Theme: Two-fer - the theme entries work together to define two subsets of the theme entries:
17A. Log flume, e.g.: WATER RIDE
23A. Connection need at some coffee shops: WIFI CODE. Code, or password? When you're in the coffee shop, what do you ask for? The wifi code, or the wifi password? I know what I ask for, and it's not the "code". Maybe we can compromise on passcode?
32A. Parking ticket holder, perhaps: WIPER BLADE. Nice clue. Not a nice thing to find under your wiper blade though, the ones here in LA come with $$ signs attached.
40A. Cut into: OPERATED ON. Ouch! Towards the end of his career, when Cal Ripken Jr. discussed his various surgeries at press conferences, he'd always say that he'd been "cut on", it always sounded much more painful than "had a procedure".
50A. Late 19th-century smoking establishment: OPIUM DEN
58A. Start to turn mushy, maybe: OVER-RIPEN
The two reveals working together leading us to OPEN WIDE and WIDE OPEN and what to look for in the other six entries:
64A. With 67-Across, doctor's order ... and a hint to 40-, 50- and 58-Across: OPEN
67A. With 64-Across, like a town lacking restrictions ... and a hint to 17-, 23- and 32-Across: WIDE
I don't recall seeing a theme like this before - the two reveal entries work together and switch the theme halfway down - the first three entries split "WIDE" open, and the second theme entries have OPEN split wide. Very nicely done by Joe. It's always fun to see something a little different and this was a very slick twist on a standard gimmick.
Let's see what else we've got talk about:
Across:
1. Text: PING. The word has moved from tech-speak to common usage - to ping someone is to send a quick message that you're around if they want to respond back. The tech usage was in computer and internet networks. You would "ping" a piece of equipment with a network signal to see if it was alive - if it was, it would send an echo back, much like a sonar "ping" would be echoed back to the origin. The world of sonar is where the term came from, so if one of your geek friends tries to tell you that it stands for "Packet Internet Groper" you can correct them.
5. Nutmeg spice: MACE. The aril of a nutmeg seed is mace - it has a more earthy flavor than the nutmeg itself.
9. Newton trio: LAWS. Laws of Motion, if you recall from your science classes.
13. Bahrain bigwig: EMIR
14. Norse god: ODIN
15. Out of the wind: ALEE
16. Fur wrap: STOLE. A stole could be described as a fashion accessory, and a fashion thief's accessory would sell a stolen stole. All clear?
19. Husky hello: ARF! Huskies don't look like they "arf" to me. More a "grrrr". It's probably all the Itidarods.
20. Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," e.g.: ELEGY. So help me out with this "bloom'd" thing. What's with the apostrophes and poets? It doesn't save any space, nor add anything to the word. Why didn't Walt just write "bloomed"? Same amount of ink, same pronunciation.
22. Odds alternative: EVENS
25. Classic 1953 western: SHANE. "Shane! Come back!"
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26. Charge: FEE
27. Telluride automaker: KIA. Not based in Telluride, obviously. They're pretty ugly to my eye, but of course your mileage may vary.
28. Direction opp. 8-Down: WSW. I'm not a big fan of the compass-point fill, but at least this pair have a crack at being something different from the stultifying "Random City to Anytown dir.".
30. "Avatar" actress Saldana: ZOË. Let's give her the umlaut back.
36. Iraqi money: DINAR. I tried REALS first, not quite right.
38. Cricket club: BAT. Hmmm. Do you call a baseball bat a "club"? Or a golf club a "bat"? Discuss.
39. That's a wrap!: SARAN. I liked this.
43. "The Last Jedi" heroine: REY. We're watching the Star Wars movies in narrative-chronological order. There are so many crossword references it seemed like the right thing to do. Plus, they are actually pretty good :)
44. Cholesterol letters: HDL. I had my numbers checked pre-lockdown, all good. My bad cholesterol used to be very high, but eating a lot of Asian food has helped considerably.
45. Kid: TOT
46. Alias letters: AKA
48. Like proofed dough: RISEN. You can prove a loaf and it doesn't rise at all, that's why it's called "proving" to make sure that the yeast is active.
55. Ached (for): PINED
56. Nearly boil: SCALD
57. Wt. units: OZS
60. Artifact: RELIC
62. Part of CPA: Abbr.: CERT. Certified Public Accountant, I suppose.
63. Map line: ROAD
65. Olympus neighbor: OSSA. Nice to see OSSA and ETNA hanging out so nicely. Greeks and Romans, getting along. Mt. Ossa looks volcanic from its shape, although Wikipedia is silent on its vulcan origins.
66. Sicilian volcano: ETNA. There is no doubt that this one goes off every now and again.
Down:
1. Lab glassware eponym: PETRI. Jules Richard Petri developed a shallow, lidded, glass dish to grow cultures in the lab. Alexander Fleming famously used them to isolate the future antobiotic penicillin, and so Jules gets a high-five from the human race.
2. "Gotta go!": I'M OFF!
3. Zilch: NIL
4. Aegean country: GREECE. Go and see Mt. Ossa while you're there. From the top you might be able to see the sea - the Aegean Sea - the coastline is no more than five miles away and the mountain is 6,500 feet high, so it's a fair bet you can on a clear day.
5. Worked in the yard: MOWED
6. "Opposites attract," for one: ADAGE
7. Highway alternative: CITY. Mileage stats for a car.
8. Direction opp. 28-Across: ENE
9. Insect stage: LARVA
10. Dell gaming brand whose name was inspired by "The X-Files": ALIENWARE. Thank you crosses.
11. Camel's favorite time?: WEDNESDAY. A sideways reference to an insurance company commercial - Wednesday is "Hump Day". Thankfully one of the very few (insert insurance company name here) commercials which are actually entertaining, rather than the 99% majority that have you reaching for "mute" button. Don't they have focus groups any more? Or do the focus groups still find someone wearing a white apron or an amphibian with a British accent amusing? I suppose they do.
12. Has eyes on: SEES
16. Toothed tool: SAW
18. Fixes up: REHABS
21. Movie mogul Marcus: LOEW. The theater chain he founded is now a piece of history, following mergers, buyouts, buy-backs and more corporate divestments and acquisitions. The company ended up as part of the AMC group and the brand name was phased out in 2017.
24. "My concern is ... ": I FEAR
25. Elton John's title: SIR
27. __ diet: high-fat, low-carb regimen: KETO
29. Former Chinese Premier __ Jiabao: WEN. Thank you, crosses.
30. Old storage devices: ZIP DRIVES. Funny how these are now "old". When we used to give these away at trade shows, we needed the riot squad on hand so we didn't get overrun.
31. Quips: ONE-LINERS
33. "As if!": I BET!
34. Legal __: PAD
35. Calif. NFLer: LA RAM. The Rams organization have come in for no little criticism recently for their proposed new logo, which look like it belongs more to the Chargers down the street:
36. Cry from Homer: DOH!
37. Not family-friendly: RATED "R"
41. Large load: TON. Depends what's carrying it. It wouldn't work out well in my trunk, but a container ship wouldn't notice the odd ton here or there.
42. __ salon: NAIL
47. "Web Therapy" actress Lisa: KUDROW
49. Sleeping giant: SERTA
50. Heist mastermind of film: OCEAN. I think the movie franchise has mined the "Ocean's" seam to exhaustion at this point.
51. Bamboo eater: PANDA. Is Ron Artest still "The Panda's Friend", or did he move on to another name? I lost track after "Metta World Peace".
52. Meted (out): DOLED
53. Internet issue: E-ZINE
54. Foreign policy advisory gp.: N.S.C. National Security Council. How effective it is at the moment is not for me to say.
55. Slightly, in scores: POCO. Music. Here's some, which I can't read. There appear to be some kick-ass arpeggios in the bass clef, way beyond my left-hand technique.
56. Difficult position: SPOT. You could equally be in a good spot, as opposed to a bad one.
59. Fury: IRE
61. Prefix with center: EPI-
Fittingly, that wraps up another EPI-C journey through the Thursday puzzle. Thanks to Joe again for something a little different, and some thoughtful work with the rest of the grid.
And, right on time, here IS the grid:
Steve
17A. Log flume, e.g.: WATER RIDE
23A. Connection need at some coffee shops: WIFI CODE. Code, or password? When you're in the coffee shop, what do you ask for? The wifi code, or the wifi password? I know what I ask for, and it's not the "code". Maybe we can compromise on passcode?
32A. Parking ticket holder, perhaps: WIPER BLADE. Nice clue. Not a nice thing to find under your wiper blade though, the ones here in LA come with $$ signs attached.
40A. Cut into: OPERATED ON. Ouch! Towards the end of his career, when Cal Ripken Jr. discussed his various surgeries at press conferences, he'd always say that he'd been "cut on", it always sounded much more painful than "had a procedure".
50A. Late 19th-century smoking establishment: OPIUM DEN
58A. Start to turn mushy, maybe: OVER-RIPEN
The two reveals working together leading us to OPEN WIDE and WIDE OPEN and what to look for in the other six entries:
64A. With 67-Across, doctor's order ... and a hint to 40-, 50- and 58-Across: OPEN
67A. With 64-Across, like a town lacking restrictions ... and a hint to 17-, 23- and 32-Across: WIDE
I don't recall seeing a theme like this before - the two reveal entries work together and switch the theme halfway down - the first three entries split "WIDE" open, and the second theme entries have OPEN split wide. Very nicely done by Joe. It's always fun to see something a little different and this was a very slick twist on a standard gimmick.
Let's see what else we've got talk about:
Across:
1. Text: PING. The word has moved from tech-speak to common usage - to ping someone is to send a quick message that you're around if they want to respond back. The tech usage was in computer and internet networks. You would "ping" a piece of equipment with a network signal to see if it was alive - if it was, it would send an echo back, much like a sonar "ping" would be echoed back to the origin. The world of sonar is where the term came from, so if one of your geek friends tries to tell you that it stands for "Packet Internet Groper" you can correct them.
5. Nutmeg spice: MACE. The aril of a nutmeg seed is mace - it has a more earthy flavor than the nutmeg itself.
9. Newton trio: LAWS. Laws of Motion, if you recall from your science classes.
13. Bahrain bigwig: EMIR
14. Norse god: ODIN
15. Out of the wind: ALEE
16. Fur wrap: STOLE. A stole could be described as a fashion accessory, and a fashion thief's accessory would sell a stolen stole. All clear?
19. Husky hello: ARF! Huskies don't look like they "arf" to me. More a "grrrr". It's probably all the Itidarods.
20. Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," e.g.: ELEGY. So help me out with this "bloom'd" thing. What's with the apostrophes and poets? It doesn't save any space, nor add anything to the word. Why didn't Walt just write "bloomed"? Same amount of ink, same pronunciation.
22. Odds alternative: EVENS
25. Classic 1953 western: SHANE. "Shane! Come back!"
26. Charge: FEE
27. Telluride automaker: KIA. Not based in Telluride, obviously. They're pretty ugly to my eye, but of course your mileage may vary.
28. Direction opp. 8-Down: WSW. I'm not a big fan of the compass-point fill, but at least this pair have a crack at being something different from the stultifying "Random City to Anytown dir.".
30. "Avatar" actress Saldana: ZOË. Let's give her the umlaut back.
36. Iraqi money: DINAR. I tried REALS first, not quite right.
38. Cricket club: BAT. Hmmm. Do you call a baseball bat a "club"? Or a golf club a "bat"? Discuss.
39. That's a wrap!: SARAN. I liked this.
43. "The Last Jedi" heroine: REY. We're watching the Star Wars movies in narrative-chronological order. There are so many crossword references it seemed like the right thing to do. Plus, they are actually pretty good :)
44. Cholesterol letters: HDL. I had my numbers checked pre-lockdown, all good. My bad cholesterol used to be very high, but eating a lot of Asian food has helped considerably.
45. Kid: TOT
46. Alias letters: AKA
48. Like proofed dough: RISEN. You can prove a loaf and it doesn't rise at all, that's why it's called "proving" to make sure that the yeast is active.
55. Ached (for): PINED
56. Nearly boil: SCALD
57. Wt. units: OZS
60. Artifact: RELIC
62. Part of CPA: Abbr.: CERT. Certified Public Accountant, I suppose.
63. Map line: ROAD
65. Olympus neighbor: OSSA. Nice to see OSSA and ETNA hanging out so nicely. Greeks and Romans, getting along. Mt. Ossa looks volcanic from its shape, although Wikipedia is silent on its vulcan origins.
66. Sicilian volcano: ETNA. There is no doubt that this one goes off every now and again.
Down:
1. Lab glassware eponym: PETRI. Jules Richard Petri developed a shallow, lidded, glass dish to grow cultures in the lab. Alexander Fleming famously used them to isolate the future antobiotic penicillin, and so Jules gets a high-five from the human race.
2. "Gotta go!": I'M OFF!
3. Zilch: NIL
4. Aegean country: GREECE. Go and see Mt. Ossa while you're there. From the top you might be able to see the sea - the Aegean Sea - the coastline is no more than five miles away and the mountain is 6,500 feet high, so it's a fair bet you can on a clear day.
5. Worked in the yard: MOWED
6. "Opposites attract," for one: ADAGE
7. Highway alternative: CITY. Mileage stats for a car.
8. Direction opp. 28-Across: ENE
9. Insect stage: LARVA
10. Dell gaming brand whose name was inspired by "The X-Files": ALIENWARE. Thank you crosses.
11. Camel's favorite time?: WEDNESDAY. A sideways reference to an insurance company commercial - Wednesday is "Hump Day". Thankfully one of the very few (insert insurance company name here) commercials which are actually entertaining, rather than the 99% majority that have you reaching for "mute" button. Don't they have focus groups any more? Or do the focus groups still find someone wearing a white apron or an amphibian with a British accent amusing? I suppose they do.
12. Has eyes on: SEES
16. Toothed tool: SAW
18. Fixes up: REHABS
21. Movie mogul Marcus: LOEW. The theater chain he founded is now a piece of history, following mergers, buyouts, buy-backs and more corporate divestments and acquisitions. The company ended up as part of the AMC group and the brand name was phased out in 2017.
24. "My concern is ... ": I FEAR
25. Elton John's title: SIR
27. __ diet: high-fat, low-carb regimen: KETO
29. Former Chinese Premier __ Jiabao: WEN. Thank you, crosses.
30. Old storage devices: ZIP DRIVES. Funny how these are now "old". When we used to give these away at trade shows, we needed the riot squad on hand so we didn't get overrun.
31. Quips: ONE-LINERS
33. "As if!": I BET!
34. Legal __: PAD
35. Calif. NFLer: LA RAM. The Rams organization have come in for no little criticism recently for their proposed new logo, which look like it belongs more to the Chargers down the street:
36. Cry from Homer: DOH!
37. Not family-friendly: RATED "R"
41. Large load: TON. Depends what's carrying it. It wouldn't work out well in my trunk, but a container ship wouldn't notice the odd ton here or there.
42. __ salon: NAIL
47. "Web Therapy" actress Lisa: KUDROW
49. Sleeping giant: SERTA
50. Heist mastermind of film: OCEAN. I think the movie franchise has mined the "Ocean's" seam to exhaustion at this point.
51. Bamboo eater: PANDA. Is Ron Artest still "The Panda's Friend", or did he move on to another name? I lost track after "Metta World Peace".
52. Meted (out): DOLED
53. Internet issue: E-ZINE
54. Foreign policy advisory gp.: N.S.C. National Security Council. How effective it is at the moment is not for me to say.
55. Slightly, in scores: POCO. Music. Here's some, which I can't read. There appear to be some kick-ass arpeggios in the bass clef, way beyond my left-hand technique.
56. Difficult position: SPOT. You could equally be in a good spot, as opposed to a bad one.
59. Fury: IRE
61. Prefix with center: EPI-
Fittingly, that wraps up another EPI-C journey through the Thursday puzzle. Thanks to Joe again for something a little different, and some thoughtful work with the rest of the grid.
And, right on time, here IS the grid:
Steve
I agree this is an original theme in my solving experience, an well done. I also needed the same perp help Steve did like ALIENWARE and WEN .
ReplyDeleteOther than thanking Joe and Steve, that is my Thursday EPI-stle.
BTW, PAT and JAVA MAMA tell us more about your meeting, Happenstance, or planned? Enquiring minds...
ReplyDeleteLots of 3 letter answers made the solve easier than a typical Thursday.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteI didn't find this theme more difficult to miss than usual. WIDE OPEN does have special meaning for me today -- it's my delayed-3-months 3-month dental cleaning appointment. The dental office emailed me the special protocols they have in place. Oh, the puzzle...I found several ways to go wrong (HAIR/NAIL, CERT/ACCT, I FEEL/FEAR, R-RATED/RATED R). Those missteps pushed this one past the ten minute mark. Still, d-o FIR at the end, so life is good. Thanx, Joe and Steve. (Have you told your boss that "the proof is in the dough?").
"Parking ticket holder" -- I may have mentioned this before. A college buddy amassed quite a collection of parking tickets on campus. He used them as bookmarks. The university police finally sent a large bill to his parents who begrudgingly paid the fines. So, Mike threw the tickets away, and somebody fished one out of the trash, wrote alliteratively on the pre-paid envelope portion, "F__k you F__z, come and get me," and mailed it off. They did. They were not amused.
ReplyDeleteNo sweat, but I did have to take a moment to figure out the theme. First puzzle that took over 15 minutes since Sunday. But only by 34 seconds. Thanks, Joe. Very clever and fun cluing. Thanks, Steve. I had to look up stultify.
Had a ZIP DRIVE hooked up to my Win 95 way back when. I think I still have it in the basement.
Welcome, Leo. At one time I lived at an apartment complex on Cook Rd at Beechnut which was Alief. Drove Alief Clodine road hundreds of times. I also played a lot of slow pitch and fast pitch softball back in the day in Houston. Once played in an exhibition game against Eddie Feigner. Struck me out, of course. Played slow picth mostly at this big softball complex on the SW side off S. Post Oak near West Bellfort. Are you familiar with it ? I was playing three nights a week, and the occasional weekend tournaments. My girlfriend gave me an ultimatum when I told her I was joining another team up on the NW side.
Good morning, everyone! Thanks for the Thursday fun, Joe! And thanks to Steve for the assist in figuring out the theme / reveal. The NW was a little slow to fill, and had to correct Dealt (out) to DOLED (out) at 52D, but all was well in the end.
ReplyDeleteLemonade @6:24 and Lucina FLN – Reading each other’s posts, Pat and I realized we volunteer at the same animal shelter. Coincidentally, as I was leaving yesterday, I heard the receptionist greet the volunteer just checking in with “Hi, Pat!”, and asked if she was Pat from the blog. As Pat mentioned, we had a nice chat, but had to cut it short to let other volunteers check in (COVID-19 limitations on number of people).
Have a great day!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteMy review was going to be on the unenthusiastic side until I read Steve’s detailed explanation of the complex theme. I read only one of the clues and found the Wides, but never saw, nor was aware, that there were Opens. I’ll chalk it up to a brain addled by a recent unpleasant meeting with a concrete sidewalk. That said, I’m very impressed with the theme and execution so I’ll overlook any small nits I had. My unknowns were Rey, KIA, Alienware, and Wen. My favorite fill was Panda 🐼. ENE and WSW were a bit annoying, but only a bit.
Thanks, Joe, for a very unusual and fun solve (in retrospect, for me, anyway) and Congrats on your new daughter and thanks, Steve, for opening my eyes to the total theme and for the summary, as well.
TTP @ 7:45 ~ I’ll bet that the girlfriend who gave you that ultimatum is not Mrs. TTP. 😉
FLN
Pat, so nice that you and Java Mama got to meet each other.
Have a great day.
Didn't see the theme(s). This took just under 7 and one-half minutes, and seemed fairly easy for a Thursday.
ReplyDeleteOPIUM DEN reminded me of Watson going to one to find an old classmate at the behest of the wife. And who's there in disguise but Sherlock himself. Points for identifying that story.
ReplyDeleteI also thought of Sydney Carton of ATof2Cities who's in a similar place where his partner (Stryver) fetches him to do his own legal work. And I just finished the wiki of "Tale". It was a far, far better use of my time this morning.
I can't tell anymore if a xword is hard or difficult. I did FIR. Having the weeks worth I can't help solving ahead. I did Saturday last night. No comment except I didn't recognize the constructor.
My only comment is why single out Flo, Limu, the Gecko etc. Mute them all I say. A story I heard would make a good one: Golfer throws bag, clubs into pond, walks away muttering "Never again". Some minutes later he cones back, wades into the pond, retrieves bag. Fishes into pocket, retrieves car keys, throws bag back into pond. Saying nothing.
I'm thinking Farmer's.
WC
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteI second Steve's "nicely done' to Joe. Masterful. BZ
I didn't see the full scope of the theme, at first, but took a step back and then realized how it worked. Quite a twofer. Was even able to prefill the 'O' on OVER RIPEN. Wasn't sure about the dieresis in ZOË.
PING - "Give me a PING, Vasili. One ping only, please."l
Quite a nerdfest today with PING, ZIP, WIFICODE, EZINE, ALIENWARE, and REY (geeks love Star Wars). FIR, but it played quite crunchy as a themeless for me. Always happy with the W.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-WIDE stood out which made me question OPERATE ON but then OPEN appeared!
-WATER RIDES vary from Disney’s Splash Mountain with a gentle spray to Universal’s Popeye’s ride where you are soaked
-The best tomatoes I have seen this spring use use SARAN Wrap like this
-“Proofed dough” made me think of a mint worker examining new bills
-My lab’s eponymous glassware was an Erlenmeyer flask
-Rotten Tomatoes - The 1960 Ocean’s Eleven got 42% from critics and 82% from moviegoers
-Gibbs NCIS command to McGee – “PING his phone to find out where he is”
PING- I guess I'm not up with the common usage of that word because I've never associated it in any way with sending a text message. It's a sonar blip or the first word in Ping-Pong.
ReplyDeleteWIFI CODE- never heard that either, only password. As for the theme I did notice the WI but I don't really pay attention to puzzle themes, only clues. Themes make puzzles too easy if you catch them early just like the ENE fill for 8D filled WSW for 28A. But OSSA next to ETNA was neat even if it was way below GREECE today.
Steve- 'standard gimmick' is a perfect description. But they seem to be what crossword gatekeepers want.
ALIENWARE- I only knew it because I'd read about it years ago. They correctly guessed that gamers would pay big money for a super fast home PC.
WEN, KUDROW, ZOE, OCEAN, CITY- unknowns filled by perps. Thanks for explanation on ocean & city because I had no idea what the clues were about. Thank you perps.
D-Otto, it's funny how you mentioned parking tickets at college. A couple of days ago a neighbor's daughter was telling us how many she got at Tulane. She just ignored them until they BOOTED her car. She didn't have enough money to get it off and was afraid to tell her parents. Then she asked if she could charge it to her school account, and they said yes. Her parents never found out.
Wow, oceans 11 is that old? I recall Sinatra was Ocean and the pack+ is the 11. But 70 years??
ReplyDeleteThis one took me a bit longer, as the top left and top middle gave me some trouble until I grokked (for you sci-fi fans) the theme.
ReplyDeleteNutmeg Spice = Mace was new to me. For the cross I kept thinking that yard work was howed or sowed. Doh! I mow my own lawn!
All I needed was 'Z' for Zip Drives. Ugh---I still have one AND the disks in a drawer.
Camel's favorite time was my absolute favorite clue. Mike! Mike! Mike!
Hmm...L.A.Rams seems to be a favorite answer in the L.A. Times Crossword. Coincidence?
I'm feeling like a real slug this morning just looking at some of the previously posted times. Only had one wrong square though not knowing 10D I wrote alienwars instead of alienware which gave me Rsy for 43A. DUH! Also, started with windshield which was quickly corrected. The cross between Kia and keto was a WAG. Overall, I should be happy with a FIW, but being a quasi-perfectionist, I'm not. P.S.: Don't tell my wife I missed one square.
ReplyDeleteShankers,I feel your pain. Same error and same only square not correct. FIW!
ReplyDeleteRATS!'
Stay safe, all.
Wilbur, do the math again.
ReplyDeleteD-O, my blushes. Ok, 60 years ago I was a sophomore in HS and Frank and the boys made their movie. Thus spawning a series of sequels .
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of... I never thought Star Wars I was a serious movie and I don't think the actors and even Lucas did either.
I think the fourth in the Series may have had some worth. I felt I"got" the underlying message. Plus the kid playing Ani did a terrific job.
WC
I misread "Proofed dough" as "Poofed dough" and knew right away the answer was risen!
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteI see I'm in good company with RSY. Hello, Shanker and Crockett! I just failed to check on it and I would not have known ALIENWARE anyway.
Even with the clever theme I found some of the clues awkward and I didn't see the OPEN part only WIDE. Consequently I had a few w/o, I'MOUT/I'MOFF, legal AID/PAD, KIDMAN/KUDROW. On the last one I just hadn't read the clue and it seemed right. Not!
Really nice job today, Steve, thank you. You assuaged the doubts I had about some of the fill.
My grandchildren always ask me for the WIFI password, too.
DINAR is likely the base for Spanish DINERO, money. Eight hundred years of occupation by the Moors left a strong influence on the Spanish language.
JavaMama:
Thank you for responding to the query about how you and Pat knew each other. That is impressive!
Thank you, Joe Deeney for the fun!
Have a fantastic day, everyone!
Since I don't own a phone the "Text" clue for PING mystified me. Very familiar with the electronics use of the term. This physics guy loved seeing my hero Newton and his LAWS featured. "Sleeping giant" clue for SERTA very clever.
ReplyDeleteTook a long time to figure out the WEDNESDAY/Camel connection. The UC Santa Barbara student newspaper had a Wednesday "Hump Day" feature that was all about sex. Go figure.
I thought the theme was very original and clever, even though I was slow to catch on. Unknown KUDROW had me stuck, but FIR.
Here is a most unique collection of Buddhist RELICs that I was privileged to photograph.
These Buddhist RELICS are the remains of great Buddhist teachers. I found it very odd for a number of reasons. Mainly because Buddhists are all about non-attachment to anything material.
Steve thank you for yet another delightful write-up. For the record, a gecko is a reptile, not an amphibian. The gecko in the ads is a Madagascar Day Gecko. Long before the ads I had some as pets. They are beautiful, but they are very delicate and they like to bite.
From Yesterday:
ReplyDeleteI was rushing out the door to do a very challenging hike with my music teacher Nancy and I didn't get back until late.
Lucina, Wilbur Charles thank you for the very kind words about my Solstice Unicycle Slalom photos featuring Human TRAFFIC CONES. There is no explicit requirement to be colorful, but it is natural to make things as colorful as possible for the occasion. The "Theme" changes each year to encourage each ensemble (performers, costumes, floats) to be unique each year.
The Games theme made me instantly think of the Unicycle Slalom idea. I did it with two unicycling friends, one of whom is my music teacher. I was grateful for the ones who were willing to be the Human TRAFFIC CONES!
Yes, we have a lot of fun in this town. It is a virtuous circle: The more that people come together for community events, the more everything is designed to encourage people to come together. I am very grateful to the visionary leaders in the 1960s and 1970s (before my time) who narrowed the main street to encourage walking instead of driving. Exactly the opposite of most cities at that time.
AnonT I am honored that you thought of my TOPIARY photos when the word arose again. I am pretty sure I have more TOPIARY photo sets somewhere.
Well, after my three terrific puzzle days I was prepared for a bit of a toughie today, although I still got big sections here and there, though not the whole thing. Still, lots of fun clues, so, thank you, Joe. And thank you, Steve, for your helpful comments.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite was ARF for 'Husky hello.' Got that one instantly--hey, I have a dachshund.
Don't know how I know KUDROW since I've never heard of 'Web Therapy,' but I got it, thanks to AKA.
Couldn't imagine what a 19th century smoking parlor would be. Oh, OPIUM DEN, that kind of smoking. I preferred cigarettes back in my youth.
Have a good day, everybody.
Very clever theme. I had OPEN above WIDE, so perps didn't fit. When I flipped them it became easier. Lucina, I had Alien wars, too.
ReplyDeleteI must be a maverick. I still like the Gecko commercials. I used to like the Allstate ads when the spokesman was business-like and professional. Now these ads have become wacky,too. IMO Liberty is the most off-putting. Our women's society earned money by trying different products and by evaluating ads. We learned that some ads help sell products even when they are disliked. Contrary to that, Liberty Ins. is on the bottom of my list. I think jingles are great for name recognition. Years ago my students used to sing jingles at school.
I find that in stage 2 I am forced to go out. ENT doctor, podiatrist, hearing specialist, hair cut coming up, buying a new washer today because the old one died. So that means laundromat tomorrow. I should see the dentist, too. All this makes me uneasy. I wanted to walk with Arthur 6 feet apart, but he spend Father's Day with his extended family from different households. I was chicken to walk with him.
YR, in the dystopian world of Demolition Man all of the popular songs are commercial jingles from the '60s-'70s (From the land of the jolly, ho-ho-ho, Green Giant), etc. Oh, and all of the restaurants are Taco Bell. I never did figure out how the three sea shells were supposed to work. (If you never saw the movie, that last sentence was totally meaningless.)
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Interesting challenge, Joe, thanks! Steve, thanks, you always spice up the puzzles with your comments.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get the theme. After Steve 'splained it, I decided I had to be blind to miss the obvious. I spent quite a while looking for the theme after the reveal. DOH!
Hand up for ALIEN WARs before changing it to WARE. Never played any computer games except the CW.
DNK: WEN, REY, the spelling of KUDROW (thought it ended with an "E"), or POCO (was thinking sports scores not music).
More and more, I prefer to read rather than watch TV. I realize this is because I am so bored with those annoying commercials for things I wouldn't buy in a million years. How much insurance do you need or can afford to buy anyway? If they would reduce the premiums rather than spend all that money on ads, we'd all benefit -- except the TV stations who want the support.
Here is an updated PIC. My red headed Hogette is ready to take me for a ride around the campus. As we moved I enjoyed watching her hair flow in the sunlight.
ReplyDeleteÐave
Wilbur Charles, I, too, was a sophomore in 1960. One month before school ended my mom, dad, twin sister and I drove from Chicago on Route 66, when it was one lane each way, to Pasadena to attend my older brother's graduation from Cal Tech, then up the Pacific Coast Highway to Seattle to visit my dad's sole surviving brother, then through Yellowstone Park and back to Chicago. A 7,000 mile triangle trek and I drove half of it on a permit!! Some kind of trip to remember.
ReplyDeleteProving what a small world this is- two cornerites randomly volunteering at the same shelter. Wow!
ReplyDeleteLISA KUDROW has a long TV history, from MAD ABOUT YOU to FRIENDS to The Comeback and now SPACE FORCE Her HER IMDB .
Picard, nice to see your recovery is such that a challenging hike is doable.
ReplyDeleteShankers I drove from NH to FLA with my son about that age. He too had only a permit. As I dozed I tried to keep an eye out and noticed he was at 90 mph.
"Just trying to be keep up with the traffic, Dad. "
Ok. Now to research that Sherlock story.
WC
Ok, as I first guessed it was "The Man with the Twisted Lip". That story is interesting in terms of the current mania for going back in history to punish our heros because they don't meet 2020 standards.
ReplyDeleteHolmes encounters a man he refers to as a "Lascar". I just LIU. Although the particular Lascar appeared evil it was not a pejorative appellation and signified East Asian not African descent.
WC
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle had its moments.
Write-overs....RIALS/DINAR.
Not much to add.
See you tomorrow, stay safe.
Hi everybody.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe and Steve.
I liked the new theme twist. I also REALLY liked finding Newton's Laws of Motion. They seem simple but they explain so much.
Television is getting painful with the constant news about Covid and politics. Then add to that the bombardment of ads for Liberty Mutual...
"Give me a PING, Vasili. One ping only, please." Hey! I remember that from a rerun just a couple of days ago.
~ Mind how you go...
Great puzzle and very clever theme!
ReplyDeleteTerrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Joe and Steve.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed, and found the OPEN WIDE theme. (Actually, when I read the reveal at 64A, I wondered why we had no reveal for 17,23 and 32 Across; oh, it is coming at 67A.) I liked the split theme.
I got the reveals before the themers and then went back to fill them in.
That actually gave me a nit with the themers because they seemed inconsistent to me. I was confused because I thought the W and I were the first two letters and the D and E, the last two letters. This was true for 23A and 32A but not for 17A (W IDE).
Similarly, I thought the O and P were the first two letters and the E and N the last two. This was true to 50A but not for 40A (OPE N) or 58A (O PEN).
If they had been consistently different or even moved with a pattern (ie. W IDE, WI DE, WID E)
I would have been more impressed. Or perhaps we needed the dreaded circles!
Actually I see now that OPEN did move with a pattern. (OPE N, OP EN, O PEN) so maybe I only have half a nit!
I smiled broadly when SARAN filled in, and LOLed at WEDNESDAY Hump Day. SERTA was cute too but I thought of this Sleeping Giant.
ThunderBay
If 12D and 16D were beside each other on the grid (as they are in the clues), we would have a SEES SAW.
Glad Pat and Java Mama got to meet. What are the odds?!
D4-great photo on your avatar of you and Hogette(?!) on the ROAD. I BET you had fun on that ZIP DRIVE.
Wishing you all a great day.
An enjoyable pzl. Thanks to Mr. Deeney!
ReplyDeleteI remember my mom telling me that when she was a little girl she was warned--seriously!--about going into Chinatown (in San Francisco) because the streets were rigged with trap doors that would open suddenly to capture young ladies in OPIUM DENs!
Systemic racism at work.
~ OMK
_____________
DR: A 3-way on the far side.
The anagram potential of the main diagonal is limited, given the high number of vowels.
I'll go with this one:
In the midst of a street fight between bare knuckle warriors, so far EVENly balanced between the sides, the odds are suddenly shifted by the arrival of a dozen Sumo-style contestants.
What can one say, but...
"EEEEE! HEAVIES! OO!"!?
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Joe Deeney, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteGot up early in the night, about 1:00 AM, to work the puzzle. Could not sleep, as usual. Got through most of it in an hour. Finished this morning in a few minutes.
Liked the theme. Two words and they signified two sets of theme answers. Very clever.
A few unknowns: MACE, ZOE, KETO, POCO, OCEAN, EZINE, ALIEN WARE, I had some ZIP drives. perps helped.
Liked WEDNESDAY for 11D. Clever.
I had some ZIP drives years ago. Might still have them in the basement. Hmmmmm.
Lisa KUDROW is a good actress.
Went to the oncologist office today and learned all about Chemo Therapy.
C.C. and Boomer. Thank you very much for the card, and the token gift inside. That meant a lot to me. I will keep you and the Corner apprised of my progress.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Hello, everyone! I’m here earlier than expected today. Thursdays are my day in the bucket at the museum, but since we had quite a big storm overnight and this morning, we didn’t have any visitors until just recently. Seeing the weather, I was smart enough to print out and bring today’s puzzle and was able to finish it here.
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle for me. FIR, which is very unusual for a Thursday puzzle, and NO Google lookups. There were a few unknowns, most of which have already been mentioned, but the perps were kind again today.
CLUB/BAT: Were he still alive, one could talk with John Roseboro (Dodgers catcher) about the time Juan Marichal (Giants pitcher) took out after Roseboro with a baseball bat (1965). The incident happened back in the good ole days, before catchers wore helmets behind the plate:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Roseboro
TTP: Yes, I played in many weekend tournaments (mostly co-ed) down at the South Post Oak fields in the '80s and into the '90s. I was working for Texaco in Bellaire, and we often had a team down there. Don’t think we ever won any of the tournaments, but we could be semi-respectable at times (depending on who showed up to play), and we would win a few games and drink a few beers. By Sunday afternoon, though, we were pretty much dragging, but we had fun!
FIR at breakfast, and came back during a late lunch break to have the reveal revealed. Thanks, Steve! Never would have seen it without your help. Thanks, Joe, for a good puzzle. Tonight I'll be making bread dough so that it's RISEN in time for Friday evening.
ReplyDeleteHomemade Challah! I am on my way Naomi! You need some honey, honey, or is that too un-pc?
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha!
DeleteI am very impressed with the theming in the puzzle today. Loved the cluing for WEDNESDAY and SERTA. Overall a pleasant solve.
ReplyDeleteLike PK, I prefer to read rather than watch TV. Well, more specifically I prefer to get my news by reading it than from the evening news broadcasts. The broadcast news is usually extremely perfunctory, superficial, and downright uninformative.
//begin rant//
Re the news: I'm seeing more and more attention being given to how people reacted to an event (outrage, resentment, shock, etc.) rather than to the event itself. For example, about that "noose" in Bubba Wallace's garage, it was all about his and the FBI's reaction to it and very little about just exactly what was everybody getting so riled up about in the first place. "A noose was found..." Okay, found by whom? Who put it there? Is it really a noose or is that simply how it was described to be? No pictures of it. No explanation why anyone would tie the end of the garage door rope in the shape of a noose. No explanation of anything. Very low-quality news reporting.
//end rant//
I have heard of ALIENWARE because I have perused the Dell website multiple times. And yes, I still have a ZIP DRIVE that we haven't gotten around to e-wasting. Even a bunch of old HP Travan tape cartridges. If we got rid of just half of the junk (in my opinion it's junk) in our house we'd have double the living space.
Sheesh, my inner curmudgeon is showing. Good wishes to you all.
Hey Mr. Curmudgeon and everybody else.
ReplyDeleteWe have started doing all of our grocery shopping online and having the order delivered. It's not perfect but pretty darn good and well worth the fee. Since we can stay out of the store, it helps to avoid possible exposure to Covid. That seems important considering her compromised immune system due to the chemo.
For news, I have been listening to Lester Holt on NBC. I like his style and personality. I think they covered the "noose" story pretty well. They didn't go overboard at first which was good since it turned out to be a garage door pull rope. I did see a picture of it but at first I don't think they knew any details like who originally put it there. At that point, I didn't want to know any more about it. Instead, I was happy to see the support that his fellow drivers had given him on the track. I think that turned out to be the most important feature of the news story.
I depend on Barbara for a more detailed analysis of the political news since she has MSNBC on most of the time. It's thorough and luckily has a POV that meshes OK with mine.
As Lester Holt says, "Take care of yourself and each other."
//second try
ReplyDeleteHi All!
Knew ALIENWARE and didn't even make it to "inspired by 'X-Files'" in the clue until Steve's expo to learn that tidbit.
Thanks Joe for the puzzle. Loved the meta-meta theme - help'd w/ the WIFI (no, not SSID) CODE for the win. //there's poetry in that help :-)
Steve - don't know how you do it but your expos are most amusing. That said, I always thought the GEICO gecko has more of an Aussie accent.
WOs: HDh, LARVe
ESPs: ZOE [sans umlaut is Youngest's moniker though I just call her Zee or Zed*], POCO|OSSA
Fav: How can you see PINED w/o thinking of the Norwegian Blue dreaming of the fjords? //Beautiful plumage that
Pat | JavaMama - it's a small world after all. So cool.
I remember when I was in Gilroy, CA w/ the family and hope'd I'd bump into Garlic Gal... I kept holding my puzzle conspicuously 'open' to see if one of the fine ladies at the breakfast table nearby noticed - alas, didn't happen.
I had a rough day. Pop called mid-morning to tell me - the "man" is my nephew: Link.
It was nice reading everyone to busy the mind.
As Bill G says, mind how you go.
Cheers, -T
AnonT, were you and the man close? Condolences and good wishes for you and his family.
ReplyDeleteTony, so sorry to read about your nephew. Where did he live? My condolences to the family.
ReplyDeleteAnon-T, I am so very, very sorry for the tragic loss of your nephew. I can't imagine the grief you and your family are experiencing. Yours is a very close family, and each of you will find strength through one another during the coming days.
ReplyDelete-T, I add my condolences and best wishes for your loss.
ReplyDeleteWC
Tony:
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry about your nephew! What a tragic way to end one's life and at such a young age. If your family is like ours, and it seems to be, we are very close to all our nieces and nephews. To me they are more like my children so I know you must be feeling supremely sad about his untimely death.
Thank yous Cornerites.
ReplyDeleteThings are still sinking in.
Lucina - yeah, us Italians are close and "Yeah, I'm going to yell at that kid 'cuz stop that shit!"
Nephew was the blacksheep - in trouble in multiple jurisdictions and might have con'd me too. But we loved him. It hurts me more for my Bro - that's his kid.
-T