Hi Cornerites! Chairman Moe here, getting to recap my second Gary Larson puzzle, which today features multiple "polysemies". For those whose lexicon is feeling lethargic on this day after Thanksgiving, a polysemy is defined as the coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase. And today's used a verb tense (observe) as one meaning, and a noun as another. Gary chose five such phrases that we'll describe in just a few moments.
And if November 27, 2020 was added to his list, might we have seen this clue and solve? "Observance of cream-less coffee?" BLACK FRIDAY
Yes, folks, it's BLACK FRIDAY, and while this year's version might be done with shoppers wearing masks and keeping a 6' separation, it of course made me think of this comic:
So while you're contemplating whether or not to go to the mall today, let's see how Gary's polysemies fell into our grid:
16-Across. Observe music festival performers?: WATCH BANDS/WATCHBANDS. Concert goers at this 1969 Festival got to WATCH 32 BANDS/ACTS over the course of three days in mid-August at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in the town of Bethel, NY. I doubt this would happen in 2020, what with masks and social distancing
The polysemy is WATCHBANDS, which Apple has a plethora of
38-Across. Observe woodworking tools?: SEE SAWS/SEE SAWS. SEE SAWS could also be parsed as one who views Proverbs! But who, as a kid, didn't fear THIS event:
61-Across. Observe bank drafts?: SPOT CHECKS/SPOTCHECKS. I dunno about all y'all, but C Moe hasn't written an actual CHECK in years. All of my banking is done online, and I also make my deposits of any "physical" CHECK by taking its picture and sending it via my phone and bank app. Glad I have adopted this as my closest bank is several miles away ... SPOTCHECKS: could Gary have meant this trio of a highly reliable product used to detect surface cracks or discontinuities in any non-porous material (metals, plastics or ceramics). Magnaflux Spot Check is a red visible nondestructive test method for Liquid Penetrant Inspections (LPI)?
10-Down. Observe engagement jewelry?: SPY RINGS/SPYRINGS. SPY RINGS is not an activity I've done in several years; it used to be that the amount one should spend on an engagement ring is = to 3 month's income. If the median income is about $40k, then you'd need to spend about $10k on a ring. Here is what $10k might buy; 2.5 karats:
SPYRINGS brought this image to mind; from my youth:
37-Down. Observe fancy dances?: EYE BALLS/EYEBALLS. I'm not sure that a sleuth would actually "EYE" BALLS - as in the dance - but I suppose so ... OTOH, these EYEBALLS are kinda creepy:
BTW, I forgot to include this prior to Thursday, but thought you might enjoy ... I didn't know Dagwood Bumstead was a friend, but he made sure I had my turkey!
On to the other clues!
Across:
1. Easter beginning?: NOR. LENT obviously didn't fit ... a NOR'easter
refers to a storm, as this video describes:
Moe-ku #1
Folks who use coupons4. Small amount: DOLLOP. Not sure that I've seen this word used before, but I know that our resident crossword historian, Lemonade714 will chirp in ...
During NOR'easters? Of course,
They're Arctic Clippers
10. Hot tub with a whirlpool: SPA. Not sure that I like this clue, but YMMV
13. Period often with a name: ERA. Or, a pitcher's (baseball) stat
14. Ring of color: AREOLA. Why does this clue/solve always appear whenever I blog? Let your imagination run wild thinking of an image ... maybe the next time it shows up in a Moe Blog I will take the bait ...
15. Welcoming: OPEN. Signs at establishments today?
18. Russian refusal: NYET. Was this Putin's response when asked if they interfered with this year's election?
19. Small battery type: C CELL. Most of my small batteries are either AA or AAA
20. One snugly in bed, say: NESTLER. I wonder if Gary thought of THIS when he chose this word? Go ahead and click on it ... it's safe ...
22. 2018 SAG Life Achievement Award recipient: ALDA. Well, all I can say is that this is a more "modern" clue for this famous actor, AKA Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo
23. Ukr., once: SSR. Crosswordese
24. Comment not meant for everyone: ASIDE. Muttered under one's breath perhaps ...
27. Wish undone: REGRET. I rue the day when I next see this in a crossword puzzle ...
29. Vegas attractions: CASINOS. And here I thought Gary meant these:
31. Ones who take things badly?: KLEPTOS. Apparently the word KLEPTO entered into our language about the same time as I emerged from the womb. It is a shortened version of KLEPTOMANIA and requires no "abbr." in the clue. As a kid, and a dog lover, I came to know that Irish Setters are "career KLEPTOS"
34. Freudian topics: EGOS. So many clips to choose from about Freud and EGOS. So here is an imbedded video clip (1:07) that speaks to the ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO. And here is a meme of our eponymous psychoanalyst:
And lastly, Moe-ku #2:
Do you know what wives
In Berlin call petticoats?
Their Frau-dian slips.
35. Word of encouragement: OLE. One of these days, we are going to get a clue for OLE that refers him to either Sven or Lena. For example:
"Ole and Sven die in a snowmobiling accident, drunker than skunks, and end up in Hell. The Devil observes that they are really enjoying themselves. He says to them 'Doesnt the heat and smoke bother you?' Ole replies, 'Vell, ya know, ve're from nordern Minnesooota, da land of snow an ice, an ve're yust happy fer a chance ta varm up a little bit, ya know.'
The devil decides that these two aren't miserable enough and turns up the heat even more. When he returns to the room of the two from Minnesota, the devil finds them in light jackets and hats, grilling Walleye and drinking beer. The devil is astonished and exclaims, 'Everyone down here is in misery, and you two seem to be enjoying yourselves?' Sven replies, 'Vell, ya know, ve don't git too much varm veather up dere at da Falls, so ve've yust got ta haff a fish fry vhen da veather's dis nice.'
The devil is absolutely furious. He can hardly see straight. Finally he comes up with the answer. The two guys love the heat because they have been cold all their lives. The devil decides to turn all the heat off in Hell. The next morning, the temperature is 60 below zero, icicles are hanging everywhere, and people are shivering so bad that they are unable to wail, moan or gnash their teeth. The devil smiles and heads for the room with Ole and Sven. He gets there and finds them back in their parkas, bomber hats, and mittens. They are jumping up and down, cheering, yelling and screaming like mad men.
The devil is dumbfounded, 'I don't understand, when I turn up the heat you're happy. Now its freezing cold and you're still happy. What is wrong with you two?'
They both look at the devil in surprise and say, 'Vell, don't ya know, if hell iss froze over, dat must mean da Vikings von da Super Bowl.'"
40. Full house sign: SRO. Standing Room Only. But I immediately thought of this:
41. Plays (with): TOYS. Another verb tense for the grid-filler. Somewhat similar in meaning to TEASE. As a noun: My S/O would be fine with us getting a dog, but not one of these:
43. Brimming: REPLETE. I'm sure this word has appeared in x-word puzzles before, but not recently as I recall. We just watched the remake of the 1940 Academy Award winning movie "Rebecca". The 2020 version (on Netflix) is REPLETE with scenes from various British manors. Never saw Hitchcock's version but Rotten Tomatoes seems to like the original better. Moe-ku #3:
The tailor got wild;
Sewed scores of folds on the pants.
REPLETE with repleats
45. Washington Monument, for one: OBELISK. Again, if this word has
appeared before in an x-word, I'm not recalling it. Loosely translated, an
OBELISK is a four-sided monument with a tapering "pyramid" at the top. I found
this link
that will allow you to "click" on each remaining OBELISK and get more facts
...
47. Had an intense longing: LUSTED. In the Catholic world of the Ten
Commandments, the 9th of these poo-poos "carnal concupiscence", AKA "lust".
Glad they found a shortened word ... ;^)
51. Vagabonds: HOBOS. And now that I did some research, there could be
another definition for this abbreviated term:
52. Abe's role in "The Godfather": SAL. Abe Vigoda (February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) was a character actor who played the role of SALvatore Tessio in the movie, "The Godfather". Abe also starred in the erstwhile police show "Barney Miller" as detective Phil Fish:
54. Video recorder since 1999: TIVO. Is the brand name for a digital video recorder that made its debut on March 31, 1999. Its name is as synomynous to DVR's as Kleenex is to facial tissues, or Scotch Tape is to ... well, Scotch Tape!
55. Java products: APPLETS. Or, spelled with just one "P", something that can go with a different Java as a snack. I will let our resident computer geeks 'splain the one with two P's ...
58. Kind of horn: TENOR. A rendition of "Autumn Leaves" as a TENOR horn solo ... he is the one on the left in the video ...
59. Clinton's 1996 opponent: DOLE. I always thought this was one of the more clever crossword puzzles created - back at the 1996 Presidential Election - where either the word "BOBDOLE" or "CLINTON" could fit in the same space and all other crosses make sense using the same clues
63. Punches in a workshop: AWLS. Moe-ku #4:
Shakespeare Comedy
About pleased belt repairer:
"AWLS Well That Mends Well"
64. Oxygen-loving organism: AEROBE. I offer the
the condensed
version. Why is it that describing or defining science, physics, or biology
can't be dumbed down?!
65. Three-way joint: TEE. Or a kind of shirt, or a kind of wooden peg
which supports a golf ball ... gotta keep clues for these words fresh
66. Okay: YES. Not sure if when CC asked me if I would blog every other
Friday puzzle I said "Okay" or "YES"
67. Wee: TEENSY. TEENSY or teeny (teenie)? TEENSY is thought of to be
more of a childish adjective for something that is wee or very small; OTOH,
teeny (also spelled TEENIE) is so much more adolescent!
68. Old boomer: SST. Not sure if this is a CSO to our Monday Blogger "Boomer"! I think the "boomer" Gary refers to is the airplane that caused a sonic boom when it exceeded the speed of sound - as in Super Sonic Transport. Now if he were thinking of OUR Boomer, the SST might stand for Spares Strikes, and Tenpins
Down:
1. It has a smell named for it: NEW CAR. Having bought a NEW CAR this past June 30, I can attest to this smell. And with the pandemic, I have yet to drive it 2,000 miles. NEW CAR SMELL lingers still ... but once it disappears, perhaps I can buy these to replace it?
2. Soothsayer: ORACLE. Wait just a doggone moment! Earlier, we had JAVA as a clue and it referred to APPLETS. Now, we have ORACLE and it refers to a Soothsayer? I wanted a clecho ... ;^) Here is a video about the ORACLE of Delphi
3. Like many Disney films: RATED G.
here's a short list
4. Wonka's creator: DAHL. Roald DAHL (13 September 1916 – 23 November
1990) was both a noted WWII pilot as well as a most famous author. Willard
Wonka (aka Willy, from the book: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory")
5. Venus or Mars: ORB. Crosswordese; hardly goes a week by that we
don't see this word as a 3-letter answer. Pick any two planets, but Venus and
Mars? Wonder why? This?
6. Depends (on): LEANS. More wordplay. Gary definitely dug into the lesser known definitions when doing the clues for today; or perhaps, Rich and Joyce took care of some changes
7. Norman Bates, thankfully: LONER. Does this clue make this answer more emblematic of a Friday puzzle? No Norman Bates videos; but here's a "NORM" who's anything but a LONER:
8. Cutlass, e.g.: OLDS. Ransom E OLDS (June 3, 1864 – August 26, 1950) was a pioneer of the automobile industry, and his OLDSmobile was one of the General Motors brands until 2004, when it produced the now popular crossword car, ALERO, as its final model. The OLDS Cutlass began as a premium, mid-size two-door coupe that was produced from the mid-1960's through the end of the 1990's. Several versions. I drove the car shown below in 1976. It was a company car and quite a nice ride
9. Over and done with: PAST. Not to be a nitpicker, but I would add the words "IN THE" to PAST to make the definition fit. Maybe Yellowrocks can offer her two cents?
11. Capital of Portugal?: PEE. Lisbon? Euro? No you dummy! PEE as in the capital letter P. And when you translate PEE from English to Portuguese you get "Xixi". Another learning moment, compliments of your head Stooge!
12. __-Man: Marvel hero: ANT. Again, keeping the clue for the insect fresh. ANT-Man, according to many sources, appeared in the following Marvel Movies: Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
15. Baby's bodysuit: ONESIE. Another word not often seen in x-word puzzles but ideal for crosses needing vowels and common consonants. Here is a cute example:
17. First name in superhero lore: CLARK. CLARK Kent - the alias for Superman. We often see LOIS with similar cluing
21. Syllables in some madrigals: LAS. More fresh cluing; Vegas was already used today
23. Has the wheel: STEERS. As in driving a car. I will keep this one open for punning for Ray-O-Sunshine should he choose
25. Way out: DOOR. EXIT also fits into a four-letter space; but not this one
26. Canadian gas: ESSO. Moe-ku #5:
I hear that up north
Farts are called ESSO, 'cause it's
Canadian gas
28. Trains over the road: ELS. I wonder if golfer Ernie has ever ridden
on these?
29. Shade of black: COAL. OK, fresh clues notwithstanding, this may be
a stretch, but it is a different way of cluing this word
30. Too: AS WELL. Along with "your and you're", and "its and it's", and
"their and they're", TOO and to are among the more misspelled words in
texting
32. Cheat, in a way: PEEK. As in taking a PEEK at your neighbors test
sheet in school. With the 2020 pandemic, and the 6' spacing between desks, I
doubt that a cheater can PEEK anymore
33. Sugar amt.: TSP. Crosswordese
35. "However," in tweets: OTOH. On The Other
Hand, perhaps school kids are taking a different PEEK when their
classes are conducted via Zoom
36. Western wolf: LOBO. Also, the mascot and nickname of the University
of New Mexico athletic teams
39. Apt name for a chef?: STU. I pencilled in "SUE" at first; as in SOUS chef. STU = stew, but that's not a dish normally prepared and/or served by a chef, IMO
42. Math class calculations: SLOPES. I wanted "Places where one skis", but that's not a good Friday clue
44. First name in cosmetics: ESTEE. Crosswordese
46. DSL provider: ISP. The good old Internet Service Provider. Ours is Century Link
48. Colors: TINCTS. "Lightly colors" might have been a better clue. As in this erstwhile anticeptic that always stung like hell!
49. Calls up: EVOKES. From the Latin "ex vocare" --> "out of; to call"
50. English sheep breed: DORSET. From the county in SW England. Here's an image:
52. Set aside for later: STORE. Yet another "polysemy"! Gary was on a roll with his cluing and word definitions
53. Starter for 007's car?: ASTON. As in the ASTON Martin. James Bond drove these in many of his films. I doubt that the ones we could purchase have all the bells and whistles that his had
56. Future JD's hurdle: LSAT. Crosswordese; Law School
Admission Test
57. Blunted sword: EPEE. PEE and EPEE in the same puzzle?
58. Unnamed ones: THEY. Another fresh clue?
59. Calendar square: DAY. Dinah Washington sang it well
60. Run a tab, say: OWE. Popular activity in bars/taverns when consuming many rounds of drinks. THEY almost always run a credit card to make sure that the "tab" is paid and no one OWEs when the last call is made
62. "Survivor" station: CBS. Survivor is one of the longest running "reality" shows, although the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted the show. From multiple sources: "The series' 40th season Survivor: Winners at War premiered on February 12, 2020, during the 20th anniversary of the show, and finished airing on May 13, 2020. Production for the 41st and 42nd seasons were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and are now planned to begin filming in spring 2021, with a fall 2021 premiere date for season 41.
Well, folks, that's about enough for us to digest on this day after Thanksgiving! Hope all are staying safe and look forward to your comments below!
The GRID:
Good morning Cornerites.
ReplyDeleteThank you Gary Larson for your enjoyable Friday CW.
Carol is still in the hosp. so I FIR all by myself.
Thank you Chairman Moe for your excellent review. You have outdone yourself
Ðave
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteNo problem filling today's grid. Even got the theme. A C-Cell isn't particularly small, but it is smaller than a car battery. I think of DOLLOP as an amount served with a spoon -- perhaps mashed potatoes or a casserole. PEEK made me think of children at Christmas rather than an exam cheater. Thanx, Gary and Moe. (I bought a new car in Aug 2019, and just passed 4,000 miles last week. It's never been further than 25 miles from home.)
SST: Perhaps that Boomer reference is "Super Strike Thrower."
Moe, the DOLLOP answer is that it has appeared in the LAT in 2019 in a lovely Sunday by one of our favorite CONSTRUCTORS at 78 Down. Likewise, the AEREOLA image appeared for years and was introduced during a C.C. write-up. In fact, if you like history, click on this LILY. 46 Down.
ReplyDeleteI really like the theme and the write-up; well done Gary and Chris. Shake off the tryptophan and have a great day
Had a DOLLOP of whipped cream on my pumpkin pie yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIs a teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini a) yellow, with a different color dots, or b) some other color, with yellow dots?
And if it is itsy bitsy, will it cover 14A fully?
Wild Bill's hand except for the extra Queen? N'est-ce pas
ReplyDeleteMy son considered Disney films to be sadistically horrific. Dad's die, kids orphaned….
god/ORB slowed me down in the north. Same with relys(sic)/LEANS and, auto/OLDS.
Is allowing the neighbor to PEEK at the test sheet cheating?
How about type of hound? For DORSET. LIU says uhuh*
If that bar in the 70s had only run a TAB it would have saved me a lot of kited checks. Now they have Qwik Cash etc hoping you won't pay back in time.
I just grabbed the newspaper that I finished Tuesday (or Wed). I had NEcTAR completely missing the obvious across(WATCH). FIW.
WC
I found this to be a TESTER. Interested to see how the later posters fund it
* Uhoh, I better be quiet. Expliquez demain.
Took my sister to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves when she was little and she freaked out. We had to leave in the middle of the movie.
DeleteWilbur, I thought Wild Bill's hand was aces and eights.
ReplyDeleteNot as difficult for me as most Friday puzzles, however I made a "duh" mistake for two bad cells. WC, hi. NECTAR for NEW CAR. I recently bought a 2017 used car with 40,500 miles on it. It still had the new car smell. It must have been a spray. Fun puzzle, Gary. Interesting write up, Moe. I learned POLESEMY today.
ReplyDeleteI think of spot check as "a test made without warning on a randomly selected subject." When I welded electron guns for TVs in the 1960's the inspectors made spot checks. When they found too many faulty electron guns, we had to take a week to tear them apart and repair them. I wondered whether the race for high production had been worth it.
Many LUST for fame and fortune, disregarding any humanitarian values.
Think of PAST as an adjective rather than a noun. This PAST year has not been a great one for many of us. I look forward to spring.
"For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."
"A teaspoon of sugar makes the medicine go down" in relationships as well as in dosing.
I like a dollop of sour cream on my fajita and a dollop of whipped cream on my chocolate pie.
I am not a fan of pumpkin, sweet potatoes and winter squash. I love summer squash.
Yes, many fairy tales are horrific if you really think about them. As a child I never took them literally. It didn't occur to me. Neither did the meaning of these songs:
Ring around the Rosie was about the Great Plague.
"When the bough breaks the cradle will fall." is sad.
Good Morning
ReplyDeleteThis had some crunch but nothing that perps couldn’t handle. My major hang up was in the Dollop, Leans, Loner, Olds area. The cluing was either vague or misleading which caused the holdup. For example, I was looking for a much more sinister answer than Loner vis a vis Norman Bates and Dollop would be the last word I would think of for a small amount. Both clues are legitimate, of course, just tricky as used. This not a complaint, just my personal interpretation. I liked the theme a lot and thought it was very tight and consistent, but the plethora of 3 letter words and excessive plurals were a tad distracting, to me, at least. Aerobe was unknown and Store replaced Stash.
Thanks, Gary, I always enjoy your offerings and thanks, Moe, for a write-up replete with humor and information. I particularly enjoyed your delightful Moe-kus, the nostalgia Roy Orbison’s voice evokes, and that clip of Cheers’ “Norm” which made me laugh out loud.
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I enjoyed my dinner but it’s a lot of work for a one person meal, and clean up is tedious. That said, I won’t complain a bit when I enjoy the leftovers! Based on everyone’s comments yesterday, I think we Cornerites were very careful and compliant with the suggested safety recommendations. Bravo to all!
FLN
JB2, thank you for relating the happy ending to your colleague’s Thanksgiving crisis. That missing oven will forever be a mystery, though.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteGot the bottom two-thirds quickly and then the top came together with RATED G, REGRET and AREOLA. Still managed to mess up NEW CAR for smell. Sigh. I don't see a C CELL as a small battery or DOLLOP as a small amount. I view a DOLLOP as bigger than a smidgeon and that as bigger than a skosh. YMMV.
Gary's puzzles are always fun to work on.
Thanks CM for a fine intro.
Easier than most Thursdays, and I really enjoyed the long answers.
ReplyDeleteBut at first I REALLY wanted the 'First name in superhero lore' to be KALEL instead of CLARK. (Wait! Was EL his last name? They always showed it in the comics as Kal-El. Like hyphenated first names Billy-Joe and Mary-Jo?)
Happily found I had FIR today, though somewhat messily with WOs due to spelling and detours. The theme was fun. I started SEEing what was going on by the second themer, but C Moe's review pointed out the consistent change from verb to noun, adding even more to it. Thanks! I learned about Dead Man's Hand and TINCTS (which perps gave me, bolstered by knowing tincture). Our next holiday was foreshadowed by NESTLER. Thanks for today's puzzle, Gary!
ReplyDeleteRather than staying NESTLEd all snug in my bed, I should put out Christmas and STORE away fall decorations. Hope you all are doing well.
Moe, I hope the clue for the word 'polysemy' never makes it any puzzle because I'd never get it. But they were easy fills. I got hung up in the Dakota and Florida regions before FIR. DOLLOP, LEANS, & LONER were slow to fill. So was TINCTS and two unknowns in the SE- TENOR horn and DORSET sheep. I played both trumpet and BARITONE horn but have never heard of a Tenor horn.
ReplyDeleteMoe- your OLDS is parked in front of a Chevy dealer.
Black- the absence of color and light. So how can an adjective modify it. Jet black, COAL black. Like a 'perfect' square'- it's perfect by definition. Or La Brea Tar.
C-Moe, you really outdid yourself. What an amazing, entertaining review. Being a technophobe it would have taken me a year or more to same. The puzzle seemed just about right for a Friday. I liked areola and earlobe in the same puzzle. Never heard of Dorset, except, of course, Heisman winner Tony. My favorite answer was eyeballs. Putting up the Christmas tree today...all three feet of it. That's what happens when all the kids fly the nest. No turkey yesterday but a very yummy pork loin. Notre Dame football this afternoon. Go Irish!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteGood morning. Fun puzzle and write up today. Thank you, Gary and Moe !
Picked off the theme answers pretty quickly but screwed up NESTLERS.
I hadn't heard that Sven and Ole joke before, Moe, and I've heard and read a lot of them. Funny, even to most Vikings fans.
DORSET with one T is the English sheep breed. With two, I would think of Tony Dorsett, who in addition to today's blogger, is another famous University of Pittsburgh grad.
A TSP of sugar would not have helped my creamed spinach yesterday. It tasted fine and perfectly seasoned when I tested it before taking it from the stove top to put in the serving dish, but as it cooled it went from an "off" taste to just plain yuck.
This little ditty pops into my head when I hear or read dollop: Do A Dollop Of Daisy
Aerobe, not earlobe. Darn spellcheck.
ReplyDeleteSpitz, yes, I believe the word SMALL messed up WC and me. I didn't see C batteries as small, either. I am amazed thinking back over the plethora of C batteries I have bought over the years.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed we all managed to celebrate Thanksgiving regardless of the restrictions. I was home by myself and ordered a take-out dinner from the diner. Turkey A+ (with leftovers for sandwiches) yummy, mashed potatoes B+, stuffing c+, too wet and sweet. Maybe they put apples in it. Mine is savory with sage and other herbs. After a big meal I no longer need dessert. The day was special because of lovely phone calls from my sisters, sons, daughter in law and grandson.
BE, I had the same thought about shades of black. Some dictionaries give blacker and blackest, other linguists agree with us.
Moe, LOL, Sven and Ole. Thanks for the laughs.
Musings
ReplyDelete-One network had crowds WATCHING BANDS for the Macy Parade yesterday and one showed the streets empty. Turns out the former was highlights of past parades and the latter was live.
-I used to SPOT CHECK a cornfield for tassel removal by counting two thousand plants out of a million
-ALDA observed plenty as he was raised in burlesque theaters where his dad Robert worked
-Nebraska voters finally okayed CASINOS this year. Every contiguous state had done so long ago.
-Sal got “taken for a ride” because he betrayed the Don
-This new “SST” will fly only over oceans so sonic booms aren’t heard
-CUTLASS – When was the last time you had to contort to get into the backseat of a two-door car?
-…and your little dog Toto AS WELL. Nah, make that too!
-PEEK – “Hey, Mr. Schlapfer, his test has different questions than mine!”
-Learning of slopes in algebra is a precursor to calculus
-Nice reading/learning Moe!
Addendum
ReplyDelete-A great line from Frasier
-This is Dr. Niles Crane, filling in for my ailing brother, Dr. Frasier Crane. Although I feel perfectly qualified to fill Frasier's radio shoes, I should warn you that while Frasier is a Freudian, I am a Jungian. So there'll be no blaming Mother today. Okay, Roz, who's my first caller?
FIW. I had NEWtAR, which gave me tCELL, which is a thing in the body. I always called ONESIEs “Baby uniforms” when my kids wore them.
ReplyDeleteThrew me off too HM, especially since there actually are T Cell batteries (the flat kind used in watches). To make matters worse, since 16A was the first themer and there was no reveal, "CATCH BANDS" does satisfy the sense of the clue. A clever piece of misdirection.
DeleteFabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Gary and CMoe.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time and saw the different "observe" words.
An alphabet run was required for the L in NESTLER/LAS and the C in C CELL/NEW CAR.
Tinge changed to TINCS. (I think of tinctures more in the medicinal sense than as a colour.)
I noted SSR and SST (and SRO), TEE and PEE (we also had SEE SAWS).
I love the sound of the word REPLETE.
Contestants on Jeopardy the other night did not know AWLS.
I was surprised that Olé did not have any Spanish indication in the clue.
Of course, you all know by now that this Canadian spells those bank drafts as Cheques.
My nose wrinkled as I entered ISP with provider in the clue!!!
I guess I will take a CSO for ESSO although it is becoming almost as common as ERIE. LOL CMoe re Canadian gas! If it appears on any of your American programing, the now defunct TV show Corner Gas is worth watching for a few laughs. OK, it looks like it is streaming south of the border.
CornerGas
CMoe, your photo of your '76 OLDS reminded me of my first NEW CAR, a 1975 Buick Regal coupe (burgundy with white vinyl top).
D4- hope Carol is able to leave hospital soon.
Shankers@9:34am - Your "I liked areola and earlobe in the same puzzle" had me scratching my head re earlobe. Ah, AEROBE LOL. Probably an autocorrect. (But we did have EYEBALLS too)
(yes, I see you caught it @9:37)
Wishing you all a great day.
Our prettiest car was a yellow '67 Cutlass convertible. Unfortunately it was LEMON yellow, always in the shop. We kept it only for a year or two.
ReplyDeleteFirst time I have ever left a comment. Thrilled to see Gary Larson as the creator of the puzzle. Decades ago we toured as stand-uo comedians. Very nice and funny man. Back then he had to change his name because people we come to a shows expecting The Far Side cartoonist.
ReplyDeleteGee, I thought our Gary Larsen was the Far Side cartoonist. Somebody help me out here.
DeleteClueless Bill
Make that Gary Larson.
DeleteI sit corrected!
DeleteHappy Day After Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gary and Ch. Moe for the puzzle and recap. There was quite the cast of characters this morning (Elvis, Fish, Igor (that's Eye Gore), Prohias, and Sigmund)!
Now, it's time to follow up on a cooking idea seen on TV this morning - making waffles, extra crispy, out of leftover stuffing.
Hola!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see that you all survived Thanksgiving Day intact. I did as well but really enjoyed having my daughter, her family and my granddaughter and her little son. He has grown so much and now walks quite well. He entertained us with his baby charm. Luckily he slept throughout dinner and awoke just as we finished.
Today's puzzle was a bit easier than some other Friday puzzles of the PAST. NESTLER gave me pause and for a while I doubted its accuracy but the crosses agreed. I liked the puns. And I really enjoyed seeing words like CASINOS, ORACLE, AEROBE and OBELISK. Nicely done, Gary Larson.
And very well done, Moe, with your detailed analysis.
I also thought of Kalel before CLARK emerged.
DORSET reminds me of clotted cream which I absolutely love.
It's good to "see" you all and know all is well. Dave, I'm sorry about Carol and I hope she is soon in better health.
enjoy the day, everyone!
Wonderful puzzle today -- challenging but not too much to FIR. Agree that a C cell is not one of the smaller batteries in my supply drawer, but everything in there is small compared to car batteries and others. Nice to meet you, Brent! Wishing a swift recovery to Carol, Dave! Thank you, Gary, Rich, Joyce, Chairman Moe, and Cornerites!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyable and manageable Friday puzzle--many thanks, Gary. And Moe, I also enjoyed your Moe-kus.
ReplyDeleteLots of popular culture in this puzzle, which may be what made it so doable. Nice to see ALDA and DAHL--KLEPTOS not so much, though it made me laugh when I got it. Haven't had a NEW CAR since 2004, which may be why it doesn't have that smell.
A kind neighbor had Thanksgiving dinners from a store delivered to a few friends yesterday. Nice to have a turkey dinner at home without any cooking.
D4, hope Carol gets out of the hospital soon.
Have a great Black Friday, everybody.
Friday? This was a Friday puzzle? Seemed like a Monday to me.
ReplyDeleteBecky
But I also FIW
ReplyDeleteBecky
ReplyDeleteOdd that Sal Tessio was killed and was “sleeping with the fishes” and then became Det. Fish on Barnie Miller.
D-O...Wild Bill’s hand was Aces and Eights, but not a full house, a pair of each. Full House is 3 of a kind plus a pair.
Nice and clever Friday grid if a bit easy, not a complaint.
An alternative title for the puzzle might be SEE SPOT Run.
ReplyDeleteThank you Gary and CMoe for a fun puzzle and write up, which was pretty straightforward for a Friday. I nevertheless FIW due to some careless mistakes.
ReplyDeleteIt was all made worth while though by Moe's hilarious story of Ole and Sven in Heck (this is a family blog right?). Anyone who has ever listened to A Prairie Home Companion will be familiar with Ole and his wife Lena. Unfortunately this old time radio show has gone the way of Sri Nahasapeemapetilon in the Simpsons. Alas! Alack!
Waseeley @ 12:56 PM
ReplyDeleteThe first time C Moe reviewed a Gary Larson puzzle (Oct 2, 2020), Lemonade explained in the comment section that there are two Gary Larsons, the cartoonist and our cw constructor.
Thank you ATLGranny!
ReplyDeleteDNF--two blank squares.
ReplyDelete> Even after an alphabet run, did not see NOR'EASTER.
> WEES, the A CELL doesn't seem that small; there are a lot of smaller battery sizes.
>> Roy
Finally leaving work; so Becks where did you err in this Monday puzzle? Enquiring minds need to know...
ReplyDeleteI got some pleasant chuckles from this puzzle, which I greatly enjoyed solving. Laughed out loud at EYEBALLS. I like the word OBELISK. I remembered DORSET sheep from an interview with the British actor Martin Clunes (played "Doc Martin") in which he revealed he lives in Dorset. I liked the clue for THEY (does credit go to Gary or to Rich?)
ReplyDeleteYes, it was Aces and Eights.
These days a C cell is not considered small. I guess a D cell would be considered huge.
Chairman Moe, thank you for your excellent review, and the Sven and Ole story AS WELL.
Thank you for your contribution, Brent.
LW's first attempt at a sweet potato pie was a delicious success yesterday. A nice facetime call with our offspring topped off a very good day.
Good wishes to you all.
Big Easy @ 9:31 --> had to laugh at your comment about the OLDS parked in front of a Chevy dealer ... truth be told, that was NOT MY car, but a reasonable facsimile. I don't recall ever taking an actual picture of my car, but that's as close a copy as I found. A second truth --> that was the car I had just before my first child was born, and I never had another 2-door until well after the kids left the nest. I actually bought the car from 3M after it had reached 50-60,000 miles and sold it to my next door neighbor. He gave it to his then 17 year old son as his first car. The kid totaled it within 2 months ... 350 cu in V-8 ... silver and burgundy interior ... bucket seats ...
ReplyDeleteThanks to all my fellow Cornerites for all the feedback. Gary's puzzle had me "looking" for a reveal, and yet I knew it couldn't be "themeless".
Yellowrocks, I too, was unaware of the word "polysemy" prior to blogging this puzzle; and yes, I suppose I would not recognize it or want that word in a future x-word puzzle, though it does have some useful letters ...
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the puzzle Gary. Caught the theme at SPY RINGs and that helped.
Wow C. (CELL) Moe! Electric Expo! If I chased all those links I wouldn't get to The Corner 'till tomorrow morning :-)
WOs: OBaLISK, PEaK was REPLEAT with an A
ESPs: AEROBE, TINCTS (?)
Fav: Thought KLEPTO was fun.
Bill Lee: I was also going for Kal-El, or Jor-El; I thought of CLARK but bushed that off as too few letters... When CELL appeared, "Wait. A. Secooaaand." :-)
A DOLLOP of Daisy. We had near-same idea TTP :-)
HG - LOL PEEKer!
Welcome to The Corner Brent - Cool that you know Gary. Any stand-up make it to TV / YouTube?
TINCTS of Black? Paint it Black [Rolling Stones - any you ladies go gaga over them?]
I went to get Christmas decorations out of storage today. "Access Suspended"??!!??
"I hope they didn't Storage Wars our stuff" went through my head (actually I wouldn't care but...).
Anyway, turns out they changed credit-card processing service and new one doesn't take Discover. I think they should have, maybe, called us? :-)
Cheers, -T
ReplyDeleteMoe, do you think that the Steelers / Ravens game is ever going to get played ? From Thanksgiving Thursday to Sunday and now to Tuesday night. In spite of the on-field rivalry, I still wish the Ravens and all those in all walks of life afflicted with quick recovery and good health.
I got an email notice from Chase today that there were suspected unauthorized charges on my credit card. Checked the URL links in the email and they didn't appear to be from Chase. Looked like a phishing email. Ran a quick update and scan with my antivirus program and then signed on to my Chase account. No banner or meesage warnings, but sure enough when checking the credit card statement, there were bogus charges just under $3K.
So the email was legit. I give Chase credit for their ability to spot "out-of-character" charges and prompt notification, but am deducting points for sending out the email that had URL links that did not appear to be from them. The further aggravation was that the tone-deaf representative did not understand my concern about the URL links, and especially that there weren't any other notifications when I signed into my Chase account.
From my work experiences I do have more than a casual understanding of Chase's technological prowess and safeguards, and that they are in the upper echelon, if not superior, to others in the financial industry. But I was extremely disappointed in the interaction with the rep today. A one-off ? Who knows ? I'm ticked that I have to update different accounts with the new credit card number when I get it in "three to five business days", but that's not the fault of Chase.
Watch your accounts. I'm super careful and vigilant and aware, and fraud can happen to any of us.
TTP. Had similar problem this week with Chase. The charge was for $119 and generated an alert because it was above a set threshold. I didn't recall making it, but it turned out to be an automated annual payment for my Amazon Prime bill.
DeleteBill
p.s. Just read today that the Ravens' star quarterback Lamar Jackson just tested positive for COVID-19. I wouldn't hold your breath for that game anytime soon.
I was wondering when Do A Dollop For Daisy was going to make an appearance.
ReplyDeleteTTP @ 6:42 --> I wish that the NFL would just forfeit the game and move on. This is bulls***!
ReplyDeleteC-CELL Moe - I just watched the Cheers clip... LOL! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTTP - Banks were the first (after, believe it or not, porn companies (tighter margins)) to take CyberSec seriously. I had a fried from the DOD that went on to Wells Fargo to help bolster their security.
MManatee - TTP had the 1st Daisy Dollop video but I kept the one I drafted 'cuz it was different (and TTP had that discussing squirt bottle! :-)).
Here's a story from Florida that actually makes you feel good [Seth Meyers].
Cheers, -T
How about a revisionist version ... "She sells C cells by the seashore..."?
ReplyDeleteAnd don't we have to STAND before being corrected? None of this nouvelle vague stuff on the Corner!
Lemonade 14 -- I spelled Astin wrong and did not get Aerobe.
ReplyDeleteOnly my friends call me Becks. I am proud to consider you a friend.
Becky
Golly ma'am this is mighty nice to hear. I was just feeling the Becks vibe, and then it was typed and on its way. I did not "know" AEROBE either but I recognized a familiar suffix "obe." wardrobe; microbe; the previously mentioned earlobe; the ever-popular science fiction anal probe; my favorite - disrobe. Speaking of which after all the years of people being curious about the link that C.C. chose for AREOLA I went through the archives and added it to my comments. Not a single comment. I feel like Robert.
ReplyDeleteGood night Gracie.
Brent - Comedy / Stand-up is my favorite thing after Rock 'n' Roll (and hacking).
ReplyDeleteSo, I went fishing... I found this Gary Larson and this one and another guy "Jay Larson" who was on Conan.
Am I even close?
Cheers, -T
In the novel I am currently reading I found, "I was doing you a solid". and "Boyo". Who says these words are not used?
ReplyDeleteFIR, which means it had to be an easier than usual Friday puzzle. When I first looked at the puzzle clues, I figured there was no way I was going to do well. After figuring out the shtick fairly quickly, everything kinda fell into place.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gary and Chairman Moe!
The only fill that bothered me was TINCTS (which I see spellcheck has underlined). Given the rest of the fills in the SE 'hood, I could see no other possibilities there, so I decided to roll the dice and go with it. Turned out to be the correct move.
I always do all my banking online, but I actually had to write a check for my final car payment on Monday. Bank wouldn't accept electronic funds for it. Just turned 108K on the car, and I haven't really been anywhere this year.
Ta ~ DA!
ReplyDeleteA fun pzl from Mr. Larson.
Happy Black Friday all!
~ OMK
____________
DR:. Only one diagonal--on the far end.
Its anagram is of the lip served from one party to the other when a bribe is tendered to plug a particular item over the airwaves.
I mean, of course...
"PAYOLA SASS"!
Lemony @ 8;48
ReplyDeleteI saw the AREOLA. I’ve seen better!! 🤡