Theme: TWICE AS NICE (Stars were accidentally omitted from theme clues)
17. "Two Tahitian Women" painter: PAUL GAUGUIN.
23. 1965 Beau Brummels hit with the line "It seemed so funny to me": LAUGH LAUGH.
38. Southern lights: AURORA AUSTRALIS.
51. Reuben ingredient: SAUERKRAUT.
63. 13th/14th-century Mongol Empire region ... and an elemental hint to what's found twice in each answer to a starred clue: GOLDEN HORDE.
The symbol for gold is AU, and each theme answer contains two AU's.
Across:
1. Small earring: STUD. Ears are often pierced using a piercing gun with gold (AU) STUDs.
5. Mercedes line: E CLASS.
11. Magazine with a satirical "fold-in" back cover: MAD. Here's one from 2008.
14. Bear in two constellations: URSA.
15. Bits of dust: SPECKS.
16. Curling surface: ICE. Curling, the sport. Sneaky clue, but with three letters what else could it be?
19. Testing site: LAB.
20. Minute: SMALL. Another sneaky clue.
21. SFO incoming flight: ARR. Air travel - not too much of that these days.
22. Narrow cut: SLIT.
27. Neverland pirate: SMEE. From Peter Pan.
28. Snap, crackle and pop: NOISES. Again with the sneaky clues!
32. CPR expert: EMT.
35. Media org. that tweets the Declaration of Independence on July 4: NPR. I listen every day, but did not know that.
37. Partner of each: EVERY.
43. H.G. Wells genre: SCIFI.
44. Moo __ gai pan: GOO. Chinese dish with chicken and mushrooms.
45. Kin of -kin: LET. This took a little thought. -kin as a suffix, like in munchkin, and -let, as in piglet. They are both diminutives.
46. Yet: THOUGH.
48. Zodiac transition point: CUSP.
55. Adhesive strip: TAPE.
58. Bygone telecom co.: MCI. The end of a telecom icon.
59. Waited in line, say: STOOD. Six feet apart.
62. "Ben-__": HUR.
66. The Nixon years, e.g.: ERA. Don't remember seeing this clue before.
67. Capital west of Krakow: PRAGUE. Capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, the 13th largest city in the European Union and the historical capital of Bohemia.
68. Tiny amt. of time: NSEC. A nanosecond (ns or nsec) is one billionth (10-9) of a second and is a common measurement of read or write access time to random access memory (RAM).
69. "Great news!": YAY.
70. Autumn blooms: ASTERS.
71. Fair: SO-SO.
Down:
1. Enjoys an evening meal: SUPS.
2. Magic Kingdom people mover: TRAM.
3. Customary: USUAL.
4. "Who Shot J.R.?" show: DALLAS.
5. That, in Tijuana: ESA.
6. Apple core?: CPU. Nice clue.
7. Sanctioned: LEGAL.
8. Honda luxury brand: ACURA.
9. Vail trail: SKI RUN. Colorado.
10. Common ID: SSN. Social Security Number.
11. Pepper grinder: MILL.
12. Berry from South America: ACAI. Everything you need to know.
13. It's outstanding: DEBT. Lol.
18. In a funk: GLUM.
22. Hindu deity known as the Destroyer: SHIVA.
24. Rowlands who won an Emmy for playing Betty Ford: GENA. The Betty Ford Story.
25. Air filter acronym: HEPA. "High Efficiency Particulate Air" or "High Efficiency Particulate Arrestance."
26. Suffix with movie or church: GOER.
29. What some bears do: SELL. A bear is an investor who believes that a particular security, or the broader market is headed downward and may attempt to profit from a decline in stock prices. Bears are typically pessimistic about the state of a given market or underlying economy.
30. Keystone State port: ERIE. Pennsylvania.
31. Part of CNS: Abbr.: SYST. Central Nervous System.
32. Dawn direction: EAST.
33. Greatly: MUCH.
34. Donald Duck's nephews, e.g.: TRIO. Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
36. Throw __: RUG.
39. Beneficial: OF USE.
40. Latvian birthplace of Baryshnikov: RIGA. Wikipedia.
41. Bit of footwear: SOCK.
42. __ de force: TOUR.
47. Indulges: HUMORS.
49. Bachelorette party accessory: SASH.
50. Deceptions: PUT ONS.
52. Razzle-dazzle: ECLAT. Brilliant display or effect.
53. Blue __ Mountains: RIDGE.
54. Trunk: TORSO.
55. "So __ say": THEY.
56. Ambience: AURA.
57. Use rosary beads, say: PRAY.
60. Poetic tributes: ODES.
61. Geometric art style: DECO.
63. Transcript fig.: GPA. Grade Point Average.
64. Prefix with Asian: EUR.
65. Wii forerunner, briefly: NES.
Happy Wednesday? I think the pandemic has gotten to me as I have been very grumpy. Today I am determined to be better.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was interesting. The choices of the dual AU did not seem too farfetched. The rest was very doable. Thank you, Robin and mb.
No grid
ReplyDeleteGood morning, folks. Thank you, Robin Stears, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Melissa Bee, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteWell, I could not sleep very well last night, so I got up and did the puzzle. Turned out to be pretty easy.
Theme made sense. Even though my puzzle did not have the starred clues. I used cruciverb. Usually they have the asterisks.
A few I needed perps for: PSUL GAUGIN, LAUGH LAUGH, AURORA AUSTRALIS, GOLDEN HORDE, SHIVA.
Hey, my hometown made the puzzle. ERIE.
May look for the Declaration on July 4th via Twitter. Interesting.
Anyhow, I guess I am done. I may lay back down and see if I can catch a couple more ZZs.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Finishing my shift again, got the next three days off. Woo hoo! Dislike doing the puzzle so early, because what do I have to look forward to later in the day(after sleep)? Guess the NYT will have to do. Though the NYT puzzle always seems so serious, sometimes. Like the Gray Lady herself. Serious paper, serious puzzle. Don't mess with us.
ReplyDeleteSame as yesterday, a promising start and finished most of it but one quadrant gave me fits and DNF.
How come GAUGUIN doesn't rhyme with "penguin?" Languages are weird.
Why is "weird" spelled like it is? Why doesn't "i" come before "e" in this word?
Why couldn't I suss out LEGAL for 7D? I kept thinking about Iran.
An alternative clue for 1D could have been "informal greetings." "Hey! 'Sup?"
RIGA was in yesterday's puzzle too. SLIT was in the Globe puzzle. Deja vu all over again.
Perps gave me ECLAT. Nice word.
Oh, here we have the feminine Spanish article again with ESA. ESE is the masculine, and ESO means "it" and also "that." It's all kind of fluid, it seems. I put ESO first.
Hope y'all have a lovely Wednesday. I'm going to sleep through most of it. I hate working overnight.
Golf Thursday!
FIR, but I wrote a few answers that I thought were wrong but they were right. Wanted expO instead of SOSO at first. On a 25th Anniversary cruise in French Polynesia, we stopped in at PAULGAUGUIN’s studio. Always nice to see SMEE in the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteRobin always provides a nice challenge, clever and not too difficult (except when I don't FIR). Put ICU for the Apple CPU (but that's just me), SHOE before SOCK and TO DATE before THOUGH. All were quickly fixed. Nice to see Snap, Crackle, and Pop as noises while Huey, Dewey, and Louie made a trio. I noticed the double AUs in the theme answers, but it took the theme to explain why. There was a stray AU at 56d but it's a short word and wasn't asterisked (is that a word?), so no foul. Thanx, Robin and Melissa Bee.
LAUGH LAUGH: Rather obscure song, but I remember playing it on WMAD back in the day.
NPR: I keep it streaming on my music server while I'm doing the puz each morning. On the weekends I switch from the Houston station to Boston's WGBH -- I like their early morning programming better, plus I get to hear WWDTM before most of the rest of the world.
That MAD FOLD-IN may have been reprinted in 2008, but Rockefeller-Goldwater would've been 1964.
ReplyDeleteAU AU in the themers? Local news says today is National Repeat Day. Local news says today is National Repeat Day.
ReplyDeleteGood (rainy day) morning. Thank you, Robin and Melissa.
LAUGH, LAUGH, I thought I'd try
to solve the puzzle today
Laugh, laugh, I failed so bad
I don't know what to say
Actually, I do... Big D'OH !
Was thinking moc(casin) for "bit of footwear", keyed in mock and never looked back.
I think fatigue has set in.
Going back to bed.
Musings
ReplyDelete-LAUGH, LAUGH is a personal favorite
-AURORA AUSTRALIS – We spent an hour talking with neighbor’s daughter who just returned from an internship in New Zealand. She’d go back tomorrow!
-Iowa is reaping benefits of gambling but Nebraska refuses to make it LEGAL
-FORE!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a pretty straightforward solve with only a few unknowns: NES, NPR, and HEPA. No w/os, either, so a quick dash to the finish line. I thought Laugh was going to be part of the revealer because of Paul Gauguin and Laugh Laugh. The double AUs should have stood out more, but, like others, I’m not as focused as I could be. I liked Aura crossing Era and the ubiquitous Erie CSO for Abejo.
Thanks, Robin, for a mid-week treat and thanks, Melissa, for an interesting and informative expo. Any recents photos of Jaelyn and Harper?
FLN
Anon T, thanks for the info on Tabasco Bloody Mary Mix. I was aware that you could order it online but I think the cost of shipping would be prohibitive. I meant that it is hard to find locally, as the supermarkets don’t carry it. Years ago, there was a SYSCO store nearby that was open to the public that carried it, but they have moved to a more distant location, I don’t usually make Bloody Marys at home, but I do have a bottle of Stonewall Kitchen’s mix in the fridge. One of these days I’ll have my sister, Eileen, over and mix up a batch. She’s a big fan, as well.
Suggestion for your eggplants: Eggplant Parm. 🍆 🍆
Stay safe, all.
Amusing theme, though I started the puzzle slow with PAUL CEZANNE needing to switch to PAUL GAUGUIN. Who knew - 2 post-impressionist artists name PAUL?
ReplyDeleteI should have remembered GAUGUIN first as I went to a special exhibition at the Saint Louis Art Museum last fall (going to a museum- feels like that was a long time ago) featuring his work both early years in France and later years in Tahiti. His work is wonderful with the vibrant colors in Polynesia, but his personal life was such a mess..... he left his wife and children in France to go there and took syphilis with him. He had a series of Tahitian young girls that he lived with and died at 54 of syphilis!
Having him and the LAUGH LAUGH filled in made the AURORA AUSTRALIS a much quicker fill!
Thanks Melissa and Robin for a fun morning!
I just realized that there is no H in Paul Gauguin. So, why did I make the Laugh connection? Lack of focus, I guess! Well, when you don’t even know what day of the week it is, (as happens often) is seeing letters that aren’t there the new normal?
ReplyDeleteFIW. Did not have the painter name filled before I entered ESo instead of ESA.
ReplyDeleteNeeded to correct sOunds to NOISES and mOCK to SOCK
LET for kin. I get it, but not a fan.
Totally missed the theme as usual.
MO
The hard copy of TB-Times didn't have *'s, the * clues were obvious though.
ReplyDeleteBEARS often short sell. The term naked comes to mind. "Puts" are another BEAR technique.
Guessing AU I immediately inked AURORA Borealis. Then I realized, finally, that I had to "double down"* on the AU. I thought the GOLDEN HORDE was the Mongols, not the region.
I pay for SiriusXM. Betsy insists on massage music, abhors my Beatles and virtually anything else I can stand listening to. Phillip on the other hand lines Mr Obvious and similar ilk. He helped grok BISECT in the J Sunday. Nothing like dyslexia for the Jumble,eh?(c below)
LAUGH LAUGH's cousin was "Hats off to Larry"
WC
*c today's J-blog
Quick sashay today. Only LAUGH LAUGH was new to me, but very easily guessed. I did look for GOLD, but missed the AU AU.
ReplyDeleteI was lucky to associate PAUL GAUGIN with Tahitian immediately. I loved the misdirections. They caused no holdups.
If goer is a suffix in movie goer, then boy should be a suffix in cowboy. Aren't they just compound words?
Homemade bloodymarys are easy to make and take very few ingredients. I've never used a mix. V8 juice,Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt.
Lucina, so sorry your Amazon problem is continuing.
I am jealous of your get-togethers. No guests are allowed here. Our family has spent birthdays, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day each in our own home. Bummer. So, even grocery shopping among strangers is a kind of socialization.
From time to time I am sad, lonely, unmotivated and/or brain dead, but not grumpy. I think, in addition to the isolation, these moods are caused by the dystopian state of the country. Other times I am just unmotivated, but content enough. I escape by reading voraciously and overeating.
Interesting that sanction can meaning giving official approval or the opposite, imposing a penalty.
I was expecting AURIC GOLDFINGER as the theme but the GOLDEN HORDE took over. An easy Wed. puzzle. The correct spelling of GAUGUIN was the only thing that slowed me today.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see ARR instead of ETA.
Part of CNS- had no idea what the clue was about, thinking maybe it was "Crosby, STILLS, & Nash" instead of CSN. perps.
Who shot J.R.? The Houston Astros had a star fastball pitcher back in the '70s named J.R. Richard (from Ruston, LA). For some unknown reason his velocity slowed down. And I remember the headlines in our local newspaper's sports section- "Who Shot J.R.?" Nobody knew it but he was about to suffer a stroke at age 30.
Vermontah-try ROUGH, THOUGH & THOUGHT, BOUGH & BOUGHT and explain that to a non-native English speaker. Gauguin is French.
Anon T (from yesterday)
ReplyDeleteYep, I only use the computers at the Library.
Got "ZAPPED" 3 years ago (my laptop at home) ... and they phoned me and said:
"Got to Walmart and get two $ 100 Apple Gift cards and call us back with their ID numbers' and we will "Un-Zap" your computer"
Well I don't pay the A**holes who Zapped Me to un-zap me.
Now I only use the computers at the Library.
10 weeks without a computer and life was just fine.
I still "Toasted" Everyone at Sunset.
Cheers!
Easy but fun puzzle. And wonderful review.
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss - If you have Amazon Prime you can order the bloody mary mix and there is no additional shipping charge.
Stay safe everyone.
JB2
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteToo hasty today. Had 'spec' before NSEC. Measure twice; cut once..
Got it all without assistance. Nice easy but clever theme. AU is right up a Chem. E.'s alley. There may have been some other AU choices, but these were excellent. Big CSO to Kazie with AURORA AUSTRALIS.
ICE - I curled for 10 years after I first retired.
LAUGH - - Ger. lachen, Dutch lachen. Funny how English took on the 'f' sound like in 'enough'
Pepper MILL - German Pfeffermühle, L. Ger. Pepermöhl, Dutch pepermolen. French MILL is 'moulin'. Moulin Rouge is 'red MILL.'
Thanks MB for the intro.
Have a great day.
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Robin and melissa bee.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time today with no inkblots. The double AU appeared with the reveal and AURA was an added Easter egg. (I see d'otto found it too.)
None of my clues were starred in my newspaper either (as per 63A reveal), but it was easy to see the longest ones were part of the theme.
AURORA AUSTRALIS was a logical fill, but I am more familiar with Borealis in the north.
MCI was all perps, as was NPR (National Public Radio for my fellow-Canadian readers).
Curling ICE is acceptable to Tinbeni, I think. (Welcome back!)
I waited for perps to decide between Eso and ESA.
I smiled at cluing for CPY and SKI TRAIL.
We had ERIE today with a new clue. (not Esso thankfully).
I noted ECLASS and ECLAT.
Wishing you all a great day. We had a huge thunder storm last night with hail and lots of rain. Garden seems to have survived!
FIR, but like Wilbur Charles, thought the GOLDEN HORDE was a people, not a place. Learning moment. I don't know the chemical symbols, but saw the repeated AU pairs, and guessed the meaning. Only erasure (yes, I use pencil) was "shoe" to SOCK. Very enjoyable. Thanks, Robin, Melissa, and Crossword Corner contributors!
ReplyDeleteI before e shouldn't be a rule, too many exceptions.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Thank you for a fun puzzle & commentary, Robin & Melissa. Melissa, I think most of us these days could empathize with that sheep "between the rock and a hard place" (one of my late husband's favorite sayings).
ReplyDeleteSaw the AU AU combos & thought they were AUsome. Took a minute to remember the GOLD connection, but got it. Thought the HORDE would be a MUCH bigger number of them.
New to me: AURORA AUSTRALIS. I got it only because I'd figured out the AU AU theme. Tried "boreALIS" which turned red and was a letter short. AboreALIS wasn't better.
DNK: LAUGH LAUGH was a song.
Many years ago I did art appreciation talks for school children. I took one picture by GAUGUIN's. After reading up on all the "naughty" things he did, I was hard pressed to come up with a suitable presentation for fifth & sixth graders.
Third day was not the charm. FIR but with inkovers. Expected the word trip would be researched and accepted for Donald's triplet nephews but TRIO ended that. Out/RUG for throw. Shoe/SOCK
ReplyDeleteJust had the Baltic capital so RIGA was memory fresh. Erroneously assumed BEAR was a selling market adjective. Must be hard for the fuzzy fellows 🐻 to sell stock but Pooh can use the profits to finally buy pants. Didn't get Hooked by SMEE with perp help this time.
I somehow dug deep into the dusty recesses of my brain and pulled up AURORA AUSTRALIS out of nowhere. Maybe I was a 🐧penguin🐧 in a earlier life?
Thought GOLDEN HORDE was a posse not a place. Does any body really use ÉCLAT in conversation? ...(except when I explain I take blood thinners because I've had A CLOT twice in my pulmonary artery)
Spelled GAUGUIN wrong thrice!!
Elated I didn't have to figure out the spelling of queue while everyone simply STOOD in line.
Tried male stripper as a common Bachelorette party accessory but wouldnt fit!
What else doesn't fit.....
Vermontah must ______ in the wintah.....SHIVA
Don't think the Butler did it?. The maid? Aha!!..Coulda ______..
BEN HUR.
You don't have to like moo GOO gai pan just because_____..EURASIAN
Over the HUMP.
Must have been on Robin's wavelength today. Flew through this one in good Wednesday time with only a few slowdowns which were easily perped. Never saw the theme til coming here. Getting ready to celebrate wife's big eight-o tomorrow with our daughter who is driving in. They plan to shop in Old Town Scottsdale in 110° heat. How fun. Women will put up with a lot of inconvenience just to spend money.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @ 9:43 ~ Thanks for the tip, JB2, but I don’t have Amazon Prime. Interestingly, Amazon’s 12 count case price is $61+, including shipping vs the source Anon T linked showing a price of $30.99, plus shipping, which is unknown until you start the actual order. So much for “Free Shipping.”
ReplyDeleteRay @ 11:24 ~ Thanks for the chuckles! 🤡
Well, after a perfect Monday and Tuesday this was a tough Wednesday for me.
ReplyDeleteBut, I know my SAUERKRAUT! Got that one instantly, and it really helped to fill in the south.
Nice to see PAUL GAUGUIN in the puzzle.
Fun to get NOISES for 'snap, crackle, and pop.'
Remember some lovely visits to PRAGUE, and had a good friend who lived in ERIE.
Like desper-otto, I too put TO DATE before THOUGH.
Hope you get a good nap, TTP
Many thanks for a fun puzzle, Robin, and for a good write-up, Melissa.
ReplyDeleteA golden puzzle today from Robin. Didn't see the AU until the puzzle was filled in.
Like HG, LAUGH LAUGH is one of my favorite Oldies also.
Had to make a few changes. I had BERLIN before PRAGUE, ETA before ARR and ESE before ESA. Perps fixed my initial mistakes.
I seem to recall that Barry Goldwater had a vanity license plate, AUH20. Makes sense to me.
Looks like Rich stuck in some recent words again. RIGA and our old friend ERIE.
CanadianEH: I think the storm that went through Ontario last night roared through Central Pennsylvania this morning. Lots of wind, rain, hail, with a lot of thunder and lightning. We had gusts over 70 mph (112+ kph in your area) with a number of trees down. It's on the way to Philadelphia and New Jersey now.
The Sun is out now, but they are predicting more storms tonight.
Be safe everyone.
Hi everybody.
ReplyDeleteSomebody mentioned JUMBLE. I used to do it each day online right after finishing the crossword. But for the last couple of weeks, it looks as if I have to register and pay a fee to get access to the JUMBLE online. Anybody with some helpful ideas or advice?
Like Lemonade, I'm somewhere between grumpy and depressed...
Later...
Some tricksy clues, but I persevered...
ReplyDeleteGolden Horde?
Hmm, not much golden puns out there on Google...
I better just rate myself...
Oh well, dud posting day,
but some one has to post it : Laugh Laugh
Let me try one more time...
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThis was a nice hump day / Wednesday grid that filled quickly.
No write-overs today, I’m sure that’ll change in the next couple of days, haha.
And not much else to add today.
Stay safe.
CED, I'll call your LAUGH and raise you
ReplyDeleteLarry
I was sure I had posted earlier but I don't see it. I wonder if I forgot to publish?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, WEES.
Musings 2
ReplyDelete-Just back off a very hot golf course.
-Wilbur, Hat’s Off To Larry was Del Shannon’s follow up to his monster hit Runaway. It was essentially the same song, but “strike while the iron is hot.” A lot of groups did that
-My first double GOLD thought
Spitzboov ~ My LA Times Xwd did not show any "starred clue"s. How about yours?
ReplyDeleteAre you going to get another refund?
Pretty EZ for a Humpday pzl, IMHO.
JB2 & Irish Miss ~ Thanks for chatting abt the BM Mix. It made me curious enough to order it.
~ OMK
____________
DR: A 3-way on the near side.
The central diagonal's anagram may be technical jargon among proof readers for a document that has been proofed and passed. It has received a...
"TRUE PERSUAL"
- or -
When an art film is the product of a single filmmaker, one who has written and directed and perhaps also starred (cf. Orson Welles), the artist is sometimes designated a...
"PURE AUTEUR"!
OMK - You are sharp. I did not realize my theme clues were unstarred. My mind plays tricks sometimes on what I read and as is usual, I went with the longest horizontal fill.
ReplyDeleteIMO, An unstarred clue does not rise to the level of an unclued clue. So since there was no issue with the clues per se and the AU leapt right out at me, I did not feel short-changed.
Keith @ 2:09 ~ I hope you enjoy your Tabasco purchase. Cheers! 🍹
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this puzzle. Like others, I thought GOLDEN HORDE was a people, not a place. I have now learned that it is a group of settled Mongols, a Khanate.
ReplyDelete97 degrees here today. Double whew. Gazpacho for dinner tonight.
Good wishes to you all.
Hi, everyone! Happy Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteInitially, I wanted to do a "silver and gold" themed puzzle, but there's not much to work with besides MAGNA CUM LAUDE. AGONY AUNTS would have worked, too, but that's primarily a British-English expression. So, like any good alchemist, I just turned the whole thing into gold!
Wonderful write-up! Thank you very much. 😁
Jayce, you remind me of a joke I read in the past year:
ReplyDeleteDiner: "Waiter, this soup is cold!!"
Waiter: "Sir, it's gazpacho."
Diner: "Oh I'm sorry. Gazpacho, this soup is cold!!"
CORNED BEET>SAUERKRAUT
ReplyDeleteAutomatically fill in NSEC for a small time measure; one of these days a creator going to catch me with MSEC. (Although it's 1000 times bigger, it's still "a tiny amt. of time".)
Just where did Donald's and Mickey's so-called "nephews" come from?
Got GOLDEN HORDE before looking back to see the Au's.
Vermontah: The spelling rule should be "I before E, except when it's not."
>Roy
Avg Joe, I like that joke.
ReplyDeleteCurmudgeon ~
ReplyDeleteThe entire rule is
Put "i" before "e"
Except after "c"--
Or when sounded as "ay,"
As in "neighbor" and "weigh,"
Or in the name "Keith."
~ OMK
O.K. If no one else will, I will wish my wife a happy 80th tomorrow. Talk about being curmudgeons.
ReplyDeleteShankers, Happy Birthday to your wife tomorrow !
ReplyDeleteMisty, thank you. I must have needed that nap. I didn't get back out of bed until 2 in the afternoon ! My batteries are recharged. Probably won't be able to sleep tonight !
Tried to figure out how I got mock instead of SOCK. I think I must have put in mocs and then changed the s to a K when SAUERKRAUT when in.
Hand up for liking that Laugh, Laugh song.
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteModerately tough for a Wednesday; everything perped together. One write over when I started to put ELATE before ECLAT
Irish Miss —> the Tabasco brand of Bloody Mary mix is pretty good. I try to avoid ones that add MSG. I make my own now, using V-8 low sodium, and add Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, lemon pepper, Old Bay seasoning, and Louisiana Hot Sauce (or Tabasco). The garnish varies, but usually it’s a celery stalk and two or three jalapeño and garlic stuffed olives. A bacon strip or a boiled shrimp aren’t hateful, either!
My creative poetic brain seems to be suffering in this 110 degree plus desert heat ... but I texted Haiku Harry and he sent me this: (nothing to do with today’s puzzle other than the TRIO of Huey, Duey, and Louey:
Dos Patos (ducks) were lost.
Tio (uncle) Donaldo quacked out:
“¡There’s no tres of them!”
Happy birthday wishes to your wife, Shankers.
ReplyDeleteShankers, Happy 80th Birthday to your wife. Hope she is a healthy 80 and you have many more years together!
ReplyDeleteJayce, FLN I've been thinking of you trying to cash or turn over your old $20 bills. Due to the current unrest, I'd advise you to keep them as souvenirs a while longer. There are probably cashiers who have never seen a $20 that old and wouldn't know what to do with it. Don't remember when they added the features that show a counterfeit. Know it was prior to 2000, but don't know how much.
I got good news today. Took the cover off my a/c yesterday and the a/c actually produced cold air all day in 93* weather. The prior 3 summers, the a/c had to have the refrigerant replaced every summer. I covered the unit last fall for the first time ever. The techs could never figure why I lost refrigerant every winter. Good news but still an unsolved mystery. Hope the cool continues. I am a cool mother tonight.
Thank you TTP and Jayce. I'll pass along your good wishes to the new octagenarian.
ReplyDeleteNuts!
ReplyDeleteThought I would check the Blog before going to bed.
It's kinda late (11:30),
But, OK Shankers,
I'm working on it...
I'll fess-up: Technical DNF. I had to look in the fridge for spelling of SAUER in KRAUT and that helped even though extra ink was split there...
ReplyDeleteHi All!
Thanks Robin for a tight puzzle and swinging by The Corner. Thanks for kickin'-off the after-party mb.
WO: UPI b/f NPR
ESPs: The themers! ECLAT after looking in the fridge.
Fav: 50d made me think of Marty Feldman [Young Frankenstein @0:32] and The Who simultaneously.
YR - Interesting observation on sanction. I know I've used it both ways but never even thought about it.
IM - I was thinking parm too but wanted to go a bit lighter. Similar to...
cherry tomatoes came in so I'm going quarter them w/ basil, garlic, & olive oil over my penultimate box of angel-hair. Perfect for this heat!
//I cannot find Barilla's angel hair anywhere. I'm going to have to make some this weekend.
Hey, there's no stared clues in The Houston Chronicle either...
Shankers! Wish your DW a happy 80th from the -T household.
//CED - You're too funny man
AveJoe - after I got off the floor, I ran downstairs to share w/ DW & Eldest your Gazpacho joke,. One groan.
Well, I though it was funny!
C.Moe - it's good to see you back regularly(ish).
OMK @4;40... Last line of the rule is: Unless it's weird like Keith :-)
Cheers, -T
Shankers:
ReplyDeleteIn my previous but lost post I did wish your DW a happy birthday. I hope she found something fabulous in her shopping trip.