Do You Think I Am Gaining Weight? Yes, this is the dreaded circle puzzle. And, yes, I found this to be a bit of a challenge for a Tuesday. Very clever, though. The circled letters (which interestingly do not span words, but are contained completely in one word of the answer) are all measures of weight ~ beginning with a very small unit and growing progressively to a very large unit.
26-Across. One doing the play-by-play: SPORTS ANNOUNCER. An OUNCE is 1/16 of a Pound.
44-Across. Stand-up comic who is a recurring panelist on "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me": PAULA POUNDSTONE.
And the unifier, of sorts:
Across:
17-Across. Very exciting episode: HIGH DRAMA. According to Britannica "an avoirdupois DRAM contains 27.344 grains (1.772 grams) and is equal to one-sixteenth avoirdupois ounce of 437 1/2 grains. The term also refers to the fluid dram, a measure of capacity equal to one-eighth fluid ounce." Clear, right?
44-Across. Stand-up comic who is a recurring panelist on "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me": PAULA POUNDSTONE.
60-Across. Subject of the 2019 biopic "Rocketman": ELTON JOHN. A long TON is 2,240 pounds. A Short Ton is 2,000 pounds. The Short Ton is used in the United States.
And the unifier, of sorts:
65-Across. Device related to the circled letters: SCALE.
Across:
1. Spanish kiss: BESO. Today's Spanish lesson.
5. Tax law pros: CPAs. As in Certified Public Accountants. I think a few of our regulars are CPAs.
9. Shaving scratches: NICKS.
14. Tune from "Tosca": ARIA.
15. The "A" in SATB: ALTO. Think of the singing voices: Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass.
16. It's sent with a click: E-MAIL.
19. Rich boy in "Nancy" comics: ROLLO. Nancy is a comic strip that began in the 1930s. Apparently there was a recent up-date and revision.
20. Many garden flowers: ANNUALS.
21. Responding to an Evite: RSVP-ING. RSVP is a derived from the French phrase Répondez S’il Vous Plaît, which means Please Respond. The -ing ending makes it a bit clunky, but one should always respond yea or nay to an invitation.
23. CD-__: data holders: ROMS.
25. Tot's little piggy: TOE.
34. Hoisting device: WINCH.
35. Snobbish attitude: AIRS.
36. Road service org.: AAA. As in the American Automobile Association.
37. Irish New Ager: ENYA. Her given name is Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (b. May 17, 1961). No wonder she goes by ENYA.
38. Full of sass: LIPPY.
40. Dead set against: ANTI. // Fun to see this directly above 43-Across. Gets in on the deal: ANTES.
41. DDE's WWII domain: ETO. As in the European Theater of Operations.
42. Hula-Hoops and Pogs: FADS.
The Hula-Hoop came out in 1958.
Pogs were popular in the 1990s.
48. Orbiting research facility: Abbr.: ISS. As in the International Space Station.
49. Spa treatment: PEEL. I would prefer a Pedi(cure) over a Facial PEEL.
50. Turned on an axis: PIVOTED. I initially tried Rotated.
54. Caviar choice: SHAD ROE.
59. __ acids: protein components: AMINO.
62. Baltimore NFLer: RAVEN.
63. Kind of pressure: PEER.
64. Oklahoma city NNW of Oklahoma City: ENID. Enid, Oklahoma makes frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles. It is the 9th largest city in the State and has one of the largest grain storage capacity in the world.
66. PC scrolling key: PGDN. It's the Page Down key.
67. British mil. honors: DSOs. As in the Distinguished Service Order.
Down:
1. __ Men: "Who Let the Dogs Out" band: BAHA. The Baha Men are a Bahamian band.
2. Leprechaun land: ERIN.
3. Talk with one's hands: SIGN. It is important that the individual hired to sign, especially in the public arena, be qualified to do so.
4. Island near Maui: OAHU. The two islands are near each other, but not next to each other.
5. Guitarist Santana: CARLOS. Carlos Santana (b. July 20, 1947) is a Mexican-American guitarist and musician.
6. Red Cross supply: PLASMA.
7. Bodega convenience: ATM. As in the Automatic Teller Machine.
8. Go sky-high: SOAR.
9. On edge: NERVOUS.
10. "No plans that day": I'M OPEN. I initially wanted I'm Free.
11. Colombian metropolis: CALI. I think this is a CSO to our friend Chickie. I think she lived in Cali, Columbia.
12. Pottery oven: KILN.
13. Laborious walk: SLOG.
18. Vader in "Star Wars": DARTH.
22. Stephen King work: STORY. I would have classified his work as Horror novels. We both share the same alma mater, although he graduated several years before I entered the university.
24. Buys eagerly: SNAPS UP.
26. Look (for), as electronic bugs: SWEEP.
27. Vessel of 1492: PINTA. One of Christopher Columbus's ships.
28. "The joke's __!": ON YOU.
29. Color TV pioneer: RCA.
30. __ in the bud: NIP.
31. "The Divine Comedy" segment: CANTO.
32. In one's tummy: EATEN.
33. Salary increase: RAISE.
38. Go unrenewed: LAPSE.
39. Bachelor's famous last words?: I DO. My favorite clue of the puzzle.
40. Raid target: ANT.
42. Slick trick: FAST ONE.
43. C.S. Lewis lion: ASLAN. I can never remember this lion's name. Aslan is a major character in the book The Chronicles of Narnia.
45. Model train giant: LIONEL. In 1900, Joshua Lionel Cowen (Aug. 25, 1877 ~ Sept. 8, 1965) and Harry C. Grant founded the Lionel Corporation. Although it made a number of novelty toys, it is best known for its model trains. In 2006, the Lionel electric train became the 1st electric toy to be inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
46. Stacked like Tupperware: NESTED.
47. Do a ranch vet's job: DEHORN.
50. They beat bogeys: PARS. Golfing reference.
51. Apple computer: iMAC.
52. "Choose-A-Sheet" paper towels brand: VIVA.
53. Captain Sparrow portrayer: DEPP. Johnny Depp (né John Christopher Depp, II; b. June 9, 1963) played Captain Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
55. Kept the party hopping, for short: DJ'ED. As in the individual who is the Disc Jockey.
56. Howard and Silver: RONS. As in actors Ron Howard (né Ronald William Howard; b. Mar. 1, 1954), also known as Opie from the Andy Griffith Show; and Ron Silver (né Ronald Arthur Silver; July 2, 1946 ~ Mar. 15, 2009). The latter died of cancer at age 62.
57. Lake Erie state: OHIO. It's the State that's Round on the Ends and HI in the Middle!
58. Circle's lack: ENDS.
61. Journey segment: LEG.
Here's the Grid:
QOD: The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. ~ William Arthur Ward (Dec. 17, 1921 ~ Mar. 30, 1986), American writer
55 comments:
Carol and I FIR in 31:38 min.
Good morning Cornerites.
Thank you Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski for your pleasant Tuesday CW.
Thank you Hahtoolah for your excellent review.
Ðave
Would you trust a wench with a WINCH?
A woman with a tool? That's likely to pinch!
Now, men know how the handle
And HOIST things that dangle,
A woman would throw in a monkey wench wrench!
ROLLO was a fellow who put on AIRS
He kept his nose up, going down stairs.
So that's why he tripped,
Somersaulted and flipped,
But continued to act debonair!
{B-, B.}
Good morning!
Had the circles, but didn't look at 'em until I hit the reveal, so they didn't help at all with the solve. I admit that I looked askance at that exciting episode when ...RGHDR... appeared (That first R was incorrect). Still, this one was zippy (not LIPPY). Thanx, BV, GG, and Hahtoolah.
LIONEL: Yup, we had one when I was a kid. Also a 4-train transformer.
STORY: Seems to be a very generic answer for such a specific clue. We saw King's Bangor house from the air last night on Aerial America.
PAULA POUNDSTONE: I worked with a woman named Paula Hedington. I once introduced her as Paul Headstone.
NICKS: Asked the clerk at Walgreens where I could find a styptic pencil. She walked me over to the make-up aisle and started looking through the eyebrow pencils. "You don't know what a styptic pencil is, do you?"
IMAC: The less said, the better.
I got the theme when I saw DRAM, and went down all of the themers. Then, I concentrated on the downs for a quick solve. I’ve heard LIPPY, but not often.
Good morning.
Breezed right through. Did have to change rotatED to PIVOTED.
I love that "Just for Laughs - Gags" program. Pranks and practical jokes. I'm pretty sure it's created in Quebec.
Good Morning.
I have been an absentee member of this crowd for about 10 days or so. I do appreciate your good wishes for my daughter and brother. My daughter is doing well after the foot surgery--except for the fact that she's a little ADD and is already tired of watching TV. I'm cooking for her today and bringing it out tomorrow to finish. Gravy and Meatballs--Italian comfort food. My brother's prostate cancer surgery was very successful; he needs no treatment. He's getting around much better, but I'm going out Friday anyway to get him out of his apartment for lunch. We've already gone through my dad's oddly organized photo collection in shoe boxes. I'm getting great gas mileage driving (52 or 90 miles for each round trip) out I-90. Good thing I do love driving. I have the traffic patterns and times down pat for coming and going.
I have tried several puzzles and read the blogs. Thanks to all of you for the creations and explications of the puzzles. What clever folks you are.
Have a fine week. Enjoy the sunshine where you find it. If not all the lighted trees during these long winter's nights.
Got the theme early, and wondered if Steve might think as I did, that it could have combined two weights in POUNDSTONE. A stone is 14 pounds in British measures. I did have trouble with ALTO though, since I've never seen that acronym and have never been anywhere near a bodega.
Hahtoola...nicely done!
Great morning all.
Thanks Bruce and Gail for an easy Tuesday romp.
SPORTS ANNOUNCER fit the grid and revealed OUNCE . With DRAM in place the theme became evident and the next two circle words helped speed me up to the FIR.
Enjoy the write up Hahtoola (SO to Baby sister and Baby girl)
Owen Kl you’re in fine form again today as usual.
Thanks to all the contributors to the corner.
I always enjoy gleaning some nuggets from your wit and wisdom.
Cheers
I had to solve on-line today because the snow/ice must have held up the newspaper delivery person- I prefer being snuggled up on the couch with an afghan, pencil, and paper than the computer any day!
"Wait, wait don't tell me" is a favorite radio program on NPR- Paula POUNDSTONE is one of the more hilarius panelists.Usually comes on Saturday am while I'm housecleaning. Our son gave us tickets last year to attend a show in St Louis last spring.
Gotta head to work- probably another slow day with the roads the way they are!
Thanks Susan and Gail& Bruce!
P.S. I used to read "Sluggo and Nancy" comics as a kid but didn't even remember Rollo. However the name came back miraculously out of the perpetual fog my brain is in lately.
Mme Defarge, glad to hear your family members are coming out of their respective surgeries well. It's always a concern when one feels responsible for care of loved ones.
I too have long been absent from commenting here due to my inability to say "no" to offers of volunteer commitments even after 13 years of retirement. You'd think I would have learned by now!
I hope all of you are looking forward to another festive season with joy and anticipation and not impatience to get through it. It is what you make of it, as is everything else too. Wishing everyone all the very best!
Inanehiker, did you use those tickets? If so, how did the live experience differ from the radio broadcast?
FIR, but erased loose for LAPSE. Tomorrow my subscription to the Virginian Pilot hard copy will LAPSE and my digital-only subscription will begin. DNK SATB - thought it must be a later computer interface than SATA. Also DNK CANTO.
Since he's a limey, shouldn't he really call himself ELTON loo?
I learned that Vader was only one of many DARTHs from listening to a nerd dressed as Darth Nihilus being interviewed on the Howard Stern show.
Even I knew PAULA POUNDSTONE, DEPP, and RONS. That's just about all the showbiz stuff I recognize.
I liked ANT and ANTI, as well as DE-HORN and D-J'ED. When I lived in LA a coworker returned from his first trip back east. He remarked that in the east they not only have K-Marts, but also K-Rogers that mostly sell food. (K-Marts are disappearing while Krogers are thriving.)
Thanks to Bruce and Gail for the fun, easy puzzle. I especially liked the cluing for SWEEP and the fill PINTA. I was starting to believe that the NINA was the only one. And thanks to Hahtoolah for the extensive and clever explanation.
Another chuckle thanx Jinx toodle loo
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski, for fine puzzle. Thank you, Hahtoolah, for a fine review.
Puzzle went fast for me this morning. About 20 minutes. Caught the theme right away. Then SCALE at 65A iced it.
Did not know Rocketman, but got ELTON JOHN with a few perps.
Got ENYA easily. We have had her recently.
CALI was unknown. Perps.
ASLAN was unknown. Perps.
Hey, my former lake made it today, ERIE, and in OHIO, where I lived for several years.
Cold today while guarding. 18 degrees. At least it was not windy.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Hola!
BV and GG brought us some weighty fun today! Then Susan added meaty commentary. Thank you, all!
I solved this mostly downward and loved seeing BESO, ARIA and CANTO. Looking at ANTI/ANTES with AAA above them made me chuckle. Baltimore RAVEN reminds me of Poe and I guess that is the idea.
PAULAPOUNDSTONE is without a doubt one of the most hilarious persons on WWDTM. Her spontaneous remarks make me spout my coffee every time.
ONYOU/ENYA crossing is cute.
I have been to a spa many times but never had a PEEL.
One of the most disappointing experiences I had was going to a CARLOS Santana concert in which he mostly stood with his guitar while the backup band played and sang. It was just a few years ago so I suppose he is living on fame and fortune.
Have a beautiful day, everyone! Stay warm!
liked the theme.Way too many proper names.
Musings
-I thought I wanted Rocketman played at my funeral but the lyrics convinced me to go with Spirit In The Sky
-Eso BESO works for me to get That or Kiss in Español
-I received my sub plans for today via E-MAIL. Way cool!
-On what song did the Everly Brothers sing/speak, “She's in love with herself; you know the kind Always puttin' on AIRS!”?
-PEEL not PEDI
-Can one player profoundly change an NFL team? Ask the RAVENS about Lamar Jackson.
-The Joke’s ON YOU! This fake SIGN Language interpreter pulled a FAST ONE. She’s hilarious unless you are counting on her.
-I’M OPEN – What every receiver tells the QB when he returns to the huddle
-Seniors are reading A Christmas Carol today and the teacher assigned the 5th Stave (not chapter or CANTO)
-Wanna kill ANTS? Forget Raid, this stuff kills the ones you see and don’t see in minutes!
-Stella Zawistowski, who we had two Saturdays ago, said she also used to pair with Bruce Venzke where he made the grid and she wrote the clues
-Lots of fun, Susan! Good news, Madam!
DNF on a Tuesday! I’m humiliated. But it was fun , Thanks BV and G.
Fabulous weekend in Louisiana. First Joe Burrow of LSU wins the Heisman and in his heartfelt and emotional acceptance speech he mentioned the poverty in his hometown. Immediately donations started pouring in to the Food Pantry in Athens Ohio. Not bad for a young man who warmed the bench for two years.
Then last night Drew Brees passed Brady and Manning in TD passes. And also set more records than anyone knew of, including some that seem to have been created just for him. Unbelievable!
Susan, I’ll share the excitement!
Hello Madame! You are a good woman taking care of your family. Care giving for one is a handful, I think two or more at the same time grants one sainthood! You must be in your way��!
Well look at me... not even 10 AM and here I am on the blog!
I found today’s puzzle quite easy, although I did have a few senior moments when I could see the person so clearly in my mind but could NOT remember the name. Fortunately, in each case perps saved the day. Kinda lost track of how many times this happened. FIR in 11 minutes.
Owen, the first line of the first poem reminded me of Green Eggs and Ham (its rhythm, not its content).
Well, Abejo, it’s warmed all the way up to 20 degrees now. Balmy.
Welcome back, Madame!
Jinx: Elton Loo... LOL
kazie: I also saw POUND & STONE and wondered...
Off like a herd of turtles to get some errands done.
CU
Our roads are good, but the parking lots and sidewalks are icy, so I printed the puzzle from the Washington Post site. Not a SLOG at all, but a quick walk in the park today. My only hang up was putting the correct answers in the wrong spaces three times. As soon as I moved them, it all became clear. Only ISS was all perps. I recognize the International Space Station, but nor ISS.
I know BESO from the song, Eso Beso.
My David, a CPA and one time CFO has been out of work for months at age 58 after earning a six figure salary. Someone with 15 year's experience and a somewhat lower salary history is more desirable. If you offer to take less, the prospective employers think you will be always be looking for a better spot or that you will retire soon. Even McJobs are hard for ex-execs to land.
Yes, off like a herd of turtles, WC.
Madame D, glad to hear your loved ones are recovering nicely. It hard enough to have one in the hospital, let alone two. Glad you can join in more now.
Nice to hear from you Kazie. You were missed.
Even cheap store brand towels let you choose a size these days.
My dad and brothers used to set up Lionel trains every Christmas.
Nip it in the bud always makes me think of Barney Fife.I find it in writing, but never hear it.
My SIL studied sign language in a summer course at Gallaudet in Washington DC.
Hello friends, enjoyed the puzzle. Not too many bumps except for filling deworm as the ranch vets job. Never heard of dehorning. Not sure which sounds worse! Have a great day everyone!
Desper- I have a friend whose birth name is Paula Kapiddlewurtz. She disliked the name so much that she changed it to Sandra.
Good Morning:
Bruce and Gail never fail to entertain, always giving us fun, easy-breezy early week puzzles. No reveal needed for this one, but they gave us one anyway. Like others, I Rotated before I Pivoted and my circles lacked an Edge, not Ends. Cute little sub-theme with Airs, Aria, and Alto and a fun visual with Anti above Antis and Ant.
Thanks, Bruce and Gail, for a Tuesday treat and thanks, Hatoolah, for a fun and fact-filled review. Ms. Callas provided some soothing sounds to my morning and "Let's Go Fly A Kite" added some frivolity, both antidotes to the white stuff drifting from the sky.
Madame Defarge, glad to hear that both patients are on the road to recovery, hastened, I'm sure, by your TLC.
Kazie, nice to hear from you.
Have a great day.
Anti above Antes and Ant. Sorry.
Funny, Jerome. Now go to your room.
Delightful Tuesday puzzle--many thanks, Bruce and Gail. Once I got DRAM in the first circle and when OU popped up in the second, I knew it was going to be a "weighty" theme, to quote Lucina. I loved seeing all those names in the puzzle because I knew a lot of them--ENYA, ELTON JOHN, RON Howard, ROLLO, though not CARLOS or PAUL POUNDSTONE--put perps helped with those. Like TTP I too had ROTATED before PIVOTED. Anyway, lots of fun, thanks also for your always helpful commentary, Susan.
Liked your poems, Owen.
So glad your daughter and brother are recovering, Madame Defarge.
Nice of you to check in Kazie.
I finally watched my taped "The Sound of Music" on TV last night. I was just as charmed as I had been when I first saw it decades ago, and I was amazed that I knew all the music lyrics. I must have seen it more than once, but it was a delight all over again.
Have a good day, everybody.
Good Tuesday puzzle from Gail and Bruce. Hatoolah's treatise on the grid was enjoyable also.
There were a few words that escaped being solved by me by being filled in with perps. BESO, CANTO, ALTO, ROLLO and DJED appeared and I had CRANE before WINCH became evident.
The ISS, or International Space Station was originally named Space Station Freedom during its early development phase. Then the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed resulting in a change of foreign policy in the early 90's. The government decided to bring in the Russians as partners along with our other foreign partners on the program. This changed the direction of the program resulting in the ISS. I spent many years on the SSF and then the transition to the ISS. It wasn't an easy transition.
After I watched HG's link to the fake sign language interpreter, YouTube went to the next video about a Funny Prayer about Getting Old at the Caregiver of the Year Dinner. It was humorous, with a lot of truth to it.
We have freezing rain with the temperature right at 32° in Central PA which is making it a little treacherous out there today. The temperature is supposed get up to the mid 30s this afternoon.
Hope you all have a great day.
A bit of a challenge for a Tuesday. I didn't see sweep for the longest time. Still hate circles.
I found this XW mostly easy. I naturally inked PERM<PEEL and MIME<SIGN. A little hasty.
I was thinking the PBS comic was Paul ?. And I really enjoy PP.
King is a big Redsox fan.
I not only confused RILLI with the candy bar but thought the rich kid was Wilbur.
Jerome and Jinx are hot today
I liked the write-up from Hahtoolah
WC
Since my surgery in August my SCALE reading has gone down 20 POUNDS. Fine with me! DW was inspired to lower her SCALE reading as well. Fun little theme!
Here I saw PAULA POUNDSTONE perform up close and personal in 1998.
I only took one photo of her as I had no idea who she was back then! This was at the home of actor Larry Hagman. He was a very gracious host along with his wife. Also performing was Jackson Browne, one of my favorite musicians. And our Senator Barbara Boxer was the guest of honor.
Here are the rest of my photos from this delightful event.
I was a big fan of LIONEL trains as a child. I still have most of the set in boxes in storage. Somewhere I have photos. I planned to give them to my niece and nephew, but I totally forgot back when they were the right age. Perhaps they will have kids and they will get them!
SATB was a gimme for this musician. I played S in a concert two days ago.
ROLLO of course
Wow, what a great day you had, Robert. Is that really you in the sombrero and "plain" shirt? 20 years but the pictures are priceless.
If "delivery" is 90% of the comedian's art it accounts for PP's success. She is droll, terse and has that unmistakable voice.
WC
PS, I've been very busy so I finally got a post in this morning(FLN). Typical Wilbur sports stuff but looking up(wiki) Don DEMETER was very interesting.
From yesterday:
BAHAI was a gimme. I was at that extraordinary BAHAI center in Haifa, Israel in 2015. Hahtoolah shared photos so I will save mine for another time.
From two days ago:
Irish Miss way cool that your niece works at MIT. I think they are a good employer. I just worked grounds crew and as a maintenance person when I was a student, but they treated me well!
Jinx yes I think Judy's parents went on to find better friends. Judy's father was a bigwig at the National Weather Service, so he was also an achiever.
Anonymous and Wilbur Charles sorry for not being more clear about UHURA and Whoopi Goldberg. Yes, UHURA was played by the talented and beautiful Nichelle Nichols. She is of my parents' generation. Whoopi Goldberg is of my generation. Like me, Whoopi saw Star Trek on TV as a child. She ran to her mother and exclaimed "I just saw a black woman on television, and she ain't no maid!"
Nichelle Nichols was tempted to leave Star Trek for an offer on Broadway. But a fan changed her mind. That fan was Martin Luther King, Jr.
Whoopi Goldberg was inspired by Nichelle Nichols/UHURA to become something big herself. When she became a famous actress herself, she was willing to perform on Star Trek for free because of what the show had meant to her. Creator Gene Roddenberry created a special part for Whoopi Goldberg and was happy to pay her.
I hope that makes things clearer.
I liked this puzzle and Jerome's joke.
Oh, and I learned that KIM JONG UN, which fit in the space that ELTON JOHN occupies, was not the right answer.
Hahtoolah: Wonderful, informative write-up. Good job!
Bruce & Gail: Thank you for a FUN Tuesday puzzle. I enjoyed the theme.
liked the ANTI / ANTES / ANT block.
Overcast and 81 degrees ... yeah, I'm suffering ... NOT !!!
Cheers!
Hello everyone,
Hahtoolah - Great QOD; thanks.
Kazie - Good to see you.
Fun, mostly easy solve. The circles theme was gotten early. Had to anticipate - PGDN or PGup? NESTED and DEHORN took care of that. No erasures; FIR.
DEHORN - I think dehorning is very painful to cattle, but needs to be done to prevent injury to themselves, or to workers. Removing the horn nubs in calves before the horns start to grow is one solution. Don't know what they use today; someone may have further comment.
A cleverly themed pzl today. And nicely explicated too.
Speaking of The Sound of Music reminds me of the time I met Christopher Plummer. This was many, many years ago, before he played Captain von Trapp. He was already an established stage star, appearing as Richard III for RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon. We met one morning when we were both dating different girls who worked wardrobe for the theater and happened to share a home. Stratford is a very small town.
It was a little awkward because he was either married or living with someone else at the time.
Jerome ~ Paula Sandra?
~ OMK
_____________
DR: A 3-Way in opposition.
The central anagram speaks to a Vicodin accident at the health farm! I mean a...
"SPA OPIOID SLIP"!
Hi everybody.
Thanks for the puzzle and for the commentary. Both well done I thought.
I like shad roe, especially fried and served with scrambled eggs. I haven't had any in years. It seems harder to come by here on the left coast. Even though they are both fish eggs, I think of shad roe as much different from caviar.
D-Otto - yes I did go to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" in St Louis - it was a lot of fun. But someday I would like to go to it at their home theater in Chicago -it would a be a more intimate setting than with thousands of people at the Fox Theater in St. Louis. Similar to going to see "Whad'ya Know" in Madison, WI vs one of their road productions, which I have seen in both settings. In Madison (where I lived for several years) the tickets were free you just had to reserve them ahead and then went up to a whopping 5$ and they always had day old donuts from a local bakery to munch on!
We also had a LIONEL train growing up - that usually only was set out at Christmas. I was fascinated by some sort of chemical that you could put in the smokestack of the locomotive to make it puff smoke as it ran. I was too young to know what it was - but likely it was some sort of carcinogen or explosive LOL like many of the toys of the 50-early 60s.
inanehiker ~
I got a kick out of my LIONEL train too. I remember the smoke-making pellets, but the fanciest accessory for me was the cattle loading platform. Remember that? You would load up these black plastic cows on a metal flooring and open the door to the cattle car. When you turned the gadget on, it vibrated the floor, and the cows, on their metal feet, would dance around every which way.
They had no idea of all moving in a single direction; they were just agitated to go anywhere. Disappointing really.
I wonder if it was the same principle as those vibrating football field games. I never had one of those, but I imagine the players were just as direction-blind as my cows.
Were they?
~ OMK
Owen, thanks for the giggles. Great!
Hahtoolah, loved the QOD. We all need to adjust our sails!
Nice Tuesday puzzle. Some of the downs, like NESTED and DEHORN took a while to get. Not a fan of circles, but we’ve been down that road before. Just think it would have been a bit more of a challenge without the circles; though the theme was pretty obvious even without them.
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Gail & Bruce! Great commentary, Susan! Thanks all.
WEIGHT WEIGHT -- don't tell me. I don't want to see all those POUNDS on my SCALE!
I had forgotten all about PAULA POUNDSTONE. Don't get public radio. Used to enjoy her when I saw her.
Don't mind the circles any more since I'm on a site that shows them. Caught the theme with DRAM.
SATB didn't register as something I knew until I had A___O perps. I sang in choir, too.
Do bodegas in a barrio really have ATMs? I wouldn't have expected that.
They used to DEHORN cattle on our farm so I knew that one. Then they phased out the horned cattle for Polled (SP) Herefords which had no horns to begin with.
An older nephew gave my elder son a little LIONEL train set with sparks flying out the smokestack. It always went under our tree. Younger son played with it in turn. After the elder son had a son, he came back to get the train. We found out the younger son had already taken it for his son and told no one. I was proud that elder son just let it go and didn't engage in a fight. Good Christmas spirit!
Lucina, Carlos Santana was born in 1947 so maybe age has caught up with his fingers. But I would be disappointed not to see him play too.
Interesting Christopher Plummer story, Ol'Man Keith. Mr. Trapp seems like a better fellow.
Thought I was about to ace this one but returning from a week in Sunny Florida substituting the beach for the newspaper showed.
Put pedi for "peel" which I corrected but first spelled peal.
Pulled "Rollo" the rich kid out of deep memory cobwebs.
Rotated for "pivoted"...so finished with crossouts.
Was tempted to put Kim Jong Un for Rocket Man. The "Elton John" semi documentary film was great btw.
Need to put away the sandals and bundle up again for Central NY plunging temps.❄❄❄
Hi All!
Now here's a puzzle that SCALEs. Thanks Bruce & Gail for the Tuesday diversion. Thanks Hahtoolah for kickin'-off the after-party.
WO: N/A
ESPs: CALI, ASLAN, what SATB (funny Jinx re: HDs) meant
Fav: FAST ONE. That's how he got her to say I DO.
Runner-up: PAULA POUNDSTONE. I love when she stops the action with a "Wait, now how did they study that? Did they just tie a..." and goes on a rant. If you've never listened to WWDTM, give it a go.
//Inane - I have NPR on SiriusXM in addition to terrestrial radio - sometimes I listen to WWDTM 5 times in the same weekend!
{A+, A}
LOL DR OMK.
Welcome back MdF. Glad to hear your Daughter and Brother are on the mend.
Welcome back to you too Kazie!
Jinx - LOL K-Roger.
Jerome - LOL. You can come out now :-)
Jayce - Lil' Rocketman? Brilliant!
HG - the comments under the SIGN language video are worth a few minutes for the chuckles. One read: "Plot twist: she's an OG throwing gang signs to the inmates."
Oc4 - My previous company was a late-to-the-IIS contractor. We wrote the software that tracks everything that goes up /down / jettisoned. Basically an inventory system that accounts for every OUNCE. JSC gave us a real nice plastic model of the station that still adorns their (my old company's) office.
I can't say if it was LIONEL (probably b/c I nailed it) or not, but my brother and I had TONs of tracks and rail-cars and took over >1/4 of the basement with various configurations of what-not. We didn't have any cool model stuff for mountains, etc so we just used our Legos, Erector Sets, Girder & Panel, and wooden blocks. Later we added the Hot Wheel's plastic tracks and electric slot-car racers within the expanse. That was a fun summer [we just moved in with Dad & Stepmom and didn't know any kids around; we hadn't been to the new school yet].
Cheers, -T
Ol' Man- It's just a joke. One would think She would change her last name, not the first.
PK- Why would you not expect a bodega in a barrio to have an ATM?
SATB was familiar. Much vocal music is arranged that way. Especially hymnals-that's the limit for most congregations (if not a stretch).
OMK:
Interesting about the dancing cows. I have dancing swans on a mini grand piano. Under the lid of the piano is a magnetic track that guides the swans. I don't know if that's comparable. My grandchildren love that piano which they can actually play.
Jerome: too funny!
Kazie:
It's so good to see you!
Jerome: ATM in the barrio: I was thinking some SPanish word was called for at first. The only barrio I've ever seen was just after crossing the border south of San Diego. It was a shockingly primitive community on the hillside. Didn't see any ATMs there.
PK:
Do you watch Wheel of Fortune? Someone named PK just won over $56,000 in the Secret Santa giveaway. Is that you?
D-O: Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me was taped in Louisiana a few years ago. We went to see the show. James Carville was the guest. The show was hilarious. The show was twice as long as the version one hears on the radio. There was more interaction between in the live show.
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