Good morning, once again, cruciverbalists. Apparently, this mephitic marine mammal did not stink things up too badly on the first go around. As a result, he has been invited back. As it is physically impossible for a Manatee to "phone it in" and as the Little Ben clock says a quarter to eight, he had best go now and take his shift at the mine. A little background music, please, Jerry.
First, synonyms for FAST (as in swift) are split apart by the
constructor. Then, the two sequential answers on the same row are
smashed into each other by the solvers. Where they fuse can be found
the reconstituted synonym for FAST that was "BREAK-ed" before being put
together.
17 Across Ado: KERFUFFLE and 19 Across: Hunt in "Mission: Impossible" films: ETHAN form FLEET.
KERFUFFLEETHAN
25 Across Unit in an improvisational parlor
game: MAD LIB and 27 Across: Word in a con man's pitch: RISK FREE form BRISK.
MADLIBRISKFREE
37 Across: Former Postal Service mascot: MR ZIP and 38 Across: Ones drawn to flames, briefly: PYROS form ZIPPY.
MRZIPPYROS
Zippy is the snide nickname that Conchata Ferrell's character uses for Jon
Cryer's character in Two and a Half Men. See also Zippy the
Pinhead.
48. Across Dryer component: LINT TRAP and 50 Across: Brainstorm: IDEATE form RAPID.
LINTTRAPIDEATE
58 Across. The Reveal. Basketball tactic ... and a hint to
four puzzle rows: FAST BREAK. In a FAST BREAK a team attempts to quickly move the ball up the
court before the defensive team has a chance to get into position. In this
puzzle, I did not figure out the theme prior to the reveal. Even
after that, I had to first hunt for the proper rows and then spend some
time looking for what it was that I was supposed to be seeing. For
this solver, it was something of a slow process.
And now, it's either time for BREAKFAST or it's time to take a look at
the rest of the puzzle.
Across:
1. Espionage name: MATA. MATA Hari was the stage name of Margaretha MacLeod. She
was a Dutch-born exotic dancer and, some would say, courtesan who was
convicted of spying for the Germans during World War One. On
October 15, 1917 she was executed by a French Army firing squad.
The 1931 movie, Mata Hari starring Greta Garbo, made
her even more (in)famous.
5. Not at all rainy: ARID. Sometimes the answer to clues similar to this one is SERE.
9. Old Faithful output: STEAM. Words would be superfluous.
5. Not at all rainy: ARID. Sometimes the answer to clues similar to this one is SERE.
9. Old Faithful output: STEAM. Words would be superfluous.
14. Got down: ALIT.
15. Virologist Yvonne who worked with Epstein: BARR. The eponymic Epstein BARR virus causes mononucleosis.
16. Serving tool: LADLE. Does it end in E L or L E? I forget.
20. H, to Hercules: ETA. In the Greek alphabet the letter ETA is drawn in the same manner as we would write our letter H.
21. NE player, to fans: PAT The New England
Patriots. From 1959 through 1970 the team was known as the Boston Patriots.
22. Very start?: VEE. There must be a name for this type of extremely literal clue. If there is, I am unaware of it. Often, a "gotcha" moment after wasting time on what should have been a quick response.
24. Trial fig.: ATT. Oh, an attorney. Not the phone company.
29. Foil alternative: EPEE. In this instance FOIL refers to a fencing weapon and fencing refers to the dueling sport and not to what you might install on your property line. Besides, Waxed Paper would not fit. EPEE is definitely in the Crosswordese dictionary.
30. Goofy images?: CELS. In the days before CGI, animation had to be hand drawn a single frame at a time. The drawings were done on transparent celluloid and came to be referred to as CELS. Each cel would show a slight bit of movement and it took roughly 500 cels for each minute of animation. This topic leads us to the deep philosophical inquiry: If Pluto is a dog then what is Goofy?
31. Fig or olive: TREE. Fortunately, FRUIT has five letters so no time was lost heading down that particular dead end.
32. Subtle vibes: AURAS. Sometimes the plural turns out to be AURAS and sometimes it's AURAE. I prefer the original Latin as in alga and algae.
35. Cookbook instruction: ADDIN. ADD IN As opposed, I suppose, to STIR IN, MIX IN, FOLD IN, CUT IN, etc.
39. Indira's son: RAJIV. RAJIV Gandhi took over the office of Prime Minister of India after the assassination of his mother Indira.
40. Thought about it: MUSED. In this case, the clue is the definition.
41. British general at the Battle of Bunker Hill: GAGE. General Gage, along with General Meade, General Omar Bradley and Field Marshall Ney make frequent visits to our puzzles.
42. Obi-Wan portrayer: EWAN. EWAN McGregor. A Stars Wars reference.
44. "Get a __!": GRIP. "Get a GRIP" is most often used idiomatically (as in "Get a grip on yourself") rather than literally (as in "hold on to this"). Alternatively, you could actually get a (new) grip.
52. "Double Fantasy" artist: ONO. Another frequent visitor to crossword puzzles, Yoko ONO's controversial relationship with John Lenon, and with The Beatles, has been well chronicled.
53. Klutz: OAF.
54. California's Santa __ River: ANA. Humans have lived along the Santa ANA River for at least 9,000 years. ANA is more often clued in reference to the Santa Ana winds.
55. PreCheck org.: TSA. Transportation Security Administration
Why was the vulture stopped by TSA?
Because carrion wasn't allowed on the
plane.
56. More adept: ABLER.
61. Works hard: TOILS.
56. More adept: ABLER.
61. Works hard: TOILS.
62. Dieter's buzzword: LITE. What started out as a marketing gimmick has, apparently,
(d)evolved into being the modern, phonetic way to spell LIGHT when
referring to foods that are low in fat and/or sugar and/or
alcohol.
63. Beat by a nose: EDGE.
63. Beat by a nose: EDGE.
64. Hindu sage: SWAMI. A male Hindu religious teacher. If Wikipedia is correct, a woman would be called a Swamini.
65. First Best Actor Jannings: EMIL In 1929, Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz, stage name EMIL Jannings, was awarded the very first Best Actor Oscar. I know of EMIL only from solving crossword puzzles.
66. More than coax: PROD.
Down:
1. "You and what army?!": MAKEME. "MAKE ME" is, apparently, also the title of a Britney Spears song. I would not recognize it. Or her.
2. Bartender's device: ALETAP. I have never heard the words ALE TAP employed as used here. Perhaps I need to drink more.
3. Rant: TIRADE.
5. BBC sitcom: ABFAB. Short for Absolutely Fabulous, ABFAB was a British sitcom that also aired on American television. It was very popular.
7. Offline, briefly: IRL. In Real Life. It is a shorthand term used when people want to distinguish reality from something that happens, for example, on TV, online in social media, or in games. I do realize that the lines of demarcation are blurring but having to point out this distinction seems a bit odd to me. Or, maybe not.
10. Skin pic: TAT. TAT, short for tattoo, is a staple not only of Crosswordese but IRL as well.
11. "Pollock" star: EDHARRIS. ED HARRIS Although I do know who Jackson Pollock was, I was barely aware of, and never saw, the movie. I would not recognize Mr. Harris if I bumped into him on the street. Perps to the rescue.
12. Adolescent support group: ALATEEN. A sub group within the Al-Anon (Alcoholics Anonymous) family that focuses on teenagers.
13. Protégé: MENTEE. A MENTEE is a person who is advised, not by a Manatee but, rather, by a Mentor.
18. News initials: UPI. United Press International is an international news agency formed in 1907 by combining three other then-existing news agencies.
23. Bacon products: ESSAYS. This bit of cluing was similar to last Thursday's "More Work" clue. This time the misdirection is designed to lead us away from Francis Bacon (credited with popularizing the scientific method) who is the actual gist of the clue. Once again, I was briefly fooled and at first thought about something cured, smoked and pan fried.
26. VIP travel option: LEARJET. LEAR JET
27. Legal thing: RES. In law, RES is a thing, as opposed to a person, that is the object of rights.
27. Legal thing: RES. In law, RES is a thing, as opposed to a person, that is the object of rights.
28. IA city on U.S. 20: FTDODGE. FORT DODGE, Iowa. Situated on the Des Moines River, Fort Dodge is the county seat of Webster County.
30. Limit: CAP.
33. Action film weapon: UZI. The first UZI was designed by Uziel Gal in the late 1940s. He gave the production rights to the Israli Ministry of Defense. It is now manufactured by IWI (Israeli Weapons Industries). In another context, UZI can mean Upheaval-Zombie Infestation. Quick, grab the Uzi!
34. Only unanimous Baseball Hall of Fame electee: RIVERA. George Will, the political pundit and student of baseball, was once asked what his reaction would be if, during an extra-inning Allstar Game where all other available pitchers had already been used, Mariano RIVERA of the New York Yankees were to be injured due to his having to pitch four or five innings. Without missing a beat, Will replied, "I would say, Go O's !"
36. Dr. of rap: DRE.
37. Official flower of two Southern states: MAGNOLIA.
38. "Cherry Garcia" is one: PUN. The PUN, here, is on Jerry Garcia the lead guitarist for The Grateful Dead. Oddly, I had put the "Cumberland Blues" music link, above, in the initial draft of this post before I'd even had a look at the puzzle. Serendipity.
39. Path to the gold, so they say: RAINBOW. An old saying has it that there is a pot of gold at the end of the RAINBOW.
40. Waze feature: MAP. After years of using GPS devices made by Garmin and TomTom it took a while to get used to WAZE. WAZE turns out to be very good for navigating within cities. . . . if you do not mind occasionally being directed to cross eight lanes of rush hour traffic at an uncontrolled intersection.
41. Wins in an ugly way?: GLOATS.
43. Equivocate: WAFFLE. Vacillate.
46. "Let's do this": ITSAGO. IT'S A GO When a constructor uses quotation marks in the clue, to indicate that the answer is something that someone might say, then the answer can be almost anything.
47. Reached a max: PEAKED.
49. Upper bodies: TORSI. A correct plural of TORSO. Has anyone actually used the word?
50. Recon mission goal: INTEL. Short for INTELligence. Also, the name of a major producer of computer chips. Is there anyone who has not seen their logo?
51. Put gently (on): DAB.
54. Vino venue: ASTI. Ah, another wine-related clue and answer. ASTI is a commune (township) in the Piedmont region of Italy. Most Americans know the name from Asti-Spumante which is a sparkling white wine.
57. Street in a horror series: ELM. There have been several Nightmare on Elm Street movies. They have, so far, grossed over $750 million.
59. Archer's skill: AIM. AIM was also an answer in my last (first) write-up so I had to find a different graphic.
60. Gym unit: REP. REP is short for repetition. Your trainer might tell you to
do three sets of ten REPs each of a given exercise.
___________________________________
_________________________________
In parting today, a story:
A team of archaeologists were working in Jerusalem a few years ago when
they unearthed a slab of rock into which five images had been
carved.
It was taken back to the university where a team of archaeologists
intensely studied the petroglyph and interpreted it.
Eventually, the leader of the team took the stone and went on a lecture
tour. In his lecture, the archaeologist explained that the
carvings were several thousands of years old and that they revealed a
lot about the people of that time. The woman, having been placed first in the line of figures, he said,
indicated that women were held in very high esteem. The society that
produced the petroglyph was most likely a matriarchy. The
donkey, he further explained, indicated they used domesticated
animals. The shovel revealed that they were highly intelligent and
knew how to make tools. The fish indicated that they knew
enough to augment the crops they raised by also reaping sustenance from
the sea. The Star of David, of course, showed they were a very
religious group of people.
After trying to interrupt the presentation for quite a few minutes, a little old Jewish man in the front row finally got the attention of the speaker. When acknowledged, he rose and said "Idiot. You were reading it left to right. In Hebrew we read from right to left. That way, it reads 'Holy Mackerel Dig The Ass On That Chick!' "
I promise to atone for that one in just a few days. For now, a belated Happy New Year One and All ! That's a wrap for today. Thank you all for your kind comments after the maiden voyage.
MM OUT
46 comments:
There we go. A puzzle without circles that makes you hunt for the theme answers. Welcome to oc4beach's daily solving experience at the Mensa website.
(I switched to the WaPo site when Mensa started having problems and couldn't figure it out.) :>)
Very nice puzzle, Debbie. Thank you. I think it almost took me longer to find FLEET, BRISK, ZIPPY and RAPID than it did to solve the crossword.
Last letter was the R in IRL. I only saw "Offline" on the first pass. Was trying to work out the name, and thought about each vowel first. Finally looked at 7D again and realized it was an abbreviation.
Mr. ZIP was highly promoted back in the day to get people to use the zip codes. Constructor Evan Kalish takes photographs of Post Offices across the country. The Zip Code is prominently displayed on most, which must have been a requirement when they were trying to get older people to use zip codes.
Great review, Malodorous Manatee. Loved the TSA joke. Epstein BARR now rings a bell. Never had Mono, but one sister got it a few times.
DNK RAJIV, but nailed GAGE on the first pass w/o perp help. Did need help for EWAN.
For a period of time at work, mentorship became a dogma, and an assessment point during annual performance reviews. I was both a mentor and a mentee, as were pretty much everyone else except new hires. Paid very close attention to the methods of my mentor, and took care to not teach most of those things with my mentees. So glad when they got rid of that forced program that was so poorly implemented.
Anyway See all y'all later n'at !
Good Morning:
This was my kind of puzzle: being clueless of the theme until the reveal and then searching out the themers. Although I finished in average solve time, perps were needed for Ethan, Mad lib, Dr. Evil, Ft. Dodge, and Rajiv. I never heard of Mad lib-is it part of Charades? I remembered Ab Fab from previous puzzles, even though I never saw it or heard of it until its appearance in a cw. My only w/o was Arp/Ono. Ale tap was a noise wrinkler, but was offset by the melodious Kerfluffle. (Why is it underlined in red? It’s a legitimate word, yes?) The Daily Duos were Cap/Map, Ono/Ana, Pat/Dab, and TSA/ATF. We also were treated to several EEsomes: Epee, Tree, Free, Vee, and Mentee!
Thanks, Debbie, for a very enjoyable solve and clever theme and thanks, MalMan, for your successful second time at bat. You hit this one out of the park, Mario Rivera notwithstanding. Your closing joke was very funny, as are most of your puns and witticisms. Keep up the good work!
FLN
HG, fingers crossed for a positive outcome for your granddaughter’s special day.
Have a great day, all.
Noises can’t wrinkle but Noses can.
Had IeL crossing BAeR for no reason other than no clue. Failed both the LAT and NYT today. Not a great start.
Good morning!
I hate it when I start out wrong at 1a. Hari/MATA/Wite-Out. Never watched an Austin Powers movie, but seemed to recall there was a character named MINI ME. Bzzzzzt. Wite-Out. Was pretty sure Obi-Wan was played by ALEC Guinness. Bzzzzzt. Wite-Out. In the end, it was still a DNF. Was looking at ABFA_/MADLI_, and WAGged an M. Double-Bzzzzzt. D-o is headed back to the abasement. Thanx, Debbie and MalMan (Loved the rebus story.)
STEAM: Got to see Old Faithful at age 11 -- Yellowstone was my first national park. It was many years before I made it to the Grand Canyon, my second park.
EMIL: Jannings was returning to Switzerland and would miss the awards ceremony, so it was presented to him 30 days early, making him the first actor to ever receive an Academy Award. It's also been written that he was the second choice for Best Actor, but the Academy was afraid of criticism if they awarded the prize to Rin Tin Tin.
Almost time for that morning "march" through the 'hood...
Today's puzzle toook 7:41. I didn't see the theme until I came here, not that I looked for it.
Indira's son seems awfully obscure. Not a fan of the two sets of four three-letter answers (eta pat vee att) and (ono oaf ana tsa). Three-letter answers are one thing, but answers such as "vee," "att," etc. are another. Kerfuffle was a nice choice, and the bottom-left seemed fresh.
Pretty fast solve for a Thursday - without circles I didn't get the theme until the reveal clue. Good timing with the NBA in their tournament right now.
I was held up when I had RIPKEN before RIVERA - I do remember last year when it was a minor KERFUFFLE when Derek Jeter was one vote shy of a unanimous vote into the HOF. There's always that one person who doesn't want someone to get too full of themselves - makes me wonder how it happened with RIVERA!
Thanks MalMan and Debbie!
Musings
-I love the literal “out of the box” puzzle gimmicks
-If you are making a reasonable request of a student and he replies, “MAKE ME”, it’s time for one of you to leave the room
-Thanks, Irish, Granddaughter’s wedding has been hit by COVID concerns but so far, IT’S A GO
-Fun review, MM, even though I had to read your FISSION/FUSION paragraph a couple of times. :-)
Good morning everyone.
Fine intro, MM. Much appreciated.
Lurched across the finish line with a FIR. Lucky guesses with MADLIB and ALATEEN; but perps were indicative. Didn't feel like playing 'Treasure Hunt' so I ignored the theme after getting the reveal. Got BARR from the syndrome, and knew enough Iowa geography to get FT DODGE. Knew RAJIV. He was assassinated, too, as was his mother.
Had 'moths' before PYROS.
I like ED HARRIS as an actor. Has a substantial filmography. Played john Glenn in 'The Right Stuff', and was in "Apollo 13", too.
Have a great day, everyone.
False starts made it crunchy for myself: Bond crossing DEA for MATA/ATF;with the T tried OTtumwa for FTDODGE;Howe for GAGE (Gage was C-in-C but Howe was the operational commander at Bunker Hill)
I had I-L but forgotten the acronym IRL. Likewise its cross BaRr and cross aBfab. Otherwise got everything.
Top left was last as had BOND at first instead of MATA.
Never got the theme, esp. after getting KERFUFFLE. All the other long answers were 2 words so kept trying to see what FastBreak had to do with them. Oh well. On to Friday.
Well, it was bound to happen: FIW! Two squares defeated me. Naticks were BA_R & I_L plus proper names RI_ERA and RAJI_. In both cases my WAG let me down. But I did see the fast breakup after the reveal and enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks, Debbie and MalMan. (I'm especially enjoying your write ups and wit. Nothing "Mal" about you in the Spanish sense!)
Hope everyone is doing well today. Our rain has just arrived, but we need it so OK.
I am in agreement with all. I am used to ambiguous clues with the aha solve. This puzzle seemed to deliberately deceive with common answers that fit the numbers. I had bond-MATA - water-STEAM - opener-ALETAP - rte-MAP - pat-DAB and alec-EWAN, which is doubly tricky because they both played the same character at different ages.
Thank you Debbie for this deliberate twist - I am not going to touch the theme. I did not see it until I read the Mal blog. Speaking of Malodorous Manatee - good job again. If Robin had written the hieroglyph it would have been "Holy Cats that is a Fine Feline"
Loved the joke!
One nit to pick - since Hercules is the Roman name for the demigod, H in Latin is H. The clue should have used Heracles, the Greek name, to produce the answer of eta.
OKAY, this week has been a total bear. I think there have been "never heard of" names each day. I knowI'm not the brightest puzzle person on the blog b ut last couple days.....good grief. I doubt if I will give either tomorrow or Saturday a try, it will be a waste of time and I am pretty busy lately. A very minor success.......I entered MATA instead of HARI whoopee do!
Hopefully next week will be a little more considerate for this dumb ass.
Everyone stay safe. So far we are OK and still married. It has been a dicey 6 months at times.
If I ever figure out how to post a photo with my comments, I'll put up a painting Lucy recently finished of Casey and I sitting on the front porch.
Malodorous Manatee thank you for your heroic review. Loved the Holy Mackerel joke!
What made you insert the JERRY GARCIA piece before you had looked at the puzzle?
Here was JERRY GARCIA and his band performing Sugar MAGNOLIA
That was what I thought of when I solved the puzzle when I saw both of those! Also enjoyed the FAST BREAK theme, though I did not find the FAST BREAKs until I was finished.
From recent days:
AnonT thank you for the kind words about expecting me to have NOAM CHOMSKY photos. Way cool that you and your wife both had reasons to be reading of his work. As a student I loved the computer science connection to "generative grammar". They should teach that in English class to inspire more of us nerds.
As for my earlier photos, I wonder if anyone else looked at my XENON photos. I am in awe of how I did all that as a teen with almost no money. The hardest part was triggering the flash at the correct time. I used a discarded vacuum tube record player to salvage the amplifier to do the triggering. More to that story.
Ok puzzle imo. Didn't spend/waste time looking for the theme entries. But all made better by another wonderful MM write up. Loved the humor!
Stay safe and well everyone.
JB2
Great job both Debbie and MalMan. I loved the clue Bacon products for essays. Had spray before steam, moths before pyros, life before grip, and had to suss Rajiv and Barr. Otherwise, a very satisfying challenge worthy of a Thursday slot. Judge Judy's favorite word is kerfuffle. Of course, her favorite phrase is, "You're an idiot!" So sad to learn of the passing of the Kansas Comet, Gayle Sayers. What a remarkable talent. I remember him scoring six touchdown in the rain and mud in a 1965 game. No one could lay a hand on him. An abbreviated career due to injuries, but treasured memories of a wonderful role model on and off the field. R.I.P.
South of the equator was easy.
KURFUFFLE unlocked a fast run from NW to NE
TTP, actually it's the Merriam-Webster site that I use after the Mensa site dropped the LA Times puzzle. Of course the puzzle could have had circles because I didn't get the theme anyhow. Today was an official DNF because I had to turn on Red Letters to get through the puzzle.
MalMan did a great job on his second trip leading us through the grid.
I had a number of digital erasures today. BOND (like in James Bond) before MATA, EST (estimate) before ATT, HOWE before GAGE, ALEC (Guiness) before EWAN, MOTHS before PYROS and LIFE before GRIP. I didn't know the following at all: ABFAB, BARR, MR ZIP (even though it was very obvious), RAJIV and EMIL. Perps to the rescue again along with the Red Letters.
I got LEAR JET with no problem, but the GULFSTREAM G700 is the ultimate way to go. IMO.
Have a great day everyone. Please be safe and wear your masks.
oc4beach, yes to Merriam-Webster rather than Mensa.
Merriam-Webster is where I do the daily Universal crossword.
Thanks for the link on the Gulfstream. I'll think about getting on the waiting list while I'm mowing my lawn :>)
Perhaps a foolish question, but how is cherry garcia a pun? Great write up and bonus joke too!
DNF for one empty square that I should have known. See cases of EB virus often enough. BARR...The first R escape me even doing an alphabet run twice. (*** almost throws out back trying to kick himself ****). (Why did the female virologist get second billing?). Did not know IRL. I tapped many a beer keg in kollidge, ALETAP?? ....ONO!! again!! she musta snuck in the CW back door. MADLIB?
Being a little slow on the uptake I dinna get the FAST theme
When my Dad was working for the USPS his carrier uniform bore a PONY EXPRESS patch then changed to an EAGLE.
Had a cerebral kurfuffle when I realized it was spelled KERFUFFLE.. set to easier to spell...Canada Eh, Moira Rose(Catherine O'hara) used to come up with the most obscure terms during her "Schitt's Creek" comments... always worried a CW constructionist might be listening. I see one of my favorite stateside series "Prodigal Son" is a Canadian number one series.
PYRO vrs arson. LIU. PYROmania is a mental disorder. Arson is comitted with criminal intent.
Inkovers: heat/LINTTRAP, cell/CELS (really dumb), cheats/GLOATS, mulled/MUSED
So MENTEE rears its ugly head again. What's next? "doctee" (patient). "actee" (audience), authee (reader), professee (student)...manatee (oops..already have one of those)
Slow and steady wins the ______ ....RES
Cream filling tends to be.....UZI
Stealing cravats....TIRADE
"Jerry", Cherry Garcia...anon
Warming up here. Native American Summer
I'm surprised that no one has called me out for misspelling Gale Sayers name. I had a brain freeze and spelled it Gayle which happens to be my SIL's mother's name. Actually, I shouldn't be surprised considering that the majority of bloggers here could care less about sports. No offense intended.
Mal-Man - thanks for all the visuals! I love how KERFUFFLE sounds. Filled pretty quickly except for BARR (then I remembered the hyphenated syndrome), and RAJIV (never heard of him), and did an alphabet run - duh - RiVera!
FLN, rain came in bands luckily for a total of 8 1/2" those two days, so unlike Imelda which was worse for me than Harvey, and no street flooding. Can't wait for fall to get here.
The north central did me in, with too many naticks. ABFAB, IRL, BARR, MADLIB all unknown, and perps and Wags didn’t help, so FIW.
I knew RAJIV, and EDHARRIS is one of my favorite actors, so with knowns and perps, the rest of the puzzle filled in nicely.
Shankers, we are big sports fans and participants in this family. Gale Sayers signed two footballs for Jack (obviously a Bears fan) several years ago. Two of our children treasure them.
MM, your commentary is A+. I laughed at your joke.
Debbie, thanks for the challenge.
Any updates on Abejo?
I think MM's archeologists' pix are in error. Shouldn't the "chick" be literally a baby chicken?
Skipping directly to the female tush obviates the need for the donkey. And makes it crasser, no?
Anyway, this was an enjoyable pzl from Ms. Ellerin. Tough but doable. I would have fared better if my hand hadn't scribbled ABFAM instead of ABFAB. I kept wondering what was meant by MADLIM. w/o spotting my obvious error.
Sadly, no diagonals to work with...
~ OMK
Good points, OMK. I will see if I can track down the joke's originators online and see if they are amenable to making the revisions.
Hi All!
FIW @PYeRS. Otherwise the play was fine Mrs Lincoln.
Thanks Debbie for the puzzle. Didn't see the FAST synonyms BREAK until MManatee called it out.
MalMan - I'll type you the same thing I said to C. Moe -- You're going to burn yourself out at this pace. Only Hahtoolah can stay sane doing such explicit expos. Good expo!
//almost heard Mel Brooks speaking during the glyph joke.
WOs: LEeR JET & RIViRA
ESPs: Did someone mention names? :-)
Fav: MAD LIB. My buddy and I wrote a MadLib program for the Apple ][e and sent a proposal to Price Stern Sloan (the publisher, IIRC). We received a cease & desist. Can you imagine sending two 8th graders a legal full-stop?
DW & I watched most every episode of AbFab [7m of the worst]
Picard - I saw the XENON pix. Understand, no one can comment on everyone w/o the blog becoming a slog for the readers.
I went to an optometrist today. She's the same that helped Eldest with dyslexia / eye-tracking 15+ years ago. She dilated my eyes and I threw up (I'm still really dizzy)
Anyway, it's funny 'cuz I could Bugs Bunny the s*** out of that chart at a distance. However, I can't read anything (without specs) 2 feet in front of me. She says I need stronger cheaters but w/ blue blockers(?).
Oh, and it was her last day on the job; sold her practice and they're pushing her out.
Double-weird.
Anyone see Tropic Thunder? There's a clip re: a G5 LEAR JET (and lots of money). I'd link but it's >RATED-R
Cheers, -T
Once again I didn't like this puzzle as much as I usually do. It's not because I didn't understand the theme, even after MM's explanation. It's because of multiple near-naticks, over-usage of proper names, Green Paint entrees like ALE TAP and ADD IN, and factually incorrect clues such as ETA being the first letter of Hercules (as pointed out by Unknown @ 10:07 AM). Oh, and employing near-non-words such as MENTEE.
// Begin rant
I may have complained about this before and I apologize if I did. But, dag-nabbit, IRL does not mean off line! Case in point: in real life (IRL) my name is John but my name here is Jayce. That is true whether or not I am on line or even have my computer turned on. I do NOT have to go off line to be John. Furthermore, one can be, and usually is, ON line when they might post something like, "In real life I'm a grocer."
Actually, when someone who is doing something on line goes off line for a while, or at least goes away for a while, they usually say AFK (Away From Keyboard), not IRL.
It's related to incorrectly calling DSL an ISP, which, thankfully, I have not seen occur recently.
// End rant
MalMan, I love love loved your joke about Holy Mackerel. Very serendipitous that LW and I just watched a show on PBS's "Nova" last night about how alphabet writing systems developed from ancient "rebus" writing systems such as ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
Good wishes to you all.
I was all over the place before the puzzle fell into place. Never noticed the theme words. Finished the south before working back up to the top. Never heard of MAD LIB, MR ZIP, or the terms IRL or LINT "TRAP", only lint FILTER. DR EVIL & BARR were unknowns who I got lucky filling. MANATEE- yes but MENTEE is another new one.
I love your joke.
FLN-as per VENMO there's an article in today's WSJ about all the people who were scammed using it.
Thursday trial. Thanks for the fun, Debbie & MalMan.
Officially a DNF for me today. I spent way too long , took a couple of Google cheats, and still couldn’t get out of the mess I had made in the NW. And the theme - I was looking for the word FAST broken up in 4 rows (which 4- the longer ones, the ones with 3 breaks? Anyway, you see my problem.
I clung to BOND from the start. WEES about other problem areas. Not my day.
I am just finishing Alex Trebek’s new book, The Answer is . . . . (a good pleasant read).
Trebek tries to solve the L.A. Times CW every morning if he has time. (He didn’t say whether he visits this blog . . . I could use some fellow-Canadian support here!). He did comment about end of week difficulty.
“ i want to prove to myself that I can do it. It’s like the crossword puzzles that I keep working on. When I started doing crossword puzzles, I couldn’t do them for diddly. And now I’m ticked if I don’t finish them all, even the tough ones later in the week. It’s a source of pride.“. Yup😊
Wishing you all a good day.
Ray’o @12:33- yes Moira Rose has some great expressions! CW fodder LOL!
I have not watched Prodigal Son and can’t comment on its popularity this side of the border.
Well, it took me a LONG time to do this one, but I DID get ‘er done! Started it mid-morning and got frustrated and put it away for awhile. Couple of hours ago, most of the grid was still WHITE, with very few fills. I finally cracked the nut open in the mid-east (wish I could remember where), and I was able to work my way clockwise around the grid from there. Never did get BARR/ABFAB, but that’s OK. I was sure I was going to have to come here and fess up to a complete bust, so since it wasn't that, I’m proud of myself!
Thanks for the neat puzzle, Debbie! Thanks for the wonderful write up, MM. Learned a new word (mephitic) before we even got started!
Lots of other unknown names were solved with perps.
KERFUFFLE is a GREAT word!!!
Cannot believe RIVERA is the only unanimous HOF inductee. I’ll leave it at that. (My catch phrase whenever I feel a rant coming on is, “Don’t get me started!” The peeps at work often say it FOR me BEFORE I can even get it out these days.) I believe I’ve already made some references to the HOF and my undying love for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (cough! cough!), the peeps who control who does AND DOESN’T get into the HOF. Maybe I should start a BBWA HOF!
FLN, thx D-Otto for your experience with owner financing. I'm on both ends right now.
Boy what a complicated theme. Larry Eisenhower was a BC guy. The Boston Patriots stocked the early teams with Eagles. Most undrafted by NFL except Jack Concannon who signed with Bears and must have played with Gale Sayers(RiP)
I inked Howe / GAGE. Re. ONO and Beatles- each contradicting the other
Lite=low carb most often. Usually by replacing sugar with chemicals.
For once all my WAGs panned out. IRL is going to be my new TMI type go-to. LIB,FAB,AB all WAGs. Pure luck.
BTW, 2 ½ Men is my latest TV ODer but I haven't come across ZIPpy.
There was a theory that anyone could trace a relation to Bacon via 7 connects.
Re. HoF. Cobb, Ruth and Wagner were left off some ballots and Joe D wasn't elected on first eligibility.
Cancel the FIR Celebration. I had GUM for "Cherry Garcia". Yes, I knew it was a Ben & Jerry ice-cream. Mr S suggested it. That left gYROS and EWAm. EGAD*
"The"! WAZE Feature is Smoky alerts. Bad feature is it's social media driven
I didn't have time to post this morning and was running out of juice. One more nit: I think anon re. Jerry/Cherry was referring to this not actually being a pun. " a humorous way of using a word or phrase so that more than one meaning is suggested". I don't know what a humorous homonym is called.
Even so, I should have had PYROS and EVAN. I thought this was a difficult Thurs. I couldn't grok theme , no how.
Enjoying MaloMan and C-Moe a the pinch hit writers-up.
Relax Hondo, we have Weschler tomorrow. Now Saturday….
WC
** Xword answer either past or future or perhaps Evan Birnholz Wa-Post
Puzzling thoughts:
Debbie Ellerin —> it’s rare that I get stumped on a Thursday, but you got me. I had MET/JET/NET b4 PAT; SPRAY/STEAM; EBAN/BAFFLE b4 EWAN/WAFFLE. Never did see the unifier until I read the Sea Cow’s recap. Oh well, tomorrow’s another day ...
Double M —> I loved all of your spoofs and clips and all ... but my favorite was when you said that a MENTEE doesn’t get advice from a MANATEE ... you think we should follow Dash T’s advice, and not “burn ourselves out?” Nah, didn’t think so!! 🤪🤡😂
Also, glad I made you laugh with last night’s haiku. You were possibly the only one to see it!!
Total unknowns: AB FAB, which led to a ? at _ARR in 15a; ED HARRIS as the “Pollack” star. And I could’ve sworn it was KERFLUFFLE (added L).
While I don’t totally disagree with the term ALE TAP, I much prefer calling it a BEER TAP or just TAP
IRL. Isn’t that a subway line in NYC?
Careful, Moe; don’t go on a TIRADE!
Too many forced answers for my liking, most notably ALETAP, which I’ve never heard of before, and doubt is a real word (or two words). Not a circles fan, but this puzzle could have used them.
Debbie, thanks for a good puzzle, and Mal Man, for explaining it all so well. I almost always make time for the puzzle after breakfast, but can't always join you here until much later. I thought it was an appropriately challenging Thursday and FIR in reasonable time. I was also happy to find the FAST BREAKs, so for me, a very enjoyable experience.
I hope PK’s absence is simply due to her being busy or otherwise occupied. Give us a holler, PK!
OK, I thought about it, oc4beach. Not going to put my name down on the waiting list for a Gulfstream.
Me too, Irish Miss. I've noticed that we haven't heard from PK. Miss her.
Once again I was up early and began my comment and work intervened and it never was posted.
I did want to ask why nobody hit on the phrase mephitic marine mammal while an alliterative artistic appellation, does not bring forth breakfast test images. There is a band... BAND
Nice catch on the Greek/Roman error
Thank you Ms. Ellerin for an innovative puzzle and MalMan for an enjoyable and very funny review.
I had a tough time with the puzzle.
How tough,? I answered Indira's son as Rahul.... duh, that was her grandson... although he was PM too ( I think ...). It was terrible. But I'm glad I got far enough.
As the ancient chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu said ....
Each journey of a thousand clues on a crossword grid, starts with a single step &c &c &c.
ON the hieroglyphs story at the end of the review ....
Question NO 1. ... How do they know the first figure on LHS was a woman ?
Question No 2. ... Starting from left to right, ... in the english language, at least, "ass' and ass are synonymous. so I thought the 'modern' hieroglyphs writing was made up of all synonyms.
Waze,( now owned by Google) and Cherry Garcia (a flavor of ice cream, as a pun ..) were both Learning moments.
I love the TSA joke, .... the vulture and "no carrion" joke.
Anonymous T,... Thank you .....I loved the Bugs Bunny Cartoon on his visit to the optometrist. I sent it to 6 Optometrists and Ophthalmologists that I know personally.... none of which I consult with, professionally. My own eyesight is only 20/40 due to multiple detached retinas, but I drive very, very carefully.
Have a good evening everyone.
TTP, what, you don't have a spare $75 mil laying around for the G700. And that is for a bare Gulfstream. You'll need a little more to outfit it.
Way back when, in the 1960's, I was a structural designer at Grumman and worked on the design of the GII. A stripped down version didn't cost much more than $1.0 mil then. It is a beautiful plane.
Sleep tight everyone.
Re. Cherry Garcia not being a PUN...
Vidwan supplied an example of an actual PUN: The ass on the hieroglyphs
Cherry Garcia is in fact a play on words just not a pun. Ironically puns are the mother's milk of xwords (there's a handy pun right there)
I needed Yellowrocks to help me out
WC
oc4beach, no, it's not that.
It's just that the last time I bought a plane they wouldn't let me keep the hangar.
I'll just keep using my flying carpet. It's not nearly as nice as that Gulfstream, but sometimes I prefer a more rugged experience. :>)
I wonder about the nit at 10:07 am....
Heracles would be the correct Greek version, but the initial phoneme would not be the equivalent of the vowel ETA, but the Greek symbol for aspiration, our "H" sound.
~ OMK
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