Theme: Doh! Homer Simpson feeling right at home in this puzzle!
17A. Fail at a barbecue?: FLAME OUT
23A. Fail on a field?: DROP THE BALL. Our GOAT at 59D rarely fumbles, but it does happen:
36A. Fail in a ring?: TAKE IT ON THE CHIN. Generally a "lights out" moment.
46A. Fail at a dock?: MISS THE BOAT
58A. Fail on a dance floor?: FALL FLAT. Usually "dad dances" at weddings end this way.
Fun theme from Paul, five epic fails, but the puzzle doesn't make a sixth, thank goodness. Some good stuff in the fill, full of learning moments for me. Time to take the tour.
Across:
1. Color similar to sand: ECRU
5. NBC show since 1975: SNL
8. Instrument played with a plectrum: GUITAR. More commonly called a pick.
14. Lorelei Lee's creator: LOOS. A character in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". A Google search for the name brought up something which I wasn't quite expecting; she is also an actress in *ahem* movies of a "saucy" nature.
15. Middling grade: CEE
16. Con: INMATE
19. One of the lesser apes: GIBBON
20. Star in the Plowman constellation: ARCTURUS. I'd never heard of the constellation, let alone the star. The crosses filled most of it in nicely for me though.
22. Fancy home: VILLA
25. Pressure: STRESS
29. Simple partner?: PURE. Pure and Simple.
30. OPEC member: IRAN
31. Head lock: TRESS
33. Pop duo __ & Him: SHE. The band name vaguely rings a bell, but you could hold my feet to a very large fire I woudn't be able to tell you anything about them or their songs.
40. Artist's skill: EYE
41. Like crook and creek, etymologically: NORSE
42. Nesting site: EAVE
43. One spelling a superior: Abbr.: ASST. "Spell" in this sense is firmly North American English. A backup will spell someone for a time to give them a rest; often used in a sporting context.
44. Bread flavoring: GINGER
51. Cheapen: ABASE
52. Beachgoer's protection: SUN BLOCK
56. Big name in sports caps: NEW ERA. A really big name. New Era supply all the Major League Baseball caps, both the ones worn by the players and officials and those sold to the fans.
60. Competed on TV's "Ink Master": TATTED
61. Quaint word of disapproval: FIE. As Olivia remarks of Sir Toby in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night:
62. Game for which Wyatt Earp was once a dealer: FARO
63. "In the Land of Israel" author: AMOS OZ. Thank you, crosses. And thank you Lemonade, for correcting my parsing.
64. Age abbr.: YRS
65. Triathlon part: SWIM. The first leg, then the bike and the run. When I was entering triathlons back in my yoot, I was never sure how to say that I was "doing" one the next day. You can say you're running a 10k, or riding in a bike race, or swimming at a meet, but what do you say for a tri? I'm swibikrunning tomorrow? I stuck to "doing".
Down:
1. "The Lord of the Rings" figure: ELF. Could easily be "ENT" so wait for the crosses.
2. Roy Rogers ingredient: COLA. Nice, I didn't know this. One of the original "mocktails": Grenadine, Coke and a Maraschino cherry.
3. Big laugh: ROAR
4. Letters at Camp Lejeune: USMC. Oorah!
5. Scrubs: SCOURS
6. Introduction to chemistry?: NEURO-
7. Abate: LET UP
8. Band booking: GIG
9. TV's "Fringe" involved a parallel one: UNIVERSE. I never saw the show, but "parallel" is all you need to solve this one.
10. Drink: IMBIBE. Can you imbibe a mocktail? I'm not sure you can.
11. Indian drum: TABLA.
12. Bikini, for one: ATOLL
13. Kidney-related: RENAL
18. LAX listings: ETD'S
21. City WNW of Boca: ST. PETE. Actually "St. Petersburg". I assume Floridians know the affectionate term for the city, but I'd have liked to see something alluding to that in the clue.
24. "Pipe down!": HUSH
25. Place: SITE
26. Cafeteria item: TRAY. I cannot resist the tempation to link this Eddie Izzard monologue accompanying a Lego animation. I've linked it before but it never fails to make me laugh.
27. Autumn item: RAKE
28. Charlotte-to-Raleigh dir.: ENE
31. Rich desserts: TORTES
32. ER staffers: RN'S
33. Catch during practice: SHAG. Stop sniggering, you Brits at the back. Shag is a slang word for an *ahem* adult activity.
34. Busy place: HIVE
35. Dept. formed under Carter: ENER.
37. Like much FM radio: IN STEREO. Aren't all FM broadcasts in stereo? There's not much point using an FM wavelength otherwise.
38. Brit's "Baloney!": TOSH!
39. 100 yrs.: CEN. I wasn't sure about the abbreviation here. I tried CTY first, but then Century City here in LA would be CTY CTY.
43. Holdings: ASSETS
44. Hawthorne title septet: GABLES
45. "__ take time": IT'LL
46. Reef denizen: MANTA
47. Construction girder: I-BEAM
48. Took care of: SAW TO
49. Role for Kristy and Sarah: BUFFY. Vampire Slayers. Kristy Swanson played Buffy in the movie, Sarah Michelle Gellar played her in the TV series.
50. Live, TV-wise: ON AIR
53. Rubs out: OFFS. Mob slang.
54. Cat's scratcher: CLAW
55. Byron of "MythBusters": KARI. She is great. She's part of the innovative toy company "Smart Gurlz" aimed at helping girls aged six and upwards immerse themselves in science, tech, engineering and math.
57. Cutting tool: ADZ
59. Brady of Tampa Bay, now: TOM. The GOAT will be facing a brand new challenge when the NFL season kicks off again, whenever that will be.
And that wraps things up for me. Here's the grid!
Steve
17A. Fail at a barbecue?: FLAME OUT
23A. Fail on a field?: DROP THE BALL. Our GOAT at 59D rarely fumbles, but it does happen:
36A. Fail in a ring?: TAKE IT ON THE CHIN. Generally a "lights out" moment.
46A. Fail at a dock?: MISS THE BOAT
58A. Fail on a dance floor?: FALL FLAT. Usually "dad dances" at weddings end this way.
Fun theme from Paul, five epic fails, but the puzzle doesn't make a sixth, thank goodness. Some good stuff in the fill, full of learning moments for me. Time to take the tour.
Across:
1. Color similar to sand: ECRU
5. NBC show since 1975: SNL
8. Instrument played with a plectrum: GUITAR. More commonly called a pick.
14. Lorelei Lee's creator: LOOS. A character in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". A Google search for the name brought up something which I wasn't quite expecting; she is also an actress in *ahem* movies of a "saucy" nature.
15. Middling grade: CEE
16. Con: INMATE
19. One of the lesser apes: GIBBON
20. Star in the Plowman constellation: ARCTURUS. I'd never heard of the constellation, let alone the star. The crosses filled most of it in nicely for me though.
22. Fancy home: VILLA
25. Pressure: STRESS
29. Simple partner?: PURE. Pure and Simple.
30. OPEC member: IRAN
31. Head lock: TRESS
33. Pop duo __ & Him: SHE. The band name vaguely rings a bell, but you could hold my feet to a very large fire I woudn't be able to tell you anything about them or their songs.
40. Artist's skill: EYE
41. Like crook and creek, etymologically: NORSE
42. Nesting site: EAVE
43. One spelling a superior: Abbr.: ASST. "Spell" in this sense is firmly North American English. A backup will spell someone for a time to give them a rest; often used in a sporting context.
44. Bread flavoring: GINGER
51. Cheapen: ABASE
52. Beachgoer's protection: SUN BLOCK
56. Big name in sports caps: NEW ERA. A really big name. New Era supply all the Major League Baseball caps, both the ones worn by the players and officials and those sold to the fans.
60. Competed on TV's "Ink Master": TATTED
61. Quaint word of disapproval: FIE. As Olivia remarks of Sir Toby in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night:
"Fetch him off, I pray you; he speaks nothing but madman. Fie on him!".
I LOVE that expression "he speaks nothing but madman". I'm using that at the first opportunity.
62. Game for which Wyatt Earp was once a dealer: FARO
63. "In the Land of Israel" author: AMOS OZ. Thank you, crosses. And thank you Lemonade, for correcting my parsing.
64. Age abbr.: YRS
65. Triathlon part: SWIM. The first leg, then the bike and the run. When I was entering triathlons back in my yoot, I was never sure how to say that I was "doing" one the next day. You can say you're running a 10k, or riding in a bike race, or swimming at a meet, but what do you say for a tri? I'm swibikrunning tomorrow? I stuck to "doing".
Down:
1. "The Lord of the Rings" figure: ELF. Could easily be "ENT" so wait for the crosses.
2. Roy Rogers ingredient: COLA. Nice, I didn't know this. One of the original "mocktails": Grenadine, Coke and a Maraschino cherry.
3. Big laugh: ROAR
4. Letters at Camp Lejeune: USMC. Oorah!
5. Scrubs: SCOURS
6. Introduction to chemistry?: NEURO-
7. Abate: LET UP
8. Band booking: GIG
9. TV's "Fringe" involved a parallel one: UNIVERSE. I never saw the show, but "parallel" is all you need to solve this one.
10. Drink: IMBIBE. Can you imbibe a mocktail? I'm not sure you can.
11. Indian drum: TABLA.
12. Bikini, for one: ATOLL
13. Kidney-related: RENAL
18. LAX listings: ETD'S
21. City WNW of Boca: ST. PETE. Actually "St. Petersburg". I assume Floridians know the affectionate term for the city, but I'd have liked to see something alluding to that in the clue.
24. "Pipe down!": HUSH
25. Place: SITE
26. Cafeteria item: TRAY. I cannot resist the tempation to link this Eddie Izzard monologue accompanying a Lego animation. I've linked it before but it never fails to make me laugh.
27. Autumn item: RAKE
28. Charlotte-to-Raleigh dir.: ENE
31. Rich desserts: TORTES
32. ER staffers: RN'S
33. Catch during practice: SHAG. Stop sniggering, you Brits at the back. Shag is a slang word for an *ahem* adult activity.
34. Busy place: HIVE
35. Dept. formed under Carter: ENER.
37. Like much FM radio: IN STEREO. Aren't all FM broadcasts in stereo? There's not much point using an FM wavelength otherwise.
38. Brit's "Baloney!": TOSH!
39. 100 yrs.: CEN. I wasn't sure about the abbreviation here. I tried CTY first, but then Century City here in LA would be CTY CTY.
43. Holdings: ASSETS
44. Hawthorne title septet: GABLES
45. "__ take time": IT'LL
46. Reef denizen: MANTA
47. Construction girder: I-BEAM
48. Took care of: SAW TO
49. Role for Kristy and Sarah: BUFFY. Vampire Slayers. Kristy Swanson played Buffy in the movie, Sarah Michelle Gellar played her in the TV series.
50. Live, TV-wise: ON AIR
53. Rubs out: OFFS. Mob slang.
54. Cat's scratcher: CLAW
55. Byron of "MythBusters": KARI. She is great. She's part of the innovative toy company "Smart Gurlz" aimed at helping girls aged six and upwards immerse themselves in science, tech, engineering and math.
57. Cutting tool: ADZ
59. Brady of Tampa Bay, now: TOM. The GOAT will be facing a brand new challenge when the NFL season kicks off again, whenever that will be.
And that wraps things up for me. Here's the grid!
Steve
FIW. Had eStaTe for ASSETS for far too long, which left that area largely blank until I erased it. But in the end I was done in by SAtTO (fixed on babySITting) with NEtERA as good as the unknown NEWERA, and (shamefully unknown) NOiSE + TOiTES (For some reason read it as "crick or creek", thinking I was looking for a word like conjugate -- didn't know those words were NORSE).
ReplyDeleteSHE traveled from BOCA Raton
West-North-West, away from the dawn.
When she got to ST. PETE
She would SWIM at the beach,
But forgot her SUN BLOCK to put on!
You play a GUITAR with a plectrum,
Colored anywhere in the spectrum.
If you play in a bar
Where pirates "arr",
And they buy you a drink, expect rum!
{B+, A-.}
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve. Owen, nice rhyme of plectrum, spectrum, and expect rum - very unexpectrum, er, unexpected.
ReplyDeleteMy son Dan, who's a county health officer, loosened restrictions at his house on Sunday. After four months, I finally took a walk with Addie, while pushing Ava's stroller. What a joy. When I was younger, I never realized how much spending time with grandkids would mean to me. My daughter Neena, who's lived in TN for the last eight years just got divorced. It's been a long time coming and we're all relieved.
She's selling her house and moving back north. It will be so nice to have her near again.
Plowman constellation is more commonly called Herdsman. The Greek is Bootes or ox driver. I have no idea how I remember these things when I forgot what I had for breakfast.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteYay. A theme that even d-o can suss. Thank you, Paul Coulter. TTP and I will graciously accept the shoutout at 59d. Tried ENT at 1d, and COKE at 2d, and Wite-Out when I got to 3d. I'd never heard of NEWER-A, and thought AMOSOZ was somebody's last name. D'oh. Don't think I've ever heard of Plowman, either, but ARCTURUS came to mind with just a couple of letters filled in. Nicely done, Paul and Steve. (It's ST PETE because Boca is also a nickname.)
IN STEREO: It was about 50 years ago that our little AM/FM station went FM stereo. We told listeners it was coming, and we had a write-in contest to guess when the stereo switch would actually get thrown. Closest answer without exceeding the date-time would be the winner. To keep it all above board, we sealed the date and time in an envelope several weeks in advance, and we had a bank officer notarize it and hold it as proof. It was a major project, requiring new equipment from the stereo microphones, through the audio chain all the way to the new transmitter -- biggest broadcast engineering project I'd ever attempted. It was also the most fun.
OKL, I really enjoyed the plectrum, spectrum, expect rum combination. PC, it is always fun to solve your puzzle and then come to the Corner to read an entertaining review followed by a wonderful comment from you on the joy of your AA batteries of Addie and Ava.
ReplyDeleteSteve, BOCA is the accepted abbreviation for Boca Raton just as ST. PETE is for St. Petersburg. SHE and HIM is a celebrity band fronted by Zoey Deschanel, you can LISTEN HERE . A nice learning moment about THE STARS ABOVE .
Thank you, Paul and Steve, but CEN ?noun
1. An abbreviation of central; 2. Of century.
It was almost a FLAME OUT today. Filling ENT instead of ELF and SCRAPS instead of SCOURS didn't get me going in the NW since I'd never heard of ARCTURUS (of Plowman const.) or Lorelei Lee. Anita LOOS was perps.
ReplyDeleteWith the theme easily guessed the rest was easy until the SE. I'l never seen KERRY spelled KARI or knew who acted as BUFFY so those two had to work themselves into the grid.
Boca-East Coast; ST. PETE- West Coast. It might as well have been Seattle. I was wracking my brain trying to think of some inland town close to Boca Raton. Steve Boca was an abbr., so St. Pete can be abbr.
SHE & Him or NEW ERA- never heard of. TABLA, -perps
Paul- my 'EXus' lives in Texas but I'm not in Tennessee (apology to George Strait)
I know you've all been on tenterhooks, waiting with bated breath, to learn the outcome of d-o's Barnacle debacle. Once again, the Barnacle lived up to expectations and failed to "reach out" with a solution, or even the pretense that they cared. I was planning to call this morning to cancel my subscription. But this morning I found an email in my inbox from a corner lurker who'd experienced the same problem. He didn't have a nifty solution, but he did have a work-around. I was able to read my e-edition for the first time since last Saturday. So thank you, lurker. Now, why don't you pick a handle and join our merry band.
ReplyDeleteFun run today - the theme answers were consistent as they are usually used in a context that is not literal but were clued as literal. A few switches at top and bottom - ENT to ELF and AXE to ADZ. I FIR but the cross of FARO and KARI was just a guess!
ReplyDeleteI remember as a kid when you rarely went to a sit down nice restaurant the girls would get Shirley Temples and the boys would get ROY ROGERS!
Thanks Steve and Paul!
Pleasant puzzle. Thought it was on the easy side for a Thursday. TREE instead of EAVE threw me off for a bit. I agree with Big Easy, the Boca clue was a bit distance challenged.
ReplyDeleteNear the 7 minute mark, I cheated for the last square: the r in Faro & Kari.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know Arcturus, Amosoz (the way it looked to me), or faro/Kari.
Statistically/technically speaking, Tom Brady is #9 on the NFL's list for most career fumbles (122).
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a true Thursday level, IMO, due to the mostly unknown, but gettable, proper names: Arcturus, New Era (which I was parsing as one word), Amos Oz, Kari (saw Ghostbusters instead of Mythbusters, not that that made any difference), Tabla, and Cola and Loos, as clued. (Never heard of a Roy Rogers drink, only a Shirley Temple). I liked the Tosh ~ Hush and Stress ~ Tress entries but wasn’t keen on Tatted. My favorite themer was Fail at the dock=Miss the boat, with Steve’s cartoon being the frosting on the cake. Nice CSOs to Wilbur at St. Pete and our Tom-twosome at Tampa Tom.
Thanks, Paul, for a fun solve and for dropping by and keeping us posted on Addie and Ava. Glad you got to finally get up close! Thanks, Steve, for your folksy, cheerful tour and summary.
Stay safe, all.
I was thinking of Roy Rogers chicken and thought COrn for a sec.
ReplyDeleteI know this is late but "Boca" (Raton) is similarly abbreviated. SSW OF Orlando is more accurate. There's a big swamp if one tries to go straight WNW. From St Pete one travels over the Bay and due South and then a left at Naples over Alligator Alley. Or perhaps takes
the aptly named Tamiami trail.
44D as in "Abode of a generous ½ dozen of Rhett Butler* impersonators"
InaneH, and I thought the RR was something new? I could imagine the pancakes could be Dale Evans**
I knocked off all the xwords earlier. I remember Thur not too tough. Since I'm an ex-jarhead, I'm not counting my badly written C(looks like an O) as FIW. Jury is out, YR is a hard marker
WC
*I see HBO has removed GWtW for PC reasons
** As in her horse Buttermilk
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteOnly one white-out; I had 'moray' before MANTA. Otherwise, FIR. Fun theme about failure idioms.
NEW ERA - We had NEW ERA baseball caps in the Navy in the 70's. They used to be made in the next town (Derby, NY) over from where we once lived, south of Buffalo. (Only a few miles from the Kazoo factory).
ARCTURUS is the 4th brightest star in the night sky. As such it is one of the 58 stars commonly used in celestial navigation. An easy way to find Arcturus is to follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper. By continuing in this path, one can then find Spica,
The Plowman constellation seems to be commonly referred to as 'Boรถtes'.
Great puzzle, Paul. Loved the theme. Very tight and snappy, and I always enjoy a five-theme puzzle. Thanks for the write-up, Steve.
ReplyDeleteThis was a FIW for me (GIBSON instead of GIBBON and USMA instead of USMC)but those mistakes fall squarely on my shoulders.
Thanks for the She & Him link, Lemonade. Also, thanks again to everyone who gave me feedback yesterday. Have a great Thursday!
Musings
ReplyDelete-No fails for me as Paul gave solid help for TABLA and AMOS OZ
-Fun puzzle and comment Paul! We waited out a daughter’s welcome divorce too.
-The few CEES I got were when I put in as little effort as the prof – Calc. I = A, Calc. II – CEE
-My astronomy prof taught us to use the dipper handle to ”arc down to ARCTURUS” in the constellation Bootes the Kite not Plowman.
-I’ll bet you can guess the other “Pressure” word I incorrectly first used for _ _ R E S S
-Artist’s EYE – I simply chip away every piece of the marble block that doesn’t look like my subject
-I wonder if a “crook” was ever up the “creek” in Oslo
-ASSETS – In retirement I am Aesop’s ant and not the grasshopper
-Thanks for the fun write-up and intro to Eddie Izzard, Steve!
Hi Gang -
ReplyDeleteThis one was a struggle. South was last to fill in, but finally got it all. No nits, but a few unknowns. Good theme. Is there a name for this technique of repurposing a phrase?
Paul - always nice to have the constructor stop by. Thanks for the personal update.
Got some much needed rain last night. Sunny and cool this a.m.
Cheers!
JzB
Very straightforward Thursday puzzle. Thank you Paul. FIR.
ReplyDeleteSeveral unknowns, but sussing the theme helped.
SW corner was last to fill.
OKL I think your self grading is too harsh, especially yesterday. Today's were also A's for me.
WC. Nice cross references to Clark & Dale.
Thank you Steve.
MO
Took it on the chin et al.. went down in FLAMES...The SW was a complete disaster. ....DNF. ☹
ReplyDeleteNever heard of AMOS OZ. Is he a minor prophet for the Wizard?
Missed the tasty TORTES as I had a P for headlock (pRESS not TRESS plus SAWTO and INSTEREO both escaped me as well, unforgivable, both common clues.
WAGed TATTED but the clue IMO is erroneous. TATTing is a form of needlework not TATTooing. Didn't know crook and creek are NORSE. (Help from Spitz?)
What does "one spelling etc" even mean? I thought I spoke N. American English too.....(read the narrative and still don't get it) but WAGed correctly. Did not know NEWERA. I'm sure I'll not remember it next time it comes up.
If I suffer so do you:
At a nude beach you wear nothing. ______ ATOLL.
Be off key.....FALL FLAT
Buddy sharing a room at a B & B...INMATE
Solar eclipse.....SUNBLOCK.
No senior HS class dance this year. They had to ______....DROP THE BALL.
Stop groaning.
Before someone catches it.... needlework in the sense of crocheting. Tattoo artists perform a different kind of needlework.
ReplyDeleteRay - O - - I guessed crook and creek were Norse because the perps seemed to invite it. A lot of Norse source words seem to end in 'k'. Merriam Webster says crook comes from Old Norse 'krokr' for 'hook'. Creek comes from Old Norse 'kriki' for 'bend.
ReplyDeleteI know no Norse although I may have some Viking DNA. Norsemen settled in Schleswig and cut through the peninsula on their way to maraud France. Saved sailing through the stormy Skagerrak and Kattegat Sea areas.
Only Norwegian I know is "Du er en feit gris". (You are a fat pig.). Which I learnt from a Norwegian Sea Captain when I was 12.
Boรถtes is Greek for ox driver, Plowman or herdsman.
FIR, with two write-overs: ELF 4 Ent and ...CHIN 4 ...nose. I’ve done 18 triathlons and 12 duathlons (no SWIM leg; a second run instead) in the past 10 years. I was supposed to do another this month, but it was postponed to the end of August. I well remember the TORTE I had in Vienna back when we could fly to Europe. I saw a MANTA under my kayak in the Keys; it certainly got my attention, but it ignored me.
ReplyDeleteThis looked a bit daunting at first blush for a Thursday, but all came into focus nicely for a satisfying 17 min. FIR. Perps all over the place helped with arcturus, Norse Kari and Amos Oz. The theme made it a fun run too. Can Friday be crunchier? Probably.
ReplyDeleteLike yesterday's puzzle this one had very few terms unfamiliar to me. Fairly easy. Perps were kind for LOOS and AMOS OZ. I recalled ARCTURUS from ----URTUS, though I didn't remember the Plowman. Without the lines to connect the stars, IMO the only constellations that match their description are the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. No imagination, I guess.
ReplyDeleteENT before ELF
Favorites were head lock-tress and one spelling a superior- asst.
Spell (verb) to take the place of for a time : RELIEVE We spell each other every two hours.
TV's Ink Master suggested tattooing. TATTOOED is acceptable US slang.
WC, so I am a hard marker? Exactly whom do I mark?
Paul, lucky you, to get to hug your granddaughters. No hugs here as yet.
Never heard of the game FARO, but that's interesting, and hopefully will ring a bell in future. Never heard of KARI Byron, either, and expect to have forgotten the name by tomorrow. The shared R in that southeast corner remained blank, so DNF. Mr Coulter, you beat me. Thanks, Steve, for solving, and everyone, for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeletePaul's puzzles always amuse me. Thank you, Paul, and I'm happy for you that you got to be with your granddaughters.
Luckily I did not FLAMEOUT on this one and mostly sailed through, but slowly. The SW corner almost gave me fits and I agree with Ray-O, TATTED refers to crocheting so that was confusing.
I now recall that I've heard of AMOS OZ so that clinched ADZ.
The referral to the House of Seven GABLES was a treat even though I love Clark. Literature rocks!
New learning for me: crook and creek are from NORSE and TABLA is an Indian drum.
Since I never watched BUFFY, KARI is unknown. All hail to helpful perps!
Steve, your commentary sparkles as always. Thank you. Couldn't you just say "I'm going to participate in a tri? I know, it's not as snappy.
Enjoy a nice day, everyone! WARM wishes from AZ.
Well, after three great puzzle days, this was a Thursday toughie for me. But I decided it couldn't hurt to take chances, and surprise, surprise, I got a lot of it without any cheating! And it was a lot of fun getting the theme answers. So, many thanks, Paul, and great of you to stop by. How nice that you have such sweet granddaughters!
ReplyDeleteMy first fill-in was GIG, which was very lucky because it gave me GUITAR and GIBBON--and even INMATE. And then the downs just filled right in, with UNIVERSE giving me VILLA and RENAL. Only TABLA was new to me, but great to get started on that corner.
Hmmm? EAVE with bird nests? Yep, thought about it for a minute or two but now do remember seeing nests on places where the EAVE was covered a bit by the roof.
Owen, your poems made me laugh, and how nice that Paul liked them too.
Desper-otto, I enjoyed your stereo story.
Have a good day, everybody.
ReplyDeleteThis was a crunchy Thursday grid.
I got no traction in the NW so skipped around, finally finished back in the NW.
Write-overs....BOSH/TOSH, SUNSMOCK/SUNBLOCK.
60A.... tat 3 or tatt (tฤt)Informal
n.
A mark or design made on the skin; a tattoo.
tr.v. tat·ted, tat·ting, tats or tat·ted or tat·ting or tatts
To tattoo.
And that’s a wrap.
See you Friday. Stay safe.
My grandma tatted lacy edges on hankies. Very pretty. Does anyone do that these days? The INK in the clue asked for the tattoo meaning. Strange that the same word can have various unrelated meanings, like sanction last week having two nearly opposite definitions.
ReplyDeleteOKL, your guitar poem was funny. Steve, great commentary.
After our porch visit last Saturday Alan started to follow me to my car for a hug. It broke my heart to send him back.
I watch Kari in Myth Busters reruns.
Never heard of the one word cap manufacturer Newera...
ReplyDeleteLearning moment: Fie
Is that why Jacks beanstalk giant says it?
(turns out it is not...)
Lemon, thanks for the She & Him link.
I thought I recognized the girl, but did not realize
it was Zoey until your post.
I did have a link prepared, & feel I have to use it
just to get out this terrible pun: looks like a well balanced act!
Mild Fail...
Epic Fail...
& Legend-Ary...
ReplyDeleteA great Paul Coulter puzzle. It took me a while to get through it, but piece by piece I was able to keep changing my initial incorrect inputs to get to the finish line. Steve's tour was enjoyable and enlightening.
Some of my initial incorrect inputs were, BONOBO vs GIBBON, JOB vs GIG, ABASH vs ABASE, BOSH vs TOSH and FINGER vs GINGER which also gave me FABLES vs GABLES. I had no idea who KARI Bryon is. Perps as usual to the rescue.
I knew ARCTURUS because it was one of the Guide Stars that we used for attitude determination on the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (which was a forerunner to the Hubble Space Telescope.) However, I initially spelled it ARCTURiS. (DOH!!!)
I've heard of the Shirley Temple and an Arnold Palmer, but never heard of a Roy Rogers. To me it was a fast food place with great roast beef sandwiches. Perps put in COLA, so I assumed it was right. Even though McDonald's bought out Roy Rogers in the 90's with the goal of closing them down, there are a few franchisees still left mostly in Maryland and Virginia and on a few turnpikes. Here is the list of Roy Rogers restaurant locations. IMHO Roy Roger's roast beef sandwiches are better than ARBY'S ersatz roast beef sandwiches. But I digress from the puzzle.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteNo egregious write-overs; but perps were necessary in places that most others cited, already
My biggest question mark was for the Roy Rogers / COLA fill. I kept trying to make it Rob Roy, which is a Manhattan made with Scotch instead of Bourbon or Rye Whisky ๐ฅ ... but I digress ... inanehiker seemed to explain it for us! I don’t think I ever recall having this drink ordered for me, as a tyke... and I grew up in the 1950’s, so go figure ...
I’ve been toying around with some computer software and looking at creating puzzles. I’m not quite getting the hang of it, but I’ll keep plugging away ... which, of course, gave me this poetic inspiration:
Haiku du jour:
Crossword constructors
Are great. I’d like to build one,
But haven’t a clue ...
Moe
Thursday toughie (I agree with Misty). Thanks for the fun, Paul (thanks for dropping by; we are still waiting to hug the grandchildren!) and Steve.
ReplyDeleteSome crunch today and Google help needed to finish. The SW & NW corners were the last to FALL FLAT.
I MISSed THE BOAT not knowing the first letter of NEW ERA (and not parsing it either!), plus needing to Google AMOS OZ (and not parsing that at first either!). MANTA finally swam up.
I fought TATTED (although I knew Ink referred to Tattoos) as I was associating it with the lacework that my grandma used to do. (YR, Grandma taught my sister, but I don't think she can do it any more, although she still has the shuttle. It may be a lost art.)
ARCTURUS was dredged up from the depths of my memory bank and the help of perps.
I Googled LOOS (yes, Steve, I found the other Lorelei Lee and thought Rich would never allow that one!). That gave me the unknown Roy Rogers drink ingredient COLA.
It did not help in that area that this Canadian had no idea about Camp Lejeune; eventually I figured out that it had something to do with the US Army, Navy . . ? Oh, Marine Corps!
This Canadian knows enough British language to shake my head at SHAG! Refer back to Lorelei Lee comment. We don't use TOSH here, eh.
I started to enter SUN Screen but it would not fit. I settled for SUN Shade, but perps eventually changed it to BLOCK.
I smiled at STRESS and TRESS. Yes, HuskerG, I had DURESS before STRESS.
I wanted more clarification in the clue for Ginger. I am not aware of any literal bread that has Ginger in it. Wiki says "Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg or cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a soft, moist loaf cake to something close to a ginger snap." The clue should have had quotations or question mark ("Bread" flavoring or Bread flavoring?) to give that slant, IMHO.
Wishing you all a good day.
Ginger could be cookie flavoring or susho go-with
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Really enjoyed these examples of Murphy's law: anything that can go wrong, WILL! Fun, Paul, thanks. Glad to see you liked it too, Steve. Great expo.
ReplyDeleteNW was a hard start. DNK: LOOS, ARCTURUS (my last fills), AMOS OZ, NEW ERA, KARI, Roy Rogers had his own drink.
Played a guitar years ago but used a plain old pick never called it a plectrum.
Axe before ADZ. mUFFY before BUFFY -- never watched that vampire stuff.
An alligator was spotted along a creek in the wilds of Kansas yesterday. True story. They think it was probably one of two that were stolen from a preserve recently. How the heck do you steal two 15' alligators. Kansans aren't known for their 'gator wrestling skills. Sounds like bored kids?
My daughter's long overdue divorce has been delayed because COVID-19 shut the courts here. Hope she doesn't take it as a sign from God that she should not make it legal.
Some tough crosses: KARI/FARO and TRESS/TORTES/NORSE/TOSH. WAGs to FIR. Fun theme.
ReplyDeleteWhen I go to the dictionary I cannot find those meanings for TATTED or TRESS.
Thanks to the other amateur astronomers for explaining why we should all know ARCTURUS. It is a sign of how light-polluted our skies have become that we don't all know this. Hand up, never heard it called PLOWMAN constellation.
CrossEyedDave I enjoyed the Shampoo Fail. I could not figure out the Drowning Fail until I Googled "if you see someone drowning". Since I don't own a phone these texting memes don't work for me. Now I get it. Thanks for your humor!
I have a number of BIKINI photos in recent days. I practice my music on the bluffs above the beach. The past few days brought lots of students to the beach now that their virtual classes are over.
Instead, I will share a video of TABLA music.
Here is my video of the University of California Middle East Ensemble performing, including at least one TABLA. Several PLECTUMs can be seen, too.
PK I hope your daughter's divorce can be finalized soon. It seems that court cases like this could be done via Zoom.
From Yesterday:
desper-otto thanks for the "Barnacle" explanation. I hope the tech guy's arms have grown enough to help you.
I knew a plectrum is a pick, but thought GUITAR was too easy on the first run. There are other instruments that use one.
ReplyDeleteI recognized the linked song, but not the group SHE &b Him.
Tabor before TABLA.
I recognized KARI Byron's picture, but didn't remember her name.
I learned ARCTURUS from Star Trek.
i've heard TAT... in relation to "ink." However, I've also heatd it in connection to lace.
YR, I recall "juries" I pled to for mercy vis a vis FIR vs FIW. Your verdict was guilty. I'm a hard marker on myself. I also recall my take off on Golden Girls and USMC Sgt Major ? wanting to introduce close order drill to square dancing. As I recall you had a good laugh at that.
ReplyDelete"minor prophet for the Wizard". Good one. re AMOS OZ
Shankers. YES!!! I'm still ASEA in one area of Friday. Hint, bone up on physics.
oc4, You can't digress in here else I'd be banned. As you were, TTP*
C-eh, perhaps on a Monday the clue would be _____ Bread. When GINGER perped it was a V8 drop.
WC
*re USMC: The DI at Parris Island was admonished about his abruptness re. 'Deaths in the family'. So when Shmedley's mother passed he thought he'd break it gently. At attention, He commanded "All those whose mothers are alive 'Advance one step forward'"
"AS YOU WERE, SHMEDLEY!"
Golden oldie, thanks for the reminder.
DeleteThank the Xwd gods for perps!
ReplyDeleteI still needed one cheat to break into the SW corner--to find MANTA instead of CORAL.
But still...
A compromised Ta ~ DA! is better than no Ta ~ DA! at all.
Owen y Mowren ~ that second one deserves a full-on "A." Arrr...
~ OMK
___________
DR: 4 diagonals today, one recto and a 3-way verso.
The main front-end diag gives us an anagram of a memorable sports figure.
Everybody remembers Don Chaney, right? He was the Boston NBAer who in his collegiate days played a full 40 minutes for UCLA in 1968’s “Game of the Century” against the Houston Cougars.
Why, sure, everybody remembers the…
“ASTRODOME CELT”!
Wow, is today Saturday? I couldn't get started without a couple peeks at the grid. Thanks for the work-out, Paul, and for stopping by. Thank you very much, Steve, for informing me of my several unknowns.
ReplyDeleteI had all the problems others have mentioned. It wasn't a Thumper, but it wasn't the most fun solve.
Fav clue/ans 44a Bread Flavoring, GINGER. I make a fruitcake that is gingerbread flavored.
Our temps are coming down for a few days so I think I need to do some gardening. The weeds want to start taking over.
Have a good evening.
Paul, great puzzle! I found it quite challenging because I was successfully misdirected quite a bit, but all the cluing was fair. I also had a pretty long list of unknowns similar to Irish Miss's list, but they were (eventually) gettable with crosses. So I eventually FIR, but it took a while (in a good way).
ReplyDeleteI almost had a Natick with KARI/SWIM vs KARa/SWaM, but decided that if it had been SWAM, the clue would have been slightly differently written. And I was right!
Picard, I didn't understand TRESS for a long time, either. It's a "head lock," meaning lock of hair. I spent a long time looking for a wrestling move. TATTED is slang for tattooed, which is too new to be in the dictionary but is around.
Good Afternoon, All. Thanks Paul for the challenging xword and thanks Steve for 'splaining'. WEES pretty much. Lots of inkblots in the NW corner. Had Flameout but just wouldn't fit with ENT which had to be right. Didn't help not knowing Loos, _rcturus and thinking Roy Rogers was a fast food joint. Result DNF two days in a row. SW corner wanted Sank the boat and someway around the tattoo ed clue. Manta fixed the problems and cleared up the mess. I am glad they call it a pick instead of a plectrum. The roadies wouldn't know what to fetch. What filled was satisfying, and pushing the envelope for me. Rain again today.
ReplyDeleteOMK, Chaney actually played for U of Houston. There were two Ganess of the CEN. that year. The first, with Lou Alcindor ailing went to the Cougars.
ReplyDeleteThe rematch, the NCAA final was a rout for UCLA. Shortly after, Lou became Kareem.
For those stymied by Paul's Thursday delight, just skip Friday. I haven't done Saturday yet. Shudder.
WC
You are correct, Wilbur. My attribution to UCLA was the result of too many clauses in a long sentence. My fault, though, not the grammar checker's.
ReplyDeleteHow will the septuagenarian ever forgive me? The closest the ASTRODOME CELT ever came to UCLA was when he played for the Lakers, then coached the Clippers.
~ OMK
I liked this puzzle. WEES.
ReplyDeleteLock of hair/ tress is indeed in the dictionary, as is tattooed meaning inked a tattoo. In fact there are many references to both.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I thought head lock was a very clever clue. Tress was no stranger and immediately came to mind.
ReplyDeleteOMK, my Celtics were glad to get him. He led us to at least one NBA Crown.
ReplyDeletePoor Red. So many championships meant late draft picks. Then when he manuvered and Len Bias fell into his lap, PFFT. An overdose, RiP.
WC
Clear night tonight.
ReplyDeleteSaw ARCTURUS @ ~ 66ยบ Alt. and due South @ 2145 local time. Also saw Spica. Long Summer twilight - had to wait until almost 10pm to see stars.
D'Oh! Kari not Kali as in Linux [one of my hack boxen //shhhh don't tell]
ReplyDeleteAnd I like Kari too. Not sure if it's the red hair or that she's whip-smart but she's cheeky //stickin' to the Brit slang :-)
Hi All!
Thanks for the puzzle and stopping in at The Corner Paul. Good that you're able to expand the social-distance bubble w/ those you love.
Steve - Frankly, it was looking forward to your expo (and not wanting to hang my head in shame) that I stuck w/ this puzzle. South-side was rough!
Eddie Izzard - I've watched him so many times. Funny -- just brilliantly funny.
WO: N/A //I was very careful today :-)
ESPs: LOOS [waaaa! When I Googled post-play], HIVE(? - V8!), EAVE (ibid). AMOS OZ, NEWERA (dyslexia parsed it as New wear), FALO [sic], KALI [ibid]. GINGER(? - um, OK). Probably more but it's late anyway...
Oh, yeah, definitely ARCTURUS
Fav: Learning that Carter created ENER. Makes sense - he was a Nuke E [wait, I stand corrected]
Runner up: Moving IN STEREO [Cars w/ puzzledom's RIK Ocasek].
//D-O: Ever go to The Summit b/f it was Osteen's Lakewood Church? [Houston Chron, er, Barnacle]
{B, A+}
Excellent Moe!
Shankers - based on M&T, yeah, Friday's gonna be a bugger [more BBC :-)]
YR - vHugs!
I've not been close to DW since she got sick and social-distanced from the rest of the house. I think she's putting me on - too much grabby-grabby when lockin started and HR was no help. This is her way of keeping me at bay :-)
So, y'all know who Billy GIBBONs is? He's ZZ Top's [Cheep Sunglasses] GUITARist [wait, can I go back and make that stack in the NE my Fav?]. Tonight, I took a 20 minute drive out to Top 40 Ranch [you may have to zoom in to see it - I didn't want to pull in the drive and bother Frank Beard (the drummer)]
Gotta run... Play later(?)
Cheers, -T
I forgot about "head lock"! I thought that was brilliant for TRESS. So clever.
ReplyDeleteBrother called - he just got into Seattle from Denver.
ReplyDeleteWhere was I? C. Moe, I think....
I see C, Eh! found the other Lorelei Lee too... Um, erase browser herstory(?).
PK - Gators in KS? I don't think Joe Exotic made it that far north :-)
Lucina - I forgot about TRESS' clue too... That's a runer-runner-up... Paul put some good stuff in there to really puzzle us.
PVX | Picard - usage: My [Army] Bro is pretty TATTED-up.
//He's got our last name in gothic script on his left bicep and some weird Bat out of Hell [Meatloaf] looking thing on his back.
My sisters have more tasteful tats on their um... //change the vowel...
CED - LOL! indeed. Oy! Someone needs to go back to sign-school.
//I'm not as organized as Picard or I'd find the Alligator warning sign at the Louisiana visitor center on I-10.
OMK - re: DR - Keepin' it Houston :-)
Cheers, -T