I'll take a themed puzzle like an old "quip puzzle" - every now and then.
Good morning!
I agree with Linkster about the theme. It didn't bother me at all. (I do remember the '60s show with all its Holy... exclamations.) Needed Wite-Out to change MOUND to CAIRN and remove the T from LASORTA. Thanx for the outing, Mark, and the expo, Steve ("alarums and excursions" -- I've gotta start using that!)
Hi all! Wow - about that "reveal" entry. First, I'll say that it was Rich's invention, but I thought it was rather clever, though a chorus of negative feedback is a convincing demurral of that view. Second, it has nothing to do with the beginnings of the theme entries (it's the ends - the terriers). Third, Robin is well noted for saying "Holy [whatever]" (see https://www.liveabout.com/robins-oddest-holy-exclamations-from-the-batman-tv-series-3896999). So, yes, I guess it is a reference to that, and yes, "Holy terrier" is also a play on "Holy Terror" which is a thing. And finally, yes (like many "reveals") you have to suss out the word TERRIER via the crossing entries to get the reveal. See y'all again on Christmas Eve!
No COCK AND BULL to what I'm saying. I didn't notice the 'dogs'. But it was a lot easier than most of Mark's puzzles. And terriers (in theory) are DIRTY; they were bred to go underground to get prey. But I don't see EL TORO going underground. Maybe those CAIRN terriers can be trained to search for buried bodies and the BORDER terriers can sniff out those drug smugglers' tunnels.
Cafe AU LAIT- a staple in NOLA.
MAYA, MASCOT- Never seen or heard of "The Good Place" or been to a hockey game-both filled by perps.
ISBN- give me the Dewey Decimal System any day
DELLA Street of mystery? No mystery at all. Perry Mason's clients were never guilty. Only some idiot who jumped out of the audience and confessed.
Anon@4:37- what's your problem? I agree with Linkster.
As for Jags, Triumphs, MGs, and other British cars; they ALL had problems and they ALL required constant maintenance just to be kept running.
Jinx, I was so sure that Carl Sagan had said "billions and billions." I hear it so clearly in my mind. Alas, it was the title of a book of his but he never did speak that phrase. Just one more reminder that I shouldn't be so sure of things. Bummer.
I kind of get Linkster’s explanation for the reveal, but this was a very weak theme. Bringing Batman and Robin into the puzzle is a bit bizarre.
I got the Cagney non-line easily, and was hoping the rest of the theme answered would be similar, which would have made an interesting puzzle. “Play it again Sam”, “Judy, Judy, Judy”, come to mind.
I liked this puzzle. I have no nit with the reveal. The ends of the theme answers are all different kinds of terriers. That's enough of a connection for me. Mark confirmed my thought that the connection to Robin is Holy Terror! Neat.
Two very memorable slogans: "Nothing can stop a Trane" But, of course, sometimes trains are stopped and sometimes Tranes quit running. Call the mechanic.
While the “Nothing Runs Like a Deere” slogan is now synonymous with the John Deere brand as a whole, it was first used in the early 1970's to promote their (now defunct) line of snowmobiles.
When Roman Catholic masses are broadcast, the announcer says, "The priest is on the altar." That always gives me pause. I picture him lying up there on the communion table. LOL Lutherans and Episcopalians say, "The priest is AT the altar," or "in the chancel," which is the altar area. Isaac was actually lying on the altar to be sacrificed by his father, before a ram was substituted for him.
Tonic the only mixer? Would you mix it with Scotch? IMO, Scotch with a splash of soda is good, a splash of water is better. If the Scotch is premium, I prefer it on the rocks.(Sorry, Tin.) I have a friend who drinks Scotch with Coke. IMO, yukky.
Good Morning:
Although I've never seen any Batman shows or movies, Robin's HOLY -------- exclamation is well-known and so is the phrase Holy Terror, so, to me, the theme is an obvious play on words and the dogs all fit the theme. IOW, no complaints. This dog lover was unaware of a Bull and Border Terrier, only having knowledge of a plain, old Bulldog and a Border Collie. (A house-cleaning couple we knew in Florida had a Cairn Terrier named Dustmop!) Della was slow in coming as I was focused on the name of a street, Sherlock's Baker, e.g. I wasn't keen on Embak, but liked Sell/Bell and ETS/ETA. I can't see Untie or Unite without thinking of Jinx. There was a strong Hollywood/Broadway sub-theme today: Cameo, Reel, Maya, Della, Bryan, M*A*S*H, Iler, Bart, Dian, Coco, ETs, On Tour and, lastly, You Dirty Rat!
Thanks, Mark, for a fun and clever theme and solve and for dropping by and thanks, Steve, for entertaining and educating us with such flair.
I received one of those grandson-is-in-trouble-and needs-money-sent calls this morning. I can only imagine how many people fall prey to these low lifes. My sister came close to being a victim but, luckily, was saved by verifying her grandson's whereabouts. The latest scourge of thieves is the so-called Porch Pirates who, it seems, are as brazen as all get out, plying their "Trade" in broad daylight.
Have a great day.
Should be Embank, sorry.
Musings
-I don’t Mark think has a “lot of ‘splainin’ to do” (Desi never said that) in this fun puzzle
-RIB and DIG are very close in the puzzle and can be in use
-My 50’s TV Perry Mason viewing paid off
-Winslow, NE (pop. 100) is going to be moved because of frequent levee failures
-Steve’s always great summary inspired me to learn about model train scales. My friend’s set was G scale
-LIABLE – Joann’s hairdresser’s mom tripped on a floor mat entering Wal Mart and is suing
-I enjoy watching MAYA but her mother’s cloying Loving You may be my least favorite song, EVER!
-Now one of my favorites would be this Debussy work in this final scene with criminals
-The supply of “egg words” starting with OV is rather large
Easy puzzle with an OK theme and reveal. I’ll have to Google COREA.
Hola!
Thank you, Mark McClain for coming to our rescue and explaining your theme! Having read Batman comics as a child I am very familiar with HOLY TERROR and assorted other similar exclamations. I saw the movie, Batman Returns and was unimpressed. My son-in-law is a huge Batman fan so I'll take this as a CSO to him.
As children we would try to enhance on our reading of Batman by creating our own outlandish exclamations.
Also I'll take a CSO at DALE.
DELLA Street was no mystery and I am certain Abejo will know it as apparently he watches Perry Mason every night.
Alas, I had EnBank instead of EMBANK and was puzzled by NICE but moved on.
BRYAN Cranston is familiar to me only because I saw one episode of the much acclaimed Breaking Bad and was immediately turned off.
This was an easy puzzle to start Thursday and the eve of my 82nd birthday. We'll go to my daughter's home tonight to start the celebrations(?).
Thank you, Steve; your sparkle is always a welcome debut to the ensuing commentaries.
Have a marvelous day, everyone!
Gary:
I wish only good luck to the person who is suing Walmart. My sister also fell there a few years ago and got only her lawyer's bill for her trouble. Walmart rejected any liability and won.
"The government planned to dredge and embank stretches of the delta's main river"
"assessing the sensitivity of embanked rivers to discharge uncertainties"
Embankment is a common word, which suggested EMBANK to me with the perps E---NK.
I skipped my early morning gym visit. I am coming along better than expected with my paperwork. I may finish it all up by tomorrow. I always overestimate how onerous this kind of job will be. So I will be a good girl and go exercise. It really does help flexibility, balance and pain management.
Thank goodness, we are fairly secluded back here in our development. Some locals do not even know our development exists, so we have had no porch bandits so far.
The theme reveal was complete with the knowledge that it came from Mr. Norris.
HG: Did you get a pair of the grumpiest guesses for Thanksgiving? Minnie had an amazing voice in person...
Lovin' you is easy 'cause you're beautiful
Makin' love with you is all I wanna do
Lovin' you is more than just a dream come true
And everything that I do is out of lovin' you
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Do do do do do
No one else can make me feel
The colors that you bring
Stay with me while we grow old
And we will live each day in springtime
'Cause lovin' you has made my life so beautiful
And every day of my life is filled with lovin' you
Lovin' you, I see your soul come shinin' through
And every time that we, ooh
I'm more in love with you
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Do do do do do
No one else can make me feel
The colors that you bring
Stay with me while we grow old
And we will live each day in springtime
'Cause lovin' you is easy 'cause you're beautiful
And every day of my life is filled with lovin' you
Lovin' you, I see your soul come shinin' through
And every day that we, ooh
I'm more in love with you
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Do do do do do
Na, ooh, la la la la la la la la la
Do do do do do
Good morning everyone.
Well, I finally got it all without help. But it took a bit to parse BURIAL CAIRN correctly with STYLI and the unknown COREA. The center south received its share of white gunk. Plunked down HOLY……… before knowing the full fill and finally the penny dropped and I got AU LAIT. TRANES had to wait for perps since we don't use that brand.
Good theme, Mark and good job. BZ.
COCK AND BULL - We also use the related word 'cockamamie' as appropriate.
mouse, MICE. A vowel twister in related languages, too. German Maus, Mäuse; L. German Muus. Müüs. Dutch is more regular but muis is elided to muizen.
I also thought this puzzle was delightful and fun, and had no problem with the theme at all--probably because I'm a dog lover. So, thank you, Mark, and thanks for checking in with us. I liked what Irish Miss said about the secondary Hollywood theme. Loved seeing DELLA Street in this puzzle--I figured right away that this street wasn't going to be a location. Fun to see the James Cagney rant. Bet he never did a CAMEO appearance. Was amazed that I got LA SORDA--knew he was a sports figure but no idea which sport. Glad I remembered that there was another Waugh besides Evelyn--oh, yes, ALEC. Never heard of TRANES, so that was tough, and, like Lucina, I put ENBANK instead of EMBANK--must have forgotten to check downs or I would have remembered those little three blind MICE. Anyway, lots of fun, thanks again, Mark.
Have a great day, everybody.
Once again the Blog Comments have sent me down the YouTube rabbithole.
(I will skip the maiden launch of a steamboat in the rain, but it was fascinating...)
These batman scenes are not a replay, more of a regurgitation.
SPeaking of which, I am sure Carl Sagan said (you know what.)
& some one out there was so sure he taped (in order) every "illions"
he ever uttered on Cosmos...
I had no problem with the theme/reveal. It did seem a bit of a stretch, but no more than many others we’ve had. This puzzle was a tad bit easier than most Thursdays (at least for me); FIR in under 15 minutes.
There were more unknown (by me) names than usual. I prefer puzzles with few names.
Steve, until the first of the two floods which inundated us I had an extensive HO-gauge model train layout, with a computer (old Apple II+) running things. Near it I had a much less busy N-gauge setup. My favorite bit of rolling stock was a several cars long Chicago and Northwestern commuter train, all decked out in their signature yellow and green. The layout went away with the receding water but I still have that train. (The C and NW went away too; swallowed up by the Union Pacific, it was.)
Bright and sunny here but a bit on the cool side. We’re expecting to be in the 50’s by the weekend, though. Have a great day all.
Once I get all the cardboard unpacked and everything put away, I swear I'm going to do a puzzle, whose theme will be names of provincial capitals in Cambodia, or maybe autonomous republics in Russia, or the Bagration family tree in Georgia....
Anonymous @ 4:37 has my vote: if obscure breeds of terrier are okay, if 'Holy Terrier' is okay, then this business becomes more slog than fun.
IMHO, YMMV, and all that.
I'm a dog person, so I saw the theme.
Rat Terrier
Cairn Terrier
Border Terrier
Bull Terrier
We own a Rat Terrier.
My high school was the Terry Terriers.
Mr. McClain, you sir, are a class act.
As for today's offering, I'll quote another regular poster: "I liked this puzzle."
On another note, this year's flu is nothing to scoff at. Hit me like a ton of bricks Sunday evening, out of nowhere. No early warning, no symptoms... just boom.
Shingles earlier this year. Now the flu. Glad that bad things only come in twos.
My non haiku pun of the day:
What cheer do soccer fans give a Barista?
“AU LAIT, AU LAIT, AU LAIT AU LAIT ...”
☕️☕️⚽️⚽️
I agree with Steve's criticism of the theme. To me, it was head-scratching and unsatisfying. I also appreciate Steve's honesty. It's nice to see a write-up that isn't effusive.
Having said that, I commend Mark for responding to the criticism and congratulate him on another published puzzle. He's a great friend to the crossword community.
Hi everybody.
I finished the puzzle and enjoyed it. Thanks Mark. But I agree that the reveal was a stretch and confusing.
Irish Miss: I too got one of those "those grandson-is-in-trouble-and needs-money" calls about a year or two ago. I think of myself as fairly worldly but I fell for it like a ton of bricks. Barbara heard my end of the conversation and warned me off. Those scammers are very clever and convincing.
It was easy to tease Carl Sagan but his shows were very educational and enjoyable. I wish I had known of him when we were both at Cornell.
I liked the puzzle and the theme. I got all of the theme answers, and had several cairn terriers, so HOLY TERRIER was not so much of a stretch.
Lots of names, some I knew, some I didn’t. Nothing unusual for the end of the week. Thanks Mark, and thanks for stopping by. My favorite was AU LAIT, because that’s how I like my coffee.
Steve, another fun walkthrough. Thanks.
Reading back over the comments, I’m surprised by the emotion this puzzle dredged up! It seems to me to be another example of our oft-remarked differences in experience and knowledge. However, this one seems to have hit a nerve! Interesting
~ Stealing someone's coffee is called mugging.
~ Someone held the door open for a person dressed as a clown. It was a nice jester.
This is Anonymous at 4:37 again.
Mark, thank you for coming here and explaining the background, and thank you also for being, as TTP said, a class act. I apologize for the harshness of my original message.
Got this one right, no issues...or complaints.
So I had a 74 Triumph TR-6. Sometimes the electric OD didn’t work, I fixed that, loose wire. But the gas gauge didn’t work, always showed 1/4 full...so I used the trip odometer religiously.
So one night I’m driving home around 11 PM on the New Haven Q bridge -the old one. Car runs out of gas right at the middle of the bridge. A nice person stopped, brought me to the gas station, I got a gallon, he brought me back, I filled it, went to the gas station to return the container and filled up. The next day my neighbor tells me my brother had been at my house, turns out he had taken the car out, and he reset the trip meter so it showed mileage before he “returned” it...I wanted to hammer him.
No flu or shingles for me, I get my shots.
TTP, sorry you have the horrid flu after having had the shingles. I hear you can get the shingles a second time. Is a shingles shot in order? I saw an article that said even if a flu shot sometimes does not prevent the flu, it makes it lighter. Worth noting. Here's to a quick recovery.
Two years ago I got the grandson in trouble message. I had just spoken to his dad a few days before. I would have known that my grandson planned to travel to Maryland, if it were true. He has a very unusual middle name. I told the caller to ask him for it. Checkmate!
Another scam-This afternoon I clicked on Edge instead of Chrome inadvertently. It froze my screen and asked for a password. I had to unplug the computer to get rid of it. I am using my usual Chrome and everything seems okay. Google says this is a common problem with Edge right now.
I really liked this puzzle! I had the cairn part of 23 across which helped me with the terrier part of Holyterrier!! Then it all made sense. (My favorite Cairn terrier being Toto from Wizard of Oz!) I knew about Chick Corea but first put Dixie...but finally figured it out. Fun!
Hi All!
Oy! Lots of names that I didn't know; P&P got it done though.
Thanks Mark for the grid and for stopping in. Re: Theme; others said it but IM's was most succinct with what I think.
Steve - If I forget it's Thursday, I remember about 6 lines into your expo.
Dewey's still in some libraries but larger ones opt for Library of Congress catalog (my DW's friend was librarian).
ISBN is the book's serial number and not used for cataloging (as far as I know)
WOs: Stay b/f STUD; Misread Tommy as Tony ergo, La Russa at 1st; Jinx, I had TRAINE too.
ESPs: MAYA, ANONILER, DELLA, ALEC, CHI, DIAN, BRYAN, COREA, MER, MASCOT took to WAGs (M & C) What's a CAIRN?*
//At "Flyers' Gritty" I was thinking of those World War I scarves pilots kinds, ?ASCOT kinda made sense - maybe a special ASCOT?... V8! When abc-run got me to M :-)
Fav: Cigar. Boy, would I like a big o' fatty.
Jfromvt - I was thinking along the same lines of "lines" misattributed. I think we just found a puzzle-seed.
Gotta run, play later.
Cheers, -T
*Oh, a stack of rocks. Here's some in one of the Cinque Terre villages
I learned about CAIRNS in Scotland where they are used to mark off property lines.
Good question about the Dewey Decimal system; I'll have to check the next time I visit the library.
TTP:
I'm sorry to hear about your health woes. Have you been vaccinated?
Chick CORREA is a phenomenal guitar player and is sometimes heard on KBAQ, our local classical station. He and the Romeros are just enjoyable to listen to.
My youngest grandchild will be 10 on Saturday so today I bought her desired gift, air pods. I had no idea what that was and how much it cost! At ten I was still playing with dolls.
Anon T, my thoughts exactly on ISBN.
I know cairns as markers on rocks on hiking trails where there are no trees for blazes.
I didn't have the trouble with the Terrier idea that others seemed to have. I just assumed the final word of the theme fills had to match with "terrier," and they did. My only hesitation was over RAT Terrier. I did not know it was its own breed. But a quick check on Google showed me what they look like.
Many, if not all, terriers are rat hunters. My own little Yorkie was originally bred in the north of England to squeeze into the openings in the walls of mines to catch rats where they lived.
(Glad he no longer has to do that for a living. Now he just chases strangers' ankles.)
~ OMK
_____________
DR: One on EACH side.
The near side produces a nasty anagram, a synonym for macho regurgitation, or...
"MANLIKE HURL"!
Yellowrocks, Lucina, thank you for your concern.
Got the shingles before getting the shots. That was in early July. Put off getting the flu shot for no good reason. Now paying for it.
Yes, you can get shingles more than once. If you have had shingles, you are supposed to wait a full six months before getting the first of the two-part shots. That would have put me in the mid December time frame, so it will be January.
Dr Nina could answer far more clearly, but I've now read quite a bit on the flu, the shot, and the flu antivirals. Yes, you can get the shot and still get the flu, but the symptoms and duration will be abated. You can not get the flu by getting the shot. In otherwise healthy people, the prescription antivirals used for treatment need to be administered within the first 48 hours in order to be most effective. In people with other medical conditions or considered high risk, antivirals may be recommended even after 48 hours.
I don't remember much of those first 48 hours.
Here's a CDC URL you can peruse with a number of associated links: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/treatment/whatyoushould.htm
What You Should Know About Flu Antiviral Drugs
If you didn't like this puzzle,
maybe you are of a different breed...
I learned about Cairns hiking around Harriman State Park.
If ever you see one, it means it is showing a (hidden?) side trail
that will lead you to interesting stuff. Many of these trails are overgrown
& the cairns are all that is left to guide you.
For instance, We found the Pine Meadow Mine only because of 5 small rocks
in a pile next to the main trail...
-A-
-B-
-C-
-D-
-E-
So, if you see one of these or more than 3 rocks piled together, go check it out...
I liked this puzzle. A lot. One of my favorite breeds is Border Terrier, of which a friend of ours has two. She calls them "escape artists" because they can dig under the back yard fence and go exploring. They sure are friendly and lovable.
Back from a wonderfully relaxing and fun visit to our son and his wife in San Diego. A good time was had by all. Thought of Steve, Misty, and Bill G as we drove I-5 passing near (well maybe not that near) your respective home towns. There was a pretty layer of snow on the mountains of Tejon Pass on the way home. Also some very thick Tule fog in the valley; at times the visibility was less than 100 feet, necessitating driving at very slow speeds.
Good to be back home, though. Slept a full 12 hours the first night.
Wishing you all the best.
Did finish but lots of corrected mistakes easily avoided if I held back and checked perps first.
Torero instead of El TORO, three pigs instead of MICE. Hesitated but put ovoid instead of OVATE. Leis instead of UKES
If you buy a CAFÉ AU LAIT instead of coffee with milk you'll pay a LATTE!
As a kid I thought Barbara Hale's character was Dellas Treet.
Probably saw all the campy episodes of television's 1960s Batman. Remember lots of Holies but not a terrier.
The old joke..what's a cheese that's made backwards?...EDAM. So it tastes gouda.
Wasn't sure an ORACLE said sooths.
An oracle speaks prophecies. A soothsayer is a prophet, a seer, a fortune teller. Sooth is an archaic word for truth or reality.
Forsooth is a related archaic word. Today it is used humorously or archly to mean indeed or certainly, in truth.
Welcome home, Jayce.
I may have been a little harsh too. Theme was fine, just thought the reveal was a bit odd.
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Mark! No problem with the HOLY TERRIER. I had TERRIER first & when HOLY filled, I laughed out loud and moved on. Robyn always said some outrageous things.
Great expo, Steve. Found the GOLDWYN story interesting. Never heard that before.
Tried MAry before MAYA Rudolph. Knew better. See her daily lately in a commercial.
CAIRN TERRIERs are endearing little guys. I don't like them. My daughter has two. A few years ago, I had bronchial pneumonia and called my daughter at work and asked her to take me to a walk-in clinic. She said she couldn't take me because she had to work. I said the clinic was open until 7 p.m. so we could go after work. She said she couldn't go then because she had to pick up the dogs at Doggy Daycare. I drove my ownself to get antibiotics while running a fever. A few weeks later she told me one of her dogs had been sick and she took off work to take it to the vet then stayed home to care for it. When I die, I hope I come back as a CAIRN TERRIER who is adopted by my daughter. I will bite her. Meanwhile, I just don't like C.T.'s. Envy is an ugly thing.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Mark and Steve.
I started this CW this morning, then took off to the Shaw Festival to see a performance of Holiday Inn. Very enjoyable with a multitude of gorgeous costumes. Finished the CW tonight. I had the HOLY TERRIER reveal with only CAIRN and BULL, which helped the solve somewhat. I wasn't a huge fan of the reveal.
The mid-north was the last to fall because I held on to Dixie (see below) for too long.
Like Misty, I thought of Evelyn Waugh before Alec.
And like Adele, my Chick with a Grammy was Dixie. Well, I had not heard of COREA and those Dixie Chicks have won a Grammy!
I can't believe nobody commented on the EL TORO and COCK AND BULL bovine connection.
Feel better soon TTP. Everyone else, please get your flu shot (preferably the high dose one if you are over 65).
PK- if I had been drinking Cafe AU LAIT while I read your post, I would have snorted it out my nose when I got to "I will bite her." But really it is too sad when a pet is valued more than a parent.
Lucina- may I be the first here to wish you a Happy Birthday tomorrow.
Lucina - Happy 82nd Birthday tomorrow. You're about 3½ months ahead of me. Hope you have a great very special day.
Jayce, great that you had a lovely visit with your southern California family!
Good to see you back Jacye!
Ray-O-Sun: LOL Latte!
PK - what a humorous twist to a sad state of affairs.
C, Eh! Yes, Today (now) is Lucina's (and my Mom's!) B-Day. I sent Mom a text (yeah, I'm that bad child, as she would say :-)) and I'm wishing Lucina one now.
CED - next time I go-a-hiking, I'll look for the stones and/or place mine near older trails that lead to fun / certain death [eaten by whatever was in the cave].
Thanks to y'all again for my daily wordy-nerdy entertainment / learnin'
Cheers, -T
CED @ 4:10 --
The Cairn Collection you pictured, brings new levels of, er, ah, oh yes, 'geology' into Dylan's epic words, "Everyone must get stoned."
Wow, disaster. I had ERIC Waugh, misspelled ALTeR(and I was just at a funeral mass)* and the other two downs were unnoticed. And I'm even familiar with Mr Waugh although more with Evelyn. Aaarrrggghhh!!!!!
Actually, I thought the reveal was perfect. It's a pun on "Holy Terror" with four terriers. Typical xword fare IMHO
Like IM my first thought was BAKER St.
But I didn't think of (Dixie)Chick. I just noticed that we have a JeffWesch on hand for today.
WC
** An AA'er. Debate ensued about whether "Alcoholics" could/should imbibe the Communion wine. I've been doing it for 35 years. Usually very low alcohol but this one church uses some kind of Madeira or Port. But don't tell Splynter.
PS, after the VA I was informed that I had to wire the money for the closing today. Fortunately, I found a branch of my bank in St Pete open until six. But, Title Office is only open until 530. Parking? Aaarrrggghhh!!! 529pm she answered the phone. PHEW
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