Men, Can't Live with Them, Can't Live without Them. A type of Man is right smack dab in the Middle of each theme answer. Most of the Men found in each clue are not Men you would want to be associate with.
17-Across. * Longtime Nabisco cookie: FIG NEWTON. As in a New Man, or as seen below, Newman.
21-Across. * Badgers' school: WISCONSIN. As in the Con Man, short for Confidence Man. Here is a list of 20 infamous con men, some of which you may recognize, most probably will be unknown.
33-Across. * Outback choice named for a bone: RIBEYE STEAK. As in the Yes-Man. A Yes Man is a subordinate who always agrees with his boss or political leader.
41-Across. * One on a "Most Wanted" list: PUBLIC ENEMY. Ice Man. In days of old, before people had refrigerators, the Ice Man delivered ice to homes. The Iceman Cometh, was a play be Eugene O'Neill, in which a man *** Spoiler Alert*** murdered his wife.
51-Across. * Pour on the criticism: DISH IT OUT. As in the HitMan, which is a contract killer. Here are some Infamous Hitmen, most of whom you probably never heard of.
And the Unifier:
60. Go-between ... and a hint to each set of circles: MIDDLE MAN. Notice that the "man" in the middle of each theme answer is exactly in the middle of the word or phrase.
This puzzle was in interesting combination of the Asterik-clued puzzle, which is my favorite type of puzzle, and the dreaded Circle-clued puzzle, which I am not so keen on.
This puzzle was in interesting combination of the Asterik-clued puzzle, which is my favorite type of puzzle, and the dreaded Circle-clued puzzle, which I am not so keen on.
Across:
1. Do sum work: ADD. Simple math.
4. What Santa's making and double-checking, in song: LIST.
8. Little nails: BRADS.
Or:
13. "__ out below!": LOOK.
15. Up the __: raise the stakes: ANTE.
19. Wafer named for its flavor: 'NILLA. Yummers! I haven't had a 'Nilla wafer in years.
20. Totally lost: AT SEA.
23. MD you don't need an appointment to see: ER DOC. As in the Emergency Doctor.
25. NYC's Park, e.g.: AVE. As in Park Avenue.
26. Verdi opera based on a Shakespearean play: OTELLO.
29. Like pre-revolution Russia: TSARIST.
36. California's Big __: SUR. The section along the California coast from Carmel to San Simeon.
37. Angry, with "off": TEED. Where did the expression originate?
38. Anthem contraction: O'ER.
39. "Twittering Machine" artist Paul: KLEE. Paul Klee (Dec. 18, 1879 ~ June 29, 1940) was a Swiss artist.
Twittering Machine
40. "Ben-__": HUR. Before it was an epic 1959 movie, starring Charlton Heston, it was a novel written by Lew Wallace (Apr. 10, 1827- Feb. 15, 1905). The book and the movie both follow the life of Ben-Hur was Judah Ben-Her, a Jewish prince who was enslaved by the Romans at the beginning of the first century. He later became a charioteer and converted to Christianity.
45. New car's bells and whistles, say: OPTIONS.
47. Overacts: EMOTES.
48. Hit the slopes: SKI.
49. Note above F: G FLAT. Musical reference.
55. Pisa place: ITALY.
59. Speechify: ORATE.
62. Roman robes: TOGAS.
63. Britney Spears' "Oops!...__ It Again": I DID.
64. Flood barrier: DIKE.
65. Bullish sound?: SNORT.
66. Many a phone message nowadays: TEXT.
67. "__ who?": SEZ.
Down:
1. __ Romeo: sports car: ALFA.
2. "Stop stalling!": DO IT!
3. Boxers and pugs: DOGS.
4. Practice in USA's "Suits": LAW. I never saw the show, but I understand that Meghan Markel (b. Aug. 4, 1981) was one of its stars.
5. Halved: IN TWO.
6. Unflappable: STOIC.
7. Bills with Hamilton: TENS. His face on the $10 was saved by a Broadway musical.
8. Ryan Howard portrayer on "The Office": B.J. NOVAK. B. J. Novak (né Benjamin Joseph Novak; b. July 31, 1979) is an American actor. He was also one of the writers for the American version of The Office.
9. Spoiler: RUINER.
10. Start of a Shakespearean title: ALLS. All's Well that Ends Well.
12. Bridge: SPAN. The Lake Ponchartrain Causeway in Louisiana was, for many years, the longest bridge in the world. It spans just under 24 miles and links New Orleans (technically Metairie, a NO suburb) to the northshore of Lake Ponchartrain. According to Construction Review, it has now dropped to #7 in length.
14. Prepared to propose: KNEELED.
18. Ahead of schedule: EARLY.
22. Hombre's house: CASA. Today's Spanish lesson.
24. Forest female: DOE.
26. Big name in garden products: ORTHO.
27. Bottleneck consequence: TIE UP.
28. Roger who wrote "Your Movie Sucks": EBERT. Robert Joseph Ebert (June 18, 1942 ~ Apr. 4, 2013) was the film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. He and Gene Siskel (né Eugene Kal Siskel; Jan. 26, 1946 ~ Feb. 20, 1999), who was the film critic for the rival newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, got together and co-hosted Sneak Previews on PBS. Sadly, both men are gone now.
29. Actress Hatcher: TERI. Teri Lynn Hatcher (b. Dec. 8, 1964) appeared in several Seinfeld episodes.
30. Archipelago part: ISLET. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Dec. 11, 1918 ~ Aug. 2, 2008) wrote The Gulag Archipelago about live in a Communist Soviet labor camp. It had nothing to do with islands.
31. "So I was wrong!": SUE ME!
32. Long shots, in hoops lingo: TREYS. As in 3-pointers, I suppose.
34. Sheds many tears: SOBS.
35. __ Aviv: TEL. Tel Aviv was founded in 1909. It is a city filled with wonderful buildings and architecture as well as beaches. It is a fun city to visit.
39. Secured with a bowline, say: KNOTTED.
41. Least speedy: POKIEST. The Pokie Little Puppy was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. I recently sent a copy of the book to my 1-year old niece.
42. Textbook section: UNIT.
43. Animation frame: CEL.
44. Phishing line?: E-MAIL.
46. Beatty/Hoffman flop: ISHTAR.
49. Museum escort: GUIDE.
50. N.J. army base: FT. DIX. The Base has an interesting history.
51. Trio in Fiji?: DOTS. Look at the dots over the letters "i" and "j".
52. Monopoly token replaced by a cat: IRON. I rather liked the Iron.
53. Palm starch: SAGO.
54. Cut out: OMIT.
56. French friends: AMIS. Today's French lesson.
57. Erie or Huron: LAKE.
58. Santa __ Valley: Cal. wine region: YNEZ.
61. Banned pesticide: DDT.
Here's the Grid:
QOD: One thing a person cannot do, no matter how rigorous his analysis or heroic his imagination, is to draw up a list of things that would never occur to him. ~ Thomas Schelling (né Thomas Crombie Schelling; Apr. 14, 1921 ~ Dec. 13, 2016), American economist and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science
56 comments:
EGBERT was the POKIEST duffer!
His TIE UPS made his partners suffer.
But an afternoon slot
He TEED up in a shot,
For an EARLY start to not miss supper!
Some folks like FIG NEWTONS
Some like Oreo screw-ons
But if it's pudding that you wait fer,
You just can't beat a NILLA wafer!
YNEZ was a girl from ISHTAR
Who wanted to be a big star.
But a Bulgarian dude
With a noble 'tude
Won her heart, she was wed to a TSAR!
There was a girl from WISCONSIN,
Wanted a guy to whisk on in!
Just to bed,
But fie to wed,
She preferred to wish on sin!
{B+, B, A-, B+.}
FIR, but erased levy for DIKE, ishmar for ISHTAR, and sego for SAGO.
Shout out to our own BRAD, Abejo. Tin isn't exactly the ICE man. And -T gets to drive his DW's ALFA occasionally.
I liked DOGS, DOC and DOE together.
Seems like most cars these days are sold with trim levels without a lot of options, at least factory-installed ones. Remember when a heater / defroster was optional? Turn signals, radio and seat belts too.
"Textbook section" reminded me that I should ask this community about authoring one. I'm nearing the end of writing the content for a Microsoft Project training manual, and am now thinking about the finishing touches. Is there a standard for things such as words that are everyday, but technical in the context of the course? "Task" is just one example in this book. I'm thinking of using italics, bolding or both. Maybe just the first time? Maybe just for the first occurrence, and/or just for words in the glossary? Maybe it doesn't matter as long as I am consistent, but I'm hoping that there is a "best practice" list somewhere. Also for all caps and font sizing for chapter and UNIT headers and those sorts of things. I seem to remember there was a style sheet for those sorts of things from my past, but I don't remember if it was a company thing or something more universal.
FLN - I'll play further with the nuisance email later.
Thanks to Debbie for the fun puzzle. My favorite was TIE UP, but in the interest of avoiding TMI I won't elaborate. And thanks to Hahtoolah for the fun, illustrative review.
Good morning Cornerites.
I hope this brings you new info on the Covid-19 virus.
Ðave
Subject: FW: FROM JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL - DESTROYING THE VIRUS
HERE’S SOME REALLY GOOD INFORMATION
* The virus is not a living organism; It is a protein molecule (RNA or DNA) covered by a protective layer of lipid (fat), which, when absorbed by the cells of the ocular (eyes), nasal (nose) or buccal mucosa (mouth), changes their genetic code (mutates) and converts into aggressor and multiplier cells.
* Since the virus is not a living organism, but is a protein molecule, it cannot be killed. It has to decay on its own. The disintegration time depends on the temperature, humidity and type of material where it lies.
* The virus is very fragile; the only thing that protects it is a thin outer layer of fat and that is the reason why soap or detergent is the best weapon. The foam CUTS THE FAT (that is why you have to scrub for 20 seconds or more, to create lots of foam).
By dissolving the fat layer, the protein molecule disperses and breaks down.
* HEAT melts fat; this is why it is necessary to use water above 25 degrees Celsius for hand washing, laundry and cleaning surfaces. In addition, hot water makes more foam, making it more effective.
* Alcohol or any mixture with alcohol over 65% DISSOLVES ALL FAT, especially the external lipid layer of the virus.
* Any solution with 1 part bleach and 5 parts water directly dissolves the protein, breaking it down from the inside.
* Oxygenated water increases the effectiveness of soap, alcohol and chlorine, because peroxide dissolves the virus protein. However, because you have to use it in its pure form, it can damage your skin.
* NO BACTERICIDE OR ANTIBIOTIC WILL WORK because the virus is not a living organism like bacteria; antibodies cannot kill what is not alive.
* NEVER shake used or unused clothing, sheets or fabric. While it is glued to a porous surface, it is very inert and disintegrates after a period of time:
-between 3 hours (fabric and porous),
-4 hours (copper and wood),
-24 hours (cardboard),
-42 hours (metal) and
-72 hours (plastic).
But if you shake it or use a feather duster, the virus molecules float in the air for up to 3 hours, and can lodge in your nose.
* The virus molecules remain very stable at colder temperatures, including air conditioning in houses and cars. They also need moisture and darkness to stay stable. Therefore, dehumidified, dry, warm and bright environments will degrade the virus faster.
* UV LIGHT on any object that may contain the virus breaks down the protein. Be careful, it also breaks down collagen (which is protein) in the skin.
* The virus CANNOT go through healthy skin.
* Vinegar is NOT useful because it does not break down the protective layer of fat.
* NO SPIRITS, NOR VODKA, serve. The strongest vodka is only 40% alcohol, and you need a minimum of 65%.
* LISTERINE is 65% alcohol.
* The more confined the space, the higher the concentration of the virus there can be. The more open or naturally ventilated, the less.
* You have to wash your hands before and after touching any commonly used surfaces such as : food, locks, knobs, switches, remotes, cell phones, watches, computers, desks etc. and don’t forget when you use the bathroom.
* You have to MOISTURIZE YOUR HANDS due to frequent washing. Dry hands have cracks and the molecules can hide in the micro cracks. The thicker the moisturizer, the better.
* Also keep your NAILS SHORT so that the virus does not hide there.
PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Good morning!
I went wrong putting NILLA WAFER where FIG NEWTON needed to be. Also, FT LEE instead of DIX. Otherwise, this was a speed run to the bottom. I'll take the CSO at WISCONSIN, though I haven't visited there since '88. Guess who forgot to look at the circles? Yup. C'est moi. Thanx, Debbie and Hahtoolah. (I remember that Poky Little Puppy book from my wee ute.)
D4, thanx for the Johns Hopkins info. Very helpful.
My GUIDE was a Guard for a while. My last assignment in the Army was in a STRAC MP Battalion as a commo MAN in FTDIX. Our STRAC designation meant that we were alway packed to go within 24 hours and had to leave a phone number whenever we out and about. In 1964 we didn’t have pagers or cell phones. A week after I exited, the whole outfit was flown to Saigon to patrol the streets. I don’t remember the rules, but I think I would have had to ship out with them had it been a week earlier.
As a carpenter, I take exception with your picture of brads. Brads are very thin nails.
Good Morning:
I never saw the theme until the reveal, which made it a true Aha moment. I liked the duos of Sur and Hur, and Tel and Cel. Kneeled is awkward, IMO, as is Ruiner. Nice big CSO to Anon T at Alfa.
Thanks, Debbie, for a Tuesday treat and thanks, Hatoolah, for the visual banquet and chatty commentary.
Stay safe, all.
Hola!
Thank you, Debbie Ellerin and Hahtoolah! I got the theme but did not see that the men were in the MIDDLE. Clever! At NEW my thought was of Paul NEWMAN.
Cluing DOTS was clever.
EMOTED, ORATE, OTELLO, ISHTAR and EBERT all point to a cinematic mini-theme.
Jinx:
A style book does exist. The one I used is likely out of date but there must be a more recent one published. You could check a university web site.
Dave4:
Thank you for all that information! It's a lot to absorb but vitally important.
Have a good day, everyone!
Good morning everyone.
No problems with the solve. Wondered where we were going with the circles but MIDDLE MAN answered that. By then I had all the circles filled in. Cool theme, tho. HIT man - wonder what Debbie was thinking. Fun solve.
FT DIX - At the last round of BRAC base realignments, FT DIX became part of Joint Base McGuire-DIX- Lakehurst.
DDT - As a wee lad, it was my job during the summer to 'Flit' the cows when they came in for the evening milking. Their udder/belly areas were usually under assault by swarms of a small black type of fly. (Couldn't have the cows kicking while trying to milk them.) The Flit was 5% DDT and applied with a type of pump/spray gun. It was a different time then (1940s-50s). Who knew about DDT?
Thanks Hahtoolah for another great informative intro.
The charm of this puzzle was the theme. I needed the reveal to suss it. Great job, Susan. Love your illustrations.
The only place I have heard "dish it out" is at home in my youth. My mom used to say,"You can dish it out, but you can't take it." Did you ever notice that people who dish out the most insults seem to have the thinnest skin? My ex used to say, "What goes around comes around."
In some jobs you need to be a yes man or you are fired.
In grad school with some profs you had to be careful not to advocate opinions different from theirs. I love a friendly exchange of different points of view. That is how we grow. I wish that were possible in more political discussions, instead of vitriol.
I love Fig Newtons.
I know a shot from far back (behind the three point line) in basketball is called a three pointer, so TR-- had to be TREY. Is that term as common as three pointer? I was thinking a long shot in football is a Hail Mary. I like that term.
KS, I used the kind of brad you are thinking of to attach the back to my IKEA cabinet. I used brads like Hahtoolah pictured to make booklets for my students.
BJ NOVAK was new to me. I never heard of Twittering Machine. (Is that what the President uses daily?) But a four letter artist, Paul -LE- had to be KLEE.
I know many people who never use an iron. Maybe that was why the Monopoly token was replaced. You see a lot of wrinkled shirts these days.
Dave 4, thanks for the helpful Covid 19 info.
I rememeber Flit from the old days, Spitz.
Didn't get the theme. Thks for virus info Dave.
Jinx - - Is this the type of style manual you're asking about?
Microsoft Manual of Style
FLN, OMK and others, I never heard of "Fwee liddo fiddies in an iddy-biddy pooh." I am surprised so many of you know it, but it bypassed me.
Thanks to all for the comments on my weird emails. I will have to try your suggestions next time just for fun. This time the emails are already deleted. Only a fool would open them. It's really odd to get a current email from the deceased. Even the one from a friend I often correspond with is not like what she usually sends me.
About ten years ago our priest's email list was taken over and salacious emails were sent to parishioners and everyone else in her name. How embarrassing.
Musings
-Were the circles necessary? Debbie emailed me this morning that she inserted them
-FIG NEWTONS are a “love ‘em or hate ‘em” cookie. I’m in the former camp
-I’m a NEW man after a 10 minute nap
-Susan, I loved your math matrices in your always fun write-up
-Last year I discovered I have a heated steering wheel OPTION
-Godfather’s Pizza originated in Omaha. Its ads tell you “It’s a pizza you can’t refuse” and the tag line is “DO IT”
-We musical fans remember when Nathan Detroit tells Adelaide to SUE ME (4:37)
-Our town’s girls basketball team was very good and had the best TREY shooter in the state. They lost when she missed 12 straight in the state semifinals. They are feast or famine and have made the game less fun IMHO
Good morning. No muss, no fuss with Debbie's 2nd visit in just a few days. Hahtoolah's write-ups are always a pleasure. The "Hello Newman" compilation lightened my morning. Funny show.
DW is POKIE. Slow poke. Didn't know of the book.
KS, technically the picture she posted is of tacks and paper brads, rather than wire nail brads. Close enough for here.
Hi Abejo ! No Erie for you today, but a CSO with Brad !
I once developed a tool on an IBM System 23 using a program called BRADS (Business Reporting Application Development System). I named the tool TOMS (Territory Operation Management System).
Jinx, "Microsoft Writing Style Guide"
Jinx, neither, yours, your sister's or some other person's machine is necessarily infected. Could be, but doesn't have to be. Email addresses are harvested from all over the net and then spoofed. True, if a user's address book gets hacked, or an email provider's email server gets hacked, it's a bonus for the black hats. But they can harvest enough email ids with screen scraper bots that crawl websites looking for addresses. Or by just getting copies of some of those email note strings that have been forwarded tons of times.
Scraper bots are one reason why Dash T has commented to people here that have used their email address as their avatar name, or who have included their email address in the open comments. It's also why you see email addresses obfuscated in many of the "Contact Me" pages of websites.
The reason for sending the email as an attachment is so header information isn't lost. If the suspect email is simply forwarded, all of that data is overlaid and he can't do his forensic look-see. With Outlook, just open your mail in two different tabs. Start a new note. Drag the suspect email into the body of the new note, address it and send it. Very quick. Other email systems have different steps. You probably already knew all of that.
BTW, the ccTLD in that address you wrote about last night was tw. That's Taiwan.
Gotta run. Aerial Arizona is on the Smithsonian Channel !
Circles! Hate circles. If I wanted circles I'd play Tic Tac Toe. As usual I did not get the theme.
FIR with inkouts...Julip/JULEP , grunt/SNORT.
See our old friends ORATE and EMOTE.
Prescient....see my comment yesterday about the ERDOC who lost custody of her 4 y old...etc.
Hate to be a RUINER of blue sky central NY day but.....
"With the divorce settlement half went to Angelina the rest was" .....BRADS.
"Huge Japanese wrestlers (plural var.)".....SUEME
"Isolated, so I'll crochet,.....UNIT
"Hen's main job"....HATCHER.
Easter "Heston" fest includes "Ben HUR" I always remark that Miriam and Tirzah dont look like Leopards! at all
Nice Tuesday if the sun will manage to stay out.
Pieceout..SORRY...Peace out
Fun puzzle, typical Tuesday difficulty. But no need for the circles, since the theme words were exactly in the middle of each answer, so overkill IMO.
Almost a pangram, save for one "Q".
I finally saw "Downton Abbey" last week. Re. TEED OFF and the Lady Astor story. Has it been noted that Violet, the crusty dowarger (I was informed that Maggie Smith played her) might have been patterned after Lady A?*
Let's see who was the first to break the "No Pol" rule re. Twittering Machine
Oops, I had SEs/YNEs. Cali gets me again. Found another one: I hastily inked ALAS(poor Yorick) and thought "Wafer" was Water. And that's with reading glasses. I have an even better excuse but y'all already suspect I'm a little nutty.
I did this yesterday thinking it was Monday's xword. As you can see I rushed through for the FIW after FIR'ing Fri-Sun. I see YR won the Pol-prize. Heck, who could resist.
WC
*Described as "A stylish, pretty woman with a sharp tongue and a zest for political rows, she liked to heckle, tease and argue". Lady Astor had the famous exchange with Winston: "If you were my husband I'd poison your coffee. ". "If you were my wife I'd drink it. ". She was highly ubiquitous in the 30s Cliveden Set appeasement (they met at the Astor estate). She was the first woman elected to Parliament and served 1920-45.
Got a dry paper this morning. Yay! The puzzle itself was a romp in the park. No real hang-ups, but like so many others I hate the circles. They are more of an annoyance than anything else. I love this blog for all the new things you can learn almost daily such as all the virus tips today. Who knows, perhaps tomorrow someone will help me expand my knowledge of contemporary music which will be helpful in watching the Jeopardy College tournament.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Debbie Ellerin, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Hahtoolah, for a fine review.
This is the first puzzle I recall that had both circles and asterisks. Either way, I got the theme. Pretty simple. Nice that the theme answers were all dead center, in the middle.
TTP and Jinx: The word ERIE appeared in the clue for 57D. Jumped right off the paper at me.
D4: Thank you for the Virus data. Very interesting!
No cruciverb today, so I printed it from the L A Times site.
And, yes, I got my first name at 8A. Jinx caught that one.
Never heard of B J Novak. Perps.
Remember Roger EBERT. He kind of died a slow death as I recall.
Cold this morning. 30 degrees.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Wilbur, Barry Bostwick played "Lady Astor," a U.S. submarine captain, in Herman Wouk's War and Remembrance on TV.
Debbie, thanks for the fun. I must have been on your wavelength. I even got the theme, which was enjoyable. I agree, we didn’t need the circles.
Hahtoolah, loved all the illustrations. Those are BRADS just as much as the skinny little nails are!
I didn’t realize the Pontchartrain Causeway has fallen from favor.
I’m not sure NILLA is a flavor. That’s the name of the vanilla cookie made by Nabisco. Oh well. Easy answer.
Spitz I also remember Flit and those pump handled cans. In the open southern windows of my childhood all sorts of beasties flew in.
Owen, I laughed!! Thanks.
D4E4H @6:36 according to Snopes this is a fake email that has been circulating around the internet and is not from John Hopkins.
As well stated above the the COVID 19 virus itself is resistant to anti malarials and antibiotics. It replicates by parasitizing a human cell with its genetic material and converts it to a virus making machine.
The theory behind using cholorquin, an antimalarial caused by a parasite, and Azithromycin is not that they act on the virus directly but inhibit the virus from invading the human cell. Or perhaps viral replication inside a cell.
Like HIV antivirals that work by preventing T cell invasion keeping the virus at bay but not directly killing it.
I also suspect Azythrimycin fights the secondary bacterial pneumonia COVID superinfection that can be just as deadly for the patient.
This approach is promising but if it is effective and/or the above 2 mediations in combination remains to be proven.
I loved this Debbie Ellerin puzzle--and, forgive me, I also love circles. So this was a Tuesday delight, many thanks, Debbie. I'm not sure I've ever eaten a FIG NEWTON or a RIB EYE STEAK, for that matter--doubt I'll get a chance now, in my seniority. Nice to get two California glosses with BIG SUR and SANTA INEZ. Fun to get a cranky southwest corner with DISH IT OUT and SNORT. A real pleasure, thanks again, Debbie. And, Susan, your pictures are just terrific, thank you for that delight too.
Wilbur, your Lady Astor/Winston Churchill exchange cracked me up.
Have a good day, everybody.
Last night, on Christiane Amanpour she had Walter Isaacson interviewing Dr. Gallo and he stated that studies are being prepared to try the anti polio sugar cube to inhibit the virus. It would be a temporary fix but at this point anything will help. Did anyone else see that? It was much more detailed but that's what I remember.
Misty:
I like circles, too. They add variety to puzzles.
Middle "Man?"
Personally, I think the "middle" is the best part. I would bring up the Oreo example, but, you know,
no politics or religion on the Blog...
And, One for Irish Miss...
Very “nice and easy” puzzle to start the week. Thank you, Debbie.
The only NEWMAN to me is Paul!
I loved the Monopoly iron and always chose it. I’m glad my game has it - a vintage set, I guess.
My favorite clue was the DOTSin Fiji. I needed Hatoolah’s explanation for the lightbulb to turn on
Thanks for the info., D4. Authentic or not, I learned a few more valuable tidbits.
Sunshine today and low 70’s - yay!
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Debbie and Hahtoolah.
I finished in good time and saw the MIDDLE MAN theme. I was OK with the circles but wondered why we needed the asterisks also. But I arrived here to discover that I FIWed at the very end. I had SEd instead of SEZ and since I didn't know YNEZ, that was my personal Natick. But just ask me about the Niagara Bench wineries!
I smiled to see EMOTES and ORATE. CSO to OMK? Or was that with 10D ALLS Well?
I too noted the CSO to AnonT with ALFA.
I agree with IM re RUINER, and this Canadian would never say KNEELED (Knelt would be my choice). Merriam-Webster says both are OK.
Hand up with Hungry Mother for having Guard before GUIDE as my museum escort. (Those GUIDES are currently laid-off but the Guards may still be working. But there are many virtual tours available.)
The Pokey Puppy rings a bell deep in my memory bank.
Favourite clue was for 51A DOTS (hi Wendybird). (Also smiled at Trio in that clue and TREYS.)
Hahtoolah's comment about the longest bridges made me think of the Confederation Bridge which joins the eastern Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. "The curved, 12.9 kilometre (8 mile) long bridge is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water, and continues to endure as one of Canada’s top engineering achievements of the 20th century." The webcam at the site shows only the occasional transport truck as all unnecessary interprovincial travel is currently prohibited by the public authorities.
ConfederationBridge
Wishing you all a good day. Stay safe.
Yuman thank you for pointing out that the "JOHNS HOPKINS" post is a fake. I spotted it as a fake immediately for several reasons. One clue was the line "antibodies cannot kill what is not alive". It confused antibiotics and antibodies. Your body successfully creates antibodies to fight viruses.
It is a common tactic of fake stories to attribute them to a reputable source. Another clue in this case was that there was no specific citation of the source at Johns Hopkins.
Please do a Google search before reposting messages to be sure the information is true.
WC, I meant no controversy when associating the President with Twitter. No value judgment implied, love the tweets or resent them. Trump is proud of his tweets. They make him feel connected to his base. Trump is to tweets as FDR is to Fireside Chats.
Supposedly Bessie Braddock encountered an intoxicated Churchill and said “Sir, you are drunk.” He replied, "And you, Bessie, are ugly. But I shall be sober in the morning, and you will still be ugly." Some say Churchill actually said this. Others say it is apocryphal. If Churchill said it, then he was working off an old joke that had been around for decades. Funny regardless.
Thank you, Lucina--glad we're in the same circle!
No circles on the Merriam-Webster site, so I didn't get the theme or even look for it. Otherwise it was an enjoyable puzzle. Hahtoolah's explanation showed me what it would have been.
Other than not knowing BJNOVAK and KLEE, it was pretty smooth sailing. Perps helped a lot. However, I did want DAM instead of DIKE, but it wasn't long enough.
I have a friend who has a family/group or GAZE of Raccoons that scratch on his patio door to get their evening allotment of FIG NEWTONS that he gives them. They seem to prefer them to other cookies that he has given them. NILLA wafers are also acceptable to them. They will eventually eat whatever he gives them, but the Newtons get devoured the fastest.
I personally prefer chocolate chip cookies or snicker-doodles, but like the raccoons, a cookie is a cookie.
Keep practicing your social distancing and stay safe everyone.
New Bootlegging Opportunity
Ohio and Pennsylvania share a 92 mile border. It's named Elicott's line after surveyor Andrew Elicott, who surveyed it in 1786. It's a straight line from East Liverpool up to Lake Erie.
It's never been uncommon for PA residents along the border to cross into Ohio to buy their liquor, which is only sold in "State Stores" in PA. I mean, why drive 10, 15 miles or more to get your bottle of hooch at a State Store when you might be able to just drive a couple of miles across the state line and get it in Ohio ?
As oc4Beach mentioned a few weeks ago, the PA Governor declared the State Stores non-essential. Those that lived in proximity to the border were bothered little.
That's all changed.
"Ohio bans alcohol sales to Pa. residents"
I expect that in a few weeks or so I'll be reading another story in the Vindicator about Ohio citizens being busted for transporting and selling liquor in PA....
This Tuesday puzzle went quickly.
Too quickly...
Write-overs...SEGO/SAGO.
Try to get a handyman a day after a tornado/heavy wind storm...got an appointment on the 6th try. Most of the one man outfits are booked into June. The one coming tomorrow at noon is part of a franchise with lots of employees. I just want this small window seam leak taken care of.
And on to Wednesday...stay safe.
Fun theme and puzzle! Never heard of BJ NOVAK but the crosses were reasonable. FIR. Not sure why people dislike circles?
I could only think of the Seinfeld NEWMAN. Thank you Hahtoolah and Husker Gary for explaining NEW MAN. And thank you for those many illustrations, Hahtoolah. I agree that the one for BRADS is incorrect, but I appreciate all the effort.
DW and I went to the Santa YNEZ Valley last month to see the wildflowers. We were disappointed and may try again. It is easy for us to go there and keep social distancing.
Here is my article on our spectacular Santa YNEZ wildflower experience last year.
From Yesterday:
Yellowrocks thanks for reminding me that Boomer had Mairzy Doats but with a different spelling. It was fun to be reminded of my mother's singing.
Yes, I have also gotten those fake emails that appear to be from people I know recently. I check the header. But I also generally don't click on links unless the person has given a good explanation of the link. And I also check where the link is really going first and make sure it is a reputable site.
Lucina thank you for the very kind words about our small city and our celebrations. I wish more places would emulate this virtuous cycle of community events and quality of life. That would be way cool if you could come out to Santa Barbara! Solstice is definitely a great occasion for that. Fiesta, too. Not sure if either of these will happen this year. It looks like Highland is about 150 miles from here.
As for copying and pasting, I am not sure what device you are using. But on my big old desktop computer I just have to do CTRL-A to Select all and CTRL-C to Copy. If the post gets posted OK, it was just two extra keystrokes. But if it failed to post, you have the lost message saved and you can just paste it back in with CTRL-V.
Just give it a try the next time you post and see if that works for you.
Thanks for the replies regarding the style guide. The one from Microsoft is great if bulky, and I found one on OpenEd that is succinct and good enough for daily use.
Even though I don't drink, I wish that voters would gang up on the state legislatures and force them to open up liquor sales to private business. It would make the customer's state of residence irrelevant, I think. I'm not a lawyer, but I think it would be harder for the state to demand that a business sell goods only to residents of the state. I had a pal who was ranking delegate on the committee that controlled Virginia's alcohol sales. He had a LOT of influence which he would never give up willingly. He was a good guy but I had to bite my tongue whenever the topic came up. I lived in California when the voters forced the sale of liquor in grocery stores. The only harm that I could detect was to the liquor stores that lost the ability to overcharge. I get very afraid when I hear about state and federal lawmakers insist that governments should be broadband providers. Let them subsidize the existing providers to provide broadband via 5G the way that they subsidized rural landline service in the last century, but keep them the hell away from operating the service themselves at all costs.
TTP: In addition to Ohio banning sales of liquor to Pennsylvanians, a West Virginia county bans liquor sales to out-of-state residents including Pennsylvanians. Pennsylvanians can still buy beer and wine at other outlets, but the hard core drinkers will not take kindly to being told they can't have their hard stuff.
Actually, isn't what Ohio and West Virginia doing a restraint of interstate trade. Sorta goes against the Constitution. Of course Pennsylvania considers buying booze in another state and bringing it into Pennsylvania as Bootlegging. I guess I know a lot of bootleggers.
I agree with Jinx on opening up the sale of liquor to private enterprise.
To: Yumanat 11:39 AM,
I posted only the body of the e-mail I received. I have contact info for the sender. Snopes can uncover fakes, but why would someone write so much enlightening info as a fake.
Picardat 1:24 PM,
"NO BACTERICIDE OR ANTIBIOTIC WILL WORK because the virus is not a living organism like bacteria; antibodies cannot kill what is not alive."
It is unfortunate that the writer changed from "antibiotic" to "antibody" in the sentence, but the info is sound.
Go wash your hands and scrub for 20 seconds or more to create lots of foam.
Ðave
oc4beach: Section 2 of the 21st Amendment (repealing Prohibition) forbids importation of alcoholic beverages in violation of state law.
Debbie twice in such a short time, more feast or famine? HG, would the game be much different to you if the shooter had missed 12 two-point shots?
My favorite Winston/Lady Astor story was when they were seated together at a state dinner. Winston asked, "Lady Astor, I fi give you one million pounds will you sleep with me? "
She answered, "Sir Winston, you flatter me." Winston, "How about for a shilling."
LA, "How dare you! What do you think I am?" Winston, " I know what you are, I am just negotiating price."
Roy @4:07pm: Drat!
D4E4H @11.39 there were several red flags that might suggest it was a fake. For example, only some Listerine contains alcohol and it is less than 20% I have been guilty of forwarding some information that I later learned was fake, it happens.
I found the John Hopkins site at, coronavirus.jhu.edu to be very accurate and informative.
With this crazy virus there are so many unknowns, but we all can agree that good hand washing is one of the best things we can do.
But OC4 and Roy, governors don't make laws. Does the 21st amendment cover fiats as well as actual laws that govern liquor importation? I guess it just a matter of decree (I'll see myself out now.)
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/johns-hopkins-covid-summary/
...
We won’t go through each point, but we did find a few items on this list to be factually inaccurate.
For starters, this list starts with the claim that COVID-19 is a “protein molecule (DNA).” DNA is not a protein, and coronaviruses are RNA viruses which contain no DNA.
The list also claims that Listerine contains more alcohol than Vodka. This is not true. Most Listerine products contain 27% alcohol, resulting in an approximately 54-proof product. Vodka on the other hand typically contains 40% alcohol, which results in an 80-proof product. Neither of these items will effectively sanitize your hands. Soap should be your first choice, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) writes that if soap and water are not available, an alcohol-based sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol (120 proof) can be used. Then wash with soap and water as soon as you can.
This list also states COVID-19 needs “moisture to stay stable, and especially darkness. Therefore, dehumidified, dry, warm and bright environments will degrade it faster.” But this has not been definitively proven. Although there is still a lot to learn about this new strain of coronavirus, the World Health Organization states that “the COVID-19 virus can be transmitted in ALL AREAS, including areas with hot and humid weather.”
...
D4E4H
If COVID-19 “remains stable in colder temperatures including air conditioning in houses and cars” us folks here in the desert will be in big trouble, as soon we will be running our AC 24/7 for the next 4 months.
The WHO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Chinese government, so until major reforms have been implemented I will take any statement they issue with a grain of salt.
PVX, how bad is it? I am worried about you?
I "corrected" the picture of the Brads.
I just finished reading The Great Influenza, by John M. Barry. Although it is about the 1918 pandemic, there are a lot of parallels to todays situation. It is very readable and I highly recommend it.
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Debbie, liked the puzzle! Got the theme! I didn't like circles when I was using the Mensa site which didn't show the circles. Now I'm on a site which shows the circles and do like them.
Thanks, Hahtoolah, for another great expo. "POKy Little Puppy" was a favorite book of mine as a child. My mother's teenaged cousin came to visit when I was about 3 yrs.old. I tagged along that poor girl insisting she read it to me dozens of times. This became a family joke the rest of our life. When I was 40 and picked her up at the airport, she wouldn't get in the car until I assured her, "No, I didn't bring the POKy Little Puppy book". Good laugh! When my mother gave me a box of my childhood books to read to my kids, the POKy Puppy book was the only one with both covers missing and the pages were all "dog earred".
FIG NEWTONS were also a big favorite of mine. Once when I was around 8 yrs.old, I got into a new package of FIG NEWTONS unbeknownst to my mother. That night I was writhing around on the floor with such a stomach ache, Mom was sure I had appendicitis.
RIBEYE STEAKS were also a favorite of mine with home grown choice meat at our house. However, by that time I was adult enough not to indulge to excess. Well, maybe enough to pack on a few unwanted pounds over 30 years.
Tried to cram in "docent" before Guard then GUIDE. Wanted "levee" before DIKE.
No no no Hahtoolah! Your BRAD picture wasn’t wrong!! It’s just a different kind of brad.
The two legged brad is used to clip papers together as Yellowrocks mentioned. The BRADS used as small nails are different but also correct!!!
PK, I also wanted Docent for tour guide.
And I also love Poky Little Puppy.
D-O, I take it that the Submarine Captain had a sharp tongue and was skillful at the bon mot/ put down. I recall reading that book but I can't remember it other than enjoying it.
Docent was the word I couldn't come up with.
So, does Johns Hopkins have a conscise , readable guide on Covid-19?
YR, what's unusual is that nobody else went for that Twitter Machine chestnut. Perhaps because if nothing else our POTUS is certainly that. And, I've had the similar thought vis a vis the FDR Fireside chats. Of course the tone….
WC
Hi All!
Thanks Debbie for the puzzle. Thanks Hahtoolah for being the MIDDLE woMAN today at The Corner. Always fun expos.
WO: FT. Ord b/f recalling wrong side of the country.
ESPs: BJ NOVAK, KLEE
Fav: ALFA and ITALY in a puzzle? Com'on, that's nice.
{A, A, B, B}
PK - Thank you! All day I was trying to remember that fancy word for museum GUIDE that I learnt at The Corner. Docent..
Jinx - DW's not the only one w/ an Alfa ['86 Spider], just the only one w/ an Alfa that consistently runs :-)
Spitz & TTP beat me to the Style Guides.
Oh, and The WHO... Chinese? No, they're Brits.
Re: Monopoly IRON - anyone watch HBO's documentary McMillion$ [Trailer]? DW & I finished the last episode this eve. I was surprised I didn't remember any of the scandal until realizing things were going to trial right before 9/11.
WC - Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Basics. Here's the map. And, here's the story behind the map [NPR's ATC 4m]
Enjoyed reading everyone today!
Cheers, -T
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