I'm Ok, You're Ok!
16-Across. Steinway parts: PIANO KEYS.
29-Across. Hobbyist's blade: X-ACTO KNIFE.
35-Across. "Are you serious?": NO KIDDING.
46-Across. Cartoon character who is five apples tall: HELLO KITTY.
And the Unifier:
60-Across. Receives a go-ahead ... and a hint to what's hidden in 16-, 29-, 35- and 46-Across: GETS THE OK.
Across:
16-Across. Steinway parts: PIANO KEYS.
29-Across. Hobbyist's blade: X-ACTO KNIFE.
35-Across. "Are you serious?": NO KIDDING.
46-Across. Cartoon character who is five apples tall: HELLO KITTY.
And the Unifier:
60-Across. Receives a go-ahead ... and a hint to what's hidden in 16-, 29-, 35- and 46-Across: GETS THE OK.
Across:
1. Not very spicy: MILD.
5. Time and again, to a bard: OFT.
8. Stage surprise: AD LIB. Today's Latin lesson. Ad libitum (Ad lib., for short) is Latin for "at one's pleasure."
13. More reasonable: SANER.
14. Give in to jet lag: NAP.
15. Far from posh: SEEDY.
18. Whack, biblically: SMITE.
19. Space-saving abbr.: ETC. More of today's Latin lesson. Et cetera (abbreviated as Etc.) roughly translates in English as "and other similar things". Literally, it means "and the rest".
20. Mayberry kid: OPIE. Played by Ron Howard (b. Mar. 1, 1954). Be sure to wish him a belated Happy Birthday. He just turned 66.
Ron Howard then.
Ron Howard today-ish.
21. Bk. before Philippians: EPH. A reference to books of the New Testament. The letter from Paul to the Ephesians is before his letter to the Philippians.
24. Lowlifes: SLEAZES.
28. Bell-shaped lily: SEGO. The Sego Lily is the state flower of Utah.
31. Laura of "Marriage Story": DERN. Laura Dern (née Laura Elizabeth Dern; b. Feb. 10, 1967) is from an acting family. Her parents are Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd. I have heard of Marriage Story, but haven't seen this Netflix movie.
33. BMW competitor: AUDI.
34. Merged comm. giant: GTE.
39. Awareness-raising TV ad: PSA. As in a Public Service Announcement. We see these often in the crossword puzzles.
42. Lose stamina: TIRE.
43. A whole lot: GOBS.
50. Chase scene maneuvers, slangily: UEYS. Awkward!
52. Some bottled waters: DASANIs. Dasani is a brand of bottled water created by the Coca-Cola company. It's basically filterered and bottled tap water.
53. Most tidy: NEATEST.
55. Arcing shot: LOB.
56. Fleshy facial feature: JOWL.
57. Student advocacy org.: PTA. As in the Parent Teacher Association.
58. Off-the-cushion pool shot: CAROM.
62. Render weaponless: UNARM.
63. Maiden name lead-in: NÉE. Today's French lesson.
64. Country rocker Steve: EARLE. I am not familiar with the work of Steve Earle (né Stephen Fain Earle; b. Jan. 17, 1955).
65. Jam-packed: DENSE.
66. FedEx rival: UPS.
67. React to yeast: RISE.
Down:
1. Restaurant host: MAÎTRE D'. More of today's French lesson. The Maître d' (short for maître d’hôtel), is the head supervisor of wait staff and welcome guests in a formal restaurant.
2. Like most pet birds: IN A CAGE.
3. Writer Deighton: LEN. Len Deighton (né Leonard Cyril Deighton; b. Feb. 18, 1929), is best known for his spy and espionage novels. He just celebrated his 91st birthday.
4. Dickens' "The Mystery of Edwin __": DROOD. Charles Dickens died before he finished writing The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It was to have been published in 12 installments, but only 6 had been written when Dickens' died, thus, the true ending is the real mystery.
5. Upstate New York lake: ONEIDA. My flatware is made by Oneida.
6. Actress Dunaway: FAYE. Faye Dunaway (née Dorothy Faye Dunaway; b. Jan. 14, 1941) is probably best known for her role as Bonnie Parker in the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde.
7. Playfully pranks, for short: TPs. Toilet Papering someone's house and yard is a big prank for some high school kids.
8. Stubborn equine: ASS.
9. Cut down to size: DEMEAN.
10. German city where Wagner was born: LEIPZIG.
11. Crime after a data breach, perhaps: ID THEFT.
12. "See ya": BYE.
13. Architectural details: SPECS.
17. Title planet in a 2001 sci-fi film: K-PAX. I never saw this movie, which starred Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges.
23. In need of patching: WORN.
24. __ finder: carpenter's tool: STUD.
25. Wine city near Sacramento: LODI. I learned of this California city from doing the crossword puzzles.
26. Just managing, with "out": EKING.
27. Witness: SEE.
30. Coast Guard Academy student: CADET.
32. "__ your life!": NOT ON.
36. Dee who sang with Elton: KIKI.
37. Spring flower: IRIS.
38. Joint ailment: GOUT.
39. Prof.'s degree: Ph.D. As in the Doctor of Philosophy.
40. Maritime route: SEA LANE. Check out this this interactive map of sea lanes.
41. Concession speech deliverer: ALSO RAN.
44. Paging gadgets: BEEPERS. These were high tech 20 years ago.
45. Ventricular contraction: SYSTOLE. The heart beat has two phases: the systole and the diastole. The Systole occurs when the heart contracts and the blood is pumped out. The diastole occurs when the heart muscle relaxes after the contraction and the blood pours into the heart chambers.
47. Hercules' 12 challenges: LABORS.
48. Low-risk govt. securities: T-NOTES. As in Treasury Notes. These appear often in the crossword puzzles.
49. Evergreens used for archery bows: YEWS. The tree also has red berries.
51. Buffy's weapon of choice: STAKE.
54. Make changes to: ALTER.
56. Wrangler maker: JEEP.
58. Bovine chew: CUD. Everything you wanted to know about Cattle Chewing and more.
59. French Mrs.: MME. More of today's French lesson.
60. Oxlike antelope: GNU. What's Gnu with You?
61. Yokohama yes: HAI. Today's Japanese lesson.
Here's the Grid:
29 comments:
FIW, missing my WAg at the Natick EtH x LEItZIG. Erased fade for TIRE and dhl for UPS.
Cso to Abejo and moi at GTE.
KPAX sounds like a west coast radio station specializing in new age music. It is actually the CBS TV affiliate in Missoula, Montana.
I hear "disarm" more than "UNARM". Don't try either at my house.
Thanks to Hahtoolah for the fun review. Now I understand the blood pressure terms. The machines that test BP never get mine the same twice. My atrial fibrillation confuses them. And thanks to Gail and Bruce for the poser. I thought the theme was a little weak, but it is Tuesday, after all.
If you want to know more about STEVE EARLE the link is an interesting interview.
I have watched the movie K-PAX and thought it was well acted.
Thanks, Susan
Good morning!
Started right off with TAME at 1a -- only 4 letters were wrong. The rest of the puzzle came together quickly, like a well-behaved Tuesday. Didn't get the theme at first, but I went looking to see if there could be a reveal. There could. LODI was slow in coming to me, but I didn't get stuck there again. FAYE had an important role in Three Days of the Condor. Thanx for the diversion, GG, BV, and Hahtoolah. (Those sea lanes look like ants on parade.)
LAG: We both suffer from it, even when dw is the only one who travels.
CRAWDAD: How did this one pass the editorial process? It's not a mudbug, it's a four-note chord.
GNU: In my ute we called 'em wildebeest.
ALSO RAN: The field of presidential hopefuls seems to be getting smaller by the day.
Taxing day...gotta run.
Great morning all. Enjoyable puzzle today. And fine review.
My only nit picker today is UEY.
Knew LODI from our days of making wine at home from kits.
LODI ZINFANDEL RED was one of my favorite kits. I made enough of those that I had several cases that made it to four years aged in the bottle .
“LODI CA. This old vine Zinfandel is a blend of five different Old Vine Vinyards , resulting in a classic fruit-forward wine that is the centerpiece of all great Lodi wines. The rich berry flavors are highlighted with a subtle hint of soft vanilla-oak. Pair wit veal or red meat “
Cheers
Leipzig x Eph wasn't fun. The entire puzzle was just "OK".
"Marriage Story" is great. Saw XPAX, but don't remember it well. Steve Earle rocks.
There was nothing difficult about this puzzle, but I was not on the constructor's wavelength. FIR in the end. KPAX, EARLE and KIKI were new to me, but perpable. I thought this puzzle had a thin theme.
We have a Lodi, NJ, so I remember this fill which appears in crosswords from time to time.
I don't see UEY in print, but I have very often heard this slang word. I am surprised it turns so many solvers off.
I had a BP machine, but using it several times just seconds apart gave me wildly different readings so I returned it.
GNU is not new to me. I knew it as the only three letter antelope.
I don't get jet lag going to and from Europe or going to Japan. However, I get very tired returning from Japan because I can't sleep on a plane and have been awake for more than 24 hours. I also have no problem with the change between daylight saving time and standard time.
---PZ-G suggested Leipzig. Memorized the New Testament books in order as a kid and still remember them.
A voter said on TV on Sunday that with so any candidates she couldn't keep them all straight. I think the thinning of the field before Super Tuesday voting is a good thing, even though my first choice became an also ran. Several of the candidates just canceled each other out. I feel sorry for those who voted for one who then dropped out. I am glad I will be able to vote on the viable choices.
Musings
-Saw the gimmick early and wondered how they were going to clue the reveal
-Even I know, “The good is OFT interred with their bones”
-Changing to CDT feels like jet lag
-It’s CRAWDADS in Nebraska ponds
-PSA’s were standard TV fare in my yute
-A LOB is usually a tennis shot but in basketball it’s usually a pre-dunk pass
-Big-time TPING uses a leaf blower
-Elton and KIKI brightened my morning!
-Loved the SEA LANE visual
-YEWS around here are bushes not trees
Good Morning:
As I have often said, Gail and Bruce never disappoint me and, while this theme isn't complicated or clever, I was in the dark until the reveal, so it's my idea of an enjoyable solve. A few stumbles that were quickly corrected: Eer/Oft, Nod/Nap, Sago/Sego, and Masse/Carom. I needed perps for Eph, Earle, K-PAX, Kiki, and Hello Kitty, a name I've heard but had no idea she's five apples tall!
Thanks, Gail and Bruce, for a fun romp and thanks, Hatoolah, for also never failing to amuse and delight us with your visuals and interesting links. My favorite image today was the two mismatched socks' exchange at the "singles" bar. "Marriage Story" is an excellent movie but sometimes heart-wrenching and emotionally draining. IMO, however, the performances by Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, and Laura Dern more than made up for any discomfort.
Have a great day.
Good morning everyone.
Great intro with entertaining visuals from Hahtoolah. Thanks.
About right for a Tuesday. Once the OK theme was established, a couple prefills were possible. Theme fill came easily but needed perp help with HELLO KITTY. I knew GNU. LEIPZIG came easily and the 'P' invited EPH for the N. T. Book. Liked JOWL.
Puzzles seem to like 'UEYS' but I call them 180's.
ONEIDA Lake is 35 mi. WNW of us. Mostly shallow except for the Erie barge canal channel. Drains toward L. Ontario.
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Gail and Bruce, and Hahtoolah.
Quick fill today and I saw the OK theme.
Bland wouldn't fit; MILD did. I also debated between TNOTES and Bonds.
We see UEYS, Uie - always some nose-wrinkling.
You all know that LABORS also created some nose-wrinkling for this Canadian.
EPH was no problem; hand up with YR for learning those books of the Bible in Sunday School. I LOLed at ASS after our Biblical mount last week. We also had SMITE and OFT to add to our Biblical words (from KJV).
I knew inanehiker would immediately fill in SYSTOLE, and WC is too familiar with GOUT.
I smiled at LODI crossing AUDI, and also noted PSA and PTA.
JOWl makes me think of Richard Nixon and John Diefenbaker.
I have ONEIDA stainless; factory outlet in Niagara Falls closed years ago.
Do single women on the prowl need a STUD finder?
I have Where the CRAWDAD Sings by Delia Owens on hold at the library. Long wait list. Has anybody here read it??
GrammarlyBlog says "Crawfish, crayfish, and crawdads are the same animal. Which term you use may depend much on where you live. Louisianans most often say crawfish, whereas Northerners are more likely to say crayfish. People from the West Coast or Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas often use the term crawdad. In the Mississippi Delta, they call them mud bugs." I have never eaten one under any name.
CSO to MME Defarge.
Wishing you all a great day.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Gail Grabowski & Bruce Venzke, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Hahtoolah, for a fine review.
CanadianEh!: I read "Where the Crawdads Sing" last summer. It was an outstanding book. Describes a life in the marsh that evolves into a murder mystery. Quite an ending! You will enjoy it.
Jinx: Yes, GTE was a great company. But, the lawyers took care of that.
The puzzle went along just fine. Caught the theme when I finished. It all worked. Good start to a Tuesday.
PSA reminds me of Pacific Southwest Airlines. I used to fly them. The airline with a smile painted on each plane.
The YEW was used for the English Long Bow, especially against the French.
I have used X ACTO KNIVES. Easy to cut yourself on those.
I have eaten CRAWDADs. My oldest daughter used to live in Louisiana. When I visited I partook of the local food.
Anyhow, have to run. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
I
Kiki.."Don't go breaking my heart!" (YEW could if you tried)
This was a nice Tuesday puzzle...no real surprises. Perp walks changed "incages" to INACAGE. (speaking of cages Mrs. Piper's pumpkin shell abode was pretty SEEDY). "Sega" to SEGO. (got to stop watching my 10 y o grandson playing video games where I dont have a clue.)
FAYE got Dunaway at the end of "Bonnie & Clyde"
Nice to see our ONEIDA lake included, neither finger nor great lake. (Utica is the country seat of Oneida County while Oneida NY is the largest city in neighboring Madison county where the county seat is a small village with the very romantic name of Wampsville...confused yet?)
If POTUS plans are realized we will soon have real Space CADETS. Who GNU?
KPAX was a great film. "Marriage Story"....meh.
STUD FINDER?....try Match.com dating app.
My cardiac atria tell lies occasionally. Instead of rhythmic SYTOLE and diastole they "FIBrillate" Doc says..meds or ablation. I say talk to the hand.
As often happens didn't get the theme (NO KIDDING). Just happy EKING out a finish
Canada Eh. "Where the Crawdads Sing" definitely worth the wait
Hola!
Hand up! I read I Know Where the Crawdad Sings for our book club selection. It's an interesting story with an intriguing ending.
Any puzzle by Gail and Bruce is OK with me. This was fun. NO KIDDING. Learning moment for me: I had no idea HELLO KITTY was five apples tall!
I once saw Whoopie Goldberg AD LIB in a Broadway show when she turned to the audience and said, "I forgot my lines". The play was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
The Z in SLEAZES immediately brought to mind LEIPZIG though I didn't know that's where Wagner was born.
At SEA LANE I thought of Spitz.
My flatware is also ONEIDA, Louisiana pattern.
Interesting information about the heart and SYSTOLE.
It is time to RISE from this chair and get going on today's LABORS.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
I have no idea what "five apples tall" means as a description. Is that when she is on all fours, like a cat, or when she is standing like a human? What type of apples?
Gainesville was always proud that FAYE DUNAWAY studied at the University of Florida. She was before my time there.
A Gail and Bruce Tuesday puzzle--very exciting! I worked my way slowly through all of it, but had problems with the northeast corner. Just couldn't get it, though I tried and tried. Finally decided to look up that Wagner birth city and filled in LEIPZIG. Tada! Did the trick and everything else fell right into place and I was done. Okay, not a perfect performance but pretty close, and a lot of fun. Getting PIANO KEYS was neat as was getting CRAWDAD. Always love seeing OPIE in a puzzle and thanks for the sweet pictures, Hahtoolah. Never heard of DISANIS, but got CAROM even though I've never played pool (at least that I remember). And so it went, lots of fun, and thank you, Bruce and Gail.
Have a good Tuesday, everybody.
Hi everybody.
I finished "Where the Crawdads Sing" about a month ago. I enjoyed the first half of the book but didn't like the ending much at all.
I enjoyed the movie "Midnight in Paris" so much I'm watching it all over again. It's very romantic with a clever plot I thought.
This Tuesday effort wrapped up quickly, easier than yesterday IMO.
No write-overs today, always nice.
Faye Dunaway in “The Thomas Crown Affair” was wonderful. Actually, she is always worth watching.
See you Wednesday.
Hmm,
I have no idea why, as a New Yorker,
CrawDad seems perfectly "OK" with me...
(CrawDaddy is a little weird though...)
Yew thought it was just a Bush?
(Actually, yes, I did...)
I wonder if I can post more pics than Hahtoolah...
Well,
I am getting over it...
For Irish Miss...
Hahtoolah: Excellent write-up and links.
Good job.
Cheers!
YEWS - the strong, supple wood used most famously in the English longbow, as tall as the man, the weapon used by Henry V's Yeomen archers to defeat the over-confident French cavalry by piercing their fancy armor--in the Battle of Agincourt (1415).
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal today, on the far end.
Its anagram changes slightly depending on the letters selected. It either refers, innocuously, to a cozy batch of relatives, aka...
"OUR KINDRED,"
or, to the result of some overly close relations among those relations...
"OUR INBREED"!
Inbred kindred inbed... cool OMK!
The other big brand of "purified water" I call Aquafaucet.
Dang, I sure like the style of your write-ups, Hahtoolah.
I enjoyed this Gail and Bruce puzzle. Please keep collaborating, you two! Thanks.
Best wishes to you all.
desper-otto hand up for TAME before MILD. This puzzle was OK by me!
Learning moment that LODI is a wine region. My parents lived in that area for many years. Lots of CRAWDADs in that area.
Here is a song about LODI.
The song is by Creedence Clearwater Revival. We often get them as CCR in the puzzles. I have never actually been to LODI. This song talks about being stuck there which is usually not a good thing.
From Saturday:
OwenKL thank you for taking the time to check out the SCROD joke. And thank you for the kind words about the CARL SAGAN essay. It is one of the most important and moving essays I have ever heard. "Who speaks for Earth?"
Are there people who did not know of CARL SAGAN or did I misunderstand?
I had no trouble with the first few rows, then got to 22A, and quit. Not enough spaces for CRAWFISH, the correct answer.
HG, if you had that sort of crustacean in Nebraska, you can call it a CRAWDAD with no complaints. But if you eat a Cajun Crustacean it’s a Crawfish! As someone pointed out if you dig it out of a Mississippi ditch it’s a Mudbug.
As for Where the Crawdads Sing, I read it and have mixed feelings. The plot seemed too unrealistic for
my taste and I found it dragged in spots. But it is interesting and worth a read I think. IMHO
Thanks G and B and Hahtoolah for defending the pond.
Coincidentally, I just started "Berlin Game" by LEN DEIGHTON. My fav of all authors of that genre. Off his biography it's hard to see where he got all that inside information on the workings of British Intelligence*.
My Dr said what's with this GOUT attack?. Me: "Perhaps it was the Captain's Platter". "What!!!!"
Perhaps it was the oysters. Oops, C-eh, did I tell this one before? Btw, I stopped the gout medicine.
And what of the bow?
The bow is made of YEW Wood, the true wood, the wood that bowmen love**
Picard, I'll see your Lodi but
This is my fav CCR. Also, did you catch Owen's poem at the J the next day?(re. Sagan). Sunday I think
Smooth solve but broken up. I ran up to Dunellon (hi Jinx) and back and filled at any opportunity. Some juice but no prob.
Misty…. Did I hear you say LEIPZIG was a lookup? What's next Vienna? I did need a couple of perps.
Great write-up Hahtoolah
WC
*As I mentioned before. In the Bernard Sampson saga I'm convinced Deighton
is embedding the true story of the JFK assassination which apparently was unearthed by British Intelligence and said report available to a select few. It seems to be a favorite hobby of ex-BI'ers
**"The White Company" AC Doyle
Hey, Wilbur, I'm Austrian--I don't have to look up Vienna.
Hi All!
Long day...
Fun puzzle and fun conversation (if yous eat 'em their CRAWfish; if they're bait, theys CRAWDADs/Mudbugs).
WOs: started wrong ewe - Y there; UEis - Y there; SMoTE b/f tense kick'd in.
ESPs: sure, but ain't nobody got time to look back.
Fav: Being Super Tuesday... ALSO RAN
Like I said, enjoyed reading everyone during moments of downtime but now it's time for me to get a NAP before the day anews.
Cheers, -T
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