And the missing clue/solve: "Predetermined criterion on the basis of which a particular piece of information is disclosed to an Orthopedist?"KNEED TO KNOW
Chairman Moe, here, blogging his first Gary Larson puzzle. I'll admit, this had me crouched down, and kneeding to know more information as I solved the grid; which I did in a mediocre time, and with several write-overs. But once I saw how the "SPECIAL" K fit, I was just like MAN O' WAR (42 down: Thoroughbred grandfather of Seabiscuit), and off to the races. Gary cleverly placed the letter K in front of common phrases beginning with the letter N to create a solvable pun; subtle, and hence, the nuance.
Some examples:
18 across. *Maximum number of jousters allowed in a Ren faire tournament?: KNIGHT CAP / NIGHTCAP. A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire ( Ren faire) or Renaissance festival is similar to a county fair, but set in period resembling Old England. These faires appear in several states, (we have one here in Gold Canyon, AZ) and amuse the guests and visitors by taking them back in time, and replicating the events of that era. Period costumes, arts and crafts, music, theater, food, and of course, the knight's jousting tournament, are all part of the fun.
Kind of like this:
So, a KNIGHT CAP is the limit of how many "knights" can perform at the Ren faire. A NIGHTCAP, OTOH, is a drink that I, and I'm sure Tinbeni, enjoy most evenings, sans ICE. (38 down, Bar staple)
37 across. *One who really, really knows how to spin a yarn?: KNITWIT. I filled in this clue last, as the perp with 25 down, Supplemental health insurance: MEDIGAP, had me flummoxed. Almost as if I were the NITWIT! And knot to knitpick, but of all the K-puns, this was my least fave ... but my alter ego liked it, as you'll see further down the blog
61 across. *Excelled at filling in historical timelines?: KNEW YEARS / NEW YEAR'S. This one was quite clever, I thought. And to prove my point, as I prepared to blog this puzzle, I went to OneLook.com, which is for all intents and purposes, a cruciverbalist's must go to spot for finding synonyms and phrases. I looked at words starting with "kn", and phrases starting with "n", and then comparing ones that could fit this scheme. There weren't a plethora
3 down. *Tree trunk?: KNOT HOME / NOT HOME. Very good misdirected clue, and again, a clever use of the "special" K. As I was starting to solve, I began in the NW corner, so 3 down was an early fill. Of course it was one of several "write-overs" as I incorrectly guessed KNOTHOLE. It took me awhile before seeing the "theme".
I never owned a boat, but some of the boat owners I know, and those I don't, are quick with their wit, too:
And, of course, the unifier: 39 down Total alternative ... and a feature of the answers to starred clues?: SPECIAL K. Ahh, another play-on-words! Total. As in the breakfast cereal. I am 99.9% certain that there are those who frequent this blog, who remember the Special K commercials. Or, their witty little jingle:
"K E DOUBLE L! O DOUBLE GOOD! KELLOGS, BEST TO YOU!"
One of the first "low fat / calorie conscious" breakfast foods advertised.
This was one of a few spots that aired on TV, back in the '70's:
Of course, the Kellogs reference made me think of a former Moe-ku:
Snap, Crackle, and PopShall we go ahead and explore the rest of the verbs and "knouns"???
Strangled Tony the Tiger.
Are they cereal killers?
Across:
1. Twinings product: PEKOE. PEKOE is not a tea. Pekoe is a grading system, and refers to teas picked as 2 leaves and a bud. OP, or Orange Pekoe, is a full-leaf tea with no tip or buds. FOP, or Flowery Orange Pekoe, has a longer leaf than an OP and has some buds. Grading systems vary with the tea, so PEKOE does not refer to all tea grades. As a rule, the more whole the leaf is and the more buds it contains, the higher the grade of tea.
I did not know this ...
6. Spare tire: FLAB. Interesting that spare tires in cars used to be "full-sized", and could be rotated on the wheels, regularly. Now, most cars have a spare tire that is meant to be used only in an emergency, and for travel of less than 50 miles. It's generally, referred to as a "donut". I wonder if the "spare tire: flab" correlation came about when vehicle's spares were called donuts?
10. Market aggressively: PUSH. I dunno why the first thought that came into mind, was this. Please don't click the link if you are averse to a bit of cussing, but if you're a fan of the '70's band Steppenwolf, go right ahead
14. Immortal Detroit sportscaster Harwell: ERNIE. Wikipedia. As well as a brief clip of his radio voice and catch-phrases. Maybe JazzBumpa can add to this?
15. Yarn: TALE. Clecho, perhaps? See 37 across ...
16. Wild about: INTO.If I am "wild about" someone, or something, I am also INTO them/it
17. One of 26 in the Maldives: ATOLL.
20. Not touch: LET BE. Maybe a stretch, clue-wise. Is "leave alone" perhaps better?
21. Entomologist's tool: NET. As in catching a butterfly, perhaps?
22. Old enough: OF AGE. So what age is exactly of, of? 16 to drive a vehicle in most states; 18 to vote and enlist in the military; 21 to drink alcohol, and I presume, use recreational marijuana in those states that allow
23. Honker in old comedy films: HARPO. Arthur "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and musician, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. He thrived on doing mime, but was neither deaf nor dumb. Born: November 23, 1888, New York, NY Died: September 28, 1964, Los Angeles, CA. He also played the harp.
25. Unsubstantial: MEAGER. Most people today would consider the Special K breakfast of the 1970's to be MEAGER
26. "Silent All These Years" singer Tori: AMOS. Tori AMOS is a current crossword staple. First or last name. Maybe mid-last century, the crossword staple clue for AMOS might have been: "partner of radio voice, 'Andy'"
28. Radiate: EXUDE. Wonder what percent of crossword entries with the letter "X" are preceded by the letter "E"?
31. Minus: LESS. More, or less
32. Put down: DEMEAN. Ray-O-Sunshine, if you stop by today, please offer a good play-on-words to this, as well as any others. I like your puns!
34. Step on it: PEDAL. As in "PEDAL to the metal" - a reference to "flooring" the gas pedal in a car
36. United: ONE. Again, my weird brain (CED you have company!) was steered to an airline reference. Good read for knowing which routes on the major carriers use Flight #1
39. Chic retreat: SPA. As opposed to a "chick" retreat
42. "Uh-oh. Better get ... " collision repair company: MAACO. MAACO Collision Repair & Auto Painting is an American franchisor of auto painting and collision repair shops based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was founded in 1972 by Anthony A. Martino and Daniel I. Rhode
43. Showed surprise: GASPED.
45. Rum-soaked cake: BABA. "BABA Blackbeard, have you any rum?"
48. High-scoring club?: MENSA. Another good mis-direction. I was first thinking QUEEN, as the other high-scoring clubs have four or fewer letters. The high scoring clubs:
50. Suds: HEAD. As in beer or ale or stout. Having a good "HEAD" in a mug/glass of beer is essential, as it actually reduces the amount of effervescence, and won't bloat you as much. Pour the beer down the center of the glass and give it a decent HEAD
51. Urgent order: AT ONCE. "STAT", maybe?
53. Fiber-__ cable: OPTIC. Fiber-optic cable appears similar to an electrical cable, but contains one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. Applications for this cable include long distance telecommunication, and high-speed data connection between different parts of a building
55. Sportscast embellishment: COLOR. ERNIE Harwell was certainly a "COLOR-ful" announcer, but his partner in the booth is often referred to as the "COLOR" commentator. Two of the more famous "COLOR" commentators are seen in this video
56. Trifle: SOU. Also a kind of currency
58. Poppy product: OPIUM. All you need to know
63. Wolfgang Puck chain: SPAGO. The word "spago" is Italian for "string" or "twine." The plural would be "spaghi," which is the beginning of "spaghetti," and suggests that pasta is on the menu. Again, I did not know this
64. Trillion: Pref.: TERA. for the geeks out there. A history of the rise of computer hard drive capacity over time (1980-2020)
65. It's often steamed: RICE. Moe-ku 2 (for our SE Texas viewers):
Houston undergrads
Got a huge tuition hike.
I hear they are steamed
66. What Ma knows well: CELLO. Yo Yo Ma. Famous cellist. Another playful crossword clue/solve staple
67. Baking soda target: ODOR. A key ingredient in deodorants; we also keep an open box of it in the refrig to control odors there
68. Word of woe: ALAS. Word of MOE? See 37 across
69. "The Kominsky Method" co-star: ARKIN. Alan Arkin. The show is on Netflix. Never seen it
Down:
1. Toll: PEAL. As in a bell toll; not a turnpike fare
2. Deco master: ERTE. Roman Petrovich Tyrtov was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials. (November 23, 1892, Saint Petersburg, Russia - April 21, 1990, Cochin Hospital, Paris, France).Nickname: R.T.
4. Primer type: OIL BASE. Water based primer versus oil based primer paint. Basically the difference between the two primers is: Water based primer is for acrylic or latex paints and oil based primer is for enamel paints. ... Enamel is hardier so surfaces that require heavy traffic or exposure to the elements are usually painted in enamel.
5. Sushi bar supplier: EELER. Hmm ... not "crabbing", but I think most sushi bars get their seafood from a food/fish distributor
6. Ky. army post: FT KNOX. The Army OCS (Officer Candidate School) was offered and held at this Fort in the mid-1960's. Those who passed could truly say they survived the school of hard KNOX
7. Country __: LANE. Lots of four letter possibilities with the word "Country". CLUB, MILE, FOLK, WIDE, ROAD, TOWN, et al
8. Touched down: ALIT. Not exactly how space crafts "touched down" during the early NASA years
9. Ask to be excused, with "off": BEG. I'd much rather BEG for forgiveness than ask for permission
10. Hidden danger: PITFALL. Moe-ku #3:
The Oboe player
Tripped during the opera;
Was there a PITFALL?
11. Set free: UNCAGE. See the happy hens in 39 across photo
12. Puts on: STAGES. I had ADORNS first go around
13. Ones who never lose faith: HOPERS. There is always one squirrelly clue/solve in every puzzle. This is it!
19. Manual weed whacker: HOE. Actually, if it would fit, for me it's my right hand ... that's MY manual weed whacker
24. George Eliot, e.g.: PEN NAME. Also Known As: Mary Ann Evans. (33 down: Dossier letters)AKA
26. Brouhaha: ADO. Only on a Friday would "brouhaha" be used as a clue! Moe-ku #4:
The Craft Beer owner
Had a laughing fit, and caused
A big brouhaha
27. "Of Mice and __": MEN. Steinbeck Novella about displaced migrant workers during the Great Depression
29. Kate on the cover of Vanity Fair's 100th anniversary issue: UPTON. Splynter had his stockings/nylons. C Moe has his jeans!
30. Wet blanket: DEW. I love this clue! I was thinking of a word related to party pooper; instead, the wet blanket was morning wetness on the grass. Even here in the desert SW, we can see a "wet blanket" in the morning, on the lawns in our neighborhood
35. __ discount: AT A. I was brought up never to pay retail, if you can help it
40. Wasabi-coated snack: PEA. Wasabi peas are green peas that have been roasted and coated in a mixture of starch, sugar, salt, oil and wasabi. They may also contain artificial coloring, depending on the brand. Wasabi itself is a form of the horseradish plant grown in Japan
41. Recipe verb: ADD. I am constantly adding things to my food before and while it's cooking. Lots of favorite spices; Za'atar is perhaps my favorite
44. Amazon, for one: SHIPPER. Does Amazon compensate for late delivery? So what compensation can someone expect to receive from Amazon for a delivery that has missed it's guaranteed delivery date? ... $5 Amazon credit. Free month of Amazon Prime + 30% refund of the order. 4 late deliveries lead to free month of Amazon Prime, $30 credit, one $15 item for free. I guess they mean business
45. __ basics: BACK TO. Another solve that could have multiple clues. BACK TO: the future; back(s); front; roots; the drawing board; et al
46. Made up (for): ATONED. See 9 down. I've ATONED many things in my life
47. Short jacket: BOLERO. Part of a Torero's outfit
49. Drunks: SOUSES. Despite my Nightcaps, I am not a drunk. And I never drive a vehicle after imbiding
52. Shout: CRY.
54. Teatro Costanzi premiere of 1900: TOSCA. Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome in January, 1900.
56. Yacht outing: SAIL. SAIL can be either a noun or a verb
57. Whale also called a blackfish: ORCA. Shamu is perhaps the most famous
59. Not-cute fruit: UGLI. Don't judge the book by its cover ...
60. Night light: MOON. Put in NEON on the first go around
62. Stretch often named for a music genre: ERA. As in the Jazz ERA
That's all, and there's no MOE!
The Grid:
37 comments:
Good morning!
Wow, Chairman Moe, that was one erudite elucidation. I sensed the KN theme with KNIGHT CAP, but still fell into the KNOTHOLE. Missed the reveal. Again. But got 'er done in good time, so life is good. Thanx, Gary and C-Moe.
MEDIGAP: I'll bet lots of folks here have a Medigap policy to supplement Medicare Part B. I do.
"Special K": The cereal commercial that popped to mind was "Mikey." Oops, that was Life, not Special K. Mikey's probably a grandfather by now.
PEKOE: Excellent dissertation, C-Moe. When we toured Japan in the late 60s we were informed that tea plants are not considered mature until they're several hundred years old.
TERA: My music server has a two terabyte hard-drive. I'll never come close to filling it up.
FLAB: "Tire rotation" -- Spare tire rotation pretty much ended with the advent of the radial tire. Radials sense rotational direction, and can only be rotated front-to-rear on the same side of the vehicle. Doesn't work well for a spare, does it? My current vehicle doesn't have a spare, but I've read that these run-flat tires cost more, and don't last nearly as long as conventional radials.
Gary's SPECIAL K puzzle's NW almost stumped me. Twinings and ERNIE Harwell were unknowns and I didn't know that the Maldives were ATOLLs- I tried ISLET. I knew ERTE was right and tried BOLE POLE for 'Tree trunk' until HARPO corrected it. And I definitely wasn't expecting a 'KN' fill as a down, with the other three filled as crosses. Since I solve in ink the NW looked UGLI and I had to grind it out to FIR.
ARKIN, AMOS, & UPTON were perped.
I got the HEAD fill but had never heard of it used as beer, only the foam, not the substance you drink.
FLAB- spare tires- BMWs no longer have spare tires. They only use roll-flat tires. They claim that the tires are good for 150 miles after a flat and that would allow you to get to somewhere to get it repaired.
OIL BASE primer? You'd never get that with MAACO's advertised cost of "$29.95 to paint any car." Just a horrible paint job.
Been to a Ren Faire in florida. I'd say drinking is the big attraction for many, for Betsy it's the horses.
SPECIAL K now adds strawberries and/or raspberries. I like to cerealize with a 3-1 ratio. In fact I better finish up, get my cereal quick to make my ten o'clock mtg.
My tea is herbal except I drink Arnies socially. And then you can't shut me up.
If it's any help my frosh advanced calculus class had a D-MEAN. I trudged down the hall to Economics - the last homely house of woulda been math majors
After several times I'm familiar with ERTE.
My choices of OCS came down to partying in DC on weekends starting week 2.
I just LIU "Hod" vs HOE. MEAGER took care of the E. Scythe* better.
Loved your write-up C-Moe. Gary is right up (there) with Jeff.
WC
Took me 12:21 today.
No real "knits" to pick today.
Is this the same Gary Larson who drew The Far Side?
Good Morning:
Well, Miss Smarty Pants got her comeuppance early on when she confidently filled in Knighteen for Knightcap, solely based on the “Number” part of the clue. Changing Knitter (Hi, M. Defarge) to Knitwit turned the light bulb on and the rest of the fill fell into place. Until the reveal, I didn’t fully recognize the addition of K’s to common phrases. Don’t ask. My only unknown was Ernie and the only other misstep was Hype/Push. CSO to Tin at _ _ _. Cute duos of Ado/Dew and Man/Men. My favorite O endings were usurped today by the A Team: Spa, Baba, Mensa, Tera, AKA, Pea, At A, Era, Orca, and Tosca!
Thanks, Gary, for a fitting Friday challenge and thanks, Moe, for an illuminating and chuckle-laden expo.
Have a great day.
Wednesday easy. I picked around until I found a gimme I could exploit and I was off and running. I soon came to Special K and went back and put KN at all the starred fill.
Moe, I came upon the tea grading system the last time we had PEKOE. Interesting. I have often seen pekoe used for tea of the pekoe grade, as well. Pekoe as a grade of tea and as the tea itself are both listed in dictionaries.
I laughed at HARPO for honker.
I believe let it be and leave it alone are about equivalent. When we kids fooled around with something we were not allowed to touch we were told to let it be.
Spare tire for flab has been around since the mid 1900's. I have heard it used for the last 60 plus years.
I know suds is slang for beer, but it is also a synonym for foam. HEAD was a gimme. Suds brought beer to mind and then foam and then head.
I love wasabi peas.
BROUHAHA is a fun word to say. Don't sports broadcasters sometimes use it for melee?
ATONE is almost always used with FOR. That's why in the clue FOR is included in the parentheses. I don't apologize my thoughtlessness, I apologize FOR it. Substitute atone for apologize in that sentence.
Back to the salt mines.
Musings
-A worthy Friday challenge
-A colleague always told kids touching lab equipment before class, “Leave it be!” The kids would compound the grammatical error by saying, “I did it on accident!”
-I’ve seen golfers misuse a WEDGE and wind up with a high score
-Auric Goldfinger’s attempt to rob FT KNOX yielded the best James Bond theme song with its unmistakable two first notes
-Frost almost replaced DEW here last night
-I love how SHIPPER Amazon is very prompt and even sends me a picture of the item on our front porch
-Thorough job, Moe
Good morning everyone.
Started out being a HOPER but finished as a voilà-er. No problems with the solve. Agree HOPER was detracting from the otherwise good fill.
No SPECIAL-K for me. Just old-fashioned oatmeal with blackstrap molasses. Aldi's had it for $1.98 the other day.
TERA is also widely used in electric energy supply contracts, transmission and other agreements. When major systems interchange power, the TERAwatt-hours ADD up.
Thanks CM for a fine intro.
I GASPED..I can knot believe it; a puzzle made up of homophones. Knead I stress how obknockshus !! Atone in a church, knave! 😉😆
Anywhoo... ("whatever" in owl-speak)
NW corner almost did me in. Held on to "island" for ATOLL too long and held off on PEKOE because I keep thinking it's spelled without a final E. "High scoring club" was a great clue. (Darn sports reference? ) and Poppy product from yesterday "Pops" could conceive-ably be "son". With "Primer type" was looking for an ABC book. The SPAGO info Knew to me.. interessante
Unsubstantial kind of clunky, would imply "not proven"...."insubstantial" more appropriate for MEAGER. Tried a google search after I finished for "unsubstantial", google kept changing it to "insubstantial" or "unsubstantiated " ....Wet blanket: good misdirecting: had dud first.
Fans of a famous USO comedian....HOPERS
Winfrey's backward friend.....HARPO
Well-dressed Arab leader.....CHIC.
Missed the target, my ______ off....AMOS
Those marching songs are _____ SOUSES.
A lie: _____ story....ATOLL
Saturn's day Knears.
Well, Fridays are always toughies for me, but Gary Larson's puzzles are always fun--just like this one. I got the southwest corner first, and when I got KNEW YEARS I was on to the KN start theme. That helped with KNIGHTCAP, although, like Irish Miss, I first put TEEN at the end. KNIT WIT was helped by knowing that George Eliot was a PEN NAME for a female poet (thanks for explaining, Chairman Moe). And so it went, until it all filled in. Nice to have the puzzle end with a favorite--Alan ARKIN.
Thanks again, everybody, and have a fun weekend coming up.
Hola!
What phun! Thank you, Gary Larson and CMoe! I have to go back and re-read your treatise to insure I appreciate all the nuances. Good job!
I found this a bit KNOTTY at first and bounced around until whole spans filled and saw the word play. I loved the clue for DEW! I did not trip on any PITFALLs but mulled a great deal to finally finish.
My MEDIGAP is provided by the state as part of my retirement pension.
I also like the clue for MOON, night light. Clever!
Seabiscuit was a riveting movie!
No SPECIALK for me; I eat Cheerios.
Have a fine day, everyone!
Knice puzzle, Gary! Chairman Moe, those were some fine haiku! I love a puzzle that seems impossible at first glance, and then fills quickly. I somehow never heard of MAACO, but the perps were there, and it turns out I FIR. When DH was wooing me, he emailed extraordinary haiku on a daily basis. I mistook him for a wordsmith, and was smitten. Turns out, he is just really good at haiku! And everything else that matters, of course.
Paul Dushkind @ 8:19
I don’t think they’re one and the same person
NaomiZ @ 11:37:
I’m glad you enjoyed the haiku. Actually, I believe that the 17 syllable poems I write are called Senryū. I also like to do limericks but the shorter, Senryūs (or as Wilbur Charles first coined, “Moe-kus”) are easier to create. I actually do these for my 92 yr old Mom. My Dad (who passed 17 yrs ago) used to humor my Mom with his puns, and to her enjoyment, I’ve picked up where he left off.
I wondered about MEAGER, but the thesaurus gives insubstantial as a second order synonym for meager. The two words can be used interchangeably in some cases.
insubstantial charges in court, too meager to stand up
insubstantial assurances, too meager to be believed
insubstantial proof, too meager to be accepted
IMO this is proof enough that meager and insubstantial can be synonyms in certain cases.
Yup. Far Out!
Wow! Great write-up C-Moe, and great puzzle Gary. Certainly worthy of a Friday challenge. My paper doesn't print the theme so it didn't come into focus until knitwit then things picked up a bit although not quite off to the races. I got atoll and Harpo right away as well as most of the bottom half, then had to strain to get Ernie and letbe which were the last to fall. I loved the Ma clue for cello. Just a really fun, totally satisfying FIR. I video clip of Amos and Andy was hysterical taking me back to, as they say, my yute. One of my favorite episodes had Amos and Andy trying to coordinate sort of a spying mission in which they needed to "simonize our watches" (synchronize) to do it right. Too funny. Racist? I think not. Just plain funny.
Hi all ! Thank you, Gary Larson, and thank you, Chairman Moe.
I do the crossword at the WaPo site. When I got to 3 down, it and four other answers changed from to a gray background. Then after filling KNOT HOLE, KNIGHT CAP and KNIT WIT, I went ahead and entered KN at the start of 61A and 39D.
Ok, so that didn't work out perfectly today as 39D was the SPECIAL K reveal. Still aced the test in good time.
Enjoyed the review, Moe. Never heard of Beany and Cecil, but the clip was cute.
Did not know about the Amazon guarantee. Maybe that's why I got a $5 credit last week or so. Thanks !
After watching Emmy try it, I'm going to order an UGLI fruit. Looks like something I'd like to try.
A song from the rock group from Costa Mesa: Of Mice & Men - Real (Official Music Video)
With clues like
Rum soaked cakes
Suds
Bar staple
Drunks
I just HAD to complete this one “bottoms up”!
Worked my way up from the bottom
It’s 5 pm SOMEWHERE, I need a martini
CMoe:
You outdid yourself! I liked your review sprinkled with MoeKus! Lots of information there and I learned about PEKOE. Thank you.
I'm not a big tea drinker except possibly on a cold winter night which we occasionally experience here, possible in January or February. Iced tea is popular here during the long, hot summer.
Just too busy, but for your curiosity I present this quotation from puzzle maker Gary Larson:
This is my first acceptance with the Puzzle Society Crossword, and I couldn't be more excited. Two things I would like to mention: 1) I am not the Far Side cartoonist, and 2) no animals were harmed during the construction of this puzzle.
Pfun puzzle and even pfunnier expo. Thanks Gary and CM. Only had one real sticking spot - at 48a. "High-scoring club". With the "M" already in place I wasted far too much time trying to squeeze in Mile high.
Can't chat. Gotta pack for my annual pilgrimage to the Appalachians to gaze in awe at the fall foliage and maybe take a few picks. And if time allows, try to sneak up on some unsuspecting WVA trout.
Cya!
I had knot thought of Beany and Cecile in years or even decades. Thanks for the memory, Moe.
My all-time favorite boat name was THE NEVER AGAIN II (I always assumed that it was a reference to boat ownership and not history).
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Gary and CMoe (great Moe-kus)..
I FIRed eventually with a few inkblots.
Hand up for Islet before ATOLL. I did not know ERNIE and NW corner was the last to fill.
I had Demote before DEMEAN.
I recall Picard having photos of a Ren faire.
This Canadian had to use the American spelling for COLOR, ODOR and MEAGER. And OPTIC follows Fibre here. ALAS, there was nose-wrinkling😊.
But thankfully, this Canadian has no need for MEDIGAP.
I noted AGE crossing itself four times in the NE corner (22A, 25A, 11D, 12D)!
IM, I saw ERs instead of your As today, with EELER, SHIPPER, MEAGER, HOPER (yes another nose-wrinklier).
And we also had BOLERO. (Big Easy, we could use BOLE-RO for adapted 3D “line of tree trunks”.) Sorry, Ray’o has better puns😁👍
YR, I think Ray’o was wanting INsubstantial rather than UNsubstantial as a better clue for MEAGER. Your thesaurus seems to confirm his opinion.
Wishing you all a good day.
I loved this puzzle. Hand up at KNIGHTEEN and KNOTHOLE. I also had KNITTER until I finally grokked the gimmick. Excellent clues for CELLO and DEW. Lots of fun today.
C Eh @ 2:51, they are said to be synonyms, however, I too prefer un---- instead of in------ as being more common in this sense. But I found plenty of sample sentences for in--- so I can accept the clue. Second order synonyms appear often here.
Thinking of pop yesterday, I am too pooped to pop. Just vegging out now. And to think I used to be active from dawn to dusk. I must remove or hide most of my personal touches by Monday. Today I sorted and thinned a lot of my paperwork and hid ongoing projects. Then I have difficulty picking it up again. This is not something for a 90 year old to tackle. I am glad I am facing it now. I have seen many who waited too long and left their offspring in the lurch.
Another FIR this morning! Tomorrow is bound to be my downfall, I expect. The theme helped with the beginnings, as others (K)noted, but my last fill was KNITWIT, thanks to DEW and AT A puzzling me for a while. I over confidently entered slomo for COLOR causing my only writeover. Sports related problem, again....Interesting words making a fun puzzle, Gary. And C. Moe, you are getting more information into the review each week! Much appreciated.
Enjoy your weekend, all.
Can eh..I'm assuming it's MEAGRE north of the border?
Would you get tyred changing a tyre in Ontario? 🤔
Oh, that Ma! DNF (I can never remember TOSCA and I didn't recall SPAGO either).
Hi All!
Thanks Gary (is that Gery in Canada? :-)) for the noodler.
C. Moe - I spent about as much time on the expo as the puzzle. Love Steppenwolf.
WOs: Dud (at a party [Hi Ray-O!]) b/f DEW. There's something under ERTE and PEAL.
ESPs: ERTE, BOLERO
Fav: MAACO - Grand always had an AM radio playing in his workshop; you'd hear the ad every hour.
FLN - TTP, I got me a nice Weller soldering iron for my electronics work bench. You can adjust the heat depending on size of the component [some of these surface mount things take 10x lenses to see!] #BurntFingers
PaulD @8:19 - No. //did you see Lem's @12:59?
Shankers - Only Sunday LATs have titles. Daily's are provided by the The Corner host of the day.
EdwardD - LOL!
C, Eh! - I did NOT notice the AGEs in the NE. Good COLOuR commentary!
Play later, -T
And of course while Gary is not related to a cartoonist, Ross is. TRUDEAU FAMILY
Thank you Mr. Larson for an inventive and interesting puzzle, and Chrmn Moe for your wonderful haiku filled commentary. I clicked on all your links, and then some more links on youtube and learnt all about Transmission Gears, something the engineer in me had forgotten !
I am sorry that Mr. Larson is not that Mr. Larson the artist, but I would opine that both of you belong to the MENSA fraternity, for puzzle contruction and cartooning.!
Per Lemonade ... No animals were harmed in the production and usage of this xword ?? ... I bet many human beings tore their hair out trying to find the answers to the clues .... and man IS an animal, no less.
I had trouble with What Ma knows well ... CELLO. I forgot about YO YO Ma.
Thank you for the info on Pekoe and Orange Pekoe. I knew they were grades of Tea, but I thought Orange Pekoe was a flavor of Orange trees planted nearby, in the tea estates. I personally know of a manager of a tea estate, whose wife, once innocently planted a bunch of cardamom plants in her home garden,..... in the middle of around 3,000 acres of a tea estate. The whole crop of tea had a hint of a cardamomy flavor, and the entire years crop was ruined ... er, downgraded, .... and he got fired !! This was over 50 years ago. Supposedly, tea plants can pick up the flavor of any strong smelling herbs nearby. So they say.
I just read that Orange in the Orange Pekoe refers to the House of Orange, Dutch Royalty. The Dutch Indies Company had a partial monopoly on tea export in the 1850's.
Nerd Alert !
Dash T, I have an Ungar #7760 that translates to the Weller #7760, and as I put it into Google this evening, it looks like I can replace the chisel tip for significantly less than when I checked the last time. The pencil tip that I have is good for IC work, but that chisel tip good for less delicate work.
I haven't bread boarded anything for years.
Vidwan - I kept looking at 66a's clue and could only, with -ELLO in place, think "Ma Bell?"
Hello, Hello, hELLO!
That was WC messin' in my head with "Maahh-bell" FLN :-)
Cheers, -T
Ray’o@4:02- yes I wanted Meagre. But I am retired not tyred, LOL. We are not that British.
I will have you all spelling “properly” (or at least thinking about it).
AnonT - yes, I have you spelling the Canadian way😁👍
It took me a minute to figure out your dyslexic Gary/Gery comment. Nice.
YR- yes, staging and purging is not for the faint of heart. After trying to help MIL in her later years, I vowed that I would never do that to my kids. (Easier said than done IRL)
Canada..think you meant "I will have you all spelling "propourly" (or at least thinking aboot it)...🤭🤭🤭
From the other night...
TxMs - you wondered if Carol Burnett would still play today. I just shared the clip with Youngest.
a) It's too long(?)
b) No one is that dumb //she loved the physical comedy #ThreeStooges
I tried to explain the 70's trope of dumb-blonds.
"But Mom's blond"
"No, That Artificial Ignorance" :-)
Cheers, -T
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