Shit* was funeral*! It takes either elegant man*, or maybe Santa*, to come up with such a delightfully convoluted crossword puzzle such as today's! Gravestones Cost*!
The first Cornerite I thought of today, was Timo Kahlen*, our resident garamantis*. He is always looking for ragmansa* in the oil and gas* of the daily puzzles. I trust he will stop by later to comment!
OK, Moe ... what's up with the start to your blog today? Why all of the cryptic words, and why are they emboldened and starred?
Well, as you might have (47-Down. Emulate(d) Ellery Queen) DEDUCEd by now, having solved the puzzle, Steve Faiella uses ANAGRAMS to redefine the final word of the four longest puzzle answers, and come up with a witty phrase, instead of the more common phrase.
When the last four words ( DIAPERS, REFILE, GNATS, and VOLE ) are anagrammed, the result is: DESPAIR, RELIEF, ANGST, and LOVE, which explains the "unifier" (55-Across: Mental conflict ... or what may be found in four long puzzle answers?) MIXED EMOTIONS. And if you ever doubted that any of these four were actual EMOTIONS, perhaps this image can shed some light on that ...
So, how did all of these MIXED EMOTIONS develop int today's puzzle?
21-Across. Text from one who can't get out of Buy Buy Baby?: LOST IN DIAPERS. This was the first of many head scratchers for me. Buy Buy Baby is not a store in which I shop or had ever heard of. But now that I LIU, I know that you could literally be LOST IN DIAPERS there. LOST IN DESPAIR, OTOH, causes you to worry, be sad, or lose hope. I guess if Buy Buy Baby is out of Pampers, you could be LOST IN DESPAIR! LOST IN DESPAIR also is the 6th track of Ensiferum's second album IRON. Not my kind of music but YMMV
29-Across. Comment after submitting yet another updated tax return?: WHAT A REFILE. Of all four of Steve's (35-Across. Silly:) DIPPY phrases, this was my favorite. And while I am blessed to have never had to REFILE a tax return, I can imagine just WHAT A RELIEF it must be to finally have all the correct numbers for the IRS. As someone who has suffered often from indigestion, the RELIEF found from this anatacid tablet has helped tame everything from hangovers to heartburn to hiccups!
36-Across. Attendees of Biting Fly High School?: TEENAGE GNATS. Wowser. How in the heck did our "constructor du jour" ever arrive at this one??!! Clever doesn't even begin to describe ... and while I would never (OK, that's not true!) fact check something so brilliant, a gnat's lifespan is only 7 days. But what the hell? Go big or go home, I always say!!
TEENAGE ANGST, OTOH, is quite real
45-Across. Zombie field mouse?: UNDYING VOLE. Could this be an example
of a zombie field mouse?
If 29-Across was my favorite of the four, 45-Across was the least. But how else would you anagram UNDYING VOLE to get UNDYING LOVE? UNDYING LOVE is an EMOTION that is truly the most fulfilling a couple can have. Such as this cute couple
While the puzzle wasn't without some loose fill (NERD CHIC, TEAC, AZO, UOMO, and DIPPY), and expected fill (crossword staples such as LEI, GAI, NIN, ERA, and ACAI) the overall concept, theme, and entries were pretty tight. I have to believe that getting words to fill this wasn't easy. Hope that if Steve Faiella is lurking, he'll stop by and discuss how he came to this idea; and whether he had to do a fair amount of editing before Rich accepted it. I'm sure that RICH NORRIS - the "king" of anagrammed aliases - had no trouble buying into this submission!
So, before we get started with the rest of the clues/solves, here is the translation of the first two paragraphs of my recap. The words that were in bold text, and had a star (*) next to them, were MY anagrams. I've italicized them in the next paragraph for your reference:
This was real fun! It takes either a gentleman or maybe Satan to come up with such a delightfully convoluted crossword puzzle such as today's! Congrats Steve!
The first Cornerite I thought of today, was Ol Man Keith our resident anagramist. He is always looking for anagrams in the diagonals of the daily puzzles. I trust he will stop by later to comment!
Across:
1. Band letters: AM FM. AC/DC was my first entry. Anyone else? AM/FM
seems so archaic now that we have Pandora, Amazon Music, and Sirius XM to
choose from. I can't even remember the last AM/FM radio I owned, other than
the one in my car
5. Lennon comrade: STARR. Ringo. Of The Beatles. John Lennon, who
would've been 80 years old this year. Lennon offered backup vocals, but the
word "comrade" made me think of this 1968 Beatles' classic
10. Hitchcock's "The 39 __": STEPS. This one filled itself in with a WAG and perps. Before my time
15. London flat?: TYRE. Ahh, not an apartment, but a flat tire (British spelling)
16. Skating rink drink: COCOA. If I had to choose a drink to have before or during skating, it sure wouldn't be COCOA. I'd need something "stiffer"!
17. Unleash: WREAK. I had "BREAK" / WREAK in this one. But to "wreak havoc" requires the unleashing of some EMOTIONS, methinks
18. Miracle Mets outfielder Tommie: AGEE. Baseball. The Miracle Mets - aka, The "Amazing" Mets - defeated the 1969 Baltimore Orioles, arguably the best team in baseball that year, due in no short order than the contribution of Tommie AGEE, the Mets' center fielder. He did it with his bat and with his glove.
19. "Thy word is __ unto my feet": Psalms: A LAMP. A Moe-l'ick for a change:
Having dreamt of Arabian vamp,
Our friend Bugs, that old rascally scamp,
Thought that he'd find a genie
In a sexy bikini;
All he got was a-lad-in A LAMP
20. Garlicky mayo: AIOLI.
Aioli is becoming a
go-to crossword solve due to its 4 vowels and one consonant
24. Letter before Papa: OSCAR. ALFA, BRAVO, CHARLIE, DELTA, ECHO,
FOXTROT ... the universal "language", or the phoenetic words used to identify
letters. Used by the military and airline industries. "OSCAR" refers to the
letter "O". Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is very popular with texters, I hear ...
25. Adorkable style: NERD CHIC. "Adorkable" is an adjective that refers
to someone who is cute, in a nerdy sort of way. And while Google didn't
exactly link me to a description of "NERD CHIC", there are references
to
Geek Chic. I guess it means the same ...
33. Man, in Milan: UOMO. I am not fluent in Italian, although I really
like their wine and food! I guessed COMO, not knowing that it means "dresser
or bureau". Perps solved, eventually ... another great word for crossword
fill, although a bit obscure. To me, anyway
34. Spelling of "BH90210": TORI. Beverly Hills 90210. A popular TV show
of the 1990's. And its "spin-off", BH90210, aired in 2019. She played
Donna Martin, a character in both airings. TORI is the daughter of famous Hollywood TV
and film producer, Aaron Spelling
41. Easy to follow: CLEAR. This one filled in itself with the perps.
Not to be confused with this "CLEAR"...
43. Rested: LAIN. Past participle of "lie". Rested is the past participle of "rest"
44. Mendel subjects: PEAS. Gregor Mendel. The famed 19th Century botanist/scientist who may have, through his planting of and tracing of PEAS, broken the DNA code
52. Bar owner, vis-à-vis selling drinks: LICENSEE. I was a LICENSEE (bar owner) from 2010-2012 in Florida. Most, if not all, states require a purveyor of liquor - be it by the glass or by the bottle - to hold a LICENSE, issued by that state. I had to be fingerprinted
54. Motes: IOTAS. A "mote" is a tiny piece of substance. An IOTA is likewise, a small amount
59. Brother of Willow Smith: JADEN. JADEN is the older brother of Willow; both are children of famous actor Will Smith. Both are primarily known for their songwriting and rapping
62. Really enjoyed something: DUG IT. Slang. Past tense of "Dig it". Can you dig it? The Friends of Distinction brought that saying to our lexicon with this song:
63. Boxcars in un casino: DOCE. Spanish for "twelve", or in dice terms (when playing "craps"), double sixes, or resembling "boxcars", as in the railroad car. This past week we had "HARD SIX" which is a pair of "threes" in dice-speak
64. Online periodical: E-ZINE. Personally, I am not a big fan of the use of any "E"-____ word for crossword solves. But I get it. The "E" stands for "Electronic". In this case, an Electronic Magazine. Give me a hard copy, please
65. Food safety concern: E. COLI. So, if an E-Zine is an electronic magazine, shouldn't "E.COLI" be ... oh, never mind! This "E" stands for Escherichia
66. Pulitzer winner Robert __ Butler: OLEN. His web page. I've not read his works, so this one filled via perps
67. Some etiquette tips: DONT'S. Here is a place where I got some of my early "etiquette" tips:
68. Cubicle furniture: DESKS. A link and an image
69. Lavish bash: FETE. Frawnch. Fête. Or a festival/feste
Down:
1. Worse than ever: AT A LOW. Hmm. AT AN ALL TIME LOW, perhaps. Guessing this was used to fill a hole ...
2. "Holy moly!": MY GOSH. SHUCKS! DARN IT! DANG IT! Other 6 letter combos for the same clue!
3. Coca-Cola brand: FRESCA. Fresca was introduced to the carbonated beverage market in 1966. It's a lime and grapefruit-flavored drink that I believe was introduced as an alternative to Squirt, which was introduced by Herb Bishop as a cocktail mixer back in the late 1930's. Here in Phoenix, no less! Fresca has had a new branding campaign to make it more palatable to the millenials, and are branding it as a carbonated "soda", rather than a carbonated "beverage". I dunno about y'all, but I don't get too bubbly about either ...
4. Use for a tryst: MEET AT. Tryst. Who does THOSE anymore?! That seems so retro.
Nowadays, a popular "MEET AT" organization is called MEET UP. I attended a few of their events. Not nearly as fun as a tryst, though! LOL! A link and a logo
5. Checkout action: SCAN. UPC (Universal Product Code) barcodes were patented back in 1949. The first checkout SCAN was in 1974 for a pack of gum
6. Narrated: TOLD. Moe, you were TOLD that Friday puzzles are tough; and they are. Narration is a form of story-telling; past tense solved this
7. Berry with three vowels and three syllables: ACAI. ACAI is fast becoming the new crossword staple; may be the first time I saw it clued this way
8. Itinerant Europeans: ROMANI. Not to be confused with Romanians, an unrelated ethnic group and nation, nor with modern or ancient Romans, also unrelated. Oh the things you can learn on Wikipedia
9. Rock climber's descent: RAPPEL. I might be just as nervous ...
10. Grassy expanse: SWARD. This one had me stumped. SWARD is not a word in my daily vocabulary. Yours? This photo of a SWARD reminds me of a sod farm
11. Shredded-wheat cracker: TRISCUIT. Triscuit crackers were actually developed by the Shredded Wheat Company in Niagara Falls, NY at the turn of the last century. The brand was eventually sold to Nabisco, and is now part of Kraft Foods. A link, and a pic. This is MOE's favorite variety
12. Job listing abbr.: EEO. Or Equal Employment Opportunity, which is a Federal Commission that began with the Civil Rights Act of 1964
13. Chum: PAL. Hey PAL! BUD or BRO fit, too
14. Enjoy trails: SKI. Hike didn't fit; those are the trails MOE enjoys. It's almost cool enough to resume our hiking, here in the AZ desert. Here's one of me on a trail at Superstition Mountain in Apache Junction, AZ this past March
22. More riled up: IRATER. Meh. I'd prefer, more IRATE, but Steve must've needed an R ...
23. Afore: ERE. Not to be confused with, "to ERE is human ... "
26. Brewer's flowers: HOPS. As in the brewing of beer. Beer is made from malt, yeast, HOPS, and water. HOPS are the flowers/cones (they resemble a pine cone) from the plant, and can offer floral and fruity notes to beer, but primarily they provide the bitterness. There is a world of information on Wikipedia if you're so inclined. As the "craft beer" industry has grown over the past several decades, the HOPS level for beer is now measured in IBU's, or International Bitterness Units. Proper brewing and blending can soften or harshen the bitterness of beer
27. Small demon: IMP. I'm waiting for a crossword constructor to clue this word using the verb form, which means: "repair a damaged feather in (the wing or tail of a trained hawk) by attaching part of a new feather"
28. Flirtatiously shy: COY. At 1:23 of this video you'll hear one of the 50 ways to leave your lover ...
30. "This Is Us" Emmy winner __ Cephas Jones: RON. CSO to one of our
bloggers, JazzBumpa
31. Diamond stat.: ERA. Earned Run Average. Shane Bieber of the
Cleveland Indians led the Major Leagues this year in ERA with 1.63, which
means over the course of the season he gave up only 1.63 "earned runs" per
game. That's a very impressive number. The number is calculated on the total
number of runs he allowed, divided by the number of innings he pitched,
multipled by 9. He also tied for the league lead with 8 wins over the 60 game
season. But in the first postseason game, his ERA was 13.5, as the New York
Yankees lit him up for 7 earned runs in 4-2/3 innings. Talk about going from
first to worst ...
32. Source of Adam and Eve's leaves: FIG. Ah, the poor FIG. What did IT
do to deserve being a symbol of concealing embarrassment? Moe-lick #2:
When the couple in Eden did pig
Out on apples, they knew that their gig
Was soon changing, when God
Caught them sinning, they're flawed;
And He shrugged, and said, "Can't give a FIG"
35. "Drat!": DANG IT. DARN IT, fit. Other longer possibiliteis for this clue: DAG NABBIT; DAD GUMMIT; GOL DERN. But when I saw "DANG", the first thought that popped was this Roger Miller classic:
36. Audio equipment brand: TEAC. Remember what I said at the outset? About loose fill? Oddly, TEAC resonated with me, as I probably owned one or more of their stereo components as a young adult. Everything from reel to reel tape recorders, turntables, amplifier/receivers, etc. TEAC stands for Tokyo Television Accustic Company, and was founded by brothers Katsuma and Tomoma Tani, August of 1953. I, too, am a product of 1953. Yes, Cornerites, the Chairman is a strapping young lad of 67! LOL. Here is one of THEIR now ancient products
37. Legal right of way: EASEMENT. I am sure that one of our resident lawyers here can offer more, but whenever I think of an EASEMENT, my mind goes immediately to all of the property this nation bought to build our Interstate Highway System. Especially all of the spur routes that lead into most metropolitan areas
38. Bridge expert Culbertson: ELY. Total WAG. Bridge as in the card game. He was before my time. Charles Goren is one I am familiar with, but Wiki says that ELY is a legend to the game, and he was quite the player. He died in 1955. I was 2. My folks played a lot of bridge, as I am sure many here did/do as well. My favorite "bridge" joke goes something like this: "It's said that playing bridge is a lot like sex: if you don't have a good partner, you better have a good hand ..."
39. Moo goo __ pan: GAI. Could GAI be called a crossword staple for 3-letter fill? The actual "dish" is/was quite popular, as it combines white button mushrooms with white chicken meat. Chinese: 蘑菇雞片; Cantonese: móh-gū gāi-pin. C.C., any other thoughts?
40. Diarist Anaïs: NIN. More crossword staple fill. Her full name is: Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell
41. Double-chevron wearer: Abbr.: CPL. A two-striper, or corporal, in the Army. Moe-ku #3, from the archives:
Office corporal is known for his guile,
And employs it with his new clerk, Kyle.
Base commander found out,
Reprimanded, no doubt;
Told two-striper, “just pull rank, and file.”
42. Aloha State souvenir: LEI. More expected crossword fill. This one is made from orchids
45. Steel giant, from 1986 to 2001: USX. AKA, US Steel. USX was the corporation's "new name" in 1986 when they held other energy businesses, but they renamed it United States Steel in 2001. Their stock symbol is "X". And one of their original logos is now best known as the logo of the same town's NFL football team (CSO to TTP and yours truly), who are now 4-0 to start this season. Both previous times the STEELERS started 4-0 they went on to win Super Bowls ... OK, Moe, don't jinx them! Here we go, Steelers, here we go!!
46. "Just What I __": 1978 Cars hit: NEEDED. The Cars were a 1970's Rock Band from Boston, whose hits included this one as well as "My Best Friend's Girl". Ric Ocasek who did vocals and played rhythm guitar is perhaps their best known member. He passed away a little over a year ago. The Cars are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Enjoy!
48. Without: VOID OF. Today's blog is VOID OF Moe-kus ... but not Moe-l'icks! LOL
49. "My Favorite Year" star: O'TOOLE. Peter Seamus O'Toole (2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013). Irish born English actor. My Favorite Year saw O'TOOLE nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, but Ben Kingsley won it that year for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in the film, "Gandhi". O'TOOLE was nominated 8 times for an Academy Award, but only won an Honorary one in 2002. He holds the dubious record of most nominated without an award ...
50. Surgical knife: LANCET. Not sure that "surgical knife" best describes this medical device. My limited knowledge of a LANCET is the tool used to prick a finger for drawing blood, as in to test for blood sugar/diabetes/insulin requirement
51. Ancient ascetic: ESSENE. The ESSENES were perported to have written the Dead Sea Scrolls back in the second Century, BCE. Great crossword fill with its "E's" and "S's"
53. Lowest pinochle cards: NINES. Wait just a DADGUM minute! Didn't Moe reference Pinochle last week when he commented on CANASTA??! The standard Pinochle deck consists of 48 cards. There are two of each suit, and only six cards are used. They are ranked in order from lowest to highest as: Nine, Jack, Queen, King, Ten, and Ace. Not sure why the TEN outranks any of the "picture" cards; this may be the only card game in which that is true
56. Self-images: EGOS. Did Einstein define EGO(S) the best of all?
57. Do a farm chore: MILK. Moe-l'ick #4 (a sophomoric one, for sure!):
When a child emerges from birth
There's a gland that for most males give mirth.
Clever kid hid his glee,
As he suckled 'til three;
Did he MILK it for all it was worth?
58. Publisher Chandler: OTIS. I heard he wore elevator shoes ... {groan} BTW, he was the LA Times publisher from 1960-1980, and OTIS was his first name, not his last
59. Martin's "The West Wing" role: JED. Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet portrayed the POTUS in the fictional TV series, "West Wing". Martin Sheen - father of sons Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men) and Emilio Estevez (St. Elmo's Fire, et al) - played the Prez, and won both a Golden Globe and SAG award for his role
60. Nitrogenous dye: AZO. Even though I took two years of Chemistry in HS and two in college, I did not recall this organic compound. Perhaps one of our resident chemists can comment more about it? I'm not really sure this image tells us a lot! This was a WAG/perp fill for me
61. Ruckus: DIN. My first thought here was when I watch a movie with closed captioning and the comment "[indistinct chatter]" appears. Or could you liken it to Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit From St. Nicholas": "When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter"?
The grid:
The end!
Please feel free to add your thoughts below ...
Notes from C.C.
1) Regarding 39D, to some, it might be classic crosswordese. To me, it's just Cantonese for "chicken".
2) Happy Birthday to our foodie Blue Hen!
3) Happy birthday to CrossEyedDave! Thanks for the happiness and fun you've
brought to our lives, Dave!
48 comments:
Birthdays abound! Happy day and year to Bluehen and CED, and many more.
Moe, you must have spent a full day creating that most comprehensive and entertaining write-up. Thank you. Steve F. has his two LAT publications on Friday and I have not been here to blog either one. He clearly likes wordplay.
39 Steps has been adapted as a play that tours the country. What makes the PLAY special is that it is performed with a cast of only 4 people!
"This Is Us" Emmy winner __ Cephas Jones, and Pulitzer winner Robert __ Butler were unknowns for me.
GAI is a;so the Thai word for chicken.
It was tough sledding getting started to this DNF puzzle. I didn't know how to spell TRISCUIT correctly and guessed HOMO, not COMO, and didn't know UOMO. I caught the Boxcars clue but though it was French instead of Spanish; DOCE was perps as was OLEN, ELY, JED, RON, OTOOLE, & OTIS. Had to change LAMB to LAMP and ADO to DIN to FIW.
But I didn't know 12 in either language.
NERD CHIC- never heard before. The 'in crowd' would ever refer to people they look down on as 'chic'.
SCAN- bar code in 1949? What was used to read it? The laser beam wasn't invented until 1960.
I got all the hard stuff and was beaten by the JED/JADEN cross.
Good morning!
Twas not to be. My grid looks like a Wite-Out wonderland. I thought the ROMANI were simply called ROMA. My Italian is slightly worse than my Spanish, which is terrible. Hadn't herd of NERD CHIC -- at least Geek Chic rhymes. Knew that cracker was pronounced TRISKIT, so I went with KOMO instead of UOMO. DNF. DANG IT. Thanx, Steve (does your name rhyme with paella?) and Chairman Moe (did you find the Lost Dutchman Mine at Superstition Mountain?). Which begs the question, is a superstition bigger than a regular stition?
EASEMENT: There's one ten feet wide between our lot and our neighbor's. Telephone, cable TV and underground electric lines are buried there.
Blue Hen and CED: Happy Birthday guys!
The phrase is (O) MIGOSH. I should have grok'ed "London" though.
Aaarrrggghhh!! I grok'ed something that flowed(flower(s). Hence ale. My grass was originally SWALE and I ended up with nerectic, eg when a hyper child is near by. And UaMO.
Ok, TeRI/TORI;ReN/RON. Evan Birnholz Wa-Post (10/11) theme is Screen Names-aarrrggghh!!! I was forcing myself to read Parade magazine to try to get acquainted with pop-cul names. TTP, how'd you like that one?
I was getting Mendel mixed up with Pavlov's dogs. The O fit BOSE. The L in LICENSEE rid me if CMR. Yes, it should have been plane that the two striper was a Corporal. Technically an NCO. In the very old Corps a Corporal was something important. Come Nam they started to promote more quickly.
C-Moe and Winn Dixie requires a license to buy even for 0.0 Heineken
If it's Spanish shouldn't it be uno/una casino? Else douze.
A tryst is where one plights one's troth. fe Aragon and Arwen.
I thought: could it be Ireier?
Time to go.
WC
Good Morning:
I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting a Tada but I soon learned it was Otis Chandler not Onis and Dug It not Dug In, so a big, fat FIW. I liked the theme and only had a tad of trouble parsing Diapers to Despair; the others were easy-peasy. Needed perps for Doce, Olen, and Sward. I believe we’ve had Sward before, but I’ve never heard or seen it used in real life. I also had Darn it before Dang it. I liked the Din/Nin and Ere/Era duos and the rare “I” parade: Aioli, Tori, E. coli, Açaí, Romani, Ski, Gai, and Lei. As always, for me, anyway, Imp=CED. CSO to Ron (Ron) and, maybe, CanadianEh (Tyre).
Thanks, Steve, for a tricky and fun solve and thanks, Moe, for the excellent analysis and numerous clips and links. You outdid yourself today!
Happy Birthday, Bluehen, I hope someone is whipping up a fantastic dinner for you! 🎂🎁🎉🎊🎈
Happy Birthday, CED, I hope you have a special celebration, too. 🎂🎉🎈🎁🎊 (Please behave. 😈 )
I’m going to my sister Peg’s tonight for a party celebrating her and hubby’s 66th wedding anniversary. 🥂 💝
Have a great day.
Good morning everyone.
IRATER? You've got to be S***'n me.
Early on, saw that the theme was dealing with anagrams in some way. I'm not good at anagrams, but did get a couple like VOLE and GNATS. Got all the letters except R in ROM and J in JED. Got SWARD by having watched Robin Hood a lot over these last 82 years.
OSCAR helped mitigate the difficulty. When flying singly it means "Man Overboard." Also the name of the dummy used in man overboard drills.
How special problems of the Great Flood were handled.
Have not done the puzzle, or read the write up/comments yet,
But I did read last nights late comments just now
(Slept in late - hey it's my birthday!)
And just had to comment before I forget...
Thank you SpitZboov for the iMac open tab how to,
I wish the iPad had a right click feature, but it doesn't.
Thank you Anon-T for the iPad how to,
But a little knowledge is a dangerous thing!
Holding your finger in the blank picture does bring up some options!
I tried the open in new tab option, and viola! I can now see the pics!
But it also split the screen in two, so now I have two screens instead of
One, and no idea how to get rid of it...
I must have spent about 5 minutes trying all different ways to get rid of the
Extra screen, all the while thinking "I will have some choice words for Anon-T
If I still have two screens all day!" But I did prevail.
It turns out you get rid of it the same way you got it, hold you finger down.
The problem is finding the right place to hold!
When you do find the right place (it was on the left screen)
Take the option "merge tabs"
(I assume the other options might be rabbit holes...)
Sorry to rattle on, but as my neighbor says:
It's just Dave being Dave...
So, onto the puzzle!
(The price of admission...)
Oh, forget to mention,
The correct option to choose for iPad is
Oh darn! I can't remember!
Well, whatever you do, don't open in new tab,
Just take the option right above it and it will open a new tab
With your missing pics. It looks like nothing happened but
All you have to do is click on the new tab to see it,
And get rid of it the normal way with the "x"
Musings
-What a great puzzle! I thought LICENSEE was a themer and I tried to unscramble it before I saw there were only four. I was getting IRATER (ugh!) by the minute
-I have seen UOMO cologne which probably purports to be better than Old Spice
-CLEAR – Reading instructions by non-native English speakers can be interesting
-A box of my golf balls has two bar codes and I learned that I have to cover one to SCAN
-ROMANI are also called gypsies because they are thought to have come from Egypt
-These guys have to RAPPEL to do their job
-As we left Munich, I asked what crops were in various fields since I come from corn and soybean country. It was HOPS and barley. Go figure!
-At our cheap luau, we were given a LEI for a picture and then it was immediately given back for the next couple to use. We also used styrofoam plates and plastic cutlery and cole slaw from plastic containers.
-Happy Birthday to Blue Hen and Dave!
I hate anagrams
A slog
Nope. Didn't like this one. But CM's write-up was fantastic.
Happy Friday everyone. Stay safe and well.
JB2
The NW was my Waterloo. I refused to let go of ACDC at 1A. Got Agee at 18A, but tried DietRC for 3D which didn't work. I also got diapers, refile, gnats and vole, but missed figuring out despair and angst. Never heard of sward and irater was a stretch. Lost cause for a DNF.
Was ready to throw in the pen. Turned on the tube to watch the latest episode, season 16 (yes 16, alas the last) of one of my favorites "Supernatural". It's on the CW network ; hey maybe I'll give the CW another try....and actually FIR!!
But could the theme have been any more complicated?
Many inkovers...trisket/TRISCUIT..rbi/ERA....inane/sappy/DIPPY...darnit/DANGIT... gala/FÊTE. Surgical knife: scalpel or laser wouldnt fit. ("The Lancet" is a British Med Journal) Thought the European wanderers were called Roma (like DO.) DOCE needed 'splainin'...SWARD? TEAC?...Thought HOPS was spelled with 2 P's.....Furniture can be singular or plural so held off on DESKS. A real LEI's dead flowers won't make much of a souvenir. When the family went to Hawaii the guys were given a wooden beaded LEI. I wore it once to a local picnic (why you wearin' a rosary around your neck?)
ired is bad enough but IRATER??.. C'mon. (Have a mind to report this to the Crossword Judical Board). You said it Spitz..
The original Biblical hotfoot prank: " Yeow!!...who put the 'Lamp unto my feet?"
Assortmentof military rank reductions.....MIXEDEMOTIONS
Does a pilot take the plane's keys when he _____ ?LANCET
"Guarenteed low prices ______ on TV!"....ESSENE
Environment protection falsehood....ECOLI
Can Saturn's day puzzle be any difficulter?
I, too could get IRATER about some of the things in the puzzle but it is difficult to do that after seeing that Mickey Mouse image, the Einstein equation and, especially the Do Bee.
Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me do.
Wow!
Finally done with that puzzle...
I won't go into all the things that beat me up about this puzzle,
As it may make me irater...
But I did learn two things, (maybe more...)
1) dippy=silly?
I never knew!
I can't believe it took me 50 some odd years to learn
What George Carlin was talking about.
I just thought he was stoned!
2) alternate definition for Imp!?
Well, it is certainly reassuring to know I can tell Irish Miss
That I am not a small demon,
But the stuff that helps wounded birds to fly!
Hola!
Happy birthday Blue Hen and CEDave! I wish you both many years more!
MY GOSH this was challenging! At 6:00 A.M. I had about 3/4 filled then went back to bed. Feeling refreshed two hours later I was still stumped so LU Tommie AGEE; hey, I would have known playwright!
From that the NW corner blossomed. I had no trouble with SWARD, well actually I first had SWATH but both of those are not usually conversational terms, usually they are found in books and I've seen both.
DOCE as boxcars was new for me as was OLEN. Peter O'TOOLE was easy.
I have MIXED EMOTIONS about the puzzle. It certainly is a masterpiece but not the easiest to solve and I share the dislike of IRATER.
I knew JADEN as a Smith offspring but not RON; I don't watch This is Us.
Romany, ROMANI, roma, romy are all terms I've seen for gypsy.
Like d-o, my grid is a sea of wite-out but persistence pays and I finished.
MILK brings to mind the newly restored SFO airport where a large mural is devoted to Harvey MILK who was assassinated presumably for being gay.
Have a beautiful day, everyone! Our beautiful days are just beginning I'm happy to say.
I really liked the puzzle overall, and it was a slog. But I'm sorry, any puzzle with IRATER needs revision or scrapping.
Bob
Nope. Not for me. Hated it (for the first time).
If Gai means chicken in Chinese Cantonese and Thai.
And in those countries, if two fellas, comment on a young coed, by saying 'Cute Guy' ,
Are they really saying, 'What a sexy chick' ?
Is the picture at 4 Down, one of Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds ?
Elizabeth was then married to Mike Todd, and Eddie to Debbie. Sometime 1958 ?
Then Mike died in a plane crash, and soon, Eddie divorced Debbie, to marry Liz.
The country was horrified, since Debbie was America's sweetheart.
Later Liz divorced Eddie, to marry Richard Burton. After Cleopatra.1962.
Richard B had to divorce Sybil, to become available.
And Liz kept collecting diamonds, through all the marriages.
In 12 years, she married and divorced Richard, twice, and had 2 other husbands later.
she collected husbands like some people collect cars.
HUGE DNF!! Sorry, but I HATED this CW. Just WAY over my head. Thanx to Chairman Moe for the OUTSTANDING write-up, which was the only enjoyable thing about today’s CW.
A Friday toughie, for sure, and expected.
But IRATER...really?
TEAK was a blast from the past.
I had ACDC as well, before changing.
FIW but I don't hate it. My bad square was the cross at OLEN and OTOOLE. I should have tried an alphabet run instead of just plugging in a W. Other w/o's slowed me down but perps came to the rescue: Abba/AMFM, ringo/STARR and seis/DOCE. Paying more attention to the clue would have avoided the last two problems. I tried to see the theme and did find VOLE was love, but didn't see that the whole phrase worked together. Didn't find the other EMOTIONS. As expected, it was a challenge, so thanks, Steve. And thanks to your great review, CMoe, I am not left with angst or despair. What a relief!
Happiest of birthdays to CED and Blue Hen. Have a good weekend, all.
Misty, Wilbur Charles, and others who do the daily Jumble ~
How curious that the phrase, "WREAK havoc," is playing a role in both pzls today. It's not exactly an everyday expression, is it?
Makes you wonder...
Mr. Faiella clearly put a great deal of thought and effort into this Xwd. I worked it for a good while--and felt it yielding to P+P--but in the long run it seemed too convoluted to reward any further effort.
I threw in the towel after cracking maybe 75% of it.
A hearty Thank You to Chrmn Moe for the thorough unpacking!
~ OMK
Whew! Friday and Saturday puzzles are still way above my pay grade and this one certainly was. Thanks for the challenge, Steve. Merci beaucoup, C. Moe, for the explanations. I never would have figured it out.
Happy Birthday to Blue Hen and CED!!! Hope it's a wonderful day!
C. Moe: from last Sunday's comics; A pun is not mature until it's full-groan!
I'd cheer for the weekend if it were any different from the rest of the week.
OK, no one else has asked so I will: C Moe, who's the cute couple with undying love? Just curious.......
This puzzle totally defeated me. No way I could solve it without looking up almost all of the proper names. Wow, names names names. Ones I knew are STARR, TORI, NIN, and JED. Ones I did not know are Tommie AGEE, JADEN (or Willow), Robert OLEN Butler, RON Cephas Jones, ELY Culbertson, O'TOOLE as clued, and Chandler OTIS. I have to say I did not enjoy trying to solve this puzzle.
Happy birthday, BlueHen and CrossEyedDave.
ATLGranny @ 3:46
That is my SO Margaret and me
Ugh! Anagrams are my WORST. I got the theme answers, finally, but I had no idea what was going on. Clearly, I have a long way to go to catch up to you pros! When Anagrams is a category on Jeopardy, we always pause it for a few minutes so we have time to figure them out.
I love Raffi. My favorite is Down By the Bay. His stuff is a grandchild magnet.
YR, I feel so much your pain at losing special things in the necessity of paring down. It’s a real wrench, I know. Your new home sounds so nice.
Happy Birthday to Blue Hen and CE DAVE.
Dave, have you found a suitable cake yet?
Lemony@5:46am --> thanks. I don't keep track of the time it takes me to write my blog; it's all in fun and finding out about things with which I'm usually not that familiar
Big Easy @ 7:04am --> I think the 1949 was the year in which the Bar Code was first PATENTED. But to your point, with nothing to scan it, why so soon?
D-OTTO @ 7:32am --> we have seen the Lost Dutchman Mine exhibit but due to COVID, they've been closed to visitors. We generally hike several trails that are to the north of the mines. Pretty amazing vistas. If I remember I will add some photos on my next blog
IM @ 9:03 --> see my reply to Lemony! Thanks!
Well, WC was right, this was tough. DNF / Learning Day.
And FIW - LICENCEd.
Happy Birthdays to both CED & Bluehen. Both of you add sugar & spice to The Corner's chat.
Hi All!
Thanks Steve for the grid but I just couldn't get a toe-hold in many corners w/o a cheat.
The "whoosh" you heard, that was the theme going over my head at 50,000 feet.
Thanks C. Moe for the expo (and a peek at your grid).
//But you took most the songs! :-)
AGEE was before my time but that 'sno-cone' catch... Wow!
SWARD is NOT in vocab either.
Fav: STARR's clue was cute.
Cubicle desk - Ironically, I have cubical furniture in my office. Corner offices get fancy faux-wood furniture but (nearly) all employees get an office; contractors have to sit in cubeville. [link to game].
Spitz - I thought it ('cuz I'm a moron) but would not ink IRATER. MY GOSH, Steve went there...
ATLGranny - ABBA was my first thought too.
WC - I went with Bose too; haven't seen TEAC in years (I think I still have their turntable in the attic).
D-O: LOL larger stitions.
Nap time.
Cheers, -T
Puzzling thoughts:
As I may have commented on a previous blog, we re-cappers (hey, if IRATERS is a word, then so is re-cappers!!) aren't that much more informed than you guys about the gist and theme of the puzzles. I solve them the same way you all do, and then try to figure it all out; sometimes with help from that cute gal at 45-Across (the one for whom i have UNDYING LOVE), and other times from my fellow re-cappers. Today's puzzle was no different, other than I was able to look up a few answers and finally the can of V8 hit me.
Even though I'm a big kid(der), I try to be pretty complimentary to the crossword constructors, as I know how difficult it is creating them. But as I read the comments today from my fellow Cornerites, I agree that I may have been too lenient on Mr Faiella. To prove this, I decided again, this morning, to solve the puzzle in the newspaper. And even though I KNEW all of the answers ahead of time, I kept questioning the clueing as well as the fill. I invited Steve Faiella to stop by here to comment, but perhaps he didn't receive my message, as I left it on a FB page for puzzlers. I wonder just how many of the puzzle was edited/revised ...
Which poses this question: As a re-capper, should I be totally objective when I blog? I want to continue to provide some detail (as well as humor) with the clues/fill, but if I really don't personally care for the puzzle (or feel it was the best thing since sliced bread), does that matter? Should I say so? I don't know if any of you read Rex Parker's blog for the NYT puzzles, but lately (I only do Sunday's and read his blog for the puzzles I solve) he seems to pan each and every one. Rarely a compliment; always quick to criticize.
Thanks again for the feedback ... enjoy the weekend!
C.Moe - You're right. Constructing (and editing) is an act of love ('cuz there's not much money in it!).
I did like it when Steve [our former Thursday Sherpa (where the hell is he?)] gave his impression of c/a's. That said, he was never pointedly negative AT the constructor.
Give us your $0.02 and call 'em like you see 'em.
I found today to be way above my pay-grade (names! & misdirection / ambiguity I didn't (couldn't?) follow) but no overly cute gimmick (assuming you're into anagrams) cluing.
I find (and am probably guilty of) 1st time constructors are / try to be cute but it's by half creating a slog.
I say Steve [today's constructor] had fair cluing if you were tuned into his "Band"/ Frequency. I was not.
Now, about that nap...
Cheers, -T
CMoe:
We, each and everyone, form our own opinions about the puzzle. Yours, I believe would invite controversy. Please, just explain the themes which you do so ably and supply the graphics.
*should be - how the hell is he? re: Steve [blogger not today's constructor]. I'd hoped, with his blogging duties on hiatus, he'd at least swing by The Corner once in a while to say Hi.
-T
Surely Ellery Queen was a writer of detective fiction, not a detective. Why would he be 'deducing' when he was creating the mystery?
A most interesting topic raised by C Moe and addressed by Anon T and Lucinda. I have been reluctant to criticize although I have commented on, and will continue to comment on, individual clues and/or answers that I feel are overused or not "in sync". I once tried writing my own puzzle and that was sufficient to enlighten me on just how difficult that can be. Sometimes, I believe that I can hear the constructor going "Yea, but I had to do it. I just could not come up with an alternative." None of this, of course, addresses the question of "challenging vs. willfully obtuse" but we each bring to each puzzle our own set of experiences, vocabulary and methods of figuring out how to figure out those answers that we do not know.
-T, I guessed rightly that others would find this difficult. Yes, lots of pps*.
C-Moe, I love your write-ups just the way you're doing them. I suggest though as a CC regular that you could post later or agree with certain critiques. I don't personally like the Rex approach. We've been able to provide a friendly atmosphere here and many constructors do stop by.
One of my common mistakes is failing to think of two word answers (NERD CHIC). Also, not doing an alphabet run where Swar? would have yielded the D for NERD. I'm surprised no one fell for flower as something that glows like a tap. We had flower that way recently.
And someone else opined that new xword constructors have a different wavelength. I agree. We have a new guy tomorrow, too.
WC
*PP's if I guess correctly is proper names
Ps, if TTP is out there I managed to find all the stars of movies past and present even though I didn't know half of them (Birnholz Wa-Post XW)
Re: "Challenging vs willfully obtuse"
I feel that the puzzle presented each day has been tuned to the bent of the editor. By keeping the actual difficulty varied, the solver never knows beforehand as to the difficulty or whether it is even solvable. Thus this becomes part of the puzzle, too. Like entering a new room and discovering what is in there. To keep skilled solvers interested in "what is in the next room" they need an occasional dose of extreme cluing/fill as well.
Nothing becomes a part of these puzzles without the editor's approval. Ultimately, readership/circulation are what governs.
Just my 2¢.
And today guessing the riddle of the theme-anagrams was part of the solve.
Just thus second I got aDORKable as in
As in NERD
Not sure if this is going to work from my phone, but we just got back from dinner, which we didn’t think would happen due to the rain. (Outside dining)
But we lucked out being in a hole in the storms with only a lite sprinkle between gusts.
We had oysters for $1:50 each
Followed by pizza (DW) & I had the mussels in a confit of garlic, beer, and blue cheese...
And topped off with some berries in a tart topped with ice cream!
There was one thing that was weird though.
We were watched during our entire meal by an uninvited guest.
I will try to post his picture but I can tell my “ are the wrong shape already...
My post disappeared. Probably an omen. Chill!!!
the uninvited guest...
I finally just gave up. Loved the expo though.
Awful.
Hello Everybody , It;s been a while since I've seen the gang, I see new faces also..... Well I see that Splynter is still away...... I did see a familiar pic though, that reminded me of him on Saturday's... LOL, good job Moe........
I was nowhere near am/fm or ac/dc , I was thinking more on the non abbr. side , like a wedding ring , but no go, I know I've been gone a while , but it seems like the Friday's and Saturday's got DOUBLY harder, or I'm just RUSTIER......
Trisket for me too , but with no C at first then tried a C, still a no go....
Turned on RED letters to help out..... Ya'll take care Plus Tard from Cajun Country.........
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