google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, August 4, 2020 Gary Larson

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Aug 4, 2020

Tuesday, August 4, 2020 Gary Larson

Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble.  Notice that each of the theme answers is in the Down position.  The word Double can precede both words of each theme answer to give us a new concept.

3-Down. *   Verify using multiple sources:  CROSS CHECK.  Double Cross. Double check.

7-Down. *   Gadget function typical of most similar gadgets:  STANDARD FEATURE.  Double Standard. Double feature.

21-Down. *   Many a Match.com get-together:  BLIND DATE.  Double Blind. Double date.

23-Down. *   Four-dimensional mathematical system:  SPACE TIME.  Double Space. Double time.

And the Unifier:

30-Down. Blackjack bet ... and a hint to the answers to starred clues: DOUBLE DOWN.

Across:
1. Delicate, like curtain fabric: LACY.


5. "Divine" nickname for singer Bette: MISS M.  I think I still have this Bette Midler (b. Dec. 1, 1945) album somewhere.  A friend gave it to me back in my college days.


10. Muslim prayer leader: IMAM.

14. Farmland measure: ACRE.


15. "Star Wars" droid: ARTOO.  R2-D2 is the short one.


16. Flexible mineral sheet: MICA.  More than you ever wanted to know about Mica.

17. Pairs: DUOs.



18. Rings like church bells: PEALS.

19. Actor Baldwin: ALEC.  Alec Baldwin (b. Apr. 3, 1958) played Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock.


20. UFO crew, it's said: ETs.  I saw the movie ET with my sister the day before she went into the Peace Corps.

21. Cap'n's mate: BOS'N.

22. Measure of a celeb's popularity: Q-SCORE.  The Q Score (Quotient Score) is a measurement of the familiarity and appeal of a celebrity (or brand or company).  The higher the score, the more highly regarded the celeb.

24. Arnaz-Ball studio: DESILU.  Portmanteau of Desi Arnez (Mar. 2, 1917 ~ Dec. 2, 1986) and Lucille Ball (Aug. 6, 1911 ~ Apr. 26, 1989).


26. Bikini specs: D CUPS.  This clue and answer should have appeared in last Wednesday's puzzle.

28. Lit __: CRIT.  Short for Literary Criticism.  Meh!

29. Field of knowledge: AREA.

30. Use a shovel: DIG.

33. "Suzanne" songwriter Leonard: COHEN.  Leonard Norman Cohen (Sept. 21, 1934 ~ Nov. 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist.



35. Vein contents: ORE.

36. New York governor Andrew: CUOMO.  //  And 34-Down. Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan __: OMAR.  And that's enough for the politics.

38. Set right: AMEND.

39. Rx writers: MDs.  Medical Doctors write prescriptions.

40. Chopin composition: ÉTUDE.  Frédéric Chopin (Mar. 1, 1810 ~ Oct. 17, 1849)  had an interesting life.  Back when I was learning piano, I had to play some of his études.



41. Tried to outrun: RACED.

42. Away from the bow: AFT.  Think of a boat or ship.

43. Crockett's "Miami Vice" partner: TUBBS.  I never watched Miami Vice, but I knew of the characters.  The show ran from 1984 to January 1990.  Don Johnson (b. Dec. 15, 1949) portrayed Sonny Crocket and Philip Michael Thomas (b. May 26, 1949) portrayed Rico Tubbs.


44. Noah's project: ARK.


45. Top of the line: A-ONE.

47. "The __ From Ipanema": GIRL.



48. Skylit courts: ATRIA.

49. "My turn": I'M NEXT.

52. Den music system: STEREO.

55. Went like the dickens: TORE.  I initially tried Sped.

57. Narc's org.: DEA.  As in the Drug Enforcement Administration.


58. Difficult: HARD.

59. Everest or Rushmore: MOUNT.  I just read Black Hills, by by Dan Simmons.  It is an interesting novel about a young Sioux warrior who fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn, then later was a worker on the creation of the Presidential faces on Mount Rushmore.

Mask Up, All!

61. Rhine city: BONN.


62. Jason's ship: ARGO.  //  Which crosses with 54-Down. Start of a conclusion: ERGO.  The former is a CSO to our very own Lemonade.

63. View from the moon: EARTH.  The blue marble.


64. Furry Endor creature: EWOK.  Creepy little creatures from the Star Wars films.


65. Othello, for one: MOOR.  Othello is a play by Willie the Shakes.  If you don't know the story, here are the CliffNotes.

66. Sandwiches for dessert: OREOs.  They come in all different flavors.


67. Raggedy dolls: ANNs.  I had a Raggedy Andy when I was a child.



Down:
1. Put on, as cargo: LADED.

2. Less than right, angle-wise: ACUTE.
What A Cute Angle!

4. "Absolutely": YES!

5. Plan, as a route: MAP OUT.

6. Infuriates: IRES.

8. Note after fa: SOL.



9. Muslim temple: MOSQUE.  The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, which was originally build in the 500s CE as an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral; became a mosque in the 1450s; and was converted to a museum in the 1934s, became a mosque again, just a few weeks ago.  I hope it will be open to visitors as it is a beautiful building with truly specular art and mosaics.  I was fortunate to have visited it a few years ago.


10. All-in-one Apples: iMACs.  We have a mini mac that is quite old and now needs an update.


11. Venus de __: MILO.

12. Asian laptop brand: ACER.  I learned of this company from doing the crossword puzzles.

13. Riot squad spray: MACE.  Also a medieval weapon of war.


25. Goddess of peace: IRENE.  Good Night, Irene.



27. Top of a wave: CREST.


31. Website with film info: IMDb.  The Internet Movie Database.


32. "And So It __": Billy Joel: GOES.



33. Siena sweetheart: CARA.  Today's Italian lesson.

35. Yemeni neighbor: OMANI.  Both countries are found on the Saudi peninsula.


37. Reversal: U-TURN.  At least it's not a Uie or Uey.

46. Words from Juliet: O! ROMEO.  More from Willie the Shakes.

47. Saddle bands: GIRTHS.

48. Zeal: ARDOR.

50. Gas from the Greek for "strange": XENON.  Xenon (Xe) is an inert gas with the atomic number of 54.

51. Wartime vehicles: TANKS.

52. Fake: SHAM.  Is a pillow sham a fake pillow?

53. Poi root: TARO.  A crossword staple.

56. Aware of: ON TO.

60. Blade in the water: OAR.
61. Actress Arthur: BEA.  Bea Arthur (née Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 ~ Apr. 25, 2009) was a stage actress before becoming a television star.


Here's the Grid:


The little quiz I added to last week's puzzle was meant to be a joke because Worcestershire Sauce is  a funny word and a bit hard to say.

52 comments:

Anonymous said...

During the pandemic, I've learned how to bake synonym buns. Just like my grammar used to make.

Hungry Mother said...

FIR, no write-overs, but I did consider MOScUE as an answer because I never heard of QSCORE. Keep those Star Wars clues coming.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Hungry Mother, what's a C Score?

Got through this one in record time, without noticing a single asterisk or catching even a hint of the theme. And so it goes... Thanx, Gary and Hahtoolah (Elise is cute, but she's no Astrid.)

BONN: Bonn was the capital of West Germany during the Cold War.

ALEC: Never saw 30 Rock, but I enjoy Alec's recurring political satire on SNL as a certain US president.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you Gary Larson, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Hahtoolah, for a fine review.

Missed your Q.O.D. Hahtoolah.

Puzzle went fine Did not talk long. Worked it after I got up this morning. Tried to sleep longer, but could not. I did yesterday's puzzle, then never logged in. Shame on me.

Theme was easily found. All vertical for a change.

MOSQUE helped me with MISSM.

I also learned ACER from Crosswords. Taiwan, I believe.

XENON came right to me.

Wanted CINCHS before GIRTHS worked better.

Anyhow,have to finish my morning, then off to the Cancer Center for Radiation. This will be #22. After today 8 more to go, plus one more Chemo. Then we will see what is next.

Had a cool night last night. That was nice.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

inanehiker said...

Enjoyed the theme when both parts of the theme entries can be matched with DOUBLE. I'm sure it is DOUBLE the challenge to construct it!

Glad you are down to single digits as far as the radiation treatments go, Abejo!

Thanks Susan - all the musical interludes and humor to start the day!

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Having both parts of the phrase be in the gimmick is so cool!
-Speaking of cool, it is 55F this morning and I’m off to golf in long pants

kazie said...

Surprised that with the mention of EWOKS, nobody has noted that Wilford Brimley just died at age 85. He starred with them in the Ewok Movie many moons ago. They were the cute little inhabitants of Endor, as I remember, and I had taped the movie for my kids, but eventually it was lost to something else that they later taped over it. He was a natural, with no acting training, who also starred in Cocoon, The Natural, The Firm, among others.

kazie said...

I think the real title of that Ewok movie might have been Battle of Endor.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Gary for the puzzle, tho I missed seeing both down words worked with double. Drat! Needed to take a second look.

Bonn was brought back memories...we lived there during interesting times from 88 to 92. Still one of our favorite places to visit and we wish we could go this year.

As a friend of grammar, I especially enjoyed the ending of your puzzle explanation and shared it with my DH (married 54 years now) over our second cups of coffee. A smile to start the day.

Greetings from ATLGranny
(I'm healthy so far, but not quick with new technology challenges.)

Bob Lee said...

Another easy fun one--my only initial change was I had DRS for Rx writers instead of MDS.

And whenever I think of MOORS, it makes me laugh because of the "Bubble Boy" Seinfeld episode where George gets into a huge argument with the kid in the bubble over the Trivial Pursuit answer to "Who invaded Spain in the 8th century?" -- because the answer's typo: "The Moops".

TTP said...


Good Morning. That was a quick and easy puzzle. The theme answers and reveal filled in a lot of the squares. fun. Thanks, Gary.

Spent more time enjoying Hahtoolah's review than on the puzzle itself. She always provides A CUTE angle to some of the clues and answers to keep it light and airy.

I also liked reading the trailer for the grammarians. I can make all of those mistakes without even trying.

Abejo, that's good news.

Kazie, I thought he was a fine actor. I heard on one of the newscast tributes that at one point he was a bodyguard for Howard Hughes.

PK, sorry to hear about your pizza last night. I don't know how you manage without an oven. I will say that we've been very pleased with the Ninja Air Fryer we bought. It actually has taken over some of the oven duties. Frozen tater tots and french fries, various breaded chicken and fish fillets, moz sticks, mushrooms and many other things haven't been cooked in the oven since we got it. Especially when we didn't want to heat up the kitchen. Plus, it's excellent for warming up leftovers, like pizza. It has settings and recipes for roasting and dehydrating and making beef jerky as well, but we haven't done those yet. It's easy to clean. About the only thing I don't like about it is the loud beep sound it makes when you press start and when the cycle ends.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Got it all without error. Somewhat crunchy for a Tues. IMO, butquite doable with ample perp support. Only brief pause was I considered 'layout' before MAP OUT became clear from the PEALS cross.
IMDB - Is one of my favorite (go to) web sites for information. Very well organized.

Thanks Hahtoolah for another fine detailed intro. Learn stuff I never knew.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I’m a big fan of these double word themes, especially when they are as solid and tight as this one is. I had no clue about the theme until the reveal, so that was a nice big surprise. Q Score is new to me and another reminder of my ignorance of pop culture’s language. I liked the Argo/Ergo crossing the iMacs/Acer duo, and the visual of O Romeo crossing Oreos. CSO to Lemony (Argo) and Lucina and Moi (Acer). Three letter words were minimal which is always a plus, in my book.

Thanks, Gary, for a doubly satisfying solve and thanks, Hatoolah, for the terrific summary, links, and visuals. I loved the Noah’s Greatest Ordeal cartoon and enjoyed the many musical snippets, especially the beautiful Chopin Etude. I could have sworn that was played in All That Heaven Allows, but I checked and it wasn’t. Coincidentally, it was shown the other night, but I didn’t rewatch it. (I never knew Chopin died so young.)

Abejo, you’re in the home stretch! Hang in there.

Atl Granny, thanks for sharing. Again, welcome to the Corner.

The skies just opened up with the beginnings of our forecasted deluge, although the heaviest downpour is due later today and tonight. I hope there isn’t any serious flooding and damage in the susceptible areas.

Have a great day.

Tinbeni said...

Hahtoolah: Outstanding write-up & links. Good job !!!

Husker: 55 degrees ... it won't get that low here in Tarpon Springs until Christmas. LOL

Cheers!

Lucina said...

Hola!

Many thanks, Gary Larson! This was fun and refreshing with the theme answers going downward. It was also quick. I finished in a flash.

Yes, thank you, IrishMiss; you have an ACUTE memory; my monitor is an ACER.

Amazingly, not only is there a dearth of abbreviations, but no obscure names and luckily I know CUOMO, MISS M, OMAR, BEA and ALEC. I never saw Miami Vice but TUBBS emerged with perps.

In the movie, the cute EWOKs appear attractive and almost huggable.

Thank you, Susan, for your excellent commentary and unusual graphics, especially of Noah!

TTP:
Thank you for the review of an air fryer. I have been thinking about purchasing one but wasn't sure how much I would use it. Now I know.

Abejo:
My good wishes continue for you.

Have a DOUBLE good day, everyone!

SansBeach said...

Good Morning, All. Been busy with projects around the house so by the time I get to the xword solving for the day, most cornerites are asleep. LOL FIR today with a couple write overs: s to d on 1d, dr to md 39a and sped to tore 55a. Other than that, a fun puzzle, Gary and always enjoy the 'splaining' from Hahtoolah. Thanks. Hope all great day.

TTP: from a couple days ago. The clue "fish used for bait" gave me pause. Chum is used as a fish attractant and can be a "mix" of fish remains or specific types of fish, live or cut up. Primary use is salt water. Chub is a freshwater fish and I must confess to not having a great deal of experience with. We used earthworms when I lived up north.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Enjoyed the puzzle & write-up, thanks, Gary & Hahtoolah!

Did NOT get the DOUBLE DOWN theme. There were two words going down so I thought that was it. Duh!

What is a DOUBLE BLIND? Not familiar at all. Also DNK: QSCORE, LIT CRIT, TUBBS. Never can remember what is IMDb, thanks for that explanation, Susan.

Knew CUOMO, but forgot OMAR (could picture her face).

COHEN took awhile and a "C" perp. Knew Bernstein didn't fit.

Atone before AMEND.

One of my favorite interviews/stories as a newspaper writer was with an engineer in the oil fields of Yemen. He was home in Kansas on furlough from the desert job. When I called to set up an interview, he said "No" then after I showed enthusiasm & asked some questions, he said, "How soon can you get here?" He spent over two hours telling me some hair-raising stories that I didn't dare print at his request because they would traumatize his family. Even 30 years ago there was a lot of violence there. He also told me some other interesting stuff I could print. He was brave to keep going back.

TTP: I don't cook much for me so haven't bothered to fix the oven, but thanks for the info on the air fryer. That might be a good investment for me.

Anon at 5:29: laughed out loud about your "synonym buns like grammar made".

Where Is Owen? We miss you, man!

Agnes, hope you don't need hip-waders to leave your house! Thinking of all you East Coasters & Floridians with the storms.

TTP said...

SansBeach, thank you.


PK, Lucina, FWIW, the Ninja we bought was the 4 quart AF101 model. Not too small and not too big.

I thought I bought it at Walmart, but no. They sell the AF100 for 90. The AF100 doesn't come with the second rack or cookbook. We've only used the second rack a few times, but the cookbook is also a good quick reference guide.

The AF101 is available from Kohl's for 110, from Best Buy for 120, or Target from 140, and I knew I didn't buy it from any of those three.

Turns out I bought it from Amazon. At the time, my purchase price was 100. The current price is 120.

Looks like Kohl's has the best deal on it now, but I didn't search for it at other retailers.

DW made pork chops in it one time, but misread the guide and cooked them at 390 for 25 minutes instead of at 375 for 15 minutes.

We love it !

Yellowrocks said...

Fine puzzle. Great write up, pics and links.
A double-blind study is one in which neither the participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment. This procedure is utilized to prevent bias in research results.
I love my air fryer. That and my toaster oven often replace my oven. You can use either for a frozen pizza. I buy prebreaded coconut shrimp at the Shop Rite fish counter and fry them in the air fryer. Quick and tasty and the air fryer cuts down on fat. TTP, I never let anything cook in the airfryer without checking it part way through. I find that times vary.
Alan fell last night and hit his head. Although it was minor, protocol says the EMTs must be called for head injuries. They were ready to leave when Alan asked to be taken to the ER. The EMTs were duty bound to comply. Alan went with his counselor. Of course, it was totally unnecessary. Alan can not evaluate how serious or temporary his condition is. When I am in charge I have the right to talk him out of it. I believe my biggest relief in having Alan at the residence is not having the burden of dozens of tests,scans, check ups, monthly visits etc. Alan is basically healthy, but this extra care is why he is remains so. Alan likes the home because he has peers and many interactions which he does not have here.

Wilbur Charles said...

I didn't get the reveal. FIR with no issues

WC

mailman1959 said...

Never heard of DOUBLE-BLIND but have heard of BLIND-DOUBLE in bowling.

Shankers said...

Today was just as fast as yesterday. Only unknowns qscore and IMDb were easily perped. Love Billy Joel. DW and I went to Turkey and Greece in the Fall of '10 with a Bible study group and visited Hagia Sophia which was quite spectacular as well as the Blue Mosque a short walk away. I, too, hope it remains open for tourists, but seems unlikely now. Hey, IM, send some of that rain to Scottsdale, please.

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Gary and Hahtoolah.
I FIRed in good time and saw the DOUBLE DOWN theme. Clever. (We had Double Features on Sunday) Possible personal Natick at the cross of TUBBS and IMDB (which I can never remember!), but I wagged the B.

I noted STEREO crossing O ROMEO which crossed OREOS (latter was noted by IM). Neat triple (not DOUBLE!) cross!
More interesting crosses with ARGO & ERGO (also noted by IM), GIRTHS & EARTH.
Hand up for noticing ACER & IMACS. I am typing this on an ACER; can I take a CSO with Lucina & IM (and probably many more of us)?

1D "Put on" was past tense and needed D on the end of LADE.
Lit CRIT was all perps.

Hahtoolah thought 26A clue and answer should have appeared in last Wed's CW. I wondered about associating it with the GIRL from Ipanema?

Leonard COHEN was well known to this Canadian. Many of you would know his Hallelujah also.
Q SCORE was not familiar to me, but I think his would be fairly high (even though he is deceased). Apparently they have a DeadQ for deceased personalities.

This Canadian knew CUOMO in the adjoining state. OMAR took a few perps to confirm.

FLN, WC thanks for thinking of me with "grey"
Curmudgeon - thanks for the Sufferfest link. Gruelling!
AnonT - I don't think I have ever had Canadian bacon on pizza LOL! (Yum for pineapple). Glad that eldest arrived safely.
Welcome ATL Granny.

Hang in there Abejo!
YR, glad that Alan is OK and you are relieved of some of the burden of his care.

Wishing you all a great day.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Nothing IRES me more than ire used as a verb. Wanted to put Irk instead as a "protest" answer but that would have ruined my no-inkover FIR puzzle.

What's that flying over my head? Oh..the puzzle theme!!

Last WAG was TUBBS (never watched the show).

QSCORE (way to use Q without a U)...never heard of it

She isn't a "GIRL from Ipanema" anymore (composed in 1962 so if she was at least 16; figure now mid 70's) likely still beautiful but not a garota.

I too stil have Divine Miss BETTE's album collecting dust somewhere. She was fun in her recent NETFLIX role in "The Politician"

CARA also means expensive as many a sweetheart can be.

Chicken coop colleague _____... COHEN.
IRED Prague citizen______ CROSSCHECK
My bumb knee can be a real _____ ACRE.
Cow _____ ....MOOR
Finished a prayer_____ AMEND
Come over anytime _____ is always open.....ARDOR

TANKS for a fun puzzle

Good luck Abejo

Malodorous Manatee said...

Double D's, again.
I Definitely Detect a pattern.

Lucina said...

I forgot to mention the beautiful MOSQUEs in Istanbul. The Hagia Sofia is one of, if not the biggest and most gorgeous. I''m glad I got to see it. According to some news accounts the unpopular Turkish president, Erdogan, is trying to reach and gain approval from devout Muslims by restricting access to it and limiting it for prayer only. In my experience there, not all Turks are devout as was told to us by our guide. Still, it is an interesting place to visit.

One of my nephews was assigned to the Embassy there for 15 years and loved it. He learned the language and told me he would like to live there the rest of his life. However he is now stateside, married and has a baby girl.

Misty said...

Delightful Tuesday puzzle, Gary--many thanks, and you too, Hahtoolah, for your always great pictures.

I got the whole thing with only one tiny error--Woohoo! And enjoyed lots of neat clues. My favorite, of course, was LIT CRIT, since I'm a retired English professor and that means we're LITerary CRITics. (Susan, Meh? really?). I had a lovely sister IRENE, and we sadly lost her when she was only 31 to lymphoma. But it's sweet to see her name in a puzzle. Nice to see DESILU, well, DESI and LUCY, in the puzzle for two days in a row.

Good luck, Abejo, and have a good day, everyone.

Yuman said...

Last night for a lite dinner we had air fried zucchini, chicken wings and a nice red wine.
I love my combo Insta Pot/Air Fryer, got it from Kohl’s.
We opted out of our evening swim as the water was too hot, and we are getting smoke from the fires in CA.
Puzzle was double fun. Be well, mask up!

AnonymousPVX said...


This Tuesday grid was day appropriate.

No write-overs today.

But a close one....Emend or Amend, cEra or cAra? Remembered that song with “Cara Mia” in it, so that’s what I filled.

Stay Safe, Mask Up, see you tomorrow.

Bill G said...

Hi everybody.

Yesterday there was some discussion about pizza. I used to try to reheat pizza in the microwave but it always came out limp, soggy and unappetizing. Instead, I learned to reheat it in a large skillet, covered, and with medium heat for about five minutes. Much better . It might work well for cooking frozen pizza too. Barbara got some fried zucchini yesterday and it reheated well using the skillet method too.

I remember when I got that Getz/Gilberto album. I played until the grooves wore out. And, years back, Barbara and I took tennis lessons from his son, Nick Getz. He didn't have much to say that was favorable about his father.

I remember "The Moops." Shrinkage too. Elaine: "I don't know how you walk around with those things."

Abejo, continuing good wishes for you.

I was watching reruns of "Endeavor" last night.

~ Mind how you go...

PK said...

CanadianEh!, The only reason I knew Leonard Cohen at all is because his "Hallelujah" sung by K.D. Lang is one of my favorite songs. Both are Canadians, I know. I didn't know he wrote "Suzanne".

CanadianEh! said...

PK- yes KD Lang sang Hallelujah at the Vancouver Olympics opening ceremony 2010. Best rendition of it that I have ever heard!
Hallelujah

Ol' Man Keith said...

Nice pzl. Thanks, Mr. Larson.

Like several others, I found the crossing of ERGO and ARGO to be rather fetching.
Simple pleasures, eh?
~ OMK
___________
DR:
Only one diagonal today, on the B side.
Its anagram refers to a veteran Civil War re-enacter, the guy who tends a cannon in an artillery regiment. He is known as the…
COMPACTER
– or –
in deference to his age or seniority, the…
OLDER RAMMER”!

Lucina said...

I also love "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen and sung by K.D. Lang. Canada has given the world so much talent!

Misty, you have suffered so much loss and yet you have such a cheerful attitude which is admirable. It also takes strength and courage.

SwampCat said...

Crunchy Tuesday for me, but no real problems . Thank you, Gary, for spelling out U TURN instead of those awful abbreviations. I also liked Cap’n and BOS’N.

Susan, I know pillow SHAM is a real name for fancy pillow cases not used for sleeping, but your question leads me to believe the SHAM is because it’s just the empty case, with no pillow. Hehehe...don't blame me. You started it!

Loved Noah’s problem. I always wondered about the odor on the ARK.

It was 104 degrees near me! Not even any rain. Y’all stay dry in the northeast!


NaomiZ said...

Yesterday's puzzle, and today's, were lots of fun and easy to finish -- so much so that I came to the Corner and realized I had filled in various correct answers without noticing them, or their clues, because the perps took care of them. This is the positive reinforcement that keeps us going later in the week!

Mom played folk guitar in the 60's, and often spun Leadbelly on the turntable. I had never seen him perform before Hahtoolah provided the link. Thank you!

Mask up, and keep your distance! NZ

Avg Joe said...

Enjoyed the puzzle and FIR, but didn't really get the gimmick until reading the review. Thanks Gary for a pleasant outing and Susan for the extensive writeup.

Leonard Cohen - We recently watched a docu-drama titled "Marianne and Leonard - Words of Love" (available on NetFlix). It's a 2 hour overview of Leonard's life and rise to stardom. Including his early stage-fright and relationships with both Marianne and Suzanne over time. Both interesting and strange all at once. It goes into detail on matters such as his inability to commit to a relationship as well some pretty serious drug usage during the early years of stardom. I can't say with any certainty that I recommend it, but it's worth thinking about if your a fan...For myself, it might have damaged my view of him. YMMV.

Abejo, continued good thoughts on your treatments and recovery. Hang in there!

LEO III said...

Thanks, Gary and Hahtoolah, for the fine puzzle and expo. No problems today. Took me less than a half hour, but I am old and slow, and it was very early this morning! Couple of write overs (fixed MAPOUT, to get the correct phrase, and ONTO, instead of INTO), and I had to have a few perps, but nothing critical. No, I didn’t get the theme.

I actually still have and occasionally use an old 10-inch, 140 gig ACER. I’ll bet I’ve had it for ten years now. Don’t use it too much. Back in real life (prior to March), I used it once a month to take the minutes at our monthly volunteer meetings. We haven’t had one of those for a while. It would also go on road trips with me, but then sometimes so did my desktop (which is even older), depending where I was going, and how long I was going to be gone, and if I had a place to set it up when I got there. I keep threatening to replace both of them, but they keep begging, “Please! Please! Please!” My son-in-law, who built my desktop for me, refuses to work on it anymore. I’m dumping him! If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I really like IMDb! I especially use it watching the old “Perry Mason” shows, which come on MeTV twice a day here. The site has so much info about the actors and actresses in both the older and newer TV shows and movies.

And a special thanks, Hahtoolah, for the grammar lesson, but where did it go??? It was there early this morning, but I don’t see it now.

Jayce said...

I SPED, er, TORE through this enjoyable puzzle pretty quickly. It was a CINCH, er, GIRTH to solve.

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in BONN.

Bill G, my wife and I have also been enjoying Endeavour.

I liked Wilford Brimley's style of acting.

What grammar trailer?

Good wishes to you all, and stay away from unmasked people.

Hahtoolah said...

Misty: I wasn't slighting your profession. I just wasn't keen on the clue.

Shankers: I, too, visited the Blue Mosque on the same visit as seeing the Hagia Sophia, but that was under a political climate. I hope both will allow visitors, as both are such beautiful buildings with such rich history.

Leo: Here is your grammar lesson:
• An Oxford comma walks into a bar where it spends the evening watching the television getting drunk and smoking cigars.
• A dangling participle walks into a bar. Enjoying a cocktail and chatting with the bartender, the evening passes pleasantly.
• A bar was walked into by the passive voice.
• An oxymoron walked into a bar, and the silence was deafening.
• Two quotation marks walk into a “bar.”
• A malapropism walks into a bar, looking for all intensive purposes like a wolf in cheap clothing, muttering epitaphs and casting dispersions on his magnificent other, who takes him for granite.
• Hyperbole totally rips into this insane bar and absolutely destroys everything.
• A question mark walks into a bar?
• A non sequitur walks into a bar. In a strong wind, even turkeys can fly.
• Papyrus and Comic Sans walk into a bar. The bartender says, “Get out ~ we don’t serve your type.
• A mixed metaphor walks into a bar, seeing the handwriting on the wall but hoping to nip it in the bud.
• A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink and then leaves.
• Three intransitive verbs walk into a bar. They sit. They converse. They depart.
• A synonym strolls into a tavern.
• At the end of the day, a cliché walks into a bar -- fresh as a daisy, cute as a button, and sharp as a tack.
• A run-on sentence walks into a bar it starts flirting. With a cute little sentence fragment.
• Falling slowly, softly falling, the chiasmus collapses to the bar floor.
• A figure of speech literally walks into a bar and ends up getting figuratively hammered.
• An allusion walks into a bar, despite the fact that alcohol is its Achilles heel.
• The subjunctive would have walked into a bar, had it only known.
• A misplaced modifier walks into a bar owned by a man with a glass eye named Ralph.
• The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.
• A dyslexic walks into a bra.
• A verb walks into a bar, sees a beautiful noun, and suggests they conjugate. The noun declines.
• A simile walks into a bar, as parched as a desert.
• A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to forget.
• A hyphenated word and a non-hyphenated word walk into a bar and the bartender nearly chokes on the irony.

Shankers said...

Hahtoolah, those were sooo funny. It helped a lot after coming home from a lousy day at bridge.

Lucina said...

Hahtoolah:
Those are really funny!

SwampCat said...

Hahtoolah , thanks for the lesson!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Like Spitz & Swamp, I too found this rather crunchy for a Tuesday - that West Coast was a WAG-fest. Thanks Gary for the fun puzzle; though I missed the DOUBLE bit of the theme.

Excellent review Hahtoolah. Yes, SHAMs are a SHAM. It's not a pillow if you're not allowed to put your head on it (DW's rules).
//Every night, throw 'em on the floor, every morning, put them back on the bed. Makes no sense.

WO: DRs->MDS
ESPs: CARA, OMAR, IRENE xing COHEN were perps & wags. QSCORE
Fav: I'll go w/ XENON. Played it once in Scrabble over triple-word-score and won the subsequent "that's not a word!" challenge. Booyah!

Liked OLDER RAMMER, OMK.

Keep on keepin' on Abejo!

Since 1/2 of Eldest's classes are going to start online this year, I got her a secondary monitor to plug into her laptop. Wished I'd have unboxed it when she was still here - after 5 texts back and forth we figured out that the monitor only supports VGA or DisplayPort and the laptop only has HDMI. She'll have an adapter in a day or so.

Cheers, -T

Jayce said...

Hahtoolah, thank you.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Hahtoolah, the last time I had that much fun was when I read Eats Shoots And Leaves. I'd underline the title but it's too much trouble to do so.

Bill G said...

Echoing Jayce, i really enjoyed those. Thanks.

Guy to a girl in a bar: "Outside?... Under?... To?... Around?... Over?..."
Girl: "Say, are you trying to preposition me?"

CanadianEh! said...

LOL, thanks for the fun, Hahtoolah.

AnonT- my DH has the same complaint about SHAMs, as he throws them on the floor . . . plus the decorative cushion and bolster . . . 😀
And yes, the same rules apply re no heads on Shams!

Misty said...

Thanks for the kind comment, Hahtoolah. And I loved your grammar lesson.

PK said...

I never liked SHAMS either and I'm a woman. I didn't want them thrown on the floor to get dirty with no place else to put them. I only tolerate throw pillows on the couch because sometimes you can use them for comfort. Otherwise they are in the way if there are several people then they end up on the floor. I like frills only if they are also practical.

Lucina said...

I don't have shams but I do have three mini decorative pillows, two round and one heart shaped. What can I say? I love frills.

I, too, am enjoying "Endeavor" on PBS even if I've seen them several times. August 9th is scheduled to be a new one.

Bill G:
I liked your prepostioning, too!

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

Way too late to the party; but if anyone sees this, hope you’ll enjoy the haiku!

WEES, I breezed through this with just a couple of hiccups: I automatically put a “U” next to the “Q” in QSCORE. It took perps to correct it. My other write-over was CRIT ... I didn’t see MAP OUT right away, and assumed the ending would be “UP”. Anywho, those were my only glitches.

I agree with you, Hahtoolah, that the LIT CRIT was a stretch; but Gary allowed us to figure it out with the other perps. Great theme, Gary; enjoyed the puzzle and was surprised at the reveal. Well done!

Isn’t there a poker term called DOUBLE BLIND(S)?

Moe-ku:

New “My Pillow” ad
Promised free pillow cases.
I hear it’s a SHAM ...