Theme: Missplaced - like this puzzle's theme.
18A. *Scout leader's unit: BROWNIE TROOP.
35A. *Ragtime pianist's number: CAKE WALK. A great excuse to link Dire Straits and "Tunnel of Love" simply because it includes the words "cake walk". This was filmed at Wembley Arena in 1985 - I was there.
44A. *Analyst's infographic: PIE CHART.
12D. *Arbitrary error allowance: FUDGE FACTOR.
26D. *Boot sole material: CRÊPE RUBBER. But wait - is all crêpe rubber, or is all rubber crêpe? Or is there no overlap in the Venn Diagram of soles? Whichever way, "Rubber Soul" was a great Beatles album. "Crêpe Soul" didn't make the charts. Maybe it was cr ... not very good.
62. Appropriate reward, as often misspelled ... and what the starts of the answers to starred clues might be: JUST DESSERTS.
Alrighty then, I think I might be a little off-base here, but I'm going to play the role of "The Editor" for today's puzzle:
Scene: The Editor's Office - Enter John
Ed: Hi John, what have you got for me?
JL: Nice theme, probably Thursday-level, and oh, it's a 16x15
Ed: Why the 16?
JL: Because I needed the extra room for the reveal, it's a 12-letter entry "JUST DESSERTS".
Ed: You know you spelled that wrong?
JL: Yep, but the clue tells you I spelled it wrong.
Ed: OK, so the theme entries are spelled wrong too?
JL: No, they're fine, but they're all desserts, not deserts.
Ed: You know that "deserts" in the phrase alludes to neither arid areas nor post-dinner sweet treats?
JL: I know, but ...
Ed: OK, let me look - wait. CRÊPE SOLES? I've had crêpes for breakfast - mushrooms and cheese if I recall - and PIE CHART? "Pie" isn't just a dessert, you can have steak pie, chicken pot pie, shepherd's pie, cottage pie, oyster p...
JL: I know, I know. I didn't mean that the reveal literally meant that the theme entries were "just" desserts.
Ed: But you misspelled "desert", the reveal says "just desserts" and you're telling me the themers aren't spelled wrong and they aren't only dessert dishes? And the grid is a funny shape?
JL: Yep, that's about the long and short of it. "Long" - see what I did there? A long across? That's funny! And I covered myself with the reveal clue, I said "might be", not "are".
Ed: John, I'm not sure that's a good excuse, maybe you've caught me at a bad time. And who is "TAL"?
JL: Aha! He's a famous Russian chess player who won the World Chess Championship in 1960 and held it for six months.
Ed: Does he have a famous defence named after him? Or a great attacking style? Or insisted on playing in Iceland and claimed he was an alien?
JL: Not really. He did blame his short "Champion" reign on his kidneys though. He was a superstar.
Ed: In 1960? I was one year old. How many people have heard of him? Other than crossword editors, not including me?
JL: LOTS of people know Tal. Ask any grandmaster chess player, they'll tell you all about him. They'll tell you he had bad kidneys and won a championship in 1960.
Ed: What's his first name?
JL: I've no idea, can I look him up on Wikipedia and get back to you?
Ed: OK John, thanks. We'll be in touch. I'm not sure how to explain this one away though.
Exeunt
Right, let's see what we can find in the rest of the puzzle.
Across:
1. Spirited French commune?: COGNAC. "Commune" in the sense of "region" in France. The Cognac commune sits predominantly on the left bank of the river Charente in Bordeaux. Santé!
7. Like Wicca, say: PAGAN.
12. Not many: FEW.
15. Dawn goddess: AURORA.
16. Coffeehouse draw: AROMA.
17. Hagen of the theater: UTA. Who? Thank you, crosses. A few of these today for me.
20. UPS rival: DHL.
21. Take top prize for: WIN AT.
22. Hauled: DRAGGED.
24. Specialized job: NICHE.
27. Try a new color on: RE-DYE. I parsed this as "red eye" first. I just had my annual eye exam today, I blame that.
29. Claudius' successor: NERO.
30. Another, in Acapulco: OTRA.
31. Excessive: UNDUE.
32. U.K. fliers: R.A.F. The Royal Air Force.
33. Father's Day pin: TIE TAC. I thought these were "tie tacks". I had a couple, back in the day of three-piece-suits in London's Financial District, the "City". To think I wore them and couldn't spell them. Shame on me.
39. AOL or MSN: ISP. Internet Service Provider
40. A lot of hooey: CLAPTRAP.
43. Hoodwink: CON.
46. A bit much: TOO, TOO. Is this a thing? I would say that "too, too" was a lot too much, not a bit,
48. Manta __: RAY.
49. Like some perfume: MUSKY. These are the ones that hang around like an unwelcome house guest.
52. Blog entry: POST. This! Yay!
53. One of the basic tastes: SOUR. Sweet, sour, salt, bitter and that extra "savoriness" usually referred to nowadays as "umami", mostly by food writers who can't stop saying "umami".
55. Sans-serif font: ARIAL. Not this font. We're Times New Roman on this blog and proud.
56. Tackle box assortment: LURES.
57. Warm greeting: EMBRACE. Not right now. I know it's been a few months since I've seen you, but a polite elbow-tap is as close as I'm getting.
59. Tibet neighbor: NEPAL.
61. Capture: NAB.
67. That yacht: SHE. This beauty? She. That lovely yacht over yonder? She. That rusty hulk messing up the view on the riverbank over there? It. or He.
68. Pianist Rubinstein: ARTUR.
69. Comparable to a pin: AS NEAT. It's pretty hard to be an untidy pin. What do you have to do to attain scruffy-pin status? We should be told.
70. Bud's place: EAR. Behind the ear? Just ready to be fired up by ....
71. Many a Bob Marley fan: RASTA. Ya man. Respect.
72. They're often at the bottoms of columns: TOTALS.
Down:
1. Popular red: CAB.
2. Group possessive: OUR.
3. Garden adspeak word: GRO. I fed my kitchen basil plant Miracle-Gro a few weeks ago to perk it up a little. It should be called "Miracle-Eradicate". The plant was not impressed at all.
4. "Another problem?!": NOW WHAT?
5. Golf icon Palmer: ARNIE. Strictly, Arnold. If you're going to refer to a nickname, then "Golfer with an Army" would be better. In my humble opinion.
6. Genesis farmer: CAIN. Thank you, crosses.
7. Stroked gently: PATTED. I tried "PETTED" first. Not quite right.
8. Flight info abbr.: ARR.
9. Michelin rival: GOODYEAR. I had a weird dream last night that the Goodyear Blimp was performing aerobatics and crash-landed upside-down in front of Winchester Cathedral where I was watching. I helped the crew turn it the right way up, they inflated it again and took off. I've NO idea what that was all about.
10. Love, in Pisa: AMORE.
11. Source of much 1-Down: NAPA.
13. Bygone anesthetic: ETHER.
14. Guy found in kids' books: WALDO. Nice clue this one, made me smile. "Where's Waldo?"
19. Bring home: EARN.
23. Chew (on): GNAW.
24. Payback for lousy service: NO TIP. I'm torn. It would have to be truly terrible service for me to leave no tip at all. The only time I can recall doing it was eating at a restaurant in LA shortly after it opened, and the previous night George Clooney had eaten there. The wait staff were so buzzed by the prospect of maybe having another "star" visit that us mere mortals were completely ignored. The only person who paid attention to us was the busser. He got a cash tip which the wait person would have got, the wait person got nothing, I did explain why, but I fear due to the eye-rolling the explanation fell on deaf ears. Whatevs.
25. Formal "Just me": IT IS I.
28. Tear dispenser: DUCT.
31. Pac-12 team: UCLA.
32. Default takeback: REPO. Another nice clue. Default on your loan, we take back your car.
34. Sore from a workout: ACHY.
36. Singer Perry: KATY.
37. __ cannon: LOOSE.
38. Rustic pine features: KNOTS.
41. Loveseat sides: ARMRESTS. I found this a little odd, but OK.
42. Spitting sound: PTUI. Gross.
45. Novelist Caleb: CARR. Who? Thank you, crosses.
47. Swank: OPULENT.
50. Oh of "Killing Eve": SANDRA.
51. "Cat and Bird" artist: KLEE. Who? Thank you, crosses.
53. Taste, for one: SENSE. Umami? Say it one more time, I dare you.
54. Nebraska city: OMAHA.
55. High-end Honda: ACURA. The last car I owned in England before I moved here was a Honda Integra. When I got to LA, it was called an Acura. That was different.
56. Cowboy rope: LASSO.
58. Slightly open: AJAR.
60. Exam for jrs.: PSAT.
63. Tsk relative: TUT.
64. "The Crying Game" actor Stephen: REA.
65. 1960-'61 chess champ: TAL. Who? Thank you, crosses.
66. GPS displays: STS. I'm assuming "States" which you might get displayed on a map on your GPS device, but that is a total stab in the dark from me. I'll be prepared to be entirely wrong on this one, but it seems an appropriate clue/answer combo to finish this on.
Here's the grid - I didn't highlight the "desserts", I figured there's no need today.
Steve.
18A. *Scout leader's unit: BROWNIE TROOP.
35A. *Ragtime pianist's number: CAKE WALK. A great excuse to link Dire Straits and "Tunnel of Love" simply because it includes the words "cake walk". This was filmed at Wembley Arena in 1985 - I was there.
44A. *Analyst's infographic: PIE CHART.
12D. *Arbitrary error allowance: FUDGE FACTOR.
26D. *Boot sole material: CRÊPE RUBBER. But wait - is all crêpe rubber, or is all rubber crêpe? Or is there no overlap in the Venn Diagram of soles? Whichever way, "Rubber Soul" was a great Beatles album. "Crêpe Soul" didn't make the charts. Maybe it was cr ... not very good.
62. Appropriate reward, as often misspelled ... and what the starts of the answers to starred clues might be: JUST DESSERTS.
Alrighty then, I think I might be a little off-base here, but I'm going to play the role of "The Editor" for today's puzzle:
Scene: The Editor's Office - Enter John
Ed: Hi John, what have you got for me?
JL: Nice theme, probably Thursday-level, and oh, it's a 16x15
Ed: Why the 16?
JL: Because I needed the extra room for the reveal, it's a 12-letter entry "JUST DESSERTS".
Ed: You know you spelled that wrong?
JL: Yep, but the clue tells you I spelled it wrong.
Ed: OK, so the theme entries are spelled wrong too?
JL: No, they're fine, but they're all desserts, not deserts.
Ed: You know that "deserts" in the phrase alludes to neither arid areas nor post-dinner sweet treats?
JL: I know, but ...
Ed: OK, let me look - wait. CRÊPE SOLES? I've had crêpes for breakfast - mushrooms and cheese if I recall - and PIE CHART? "Pie" isn't just a dessert, you can have steak pie, chicken pot pie, shepherd's pie, cottage pie, oyster p...
JL: I know, I know. I didn't mean that the reveal literally meant that the theme entries were "just" desserts.
Ed: But you misspelled "desert", the reveal says "just desserts" and you're telling me the themers aren't spelled wrong and they aren't only dessert dishes? And the grid is a funny shape?
JL: Yep, that's about the long and short of it. "Long" - see what I did there? A long across? That's funny! And I covered myself with the reveal clue, I said "might be", not "are".
Ed: John, I'm not sure that's a good excuse, maybe you've caught me at a bad time. And who is "TAL"?
JL: Aha! He's a famous Russian chess player who won the World Chess Championship in 1960 and held it for six months.
Ed: Does he have a famous defence named after him? Or a great attacking style? Or insisted on playing in Iceland and claimed he was an alien?
JL: Not really. He did blame his short "Champion" reign on his kidneys though. He was a superstar.
Ed: In 1960? I was one year old. How many people have heard of him? Other than crossword editors, not including me?
JL: LOTS of people know Tal. Ask any grandmaster chess player, they'll tell you all about him. They'll tell you he had bad kidneys and won a championship in 1960.
Ed: What's his first name?
JL: I've no idea, can I look him up on Wikipedia and get back to you?
Ed: OK John, thanks. We'll be in touch. I'm not sure how to explain this one away though.
Exeunt
Right, let's see what we can find in the rest of the puzzle.
Across:
1. Spirited French commune?: COGNAC. "Commune" in the sense of "region" in France. The Cognac commune sits predominantly on the left bank of the river Charente in Bordeaux. Santé!
7. Like Wicca, say: PAGAN.
12. Not many: FEW.
15. Dawn goddess: AURORA.
16. Coffeehouse draw: AROMA.
17. Hagen of the theater: UTA. Who? Thank you, crosses. A few of these today for me.
20. UPS rival: DHL.
21. Take top prize for: WIN AT.
22. Hauled: DRAGGED.
24. Specialized job: NICHE.
27. Try a new color on: RE-DYE. I parsed this as "red eye" first. I just had my annual eye exam today, I blame that.
29. Claudius' successor: NERO.
30. Another, in Acapulco: OTRA.
31. Excessive: UNDUE.
32. U.K. fliers: R.A.F. The Royal Air Force.
33. Father's Day pin: TIE TAC. I thought these were "tie tacks". I had a couple, back in the day of three-piece-suits in London's Financial District, the "City". To think I wore them and couldn't spell them. Shame on me.
39. AOL or MSN: ISP. Internet Service Provider
40. A lot of hooey: CLAPTRAP.
43. Hoodwink: CON.
46. A bit much: TOO, TOO. Is this a thing? I would say that "too, too" was a lot too much, not a bit,
48. Manta __: RAY.
49. Like some perfume: MUSKY. These are the ones that hang around like an unwelcome house guest.
52. Blog entry: POST. This! Yay!
53. One of the basic tastes: SOUR. Sweet, sour, salt, bitter and that extra "savoriness" usually referred to nowadays as "umami", mostly by food writers who can't stop saying "umami".
55. Sans-serif font: ARIAL. Not this font. We're Times New Roman on this blog and proud.
56. Tackle box assortment: LURES.
57. Warm greeting: EMBRACE. Not right now. I know it's been a few months since I've seen you, but a polite elbow-tap is as close as I'm getting.
59. Tibet neighbor: NEPAL.
61. Capture: NAB.
67. That yacht: SHE. This beauty? She. That lovely yacht over yonder? She. That rusty hulk messing up the view on the riverbank over there? It. or He.
68. Pianist Rubinstein: ARTUR.
69. Comparable to a pin: AS NEAT. It's pretty hard to be an untidy pin. What do you have to do to attain scruffy-pin status? We should be told.
70. Bud's place: EAR. Behind the ear? Just ready to be fired up by ....
71. Many a Bob Marley fan: RASTA. Ya man. Respect.
72. They're often at the bottoms of columns: TOTALS.
Down:
1. Popular red: CAB.
2. Group possessive: OUR.
3. Garden adspeak word: GRO. I fed my kitchen basil plant Miracle-Gro a few weeks ago to perk it up a little. It should be called "Miracle-Eradicate". The plant was not impressed at all.
4. "Another problem?!": NOW WHAT?
5. Golf icon Palmer: ARNIE. Strictly, Arnold. If you're going to refer to a nickname, then "Golfer with an Army" would be better. In my humble opinion.
6. Genesis farmer: CAIN. Thank you, crosses.
7. Stroked gently: PATTED. I tried "PETTED" first. Not quite right.
8. Flight info abbr.: ARR.
9. Michelin rival: GOODYEAR. I had a weird dream last night that the Goodyear Blimp was performing aerobatics and crash-landed upside-down in front of Winchester Cathedral where I was watching. I helped the crew turn it the right way up, they inflated it again and took off. I've NO idea what that was all about.
10. Love, in Pisa: AMORE.
11. Source of much 1-Down: NAPA.
13. Bygone anesthetic: ETHER.
14. Guy found in kids' books: WALDO. Nice clue this one, made me smile. "Where's Waldo?"
19. Bring home: EARN.
23. Chew (on): GNAW.
24. Payback for lousy service: NO TIP. I'm torn. It would have to be truly terrible service for me to leave no tip at all. The only time I can recall doing it was eating at a restaurant in LA shortly after it opened, and the previous night George Clooney had eaten there. The wait staff were so buzzed by the prospect of maybe having another "star" visit that us mere mortals were completely ignored. The only person who paid attention to us was the busser. He got a cash tip which the wait person would have got, the wait person got nothing, I did explain why, but I fear due to the eye-rolling the explanation fell on deaf ears. Whatevs.
25. Formal "Just me": IT IS I.
28. Tear dispenser: DUCT.
31. Pac-12 team: UCLA.
32. Default takeback: REPO. Another nice clue. Default on your loan, we take back your car.
34. Sore from a workout: ACHY.
36. Singer Perry: KATY.
37. __ cannon: LOOSE.
38. Rustic pine features: KNOTS.
41. Loveseat sides: ARMRESTS. I found this a little odd, but OK.
42. Spitting sound: PTUI. Gross.
45. Novelist Caleb: CARR. Who? Thank you, crosses.
47. Swank: OPULENT.
50. Oh of "Killing Eve": SANDRA.
51. "Cat and Bird" artist: KLEE. Who? Thank you, crosses.
53. Taste, for one: SENSE. Umami? Say it one more time, I dare you.
54. Nebraska city: OMAHA.
55. High-end Honda: ACURA. The last car I owned in England before I moved here was a Honda Integra. When I got to LA, it was called an Acura. That was different.
56. Cowboy rope: LASSO.
58. Slightly open: AJAR.
60. Exam for jrs.: PSAT.
63. Tsk relative: TUT.
64. "The Crying Game" actor Stephen: REA.
65. 1960-'61 chess champ: TAL. Who? Thank you, crosses.
66. GPS displays: STS. I'm assuming "States" which you might get displayed on a map on your GPS device, but that is a total stab in the dark from me. I'll be prepared to be entirely wrong on this one, but it seems an appropriate clue/answer combo to finish this on.
Here's the grid - I didn't highlight the "desserts", I figured there's no need today.
Steve.
58 comments:
One PATS a dog, and STROKES a cat,
Both are pets, but differ in that.
And if you meet,
While in woods deep,
A MUSKY skunk, don't stroke nor pat!
Should the Goddess of dawn, AURORA
Cast her OPULENT aura o'er ya,
'Twould be TOO-TOO
To TUT, TUT thru,
Lest in the future she'll ignore ya!
{A, A.}
Steve, couldn't the GPS display be an abbreviation for streets? (And why is abbreviation such a long word?)
How nice to wake up to a JL puzzle with Steve rowing the boat. John was having fun with us with his reveal, but I was surprised that as a foodie, you found any fault with the theme, Steve.
I enjoyed your blimp dream, which I think suggests you are concerned about the economy which you see crashing completely. But in the end, you are optimistic that it will be revived and we will all be fine.
I think STS is for STREETS not states, but it is solely an opinion. UTA Hagen appears so often she is considered crosswordese. I also loved some of CALEB CARR's books, especially THE ALIENIST ; his birthday was this past Sunday.
On to MIKHAIL TAL who did not show up in my first google search. I now know he was born in Latvia and dies in 1992. I also watched this VIDEO OF TAL .
Good to see you John Lampkin and Steve, I always enjoy your personalized write-ups.
Good morning!
Where were the bugs and creepie-crawlies? A J-L without critters? Enjoyed it, though. Hand up for PeTTED first. Steve, let me be the umpteenth to tell you that STS was "Streets" and that UTA Hagen is as common as RET used to be. I'd rate this one as a CAKEWALK. Thanx, John and Steve.
Good Morning:
This was the fastest Thursday solve I can remember. One w/o, ETA/ARR and, surprisingly, no unknowns. I just went straight across and straight down with nary a hesitation. The plentiful CSOs continue: Lucina (Aurora), Ray O (Ray), HG (Omaha), and SandyAnon (Sandra). I saw the various sweets early on, but the reveal was still a nice surprise. The word “Claptrap” tickles my fancy, as does Niche.
Thanks, John, for an enjoyable solve (we’ve missed you!) and thanks, Steve, for a detailed and deconstructed review. Personally, I liked John’s word play but, then again, I’m a solver, not an editor or blogger, so I may see things through a different lens. 🤓
Bluehen, don’t be a stranger. I miss hearing about your culinary capers! 😉
Have a great day.
This was fun and pretty easy for a Thursday..FIR. My only write over was Katy for Como. Shows my age.
FIR with write-overs: AMORE 4 AMOur, SHE 4 HER, MUSKY 4 MUStY. I had ETHER when I had my tonsils out around 1943 or so.
A musing review today, Steve. I liked the exchange between the editor and constructor. Creative and witty.
Oh, and BTW, STS would be streets. :>)
I think your dream surfaced from your subconscious to remind you of your innate capacity to holistically view situations that are seemingly impossible, shift your paradigms, and take action as part of a larger team to restore some semblance of normalcy in spite of overwhelming odds. That, or you ate too too much spicy food.
Nice puzzle, John. We fairly recently (Sat. May 23rd) had exchanges of comments here about the use deserts in the sense derived from deserved. Despite Husker Gary's link in the expo, and despite additional comments and links that bolstered the meaning and spelling, we still had...
Just take a look at some of the comments in that link.
Good morning everyone.
Special treat today from John Lambkin. I like his whimsicalness and cadence. Enjoyed the theme and the cluing. Part of my life's work was dealing with the FUDGE FACTOR factor. Probably my favorite clue.
AJAR - A gimme. My car dashboard alerts me when a door is AJAR.
CRÊPE - Had some for supper from IHOP the other night. With lingonberries. No rubber.
PTUI - German "Pfui". If you spit in German, it has a different sound.
Enjoy the day.
I sensed a DESSERT theme after BROWNIE & FUDGE were in place and was right. And I FIR with just a few hiccups that slowed me down in the South, even though I'd never heard of CREPE RUBBER. I filled NEAT AS and had to change that to AS NEAT; TAL-like you said Steve-WHO?
I wanted ELEGANT before OPULENT nixed that. Wanted ANTON before ACURA changed his name to ARTUR RUBENSTEIN.
UPS rival-DHL. Not in the USA. DHL tried to compete with UPS and FDX a few years ago and gave up. In the US, DHL only delivers shipments that originate from outside the country. I remember their yellow vans.
TIE TAC- mine broke three years ago and do I want another one? No.
ACURA- Steve, do you remember this 'quasi-Acura' that was made in England named STERLING? It was actually an Acura assembled in England. Honda names their luxury brand Acura so that they could have extra dealerships in the US, just like Chrysler had both Dodge & Plymouth (same car), Ford had Mercurys & Lincolns, and GM had their brands.
Lemonade- I didn't watch the video because watching a chess match would be about the same as watching grass grow or paint dry.
Hungry Mother-"When a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's AMORE", not amour.
That enough BS from me. You nice people have a nice day.
Both the puzzle and the blog made me smile today! Very smooth fill - had to wait for perps to figure out whether it was GOODYEAR vs Goodrich.
Steve- I think it can be TIE TAC or Tie Tack like many C vs CK words - so you can keep your Tie Tacks in your dresser.
Thanks JL for this puzzle treat! and to Steve for the amusing blog
Como was my first thought too!
8:06 today. Had group before troop.
Clues for a pianist and a chess master? Hmmmm.
Not the constructor's finest work, but a passing grade still.
What? Am I being too too harsh? I had higher expectations.
I confidently zipped thru the puzzle with only a slight slowdown in the SW corner but in the end was chagrined that I had mossy instead of musky, not noticing the perps didn't work so well.
Thanks Steve for straightening me out and John for constructing such a fun puzzle. On to Saturday....
Greetings from Hotlanta,
ATLGranny
Hi Y'all! Sweet puzzle, John, thanks! Chuckled heartily over your witticisms, Steve! I've been having weird dreams lately too. I blame it on the present nightmarish state of reality.
COGNAC dampened my spirits until I had enough perps to WAG.
REPO filled before I read the clue. Good thing! "Default takeback" sounded like computer jargon for something I didn't know how to do.
DNK: CARR, SANDRA, REA, TAL.
Wonder if YR is still in the dark from the storm? Thinking of you, Kathy! Wishing you sunshine!
Yes, Steve, that's exactly how it went down!! It'a almost as if you were there! Thanks for a great write up and laugh.
And thanks y'all for the kind comments--it's good to be back in the Corner.
Mikhail Tal certainly DID have a great attacking style. Here's a review of a book about him: https://thechessworld.com/articles/reviews/the-magic-tactics-of-mikhail-tal-review/
B-E, what about the rest of us?
The theme is not flawless, but since the puzzle as a whole was pretty easy, I didn't have a problem with it. If the puzzle was a struggle, I think the flaws would have been more annoying. In any event, the premise of the theme was clear, which is important.
I've seen TAL in crosswords before, and I think Mikhail Tal is part of crosswordese. I went to some chess tournaments in high school. He's very famous in chess circles, so I think he's fair game.
I don't love TIETAC as opposed to Tie Tack. I guess TAC had some popularity decades ago, but at this point, I think it should have a "(var)" on it. When you google it, it has the "showing results for tie tack" message.
Fun puzzle and a wonderful, as always, write-up by Steve.
Some years ago while on vacation with another couple, we had dinner at a nice restaurant recommended by the hotel concierge. The meal and wine were wonderful but the check was grossly incorrect. I asked the server to check it and when she returned, she assured me it was. I asked the manager to look at it and I then paid the corrected amount, less than half the first. We discussed what to do about a tip and decided to leave none. Upon returning to the hotel, the concierge asked if we enjoyed dinner and we raved about the restaurant. He then asked why we left no tip. I thought the reason was apparent. I was wrong.
Lovely day in Chicago. Stay safe and well.
JB2
Hola!
Greetings, John Lampkin! It's a special treat to solve your puzzle. I looked for creepy crawlies everywhere but couldn't find any. Plenty of sweets, though. Is that what you use to attract them? Simply reading them caused my AC1 to rise dramatically.
AURORA rises again. Thank you, PK, for the CSO.
Hand up for thinking COMO before KATY. I waited for some perps and CAKEWALK provided them.
Steve, I'm surprised you haven't come across UTA Hagen. She is a crossword staple. Thank you for the interesting narrative with cameo accounts of your experiences.
Another funeral today. This one is for one of our church deacons whom I have known for many years. R.I.P. Ralph.
I'm sending you each a warm EMBRACE! Enjoy your day, everyone!
Musings
-A fun puzzle and clever reveal! I loved Steve’s editor conversation too!
-As I write this I am getting an Entyvio infusion in OMAHA
-What percent or people do telemarketers have to CON daily to be considered a success?
-A former student ran up to me and EMBRACED me last week
-Thanks Dean – “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, That's AMORE”
-Me too! Como leaped/leapt to my mind, not KATY
-I’m going to a different NAPA today to see if I can find a cup holder device for my iPhone
-IT IS I – earlier this week we had the less grammatical IT’S ME
-Jockeying for airplane ARMRESTS can be difficult
-SANDRA Oh plays rude, arrogant Cristina to a tee!
Four easy romps in a row this week. Has to be a personal record for combined time although I'm not keeping time. Like many here I had Como first and never heard of crepe rubber but that didn't matter. Speaking of no tip a few years back a waiter mixed up my Chase debit card with another customer's. I didn't notice the error until after the other customer left the restaurant. Had to go home, cancel the old card and order a new one. Needless to say, that was my last visit there.
FLN, as I first thought, we had a very late , final objection to all the proper names. Earlier I had counted ten or so but a more observant count was 18. But a delightful xword nevertheless and not particularly difficult and Wednesdays can have some bite.
As Palmer attained that elite status it was Arnold or Sir.
Hmm, I have to visit NAPA for a hydraulic hose leak on my mower.
Didn't Miley's dad sing ACHY, Brraky heart?
Me three in Perry COMO vs KATY Perry.
I haven't seen "Car." in ages on a clue. I really 50 years ago seeing it . Then I inky started xwords again ten years ago
I guess others thought a Lambkin would be more difficult. I did this a few days ago. I don't see wos so perhaps not too difficult.
WC
Seems like three turned into ATON on Como
Woohoo! This will go down as one of my favorite Thursday puzzles! I got the whole thing except for cheating to find one-half of a word--an almost perfect result. So, many thanks, John, and thank you for also checking in with us. Also, thanks, Steve.
Fun to get names like the usual UTA and ARNIE, and KATY and ARTUR, and NERO.
I too had MUSTY before changing it to MUSKY, which gave me another important name, KLEE,
Also delighted to get SANDRA OH.
Have a good day, everybody!
Forgot to say that I really enjoyed your poem, Owen.
@everyone - Ah, Streets. Makes more sense. Thanks!
Hi All!
Steve - I want to option your screenplay; don't talk to anyone else until my people contact yours.
Fun expo. Our musical Venn circles have a pretty big overlap.
"Say umami one more time" LOL!
Thanks John "The Bug Man" Lampkin for the sweet(s) puzzle and for popping in at The Corner.
Nit? Naaaaaaames!
Apparently, I found the puzzle more difficult than my fellow Cornerites did. I had to work up from the SW where I finally! got a toe-hold. But, alls well that ends well.
WOs: Nitch->Nitce->NICHE, ARIeL. PeTTED & Et- [wait for A or D]; oh, it's ARR.
ESPs: COGNAC (as clued), rTs b/f STS, UTA[n], ARTUR[n], CARR[n], SANDRA[n], KLEE[n], REA[n], TAL[n] //[n] == naaaaame!
Fav: P.A.G.A.N. [@0:27]
REPO c/a is a good runner-up.
{B+, A+}
BigE - you may not enjoy chess but IM might like the first minute of the Lem's link - Agadmator's dog in the background is funny.
Back to work.
Cheers, -T
The one nit to pick for me is 30 Across: Another, in Acapulco = OTRA
As we know, "another" in Spanish can be either OTRO or OTRA, depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine. It has always seemed like an unwritten rule that the puzzle author clues you in as to which it is. For example, "another, in MexicO," would be otrO, whereas "another, in Espana, would be otrA. Because of that, pairing AcapulcO with otrA threw me off, but the perp made it easy to figure out. Thoughts about whether I am off base here?
PK, still in the dark. No ETA. We have take out and patio restaurants. I miss hot water for showers and dishes. Our picnic area and community center have available outlets.
A big tree damaged my roof and covered my patio. No damage to patio furniture. Assoc. Will mend roof which is currently tarped.
Husker Gary....look at the TOPGO on Amazon, get the latest one.
3rd day, no power....
We either had some small twisters, or microbursts
Because the trees did not fall over, they were split in half!
Two down in the backyard...
Puzzle was challenging, thank you John.
I gave up at (I think) Sandra/artur crossing
But in repo-spect I should have Sussed the r in Sandra.
Must have had some other conundrums nearby....
Wilbur Charles! You have a mower that has hydrolics?
I am jealous! What else does it do besides cut grass?
Well FIR with just one inkover: ache/ACHY . Was confused by CREPERUBBER..(The guy who smears the thin pancake with butter?)
Irish Miss just GYI....oiur names and info usedwithout permission. Crossword authories have been notified.
DW always orders an Arnold Palmer with lunch when we eat out (more and more now in CNY). The tea/lemonade ratio varies. FUDGE is a FACTOR in my COVID weight gain.
TAL me who he is?
Besides being the Italian capital con AMORE A ROMA ...the word invokes pleasant odors from crossword bakeries, cafés and perfumeries. I suppose GRO is now acceptable spelling in the OED and MW.
Hardly acceptable.....
He ____ to avoid getting hit.....DUCT
Overnight flight.......REDEYE
Played the Fife....KNOTS
J. Cæsar disgusted..."_____ Brute!".....PTUI
Disney money.......WALDO
Till you Venerdi..vendredi....Venere...Venerate..Venus Day
Interesting..
An earlier uncorrected version of my comment was published even after I made corrections and clicked the publish button
Yesterday everytime I cicked publish my comment disappeared.
C'mon...they aren't that awful...😝
I enjoyed the puzzle and the review. Steve's imagined scene with the editor taught me something about puzzle construction, and I'm glad there is concern for consistency on behalf of the solvers, but really, this puzzle was fun and the theme was easy enough to grasp.
Like others, I struggled a bit with unknowns REA and TAL.
In the same area, I wonder (like Steve), what *is* so neat about a pin? When I used to make my own clothes, I pinned the seams prior to sewing with the pins arranged neatly "soldier style" at right angles to the fabric edge so that the sewing machine could stitch right over them. *Those* were neat pins. Or does it have something to do with hat pins, or other types of clothes pins?
Speaking of clothes pins, I also wanted TIE TACk, but yesterday I goofed and put INK SACk instead of INK SACS, so today I was ready to yield a K.
Sorry to hear about your power outages and fallen trees, YR and CED. Living for many years in an older neighborhood with above ground power lines and mature trees, we have had those problems too, most recently in mid February. When storms come, I cross my fingers (or die Daumen drücken, as they say in Germany) until they pass.
Hope you get fixed up soon!
Musings 2
-Thanks PVX, I’ve been looking at those and I will order it today. I went to Best Buy this morning and they had NONE! They said they get all their tech inventory from China and they are getting nothing these days which means many empty shelves.
-Susan is a lurker from Kentucky and she shared this KLEE poster she bought at MOMA. I have added her to the map as well
-Welcome, Susan!
Ray-O, no one at this end is doing anything to your comments, or preventing them from being published.
As many old timers here will attest, there have been on again, off again problems with a user's comments disappearing at their device when they press the Preview Button. You'll learn how to avoid losing your comments.
Most of us have learned to use a text editor or word processor to write our comments in just in case Blogger acts up. You should have been here when they had all the problems with the captcha / recaptcha implementation.
CED and YR, I hope your power gets restored soon.
So there's no deep state crossword illuminati cabal infiltrating my comments. That's a relief!
AS NEAT as a pin: The idiom neat as a pin may have come to us from at least two different sources. First, the word neat was derived from the Middle French word net, which means clear or bright. This would account for the comparison between something clean and a bright, shiny pin. The second possible influence on the development of the idiom neat as a pin is an older common saying that was popular during the 1600s: “As fine as fippence, as neat as nine pence.” It is easy to see how the idiom could have evolved from “neat as nine pence” to neat as a pin. The idiom neat as a pin first came into use in the very late 1700s.
Hello, All! Pretty much WEES. Got the theme and the reveal.
I actually got through this one fairly well. Didn’t know some of the names, but the perps eventually took care of them. I also wanted COMO, instead of KATY, but for a different reason. Not being a fan of nor paying attention to today’s pop music, I thought she spelled her name with an IE (which didn't fit). Finally talked myself into the Y, so everything worked out fine.
Since I’m working today, I had to put down the puzzle every now and then to (GASP!) deal with visitors. That kept me from caving at the bottom, because I stared at 69A FOREVER (knowing neither REA nor TAL). Finally, after one of my trips outside, the light bulb flashed, and gave me a FIR! I’m SO glad for the interruptions, which kept me from giving up early.
Thanks John and Steve! Both the puzzle and the “interview” were fun.
Owen'KL, glad to hear from you.
Always cheers me up...
Ray-o-sunshine, great stuff!
But I am a little confused by Disney money=Waldo?
Ok, so, do=money. Does wal= Walt?
(Is Walmart associated with Disney?)
(Sorry, just confused...)
(Help!)
5 bucket trucks just passed our house!
2 more are on the next block!I have 10 guys in hard hats standing
Under the disaster zone try8ng to figure out what to do...
Now, I am in New Jersey.
Jcp&l trucks came looked at it, and went
I counted five
These guys that are looking at it now,
Came from Ohio!
Thank you Ohio!
...C W...Walt dough say it fast...Waldo
Meant C E D...sorry just got done with a goto meeting conference about medical billing and am ready to shoot myself
CED, it's a zero turn and the hose that carries the ", Hydrolic fluid has a leak. Apparently, I have to remove said hose and NAPA will fashion a new one.
Bought it used with said disclaimer. Such a deal.
Re. Disappearing on Preview. If typing directly (as I'm doing right now) do a select/copy before preview/post.
As I just did
WC
Another busy day here. I had time to do the puzzle this morning before heading out to a 7:30 a.m. appointment at the auto mechanic. Leaking seal in front AWD transfer case. Parts people sent the wrong part and the manufacturer's local dealers all their computer systems down. I got the idea to call a dealer in another state, we obtained the correct part number and, ultimately, the correct part (WC can relate, as we used to say in the 60's). After the mechanic it was on to the office for some serious paper shoveling. Then home for the real work of the day -
breaking down a full packer cut brisket, preparing the brine solution, and thereby starting the two-week process that will lead to Pastrami. Ten days pickling, one day de-salting the cured meat, two days letting the rub do it's thing, a day to smoke the meat, a day in the refrigerator and then a couple of hours of steaming to finish things up. I think that I forgot something. Oh yes,a couple of hours to eat it all up...with some home made sourdough Rye bread.
I enjoyed this puzzle and Steve's comments. Nothing new to add to what has already been said.
Stay well.
YR & CED: thank you for letting us know you are mostly okay. Sounds like a noisy scary time was had by all. Hope the repairs are done soon. Those reciprocal electrician agreements between cities & states are wonderful. The president thinks he's important, but electricians, plumbers & mechanics are who keep our lives functioning. That is really important!
PK said: Those reciprocal electrician agreements between cities & states are wonderful.
About 20 years ago we had a huge Labor Day storm that cause an extended power outage. We were overjoyed when Ontario-Hydro Trucks and crews showed up in the Upper Mohawk Valley to assist with repair and restoration of the power grid.
Ray - O - Sunshine @ 2:50 pm
I found your corrected post on yesterday's (8/5/20) blogger. It's the penultimate post.
I'm late again to today's dessert party. Thanks for the fun, John and Steve (you were in rare form today; I loved the editor's interview!)
Hand up for changing ETA (I only penciled the A because it might have been D!) to ARR.
The GPS display was not a RTE but STS (yes Streets, as this Canadian would never think of States LOL)!
My perfume was Musty (Ew!) until I remember KLEE (I learned his name here!).
Are my exclamation marks TOO TOO?!
Do PTUI and PSAT go together?!
I smiled at SOUR crossing "Taste for one=SENSE", and CAB crossing COGNAC (thanks for explaining commune, Steve!).
Niagara as well as NAPA can be a source of much CAB!
And of course, this Canadian knew SANDRA Oh.
I have a nit with PATTED for "Stroked gently". I think of patting with an up and down motion (more like tapping but softer) and petting as Stroking gently (as you would pet a cat, or even the backseat of a car meaning! TUT TUT).
Now to read you all.
Enjoy what's left of this evening.
A brilliant exegesis, Steve! Thank you!
As did a couple of other Cornerites, I figured STS stands for "Streets," which show up all the time on my GPS.
Congrats to Misty on her perfect game.
~ OMK
Good evening, folks. Thank you, John Lampkin, for a fine puzzle. Thank you Steve, for a fine review.
Puzzle for the most part went pretty easily.
My biggest hangup was SANDRA, ARTUR, and RASTA all intersecting. Well, with a lot of trial and error I got it.
Liked the theme. They were easy to find.
Well, I am getting ready to crash on the floor. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Steve your dream about a deflating and reflating blimp: you wouldn’t happen to have eaten beans before retiring for the night, would you?
Thank you, Ol'Man Keith--pretty exciting for a Thursday!
Me too.
Steve, just wanted to say that I agreed with your take and appreciate your honest reviews. I agree with your criticism of the theme. Also, I found the fill ugly. The SE corner alone had ASNEAT (an unnecessary partial), TAL, REA, and STS. Can you tolerate one or maybe two of these? Sure. But all four? Yikes. Then, add in ARR, UTA, TOOTOO, GRO...it's way too much.
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