Theme: Planetary Craft - the puzzle is crafted so that four planets - aka worlds - are split across two theme entries. To wit:
17A. Flirts with: MAKES EYES AT and 19A. Coffee server: URN. Saturn. I've made eyes at a coffee urn in early-morning meetings when the coffee has just arrived and I've not had my morning caffeine fix.
23A. All thumbs: INEPT and 24A. Nefarious: UNETHICAL. Neptune.
36A. Square things: GET EVEN and 38A. Put many miles on: USE A LOT. Venus. My car came to end-of-lease last week and is going up for auction next month. Whoever gets that car is going to be happy - it's three years old with less than 15,000 miles on it and looks brand-new. So I didn't use it a lot.
51A. Where to find a hammer and anvil: MIDDLE EAR. and 53A. Unifying idea: THEME. Earth.
and the reveal:
59A. Not remotely on the same page ... and what can literally be found in four puzzle rows: WORLDS APART.
A "bridge the gap" theme from Roland - a clue to these themes is where the reveal mentions "puzzle rows" rather than "puzzle entries". I filled in "MIDDLE EAR" and "THEME" and "Middle Earth" jumped out at me - then I got to the reveal itself and all became clear. I liked a lot that "THEME" was part of the theme; I'm sure that wasn't just a happy coincidence.
Good job all round from Roland - there's some great fill around the theme entries, and a couple of new ones too, which helps to keep things fresh. Let's take a look:
Across:
1. Vitamin amts.: RDA'S. The clue implies an abbreviation, it appears that "RDA" without the periods is now accepted usage. Makes punctuating this entry a lot simpler!
5. Come by: OBTAIN.
11. Pancake syrup source: SAP. The sap of the maple tree. I don't eat breakfast pancakes so I'd never eaten maple syrup until recently where a recipe I was using called for it. I was surprised it wasn't just sweet, it had a depth of flavor that I didn't expect.
14. Isn't informal?: AIN'T. I like these clues.
15. Southwestern community: PUEBLO.
16. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone: LIA. The Stone of Destiny. Last used for a coronation around 500AD.
20. Picks up gradually: GLEANS.
21. Type of wave or spree: CRIME.
28. Web address feature: DOT.
29. Enliven, with "up": SPICE.
30. Parker and Waterman: PENS. I used Parker fountain pens at school - we had to write with pen and ink, woe betide you if you tried to sneak a ballpoint in there. Consequently all our fingers were ink-stained from refilling the darn things.
31. Sanford of "The Jeffersons": ISABEL.
34. Amusement park shuttles: TRAMS.
42. Catch on: SEE IT.
44. Lily's role in "All of Me": EDWINA. Lily Tomlin co-starred with Steve Martin in this 1984 comedy.
45. Smoothie berry: ACAI. Goji or Acai? Wait for the crosses - the "I" doesn't help you.
48. YouTube journals: VLOGS. Video Logs, formally. I subscribe to quite a few YouTube channels, you can lose yourself down some very quirky rabbit holes very quickly!
50. Water source: TAP.
55. "Caveman" diet: PALEO.
56. Chicago suburb: AURORA. It seems mean to describe it as a suburb, it's a city in its own right and in the top 115 most populous in the country. Here's the William B. Green residence. Familiar-looking architecture? Yes indeed, it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
58. New Haven Ivy Leaguer: ELI.
64. Barbecue piece: RIB.
65. Surpass: EXCEED.
66. Allergic reaction: ITCH.
67. Slalom shape: ESS.
68. Speech platforms: ROSTRA. Thank you, Latin lessons of yore. Nouns ending in "-UM" are generally neuter, and pluralized with "-A".
69. Radar's favorite soda: NEHI. You can still get this stuff. Anyone know what it tastes like?
Down:
1. The one for ewe?: RAM.
2. Figure out: DIAGNOSE.
3. Art that may be covered by a sock: ANKLE TAT. This is new fill. It appears that no-one gets a tattoo any more, they get "ink" or a tat. On one of our trips to England not so long ago, we stopped off in Blackpool, an old resort town on the Irish Sea. We parked across the street from a place which proudly had "TATTOO'S" writ large on the storefront. I don't think I'd trust them with punctuating my tat.
4. Allow to soak, as tea: STEEP.
5. Conducting business: OPEN.
6. Purchases all of: BUYS UP.
7. Informal top: TEE.
8. Crunch targets: ABS.
9. Dockworkers' org.: I.L.A. The International Longshoremen's Association.
10. V-shaped slit: NOTCH.
11. Gold miner's water trough: SLUICE.
12. Lindbergh, e.g.: AIRMAN. Amongst many things. This one wins Obscure Random Clue of the Day award, very Thursday-like.
13. Discussion groups: PANELS.
18. Perched: SAT.
22. Tool for cutting with the grain: RIPSAW.
23. "Gotcha, man": I DIG. I doubt either have been heard in daily life since ... oh ... the jazz era? Woodstock? A while ago, anyway.
25. Small point: NIT.
26. Neutral shade: ECRU.
27. Pokes fun at: TEASES.
29. Record holder: SLEEVE. With vinyl making a mini-comeback, record sleeve printing firms are back in business!
32. Next to: BESIDE.
33. Night before: EVE.
35. __ school: MED.
37. Khartoum's river: NILE. You can't argue with that. Khartoum is at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, which together form the Nile.
39. Knowledgeable, as in a particular field: LITERATE.
40. Protesting, maybe: ON A MARCH.
41. Sticky stuff: TAPE.
43. Ode title words: TO A. Keat's "Ode to a Nightingale" is a little long to post here in full, but the first verse is well known (or at least, the first few lines):
45. Current unit: AMPERE.
46. Viagra competitor: CIALIS.
47. Deviates from the script: AD LIBS.
49. Landscaping equipment: GRADER.
52. Farther down: LOWER.
53. Singing syllable: TRA. la la.
54. Hitchhiker's welcome: HOP IN. Do people still hitchhike? My buddy and I took a trip when we were 17 from the UK to the south of France and Spain and back in the days when it was still a thing.
57. Food safety org.: USDA.
60. Good Grips utensil brand: OXO.
61. Coke alternatives: RCS. RC Cola. I suppose you can pluralize it, you can have Cokes and Pepsis, so why not (although "pepsis" sounds like a some kind of infection!)
62. Court call: LET. "Let the Prisoner Go"? Nah, tennis. I don't watch a lot of tennis, but the last tournament I saw there were no net-cord judges anymore. When did those folk get phased out? They were a fixure at Wimbledon.
63. How-hot-it-feels stat.: T.H.I. The Temperature Humidity Index. I like LA's dry heat, I get grumpy in humid places unless I'm on vacation in a pair of beach shorts.
And I think that's about it. Here's the grid with the theme entries highlighted in what my MacBook paint tool calls "Banana".
Steve
17A. Flirts with: MAKES EYES AT and 19A. Coffee server: URN. Saturn. I've made eyes at a coffee urn in early-morning meetings when the coffee has just arrived and I've not had my morning caffeine fix.
23A. All thumbs: INEPT and 24A. Nefarious: UNETHICAL. Neptune.
36A. Square things: GET EVEN and 38A. Put many miles on: USE A LOT. Venus. My car came to end-of-lease last week and is going up for auction next month. Whoever gets that car is going to be happy - it's three years old with less than 15,000 miles on it and looks brand-new. So I didn't use it a lot.
51A. Where to find a hammer and anvil: MIDDLE EAR. and 53A. Unifying idea: THEME. Earth.
and the reveal:
59A. Not remotely on the same page ... and what can literally be found in four puzzle rows: WORLDS APART.
A "bridge the gap" theme from Roland - a clue to these themes is where the reveal mentions "puzzle rows" rather than "puzzle entries". I filled in "MIDDLE EAR" and "THEME" and "Middle Earth" jumped out at me - then I got to the reveal itself and all became clear. I liked a lot that "THEME" was part of the theme; I'm sure that wasn't just a happy coincidence.
Good job all round from Roland - there's some great fill around the theme entries, and a couple of new ones too, which helps to keep things fresh. Let's take a look:
Across:
1. Vitamin amts.: RDA'S. The clue implies an abbreviation, it appears that "RDA" without the periods is now accepted usage. Makes punctuating this entry a lot simpler!
5. Come by: OBTAIN.
11. Pancake syrup source: SAP. The sap of the maple tree. I don't eat breakfast pancakes so I'd never eaten maple syrup until recently where a recipe I was using called for it. I was surprised it wasn't just sweet, it had a depth of flavor that I didn't expect.
14. Isn't informal?: AIN'T. I like these clues.
15. Southwestern community: PUEBLO.
16. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone: LIA. The Stone of Destiny. Last used for a coronation around 500AD.
20. Picks up gradually: GLEANS.
21. Type of wave or spree: CRIME.
28. Web address feature: DOT.
29. Enliven, with "up": SPICE.
30. Parker and Waterman: PENS. I used Parker fountain pens at school - we had to write with pen and ink, woe betide you if you tried to sneak a ballpoint in there. Consequently all our fingers were ink-stained from refilling the darn things.
31. Sanford of "The Jeffersons": ISABEL.
34. Amusement park shuttles: TRAMS.
42. Catch on: SEE IT.
44. Lily's role in "All of Me": EDWINA. Lily Tomlin co-starred with Steve Martin in this 1984 comedy.
45. Smoothie berry: ACAI. Goji or Acai? Wait for the crosses - the "I" doesn't help you.
48. YouTube journals: VLOGS. Video Logs, formally. I subscribe to quite a few YouTube channels, you can lose yourself down some very quirky rabbit holes very quickly!
50. Water source: TAP.
55. "Caveman" diet: PALEO.
56. Chicago suburb: AURORA. It seems mean to describe it as a suburb, it's a city in its own right and in the top 115 most populous in the country. Here's the William B. Green residence. Familiar-looking architecture? Yes indeed, it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
58. New Haven Ivy Leaguer: ELI.
64. Barbecue piece: RIB.
65. Surpass: EXCEED.
66. Allergic reaction: ITCH.
67. Slalom shape: ESS.
68. Speech platforms: ROSTRA. Thank you, Latin lessons of yore. Nouns ending in "-UM" are generally neuter, and pluralized with "-A".
69. Radar's favorite soda: NEHI. You can still get this stuff. Anyone know what it tastes like?
Down:
1. The one for ewe?: RAM.
2. Figure out: DIAGNOSE.
3. Art that may be covered by a sock: ANKLE TAT. This is new fill. It appears that no-one gets a tattoo any more, they get "ink" or a tat. On one of our trips to England not so long ago, we stopped off in Blackpool, an old resort town on the Irish Sea. We parked across the street from a place which proudly had "TATTOO'S" writ large on the storefront. I don't think I'd trust them with punctuating my tat.
5. Conducting business: OPEN.
6. Purchases all of: BUYS UP.
7. Informal top: TEE.
8. Crunch targets: ABS.
9. Dockworkers' org.: I.L.A. The International Longshoremen's Association.
10. V-shaped slit: NOTCH.
11. Gold miner's water trough: SLUICE.
12. Lindbergh, e.g.: AIRMAN. Amongst many things. This one wins Obscure Random Clue of the Day award, very Thursday-like.
13. Discussion groups: PANELS.
18. Perched: SAT.
22. Tool for cutting with the grain: RIPSAW.
23. "Gotcha, man": I DIG. I doubt either have been heard in daily life since ... oh ... the jazz era? Woodstock? A while ago, anyway.
25. Small point: NIT.
26. Neutral shade: ECRU.
27. Pokes fun at: TEASES.
29. Record holder: SLEEVE. With vinyl making a mini-comeback, record sleeve printing firms are back in business!
32. Next to: BESIDE.
33. Night before: EVE.
35. __ school: MED.
37. Khartoum's river: NILE. You can't argue with that. Khartoum is at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, which together form the Nile.
39. Knowledgeable, as in a particular field: LITERATE.
40. Protesting, maybe: ON A MARCH.
41. Sticky stuff: TAPE.
43. Ode title words: TO A. Keat's "Ode to a Nightingale" is a little long to post here in full, but the first verse is well known (or at least, the first few lines):
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness,—
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.
45. Current unit: AMPERE.
46. Viagra competitor: CIALIS.
47. Deviates from the script: AD LIBS.
49. Landscaping equipment: GRADER.
52. Farther down: LOWER.
53. Singing syllable: TRA. la la.
54. Hitchhiker's welcome: HOP IN. Do people still hitchhike? My buddy and I took a trip when we were 17 from the UK to the south of France and Spain and back in the days when it was still a thing.
57. Food safety org.: USDA.
60. Good Grips utensil brand: OXO.
61. Coke alternatives: RCS. RC Cola. I suppose you can pluralize it, you can have Cokes and Pepsis, so why not (although "pepsis" sounds like a some kind of infection!)
62. Court call: LET. "Let the Prisoner Go"? Nah, tennis. I don't watch a lot of tennis, but the last tournament I saw there were no net-cord judges anymore. When did those folk get phased out? They were a fixure at Wimbledon.
63. How-hot-it-feels stat.: T.H.I. The Temperature Humidity Index. I like LA's dry heat, I get grumpy in humid places unless I'm on vacation in a pair of beach shorts.
And I think that's about it. Here's the grid with the theme entries highlighted in what my MacBook paint tool calls "Banana".
Steve
Thanks, Roland. Thanks, Steve.
ReplyDeleteThe key to solving this THEME was "... four puzzle ROWS" which I almost missed.
Steve, I know what you mean about staring at the coffee urn that was just delivered to the meeting. Love my coffee.
Folgers Classic Roast is okay fine with me. But what is up with that "Makes 400 Cups" statement on the container ? Apparently cup is not a measurement of 8 ounces because they do add, "6 oz cups" so I searched "cup size" to investigate and got something totally different.
BUYS UP- First thought for "Purchases all of" was hoards, as those two boys did with all of the Purell. Their intent was to price gouge, but it all worked out in the end.
SLUICE - I binge watched the Discovery channel's Gold Rush program at different times over the last few winters. Tony Beets has a vocabulary that results in at least one word in every sentence getting bleeped.
VLOGS - As in Ty Kaplan's real time solve of C.C.'s NYT puzzle on Tuesday July 21st.
AURORA - Chicago suburb. Not too far for Abejo, WikWak or me, but for Madame Defarge, it's one of those figurative "you can't there from here" long treks. I believe it is now the second largest city in Illinois in terms of population.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteMade my share of mistakes, but Wite-Out saved the day. The worst area was the upper midwest where DROP IN made PUEBLO look weird, so I used the Wite-Out on PUEBLO. D'oh. Still, finished in good time and even got the theme. Yay. Thanx, Roland and Steve.
OXO: They make some high quality stuff at reasonable prices. My tongs, whisk and peeler are all from OXO.
SLEEVE: I always thought the sleeve was the paper thingee you inserted the LP into before sliding it into the jacket.
RCS NEHI: Interesting to see both listed here. NEHI had a selection of fruit-flavored sodas, but in 1955 changed the company name to Royal Crown Company because of the popularity of their Royal Crown Cola.
Thanks for the fine blog , Steve. Monday walk in the park. Nothing obscure or unknown. AI----suggested AIRMAN immediately. I have been reading several WW II novels recently. There were many airmen in them. VLOG needed only the V to suggest it.
ReplyDeleteI am such a coffee aficionado I used to say, "If I get cut I bleed coffee." I haven't had coffee in a week and have no desire to drink any. When I pour a cup I end up washing it down the drain.
Visiting my sister in Lisle I have often passed signs for Aurora
I didn't succeed in finding the planets. Yes, Steve, MIDDLE EAR THEME should have tipped me off. Good one, Roland.
FIR, no write-overs and didn’t notice any THEME besides the reveal. Proper names to a minimum, so I loved this puzzle.
ReplyDelete9:35 today. Didn't see the theme.
ReplyDeleteSluice/lia tripped me up, as did wanting inner ear instead of middle ear.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteFine puzzle from Roland. FIR. Only white-out was I had 'clips' before V-LOGS. No searches were needed.
GRADER - Grew up on a dirt 'gravel' road. Always good to see the town GRADER come out several times a year with its swivel blade and following rake to smooth out the ruts, potholes and washboards; and restore some measure of crown to the road to facilitate drainage.
EXCEED - One of the few ……CEED words in English. Succeed and proceed also come to mind. Most such words end in ……'cede'. The only 'sede' word in English is 'supersede'. (Helps with spelling.)
I finished, and then sat looking at the long answers and never could figure out the theme. I missed that it said found in the 4 puzzle ROWS! Now that you told me, it looks so obvious. Oh well, it was a good fun puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite clue: isn't informal -- AINT. Ain't it the truth?!
Musings
ReplyDelete-Oh, you have to look past the black block. Wonderful - no THEME recognition for you Gary!
-Steve’s summation works for me
-A famous “resident” of Aurora, IL
-These stores have NEHI and every other retro soda or candy you can imagine
-BUYS UP – Surely there are many households that have a huge surplus of TP now
-AIRMAN Lindberg won the $25,000 ($369,000 today) Orteig Prize for crossing the Atlantic first. Six men died trying before him
-I DIG sounds like a Maynard G. Krebs response to Dobie Gillis
-Those first few ODE lines are not familiar to this ILLITERATE
-The active ingredient in CIALIS (Sildenafil) was synthesized to treat heart issues. Pfizer soon discovered it had an, uh, unintended side effect from which it made big bucks
-Steve, did you and your buddy hitchhike across the channel? :-)
WORLDS APART and not remotely on the same page is a good description of how much I noticed Roland's theme. Even though it was a NW to SE fill no planet 'jumped out at me'.
ReplyDeleteGLEANS- describes how most of us learn to complete these puzzles using knowledge that we really don't know.
BLOGS-VLOGS, what's next? SLOGS for people posting stupid stunts?
LIA & EDWINA, unknowns filled by perps.
CIALIS, Viagra, Levitra, Rogaine, Botox- what people won't pay money to obtain.
What song had these words with RC?
"There she was, friends, lyin' there in all her radiant
beauty, eating on a raisin, grape, apricot, pomegranate,
bowl of chittlin's, two bananas, three Hershey bars,
sipping on a RC co-cola listenin' to her transistor,
watchin' the Grand Ole Opry on the tube, ... "
FIR, but never caught on to the THEME.
ReplyDeleteI watch Gold Rush. Now I know how to spell SLUICE.
Thanks Roland & Steve.
MO
FIR in 7:36 after a couple of missteps. The paucity of proper nouns, compared to several recent puzzles, was refreshing. I first tried some plural forms of Dais where ROSTRA needed to go. Inner Ear was clearly not going to fit so I quickly switched to MIDDLE EAR. Even though I have seen the movie, I did not immediately recall EDWINA but the perps helped with that. For me, LITERATE did not seem to be an answer for Knowledgeable so that area took a bit of work. The reveal did not help me at all as I did not “grok” the THEME until after I had finished the puzzle. Once I did I had to admit that it was very clever and very well executed. Bravo, Roland. The write up was very informative, Steve, although, personally, I’d give the Obscure Random Clue of the Day award to, well, none of the clues. This is, perhaps, because I already had much of LINDBERG filled by perps by the time I arrived there
ReplyDeleteFLN, Picard I am in the south west part of the beautiful San Fernando Valley. From the map, it is not possible for me to figure out where our other SoCal bloggers reside but a few emails and posts should flush out that information. Husker Gary might be able to help with that.
What do we call the following bits of wordplay? Ray-isms?
The case against the perpetrator is solid, RDAS are the best
Overheard at the clinic: Me Tonto, URN
CRIME a river, I cried a river over you
That is not a buzzer, ISABEL
When I was sixteen years old I was a SEEIT at summer camp
It’s time to put THEME back in merrymaking
We’ll win the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, ECRU?
Big Easy, I do believe that was a Ray Stevens tune, Ahab The A-Rab. I was not yet a teenager when I first heard it. Somehow I developed a lifelong love of novelty songs. The Purple People Eater and the Witch Doctor probably both helped, too.
Well, now back to the earthquakes. Let's be careful out there.
With a nod to Charlie Daniels - RIP
Malodorous, do you remember Nervous Norvus? Or this one?
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Thanks, Roland, for a stunning challenge. Thanks, Steve, for making sense of the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteLike Big Easy, I "was not remotely on the same page" as Roland's theme. Had no clue which were theme entries except for the mysterious reveal. I was looking at the long down entries for the "rows". Oh well, I enjoyed the rest.
Last fills were AINT, OPEN, GLEANS. My husband cut grain with an IH GLEANer combine which didn't "picks up gradually". No gradually about it, that big dog went full-steam ahead.
DNK: LIA, ROSTRA. Hand up for "hoards" before BUYS UP.
Drank a lot of orange NEHI as a kid. We weren't allowed to drink cola and were told it would stunt our growth. So we chugged a lot of RCS as rebel teenagers.
Didn't get to post yesterday. I was too busy "entertaining gentleman callers". I discovered my hot water heater tank had a slow leak. Since it is housed in a closet in the middle of the house just off the carpeted living room, I had to call the plumbers. First I was told it would be "Friday or next week". Couldn't help but wail at that. Taking pity on me, two guys were at my door a half hour later. Three hours later I had a new tank & only minor damage to my living room from clean water when a hose escaped briefly. Nice guys, one masked. AnonT: I hope they didn't carry any corona germs like your plumbers may have. To make the day more interesting, we had hard intermittent rains for 99% humidity with the heat.
Liked the puzzle. Did not get the theme, nor "rostra" but otherwise entertaining.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteClever theme and well-executed! I had no clue about the theme until filling in the reveal and, even then, it took me a while to parse the “worlds”. My only w/o was ILO/ILA. My daily duo sightings were ILA/Lia, Tap/Tape, and Ram/Tram(s). I needed perps for Edwina and Aurora (sorry, Chicago contingent).
Thanks, Roland, for an enjoyable solve and thanks, Steve, for the grand tour.
FLN
Picard, I hope your housing woes get settled to your satisfaction.
Anon T, has your eldest given any thought to culinary school? You’re very lucky to have someone who loves baking and cooking as much as she does. I’m not a fan of stew but her’s looked mighty appetizing!
Last night, at 10:34 to be exact, while I was watching TV, my alarm went off. I was so stunned (and frightened) it took a few seconds to react and disarm it. The key pad showed that the breach was at the sliding glass door of my walkout basement. I called 911 and the police arrived within minutes. They checked outside and inside and couldn’t find any sign of any tampering. I was afraid to reset it for fear it would go off again during the night. This morning, I called Brinks to ask why they didn’t verify a false alarm situation and, also, to request a technician to investigate the source of the breach.
The first person I was connected with had such a pronounced accent that I couldn’t understand a word he said. I mean that literally. I apologized for seeming rude and requested another rep. The second person was perfectly understandable and informed me that because the alarm was disarmed with the correct code, no verification call to me was necessary. Had I entered the “Secret Code”, the police would have been notified immediately. The Secret Code is so secret that I was unaware of it. My system was installed and serviced by Times Warner for sixteen years up until a few months ago when Brinks took over. No secret code was ever passed on to me.
My request for a technician resulted in being on hold for 10 minutes, subjected to the most God-awful music I have ever heard. When I finally heard a human voice, his suggestion was that I check the sensors and make sure the distance between them was in a certain range. Aside from not knowing what on earth he was talking about, at this point my patience was really wearing thin. I told him I wanted a technician to come and check out the problem in person. He then informed me that there was a charge for this service call. I informed him that I never paid for any service calls from Time Warner. He then informed me that they weren’t charging for any possible repair work, just for the service call itself. I then informed him that I would spend the rest of the day deciding whether I would cancel my coverage with Brinks and then, impolitely, hung up. Sorry for this rambling rant but I’m so tired of excuses and poor customer service. Nothing seems to be easy to resolve anymore and it’s very frustrating.
Have a great day.
Very frustrating.
DeleteAlways pleased to see a theme involving enduring learning rather than passing celebrity. Clever idea and well done! But I did not actually figure out the theme until I was completely done.
ReplyDeleteHere I was at the LINDBERGH grave in Hana, Hawaii.
Has anyone else been there? I was grateful to have a guide to show the way; I was there to enjoy the cascading pools in the first photo. This was an unexpected bonus. Yes, LINDBERGH was a complex human being and I do not approve of some of what he did. But I can honor his courage, determination and creativity. We also enjoy dancing the Lindy!
From Today:
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss thank you for the good housing wishes. Much appreciated. Chairman Moe has also reached out via email to help out.
Malodorous Manatee thanks for identifying your location. Your area might be a good place to meet up. Not all the way in LA. Husker Gary are you willing to complement the map with city names? Or is that too much work to keep up with?
From Yesterday:
Husker Gary thank you for letting me know you had heard of DEAD TO RIGHTS. Wow. I have no idea where that weird expression comes from. Any idea?
Swamp Cat thank you for the supportive comments about renting vs owning. I totally agree: A home should be considered a home, no matter how it is paid for. Your post appeared for me.
Also From Yesterday:
ReplyDeleteAnonymous T thank you for sharing yet another memorable scene from the greatest movie ever made!
The Sheriff is A'NEAR. [MA - Blazing Saddles]
Whatever I didn't know--Lia, Edwina--was filled in by perps for a Thursday-like FIR. Had daises before rostra and the answer for square things held me up a bit. I lived in Aurora for six months before transferring to beautiful Toronto in Aug. '69. Now in Scottsdsle we are on our way to setting a record for the most 110°+ days. Oh well, it could be ice on the windshield, 36" of snow. Just wait you Easterners.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the puzzle, Roland, and needed your help to see the theme, Steve. I'll try to notice the distinction between puzzle rows and puzzle entries in a clue, since I searched the entries fruitlessly for worlds apart.
ReplyDeleteAfter breezing through the puzzle yesterday, this Thursday was --well, a Thursday, i.e. a bit tougher. I still got a pretty big chunk though, especially in the east, and I enjoyed it--many thanks, Roland. And, Steve, many thanks for giving us Keats's lovely Ode. Didn't get the theme until you explained it--and then it cracked me up. Brilliant construction, in my opinion--I just loved seeing how those parted planets turned up.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed seeing Radar O'Reilly appear in puzzles two days in a row. One of my favorite TV characters of all time.
Wish I were better with female characters--needed perps for both ISABEL and EDWINA.
So sorry to hear of your terrible problem and hassle with your alarm, Irish Miss. Especially having it occur at bed-time like that. Hope you get it all worked out and that it doesn't happen again.
Yellowrocks, I start my morning with a half cup of half-and-half coffee topped with 1% milk. I then keep that up until time for the evening news and "Jeopardy" when I switch to a few little glasses of red wine. Works to give me a lively day and a relaxing evening.
Speaking of which, have a good one, everybody.
FLN, are there any Larry David fans among the Cornerites? In Season 10, Episode 3, of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Larry goes to war with Mocha Joe, who has served him cold coffee and a scone that is so soft, it is essentially a muffin! Scones are supposed to be hard and dry!
ReplyDeleteFIR with inkovers: excell/EXCEED (should have perp waited, that didn't seem right to me). Decipher/DIAGNOSE, blog/VLOG (no idea). Where I come from when you square things you settle a dispute amicably not GET EVEN.
ReplyDeleteFailed to recognize the Heavenly Bodies theme....(what's new!)
Nefarious a bit harsh for UNETHICAL. (Playing video games on company time, unethical? yes.... nefarious? hmmm )
I thought it was "Ode to A Grecian Erne".. lol
"All of Me" ...Steve Martin should have received an Oscar for the courtroom scene. A must-see film.
Unethically speaking but no fairy, us....
In "Titanic" Kate co-starred with her _____ ...PALEO
Accumulate......ECRU
Bought a 45 rpm record, but not for the _____ BESIDE
Tic tac toe loser.....OXO
It's ______ lips that sink ships.....SLUICE
Approaching weeks end....
desper-otto, somehow I missed "Ape Call" - thanks you for filling in that gap in my education. I am very familiar with Transfusion. Slip the blood to me, Bud. I like to think that I remember the song from my youth but it may be only from hearing it years later on the Doctor Demento Show. Speaking of which, his 20th and 30th Anniversary Collections on CD are a treasure trove of novelty songs. I know that someone has posted all of the songs from the 20th on Youtube. I am not sure about the 30th.
ReplyDeletePicard, I have been lucky enough to have been to Maui several times. I have driven to Hanna and seen Lindberg's grave, the so called seven pools and, of course, there's always that wonderful road that some people seem to intensely dislike. Depending on where everyone resides, my location may very well be a good place to meet and I would be happy to host. Gary might not be comfortable with divulging more detailed information on peoples' locations without their consent. If that's the (quite understandable) case we could use email to contact people. On that note, I do not recall seeing a roster. If there isn't one, do we have to actually "catch" someone posting here in order to link to their profile?
In ancient times gleaners were the poorest of the rural people who were allowed to follow behind the harvesters and pick up any stray grain that had been left behind. I always think of the famous Millet painting. The painting was not well received by the more affluent public because it painted the poor in a sympathetic light.
ReplyDeleteGleaning
Our family used the phrase "dead to rights."
I wasn't cheating.
I saw you peek at the down card when you thought we were not looking . We have you dead to rights.
In other words, "caught ya red handed"
The Grammarist: Dead to rights is an example of the use of the word dead to describe something that is certain or unequivocal, seen in phrases such as dead certain, dead broke, dead sure, dead serious, dead drunk. The latter half of the idiom, to rights, means in a proper manner.
Middle Earth immediately came to mind after
ReplyDeletereading the worlds apart theme, but I never made the leap
with any of the planets...
Speaking of YouTube Rabbit Hole,
Irish Miss, I seem to recall a clip from a movie
where a new alarm was installed, & comedy ensued.
I tried to link it but was sidetracked by Mr Bean's Alarm clock.
When that ended, it went to another (the same) clip in poorer quality,
but was so funny as it extended the story of
Mr Bean, late for the Dentist...
I also tried to find a silly image for the Theme
"Worlds apart."
but none of them passed my LOL test.
I did however find something that may be useful
when you want to be worlds apart from your (or anyone's) children.
I am so magnanimous that I would let the winner keep both bills,
but I am also so cheap I would probably use singles...
PK, I was curious why a big combine would be called a gleaner. It seems an oxymoron. I find Gleaner is a product name. Wiki explains its choice by the company.
ReplyDeleteGleaner combine
In these non-agrarian times, glean is used in the sense of gather information bit by bit. We glean bits of information from doing the daily LAT. Yesterday I learned that BOATEL is a quite legitimate term used in describing travel accommodations on the water.
Irish M. Im not sure if these home alert systems are worth all the problems they create. We had stopped using ours for years then decided to update it when we realized our dear special needs daughter would get so exicted when we were planning a vacation she would tell everyone at work plus anyone who would listen where we were going and exactly when. Like putting a sign out on the lawn We're not home, come right in. We don't use it when we home. I understand why you do.
ReplyDeleteBut we never know what is going to set it off. Same excuse about sensors etc. The police have needlessly shown up at least 3 times. I'm sure the neighbors weren't thrilled either.
Ray -O and Irish Miss, as we used to say in the 60's "I can relate." My home was broken into/burglarized about a year ago. The found nothing of value to steal. Fortunately, although they found my Scotch Whisky collection they (1) likely had no idea of what they were looking at and (2) as the police commented this type of thief is looking for something to stick in a backpack and be gone in five minutes. Cash, drugs, jewelry, etc. Unfortunately, the thieves did do about $5,000 worth of damage to my property. How did they know exactly what my deductible was?
ReplyDeleteAs a result of the break-in, I installed a Ring alarm system. It seems to do it's job in that I can read a history of the sensors detecting motion, doors opening and the like. Twice, though, there have been false alarms. The first I was out of town. The police were dispatched and found nothing. Of course, all they did was go up to the front door, check to see if it was locked and then leave. I found nothing amiss when I returned. The second time the alarm went off I was about one hour from home and I happened to be staring at my phone. Remembering how long it took the police to show up when called I called them after the burglary and, again, after the first false alarm triggered a call to them, I merely hit "cancel" and took my chances. When I returned home I found nothing amiss, again. I have since adjusted the sensitivity of the motion sensors to make them less responsive. So far, no third alarm.
Wow, this was a Tuesday level for me! Thank you, Roland, for the fun, and Thank you, Steve, for the write-up and explanation of the theme. Like others, I was looking for the words in the entries, not the row. (Read the entire clue, Pat)
ReplyDeleteWrite overs, attAIN/OBTAIN, wanted inner EAR/MIDDLE EAR, gluE/TAPE.
Like others, I've had my issue with the alarm system. One night a few years ago I went to bed at 10 pm. At 10:50, the alarm went off. Got up, entered the code, went back to bed. A couple minutes later it went off again. The quiet intervals got shorter and shorter until I couldn't get it to stop at all. Of course, DH was out of town. The monitoring company called the house phone but I couldn't hear it. Called the office, then my cell, DH's cell and finally our daughter. They dispatched the fire department and ambulance. I had 6 men in the house checking things out. A carbon monoxide sensor was dying. They cleared everything and left. A couple minutes later it went off again and I heard my daughter yelling, "Mom, where are you, are you OK?" She called the company that installed the system and they told her what wire to cut to shut it off. Scariest 45 minutes of my life. We've had other issues with that sensor and I finally had it removed from the system. I hate to be alone at night any more and never want to hear that alarm again.
We're getting a nice, all day rain that is soaking into the ground, which we need.
Enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteThis Thursday crossword had its moments.
No write-overs today.
PK - water heater....did they put the new one in a basin so when it leaks it leaks into the pan? I had the pan installed last time with a water level alarm. No worries now.
PICARD - I asked once before, or I thought I did...no lease for your current apartment? No laws where you are about reasonable times to move out? No lawyer consulted?
Stay Safe, Mask Up, see you tomorrow.
IM @ 1013. You tell 'em. Illegitimi non carborundum!. I don't hesitate to tell customer service when they are hard to understand. I ask for the supervisor when this occurs. They should know when their staff's performance is less than good.
ReplyDeleteEDWINA was a nurse (Arlene Golonka) in a MASH episode as I recall. She had trouble getting dates, a "wallflower' perhaps. Hawkeye got tapped to go out with her to end the nurses' "strike".
Mal man.
ReplyDeleteOther than a few pieces of jewelry my wife has safely spirited away there's nothing worth taking from our place.
I'm tempted to forego the security system altogether and simply leave my wife's Shih Tzu in the house when we're gone.
She'll annoy any potential thief to death.
Heck... I'll pay a thief to clean out the garage
I liked this puzzle and the world's apart construction. When I got the EEI in SEE IT and the LEEAR of MIDDLE EAR I thought I had gone wrong, so NILE (which I was very sure was correct) came out and eventually went back in after BESIDE emerged. I also had to change RASH to ITCH. Other than that, no stumbles. Very enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI silently chuckled at seeing LIA and ILA.
Sorry to have been so taciturn yesterday; I didn't have anything to say but still wanted to put in an appearance.
Good wishes to you all.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Roland and Steve.
ReplyDeleteI found this CW to be easier than yesterday (even without having to figure out all the numbers - LOL, our newspaper reprinted yesterday's CW properly today!). I FIRed and got the THEME, although it took me a short search to find the WORLDS.
I had Get IT before SEE IT; GET was required for GET EVEN just above it.
I waited for perp to decide whether the "small point" was a Nib or a NIT.
CIALIS fit; Levitra didn't.
Anaphylaxis was too long for the Allergic reaction; oh, ITCH. Much milder!
Perps gave this Canadian the unknown (as clued) AURORA.
THI is not used by our Canadian weatherpeople; I hear Humidex for "How hot it feels".
I smiled at TAP and SAP.
Favourite clue was 1D "The one for ewe?=RAM".
MM - how do you know about Royal Canadian Henley Regatta?
Wishing you all a good day.
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks Roland for a out of this WORLD puzzle. You had me going with senses (EAR, EYE) for a bit... *V8 smack*. Nice.
//After solve and going down (SATURN, NEPTUNE, etc. but not seeing EARTH yet), I keep looking at SEEIT||||EDWINA far-far-FAR! too long trying to parse a planet :-)
Great expo Steve. LOL TATTOO'S.
Lindberg? Cheese; no? Oh, right, that's limburger. :-) //my defense: I am a bit peckish.
WO: N/A
ESPs: LIA, EDWINA(?)
Fav: I'll go w/ SLUICE. Made me think of Mom.
//See, Mom & her DW has claims in Alaska they work every year or two*. Never going to get rich, but they have fun. Mom useta sell sluices & other panning stuff at her book store.
Liked PUEBLO & AURORA** (both CO towns) and RCs & NEHI sodas [didn't know that D-O; you sent me on a goose-chase.
PK - My plumbers will be back a 3rd time (for same issue!) tomorrow. Let's hope they haven't let their masks down.
IM - Eldest is double-majoring in voice performance & psychology. Youngest (who is an amazing! baker) wants to major in pre-law - she will "stress bake" before a big exam. #Cookies!
//Your Brinks story reminded me of the Dead Parrot Sketch: "To get anything done in this country, you have to argue until you're blue in the face." Good luck.
//Our alarm false'd every time the wind kicked up because the house settled so much the window sensors don't quite align. We tried to cancel but... Alarm companies worse than gym memberships.
//I'll tell the balloon story later...
D-O: It's not? (re: LP SLEEVEs. Though, I guess for 45s, all you had was the paper)
BigE - TWLOGS? //Twitter Blogs :-)
CED - LOL Fiver link! //Mr. Bean will be l8r
MManatee - uRDAS have 'em Dead to Rights? :-) [etymology for Picard //and YR beat me to it].
Cheers, -T
*I told you she was nutz
**My great-aunt lived in the IL Aurora. I only met her a couple of times and can't even recall her name. However, I know her basement rooms were Coca-Cola THEME'd; nothing but Coke memorabilia, actual-collectibles, and Coke tchotchke.
Someone on Tuesday was talking about "V" (LOGS?) or a V something. Having already done Thursday I noticed the connect. Perhaps the CC xword.
ReplyDeleteNaomi, And UNsweet to reaffirm your dry. Blueberries fe are ok but no added sugar. Tim Hortons had great scones and passing through Canada I liked to buy a few. Unfortunately, I chose to dive off 401 into Niagara Falls and after obtaining said scones realized I was in hopeless tourist traffic. So, I found an alternate route over this international bridge. It was like something out of a Tarzan movie where ropes held up a bridge hundreds of miles above a chasm.
And I was still agoraphobic at the time. Dunkin actually featured "SCONES" at one time. Ugh, sweet , sugar frosted monstrosities. Sugar, Mayo and Ketchup are the BANES* of fast-food.
As I recall, this was medium, Thursday difficult. I did FIR, 4 For 4 this week.
WC
*In some xword past, present or future is that word. I'm doing a Birnholz from a week ago.
WC
Um, Mom & her DH have claims... -T
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Just back from 18 holes on a lovely, cool day with a north breeze!
-I made the map to just give a general location of our bloggers and feel it would be wrong to give out any more info than that. The California contingent is crowded onto the map but that is something we will have to live with. Handling it person-to-person via the blog as some seem to be doing seems to be the ideal answer.
-My friend detailed the rigors of finding the Lindberg grave which he said is a bear to locate
Alarm | Balloon story -- Skip if you're just here for puzzle talk.
ReplyDeleteScene: DW & I t'were in our third (and last b/f house!) apartment in Norman. We set the alarm and went up to ready for bed -- she to her gown and I on the can.
The alarm goes off!
She hollers for me and I try to "hurry it up."
The police got there moments after we got downstairs (presentable-ish) to investigate (with trusty baseball bat in hand).
The cops came in and started searching everywhere for the burglar.
Meanwhile - DW and I realize the motion sensor had picked up the mylar helium balloon from last weeks party -- it was slowly falling from the vaulted ceiling.
"Oh, no! We got the police out here for a false alarm?!?" we whisper to each other.
DW & I kept looking at each other so scared they (police) were going to figure it out.
//we were still college students - not yet pillars of the community :-)
"I saw a few footprints outside the patio - by the window...", one said.
"The alarm must have scared them off."
That seemed to satisfy everyone, the cops went away, and were off the hook for a very embarrassing false alarm.
Cheers, -T
Coda: the "mud prints" were probably made by me putting out a cig :-)
CanadianEh!, I have a very good friend who worked for a Toronto-based company for many years. During some of that time period his son was rowing crew at Williams College and I learned a little bit about that sub-culture. St. Catherines, of course, is located between Toronto and Williamstown.
ReplyDeleteWC - That was me re 'V'-something. However, that was in reference to virtual. VLOG is in reference to video - like the MTV VJs (as opposed to DJs). [1st 2 min of link and you get the idea]
ReplyDeleteThe Virtual V has actually been around since the '70s but that was an "immersive V" not the "I'm there on a screen looking at me looking at you" sense of the Zoom Vmeetings we have today.
Whereas, Video V, - Did MTV invent that? :-) [Buggles]
Cheers, -T
YR: I couldn't open your Gleaner clip. I was amused at myself for struggling so with GLEAN in the puzzle. I knew of that picture and a Bible story or two which were about GLEANers picking up the grain left behind. So I am aware and was laughing at the contrast between that and the name of the combine. My husband always said they left less grain shattered behind the machine than other brands.
ReplyDeleteAnonPVX: my water heater is in a cement basin in my foundation slab. However, it doesn't look like it would hold the entire contents of the 40 gal. tank. Thank you for mentioning a water level alarm -- sounds like a great investment. I will call and see what I can find. I was concerned because the leak dripped on the pilot light and shut off the flame. I wanted to know if the gas then automatically shut off. I didn't get a satisfactory reply. I wasn't smelling gas or having the physical symptoms I had when I had gas leaks in my old house, however.
We had over 5 inches of rain today, most of it in a half-hour period. The swale in the middle of my block was a pond and a section of the street apparently had enough water in it, cars were turning around in my driveway rather than drive thru it. I received three alarms on my cellphone about major flooding problems. The rain was more like a Gulf Coast downpour than what we usually get in Kansas.
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteWEES said about the theme and reveal. Like Tony, I, too thought the puzzle was about facial organs (EYES, EAR,)
Great job from Roland, and as always, Steve for the recap. I too wondered how Steve hitchhiked across the Channel, prior to the Chunnel ...
Late to the party, obviously ... 115 outside today; 80 in the house. Never knew how cool 80 degrees felt until I moved to AZ!
So yesterday, we had DOUBLE D’s and AEROLE. Seems logical that today we’d have CIALIS, although it probably would’ve made MORE sense in YESTERDAY’S grid! 🤡
AURORA, IL brought back memories; lived just a few clicks north of there (St Charles) in the early 1990’s. AURORA was on the Fox River, and was the terminus for a fun canoeing event called the Mid-American CanoeRace. Covered about 15-20 miles or so from Elgin. 7 portages along the way. Our neighborhood participated; more for bragging rights than anything else
Speaking of CIALIS, many moons ago I challenged myself to create a limerick that used that drug. Take your pick!
The bus driver is taking CIALIS
To revive his dysfunctional phallus.
This remarkable pill
That's called Tadalafil,
Has returned him to "honeymoon" status!
==========OR===========
So Ralph K started taking CIALUS
To revive his dysfunctional phallus;
See, he wants to be sure
That this pill is the cure
When his hard-on returns, he'll say "See? Alice?!"
Picard, check your email ...
A nice Thursday run, this pzl.
ReplyDeleteNot too chewy, not too soft, but ju-ust right.
Ta ~ DA!
~ OMK
BTW, cut the extra syllable, and go with just
ReplyDelete"... It's 'See, Alice?!'"
Otherwise, a fine emendation.
~ OMK
Enjoyed the reference to Aurora Illinois as that was the place for after hours entertainment (in addition to Col Bertie Mc Cormack's Farm) near Wheaton High School). Amazed that sleepy town across the river has grown to second largest city in Illinois.
ReplyDelete(Memories of driving to Kona are not as pleasant.)
Wilbur thanks for the apology. Guess I'm getting thin skinned lately. The natick I was talking about was the cross of Dryden and the einer.Both were unknowns to me. I finished the whole puzzle until I got to that area and it really frustrated me not to be able to finish.I have to not take it so seriously I guess.
ReplyDeleteOMK @ 6:06
ReplyDeleteYup, your revision scans much better!
Anon, somehow the subject of what some know and others not led to my finding this quote(Re Mycroft Holmes)
ReplyDelete“Oh, he is very well known in his own circle.”
“Where, then?”
“Well, in the Diogenes Club, for example.”
Interestingly, trying to find it led to a series of Mycroft books by none other than Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The "Circle" quote is from "The Greek Interpreter" where Watson initially meets Mycroft,
There was an xword clue(CC XW?) that referred to the band Rush? A clear CSO to Anon-T.
WC
I had lost my original post. But I was referring to DRYDEN re. Unknown/Known.
DeleteGood evening, folks. Thank you, Roland Huget, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteAURORA caught my attention. Just south of me a few miles.
Puzzle went fine for a Thursday. Theme was clever and took me a while to find.
ACAI again. Getting almost like ERIE.
AMPERE. A word I used a lot many years ago.
Anyhow, I am getting ready to hit the floor. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
I’m way late to the party too, since I had to work today. FIR, but it took a long time, because I kept getting interrupted by museum visitors and actually had to WORK. You know --- THAT four-letter word! Didn’t see the theme, but I didn’t look that hard. I think the only unknowns were LIA, ECRU, OXO and THI, but the perps took care of them. I’ve heard THI referred to by other initials, but it’s too late in the evening to try to remember any of them.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I drank some Nehi Orange in my younger days. Don’t remember if I ever did Nehi Grape. Probably did. Actually, I’ve been a Pepsi guy since I was ten. My sister and I were spending the summer at our grandmother's house while our parents were getting everything shipshape for our dad’s transfer to his next duty assignment. Every afternoon, we cousins would walk up to the drugstore. Their nickels (or maybe it was a dime by then) bought them a six-ounce bottle of Coke; mine bought me a ten-ounce bottle of Pepsi. My momma didn’t raise no fools!
ILA --- Remember On the Waterfront? Stellar cast!
Today, we had TAP crossing TAPE, both ITCH and NEHI crossing THI, and IDIG crossing INEPT, someone who obviously doesn’t DIG it.
Later….
WC@4:06- This Canadian LOLed at your memories of Niagara Falls. Yes, you could have gotten off the QEW (401 goes from Windsor through Toronto to Quebec border, but not Niagara) at plenty of other locations and found a Tim Hortons! The locals know to avoid the tourist spots. What bridge did you cros? I suspect it must have been the Rainbow Bridge from NFO to NFNY, but it does not have ropes holding it up!
ReplyDeleteMalMan@4:48- You have some Canadian connection, (but not enough to know that St Catharines has a strange spelling😊). A friend’s daughter went to U Virginia on a rowing scholarship and won two Pan Am gold medals in 2015 when the games were held on the Henley course.
Abejo @ 9:35 —> don’t know if you saw my post; I lived in St Charles IL from 1990-1993. Near the Norris Center. you mentioned that Aurora is just a few miles south ... figure you’re maybe in West Chicago perhaps?
ReplyDeleteWilbur Charles - - This bridge existed until 1963. It connected Queenston, Ont and Lewiston, NY. and was just north of the Escarpment.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteAlmost didn't make it today. In the morning I went to a funeral, she was a second cousin, 90 years old and a very nice lady. Our families were close when I was very small and in later life we saw each other occasionally, usually at funerals!
Later I had a doctor's appointment for my regular check. After coming home I just went to bed; the heat saps me. It reached 117 today.
I worked on the puzzle off and on during the day and finally finished tonight. I found it easy. Nice to see AURORA again. We had a Sister EDWINA in the convent. She was very much senior to me and was the Superior at the convent in Escondido, CA.
Thank you for the THEME, Steve. I was too tired to look for it but did notice it had some SPICE.
I would never go to any lengths to visit Lindberg's grave; he accomplished great aerial feats but having two families on two continents cancels his exploits in my opinion.
Have a good night, everyone!