23. Dressed like the winning coach after the traditional ice bath?: IN A COLD SWEATER. In a cold sweat.
32. Pantry nook for chewy candies?: CARAMEL CORNER. Caramel corn.
52. Fudd, when being elusive?: SLIPPERY ELMER. Slippery elm.
69. Shoe that's really not better-than-none?: HALF A LOAFER. Half a loaf.
92. Regret losing one's straw hat?: MISS THE BOATER. Miss the boat.
103. Got a Mini airborne?: FLEW THE COOPER. Flew the coop.
121. Life-size cutout to promote "Rocky"?: CARDBOARD BOXER. Cardboard box.
Very consistent theme set. All ER end in the end and all the new ER words share no root with the original ER-less word.
A few strays ERs in the grid (58. One giving you a hand: DEALER. - 63. Diamond smash: LINER. StrayStray ER 95. Word with cut or crust: UPPER. 18D. Gradually become narrower: TAPER. 68D. Meal involving charoseth, a symbolic fruit paste: SEDER.) It's doable without them, but the fill would have been quite strained at times.
Across:
1. Human embodiment: AVATAR.
7. Prefix with -mance: BRO. Bromance.
10. Hat often with a pompon: TAM.
13. 45-Across landing site: ARARAT. 45. 13-Across lander: ARK.
19. Chef's asset: PALATE. Followed by 20. Musician's asset: EAR. And 31. Artist's asset: EYE.
21. Command for DDE: ETO. European Theater of Operations.
22. Caviar choice: BELUGA.
26. Short revitalizer: CATNAP.
27. Balloon operator: AERONAUT.
28. Boorish: CRASS.
30. Take forcefully: SEIZE.
35. Remarkable deed: FEAT. And 39. Really stood out: SHONE.
 |
| 90-year old |
41. Forsaken: LORN.
42. Quenya and Sindarin are forms of it: ELVISH. "The Lord of the Rings".
46. Hurry-scurry: HASTE.
48. Foolish: DAFT.
55. Café haunter, say: HABITUE.
57. In reserve: TO SPARE.
60. Watchword: MANTRA.
61. Popular video-sharing app, familiarly: INSTA. Instagram.
65. Salty drops: TEARS.
66. "That __ fun!": WAS.
73. Cover-crop grass: RYE.
74. Wide-mouthed pitchers: EWERS.
77. Heath growth also called furze: GORSE.
78. Treats with scorn: SNUBS.
81. Part of LPGA: LADIES.
83. Rowland Macy's inspiration for the red star logo: TATTOO. Interesting trivia.
86. Eliciting feeling: EMOTIVE.
90. Bridge framework: TRESTLE.
94. Dried-up: SERE. Classic crosswordese.
97. Triumphant cry: AHA.
98. Matters of degrees: ANGLES.
99. On the main: ASEA.
100. Important figure in pro sports: AGENT. One of the most famous: Mark Steinberg.
102. Otherwise: ELSE.
109. Eng. majors' degrees: BAs.
112. Emmy-winning legal drama: LA LAW.
113. Military uniform material: SERGE.
114. Wide view: PANORAMA.
119. Fashion photographer Richard: AVEDON. Google shows that he took this picture.
124. Establishment with tastings: WINERY.
125. Had a bite: ATE.
126. Personal: OWN.
127. Live: RESIDE.
128. Impertinent in tone: SNARKY.
129. High-__ monitor: RES.
130. First word of Burns' "To a Mouse": WEE. No idea. I only understand two words from the first line.
131. Removes permanently: ERASES.
Down:
1. Samoan capital: APIA.
2. Spinner in the wind: VANE.
3. Banned apple spray: ALAR. Now I can stop eating apples for a few months. Peaches, nectarines are here.
4. Tuesday special, in many eateries: TACO.
5. Make amends: ATONE.
6. __ race: RELAY.
7. Correspondence sign-off: BEST.
8. Untrained or undressed: RAW.
9. Source of metal: ORE.
10. Brightly colored fish: TETRA.
11. Starters: A TEAM.
12. Juicy tidbits: MORSELS. My friend Carmen just got a big crate of seedless lychees. Freshly picked from a farm an hour away from her home. Amazing. Hopefully our Asian market will import them someday. I just love lychees.
13. Epitome of simplicity: ABC.
14. Logician's asset: REASON.
15. Change: ALTER.
16. Altercation: RUN IN.
17. Unblinking: AGAZE. And 71. Moving about: ASTIR.
24. Union __: DUES.
25. 160 square rods: ACRE.
29. One just hanging in the forest: SLOTH.
32. Removed the center from: CORED. Lychees normally have big seeds.
33. It's not uncommon to twist it: ANKLE.
34. Skincare aid: CREAM.
35. Slug follower?: FEST. Slugfest.
36. Cockney greeting: ELLO.
37. "It's Your Space" sloganeer: AVIS.
38. Hedren of "The Birds": TIPPI. Never saw "The Birds".
40. Something to make on a sunny day?: HAY.
43. Nine-inch measure: SPAN.
44. Investigative journalist Seymour: HERSH. Quite controversial. He uses lots of anonymous sources.
46. Sun: Pref.: HELIO.
47. Area of conflict: ARENA.
48. Enjoy a meal: DINE.
49. Rose petal perfume: ATTAR.
50. Like some friends: FURRY.
51. Play an April Fool's joke on, say: TEASE.
53. Attach a new label to: RE-TAG.
54. Polo clubs: MALLETS. And 56. Baseball club: BAT.
59. Whistle blowers: REFS.
62. Tons: A LOT.
64. Two-time Oscar winner Zellweger: RENEE.
66. Shoemaker's strips: WELTS.
67. Up on the latest info: AWARE.
70. Set up for the fall: FRAME.
72. Cuban dance: RUMBA.
75. Become visible on the horizon: RISE.
76. Chess __: SET.
79. Timely benefit: BOON.
80. Soliloquy site: STAGE.
82. Partly melted snow: SLUSH.
84. "Middle Waters" tribe: OSAGE. Does "Middle Waters" refer to this book?
85. Different: OTHER.
87. "__ just take a minute": IT'LL.
88. Two-finger signs: VEES.
89. Scots Gaelic: ERSE.
91. Fencing gear: EPEES.
93. Flying Solo?: HAN. Nice clue.
96. Leader of the track: PACE CAR.
99. Where time cards are punched: AT WORK.
100. Copied: APED.
101. Way up the slope: T BAR.
103. Defects: FLAWS.
104. Linda of "Alice": LAVIN.
105. 2010 Barack appointee: ELENA.
106. Shorebird: WADER.
107. Speak loftily: ORATE.
108. Fairy tale beasts: OGRES.
110. Travel guide co-founder Michelin: ANDRE. I did not know his given name.
111. Not high: SOBER.
114. Sheet in a window: PANE.
115. Activist Parks: ROSA.
116. Graph line: AXIS.
117. Ancient Persian: MEDE. You can read more here. They lived in Media.
118. "Iliad" war god: ARES.
120. Bronx Bombers, on scoreboards: NYY.
122. Knot on a gift: BOW.
123. "I __ you one!": OWE.
C.C.
FIW. I was actually doing pretty well until I got to the Natick at the crossing of "ELVISH"(What? Is that really a word?)and "HERSH" of whom I have never heard and judging from the book cover photo, wouldn't care to meet. Ah well, and this week had been going so well.
ReplyDeleteFWIW CC, there appears to be a small error in your grid at 66 across.
I'm going to initiate my new power washer today and wash down my house. The north side especially is a little "mossy". I'm sure the neighbors will be cheering me on, and next weekend wanting to borrow it. Fine, I don't care. It's not something I'm going to use everyday anyway.
Tired of cooking out. Yankee pot roast tonight.
Cya!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteWow, this one went fast. D-o even got the theme, despite forgetting to read the puzzle title. D'oh. I liked it. Thanx, MaryEllen and C.C. (Haven't read the book, but my guess is that the "middle waters" refer to the rivers near the continent's center: Missouri, Mississippi, Platte, etc.)
WEE: C.C., ancient dialects of English and Scottish are a mystery, even to most native speakers of the modern language. I'm not surprised that you find it a challenge. I spent several weeks aboard an oil rig in the Bay of Bengal. The crew was Scottish, and I only understood a word here and there, even though they claimed to be speaking English.
Got rained out for Golf, or more accurately, my foursome bailed based on some early raindrops. It’s cloudy but not raining now. So I got the crossword done early today.
ReplyDeletePretty easy sailing and an obvious theme. But I felt like I was in a time warp with so many dated clues and answers, such as LALaw, Tbar, alar, Tippi, Lavin, Rocky, Rosa, Elmer. Maybe there’s a reason solvers are mostly senior citizens. And a few too many crosswordy words, such as lorn, tospare, asea, Ateam, agaze, astir. Really enjoyed the freshness of yesterday’s puzzle.
Thank you MaryEllen and C.C.
ReplyDeleteIt is a timely reference to the indigenous tribe THE WAH ZAH ZIE better know as the OSAGE . It is an interesting read with words and pictures, but you can get some sense of The Osage Bear Clan and their story of creation which has “the Four Winds gathering all of the floodwaters on earth and draining them into great rivers at a place they called Ni-U-Kon-Ska (The Middle Waters); today the junction of the Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Wabash, Arkansas, and Illinois rivers.
South Florida is literally a hot mess, with record heat, violent thunderstorms, record transmission of COVID-19. Be careful, be safe.
Maryellen:
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle (July 12) today! Thanks for the challenge intertwined with humor. Really got my juices flowing this morning. I'll be scouting for your work in the future. Keep up the great work. It is appreciated!
FIR, with one writeover: HABITUE 4 HABITEE. Way, way too many names. Names crossing names. Names, names, everywhere. I’m not a constructor, but I think I’ll try to build a decent grid with no names and no trivia, pure wordplay. This isn’t a Trivial Pursuit for me and I resent it.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, folks. Thank you, MaryEllen Uthlaut, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteGot most of this at 2:30 AM. Finished this morning.
Puzzle was not bad. Liked the theme.
I don't have much time to write. Not feeling chipper. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Thanks C,C, and Mary Ellen. The puzzle was fun, although the Elvish section stymied me. But I don't label it a Natick because I think getting "to spare" would have been helpful enough to get the rest of the section.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day and stay save, everyone.
Lots of really great clues and answers in this, but I struggled for quite a while.
ReplyDeleteUgh--lower left two names crossing with another. Finally guessed AVEDON.
As an LOTR fan, slapped my forehead when I finally got ELVISH. (didn't know HERSH)
I was thrown off for a long time on the upper right, since I had LOST instead of LORN for forsaken. Hmm...all the other assets are body parts so Logician's asset ending in T is THROAT? (as in a logician can argue?) And the person hanging out in a cafe is a HOBOSUE?? Eventually sorted it out but ended with HABISUE so one letter off. Never heard of HABITUE. New vocab word for me.
I had a lot of fun with this. Thanks!
Not a usual Sunday Visitor. As mentioned before I do the Sunday 2 week old NYT puzzle fearured in our local paper which I struggle through and frequently DNF.
ReplyDeleteWoke up at 3AM and couldn't sleep. Decided to download the LAT Sunday puzzle and do it on my phone. A couple weeks ago downloaded the LAT puzzle as well when I couldnt get the local Sunday paper at camp.
Like before this puzzle was again a breeze. Nothing like the NYT crossword where I can spend a couple hours or more only to throw down the pen when I reach a dead end.
The clues were extremely clever. With appropriate bring - a - grin - to - your - face answers. Not like some of the off-kilter clues we get during the week with iffy answers. Some inkovers but finished in an hour. That never has happened with the NYT.
I leave my Cornerite pals to discuss the specifics.
Did I get back to sleep?...No!...kept thinking about the fun twists and turns of the puzzle...lol
I'll be back tomorrow to bug everyone.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle; nice and clean. No cheater squares. Great theme. Loved all the punning. FIW; had avalon vs AVEDON. Didn't see WADER coming. You know, shore birds are breathers and molters, too. Chickadees are WADERS when they come to our birdbath.
RYE - German Roggen.
My service dress blues were SERGE. Great stuff.
BA'S - I don't think it was a good clue. I never knew an engineer with a BA. BS, yes, and specific field, yes, like EE or say, mine, B Ch. E. and MS. YMMV.
GORSE - One would hear the announcers use it in describing features at various Clubs hosting the British Open. Low German is 'Broom', the ancester word for the tool we use to sweep out the threshold. Twigs from the GORSE plant were used in the early ones.
Lichee - Glad C.C. mentioned it. A sweet tasty dessert. We would journey to Toronto annually to meet with Ontario-Hydro bulk electric business counterparts. One of their managers was extremely partial to Lichee nuts and we knew we would be in for a treat when OH hosted a lunch or dinner in a restaurant featuring Asian cuisine and Lichee nuts.
Good morning. Thank you, Mary Ellen. Thank you, C.C.
ReplyDeleteWent to bed very early yesterday, and solved in the early morning before getting another 3.5 hours of sleep.
Blue Hen, I see the errors in the grid image at HALFALOAF (black square) then a solitary R. Is that what you see ?
About loaning out your power washer...
Some years ago, one of my neighbors knew that I bought a new one. Big one on pneumatic tires for easy portability. He wanted to borrow it to clean his backyard fence before restaining it. His wife used it as she was helping him. On day 2, I heard her running it while he was at work, then after 4 or so hours, nothing.
Some time after he got home, he rolled it back over to my house, and said, "It doesn't work. Won't run. Don't you ever check the oil ?"
Sure enough, it was way low on oil. Told him I'd look at it later. The funny thing was that the unit was super clean.
Took it to the repair shop. Cracked block. The only thing I can guess is that she power washed the power washer when the engine was really hot, and cracked the block.
Got the theme, but was confused with SLIPPERY ELMER because my first thought was slippery eel. However the WNW did me in. Incorrectly Filled ELVISm. No clue about HERSH. Unknown fashion photographer along with a few others filled by perps.
ReplyDeleteThanks MEU C.C
MO
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Mary Ellen! Thank you very much, C.C.! Never had a lichee nut.
ReplyDeleteThought the theme was fun & chuckle-worthy with a few groans! IN A COLD SWEATER was last to fill because I couldn't come up with perps. The NW top two sections were hard to fill from the clues given. DNK: AVATAR/APIA cross, ELVISH/AVIS, SPAN, HERSH, FEST.
Had "hash" before TACO -- should have paid more attention to the Tuesday menu. When I worked in Mass. the diner we ate in daily saved leftovers and once a week ground them into a tasty hash.
Had "human" before RELAY race.
Lucky WAG: Andre
Abejo: Sorry you aren't feeling so chipper. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteI've reposted the grid at the bottom of the review. It is now correct.
Finished the puzzle without much difficulty. Had BLAME, briefly, where FRAME needed to be and had to re-think that section. GORSE was a result of that and was a new word for me. If I watched golf on TV I might have been familiar with the term. The last fill was FURRY friend and that was helped by the purring Burmese cat.
ReplyDeleteSkipped the 'A' of CW ABC's and didn't start by reading the theme. As a consequence struggled with trying to make 17A "INANOLDSWEATER" cross with "TANO(?)" for 4D. Lightbulb! And then things started to fall into place. Lots of great clues, but thank heaven for perps. As a LOTR fan I knew about ELVISH, but didn't know there were dialects. Do the Elves at the North Pole speak a different one than the tuxedo clad Elves at the South Pole? Still need to follow up on where Rowland hides his tattoo. As for all the names, with the perps they are a way for me to learn about popular culture. I don't get out much :-). Bill
ReplyDeleteFIR I really liked this theme. Knowing I needed ER at the end of a known phrase was a big help.
ReplyDeleteI was looking for a shore bird name that begins with W. OH. WADER. AVEDON was all perps.
I liked Linda Lavin in Alice. We watched many reruns over the years.
75D and 76D RISE and SET side by side.
My last fill. H-ERSH, with four perps I wagged the intial H. Then I remembered seeing ELVISH before. I am not a fan of Lord of the Rings.
I don't eat caviar or roe. Sushi with roe is the only sushi I do not care for.
I loved all the beautiful A words.
At the hotel bar in Scotland the locals spoke with an accent that was hard to understand.At other places in Scotland we had no such problem.
I think Eng. majors' degrees / BAS refers to English, not engineering.
Abejo, sorry you are not feeling in the pink today. Hope you have a brighter day tomorrow.
Very enjoyable puzzle, Mary Ellen and very enjoyable blog, CC.
Musings
ReplyDelete-Couldn’t let go of agaPe and didn’t see seiZe. HASTE!!
-Noah’s ARK preceded the LEM by millennia
-A 1629 publication Cupid’s Messenger contained Guidance for the LOVELORN
-A HABITUAE of a local coffee shop always wants to argue “we didn’t go to the moon” when he sees my NASA hat
-Neil Armstrong only had 30 seconds of fuel TO SPARE on July 20, 1969 on the Sea Of Tranquility
-Famous TRESTLE scene in Stand By Me
-A 3M man’s AHA moment with weak glue
-Can you really ERASE everything from your computer?
-There is a McDonalds is at Togafu'afu'a Rd Corner Vaea St, Apia, Upolu, Samoa
-Who bragged in song that, “I don’t pay no UNION DUES”?
-Hitchcock’s Birds remind me of the grackles that invade our feeders from March to June
-You load A LOT of coal? Nah, 16 tons is better!
-Every Perry Mason client seems to have been FRAMED but turns out to be innocent
Fun run. Except for the utter Natick of LAVIN/AVEDON. WAG to FIR. Could have been almost anything.
ReplyDeleteSeymour HERSH uncovered at least two stories that shaped history that you almost certainly know about. One was the My Lai Massacre during the US War in Vietnam. The other was the US military torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
Here I had the privilege to see Seymour HERSH speak about his horrific discoveries at Abu Ghraib. I also got to ask him about the bigger picture of covering such terrible events and having them repeat over and over.
From Yesterday:
Yellowrocks thank you for explaining the grammar of the RAGER "abandoned" clue.
Lucina and PK thank you for the kind words about my ISABEL Allende photos. Good that you are fans of her writing.
YR - Thanks on: Eng = English. I don't know why I didn't think of that. "The fog of intense solving, I guess."
ReplyDeleteThank you Bluehen and Picard for using NATICK in your comments. I have long understood the concept of crossing (obscure) proper nouns but did not know that there was a term for that misbehavior. I did a web search on the etymology and believe that the will be a useful addition.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Picard, how are things going with your relocation?
I read the degree as Engineering Majors(hi Spitz*)- BA sounded off. But so did TO SPARE as one word. Especially since I didn't know if it was AVIS.
ReplyDeleteThe V in A_DON/LA_IN was my last WAG.
Peaches were 87¢ at Winn Dixie recently.
I inked PACER for "Slot" car recently for my one-box FIW
I suspected ELVISH would be obscure to some that perhaps knew AVEDON or LAVIN. I recognized the Elvish languages but it took a sec .
Wow, I really enjoyed the clueing of this one vs Sat. YMMV. I'm with Laredo. I see we're divided. IM can cast the deciding vote.
Lemon, I got out of my car to check something and a thunderboomer cracked at that instant. Yowza.
Oh my, HM just pointed out that HABIT"U"E and FURRY Cross. I even told Mr S "That sb habitue(accent aigu). But he insisted on ferry???!!! Aaarrggghhh!
Abejo, hang in there. I may have to get that treatment soon too. We're all praying for you.
RayO, I still need to find a bat signal to finish Evan Birnholz Wa-Post from last Sunday. Or was that the old NYT?
YR, did you try to read LOTR? I too deigned, then I dove.
WC
* The Plantagenet dynasty was named for a sprig of broom. Ivanhoe** featured those festy Plantagenets.
** Hmm, that sounds familiar, eh Misty, OMK, Sandy
MaloMan, Rex Parker dubbed it after the town SW of Boston was crossed with something equally obscure. Typical NewYorker.
ReplyDeleteFIR in just under half an hour; a little faster than my usual Sunday time. Loved the themers. HALF A LOAFER was my favorite. The WNW was the last to fill and I had some of the same issues others have mentioned.
ReplyDeleteFLN — PK, I think your brother in law and I would have gotten along well. My usual response when what I’m trying doesn’t work is: get a bigger hammer. It’s much less effective with small electronics though... ;-)
Abejo, I surely hope things improve for you!
Plumbing is all done (successfully!). Now it’s time to put all the hammers away.
Stay well.
This will be remembered as one of my favorite Sunday puzzles, ever! Many thanks, MaryEllen! I almost, almost got the whole thing except for a tiny bit of trouble in two places. But loved the way those long answers just filled in with all the clever down clues, and caught on to the excess ERs at the end. Thank you again, MaryEllen, and C.C., I always love your Sunday commentary.
ReplyDeleteStarted with SEIZE, and took a chance on AGAZE, which gave me ALTER, and then woohoo! BELUGA caviar! Mind you, not that I've ever had any, but I still got it. And once ARARAT fell into place, I knew that mysterious "lander" would be an ARK.
Loved clever clues like "salty drops" for TEARS, and ELLO for the Cockney greeting, and DEALERS for ones giving you a hand. And had to laugh at missing not the boat, but the BOATER.
Take care of yourself, Abejo.
And have a wonderful Sunday, everybody.
WC was that NYT june 28th? I finished but didn't get the tracing of the Batman signal outline. I really dislike those cute tricks and rebuses in general.
ReplyDeleteOf course, HG, Noah's Ark was millennia before LEM. I am getting older, but really.
ReplyDeleteWC, I agree for me Natick is not a Natick. Also, I believe I told the story many years ago when I left my office with lightening in the distance. As I touched the door handle of my car, there was a crack of thunder that inspired me to jump straight up in the air about 20 feet.
That would have "lightened" me. ;-)
ReplyDeleteLovely puzzle with humor and creativity Thank you, MaryEllen, and thank you, C.C. for the tour. I FIR with no write-overs, which is a minor.vIctory!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite theme answer was FLEW THE COOPER. Never heard of an aeronaut, so my vocabulary continues to expand.
Baby Beluga is one of my favorite songs by Raffi for kids. I played it on the piano for my grandchildren.
Where is Canadian Eh? I haven’t seen her posts for a while and hope she’s OK.
Stay safe, everyone. I’m developing quite a mask wardrobe just to keep it interesting. Jack and I wore our Cubs masks on the 4th.
Picard FLN. I just saw your lovely photos of Isabel Allende. I enjoy her books and have read most of them. I just finished her latest. Thanks for sharing her pictures.
ReplyDeleteSunday Lurk say...
ReplyDeleteWelcome to The Corner Lerado.
Abejo - I've seen Chemo can sap folks. Take it easy & keep on keepin' on!
Wendybird - Thrusday C, Eh! posted:
" We have grandchildren here and Quiet a Time is almost over. I may not be here regularly for a few days.
Wishing you all a great day."
I'm sure she's fine if not wiped out :-)
BlueHen - re: ELVISH -- never played D&D, eh? [10:12]
MManatee - See this for Natick and other Corner Coinage.
D-O: When I consulted for an oil services company, I was on a conference call with guys from Johannesburg, London, Perth, and Aberdeen. Individually, I could decode their English but when they talked amongst themselves -- Oy! My brain could NOT switch that fast.
TTP - Your power-washer incident evoked...
(Oh, I shouldn't tattle on DW but... It's a good story.)
Like everyone else, we started serious yard work when quarantine started. DW came out to the garage and asked for the hedge trimmer:
Me: "We don't have one."
"Yes we do, I've used it" [that was over 12 years ago]
"Yes, and you blew it up when you sliced the cord."
"Oh.... Riiiiight.
Can we get a new one?"
I got a battery-powered Ryobi :-)
Cheers, -T
I should clarify - we had/have hedge trimmers but they are the 16" manual scissor-y ones. She wanted the less laborious option. -T
ReplyDeleteI have never even seen a Lychee...
ReplyDeleteWhich made me wonder if I could grow one?
Which got me dreaming of possibilities...
But, back in reality,
me, trying to grow things,
usually ends up in a horror story...
Hola!
ReplyDeleteIt's late but I've enjoyed a long, languorous day. After starting this puzzle I went back to bed for a while, then got up, ate some cereal and resumed the fun. Thank you, Mary Ellen Uthlaut! I really liked the extended themers. Aha, TACO is becoming a CWD staple.
Misty, I also liked the cluing for TEARS.
I learned anew meaning for WELTS. Thank you, C.C., for the illustration.
The only time I've seen a SLOTH sleeping on a branch was in Costa Rica.
That scene from The Birds is etched in my memory!
C.C., don't feel bad if you can't understand Robert Burns; it requires a translation for most of us.
Abejo: I'm sorry you are doing poorly. We are here for you and sending prayers for you.
I truly hope you are all having a fine day!
I was sure that "Hurry-scurry" was "HASTy" and could not imagine how "CRyAM" was a "Skincare aid." FIW by one letter because I did not reconsider the perp. I made a similar mistake on Monday, when I was sure that Bart Simpson says "AY CARuMBA," which is of course a spelling error and gave me a nonsense perp, too. Otherwise, a mighty fine week in the CW, and maybe I've learned to rethink the crosses. Thanks, all.
ReplyDeleteSuper Sunday. Thanks for the fun, MaryEllen and C.C.
ReplyDeleteI saw the ER "Uncertain Endings" early in the game, and filled them into the themers.
I chuckled when the rest filled in (especially FLEW THE COOPER). I wanted Rock the BOATER but knew that Rock did not match the "regret" clue (and Rue was too short). AHA MISS!
Hand up for problems with the cross of the unknown AVEDON and LAVIN (I should have known her!) But I wagged the unknown HERST. Plus I had Elfish and did not know that slogan for AVIS (but I finally changed the F to V).
Another hand up for Lost before LORN.
I was trying to land a SST on some sort of Strip, before Noah's ARK and ARARAT appeared. (Did any of those animals MISS THE BOATer?)
Is there a WELT in HALF A LOAFER?
Niagara WINERies have only recently resumed tastings . . . under strict guidelines.
Wendybird - thanks for asking about me. I have been AWOL or posted late for the past few days because we had grandchildren in the house, and there was either no time or I was too tired. More than CATNAPS were needed today to recover! (Ah, I see on refreshing that AnonT knew where I was!)
Picard - FLN, thanks for the Isabel Allende photos. Last week, I finished reading Long Petal of the Sea and enjoyed it. I still remember awakening one morning in 1971 in Quito, Ecuador and viewing armed troops lining the residential street. Our hosts assured us that it was just a precaution as Salvador Allende was arriving for an official visit that day; but it was a daunting sight for this (young at the time and untraveled) Canadian.
Continued prayers for the journey, Abejo.
Wishing you all a good day.
WikWak, I bet you are right about hammer's not being the best to repair small electronics. LOL! Do you know this from experience or just guessing?
ReplyDeleteER, I don't know what to think about this puzzle. Lot's of unknown clues and answers that were easy fills by either perps or WAGS. I caught the ER ending on SWEATER. But with clues like Quenya & Sindarin, furze, charoseth, & 'Middle Waters' tribe a lot of guessing was needed to fill them. INSTA was only known because it appeared earlier this week.
ReplyDeleteRichard AVEDON, TIPPY Hedron, Seymour HERSH, WELTS, & ANDRE Michelin- took perps to get those.
I wouldn't call AGENTs important figures. Just another layer of people taking money from the ones who earn it, like many union officials who rip off their members and insurance companies who take a healthy bite of your premiums. I guess that's why they call the insurance 'premiums'. THEY are #1, then the policy holder.
I did this puzzle late today - busy morning! I thought the theme answers were amusing and knowing there was an ER at the end helped- of course at first I didn't know if the constructor was going to mix up which word had the ER at the end.
ReplyDeleteI live 15 minutes away from OSAGE county and where the OSAGE river meets the Missouri River so lots of businesses with OSAGE in the title!
But some of my extended family live down in Pawhuska, OK which is the seat of the OSAGE nation once they were moved down there, but now is most famous for "The Pioneer Woman" who has TV show, etc.
I read a fascinating (but sad at times) book about how some white people in the area systematically worked at killing off the Osage so they could take their mineral rights. They had to bring in the newly formed FBI to investigate because the corruption started with local law and worked it's way up to the top levels of state government to cover it up!
https://www.amazon.com/Killers-Flower-Moon-Osage-Murders-ebook/dp/B01CWZFBZ4
Martin Scorcese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert DiNiro are making a movie of it that is supposed to come out in 2021.
Thanks CC and for the puzzle Mary Ellen!
Hope you can catch up on sleep today Abejo to be back at it for your radiation tomorrow!
Oh and Sporcle had a fun puzzle today - not hard but a fun theme! I'm sure it's probably been done in regular crosswords before - but I don't keep track of that kind of thing like some of our other bloggers!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.sporcle.com/games/Chenchilla/sunday-crossword-up-the-scale
Thanks for the link, Anonymous-T.
ReplyDeleteOn a completely different topic, it is always nice to see skiing references in the puzzles. I first rode a T-BAR in 1961 at Badger Pass, Yosemite. I held on to it with my arms (not the way one actually uses them). Over the years I have been fortunate enough access some amazing terrain by taking T-bars up the hill.
That WAS fun! I liked this puzzle and made many of the same missteps as several of you did. Had to change:
ReplyDeleteFEZ to TAM, WREST to SEIZE, LOST to LORN,
DUMB to DAFT, COACH to AGENT, EES to BAS,
TRUTH to ANKLE (I really really wanted TRUTH),
and others.
Loved the clue for HAY.
I totally went very wrong with the LPGA clue and (*blush*) couldn't let go of LESBIAN. Pretty DUMB of me.
Too many names? I count 10 of 'em. I'll list 'em if you want.
So cool there are seedless lychees.
Tony, I have read that the RYOBI products are pretty good.
Dave, your comment about lychees prompted the following in my mind:
"I have never seen a lychee,
Not sure that I would know one.
But wouldn't it be peachy
If only I could grow one?"
Have a super day, everyone.
It was a 3 1/2 hr. Slog today but I finally peeked at one horizontal cross and sheered. Don't recall Tolkien calling the elf languages "ELFISH" (maybe when they wouldn't share). N'East was a bear, so ....after 20 min. Of frustration (I'm obsessive). I finally filled it in. 200 degrees outside, so I wasn't in any mood to do my landscaping today!!!
ReplyDeleteHi everybody.
ReplyDeleteThanks MaryEllen and CC. Good quality stuff as always.
It's happened again. I saw an oldish movie available on cable and chose to enjoy it again rather than watch a new movie. This time it was "Fried Green Tomatoes.," a movie with a big heart. I also enjoyed a Dirty Jobs rerun. Mike went to a chicken hatchery to find out how they sex baby chickens. All of the people doing the actual chicken sexing were Japanese. They are really fast.
~ Mind how you go...
PK— Well... maybe SMALL hammers... ;-)
ReplyDeleteWendybird, when my grandson was a toddler we constantly listened to Raffi CDs in the car, Baby Beluga, Knees Up Mother Brown, etc.
ReplyDeleteBill G, Fried Green Tomatoes is one of my favorites, the movie and the book.
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteWay too many cross-outs/write-overs to list; at least in didn’t have to look anything up
Great puzzle, and like Husker Gary, I got caught in the AGAPE/SEI_E Natick. No “carpe diem” for me!
I really liked the puns ... FLEW THE COOPER was my favorite
A late night Moe-ku (refreshing that phrase):
A Vegas Presley
Was too short. One might say, he
Would sing in ELVISh.
There are obsessive people here!? (Rick), I'm shocked.
ReplyDelete