It is May Day as well as being a new month. WhiteRabbit. After an absence, our all-time Friday puzzle maker is back. Jeffrey has offered a traditional add-a-letter for humor theme. The letter is "Y." To which all I can say is Y Not? Of course, there are always added layers to his work. 1) Each vowel in the word to which the Y is added changes its sound from short to long. 2) The first two change the "I", the next two change a "U." 3) The first two have the change in the beginning of the phrase, the next two in the last word. And he continues to stuff the grid with much sparkly fill. APROPOS, CLEAVER, FLORIST, HOSTESS, SOMALIA, TIME LAG, HAIRINESS, and LIMEWATER which makes its LAT debut.
18A. Escargot gatherer's bounty?: SLIMY PICKINGS (13). Escargot is snails and they really do leave a slimy trail as they travel. They also make a loud pop when you step on one after heavy rain.
21. Harvest worker needing a bath?: THE GRIMY REAPER (14). A bit of a downer clue both before and after the Y.
40A. Much ado about nothing?: ARTIFICIAL FURY (14). Jeffrey sneaks in a Shakespeare reference. The Fur has led to an odd SUBCULTURE.
44A. Successful gem seeker's cry?: THERE'S THE RUBY (13).
More Shakespeare, the original comes from Hamlet. "To die, to sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there's the rub.
On that note, on to the rest.
1. Declare: ASSERT.
7. Domestic power connection, briefly: AC PLUG. Alternating current. DISCUSS.
13. Large envelope: MAILER. I think Boomer's stream of conscious comments have gotten to me. How else can I explain this?
14. One working on arrangements: FLORIST. This fooled me the first time I saw it.
15. Feature of communication with space probes: TIME LAG. I leave this topic for HG to explain better but will give you all this LINK.
17. Relevant: APROPOS. A morphed word from the French.
20. Quebec neighbor: MAINE. A CSO to Hahtoolah and our Canadian readers.
30. Chewbacca trait: HAIRINESS.
31. Club usually numbered: IRON. A CSO for our Golfers, Big Easy, Husker Gary and so many more.
33. Frisée is its curly variety: ENDIVE. I am not a fan.
34. Digestive aid: SALIVA. I need whenever I eat any type of endive.
36. Your alternative: ONE'S.
37. Flavored thirst quencher: LIMEWATER. This is an aqueous solution of slaked lime, used in medicine, antacids, and lotions, and to absorb carbon dioxide from the air. Nothing to do with the lime juice and water my wife gives me in the morning.
43. Study aids: NOTES.
52. Butcher's staple: CLEAVER. I am not keen on this choice, but I guess it related to the usage of a regular and important part or feature of something. The black dress was an enduring staple of Diana’s wardrobe.
54. Horn of Africa country: SOMALIA. Traditional Somali food is determined by a socioeconomic context. In a nomadic settlement, camel or goat meat and camel or cow milk are common staples.
55. Little Debbie competitor: HOSTESS. The showdown.
56. Blinker, e.g.: SIGNAL. Which almost no one in Florida uses.
57. Many a Sunday magazine: INSERT.
58. Kindly: PLEASE. Let's go to the downs.
Down:
1. Tsp. and tbsp.: AMTS. All abbreviated measures.
2. Sloop feature: SAIL. This is a one-masted sailboat with a fore-and-aft mainsail and a jib. Or...
3. __ Valley, Calif.: SIMI. Home of the Reagen library. A cost of living index above 100 means Simi Valley, California is more expensive. Simi Valley's cost of living is 149.9, almost 50% higher.
4. Pre-K follower: ELEM. I do not care for the fill, nor the clue. Kindergarten follows Pre-k.
5. Be dependent: RELY. A negative way to look at it.
6. Kisser: TRAP. Shut your trap or I will bust you in the kisser!
7. Type of skiing: ALPINE. Would you like to learn? Visit Montana (hi Darlene) or try THESE.
8. Natural light refractor: CORNEA. CSO to me.
9. Sophisticated rock genre, briefly: PROGressive.
Progressive rock (often shortened to prog or prog rock) is a form of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility."
10. Kissers: LIPS. See above.
11. It offered soldiers Hope: Abbr.: USO. Just prior to the onset of America’s involvement in World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to unite several service associations into one organization to lift the morale of our military and nourish support on the home front. Those entities – the Salvation Army, Young Men’s Christian Association, Young Women’s Christian Association, National Catholic Community Services, National Travelers Aid Association and the National Jewish Welfare Board - became the United Service Organizations or, the USO.
12. Some hot rods: GTS. GranTurisimos.
14. Muslim ascetics: FAKIRS. A Muslim religious ascetic or religious mendicant, especially one who performs feats of magic or endurance. Origin of fakir. From Arabic faqīr.
16. Easy putt, in casual golf: GIMME. I can hear all the players practicing.
19. Low isles: CAYS. A cay (also spelled key; both pronounced alike as "key" English pronunciation: /kiː/) is a small, low island consisting mostly of sand or coral and situated on top of a coral reef. The English word cay comes from the Spanish word cayo and this from the Taíno word cayo meaning "small island". Go visit Cay West.
21. Religious prefix: THEO. HISTORY.
22. Big-name in animation: HANNA. More than you ever wanted to know about the Hanna-Barbera legacy.
23. Down for a pillow: EIDER. Somehow this makes perfect sense next to...
24. Mill fill: GRIST. This is the grain that is ground to make flour.
25. Snake or Gila: Abbr.: RIVer.
26. Analogue for -like: INE. The fun part is that this suffix has two distinct pronunciations. LINK. Unless you are British or maybe Canadian? Eh?
27. Rice dish: PILAF. Not in my house. We have jasmine rice, sweet rice, sticky rice, and blue rice.
28. Verdi baritone aria: ERI TU. Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) is an 1859 opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi.
29. Relative of Fido: ROVER.
32. "You ain't gwyne to drink a drop--__ single drop": Twain: NARY. I am unfamiliar with the passage, though I have read HUCKLEBERRY FINN many times.
34. Word with lion or horse: SEA. Oo's mother's great-great-grandson's name translates to SEA.
35. Leather punch: AWL. A well-timed CSO to
37. Gallon's 3.785: LITERS. Almost another Canadian CSO, but spelled wrong.
38. Summer treats: ICES. Not for our missing Tinbeni.
39. They may drift over valleys: MISTS.
41. "You have some crust!": I NEVER. Well! I never! I hear Groucho Marx telling Margaret Dumont, "With your face, you never will!"
42. It may have many ashes: FOREST. A slight misdirection.
44. Nickname for Esther: TESS. I did not know: Tess is a given name, typically a diminutive form of Theresa or Esther.
45. __-watch: continue viewing a show you no longer like: HATE.
I have not heard of this term to watch (a television program) for the sake of the enjoyment one derives from mocking or criticizing it. It makes no sense to me.
46. ICU or ER site: HOSP.ital.
47. Expressionist painter Nolde: EMIL. My only UNKNOWN.
48. All the __: popular: RAGE.
49. Radius neighbor: ULNA. Arm bones.
50. Slant: BIAS.
51. School since 1701: YALE. It has a long HISTORY if you want to read up.
52. X as in Xerxes: CHI. It is all Greek to me.
53. Chaney of film: LON. There have been two. The father born LEONIDAS and his son Creighton, who became LON Chaney Jr.
How nice to start the new month and the gradual return to business with a 66 word !?! puzzle from Jeffrey. Be careful, be safe. lemonade, not out in hibernation.
55 comments:
Lots to like about this puzzle, but I agree with Lemonade that ELEM isn't a great answer nor does it have a great clue here.
As Lemonade also points out, LIMEWATER isn't lime-flavored water and has nothing to do with the lime fruit. It's a specific product that can be made from limestone that's used for its chemical properties. It's a completely legitimate answer, but it shouldn't be clued as "flavored thirst quencher." Lemonade is a flavored thirst quencher, though!
I liked how the USO clue brought in Bob Hope in a tricky way. He did a lot of great work for that organization.
I second your comments. All in all a decent puzzle.A Friday Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle that is solvable is not a bad thing. Thanks Jeffery.
Good morning!
What a great start to the new month. JW provided a theme that even d-o could suss. Only Wite-Out moments were PIXAR/HANNA and KEYS/CAYS. Lotsa nice stuff to enjoy. Thanx, JW and Lemonade (not Limewater).
Escargot: We often see road-crossing snails during our morning march through the 'hood. Dw always picks 'em up and carries them to the other side.
USO: We had a USO show featuring Miss America on our carrier back in '71. Don't remember if Bob Hope was there. I had duty and didn't get to attend.
CAYS: QUAY is another "watery" word pronounced with that long E sound.
TESS: I had an Aunt Esther who married a William. I never heard them called anything other than Ottie and Spitz.
Good morning. It wasn't a GIMME today. But Wechsler puzzles are always tough. The NW gave me the most trouble. MAST, SPAR, or SAIL; NAPA or SIMI, TAP IN or GIMME, EL-HI or ELEM, and aren't all envelopes MAILERS? So what did I originally fill? SNAIL PICKINGS until I figured out the perps. But that was only after THE GRIMY REAPER fill was in place- V8.
11D- the clue for Hope- My original fill was USN, as the the USS Hope, the hospital ship.
HATE watch- never heard of it. Turn the idiot box OFF. especially if for some really strange reason you are looking at something you don't like.
But only three unknowns filled by perps- ERI TU, EMIL Nolde, & ENDIVE (and Frisee).
I have no idea what "progressive rock" really means. I guess they want you to think they are sophisticated. TESS for Esther- an easy fill but I've never know anybody called TESS and only a few Esthers.
LIME WATER? That is what you would call the water that leaves mineral deposits that you need to use Lime-Away or Clr to remove.
Restaurants are opening up here today.
I liked the theme and it helped. I had TIMEgAp for a short while and keYS before CAYS. Clear SAILing otherwise.
FLN, from Steve:"It's a soap. We've just finished Season 2 and love/hate it!". Led right in to 45d, HATE-Watch.
I haven't checked the write-up, I just want to spleen. Yes, I noticed it was JeffWesch and what was I expecting in a Friday. The long themes bailed me out.
I completely glitched* up the NW followed by an inky mess in NE. I finally went to the SW and got 1. A foothold and 2. The gist of the theme.
REAPER got me going in the middle. TG for SIMI. HANNA and FLORIST finished it. Now let's see what Lemony/TTP (I think it's the former's turn) has to say.
I tried to work FLUTIST in. PtOG/PROG??? At least the latter made some kind of post millennial sense
I remember when Hostess cupcakes appeared on the snack machine and my buddies and I made a run on them. They were never stocked again. Leading to my thesis that vendors only stock what will last to the next time they stock.
I'm posting. This is long enough. I think I FIR but …
WC
* I meant "Blotched" but I like the spoon Google provided
25D, had rep(tile) before endive made me change.
My favorite Hostess product was Sno Balls. Have not seen them for decades, I wonder if they still make them?
Good Morning Everyone! I just thought I would ring in on a Friday since normally I survey the comments on Monday very late in the day. I just want to thank all of you for your comments on Mondays and I really appreciate them. Just letting you know I finally got on a golf course yesterday. 18 long holes with hills and it took me around 18 minutes just to get out of bed this morning. A friend bowling buddy called me and invited me to a 9 hole league on an executive course on Monday mornings. I think that will be more likened to my skill capacity. Golf courses are strange now. One person per cart, no rakes in bunkers, no ball washers, and restricted depth on the holes, and DON'T touch the pins! But it was great to get out. C.C. and I have been complying with the "stay at home" instruction from our Governor, and are limited to a weekly trip to a grocery store and perhaps a walk around our pond if the weather is okay. I filled up with gas on March 20 and I still have 3/4 of a tank. I cannot take advantage of the $1.49 per gallon. Happy MAY everyone, stay safe and active. Boomer
CORNEA. I(too?) was looking for a gem or perhaps a RUBY.
Why the capital H in Hope? Perhaps as in Faith,Hope and Charity. AHA, As in Bob. Clever.
I actually inked PIXEL. Again thank you EIDER.
Not snake, not syn. That (RIV) was late coming .
That's because it's Pudd'nhead Wilson
From my earlier post about buddies. I meant that to be "buddie" as in fellow, female worker. Both married but she took my counsel that her little trysts with a client were the talk of the building
WC
Anyone else notice:
44D: Clued as "Nickname for Esther".
44A: Filled as "TherESTHERuby".
Nifty!
Took 12 minutes & 7 seconds to complete this fine Friday puzzle.
Didn't know fakirs, endive, and Emil.
I liked your links, Lemonade. I loved this puzzle, Jeff. It was easy for a Friday because I caught on to the theme very quickly. My favorite was "It offered soldiers Hope"/USO.
The capital G in Gila indicated a RIVer rather than a REPtile.
Around here kindergarten is considered one of the elementary school grades in all the public schools. When I taught kindergarten I was considered an elementary school teacher. No nit.
Limewater (NO SPACE) contains calcium hydroxide in water.
Lime water (with a space) is indeed made with the citrus fruit called lime and water, There are many references to this drink on the internet, although I can't find that meaning in the dictionary.
HATE: I can just picture a bunch of teens watching a lame TV show and trying to crack each other up with mockery.
I waited for perps to decide between LITER and LITRE. The people who measure in litres use the -RE spelling.
I made a blue fake fur Cookie Monster costume one Halloween. When I stopped on the way to the dance to buy cookies the little kids in the store were thrilled.
Barry T. Finding ESTHER in 44 A/ cool.
I suppose I had better brave a trip to the store for a Mother's Day card for DIL. I have arranged to have flowers sent to her next week.
Good morning everyone.
A challenge today but with J. Wechsler, it's worth it. Lots of fresh fill and getable theme. Only fill in top was LIPS, at the beginning, and then had to probe all the way down to the SE to establish firm building blocks. Thankfully THERE'S THE RUBY fell early. Three wite-outs: had 'manila' before MAILER, and EL-HI before ELEM. Agree with Lemon about the fill. Got RIV easily which gave the ENDIVE crossing. Stewed over Quebec neighbor, no provinces fit, and the phonetic alphabet's 'romeo' didn't agree with perps. The light bulb went on with Maine. (I have driven across the Quebec-MAINE border.). Favorite fill was SLIMY PICKINGS.
EIDER - As kids, we always had featherbeds. (Federdecke). My parents grew up on the banks of the EIDER RIVer which is most of the boundary between Schleswig and Holstein. The etymology of the EIDER down and River is the same.
Thanks Lemonade for another fine intro.
Boomer, it's good to see your golfing enthusiasm.
Musings
-Jeffrey Wechsler is the Sally Rand of puzzles. You think you see something but you aren’t sure. Great fun!
-Ideal weather - Riverside, AZ in winter and Riverside, ME in summer?
-IRON – Because my golf course is so good and so many people aren’t working, I now have to call to get a tee time.
-Lemon, my wife gives me a big glass of “get your own!” every morning! :-)
-INSERTS are fine, it’s the wrap-around ads that are annoying
-“Will you kindly tell me how kindly = PLEASE?” Oh, never mind…
-You might want to putt anyway, but when someone says, “That’s a GIMME,” it’s bad form not to take it
-A young woman told me the name of her black dog was Raven. I replied, “Oh for the Edgar Allen Poe poem?” She replied, “No, because he’s black.”
-At my childhood soda fountain, LIME SYRUP in soda water was called a Green River
-Bob Hope’s great line when introducing Ann Margaret to the troops: “I want you to remember what you’re fighting for!”
Chi for 52 down was beyond me. Forest was oblique. Hate watching? I always have issues with Mr Wechsler's puzzles
Addenda
-Tin called me last week to tell me he is doing fine but he has a broken computer and the library is closed where he uses one. I “yelled” at him to get a new computer but he changed the subject and rambled on. What a guy!
-TIME LAG - This great scene from Contact shows that a planet orbiting the star Vega received a 1936 image (disturbing for us) from Earth and sent it back to us 50 years later. Since the signal travels at the speed of light it took 25 years to get to Vega, which is 25 light years away, and 25 years to return in 1986
A fine Jeffery W. puzzle. I actually figured out the theme and was able to get it done in reasonable Friday time. Lemon put a lot of info in the grid tour also.
I pretty much agree with Big Easy about the northwest being a bit of a sticky area. After I swapped SIMI for NAPA and ELEM for ELHI it started to fill in.
BobB @7:44am: Yes, Sno Balls are still made and on the shelves of our local supermarket in central Pennsylvania. Apparently they are no longer made by Hostess.
Well, here it is, another month gone by.
Have a good day everyone.
FIR (whew) a true Friday challenge. Was hung up by some incorrect entries then "saw the natural light." Had key for CAY...finally corrected which brought MAINE. Slalom/ALPINE. Didn't know the Keys (from CAYS) were low.....NE completed once PROG (huh?) perpwalked. Held off for perps with wheat/GRIST, rep/RIV. LIMEWATER.(wha?sounds kinda sour).
Unusual for me but parsed the "minus Y" theme which helped all but the SLIMY snails till last. (The "Crust" clue must be some regional expression unknown to me.) Was looking for dog breed for "frisée". Nice to see The Beav's family mentioned.
My Aunt TESS (Tessie when we were little) was a great HOSTESS. Her name was Theresa. (Also Tessie Teresa Mary O'Shea the performer)
Award for best clue so far is USO Bob Hope. I hesitated so long because the clue was past tense until after multiple reviews I finally noticed the H was upper case.
Now for the worst.
You know a pirate with a glass eye? I met one with a _____ ....FAKIR.
The flight is delayed that'll ______ us some time......BIAS
Eliot was smooth shaven but his brother Henry was a ______ ......HAIRINESS.
Don't just bounce on the board go ahead _______ !...ENDIVE
Another ugly rainy day. Waiting for those May flowers. On to Saturn's day.
Good Morning:
As soon as I filled in Slimy Pickings, I knew lots of fun awaited me. Mind you, though, Jeffrey's tricky cluing and word wizardry often had me spinning my wheels. My w/os were way above recent Friday solves: Manila/Mailer, Rolaid/Saliva, Senegal/Somalia, ElHi/Elem, Time Log/Time Lag, Pixar/Hanna, Wood/Iron, and Ades/Ices. My unknowns were Prog, Eri Tu, and Emil. i wasn't familiar with Hate Watch, Lime Water, or Tess as a form of Esther. i liked the clechos of Lips and Trap and the Hate/Rage duo. Maine was a CSO to Hatoolah and Lemony (University) and Madame Defarge who vacations there annually. My favorite C/A was Much Ado About Nothing=Artificial Fury!
Thanks, Jeffrey W, for some much-needed fun and distraction and thanks, Lemony, for your enlightening and entertaining review.
Boomer, good to hear from you while you're off duty and a "civilian". Good luck on the links! 🏌️♂️
Does anyone know why Tin is AWOL?
FLN
Just wanted to agree with Tx Ms and Steve's admiration for P. D. James. I think I read every one of her novels and particularly enjoyed her protaganist, Inspector Adam Dagliesh.
Stay safe, all.
Wikipedia says:
An elementary school is the main point of delivery of primary education in the United States, for children between the ages of 6–11
and coming between pre-kindergarten and secondary education.
It is usually from kindergarten through fifth grade.
Phew! Glad to see that I knew where I was during my 32 years of teaching, especially my years spent teaching kindergarten.
HG @ 10:06 ~ I was typing (and dilly-dallying) when you posted the Tin report. Thanks for sharing that he's alive and well! 🥃
Pretty new here. Can anyone kindly tell me what CSO means?
Well, I got off to a great start with ASSERT and that quickly gave me MAILER and TIME LAG and SLIMY. But then it started to get tougher with just occasional responses here and there--like EIDER for the down pillow. And I knew HOPE was Bob Hope and so got USO without any problem. All in all, a typical Friday for me, but Jeffrey Wechsler puzzles are always fun, even if they're a bit challenging. So, thanks, Jeffrey, and great pictures, Lemonade.
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
Thank you, Mr. Wechsler! That was fun, and I FIR in spite of intial missteps with manila/MAILER and snail/SLIMY in the northwest. In the northeast, I went from "planner" to "pianist" to FLORIST. The greatest delight was "Little Debbie competitor" because just before attempting the puzzle, I was explaining to my dear husband that Hostess makes a much better cupcake. Thank you, Lemonade, for the video clip, which I've shared with the Mister as proof!
Coincidental Shout Out.
NaomiZ and DH.
Because of my addiction to Hostess cupcakes I was curious about the degree of shrinkage from the 1950-60s size I remember to the current which I can nearly stuff whole into my TRAP. Although that search led to a dead end I did happen upon a complete list of ingredients:
Sugar, Water, Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour [flour, Reduced Iron, B Vitamins (niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (b1), Riboflavin (b2), Folic Acid)], Corn Syrup, Palm Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Cocoa, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable And/or Animal Shortening (soybean, Cottonseed And/or Canola Oil, Beef Fat), Soybean Oil. Contains 2% Or Less Of: Glycerin, Soy Lecithin, Cocoa Processed With Alkali, Calcium Carbonate, Leavenings (sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Cornstarch, And Monocalcium Phosphate), Whole Eggs, Modified Corn Starch, Glucose, Baking Soda, Dextrose, Salt, Corn Starch, Whey, Corn Syrup Solids, Inulin, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Mono And Diglycerides, Egg Whites, Potassium Sorbate, Agar, Calcium Sulfate, Locust Bean Gum, Sunflower Oil, Disodium Phosphate, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Polysorbate 60, Sorbic Acid (to Retain Freshness), Xanthan Gum, Wheat Flour, Enzymes, Sodium Stearate, Cellulose Gum, Gelatin, Titanium Dioxide (color), Chocolate Liquor.
When I saw I had to get my teeth around a Jeffwich,
I tossed the dead tree & went straight to the red letters...
My 1st sea of white was confirmation,
but I should have stuck with the ink as the
slimy trail of the theme helped immensely...
Not having had lunch yet,
my thoughts of this puzzle seem to be obsessing
about making rice in a rich beef stock.
(mmmm,,,)
Maybe I'll come back after lunch...
Hola!
I ASSERT that it's about time we had a JeffWex puzzle! And what a nice challenge with JW's typical misdirection and fun word play!
One of the biggest detours for me was Snake and Gila since both are reptiles but it didn't take long to realize they are also RIVers. Otherwise the fill was not too difficult until the NW. MANILA had to go in favor of MAILER and ATTEST changed to ASSERT.
I'm very familiar with THEOlogy and do recall those wonderful EIDER quilts and pillows while traveling in Europe.
THEGRIMYREAPER gave me a real laugh!
Best misdirection was for FOREST: it may have many ashes.
SEA/MISTS next to each other also evoked a smile.
What fun! Come back soon, Mr. Wechsler. And thank you, Lemonade, for parsing it so clearly.
Happy May Day, everyone!
Got the theme with THE GRIMY REAPER. Fun! Tricky clues but few unknowns which is my kind of puzzle. FIR!
I developed a taste for ESCARGOT as my favorite food as a child in Europe. I could not understand why my classmates in America found this disgusting when I transferred to the US. A not so fond memory from Europe was EIDER. My brother and I are deathly allergic to this and it was a real problem.
XERXES was Persian, not Greek. What does XERXES have to do with the Greek letter CHI? Other than that CHI looks a bit like an X.
I knew FAKIR since I was a child when I read my mother's Believe It Or Not book that was probably from the 1930s. I am not sure what happened to that book and a Google search turns up very little.
Here is one Believe It Or Not example of a FAKIR that I was able to find.
Has anyone ever heard that expression "You have some crust"?
Here I was a Unicycling SEA HORSE in Solstice. I even got a tiny bit of TV coverage as you can see.
Lemonade sorry for being dense, but can you explain how your wife's mother could have a great-great-grandson? That is even more amazing than the case of Lucina!
From Yesterday:
CrossEyedDave thank you for that wonderful Clarinet link! Rhapsody In Blue is one of my favorite pieces of music. It was a delight to watch that European Union Youth Orchestra performance.
TTP thank you for endorsing my observation about taking a guided tour of a place you think you already know well.
CanadianEh thank you for the kind words about my MURAL tour photos in San Francisco. So many people take MURALs for granted, but I treasure them. Our city of Santa Barbara is very conservative with public art and I miss having very many MURALs here.
Ray - O - Sunshine, thanks for the (un) appetizing list of ingredients that make Hostess cupcakes so yummy! I haven't had one of those in years, but I'm enjoying some "Chocolate Cream Handcrafted Cupcakes" made by "Rubicon Bakers" and supplied by our local Sprouts market. These are superior to any store bought cupcakes I've had before, and the ingredient list is manageable. Please don't imagine me living exclusively on cream filled chocolate treats! It was a rare purchase that brought up the cupcake conversation. Nom nom nom. :-)
Hello everybody. I like reading the posts as most have some helpful info. There are many of them pesky words that I have a hard time recalling. "fakir" anyone. My skill level gets me through M - Thurs LATs in good order, but Fridays are a challenge and Sat generally impossible. Thanks Jeffery for the fun puzzle. At first, I thought, no way but started to fill. My downfall today was thinking that "tap in" was a gimme and that led to disaster in the middle of the puzzle. I my golf days, a tap in was a gimme but still had to be tapped in. A gimme would be a picking up of the golf ball without tapping in. We were dopes. Obviously, DNF but overall, I was fine with my effort. Thanks Lemmonade for the tour. Your explanations help me a lot.
BTW, Hostess filed bankruptcy in the early 2000's and they ended up selling off some of their bakeries and brands. Most likely why sno balls are no longer Hostess. Sold the stock before the BR. :o)
Picard, I believe crust is an idiom from period novels. It is quite old fashioned now, so we do not hear it in everyday speech."He had a lot of crust going to the party without an invitation." Those who like historical novels come across many old fashioned sayings. Watching reruns of very old movies helps, too.
I loved your mural pictures. How colorful!
The fact that I now look forward to solving a Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle, instead of dreading the impossibility, tells me I am making progress as a puzzler!
Today was fun and interesting. I got USO but didn’t get the “Hope” reference until you folks pointed it out. V-8 moment!.
Favorite theme answer was THE GRIMY REAPER.
Thank you Jeffrey and Lemonade for a lovely start to the weekend
I just saw Hostess Sno Balls at BiLo...on sale no less. Available just about everywhere. Multiple flavors as well.
This was a tough JW, as per usual.
Many write-overs...MAST/SAIL, PIXAR/HANNA, RADISH/ENDIVE, ADES/ICES, LEAN/BIAS.
OKAY....a quibble...”Some hot rods” are not GTS....no no no....a hot rod is just what you think, an old car that has been extremely modified, usually with an exposed motor, lowered and channeled, no fenders...you know exactly what I’m describing.
A GT is something like a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston-Martin...a low, usually exclusive, usually 2 passenger, fast, comfortable, good handling coupe made for travel.
There’s no comparison between the two, other than that they are both cars.
End of quibble.
See you Saturday.
In Turkey we were treated to a show of FAKIRS. They were tall men dressed in long, white toga-like gowns and twirled around until they reached tremendous speeds making them look like tops. I am sure they must have been dizzy afterwards but they showed no sign of it. I likely have photos but will have to search for them.
Well, I started off thinking “Ooh, a JW Friday... this won’t be easy.” It wasn’t. I made a good start in the NW (!) which made me think otherwise. It was the NE that very nearly did me in and showed me I had been right. 7A and 7D were a natick from the git-go. Loved the gimmick, which I caught with the first one. That really helped the center fill in. FIR in about average time.
I have no quarrel with 37A; with no way to parse it, it could be either LIMEWATER (doesn’t fit the clue) or LIME WATER (does fit). I did have trouble figuring out how Xerxes had anything to do with CHI for quite a while.
Never heard the term HATE-watch. I do know (and enjoy) progressive rock but have never heard it called PROG rock.
It’s about time we had another of Jeff’s Friday classics; thanks! And Lemon, Your writeup was up to your usual standards.
Stay well, don’t touch your face, don’t touch my face, and wash your hands. I’ll probably see you tomorrow possibly.
Hi All!
I should have kept cribin' from Spitz's paper. I mean, sure, MANILA and ELHI were wrong but at least I'da gotten RIV.
FIW. I kept insisting to myself that Frisee (pronounced frizzy?) was a hair product and END--- (as in split) confirmed my madness.
So, Frisee is lettuce-y? And here I call myself a gardener.
FIW w/ REPtile (no YR, the capital Gila didn't help me - and my "learnt for the day" is theys rivers) and the suffix -ISH. I knew HAIRESESS was wrong but I refused to fill HAIRY SASS. [wait for it]
Thank you Jeff Wex for another [insert Maxwell Smart's voice] "beat -T by that much" puzzle. Thanks Lem for the fun review.
You know, yesterday I held off linking Python's Last (er, Penultimate) Supper [4:03] but Rich keeps putting these brain-triggers in there...
GRIM[y] REAPER (a Mr. Death or something...) about the canned salmon mousse [7:28]
NOTEable WOs: aforementioned MANILA/ELHI; I Ink'd Snail at the beginning of 18a, ours b/f ONES, tested the X in Pixar [Hi D-O!] and the P in tapin [Hi Big E!].
ESPs: FAKIERS, EMIL, LON, ERITU,
Fav: Tossup between Bob Hope and FOREST's clue.
Proudest moment: This featherbrain finally remembered EIDER (w/ only 2 perps)
HG - Not being a regular golfer, I didn't know it's bad form not to take a GIMME if told... I was told 'you always putt-out' so did. Gulp... mea culpa.
SansBeach - I'm still 50/50 on a Friday and NARY a Saturday save a blue moon.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday.
Cheers, -T
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.
I was expecting the worst, but this puzzle actually went along fairly easily. The long theme answers all appeared after I had one of them. They helped me with the rest of the puzzle.
I looked at 4D Pre-K, as Preschool-Kindergarten. Therefore ELEM filled in easily for me.
25D gave me fits. I tried REP for reptile. Eventually I figured it out.
I agree with Picard, XERXES was a Persian King.
anonymous: I call CSO Crossword Shout Out, but either way.
Had my endoscopy and colonoscopy this morning. No pain, but I am tired and weak. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
47D EMIL was unknown. Perps.
Liked CORNEA. Good word and definition.
Anyhow, I am bailing out for the day. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Anon-T,
I watched your link,
The Penultimate Supper (again)
& prepared a rebuttal...
However, I then watched (a Mr. Death, or something)
which I have also seen many times, but had completely forgotten
how they all got in their cars to follow him... (LMAO>>>)
Anywho, Pls enjoy another view of the last supper @ 2 minutes...
Agreed, Lemon!
KINDergarten follows "Pre-K," not ELEM.
Sheesh
Yes, Yellowrocks, Kindergarten may now be incorporated into many an ELEM series, but not originally--certainly not in Germany where it began and was defined as a "pre-school" daycare program.
And since the "pre" clue specifically contains the "K," it seems to ask--nay, beg!--for an immediate "K" response.
A Wechsler toughie. But not too tough for yrs truly.
Ta ~ DA!
~ OMK
__________
DR: Rats! Another grid w/o a diagonal--for the sake of anagrams.
Amazed that you guys know more about my specialty after 32 years than I do, also more than my Wiki quote above. I'm outta here.
Just waking from a nap I realized that what I described is dervishes, not FAKIRS.
Picard:
I don't understand why you think my story is amazing. It simply follows a different timeline from most people. Your photos of you on the unicycle are impressive!
I very much liked this puzzle and chuckled at the theme answers. For some reason I entered FLORIST right off the bat, but putting in SLALOM cancelled that out. Hand up for PIXAR before HANNA. I also (over)confidently entered BICHON for Frisee as I fondly thought of Irish Miss, but on the other hand I just knew that EIDER and GRIST had to be right, so...
Other stumbles were ERITREA instead of SOMALIA and GRINDER, then CHOPPER, before CLEAVER.
Hand up for never having heard of HATE watching. I figured Snake and Gila were rivers but I didn't know what the abbreviation for river was. RIV, eh?
Lucina, those whirlers you saw in Turkey, weren't they DERVISHES, not FAKIRS? Or is a Dervish a kind of Fakir?
We used to have a neighbor named Esther. Everybody called her Essie. She was a lovely Irish lass with a beautiful lilting Irish accent. (In her case, I think I'm allowed to call a 75 year-old woman a lass.) I used to do little handyman chores around her house for her.
Glad to know Tinbeni is well. Good wishes to you all.
A forest may have many ASHES. Ah. I get it. I didn't when trying to solve this puzzle. Nor did I get I NEVER. And I certainly didn't get EIDER for "down for a pillow." What does an eiderdown have to do with a pillow? Down for a bed maybe, but a pillow? My first stab was GOOSE and it roosted there for a good while until I was brave enough to tackle the clues around it. Sigh.
As a [bad] golfer I also qualify for the CSO, though I first put GOLF instead of IRON. The woods and hybrids are numbered too, after all.
This was a toughie for me. I"m more of a Mon-Thurs champ, the Fri-Sun puzzles still intimidate me. I took a peek at today's NYT puzzle and ran screaming in fear. Im-frigging-possible.
OMG Gila and Snake are rivers!!!!! aha!
No time to post. JW, thanks thanks!!! I’ve missed you!!!’ And of course you win ...
CED - I think you know I love me some Mel Brooks
//History of the World, Part I is the 9th best movie ever made IMOH.
And, I think you know this but... The guy in the caveman scene is none other than Sid Caesar [Letterman '82].
HG - Thanks for the update on Tin. I was starting to wonder if he didn't just travel further south to the Keys [west?] w/ a bottle of Pinch & Mary's friend.
Jayce - nothing to say re: new avatar?
Vermontah - see my @4:57. Some of us are still learnin' together.
Cheers, -T.
YR said: Around here kindergarten is considered one of the elementary school grades in all the public schools. When I taught kindergarten I was considered an elementary school teacher.
In my school district in the Upper Mohawk Valley of NY, Kindergarten is also considered in the ELEM category as far as I can tell from their website.
BTW, it was announced today that all all schools are closed for the remainder of the school year.
The story of the great-great-grandson.
Oo's mother named Nohn had ten children over a 26 period. Oo is the youngest. Oo's favorite sister is Srithuan, She had a daughter Wee, (granddaughter) who is almost the same age as Oo. She had a son called Johnnie (her great-grandson), Johnnie married and has a son SEA, the great-great-grandson.
Tony, thanks for noticing my new avatar photo I figured the previous one was out of date so I put up this recent photo, taken in January of this year.
Late to the Friday party. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
My newspaper does not credit the constructor (hello CED) but when I arrived here to find this was a JW creation, I knew why I had just completed a workout.
I will claim a multitude of inkblots (some of them overtop of previous inkblots!); but I persevered, saw the added Y and finished.
Immediately at 1A I wanted to enter Aver or Avow - ASSERT filled the spot. Hand up for Manila before MAILER; I oscillated between ElHi and ELEM.
I clung to Ades at 38D before ICES was forced on me.
My mesclun seeds have Frisée in their mixture but I didn't know the name. A small amount in a salad is OK.
I learned ERI TU here not long ago and managed to finally pull it out of my memory bank.
Yes YR, "The people who measure in litres use the -RE spelling".
The clue was Americanized. It is the US Gallon that equals 3.785 LITERS; the Imperial Gallon equals 4.546 Litres!
Wishing you all a good evening.
Wow, that was a workout. Thanks for the writeup, Lemonade.
I agree with @AnonymousPVX - "GT" stands for "Gran Tourismo" - a car designed for performance and long-distance luxury, most certainly not a hot rod.
I like your FAKIR link, esp the derivation of "Pie" in the face. Houdini would have loved to get a crack at that FAKIR. Re. Samadai, I could point to a theory, but it would be against the "No Religion" tradition here*.
PVX, excellent quibble but for the non aficionado a Ford GT that revs at the red light, then floors it with souped up muffler is a "Hotrod". '57 Chevy of course is an original.
-T, Where there's a Wesch there's a (Monte) Python (oops Mel Brooks). Great links all around, hope my * link isn't a downer.
In good-fellow-well-met Golf, all tap-ins are gimmes. What's bad form is 1. Not offering, 2. Not picking up. Having said that, Speedy golf is the ruination of a game meant to be played at a leisurely pace. At least non-hurried. My steak tartar HS buddy barely addressed the ball. Btw, a lefty that played righty.
Re. Great,great .. My cousin married right out of HS, her daughter had a child that at age 14 or 15 had a child while grandma was still alive. Right about that time my youngest cousin had her first. 44 years in all .
I'm with YR on ELEM . Yes, "Post-K" would've been a better clue. Yes, Rich is a little sloppy at times. Perhaps "post" is not Friday level. I inked ELEM as soon as ELHI didn't perp.**
-T, thanks for Sid Caesar. Show of Shows would be the equivalent of the Superbowl re. # of sets % tuned in. After my bed time '49-58?.
Jayce, you've encouraged me. Beware, A pic of Wilbur is coming.
Thanks again, Lemony**, JW, and all the terrific posts and links.
WC
** Riddle me this. For non-religionists only. If one combines legends of Jesus in India and Samadai with this theory the pieces begin to fit. Debunked by all orthodox sources
** Re. Great,great… Exactly. Great grands the same age as Grands and presto, a great,great.
Ps, re Sid; Mel Brooks on Johnny popped up right after
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