"Artificial Replacements"
17. Minty green cocktail?: ASTROTURF HOPPER. Grasshopper.
27. Easier to swallow?: ASPARTAME COATED. Sugarcoated. Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth: Alternative Sugars
49. Puritan preacher involved in the Salem Witch Trials?: POLYESTER MATHER. Who ? Cotton Mather.
65. 1934 Oscar-nominated film whose title hints at the wordplay in three other long answers: IMITATION OF LIFE.
Library of Congress - National Film Preservation Board - The importance of the film
Learning moments: Cotton Mather and his father Increase Mather, and then reading various articles about the film Imitation of Life.
Across:
1. Sticking point?: CRAW.
5. Mixed __: MEDIA. " The term “mixed media art” is a broad definition that covers many arts and crafts, including collage, assemblage (both 2D and 3D), altered objects, including books and boxes, handmade greeting cards, artist trading cards (ATCs) and tags, art journalling and book making.
The “mixed media” used includes paints, papers and board of all descriptions, glues, buttons, fabrics, found objects, photos, metal bits, fibres, things from nature, inks, pencils, crayons, markers, pastels and polymer clays, to name a few." - Mixed Media Art . Net
10. Surveillance network, briefly: CCTV. Closed Circuit TV
14. Adonis: HUNK.
15. Finals, e.g.: EXAMs.
16. Vibe: AURA.
20. Plunging neckline type: DEEP V.
21. Island chain: LEI.
22. Annoying: PESKY.
23. Not an exact fig.: EST.
25. __ King Cole: NAT.
36. Panache: ELAN.
37. Número after cero: UNO. Numbers zero and one, in Spanish.
38. "Gypsy" (2008) Tony winner: LUPONE. At the point in time, I was missing the last two vowels, so I and O went in. Fortunately worked out Lupone instead of Lupino.
39. Airs: SONGs. Back in the early days of my solving experiences, we had a clue Troubador' s offering and the answer was AIRS. Here are the responses in the blog comments that day.
41. Pinnacle: TOP.
43. "The Goldfinch" novelist Donna: TARTT. No idea. Perps. The 2014 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Fiction
44. Code prohibiting singing?: OMERTA. The Mafia code of silence, to anyone outside of the organization, but especially to authorities.
46. Trashy newspaper: RAG.
48. Hard to find: RARE.
52. Old records: LPs.
53. Bobs and weaves: DOs. Female hairstyles. Butches and flattops for males.
54. Eye color: HAZEL.
58. "Barry" channel: HBO. No idea, but the O was in place, so it was probable that it would be SHO or HBO.
"Barry follows Barry Berkman, a former Marine from Ohio who works as a hitman. Lonely and dissatisfied with life, he travels to Los Angeles to kill a target and ends up "finding an accepting community in a group of eager hopefuls within the L.A. theater scene"
60. Major religion of Indonesia: ISLAM.
68. Rackets: DINs. My father nicknamed my niece Rachael "Racket" when she was about two.
When Madame Defarge referred to her granddaughter as "The Blonde Tornado" back in 2016, I immediately understood.
69. Yankee Candle emanation: AROMA.
70. Retailer with a meatball recipe to make at "höme": IKEA.
OK, then let us translate from Finnish as well:
The Swedish version sounds more appealing.
71. Nervous: EDGY.
72. Frisky swimmer: OTTER.
73. Whimper: MEWL.
Down:
1. Libya neighbor: CHAD. Testing your geography knowledge, as well as country names.
2. Deceptive ploy: RUSE.
3. Poker entry fee: ANTE. "Feed the kitty" followed by "Pot's right. Deal."
4. Sitcom radio station: WKRP. The show was inspired by a Harry Chapin song.
5. Brave adversary?: MET. For the non sports solvers: Major League Baseball. Each is a player or coach on one of the two National League East teams.
6. Over the moon: EXULTANT.
7. Take a risk: DARE.
8. "Feeling good": I'M FINE.
9. E-cig's lack: ASH. First thought was tar.
10. Sleeveless garment: CAPE. First thought was vest.
11. Starbucks stack: CUPs. First thought was lids, then CapS, then finally CUPS.
12. Cause of blisters, perhaps: TREK.
13. Your mileage may __: VARY. In text: YMMV.
18. Word after bowl or blow: OVER.
19. Decline to participate: OPT OUT. Last Thursday, we had "Refuse to participate" in Stella Zawistowski's crossword.
24. Early Beatle Sutcliffe: STU. In the very early days, when they were a five-piece band.
26. Oft-torn knee part: ACL. Anterior Cruciate Ligament. The ACL is tissue that connects the thighbone to the shinbone, at the knee.
27. "Lion's share" originated from a story of his: AESOP. The moral is "Might makes right" and the fable is The Lion's Share
28. NBA replay aid: SLO-MO.
29. Group of pundits: PANEL.
30. Seeing red: ANGRY. Irritably needing food ? Hangry.
31. Demi of "Ghost": MOORE.
14 Things You Might Not Know About Ghost
32. Separated: APART. Role to play: A PART.
33. Word from the Hebrew for "teaching": TORAH.
34. __ nous: ENTRE. Listen, do you want to know a secret ? Do you promise not to tell ?
35. Discourage: DETER.
40. Designer McCartney: STELLA. Daughter of Paul and Linda McCartney. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2013 for services to fashion.
42. "Please repeat that?": PARDON ME ?.
45. Egyptian viper: ASP.
47. Controversial food letters: GMO. Genetically Modified Organism
50. Many a souvenir: T-SHIRT.
51. "That'll be the day!": AS IF. "You have to be kidding me !"
54. Conceal: HIDE.
55. Surrounded by: AMID.
56. "Oh snap!": ZING.
57. Handmade goods website: ETSY.
59. Abrupt dismissal: BOOT.
61. __ to none: bad odds: SLIM. Muhammad Ali famously quipped about Joe Frazier's chances, "Frazier's got two chances. Slim, and none. And Slim just left town."
62. Go for: LIKE.
63. Several: A FEW.
64. Event with courses: MEAL. No-brainer, but my mind strayed to golf. Specifically, The Pebble Beach Pro-Am, played on three different courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Monterey Peninsula Country Club.
66. Eastern "way": TAO.
67. Shell mover: OAR. Rowing 101
73 comments:
Good morning!
Didn't recognize the constructors' names, but I liked their fake puzzle. TTP, I was right withya on VEST and LIDS. Also tried TOR for "Pinnacle," but RARDONME set me straight. Thanx, Nancy, Will, and TTP.
MIXED MEDIA: When I was in college, the "artist in residence" was known for his trompe l'oeil paintings which looked like photographs, newspaper articles and notes pinned/tacked/tied to a wooden board. They looked 3-D, and needed "Do Not Touch" warnings. The "posters" for a showing of his work consisted of real boards, papers, tacks, yarn, etc.
Wow, a very fun puzzle with a great write-up from TTP and no comments. I think this was your best effort as blogger to date Tom. Well done. I went down the same rabbit holes you did.
I did not know "The Goldfinch" novelist Donna: TARTT and loved the look back to the learning moment for AIR
Happy Friday and thanks you, Nancy, Will and Tom
Finally got the theme and then the solve was assured. vnEck became DEEPV and rEd became MET. Very nice challenge, well MET.
Tough puzzle, but finally FIR.
Fun theme and once the "Fake" them came out with ASTROTURF HOPPER for grasshopper - it made it a fast solve for a Friday!
I had lots of switches across the top - CUB for MET , TAR for ASH and PESTY for PESKY, TRAMP for DEEP V, OLD King Cole instead of NAT - but all was righted by perps eventually....
I've heard the phrase IMITATION OF LIFE but not the movie- thanks for the informational link Tom and for the blog. (Beatles' song will be my morning earworm) and thanks to Nancy & Will for the creative puzzle.
I also enjoyed the Susan & CC and Spitzboov &CC puzzles that were linked yesterday!
I finished it but was at a complete loss as to what the puzzle was about. I'd never heard of the drink- grassHOPPER- or the movie. Perps took care of the theme answers. But the most trouble was the two other unknowns-LUPONE & TARTT.
What does the clue "Oh, snap" have to do with ZING? I've never heard anybody say 'oh snap' and only have seen it in crossword puzzles. Had to change DANG to ZING after the clue for HAZEL .
DEEP-V, aka cleavage.
Musings
-An amazing theme with four grid spanners. CUP/MUG and SIT/OPT OUT were
-Gang variation for mafia OMERTA – “Snitches get stitches”
-HAZEL – If I have to know rap groups why can’t this be clued as 60’s TV maid?
-I had to winnow out my T-SHIRTS last month. Ok, ok my DW asked/told me to.
-Write-up and Beatle links were a nice addition to my morning, Tom.
-8:54 tee time
Musings 2
-Our CCTV (I had no idea) we bought to check up on MIL while she was with us detected motion and started beeping in the middle of the night. This morning I saw video of the fox that was causing it. He was eating the peanuts we leave for the CRAW of our birds. Now wife feels EDGY but I told her the fox will only show up when we are not around
This was tough. Took 15:09. Tartt and Lupone were unknowns, as was "grasshopper" as a drink. Took forever to see aspartame.
Have a great weekend.
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Nancy & Will. Good one, TTP! Thanks.
Theme was a real imagination stretcher. Managed to fill them all, got the reveal then sat mulling them over, trying to decide if this was acceptably clever or not. Decided it was, but not really chuckleworthy.
Read "The Gold Finch" when it first became popular. Just yesterday I was looking at the title & author in my Kindle listing considering the possibility of a re-read. Noted the unusual spelling. Did I remember the name when it appeared in cw? No. Duh!
Hand up for LUPiNo before LUPONE altho I thought Ida was long dead. Never heard of Patti LUPONE, if that's who this is supposed to be. She received Tony's but "Gypsy" wasn't mentioned in the source I saw.
Discourage = DETER took ESP. DETER seems more a full stoppage than mere discouragement.
DNK: STELLA
A quick sashay today. I was right on Nancy and Will's wavelength. I started at 27D and soon had ASPARTAME and the theme. Then I worked quickly on down to the bottom and came back to finish the top. Only TARTT was new to me. I thought of LIDS before CUPS, VEST before CAPE. PESTY before PESKY, but a quick glance at the perps steered me right.
Before I could parse Brave's adversary, MET was already filled.
Sometimes when a site fails to come up my computer reads, OH SNAP. The expression can be used to to express surprise, joy or dismay at something. I think in that case it means OH DARN. I don't find ZING a great fit. If you do, please explain.
My first cocktail was a GRASSHOPPER, a "girly" drink. Another gimme.
My eyes used to be HAZEL, but they have gotten lighter. A gimme.
Didn't we have LuPone not too long ago?
Great write-up, TTP.
Husker: sometimes those foxes can be pretty brash. We had one a few years ago that sashayed through my yard every evening at 5 p.m. in broad daylight. Saw it tease the neighbor's penned dogs and sit to watch the kids play. We never saw it in daylight after the July 4th fireworks in the neighborhood terrified it so it was running around my house in a frenzy after dark with explosions all around. Hope Lily doesn't meet up with yours. Maybe stage a nice bang-up to DETER the fox.
Very few proper names today, but needed to turn on red letters which is a FIW for me.
Learned I don't know how to spell ASPeRTAME
African geography almost had to be Mali or CHAD.
Got the IMITATION theme, but HOPPER was unknown along with a couple of other fills in the west.
Enjoyed the attempt Nancy and Will. Thanks for the informative review TTP.
MO
Good morning everyone.
From yesterday; thanks for all the supportive comments on the Universal puzzle. C.C. did all the heavy lifting, so special thanks to her.
Gnarly puzzle today, but kept on slogging until finally finishing (sort of) in the East. Hands up for the TARTT LUPONE kerfuffle. Hadn't heard of either one, but TORAH had to be and DETER seemed apt. Had 'sit' before OPTOUT.
Got the theme after filling in the reveal and then settling on the MATHER name. Excellent and profound substitution for describers in fairly? well-known terms. BZ
ENTRE Nous - - Related; a coffee table book published in 1976, Between Friends/ENTRE Amis, was Canada's gift to the United States on its bicentennial. Many fine pictures.
Good morning Cruciverbalists of the Corner.
I just worked a CW with a twist I have never seen Like Father, Like Son.
The link takes you to the Washington Post CW of Evan Birnholz.
Scroll down to 21 June 2020.
When you finish the CW, close the cover sheet and look at the circles. How did he do it?
Ðave
Good Morning:
I feel as though I know Nancy as I’ve been reading and enjoying her daily posts on that other blog for many years. (Nancy and Will have had two puzzles published in The Times.) I found this to be a worthy Friday challenge which I feared would be a FIW because of the NE corner. Holding on to Sari and Mugs and not getting Trek took forever to finally morph into Cape, Cups, and the elusive CCTV and, Voila, Tada, Fini, Bravo! I also went astray at Tine/Claw, Pesty/Pesky, and Exulting/Exultant. I thought the clueing was clever, especially Bobs and Weaves=Dos and Brave adversary=Met, and I loved the fresh, imaginative theme.
Thanks, Nancy and Will, for a most enjoyable solve (Nancy, I caught all of the “insider” fill relating to your interests and talents), and thanks, TTP, for the usual top-notch expo.
FLN
Pat, thanks for sharing Burgess’s energy and excitement.
Have a great day.
Sorry, that should be Craw, not Claw.
This was an interesting Friday puzzle containing what I thought was a clever and well executed theme. Thanks to Nancy and Will for the puzzle and to TTP for the write up. I got a kick out of TTP’s Home Home Home exposition. It reminded me of a trip to Vietnam where I kept seeing the word Pho on street name signs. I asked our guide about that because I knew the word Pho as the noodle soup. It all depended on the pronunciation, came the reply, along with the factoid that pronounced still yet another way it meant prostitute. I decided that it would be best to simply omit the word from my vocabulary for the duration of my visit.
In the puzzle, I got a particular kick out of POLYESTER MATHER. I had a bit of trouble with the NE corner where I first tried to make Vest and Lids work. That I was headed down the wrong path became clear pretty quickly. I knew neither Donna TARTT nor STELLA McCartney but the perps turned those into learning experiences. I once saw Patti LUPONE perform live (better than the alternative) and I have a granddaughter named HAZEL so those went pretty quickly. DINS was fun because it made me think of ski binding settings. If I ever successfully create a Saturday puzzle I think that I will have to work Deutsches Institut für Normung into it somehow. You have been alerted.
FLN, Avg Joe you're welcome.
D4, I've seen this gimmick before, where different words can work with the supplied clues, both across and down. In this case, it was the first names of father/son combos. I have no idea how you'd go about creating such a puzzle. It's very clever.
HG, I hope you have plenty of non-alcoholic fluids on the course today as the heat index for your area is supposed to be over 100.
Dave2, Evan's Sunday masterpiece is not the first crossword to use that trick, but as a Father's Day puzzle, I found it wonderful. Thanks for sharing; hope you all are well
Nice spoiler alert Tom!
A bit of a slog to be sure, but in due time it all came into focus for a FIR. The NE was the last to fall giving in to cape instead of vest which produced the unknown CCTV. Tartt was a total unknown and didn't even look right with the "t" from deter. Didn't see the theme til the very end. My favorite was polyester for Mather.
Lemonade, sorry, I didn't think a spoiler alert was necessary for a month-old puzzle. Well, almost month old.
This one was really, really hard for me and I almost gave up.
I finally figured out POLYESTER to go with MATHER (I couldn't for the life of me remember his first name), and then quickly sussed out ASPARTAME to go with COATED.
I spent a long time with --T-GRASSHOPPER until I finally erased GRASS. Then it came to me! ASTROTURF. Then the top left and top middle filled in.
Phew!
IKEA has a meatball recipe?? I sure didn't know.
Well, Fridays are always toughies for me, and I don't even want to think about Saturday. But I enjoyed getting some areas fairly readily, including the bottom, thanks to TAO, BOOT, AROMA, and OTTER which helped me get the IMITATION OF LIFE. Also liked getting AESOP and SONGS and ANGRY, but the long middle answers were just too tough for me.
So, much to enjoy in this puzzle, Nancy and Will--many thanks. And thank you too, TTP.
Have a good day, everybody.
Greetings from the Death Zone.
A bit of crunch for this Friday grid.
Write-overs...TROT/TREK, PESTY/PESKY, EXULTING/EXULTANT.
Almost went with VEST but didn’t.
“Not Craw...CRAW!”. Haha from long ago.
When someone gives a riposte to another, a third person will say “Oh, snap!” to the zing just issued.
And on to Saturday.
Ikea's Famous Meatballs
Ikea's meatballs
Hola!
To quote the Beachboys, this was "fun, fun, fun!"
Parts of it required some deep thinking but I caught the substitutions and then sashayed to the finish.
How well I recall reading about Cotton MATHER and his draconian policies with regards to the Salem Witch Hunts and Trials.
I, too, have seen Patti LUPONE (misspelled it as Lapone) on stage in Gypsy.
Thank you, TTP as well as Nancy Stark and Will Nediger.
One other w/o besides Patti's name, TANK before CAPE. CCTV is quite common in mystery dramas. OH, OLD before NAT "KING" Cole.
I have been to IKEA only once with my sister. It is not my style AT ALL! Too stark.
She loves all things Danish; her boyfriend of ten years was of Danish descent and she hosted an exchange student from Denmark.
Never have I heard anyone say "OH, SNAP."
I hope you are having a FINE day today, everyone!
I always mix up A.C.L. with Lou Gehrig's disease.
I know they're not related but,
C'mon, haven't we got enough acronyms to remember?
Sheesh.
What a marvelous--and easy--pzl for a Friday. Thank you, Stark/Nediger team.
But Oh, my brethren, are we in for it tomorrow!
~ OMK
_________
DR:. Nice to find a diagonal today. Just one, on the near side, but most welcome.
The anagram describes what I found when our Golden Retriever Maggie came back from our vet's dental care yesterday.
She had been sedated for the removal of some badly decaying teeth--and had fully THIRTEEN of them yanked!
She came home, plopped herself down in the family room, and refused to move for many hours.
We worried enough to make periodic checks to be sure she was STILL breathing.
Toward 10pm, I really began to worry.
I prodded her a few times, but she was...
an
"ACTIONLESS PET"!
What a great puzzle! It was quite tough for me, and for a while I was sure I’d never finish it. Then the very clever theme popped out at POLYESTERMATHER , and I was off and running.
Had to change tank to CAPE, Lupino(no, too old) to Lipitor ( no, too young) to LUPONE.
I first learned MEWL in high school, studying Shakespeare. “All the world’s a stage”, etc. etc.
ENTRE NOUS is one of my favorite expressions. My mother used to say, “Now Wendy, this is strictly entre nous”, when cautioning me to keep our conversation private.
The Goldfinch is such an excellent book. I think I’ll read it again, as others have said.
I thought the theme WAS “ chuckleworthy” and very creative, without reaching ridiculously.
Regarding “oh snap” and ZING, I still don’t get it. Anyone?
Gorgeous mid-seventies sunny day here at the beach. Somehow, it’s easier to stay positive about this weird situation when the weather is lovely.
Thank you for a fun exercise, Nancy and Will and for a great tour, TTP
I thought I proofread my post, but I must correct Lipitor to Lupito (Lupito Nyongo)
I didn't get to post a comment yesterday, but wanted to say that I enjoyed the puzzle and comments. Also enjoyed the two collaborations with C.C. Nice job, Hahtoolah, Spitzboov, and C.C.
Dave D4E4H, I solved the June 21st Evan Birnholz a couple of weeks ago. I too, found it pretty neat. Evan is another master. I thought Wilbur Charles and I were the only ones here that solved the Washington Post Sunday puzzles by Evan.
For anyone that read the link on "The Lion's Share", the previous fable (using the back arrow on the linked page) is "The Lion, the Ass and the Fox." I read that one, too. That Aesop fella was pretty graphic, don't ya' think ?
PK, I had the same thought after trying Lupino. 2008 ? Thought she was already gone. How could she win in 2008 ?
Malodorous Manatee, I somehow missed it if you ever explained about having your avatar name and residing in Cali.
Lemonade, based on a quick glance, I've blogged somewhere around 95 puzzles so far. I didn't think today's was anything special, but 13D for you.
inanehiker, sorry about the earworm :>)
Yellowrocks, thank you for linking the IKEA meatballs recipe. I'll try it.
Wendybird, ditto on entre nous, but more recent for me. Oh, and PVX offered an explanation about Oh snap / zing. As with Lucina, nothing I've ever heard anyone say.
Well, break time is over. Had to stop mowing halfway through the front yard. Hot and humid here today, and going to get even hotter the next couple of days. I think my ideal outside temp would be around 76.
Oh, Husker, hope you had a good, low-scoring round this morning.
Help,
FLN. I tried to retrieve C.C.’s and Spitzboov’s puzzle by clicking on the link. Another puzzle popped up that was not constructed by them. Is there something I am missing?
Thanks for any suggestion.
FIR with lots of inkovers par for a Friday: orals/tests/EXAMS. Ashtrays (tried but didn't fit) used to be typical souvenirs, now TSHIRTS. YR & Wendybird...agree..who says ZING for Oh Snap (actually who says "oh snap"?) Rabbi means teacher in Hebrew so erroneously expected a related word for "teaching"
Vibe is a "sensual", AURA is "visual". "Several" is alot not AFEW. Read all the three main works by Donna TARRT completely forgetting her name. "The Goldfinch" excellent, recommended, Phipps 44 ...yet to see this year's movie version
Keep your mouth shut but OMERTÁ is pronounced with the accent on the last syllable!. (*** "how can I pronounce it if I keep my mouth shut?" ***)
Never heard of Paul McCartney daughter but enough perp letters which fit my Mom's name, STELLA.
Fav clue bobs and weaves.
Tommy Roe, (my junior HS year) 1966 Sweet Pea album (another great bubble gumsong)
"Hooray for HAZEL, she put me down
Hooray for HAZEL, she made me her clown
Hooray for HAZEL, she's up to her tricks
Hooray for HAZEL, she's getting her kicks…"
How did Dr Jekyll ____ his evil alter ego?.... HIDE
Stubborn equine .....MEWL
Actor Rip Torn's pal ____ Pickens...SLIM
On to dreaded Saturn's Day
Taking another break to cool down. It's hot out there. Someday I'm going to get a service.
Wendybird, take the link from yesterday's puzzle, just as you did. When the page loads, it will be the puzzle for today. On the info bar just above the grid is the puzzle title.
To the right of that are 4 or 5 icons... a printer, a question mark for game mode, a gear for more game settings, and then a grid pattern that looks like a miniature puzzle.
Click that one. You can now select previous puzzles from the last 10 days or so. For both USA Today and the Universal site, you'll want to select the ones that are July 16.
Have fun !
Wendy: @ 1424
Try this link:
Pet Carriers
Wendybird, you have to look for the date of the publication. Scroll back they are there.
RAY-O: sev·er·al
/ˈsev(ə)rəl/
determiner · pronoun
determiner: several; pronoun: several
"more than two but not many."
D-O, I was teasing you.
They are "SWEDISH MEATBALLS"
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Nancy and Will, and TTP
Tough work today and I had all the same problems in the NE. Mugs before CUPS, sit before OPT OUT, and I had to Google a green cocktail.; Mojito! oh it’s GrassHOPPER. But I got the imitation theme.
I smiled when I saw 43A because I am currently reading The Goldfinch, and knew TARTT. I am 2/3 through this long novel, so keep the ending ENTRE toi not moi.
Yes, Spitzboov, ENTRE Amis is a wonderful book celebrating our two countries and their shared histories ( even if the border is currently closed now until at least August 21).
I’m off to read that book.
Wishing you all a great day.
If I attended a party/meeting etc. and there were only three others there I probably would not say there were "several" attendees. A store with only three choices of anything; several choices?. Probably not.
"Merriam-Webster raised the hackles of stodgy grammarians last week when it affirmed the lexical veracity of "irregardless." Irregardless a double negative, regardless: single negative. Opposite meanings.
If OED or MW decides that RED and BLUE are the same color or a BEAR and a KANGAROO are the same animal. Or START means STOP I guess we just accept it.cuz they's the dikshunary an' aint never rawng.
( "*** Why is he so ornery today. Bad week maybe? He needs to chill out***")
Nancy and Will, this was a great puzzle, and so much fun to solve. IMITATION OF LIFE helped me solve the other spanners. For instance, I had ASTROTURF already, but until I understood that it was standing in for "grass," I didn't quite have HOPPER. The only place I got stuck was exactly where D-O did, having put "tor" instead of TOP, but rARDONME is nonsense, and I was able to see the error of my ways before coming to the Corner. Thanks for the tour, TTP. You'd like it at my place a few miles from the coast in LA. 76 is our usual high year round, and if temperatures drop into the 50s at night in the winter, it's "freezing."
But, I could say, "Several people were late," even if only three were late. A few people were late would mean the same. Mom would say ,"Same difference" Macht nichts.
Stodgy grammarians are losing. The language is changing. That is why Elizabethan English is obsolete, The Last of the Mohicans sounds dated, Civil War contemporaneous letters sound strange, and Canterbury Tales is difficult for us to understand.
Where does the dtand of right or wrong come from? WE have not cast in stone standard.
I was fortunate to see Patt LUPONE as Eva Peron in the original B'Way cast of Evita.
This must have been in 1980 or '81.
I am not generally a fan of musicals. But this was a truly exceptional performance, a transformation by an actress into a larger than life character.
The story line is focused on the transfiguration of an ordinary lower-class girl into the near mystical spiritual icon of a nation.
It's a strange show, venerating a semi-fascist regime while Che Guevara makes wry faces. But in the Broadway microcosm, where actors are surrogates of the world outside, LUPONE made a huge statement.
She came into being right in front of our eyes--and ears. Magnificent.
You can catch bits of it on YouTube. But it only happened live.
~ OMK
I was THAT CLOSE! Didn’t know them, so I had to look up LUPONE (wanted Lupino also) and TARTT, so a great big DNF! Also didn’t know STELLA, but I figured out that one. I just had a huge mental block in the center of the east side; I SHOULD have been able to perp the two unknowns there.
Everything else went very smoothly, once I got the theme, which I really liked. Got CHAD right away, which gave me CRAW, which was a good way to start. As with yesterday, today’s puzzle was mostly solved from the bottom. Up top, I first thought NAT, but it didn’t fit the clue as written, so I tried CUB. Since that didn’t work, I finally found MET when I was cleaning up the top of the puzzle.
I try to always get the SHIRT, especially if it Is aviation or military related. Have way too many! My wardrobe is always t-shirt and shorts/jeans (rarely here in Houston), except when I work (shorts/museum polo/shoes). Shoes??? What are shoes???
Oh snap! I might be incorrect, but I’ve always heard it used as a polite way of expressing surprise as a substitute the “expletive deleted” that also begins with the letter S. Whether that was the intent here, I don’t know.
Thanks Nancy and Will and TTP! I really enjoyed this one!
Whew...juat downed a frosty can of "Mike's HARDER Lemonade" and definitely m-e-l-l-o-w-e-d out..
Canada Eh after "The Goldfinch" recommend Tartt's other 2 major novels.."The Secret History (1992), The Little Friend (2002),"
You and Spitz recommended "Entre Amis" which is a French lessons book. My error looks like it is actually "Between Friends / Entre Amis"
Grammarians are not stodgy, Yellowrocks, not by definition.
I know you didn't say that & didn't mean it, but I feel it helps to be clear.
Good grammarians keep up with the times--and are often the first to embrace new usages.
At the same time, they are not ready to excuse sloppy usage in the catchall name of progress.
The line keeps shifting between ignorance (laziness) and legitimate change, and it takes serious judgment to appreciate the distinction.
It is worth the effort because we all benefit from a shared understanding of what our words mean.
Sorry for the pedantry.
~ OMK
@405, I accidentally hit publish before I was finished.
Leo III I agree. Spitz, how does that mean zing?
Irregardless is now becoming acceptable, but it is creating a big ballyhoo. It will win and soon most people will not question it. Every new idea is birthed kicking and screaming for its life and some survive. Much that was anathema years ago is scrosanct today.
It is hard not to find nits in a puzzle that
starts right off the bat at 1A with Sticking Point=Craw!
anywho, did the puzzle early this AM, been working all day,
what was the Theme again?
Something about Art imitating Life?
This video explains why Ikea's meatballs are so delicious:
It's the Salt!
Combined with anything tastes good after being trapped for hours in a maze
of furnished little apartments...
Every time I am in there, I think,
"God Forbid There Is A Fire!"
The place is a giant Rat trap...
& then there is this reward for successfully navigating the maze, tiny meatballs!
Can't leave without paying homage to Irish Miss's typoe...
One more thing,
I do not expect you to watch this 15 minute video,
but I saw the start, & found it funny, so I am going to watch the rest now.
Yellowrocks, your how to make Ikea meatballs link took forever to open,
so I moved on. Not for the meatballs, but I do want to see how to make the Gravy!
I liked this puzzle. I fell into pretty much the same pitfalls as many of you did, so I won't repeat What Everybody Else Said. Having NEXT to none instead of SLIM to none DETERred me for a while.
I didn't understand the theme until reading the explanation of it here. Now I feel silly/stupid.
Personally, the way I speak, "a few" denotes maybe up to 3 or 4 or so, and "several" is more than that. Don't slam me, please; it's just my personal mode of expression, not meant to be prescriptive. Similar to how I say "anyway" and never say "anyways."
Loved the clue for OMERTÀ.
The only place I've heard anyone say "Oh snap" was on the Steven Colbert show. Even so, I didn't know what it meant. I do know that in New Zealand, as a friend of mine taught me, they say "Snap!" as we say "Jinx!" when two people say the same thing at the same time.
Good wishes to you all.
Hi All!
Even after a cheat [NE - couldn't figure out what was wrong... TTP's grid? Oh, CAPE not CAmi* - (and Rich didn't let 'pissy' be annoying) ] I DNF'd it in the Carolinas - had to lookup TARTT to finally get a perp to go w/ my hunch - TORAH.
Oh, well. Fun puzzle. Thanks Nancy & Will.
TTP - such a fun expo. I had no idea about Chapin's W.O.L.D. being the spark for WKRP nor did I remember AIRS == Songs; so thanks for that among your obviously hard work.
WOs: SHO->AMC->HBO. The aforementioned CAmi
ESPs: LuPONE, STELLA, OMERTA [as (greatly!) clued]. EXULATANT is a word?
Fav: WKRP [NPR article]. It's still one of my all-time favorite shows
Runner-up: ENTRE Nous [RUSH]
Anyone else hesitate at WKRP thinking it could be KACL? [Frazier's station]
Funny (but sad) DR report OMK.
Ray-O: Get yourself a cocktail :-)
Nice to see you D4. I just downloaded the puzzle for printing.
IrishMiss @9:55a : You forced my hand with " should be Craw, not Claw" [GetSmart] //PVX gets it :-)
Oh, Snap! [Key & Peele - TVMA]
Want a story?
Youngest built a map of the world (using Glitter!) for her dance-team [their theme this year is (was?) world travel //they voted in January].
I asked her, "Where's CHAD?"
Of course (AP History), she pointed right to it.
Then she showed me puns she built into the map.
The Red Sea was flanked by two different red(ish) glitter for the countries, etc.
Then she pointed to some gold glitter: "Know what country this is?
"Mongolia(?)"
"No, Mon-Gold-ia. hahaha"
I'm so proud.
Cheers, -T
*not even going to Google it for a link to illustrate cami short for camisole - I get enough bra ads from last week's BALI Google :-)
FLN, Hollywood thought of a smart idea: Show the beta cut to a select audience, edit, trim, add accordingly. The result: One movie to fit all.
I never saw the clue for MET. Pitched the horsehide down the middle and I'm out in right field
When I think of MATHER I think of
Jerry
I do recall(solved Tuesday) that this was tough for awhile because clue to reverse(Imitation) was at the bottom.
The end T's in the unknown name(TARTT) needed a long look. But no Naticks.
I often do the Evan Birnholz** Wa-Post and do recall a Father's day theme. That's all the recall this peeled onion can muster. I can't help myself solving ahead when they're available but I can just barely keep from spoiling. And I can't say whether Sat was tough or not. Saturday always seems tough to start* and if that's a spoiler y'all have the problem.
My pretty, young French I teacher arrived day one with the words: "J'ENTRE dans la salle de classe, Je regard autour de moi"
One "Person" who "says" 'Oh Snap' is Google when I lose the connection to CC. Or when reading at McDonald's which is considered unsecure.
OMERTA may also involve revenge to three generations.
WC (enough bytes for me)
*And then seems easy looking back
** TTP, I endeavor to keep my comments re. Evan brief. Glad to see you're a fan. Tbtimes dropped NYT but EB has filled the gap. I'm behind though-No Corner.
YR @ 1628 - I think you meant to address that to someone else, but Urban Dict. says on ZING: "Used in place of other put down-ish phrases, such as, "You just got served" or "Oh snap!" or "PWNED!" etc.
Didn't refresh b/f posting (Brickin' rickin' frackin') say...
Oh, Snap! CED beat me to Get Smart link.
Inre: lexicography. If you've not read Word by Word, do. It's a delightfully light read for such stodginess.
Jayce - Yes, Colbert will say "Snap!" after a 'sick burn.'
Glad you've mellow'd out Ray-O. :-)
Cheers, -T
TTP, your instructions were perfect, and I found Spitz and C.C.’s puzzle. Thanks!
I enjoyed and finished the puzzle, but next time I’ll print it out. I hate doing puzzles on the computer. Give me a paper one and a good ball point pen.
One more Zing comment. The only time I remember It being used was on The Honeymooners, when Ralph would say to Alice, “ Bang, ZING, Alice - to the moon!” With appropriate gestures.
AnonT, Tony, me too, me too regarding WKRP. I've rewatched every episode at least once. They were funny for sure but they also had heart.
No foxes in our yard but we have had some skunks from time to time. We try not to annoy them.
Ray-O/24:17
You reminded me that I still have a copy of "The Little Friend" by Donna Tartt which I read a few years ago. Interesting and dense reading.
I just read an amusing article by Patricia Marx in The New Yorker entitled: "Casual Everyday" about what people are wearing now during the stay at home circumstances. It's subtitled, "The slob-chic of our pandemic life style." As you can imagine, many styles of pajamas and sweat pants are described in a witty writing style.
I wear shorts for at least six months of the year and jeans the other six months. But for people who have to contact co-workers and others by zoom, it makes for interesting reading. I love The New Yorker writers!
The only time I've seen a fox was when visiting my friend in San Rafael. When she discovered him in her backyard, she started leaving pieces of chicken for him regularly. It was fun to watch him slink in and scurry away with his meal.
Lucina - Which issue? I try to keep up, but The New Yorker just keep coming and coming.
I've dressed up once since 3/13 (for the service), otherwise it's cargo shorts (a dad requisite) and a black (nerd!) Splunk T-SHIRT since Stay-at-home.
Cheers, -T
Spitz, thanks for your answer on ZING. I suspected that. I always hesitate when I am not sure, but that has to be it. WC, I see OH SNAP on Google, too.
AnonT @ 5:38 turned me on to Word By Word a long time ago. After all these arguments I reread it and become more convinced. Pro or con, please read another side of the argument.
Grandma, you are so wonderful at following the blog rules.
TTP, you did not miss an explanation of my avatar name. I have never before been either asked nor have I volunteered. The name was a handle I used on the Word Collect game for a while. That game assigned very lame names that had two words. Exalting Prince or Crazy Heiress or Jazzy Goose, for example. I discovered that users could edit the assigned name and change it to something they wanted it to be. Few players did so but I did. I got into weekly changing my handle to a series of alliterative animal names. Sordid Swordfish or Happy Hyena or Fetid Fox. Malodorous Manatee was my favorite and, when I was asked to type in a name when I signed for for the blog, I resurrected the Manatee.
MM @ 1904. Thanks for sharing. I was wondering, too. Love the name.
Foxwise - - Hand up on fox sighting. One passed through my back yard last week in broad daylight while I was reading the blog. Week before that one did a vulpine lope down the middle of our street.
German is Fuchs. German has a verb fuchsen: to irk, irritate or annoy. My Mom would sometimes invoke that word; I would keep my social distancing on those occasions.
Grandma - Please be mindful of the last line below; just before the comments box.
Grandma, tone it down. You remind me of someone that I used to delete at every comment, regardless of intent. I have no qualms.
MM, thank you for responding about your avatar moniker. Thought I missed it along the way.
Wendybird, glad you were able to get to those puzzles.
Bill G, wasn't your favorite Bailey Quarters ? I think that was her name. WKRP was fun TV.
I think I've repeated my story about the fox that had pups and a den under my neighbor's shed, and how I laid chicken eggs in the yard so she had extra nourishment for her litter. And then how my avatar, My Boy (Charlie), nosed and mouthed one of the eggs from the mulched area around my neighbor's mailbox post.
Lucina, we have so many foxes around here that we barely take notice. I say that tongue in cheek, because they are truly a pleasure to watch.
Dash T, here's another rock and roll history lesson for you if you want it, but save it for when you have 2 - 1/2 hours. Found it after listening to Steve's link of "Go Now" yesterday. A History of The Moody Blues
LTTPA*
This was one where I enjoyed the writeup more than the puzzle. Nothing especially wrong with it but it just never grabbed me. That said, I did like seeing some new(ish) fill like OMERTA and MEWL.
“Oh, snap” gets quite a bit of play around here but sign me up for the “What’s ZING got to do with oh Snap” club. I’ll be the treasurer if you want. ;)
TTP: How can you possibly have decided to mow the lawn today?! I went outside and decided there was absolutely no reason to stay there. I went back inside and played radio instead.
*Late To The Party Again. When you don’t get up until the crack of noon it’s just durned next to impossible to get to this point before 6 or 7 PM at the very earliest.
Stay well.
Ray-O, you LITERALLY blew my head off with your comments about the bastardization of the language. I accept the evolutionary change, but do not EXCEPT that WON MISSPELT word should be a suitable replacement or dictionary definition because countless people have said or written it that way.
I hope you find my untenable explanation unexceptionanble.
WikWak, I was only able to do it today because tomorrow is going to be be worser.:>)
Good night all !
My kids and their high school and college friends used SNAP and OH SNAP for years but I think it is passe now.
Good night Gracie.
Goodnight, George.
Lem - I just checked w/ two youngun's - Oh Snap is still "in" the vernacular but 'burn' is catching up / takin' over.
WikWak, et.al "Oh, Snap!" & ZING relationship. I think it's like a zinger - 'a striking or amusing remark'
//Can you hear the kids of tomorrow? "Oooooh! You got Zung!" :-)
TTP - Thanks for the Moody Blues link. DW knocked-off early, so I'm watching it while reading the paper. Did not know GO NOW was a cover of Bessie Banks.
Cheers, -T
AnonT:
July 20, 2020, page 24.
I love the articles and cartoons!
Rod Serling:
Thank you; though I think I've been in it for quite some time!
TTP: I saw your link to the Moody Blues’ sojourn and went right to it—it just finished and now I’m listening to In Search of the Lost Chord (mp3). Thanks muchly for that!
Lucina - Sweet! I've not missed it yet. Thanks. //how come you get your NYer before me? Mine seems to come on Saturdays. Oh, wait - that's the day I check the mailbox :-)
Oh - I forgot to relate today DFIR Conf best (worst) Dad / Nerd joke...
There's a new band called 'The 1023 Megs'
They're doing awful - never gets a Gig.
Cheers, -T
Couldn't sleep,
got up before 3, & decided to read the Blog,
it is now almost 3:30, & I have a ton of responses lined up,
except I now have to watch a Moody Blues movie...
Lessee, Anon-T,
you have every right to be proud of that Daughter!
& Tx for the full Craw link, better quality & more complete
than mine... very refreshing...
I must say, I was a little disappointed with the Key&Peele
Doctor bit. Actually disappointed is the wrong word, Shocked! is the right word!
(but I guess that was what they were going for...)
My fav Key&Peele experience has to be Keanu!
Such a cute little Kitten!
But when it comes to Key & Peele,
this is not the 1st time I have been shocked!
P.S. to Grandma,
TTP is not kidding,
say something political, I dare you!
Oh, almost forgot,
I have said it before, but,
Brickin, Rickin, Frackin,
has become the most useful tool ever!
I am sure you have all come across the new sign in,
insert your user name/password here
(Bzzzt! - already used!)
problem...
Well, after many many repeated attempts to find an unused user name.password,
I finally blurted out a Yosemite Same quote, & Viola! it works...
Apparently, it works because no one (& I mean no one)
spells Yosemite Sams curses the same way...
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