google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday October 7, 2020 Ed Sessa

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Oct 7, 2020

Wednesday October 7, 2020 Ed Sessa


Theme: The unifier says it all.

63. Making a killing in Vegas ... or what happens in 17-, 28- and 47-Across: BREAKING THE BANK.  Winning a bigger pot than the house can pay.  Alternatively, buying things beyond your ability to pay for them.   Here in the puzzle, it's a book end theme, where the letters of the word BANK begin and and the theme answers.

17 A. Substantial return: BANG FOR ONE'S BUCK.  Getting a substantial return for your investment in time, money or other resources.

28 A. Color named for a dancer: BALLERINA PINK.  Not a particular dancer, but a category of dancer. 

47. Bleeping: BLANKETY BLANK. In broadcasting, profanity and colorful language is often covered over with a bleep sound.  People sometimes substitute BLANKETY BLANK for similar wording n daily conversation.  Either way, the meaning and intent are usually pretty clear.

The first two split BANK down the middle, and the last one after the B.  It would have been more elegant to split them all the same, all different, or put the odd one in the middle; but sometimes life ain't easy.

Hi gang, JazzBumpa here, hoping today's puzzle isn't to costly.  Let's see what we can afford.

Across:

1. Something to pay: DEBT.  An old song has it: "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go."  

5. "Nothing's broken": I'M OK.  Words sometimes spoken after a fall.

9. Lawn game: BOCCE.  Read about it here.

14. Fir fellers: AXES.  Tools for cutting down trees.

15. Cool off in a shallow stream, say: WADE.  Walk through [ not on] water.  This should cool your feet.

16. Weasley family owl: ERROL.  From HARRY POTTER.

20. Popeye's nemesis: BLUTO.



21. Zagreb native: CROAT.  Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of Croatia.

22. Salon creations: DOS.  Something done to hair.

23. NCR product: ATM.  Automatic Teller Machine, a device for making deposits and withdrawals.  Not likely to break the bank.  Or this.

24. "You betcha": YAH.  For sure!

26. Mohel's rite: BRIS.  The Jewish circumcision ceremony performed on a male child on the 8th day after birth.

34. Dodger who befriended Jackie Robinson: REESE.  Harold Peter Henry Reese, aka Peewee [1918-1999] played shortstop for the Brooklyn and L.A. Dodgers from 1940 to 1958.  He was a 10 time all star, and helped his team win 7 National League championships.  As a double play combination with Robinson at 2nd base, they became fast friends and remained so for the rest of their lives.

35. Peter of "The Maltese Falcon": LORRE.   László Löwenstein [1904 – 1964) was a Hungarian-American actor of Jewish descent.  He left Germany when Hitler came to power, and went on to a long career in the movies.  He was given a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960

36. Word of regret: ALAS.  It traces back to the Latin word lassus, meaning weary, coming into Middle English via old French.  

39. Sudden burst: SALVO.  A sudden aggressive act, or a simultaneous discharge of weaponry in battle.

42. 9/11 Commission chair Tom: KEAN. Thomas Howard Kean Sr. [b 1935] was the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990.  After that he was president of Drew University until retiring in 2005.  He is most famous for chairing the  National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States in 2002.
 
43. Star transports: LIMOS.  Fancy wheels for celebrities of all types, as well as some prom attendees.

45. Emulated Van Winkle, after 20 years: AWOKE.  I had no idea I emulated this fictional character every morning.  The things you learn!

51. Toni Morrison novel: SULA.  Her second novel, published in 1973.

52. Reluctantly absorb, as a loss: EAT.  Causes indigestion.

53. Little bite: NIP.  

56. Admiral's rear: AFT.   Back end of a ship.

59. Toon duck triplet: LOUIE.  Huebert, Deuteronomy and Louis Duck are Donald's triplet nephews.  Packaged together, they are a box of quackers.




61. "Fame" singer Cara: IRENE. [b 1962] is an American singer, song writer and actress.



66. Do the Thanksgiving honors: CARVE.  Turkey work, if you're a cut up

67. Start to scope: TELE.  Affix I'd like to tele to stop.

68. __ fixe: IDEE.  An idea or desire that dominates the mind - an obsession.

69. Pulled a fast one on: DUPED.  Deceived or tricked.

70. Beef bourguignonne, for one: STEW.  STEW for one?  Usually there are more diners.


 

 71. Old geopolitical states: Abbr.: SSRS.  Parts of the Soviet Union.

Down:

1. Flintstone word: DABBA.  Part of an expression of happiness or excitement.


 


 2. Hold in awe: EXALT.  From Latin, meaning to raise high.

3. Anesthetize: BENUMB.  More generally to deprive of physical or emotional feeling.

4. Air Force NCO: TSGT.  Technical Sergeant is the sixth enlisted rank (pay grade E-6) in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, just above staff sergeant and below master sergeant.

5. __ Jima: IWO.  An island 750 miles south of Tokyo with 2 strategic airfields.  A major battle, eventually won by U.S. marine and naval forces, was fought there from Feb. 19 to March 26, 1945.

6. Italian noblewoman: MARCHESA

7. Dump feature: ODOR.  You can smell it before you see it.

8. Jedi Master Obi-Wan __: KENOBI.  Mentor and friend to Aniken Skywalker [later Darth Vader] and as an older Jedi, mentor to Luke Skywalker.

9. Brutish: BESTIAL.  Nasty. 

10. Uranus, for one: ORB.  A planet, or, more generally, any sphere.

11. Scummy deposit: CRUD.  A dirty unpleasant substance.

12. Gabrielle Chanel, familiarly: COCO.  [1883 - 1971] A French fashion designer and business woman who founded the Chanel brand.

13. Fraternal order: ELKS.  The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is an American fraternal order founded in 1868 originally as a social club in New York City.  The original purpose was to evade N.Y. restricting the hours for public taverns.  They now run various charitable activities,  including programs for youth and veterans.

18. British detective played by Michael Kitchen: FOYLE.

19. Deserve: EARN.  Merit via achievment.

25. Lager alternatives: ALES.  It's all beer to me.

27. Like many addresses: SPOKEN.  Not a street address unless you are speaking in the middle of the road.

29. Incendiary acts: ARSONS.  Starting fires criminaly.

30. Race for four, commonly: RELAY.  One runner at a time.

31. Dander: IRE.  Foul temper.

32. Gun lobby org.: NRANational Rifle Association.

33. "Jeopardy!" whiz Jennings: KEN.

36. Priest's white garment: ALB.  A full-length white linen ecclesiastical vestment with long sleeves that is gathered at the waist with a cincture.  From the Latin album, meaning white.

37. Unlike Abner, really: LI'L.  He was big

38. Geriatrician's gp.: AMAAmerican Medical Association.

40. Bug on the road?: VW BEETLE.  The "people's car" was made from 1838 to 2003.  The New Beetle was introduced in 1997.  Production of another version continued until last year.

41. Dancing girl in "Return of the Jedi": OOLA.

 
She never looks happy
 
44. Moved stealthily: SKULKED.  Kept out of sight, typically with a sinister or cowardly motive.  From Scandinavian language into Middle English, similar to lurk. 

46. Journalist Couric: KATIE.  Katherine Anne Couric[b. 1957] is an American television and online journalist, presenter, producer, and author. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company.

48. Wells' sci-fi race: ELOI.  In the year 802701 A.D. they are a happy, simple people preyed up by the troglodyte-like Morlocks.  

49. Bully's array: TAUNTS.  Remarks made in order to anger, wound, or provoke someone.

50. Works with dough: KNEADS.  Mixes the ingredients by hand.

54. Word with tube or circle: INNER.  

55. Some toys, briefly: PEKES.  Miniature dogs are referred to as toys.  This breed originated in China as a lap dog for royalty.

56. It's sung to the same tune as "Twinkle, twinkle": ABCD.  A alphabet song.

57. Lady of the Haus: FRAU.  Woman or wife in German

58. Md. athlete: TERP.  The University of Maryland was founded in 1856.  It's sport teams are called the Terrapins, or TERPS for short.

60. "__ a Kick Out of You": Porter song: I GET.


 

 62. Slugger's stats: RBIS.  Runs Batted In.

64. Latin greeting: AVE.  Hi, there!

65. Fell, as firs: HEW.  With AXES.

Hope you got your money's worth today.

Cool regards!
JzB




66 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really liked today's puzzle! I have never seen the dish referred to as beef bourguinonne before, only as beef bourguinon. In French, beef is masculine, so it should be bourguinon or a la bourguinonne (with an accent on the "a"). Either way, it is a delicious dish!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Nope, didn't get the theme. Nope, didn't read the full reveal clue. JzB, those theme answers did have a progression -- BAN K, BA NK, B ANK. There was some nice stuff in this one: BESTIAL, BENUMB, MARCHESA, and SKULKED. Thanx, Dr. Ed, and nice tour, JzB (box of quackers, indeed).

ALB: Since it is derived from the Latin "album," meaning "white," does that make the Beatle's White Album redundant like La Brea Tar Pits?

Big Easy said...

Good morning. I noticed the B and K on Mr. Sessa's puzzle but didn't pay attention to the BANK. BALLERINA PINK- easy fill bu I'm not familiar with it. Just a trio of unknowns- ERROL, OOLA, & FOYLE- but my WAG was the correct spelling of MARCHESA after changing SPATE to SALVO. YAH? meh.

Late last night I was reading Monday's WSJ and noticed C.C. had a puzzle-Varity Pack- included. It was Monday easy except for the 'drink made from fermented mare's milk'- KUMISS- that I'd never seen before. After completing the puzzle I looked it up and it had many spellings. KOUMISS, KUMIS, KOUMIS, & KUMISS.


D-otto, "La Brea Tar Pits"? How about 'perfect circle' or 'straight line'.
Let me SKULK outta here.

Hungry Mother said...

FIR with one write-over: EXALT 4 EXuLT. I just sold my VWBEETLE convertible to an online company who gave me a fair price and provided a no-contact experience. I saw the Bs, but not the theme until the reveal.

Wilbur Charles said...

Technically, BANK is split three ways:B ANK,BA NK,B ANK. Ah, there's D-O ahead of me

Reese was the property of the Redsox but player manager(SS) Joe Cronin didn't want the competition and shipped him to the Dodgers. Not to be outdone, future manager Pinky Higgins kept his sil, Don Buddin around at SS despite the 30-40 errors / season. Thus the angst of Redsox fans.

W/O on peri/TELE.

In the Marine Corps that would be E-7, known as a Gunny. USMC has an E-3 Lance Corporal. Recruits are actually E-0, reaching E1 (Private) after boot camp. Pfc(2),Cpl(4),Sgt(5),SSgt(6). Top Sergeant (Master)8, and the exalted rank of Sgt Major(9) . The last a real piece of work
Speaking of , so was spelling MARCHESA.

I thought that there was a TV chan(n)el named Gabrielle at first. Not to be confused with this COCO

WC

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Once the theme phrases were parsed right, they went in pretty easily. Had 'sneaked' before SKULKED. Saw MARCHESA coming but had to wait for the perps to spell it. Also thought of 'surge' before SALVO.

Thanks JzB for another fine intro.

jfromvt said...

Decent Wed puzzle. All the long answers had first and last words beginning with B, except one, would have been nice if they all were the same.

WC - Red Sox also passed on Willie Mays in the late 1940’s, for a much more inexcusable reason. I’ve been a Red Sox fan since only (lol) 1967, so thankfully missed a lot of their sordid past.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a pleasant solve but I needed the reveal to see the theme. My only w/o was Dues before Debt. I needed perps for Errol and Oola and was ready to fill in the alliterative Ballerina Blue, having never heard of Pink. Daily duos include: NRA/AMA, Ken/Kenobi, Orb/Alb, and Alas/Ales. CSO to Tin at Croat.

Thanks, Dr. Ed, for a mid-week treat and thanks, JzB, for an entertaining expo, especially the musical links.

Have a great day.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Thank you, Ed Sessa and JazzBumpa! I liked the puzzle and loved the expo, Jzb. You always provide helpful and informative details.

It took me a while to establish a foothold as I jumped around the grid but the south finally broke through the fog. CARVE and KNEADS amused me as we start looking forward to the holiday season.

FOYLE is one of the all time great detectives in British mystery, IMHO, alongside him is his trusty driver, Honeysuckle Weeks. FOYLE's War airs on PBS. I think Bill G likes him, too.

I started with YABBA before DABBA and that slowed the emergence of DEBT. It also provided the top to SGT which was awaiting.

Flashdance was the first video we ever watched and my introduction to IRENE Cara.

Mohel's rite is a new term for me but BRIS is familiar.

Have a pleasant day, everyone!



Magilla Go-Rilla said...

40D: VW in 1838? Really?😆

Lucina said...

Yes, that was my question, too, which I forgot. VW in 1838?

billocohoes said...

"Baa baa black sheep" is another song with the same tune as the alphabet song and Twinkle. Mozart wrote "Twelve Variations on 'Ah vous dirai-je, Maman'", a French folk song on which they're all based.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A lovely house call from Dr. Sessa, ably abetted by Jazz
-REESE’S befriending Jackie was a brave and decent move for a Kentucky boy
-Peewee challenged many IDEE fixes of the time
-SALVO – I remember touring Ft. Sumter on a cold March morning
-If you fell asleep in 2000 and AWOKE in 2020, you might want to go back to bed
-When we get a cold around here, we just say we have the (creepin’) CRUD
-EARN – No “participation trophy” here
-Our school secretary loved her VW BEETLE convertible but couldn’t keep it out of the shop
-That Cole Porter song is the only one I know that uses this word, “Fighting vainly the old ENNUI

Spitzboov said...

The Mōhēl

CanadianEh! said...

Wednesday workout. Thanks for the fun, Ed and JazzB.
I FIRed eventually and saw the broken BANKs. (ATM was a lovely Easter egg!) But my grid has many inkblots.

Hand up with Irish Miss for Dues before DEBT. That decided DABBA instead of Yabba.
But I thought Popeye's nemesis was Pluto and I was asea (YAH, we had no A-words today, but now we have BE-words like BENUMB!) until I corrected to BLUTO.

Beastly changed to BESTIAL. Why is the A dropped? Ok, I LIUed and it comes from the Latin "bestialis"; perhaps a better question would be "why is the A added in Beast?"

I remembered BRIS from our discussion recently.
I started to enter detective Holmes but it would not fit. FOYLE was all perps.
Prix fixe changed to IDEE.
KATIE today vs. Katy yesterday. CW constructors must love alternate spellings.

Why geriatricians in the AMA clue? While they are undoubtedly members of AMA, they actually have their own specific group, American Geriatrics Society. AGA would have been a perfectly acceptable answer! (We will need more geriatricians as the Boomers age.)
Interestingly, Dr. Ed Sessa is a pediatrician.

DH will CARVE this weekend as Canadian Thanksgiving is on Monday. Separate backyard visits for family because of second wave. Hoping for good weather.

Wishing you all a great day.

CrossEyedDave said...

I am puzzled
Have not done today’s puzzle yet...

Just sat down at the beach, and, as always I went to read yesterday’s late night comments first. My iPad is synced to my phones hotspot and yesterday’s blog came up easily enough, but the bottom links to the comments do not work!
Same with today’s comments.

The only way I can access comments is in my phone?

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

This was a Hard Humpday. Eventualy FIR.

Held of on yabba vrs DABBA till paying my DEBT. Retained to "stalked"/SKULKED too long which blocked completion of BLANKETYBLANK and its perp aids.. Thought the theme cues needed a begining and ending word starting with a B? BALLERINAPINK doesn't follow that formula. But even when I think I'm right I'm wrong.

Almost put "Madonna" the Italian renaissance word for a noble woman but it wouldn't fit. Wasn't thinking of a specific title, MARCHESA (wife of a marquis). Inkovers:KENOBe/i, exult/EXALT.
Its either Dewey or LOUIE ("Huey: too short) Unca Donald's nephews. TSGT, kinda clunky.

Bluto or Brutus? Second too long...Popeye's rival for the voluptuous Olive Oyl. (Always wondered what they were mumbling about?) Almost wrote tailgating for bug on the road. Have to remind myself that "toy" often is canine not kinder. BENUMB? (ALAS, silly fill)

BOCCE in Rome New York 15 miles east of us.

And...

_____ cut down your own Christmas tree?....HEW
Surreal crime drama, "Twin ____ " .....PEKES
He _____ the possible consequences....WADE
Winning by cheating is nothing to_____ CROAT.
Truck: American, ______ : British.....LORRE

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Canada eh. I'm a proud non-member of the AMA. They are a medical group but also a powerful lobbying organization taking many policy positions I do not agree with. The Geriatric Society I believe is more patient care oriented. Likely many geriatricians belong to both.

TTP said...



I'm a member of a country club
Country music is what I love
I drive an old Ford pick-up truck
I do my drinkin' from a Dixie cup
Hey I'm a bonafide dancin' fool
I shoot a mighty mean game of pool
At any honky-tonk roadside pub
I'm a member of a country club


Cross Eyed Dave, the link is there at the bottom of your IPAD display but it won't open ?

How about the links on the right side ?

Specifically, go to Archives, then today's date, and then select it. It should open JzB's review followed by all the blog comments for today.

Spitzboov said...

Ray-O - - I think you mean West of us. I'm in N. Hartford and I'm guessing you're somewhere around Whitesboro?

My doctors don't belong to AMA last time I checked. My sister did; she's retired now.

Malodorous Manatee said...

My experience with this Wednesday puzzle was similar to Ray's in that I found it to be on the difficult side for a Wednesday. FIR, but I have already solved tomorrow's puzzle in 2/3 the time.

YAH and TSGT were workable but were certainly not instant entries. Fortunately, BENUNB, MARCHESA, and BESTIAL were clued in a straightforward manner and were slowly coaxed out of the grid. If the clues had been a bit more oblique then those words word be, IMHO, more suitable for Friday or Saturday.

KEAN, SULA, and FOYLE were filled by perps and, although I knew OOLA, she did not immediately pop into my memory. The use of twenty or so proper nouns was very much on the high side for my tastes.

CrossEyedDave said...

Testing as I hit publish and my post disappeared

CrossEyedDave said...

Hmm,

TTP, side links are curiously separately underneath the write up? Can you see if my disappeared post is in the crapper for me?

TTP said...



CED, nothing there by you. Just more spam.

Can you, or can you not, see the comments by using the Archives link to today's blogpost ?


CrossEyedDave said...

TTP sorry for delay. Blog crashed and posts were disappearing

CrossEyedDave said...

I think it was the hot spot connection and having two blogs open on separate devices screwed things up

CrossEyedDave said...

Blog works fine now in phone only if I disconnect iPad.

However the iPad is totally bonkers

TTP said...



OK, glad you are back to normal.

Wait, did I really just write that ?



TTYL. Outside time for me too.

CrossEyedDave said...

iPad had no side links at all.

Then the side links were in the bottom.

Then the comments opened up ten minutes later in a separate page but I could not
Publish posts

Then the side
Links came back on the previous page but were unlinkable

Just total
Chaos

CrossEyedDave said...

Situation normal

Misty said...

Delightful Wednesday puzzle, Ed--many thanks. And I enjoyed your commentary, JazzB.

Lots of fun names showed up: BLUTO, COCO, LOUIE, IRENE, among others.
I too had to choose between YABBA and DABBA for the Flintstone expression.

Liked seeing KATIE Couric.

Have a great Wednesday, everybody.

Bill G said...

Hi everybody.

Movie and TV reviews: I really liked Foyles War when I stumbled upon it a few years back. I can't find any new shows or even any reruns. Lucina, can you still find it? Rats...

I stumbled across "The Invisible Man," a movie, with Elizabeth Moss on cable a couple of weeks back. It had gotten pretty good reviews so I recorded it and watched it. I hated it. The first third or so was so boring I almost gave up. Then it got more interesting but turned very ugly. Rats...

~ Mind how you go...

Anonymous said...

Steam driven. Very rare model.

Malodorous Manatee said...

"Situation Normal"

A F U ?

:-)

CanadianEh! said...

CED and TTP: I could not open the Comments on my iPad earlier. I thought it was just a glitch and posted from my PC.
iPad comments still won't open!
Side links are down below and they won't open either. (I had not looked at that earlier)

NaomiZ said...

I liked Ed's puzzle and FIR, but felt uncertain about BLANKETY BLANK because, like JzB, I saw the BANK split differently on this line than on the others. But all those perps can't be wrong! JzB, thanks for staying up late -- or getting up early, as the case may be -- and thanks to all for your interesting comments.

Terry said...

Agree with you on Foyles War.

Vidwan827 said...

Thank you Ed Sessa for a challenging puzzle, and JazzB for a comprehensive and visually stimulating review. I had trouble with Marchesa, I was trying the British spelling.

I learnt a lot of things from the blog... like the rules of Bocce etc., and that I should watch the movie,'Fame', sometime soon.

What did Rip Van Winkle, tell the townsfolk, when he woke up ?
'Don't make the bed yet ... I'm just going to the restroom ...'

The 1838 starting date for the Volkswagen is only a simple typo .... it should be 1938.
The VW company was itself started in 1937. per Wiki.
The company was started by the German Labor Union, and the designer was Ferdinand Porsche ... yup, the famous guy. It was built per Herr Hitler's request and desire, and the model was subsidized with the Nazi Party funds.

unclefred said...

A little crunchy for Wednesday. Did finish but with 29 minutes of head-scratching. When I read the clue for 63a suddenly the light bulb came on, and I just filled it straight-away. CanadienEH! thanx for ‘splainin why “BESTIAL” isn’t spelled (or “spelt”?) with an a. Always seemed like it should have an “a”, or, as you said, what’s the ”a” doing in “beast” to begin with? That’s English for you, which is what makes CW solving challenging. Anyway, fully enjoyed this CW, thanx Ed Sessa, and also enjoyed the write-up, thanx, JzB!! BTW, also enjoy all the comments a LOT!! Thanks to everyone for your contributions!!!!

unclefred said...

I knew the three songs with the same melody, would never have guessed Mozart had anything to do with it!! Thanx for that bit.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Spitz @11:54...yes my error Rome NY is west of us. I do live in Whitesboro

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Malman @11:54...Where did you find Thursday's puzzle already today?

Wilbur Charles said...

RayO, How about: Did HEW cut down the cherry tree, Georgie?

J-vt, Redsox passed on all the blacks. I related the phony "tryout" in 1945 which if "Jinx*" is applicable would have begun then and Enos Slaughter's mad dash in 1946 was the first of many.

1967 was indeed a great year for the Redsox with the surreal Pennant race and their unexpected WS appearance. Chi-Sox with one game lead lost two to lowly Senators and we're out of the weekend action. Tiger's needed a sweep and lost the Sunday nightcap. I'll spare Boomer an account of Redsox sweep of Twins. And…

Speaking of baseball , I too have the weeks xwords as an insert into TB-Times Sunday issue. News flash, Saturday is tough.

WC

** Ps, whatever happened to Jinx?

CrossEyedDave said...

Back home with the iPad on the house WIFI.

It is still kerflewie...

Had to use iPhone

Malodorous Manatee said...

Ray-O, I use an app called Shortyz to download/solve L.A. Times, Universal, Newsday, some WSJ, Jonesin' and USA Today puzzles. Each morning, So Cal time (presently, GMT minus 7), I tell my tablet that the correct time zone for where I am is somewhere far, far east of SoCal. If it's 7 a.m. here in SoCal it is, for example, 17 hours later in Guam (GMT plus 10). The tablet then believes that it is already the next day and Shortyz then downloads the puzzles for that next day.

Lucina said...

WidWan827:
I know it's a simple typo, but I like to give JZB a bit of a hard time only because he is so erudite and thorough in his explanations. I love him!

Brian said...

I just found out that when I go to the archives all the embeded links do not work. Even links that are in the blog write up and the links at the end (like additional archives and interviews with the various crossword creators.) I'm using a MacBook Air. I tried using both Safari and Firefox. I don't have any trouble with links that are in the original write up for the current day.

Ol' Man Keith said...

I always rooted for BLUTO.
I hoped he would take that *#@! BLANKETY-BLANK cocky spinach-loving Popeye down a peg or two.
ALAS!

A fun pzl from Mr. Sessa!
~ OMK
___________
DR:
Just one diagonal. It offers an anagram with a double meaning, either referring to someone
who killed oppressors,
or to a bevy of dictators,
both in the same words, either...
"SLEW TYRANTS"
-or a-
"SLEW (of) TYRANTS"!
Take your pick.

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

FIR, with a few write-overs: YABBA/DABBA; BRUTO/BLUTO; AWAKE/AWOKE; SSGT/TSGT

Spitz @10:18 and WC @8:34, thanks for the Seinfeld links. LOL! George Costanza; what a putz!

I got the theme ... believe it or not (**spoiler alert**!!). The puzzle was a bit chunky/clunky here and there, but overall, quite enjoyable. Liked how the broken BANK progressed across the fills (BAN K; BA NK; B ANK). BALLERINA PINK was a head scratcher
Thanks Ed, and Ron, for the hump day entertainment. I got my money's worth

Moe-ku du jour:

Wilma was happy!
Her hairdresser gave her a
Yabba DABBA 'do

WILMA

See ya manana ...

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

OMK...Never understood why Bluto couldn't figure out the can of spinach trick himself.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

4:24pm...What a resourceful creature be the manatee!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All:

Thanks Ed for the (Thursday?) puzzle (lots of fun words!) and thanks JzB for the illustrative expo.

WOs: yABBA, Coned [sic] b/f DUPED, SeLA, HeuIE b/f LOUIE
ESPs: SULA, MARCHESA, SKULKED
Fav: Cue Brooks: BRIS

OMK - I'm shocked! you'd root for the BESTIAL BLUTO. I always got excited when a downed Popeye would finally get his spinach and give that BLANKETY BLANK his comeuppance.
//Fun DR.

C.Moe! great DABBA DOS ku.

D-O - Redundant White ALBum... That's cute.

46d is how DW spells her shortened K (with an A).

Lucina - I too liked FOYLE's War on PBS's Thursday Mysteries.

Ray-O - I love the pics in your BOCCE link; those old Italians cookin' :-)

FLN - CED. I left you an Eddie Van Halen link. Lem, yes a real "guitar god."

Cheers, -T

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

WC @ 4:04, according to the myth when George Washington was 6 years old his father gifted him a hatchet...you know the rest.

My question is...

What kind of a father gives a 6 year old a hatchet!!?? 😳

Anonymous T said...

TTP - I just opened the FLN from the side link for Tuesday. None of the links I linked are hyper. Odd. Windows 7 (yeah, I know but it's the Garage Laptop) with Chrome.

Cheers, -T

Anonymous T said...

TTP & CED - Odderer (?). Monday's links accessed from the daily side-link are hyper. Just a data point for you. Cheers, -T

Jayce said...

Good ole Ed Sessa. He did it again: a fun, challenging, yet doable puzzle. I enjoyed solving it.
But not without some writeovers: I thought BILL was the thing to be paid, but then it had to be YABBA or DABBA, which finally led to the right answers. YEP led to YEH which led to YAH. PERIscope had to be changed to TELEscope. PRIX fixe had to be changed to IDEE fixe. And then there was the choice of DEWEY or LOUIE.
I, too, was expecting the word after BALLERINA to begin with a B so I wrote in BLUE. Nope.
Seeing S-O-E- for "like many addresses" I filled in SNORER. Nope.
Hand up for greatly enjoying Foyle's War. That Michael Kitchen sure likes to purse his lips a lot. Honeysuckle Weeks was good, too. Her sister's name is Perdida Weeks.
Gary, we used to call a bad cold the creeping crud, too.
When I had my wisdom teeth extracted, I was BENUMBed.
Good wishes to you all.

Edward Duarte said...

No BRIS-ket for me!
😜

CanadianEh! said...

TTP- I was able to access these comments on my old iPad running Version 9.3.5
Up until now, everything has been fine on my new iPad. Something changed overnight.

CrossEyedDave said...

If I were home, on my PC, I probably
Would not have even detected any problem.

But it is curious (puzzling in fact) that the iPhone using Safari works, but the same IOS
Using Safari on an iPad creates chaos !

TTP, in compensation, is it too much to ask
That the 5 post maximum be waved for a day?

I mean, I never got to create my normal silly chaotic parade of nonsense that everyone expects of me !

And!

My post about the typo in the write up showing the first theme answer as back instead of bank went into the ether...

Probably a good thing as I was complaining
About Having to sit in a beach all day without beer or bathroom just to please DW...

“And”

Anon-T!
You post about yest late nite Van Halen
Links just for me when you know I am having hot link issues! Way to kick a guy in balls man! Sheesh!

Wilbur Charles said...

Bill G, I went to YouTube and found Foyle's war on a search. But then I got diverted to Bertie Wooster and Jeeves.

Jayce I used to trick the dentist into free gas. I would get him talking Boston Celtic lore. I had a lot of info that he wasn't aware of like the C's getting Bill Russell for Ice Capade dates in Rochester.

WC

Ps,-T, I got a kick out of Rabbi Tuckman

TTP said...



CED, I'm not counting.

Canadian Eh, thank you for the additional input. Very helpful.

Dash T, ditto, and verbatim what you said on my Win10.

Two different problems. One is specific to yesterday's (Tuesday) blog, and the other is specific to Apple devices on Blogger.

Something to work on tomorrow.

ATLGranny said...

Groan.... today was a FIW, thanks to the NW corner. I just couldn't see D_B_ and put in BrUTO for 3 wrong squares. Tried to make sSGT work, not knowing about technical sargeants, so a learning moment. Also interesting to learn about the origin of the oft used tune of "Twinkle, twinkle." So, not a bad experience overall. Thanks, Ed and JazzB for today.

Internet problems struck me too today when I tried to read the later posts FLN. Tuesday's blog and comments just come up with a blank page. Better luck tomorrow, I hope.

ATLGranny said...

I just got to see the Tuesday comments by going to the web version on my phone and selecting Tuesday in the Blog Archive. Thanks for that suggestion.

TTP said...



Tuesday links should now be fine.

TTP said...



Glad it worked for you AtlGranny !

Dash T, are you hyper again on Tuesday ? :>)

Anonymous T said...

TTP - yes they're clickable(? is that a word?) now.

That was a reasonable debate but direct answers dodged [did I expect otherwise?]

Cheers, -T