Theme Trouble Ahead - a none-too sunny outlook in the forecast:
34A. Song first sung by Ethel Waters at Harlem's Cotton Club ... and a hint to four other long answers: STORMY WEATHER. Too good a music link to pass up.
17A. They're ominous: DARK CLOUDS
28A. They're luminous: LIGHTNING BOLTS. One of the most colorful light shows I saw was a lighting storm in the Amazon basin flying above it at 35,000 feet. It wasn't just flashes of white, it was like the Northern Lights gone crazy.
42A. They're clamorous: THUNDER SHOWERS. Paired with the lightning bolts. Quite spectacular unless you're caught out in the open.
59. They're ruinous: HAILSTONES. The largest recorded hailstone in the U.S. was nearly as big as a volleyball and fell on July 23, 2010, in Vivian, South Dakota. It was 8 inches in diameter and weighed almost 2 pounds. That's one hailstone you don't want to get hit by.
Hailstones were certainly ruinous to this car:
Neatly done by Kurt with the adjectival cluing. A fun, quality puzzle, so no more to say other than to meander through the fill and see what splashes over the rocks:
Across:
1. __ Plaines: Chicago suburb: DES. Just north of O'Hare airport, and proud home of Ray Kroc's first franchised McDonald's restaurant. The town is named for the river, whose name, in turn, comes from 18th century French, referencing the plane tree which is similar in appearance to the American sycamore.
4. J. Edgar Hoover Building org.: THE F.B.I.
10. Catch: TRAP
14. Suffix with hero: -INE
15. Sea between Greece and Turkey: AEGEAN. A wonderful region for sailing, the Mediterranean has a very small tidal range and rarely gets rough at the Eastern end. I spent a few vacations chartering a sailboat; in the region only rarely did we encounter "stormy weather" where the crew were "feeding the fishes"! More complicated was knowing when to fly a Greek or Turkish flag approaching a secluded island mooring. Get it right, you eat a great meal at at the only restaurant on the island. Get it wrong ...
16. Dutch South African: BOER
19. Decent-sized lot: ACRE
20. "No more, thanks": I'M GOOD
21. End of many long weekends: Abbr.: MON.
23. Ad __ committee: HOC
24. Many a "Twilight" character: TEEN
25. Gulf State native: OMANI. A crossword staple, but I sent myself down the wrong alley by getting fixated on U.S. states on the Gulf Coast.
27. That, in Oaxaca: ESA
32. Word in a January song: AULD. lang syne. Incidentially before it was dubbed "The Athens of the North", Edinburgh was (and still is) somewhat affectionately known as "Auld Reekie".
33. Wood strip: SLAT
40. Flat-bottomed boat: SCOW. It could be PUNT, so I wait and see.
41. "Sesame Street" pal of Zoe: ELMO
49. "Jingle Bells" contraction: O'ER. You have to get to the fourth verse tae find it, but it's there.
50. Last Supper question: IS IT I?
51. "Ivy and __": kid-lit series by Annie Barrows: BEAN. Thank you, crosses.
53. Infamous Amin: IDI
54. More than unfriendly: ICY
55. Breed of sheep: MERINO. What do you call a sheep with quarterback skills? Dan Merino. Which inspired me to get out a Sharpie and a piece of paper, and with no cartooning skills, here I present my own Dan Merino:
57. Astrological transition point: CUSP
62. Wasatch Mountains resort: ALTA. Thank you, crosses. Neither the resort nor the mountain region had hitherto blipped my radar.
63. "Twilight" vampire: EDWARD. I should watch more vampire and zombie shows, I'm clueless with this stuff. Crosses to the rescue again.
64. Suffix with Brooklyn: -ESE. The dropped "r" used to be considered posh - FDR's “The only thing we have to feah is feah itself”. Post WWII it became the language of Archie Bunker and Tony Soprano.
65. For fear that: LEST
66. Trounces: WHOMPS
67. Some NFL blockers: R.T.S. Right Tackles. If your quarterback is left-handed (like Steve Young) you're guarding his blind side, so you'd better be on your toes (as much as a 350lb tackle can be!).
Down:
1. Finished a job: DID IT
2. Dental layer: ENAMEL
3. Composer Rachmaninoff: SERGEI
4. Food truck fare: TACO. Food! The taco is probably LA's signature food item, in my humble opinion. The mariscos jalisco shrimp tacos from Raul Ortega's truck in Boyle Heights are the best in the city, and there's a lot to choose from!
5. Believed: HELD
6. Swelled head: EGO
7. Pot-au-__: French stew: FEU
8. Outlaw: BAD MAN. I ran through a few options here. BANISH was my first and I was rather proud of identifying a verb, rather than a noun. Then I was wrong. Pride comes before a fall, as they say.
9. Happy way to break out: IN SONG. Tra-laaaaaa!
10. Abbr. in an unfilled TV slot: T.B.A
11. New __, NY: home of Iona College: ROCHELLE
12. Ford's first minivan: AEROSTAR
13. Like some concrete: PRE-CAST
18. Big ape: KONG
22. Bird's beak: NIB. This is interesting - I knew NIB only in the fountain-pen sense, or as a small piece of black licorice.
25. Sole: ONLY
26. Corn Belt region: MIDWEST
29. Guffaw syllable: HAR
30. Rum __ Tugger: "Cats" role: TUM
31. __Kosh B'gosh: OSH. Wis-KAAan- sin, while are on the subject of Brooklynese.
34. Bus kiosk posting: SCHEDULE
35. Ones seeing things: TOURISTS
36. Dominate: OWN
37. K-12, in education: EL-HI
38. Latin lover's word: AMO, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant. C.C. and I once offered a puzzle to an (unnamed) editor who turned it down - he didn't pronounce the words the same way that we did. (Or I did, to be fair).
39. Parking violation risk: TOW. Expensive. I once was with a friend on Hollywood Boulevard when he got his car towed from outside Musso and Frank in the late afternoon. He "swore he'd parked it right here" until I pointed out the sign right above the empty space that read "Two Hour Parking 10-4. Violators will be towed". It was 4:30. Oops.
40. Showing no emotion: STOICAL
43. 502, in old Rome: DII
44. Steer clear of: ESCHEW. I always thought it was "enschew". Crosswords corrected me.
45. Saudi Arabian capital: RIYADH
46. Iberian river to the Mediterranean: EBRO
47. Carl with nine Emmys: REINER
48. Most sensible: SANEST
52. Snoops (around): NOSES
55. Car sticker no.: MSRP
56. Postings at an airline gate, for short: ETD'S
58. Vanna's partner: PAT. All together now: Wheel! Of! Fortune!
60. __ Jima: IWO
61. Quick flight: LAM. Of course I confidently filled in "HOP" and was proved wrong. Too impulsive! Nice clue.
Fun puzzle, thank you Kurt, the grid is here and I'm off, sated and happy with a great puzzle.
Steve
34A. Song first sung by Ethel Waters at Harlem's Cotton Club ... and a hint to four other long answers: STORMY WEATHER. Too good a music link to pass up.
17A. They're ominous: DARK CLOUDS
28A. They're luminous: LIGHTNING BOLTS. One of the most colorful light shows I saw was a lighting storm in the Amazon basin flying above it at 35,000 feet. It wasn't just flashes of white, it was like the Northern Lights gone crazy.
42A. They're clamorous: THUNDER SHOWERS. Paired with the lightning bolts. Quite spectacular unless you're caught out in the open.
59. They're ruinous: HAILSTONES. The largest recorded hailstone in the U.S. was nearly as big as a volleyball and fell on July 23, 2010, in Vivian, South Dakota. It was 8 inches in diameter and weighed almost 2 pounds. That's one hailstone you don't want to get hit by.
Hailstones were certainly ruinous to this car:
Neatly done by Kurt with the adjectival cluing. A fun, quality puzzle, so no more to say other than to meander through the fill and see what splashes over the rocks:
Across:
1. __ Plaines: Chicago suburb: DES. Just north of O'Hare airport, and proud home of Ray Kroc's first franchised McDonald's restaurant. The town is named for the river, whose name, in turn, comes from 18th century French, referencing the plane tree which is similar in appearance to the American sycamore.
4. J. Edgar Hoover Building org.: THE F.B.I.
10. Catch: TRAP
14. Suffix with hero: -INE
15. Sea between Greece and Turkey: AEGEAN. A wonderful region for sailing, the Mediterranean has a very small tidal range and rarely gets rough at the Eastern end. I spent a few vacations chartering a sailboat; in the region only rarely did we encounter "stormy weather" where the crew were "feeding the fishes"! More complicated was knowing when to fly a Greek or Turkish flag approaching a secluded island mooring. Get it right, you eat a great meal at at the only restaurant on the island. Get it wrong ...
16. Dutch South African: BOER
19. Decent-sized lot: ACRE
20. "No more, thanks": I'M GOOD
21. End of many long weekends: Abbr.: MON.
23. Ad __ committee: HOC
24. Many a "Twilight" character: TEEN
25. Gulf State native: OMANI. A crossword staple, but I sent myself down the wrong alley by getting fixated on U.S. states on the Gulf Coast.
27. That, in Oaxaca: ESA
32. Word in a January song: AULD. lang syne. Incidentially before it was dubbed "The Athens of the North", Edinburgh was (and still is) somewhat affectionately known as "Auld Reekie".
33. Wood strip: SLAT
40. Flat-bottomed boat: SCOW. It could be PUNT, so I wait and see.
41. "Sesame Street" pal of Zoe: ELMO
49. "Jingle Bells" contraction: O'ER. You have to get to the fourth verse tae find it, but it's there.
50. Last Supper question: IS IT I?
51. "Ivy and __": kid-lit series by Annie Barrows: BEAN. Thank you, crosses.
53. Infamous Amin: IDI
54. More than unfriendly: ICY
55. Breed of sheep: MERINO. What do you call a sheep with quarterback skills? Dan Merino. Which inspired me to get out a Sharpie and a piece of paper, and with no cartooning skills, here I present my own Dan Merino:
Signed, limited edition copies are available! Time for a second career?
57. Astrological transition point: CUSP
62. Wasatch Mountains resort: ALTA. Thank you, crosses. Neither the resort nor the mountain region had hitherto blipped my radar.
63. "Twilight" vampire: EDWARD. I should watch more vampire and zombie shows, I'm clueless with this stuff. Crosses to the rescue again.
64. Suffix with Brooklyn: -ESE. The dropped "r" used to be considered posh - FDR's “The only thing we have to feah is feah itself”. Post WWII it became the language of Archie Bunker and Tony Soprano.
65. For fear that: LEST
66. Trounces: WHOMPS
67. Some NFL blockers: R.T.S. Right Tackles. If your quarterback is left-handed (like Steve Young) you're guarding his blind side, so you'd better be on your toes (as much as a 350lb tackle can be!).
Down:
1. Finished a job: DID IT
2. Dental layer: ENAMEL
3. Composer Rachmaninoff: SERGEI
4. Food truck fare: TACO. Food! The taco is probably LA's signature food item, in my humble opinion. The mariscos jalisco shrimp tacos from Raul Ortega's truck in Boyle Heights are the best in the city, and there's a lot to choose from!
5. Believed: HELD
6. Swelled head: EGO
7. Pot-au-__: French stew: FEU
8. Outlaw: BAD MAN. I ran through a few options here. BANISH was my first and I was rather proud of identifying a verb, rather than a noun. Then I was wrong. Pride comes before a fall, as they say.
9. Happy way to break out: IN SONG. Tra-laaaaaa!
10. Abbr. in an unfilled TV slot: T.B.A
11. New __, NY: home of Iona College: ROCHELLE
12. Ford's first minivan: AEROSTAR
13. Like some concrete: PRE-CAST
18. Big ape: KONG
22. Bird's beak: NIB. This is interesting - I knew NIB only in the fountain-pen sense, or as a small piece of black licorice.
25. Sole: ONLY
26. Corn Belt region: MIDWEST
29. Guffaw syllable: HAR
30. Rum __ Tugger: "Cats" role: TUM
The Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat:
If you offer him pheasant he would rather have grouse.
If you put him in a house he would much prefer a flat,
If you put him in a flat then he'd rather have a house.
If you set him on a mouse then he only wants a rat,
If you set him on a rat then he'd rather chase a mouse.
T.S.Eliot. "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats."
34. Bus kiosk posting: SCHEDULE
35. Ones seeing things: TOURISTS
36. Dominate: OWN
37. K-12, in education: EL-HI
38. Latin lover's word: AMO, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant. C.C. and I once offered a puzzle to an (unnamed) editor who turned it down - he didn't pronounce the words the same way that we did. (Or I did, to be fair).
39. Parking violation risk: TOW. Expensive. I once was with a friend on Hollywood Boulevard when he got his car towed from outside Musso and Frank in the late afternoon. He "swore he'd parked it right here" until I pointed out the sign right above the empty space that read "Two Hour Parking 10-4. Violators will be towed". It was 4:30. Oops.
40. Showing no emotion: STOICAL
43. 502, in old Rome: DII
44. Steer clear of: ESCHEW. I always thought it was "enschew". Crosswords corrected me.
45. Saudi Arabian capital: RIYADH
46. Iberian river to the Mediterranean: EBRO
47. Carl with nine Emmys: REINER
48. Most sensible: SANEST
52. Snoops (around): NOSES
55. Car sticker no.: MSRP
56. Postings at an airline gate, for short: ETD'S
58. Vanna's partner: PAT. All together now: Wheel! Of! Fortune!
60. __ Jima: IWO
61. Quick flight: LAM. Of course I confidently filled in "HOP" and was proved wrong. Too impulsive! Nice clue.
Fun puzzle, thank you Kurt, the grid is here and I'm off, sated and happy with a great puzzle.
Steve
48 comments:
RACHMANINOFF, SERGEI,
Was adulated in his day!
Time moves on,
Now Elton John's
Our lionized Sir Gay!
M.C. Escher would ESCHEW
What seemed to be the SANEST view!
The maddest mad
That could be had
Was found in what Mauk drew!
{A-, B+.}
Nice puzzle and fun theme. Great job!
FIW, with LAp x WHOpPS. Hand up for erasing Leg; lath for SLAT too.
Had to wait for ETaS/ETDS and ESA/ESo. (Shouldn't need to wait; you only need the ETD at the gate since people aren't allowed to meet incoming flights there anymore.)
Most houses on an acre have septic systems. Many have water wells too. Hopefully not too close to each other.
here comes the groans for ELHI. I went to school in a K-12 school. We had a theoretical limit of 30 kids per class, but college faculty scions were guaranteed admittance so we usually had 31 or 32 per class.
Thanks to Kurt for the fun, challenging puzzle. And thanks to Steve for the fun review. Yes, you do have enough talent for another career.
CSO to my delightful rescued racing greyhound, Zoe. She wants a walk NOW.
Good morning!
One of the quickest Thursdays ever. My only misstep was STORMS before STONES. Easily fixed. We were supposed to get our share of that stormy weather yesterday, but it blew across to our north and we got only a small shower. No complaining. Thanx for the outing, Kurt, and for the expo (and Ethel Waters), Steve. (Learning moment about Des Plaines -- always thought it simply meant The Plains.)
"Athens of the North" -- Nashville considers itself to be the Athens of the South, complete with a full-sized replica of the Parthenon.
ESCHEW -- One of my favorite words. I'm always happy when I find an occasion to use it.
ELHI -- I attended ELHI (kindergarten through H.S.) in the same building. It burned down not long after I departed.
"Not" not "No" -- thank you otto-correct.
DO, ESCHEW is one of my favorites too. I had a pal in California with a bumper sticker urging folks to ESCHEW OBFUSCATION. (I see you can get one too at Cafe Press.)
Fun puzzle - quick for a Thursday! I had a few change ups with BANDIT before the more generic BAD MAN and I also had HAIL STORMS before Carl REINER and STORMY WEATHER forced a change.
I always think of Lena Horne with "STORMY WEATHER" probably because she sang it in the movie musical of the same name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormy_Weather_(1943_film)
Thanks Steve and Kurt!
Musings
-Kurt’s great puzzle plays well here in the MIDWEST where weather is a very big deal
-A Bomb Cyclone last March greatly contributed to historic flooding here
-HAIL STONE damages caused my friend to build a roof over his car lot
-Daffodils poking up now means we are on the CUSP of spring
-Every old war movie had a soldier who spoke BrooklynESE
-DID IT – Played three rounds of golf in first week of March!
-Rob and Laura Petrie were “from” New Rochelle and Rob “worked” for CARL Reiner
-Our new school building used PRE-CAST concrete walls that leaked for years
-As TOURISTS in Berlin, we struggled to read the subway SCHEDULE
-RIYADH – Why the silent H?
-You shouldn’t feel sheepish about your drawing, Steve!
Good morning everyone.
Enjoyable puzzle. Kurt usually has good puzzles. Liked the weather theme.
ESCHEW obfuscation.
Have a great day.
Well for residents around Nashville it was a DARK and STORMY early morning complete with HAILSTONES, LIGHTNING and THUNDER, all compliments of that Tornado(s). DW's very close friend was visiting her daughter and she said they could hear it coming. Luckily they weren't hit.
Puzzle and theme were super easy for a Thursday. Just a couple of unknowns filled by perps. EDWARD, Rum TUM Tugger.
Gary- RIYADH- I'd hate to spell in Arabic letter right-to-left.
It's Dan Marino, not 'Merino'.
Every airport that I've ever been through has ARR & DEP, not ETA & ETD.
Steve, your car with the dented hood looks smooth compared to my son's Honda Prelude back in 1990. The hail cracked every window, both windshields, and knocked the molding off the sides. TOTALED. Luckily my neighbor owned a junkyard and had enough spare parts to fix or replace panels for what the insurance paid.
Good Morning:
This was a very easy Thursday puzzle, probably because of the obviousness of the straightforward theme. Although, after entering Dark, then Light, I was thinking colors or contrast phrases. New Rochelle was a gimme for the New York contingent. I went with Ite before Ese and Hee before Har. (Brooklynese, to me, is Dese, Dat, Dem, and Dose. Dropping the R sound is more New England-speak, in my experience.) I knew Ebro immediately from past puzzles but needed perps for Bean.
Thanks, Kurt, for a Sunny solve and thanks, Steve, for the wise and witty write-up. Your drawing was as delightful and smile-inducing as your commentary.
This morning, I read a very interesting (and surprising) overview of the 50 most expensive private colleges/universities in America. Harvard was #50 at $47,730 per year and Columbia was #1 at $58,920. MIT (Picard), Cornell (Bill G), and Williams (Keith) were all included.
FLN
Bluehen, your dinner menu for last night sounded yummy. Your mention of Vichyssoise reminded me of how much I like it and how long it's been since I made it! (Too long.) Is an Instant Pot practical for someone who is not a big eater and is not fond of lots of leftovers?
Have a great day.
"Dont know why there's no sun up in the sky?" Why? Because its winter in upstate NY!! That's why!
Always associated "STORMY WEATHER" with Lena Horne, thunder in the background. Ether "Waters" and wet weather an interesting combo
Thor's LIGHTENING BOLTS on his day of the week Thursday.
Bought a minivan when they came out in '84. Took the middle seat out so the kids could play on our first trip to Disney World. Do that today and you'll answer to CPS. Rightly so. Different times.
Held off on GULF state resident...only one that would fit was Texan...wrong GULF. Perp walked.
Anyone remember Chief THUNDERthud? (Cowabunga!)
ONLY crossout. ..haw for HAR. Perp walked. So I DID IT..FIR.
SERGEI...The happiest Knight of the Round Table!
Robert Pattison, "Twilight"s" EDWARD along with Willem DAFOE (A recent entry) were excellent in the eerie fantasy film "Lighthouse"
Man says "my daughter unfortunately fell in love with this BIG APE. He treats her badly, ignores her, yells and throws things at her. The main problem is she wants him to move into her house but he won't leave his cage at the zoo."
Have a nice day, watch out for LIGHTENING BOLTS and HAILSTONES.
Enjoyed, some issues with Geography, my bad. Fav clue : "ones seeing things,"
Fun clue.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Kurt and Steve (loved the artwork).
This CW filled quickly, and I wagged correctly or perped the stumpers like BEAN, spelling of RIYADH, RTS.
No STORMY WEATHER here today; we have beautiful sunshine. But too cool to feel like spring yet. But more rosy than ominous.
Like Ray, I had Haw before HAR, and thought of the wrong gulf.
Tromps changed to WHOMPS. Yes, like Jinx, I waited for perps to decide ESA or O, and ETD or A (also noted TBA).
Do you call it THE FBI or just FBI??
I was misdirected by "ones seeing things" (Hi Sherry) and thought of fortune-tellers before TOURISTS.
Wishing you all a great day.
Picard -FLN, loved the oil rig photos.
FIR, but lots of crunch. I had NeB until the cross. Likewise with Ism. I knew EBRO from 4 months in Spain in 2003.
Hola!
It might be BrooklynESE, but to me it's ESE, masculine of ESA.
I liked this theme though we don't have much STORMY WEATHER here. But when we do, it's a doozy. That is, destructive.
I remembered New ROCHELLE and thought of Irish Miss. Spitz, do you live near there, too?
SERGEI Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers. For EDWARD, the vampire, I had to ask my granddaughter.
ESCAPE changed to ESCHEW with that E from the above mentioned EDWARD.
ALTA appears regularly in crosswords but not the Wasatch Mountains. Now I know.
TACO sounds like a good menu for tonight's dinner.
AMO is also Spanish. Yo te AMO. I love you.
In the past I've known several friends who charted our astrological courses and predicted our futures through them so I'm familiar with CUSP. In one case, her predictions proved true. She told me I would be seriously ill and it happened.
That H at the end of RIYADH is a mystery to me, too.
Thank you, Steve, for you always witty observations and insights into your many experiences abroad. Oh, and a fair illustrator, too
Have a calm day without DARK CLOUDS AND STORMY WEATHER, everyone.
Merriam-Webster: neb noun
\ ˈneb \
Definition of neb (Entry 1 of 3)
1a : the beak of a bird or tortoise : BILL
b chiefly dialectal : a person's mouth
c : NOSE sense 1, SNOUT
2
nib
/nib/
noun
1.
the pointed end part of a pen, which distributes the ink on the writing surface.
2.
shelled and crushed coffee or cocoa beans.
Hungry Mother, Vocabulary.Com has this to say: "A nib is the point of a thing, such as a spear. More commonly it means the point of a pen, especially a fountain pen. Before ball points were invented, a common student problem was a pen with a broken nib.
The word nib comes from a 16th century word meaning the beak of a bird. In more modern times, nib has come to refer to the pieces of the cocoa bean that remain after it has been hulled, roasted, and crushed. Cocoa nibs are the very essence of what we think as chocolate, and yet, ironically, the cocoa nib needs sugar and cocoa butter to temper its bitterness."
And then there's:
nibs
/nibz/
noun: his nibs
a mock title used to refer to a self-important man, especially one in authority.
"his nibs expects things to be organized to suit him"
As Garry Moore used to introduce her, "Her nibs, Miss Georgia Gibbs!"
Sunny outlook here today, in spite of the stormy weather in the puzzle.
The puzzle was not a storm, but a breeze. FIR. For some I had to wait on a few crosses to decide which word to choose. All the fill was in my wheelhouse today, except for EDWARD which filled itself.
I have seen NIB used for BEAK in other crosswords. Writing Tips says, "Neb and nib are equivalent to bill or beak chiefly in dialect or poetry but derive from this use their commoner extended sense of a jutting or pointed thing or part."
IMO, NIB is more commonly used for the point of a pen these days.
I have heard of ALTA and WASATCH and know they are in the same general area, so it was an easy wag.
I would say, "They called in THE FBI," not just FBI.
It seems so many of the books I have read lately are by British authors. I am learning plenty of Britishisms. They certainly do a lot of popping and sorting.
In the book I am reading today, THEY is often used instead of he and she, even when it refers to just one person and the gender is certain. I think THEY is well on its way to becoming a singular, as well as a plural pronoun, maybe not in formal settings yet, but just you wait and see.
Oooh, I came so close to getting a perfect Thursday Kurt Krauss puzzle, until I got stumped at the very end in the southeast corner. Eventually got it, but took a tiny bit of cheating, unfortunately. Still, a delightful puzzle--many thanks, Kurt, and loved the STORMY WEATHER theme, although, thank goodness, we rarely ever get it here in Laguna Beach. I had to hum a lot of "Jingle Bells" before I got to go O'ER the fields. Also loved getting IN SONG as a 'happy way to break out,' given what I just said. IDI shows up in puzzles a lot, doesn't he? And VANNA and PAT feel pretty much like family after you've watched them every night for decades. Anyway, thanks again, Kurt, and you too, Steve.
Have a great day, everybody.
Up until the early 60's we used old fashioned "nib" pens with ink wells in elementary school for writing assignments especially our monthy penmanship drills.
What a mess.
With sunny skies and 84 degree "Winter Weather" today's theme seemed appropriate.
Filled up my Honda CR-Z with gas today.
A whooping 6.5 gallons at $ 2.219 per gallon.
Hope y'all are having a great Thursday.
Cheers!
Lucina @ 1054. New Rochelle is on Long Island Sound. We live outside Utica at the head of the Mohawk Valley about 220 miles NNW from New Rochelle.
This Thursday puzzle had some crunchy goodness to it.
Write-overs....RAINCLOUDS/DARKCLOUDS, LONE/ONLY, POKES/NOSES, HOP/LAM.
There is no crossword worth solving if I had to watch those idiot Vampire and Zombie shows to do it. And get off my lawn!
See you tomorrow.
I saw this quiz on Sporcle and it made me think of Boomer and our other corner bowlers:
https://www.sporcle.com/games/whssox/bowling-homographs
WEES. Fun puzzle and reveal. Not too hard - just right. Thanks Kurt and Steve.
IM, thank you for the kind words about my post yesterday. The meal seemed more pedantic than yummy to me (though it was vey tasty). Regarding your question about the practicality of an Instant Pot for a cook in your circumstances, my first thought was "Gosh, no". My IP is the standard 6 qt. model. That is fine for me, but I'm feeding four and I'm cooking veggies and soups to purposely have leftovers. Howsomeever, a little research on the web revealed that IPs or their clones are available from 3 to 8 qt. capacities. A 3 qt. unit might fill your requirements well. And if you get one, you will be probably blown away by how this tool transforms cooking. I highly recommend that you give it a try, and remember. . . you don't have to fill it to the top with a dish. It actually works better if you
don't.
Seafood Florentine tonight with The Young Lion's choice of veggies/salad/soup. (I learned long ago that what you call a dish is far more important than what is in it. Would you rather have "Seafood Florentine" or "Tuna/noodle casserole with spinach and feta"?)
Coming home from the market today I came across two buzzards cleaning up the carcass of a dead rabbit in the road. I slowed down, but still nearly had to run over them before they flew away. It reminded me of an old joke: A buzzard is getting his plane ticket to fly south for the winter. Under his wing, he's holding a dead rabbit. The ticket agent looks at him askance, "You're not going to check that as baggage, are you" "Of course not. That's carrion"!
I'll let myself out.
The puzzle was fine,
but as far as posting,
maybe I should take a Thumper...
Also,
you might want to grab a hot toddy
& sit by the fireplace to watch this link...
Fun STORMY WEATHER theme. But for me it was almost ruined by that Natick cluster: MERINO/EBRO/BEAN. I did an alphabet run and narrowed it down to BEAN or DEAN. DEAN at least is a real name. Took the leap and did WAG it correctly to FIR. But, really?
Irish Miss thanks for the heads up on MIT cost. I don't think I would be able to afford it now. But I also am not sure I would get in now. MIT does offer a lot of their courses online for free.
CanadianEh, OwenKL, Wilbur Charles, Lucina, AnonT thanks for the thoughtful comments on the OIL RIG art! Since there was so much art appreciation...
Here is some notable LUMINOUS art that we enjoyed recently!
From yesterday:
OwenKL and Wilbur Charles thank you for the OwenKL poem link based on CARL SAGAN's wise words "Who Speaks for Earth".
I liked this puzzle. Like some of you, I had HOP at first. Had to change BAD GUY to BAD MAN, ESO to ESA, DORY to SCOW, and WHOPP to WHOMP. We have a couple of nieces who were born in and grew up in Whitestone, Queens, and man oh man they sure have thick BrooklynESE accents.
There used to be a really nice restaurant near here called Le Pot au FEU, which LW and I frequented, um, frequently, but sadly it closed. I think the restaurant business here must be very tough, as too many nice ones don't last more than 5-6 years.
My Arabic-speaking Egyptian friend taught me that the "H" sound is phonemically significant in that language, and he pronounces RIYADH with a distinct breathy "H" sound at the end, like a tiny sigh. He also taught me that Dr. Oz's first name, Mehmet, is not pronounced "Memmet" but "Meh Hmet". He's also the guy who taught me that the sounds represented by the letters "K" and "Q" are meaningfully different, the "K" sound being pronounced more "forward" in the mouth, much like in English, and the "Q" sound being pronounced back in the throat, making it sound more guttural to our ears.
Wishing you all a good day.
Ray-O , were you a lefty too? FLN I mentioned the girl lefty who wrote cursive upside-down.
Tin, the deisel dropped past the $.49 mark
Jayce as in Q'uran
I had same hop/LAM etc issue but flew through. Had to WO in the SE. I didn't know BEAN but guessed EBRO.
WC
Make that $2.49. With no preview function what I copy is not necessarily what I paste here
Many things I liked about this puzzle. But, like Picard, I didn't like the Natick at BEAN/EBRO. EBRO is completely unguessable. That Natick would have been pretty easy to avoid, either with a different clue for BEAN or some changes in the letters in the grid.
But, overall, I really liked it. Nice theme and nice clueing.
Jayce:
Thank you for the lesson on pronunciation. I find it fascinating as well as broadening to know the correct pronunciation of names and places.
Picard:
That is a spectacular light display! Thank you for sharing.
Spitz:
Thank you for enlightening me about your geographical location. Those details are not obvious from afar. I just studied the map of New York and I see the relation in distance that you mentioned.
WC ..not a lefty but using "Palmer method" penmanship was agony for my left handed classmates.
@Big Easy - the "Merino" part is the joke :
A fine pzl today from Mr. Krauss, the kind I enjoy filling at a steady pace, top to bottom. Sadly, no diagonals to complete an otherwise perfect trip.
I'm posting later than usual because I had an appointment with my dermatologist. As usual, she burned more of those pre-cancerous goodies from my face and scalp, and one from my elbow.
Ouch.
That nitrogen hurts!
(Paying the price for all those glorious years as a beach bum.)
~ OMK
Ol' Man Keith, man oh man what a "pain" it must be to have those pre-cancerous goodies on your face. I'm glad you're getting rid of them before they get worse.
OMK @ 1653; you're lucky. Next step might have been the Mohs procedure. I've had it twice.
Mohs surgery is a precise surgical technique used to treat skin cancer. During Mohs surgery, thin layers of cancer-containing skin are progressively removed and examined until only cancer-free tissue remains.
Thanks Jayce for the info on RIDADH pronunciation.
Picard- thanks for those beautiful photos and videos.
Bluehen- LOL re carrion. And yes, it is amazing how a glamorous name improves the food acceptance. Love your Seafood Florentine!
Hah
Re. Dermatology treatment. My Dr deemed my precancerous spots so numerous that he proscribed what I will call "The Purple Death*"..
They place a cone over the head, put goggles on and deliver ultraviolet taser like shots all over the face
That lasted about 15 minutes. Agony. But now I just get a couple of those frozen gas hits. He didn't have to do anything last time. I see him next week.
Ray-O, as I said that gal came up with the ingenious solution: write upside down. I can't imagine as I post how I was able to do it myself.
Thank God for ballpoint pens.
WC
.*Not to speak of the corned beef and cabbage in the officers mess in 'Nam. I actually liked it. Southerners gave it that name.
My high school shorthand teacher was ecstatic when he first discovered ball-point pens at a business conference. He brought some back for us students. They made it so much easier to take speedy shorthand notes than either pencil or fountain pen. I definitely needed the help.
Good evening, folks. Thank you, Kurt Krauss, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
Folks: If you spell Riyadh in Arabic, there is an H at the end and it is pronounced.
Puzzle went along just fine. A little easier than most Thursdays, IMHO. Theme was fine. Made sense. I just did not know that Ethel Waters sang Stormy weather. Now I know.
DES Plaines, IL is quite close to me. I go there quite often.
I understand that Carl REINER is still around, at a ripe old age. Good for him.
We just had BOER the other day.
Liked the word STOICAL.
Anyhow, getting late and I have to run. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Hi All!
DNF at EBRO xing BEAN & MERINO; absolutely no clue.
Thanks Kurt for the fine Thursday puzzle. Thanks Steve for the fine review. Sharpie art? -- Ewe're silly.
WOs: RaCHELLE, irANI b/f OMANI, hand-up w/ hop|LAM (100% wrong)
ESPs: EDWARD, ALTA, spelling of RIYADH
Fav: HG already called out the Dick Van Dyke 'stacked' connection. Nice touch Kurt.
D-O, Jinx: I too indulge in eschew.
{A, A}
C, Eh! - I was going to say 'usually just FBI' but realized I do say 'time to bring in THE FBI' when discovering fraud. It's like you have to use the article.
Cool pics Picard.
Jayce - I hope I can remember those pronunciation tips the next time I call our Cairo office.
Speaking of Egypt - the three COVID19 cases in Houston all just returned from Egypt. If you're keen on following the pandemic, check this out.
CED - 2 things a) looks like a sudden >= cat 3 hurricane b) what happened to that kid in the first one?!?
Bluehen - I have a crockpot, how's IP different? [in answering, keep in mind I sous vide - get nerdy w/ me :-)]
Abejo - Carl REINER is alive and well and hangs w/ his buddy Mel Brooks nightly. If you have Netflix, find Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Jerry visits with both of them - funny stuff.
Y'all have a great night. Play tomorrow!
Cheers, -T
Post a Comment