Chairman Moe here, with a puzzle that triskaidekaphobians might also fear. Yes, Cornerites, it is Friday the 13th. Why not?! The year 2020 has thrown just about everything else at us! And while I had no "fears" completing the puzzle (or writing the blog), the combination of the number 13 and Friday scares the bejeezus out of many. Perhaps it got worse after this film debuted:
This may be Tina's first puzzle for the LA Times, and I'm pretty sure that she was not planning on this being the publish date, as there is nothing overt in it about "Friday the 13th".
In doing some research about her I found, from Inkubatorcrosswords.com, that Tina Lippman got interested in making crosswords about a year ago. She's originally from New England, but currently lives in southern Indiana with her husband, teenage daughter, and cat. She's a librarian by training, and has worked as a college financial aid officer and a composer of grammar questions for the SAT.
Let's see how she "tied" these altogether!
19-across. London apartment for a snake?: MOCCASIN FLAT. A MOCCASIN refers to a snake of the viper family or to a soft-sided shoe that features either a hard or soft sole. It was historically known as the footwear of Native Americans, but hunters, traders, and European settlers wore them, too.
A FLAT is both the British term for an apartment, or can refer to a woman's shoe with no heel
29-across. One who watches Grand Canyon pack animals?: MULE SPECTATOR. A MULE is both a pack animal and a style of shoe that has no back or constraint around the foot's heel; akin to a clog
And in the "now I have learned something new" category, a SPECTATOR is not just a person who views an event, but also, according to Wikipedia, a shoe! The spectator shoe, also known as co-respondent shoe, is a style of low-heeled, oxford, semi-brogue or full brogue constructed from two contrasting colours, typically having the toe and heel cap and sometimes the lace panels in a darker colour than the main body of the shoe. I guess this qualifies:
37-across. Spy at a centuries-old school?: OXFORD SNEAKER. Very clever combo here! The University of OXFORD (in Oxford, Oxfordshire England) dates back to the year 1096, making it one of the oldest English-speaking universities in the World. An OXFORD shoe is characterised by having shoelace aglets attached under the vamp. Looks similar to a SPECTATOR, no?
SNEAKER, in this clue, refers both to a person who stealthily approaches another or a type of athletic shoe. Who didn't crave a pair of these to wear during gym class?
Which slides right into the reveal: 52-across. What inspired three long puzzle answers: PAIRS OF SHOES. Six pairs of shoes in today's puzzle, which is probably the right amount for most guys but just the tip of the iceberg for most women ... remember this collection?
Across:
1. Bond's watch since 1995: OMEGA. Omega's brand experienced a resurgence in the James Bond 007 films; the character had previously worn a Rolex Submariner but switched to the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M with GoldenEye (1995) and has stayed with the latter ever since until swapping it for the Omega Planet
6. Schools from Ky. and In. are in it, surprisingly: ACC. Atlantic Coast Conference. The University of Louisville (KY) and The University Notre Dame (South Bend, IN) are not situated in a state that borders the Atlantic Ocean. Nor Pitt, although PA counts as a Mid-Atlantic state. All of the other schools (Syracuse, Boston College, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Miami) reside in a state that has a shoreline on the Atlantic
9. They may be split: HAIRS. In the not-so-literal meaning, to split HAIRS is to quibble over things that are pretty trivial. But for many women, split HAIR ENDS can be problematic
14. Like gumbo: CAJUN. CSO to Hahtoolah, Big Easy, and SwampCat, who may or may not be CAJUN, but who reside in Louisiana. IIRC, the word "Cajun" was a colloquialism for the word ACADIAN, depicting the 17th C French settlers who emigrated to what are now the Eastern Provinces of Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI). The Cajun's of Louisiana also spoke primarily French, but were also influenced by Spanish and West African languages
15. "No one knows": WHO CAN SAY. I now know this: the song embedded below (called "WHO CAN SAY") is one of the more beautiful ones ever written/sung
17. Setting for much of "Aquaman": OCEAN. The character "Aquaman" first appeared in a comic book back in the early 1940's. The character and comics are part of DC Comics as opposed to Marvel. The eponymous movie debuted in 2018. In an earlier blog I offered a picture of the lead actor. It was panned pretty much like the movie, which scored a paltry 65% on Rotten Tomatoes. Here's the trailer:
18. Wiry-coated terriers: AIREDALES. One of the largest of the terrier breeds, the AIREDALE is so-named due to its originating from the valley (dale) of the River Aire, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Wikipedia has more if you are so inclined. Cute dog. I recently had this one helping me out on my blog
21. Fangorn Forest dweller: ENT. OK, I may be the only Cornerite who has NEVER ... as in NEVER EVER ... watched any of TLOTR movies. So of course, Fangorn Forest was totally foreign to this blogger, but I figured it had to do with LOTR. So, I googled Fangorn Forest and found this clip. Maybe I will have to "catch up" now that I am retired ...
22. Movie costume for Keaton or Kilmer: BATSUIT. Great clue! Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer both played the DC Comics hero, Batman, in the movies. Bruce Wayne first created the "costume" to invoke fear in the criminals he pursued, as well as to hide his identity. And yes, BATSUIT is one word!
23. Clothing line: HEM. HEMlines in women's clothing (dresses and skirts) went crazy throughout time, beginning as low as the ankles and rising to mid-thigh with the late '60's introduction of the mini-skirt. It can also refer to the length of a man's trousers and position of the cuff
26. Lexicon with 600,000+ wds.: OED. One of the more familiar crossword abbr's
27. Unwell: AILING. Not sure that this word is used a whole lot nowadays ... can refer to both sickness or injury
33. Oversupply: GLUT. Noun synonyms include: surfeit, excess, and plethora. Verb synonyms include: binge, gourmandize, and overindulge. Root for the word glutton, but not gluten
35. A.L. East player: RAY. The Tampa Bay RAYS (erstwhile, DEVIL RAYS) came oh so close to winning the World Series in 2020, but fell to the LA Dodgers in 6 games. Player: RAY; Team: RAYS. And of course, a CSO to Tinbeni and Wilbur Charles, though their favorite teams are the NY Yankees and Boston RedSox, respectively
36. Pitch: TOSS. As in horseshoes, or this popular game.This brief video will help you improve your TOSS
42. Think otherwise: DIFFER. This past election showed me, at least, that we don't necessarily DIFFER nearly as much as we think we do
43. Subject for Dr. Ruth: SEX. Dr. Ruth Westheimer has quite the biography.She and my Mom are the same age, and about the same height
44. Kourtney, to Kim: SIS. At the end of Season 17 of "Keeping Up With The Kardashians", these two acted anything like SISters; or maybe they did
45. Brit's grilled sandwich: TOASTIE. I guess since his dialect sounds "British" we can concur that this indeed is how to make a "TOASTIE"
49. __-la-la: TRA. More crossword-ese
54. "Potluck Dinner Party" co-host: SNOOP DOGG. The other co-host is
Martha Stewart. A TV show on VH1. Never saw it, but the first thing that came
to MY mind was whether or not Martha showed SNOOP how to properly bake
brownies!
57. Some combustion engines: HEMI'S. The Chrysler engines, known by the
trademark HEMI, a series of I6 and V8 gasoline engines built by Chrysler with
hemispherical combustion chambers. Three different types of Hemi
engines have been built by Chrysler for automobiles: the first (known as the
Chrysler FirePower engine) from 1951 to 1958, the second from 1964 to 1971,
and the third beginning in 2003. wikipedia.org
58. Five-time NCAA Division I ice hockey champs: MINNESOTA. CSO to
Boomer and C.C. who reside in the State of 10,000 lakes. The
University of MINNESOTA "Golden Gophers" hockey team scored three of those
NCAA Div I titles under
this famous coach, who also happened to coach the winning squad of US Amateurs in the 1980
Olympics in Lake Placid
59. Skybox setting: ARENA. As in a sports arena, where the choice seats
can be situated at the top or upper tiers. Many skyboxes have amenities like
drinks and food. One of my favorite SKYBOX settings is not in an arena, per
se, although I suppose this qualifies as an outdoor one. If the COVID virus is
gone after next year, perhaps in 2022 I can be a visitor at this sporting
event:
60. Bridges seen on TV: LLOYD. Actor LLOYD Bridges (b. 1/15/1913, d. 3/10/1998) had his first TV acting role on the show Sea Hunt in the late 1950's. His role was Mike Nelson, and as a former Navy Frogman, became as a civilian, a free-lance diver. Here is an interesting recap on Wikipedia. In his later years, LLOYD became maybe more familiar as this character in a well-known movie with many sequels; Steve MacCroskey:
61. Work for eds.: MSS. New to me. MSS, or Mss. is the abbr. for hand-written manuscripts. And here I always equated it as the code for this upstate NY airport!
62. Unpleasantly loud: NOISY. Adj. Oh the things you can find on the internet ...
Down:
1. Noel beginning: O COME. O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL. You gotta listen to this; Pentatonix
2. Georgia home of the Tubman Museum: MACON. Kind of a WAG when I solved the puzzle; so much to learn and read about Harriet Ross Tubman, born c. March 1822 - died March 10, 1913. While Wiki mentions nothing about the Museum in MACON named for her, the actual museum is slightly less than 40 years old. Tubman helped many slaves escape to freedom via the "Underground Railroad".
3. Disc drive button: EJECT. just in case you have forgotten how to EJECT a DVD from your computer>
4. Avocado dip, for short: GUAC. Short for GUACamole. Now, in the "how weird can Chairman Moe take us on THIS one" ... of course, I found yet another lesser known fact about GUACamole. Ok, if you've now read the link, and had a laugh or not, just a quick public service announcement to all of you men out there; young or old: Get a checkup! Testicular and Prostate Cancer detection is no laughing matter. And this is from one who's survived one of these for 16 years and counting ...
5. Lee who lived "in a kingdom by the sea": ANNABEL. From the poem by Edgar Allan Poe:
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee
6. Anticipate: AWAIT. I'm sure that this family was not expecting this during the Holidays ... in keeping with Friday the 13th, why not another horror-filled trailer?? NOOO! Enough C Moe!!
7. Biceps exercises, familiarly: CHINS. The words "CHINS" is fine; I take exception to the clue. CHIN UPS - not sure that I've ever used or heard a "familiar" term for them. And I am sure that using a clue to describe THIS image would probably not have made the cut ...
8. Greek vacation spot: CORFU. I wonder if any Greeks vacation here? When I googled CORFU to get an image, the shape of the island resembles Italy, don't you think?
9. Jumped in with enthusiasm: HAD AT IT. OK! I HAVE HAD IT! Enough of the forced fill!! I'm HARD AT IT doing this blog, and any attempt to find the expression "HAD AT IT" on Google FELL ON DEAF EARS (to borrow an earlier in the week entry). But, I'll give the constructor and/or the editor(s) an A for effort ... I guess if it's the only seven letters that filled this spot, then so be it
10. Nursing school subj.: ANAT. Moe-ku #1:
Vet School Students whose
Focus is cows and sheep, read
"Graze ANATomy"
11. 8-Down, e.g.: Abbr.: ISL.
did you know there were this many definitions for the letters ISL?
12. "The Photograph" actress Issa: RAE. On Tuesday we had RAE Dawn
Chong; as well as five other combos of the letters A, E, and R
13. Part of GPS: Abbr.: SYS. Global Positioning
SYStem
16. Pertaining to the abdominal cavity: CELIAC. The word "CELIAC"
appears more frequently in crossword puzzles, perhaps due to recent increased
awareness to GLUTen intolerance. But
do you know the difference between the two?
I didn't
20. "Smooth Operator" artist: SADE. Helen FolaSADE Abu, b. January 16,
1959. A 1980's classic
23. __-miss: HIT OR. Or in today's baseball world, it's more like home run or strike out
24. "The Killing" actress Mireille: ENOS. Perhaps it is because I sort of boycotted movies and many TV shows for nearly two decades, but this ENOS was not as familiar to me as this ENOS
25. Dave Martinez and Dave Roberts, for two: Abbr.: MGRS. Plural abbr. for Managers. Baseball may be the lone sport that doesn't call their on-field person-in-charge "coach". Baseball has coaches who assist the MGRS and other sports have assistant coaches who help the head coach. Martinez is the Manager of the 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals, while Roberts in the Manager of the 2020 World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers
26. Words with touch or sight: OUT OF. Something we are never OUT OF here at the "C Moe-tel":
28. Glove material: LATEX. There is something about that snapping sound, when the LATEX glove is donned, that most men fear
29. Mishandles: MUFFS. Nice to see a word other than "ERRS" to fit this clue
30. Most GRE takers: SRS. Graduate Recognition Examination. Generally taken by SRS (abbr for Seniors) in college for post-Bachelor Degree school admission
31. Bad assessment: PAN. Moe-ku #2:
Cap'n Hook's exam
Outcome, at urologist,
Was a Peter PAN
32. __ shadow: EYE.
33. Mercury and Mars: GODS. I had ORBS to start. Clever clue
34. Year in Nero's reign: LXII. 62. Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; b. 15 December 37 d. 9 June 68 AD. His reign went from the year 54 until his death in 68. Lots of debauchery during his brief rule
38. Did a trainer's job: RE-TAPED
39. "These aren't the __ you're looking for": Obi-Wan: DROIDS. You gotta like spoofs!
40. "Not likely!": AS IF.
41. Kangaroo player: KEESHAN. I knew this one straight away, as Captain Kangaroo was a fixture of my youth. Lots about him at IMDb
46. Woolf's "__ of One's Own": A ROOM. A book dating back to the late 1920s. In it, Woolf describes in both figurative and literal terms why a woman writer need A ROOM of [sic} their own
47. Certain NCOs: S.SGTS. Short for Staff Sergeants. Army rank of E-6
48. Forum robes: TOGAS. I'm sure you were expecting something from Animal House ... TOGA, TOGA, TOGA ... but I opted for this TOGA tutorial. Might come in handy at your next TOGA party
49. "In the Bedroom" Oscar nominee: TOMEI. Marisa TOMEI, b. December 4,
1964 in Brooklyn, NY. Played the role of Aunt May in the Spider-Man movie
series, but looks much younger than the comic book character
50. Rider's controls: REINS. The steering wheel for a horse
51. Evaluate: ASSAY. As in precious metals, perhaps
52. Shot glass: PONY. A PONY glass is more properly the term to describe a shot glass (for measuring alcohol or serving a cordial/liqueur) that holds 1 oz. Typical bar glassware for measuring a "shot" holds about 1-1/2 oz. But I never measure ... as a Sommelier I can pour by feel!
53. 1993 chart topper for Mariah Carey: HERO.
54. Tee sizes, for short: SML. Small, Medium, and
Large. The plural "sizes" solved this one for me
55. Nada: NIL. Latin root word for "nothing". The word "nada" also has
Latin roots. Other foreign words for nothing? French: RIEN; German: NICHTS;
Chinese (simplified): 没有
56. Activist Yoko: ONO. The word crossword constructors use when ENE
(the directional) won't fit because they need "Os" instead!
Last video; promise! Click on this link, if you dare:
high heels
The Grid:
Notes from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Big Easy (George)! Here he is with his wife Diane, Louisiana
Tennis Hall of Famer.
56 comments:
FLN, yes the "gas" simply reminded me of dentist-> C's->TH. Lemonade must recall Havlicek stole the ball. I notice a fan did too*.
According to Evangeline the Acadians in La.(CAJUNs) emigrated from Nova Scotia. I see you meant they originally emigrated from France. We memorized the prologue in 8th grade
C-Moe, I was a Tolkien scoffer until persuaded to read LOTR. I read it back to back twice before I could put it down and memorized some of the poetry. "Through Rohan over FEN** and field…"
Speaking of Tinbeni, hopefully the library will be back open and he can relate ETA's passage through Tarpon Springs
.
Tubman was an answer on Jeopardy last night. I missed that one but had a couple that all three missed.
I had Curls/CHINS as I'm guessing many others did.
The second ENOS spawned "Pesky HELD the ball". Not quite the infamy of Bill Buckner. And Dave Roberts steal of second in 2004 led to the tieing run , kept the Redsox alive and big Papi won it later.
Wasn't KEESHAN Clarabelle?
WC (at his byte limit)
** Bill Russell had hit the guy wire on the inbounds play.
*** We just had FEN(and ETA)
Cajun is colloquial for Acadian. Acadian comes from the word Acadi, the area of Canada now called Nova Scotia. When the French settlers in that area were forced out in the 1750's, some went back to France. Others traveled to and settled in southwest bayou areas Louisiana. Those who went back to France, also later traveled backed to Louisiana. New Orleans is not really Cajun
Good morning!
Got 'er done in good time, so life is good. Noticed that half of each theme answer was a shoe...and then ignored the other half. [Sigh] I believe that R in GRE is "Record." Thanx, Tina and C-Moe.
AS IF: Happens to be the last name of my doctor -- Asif.
Good catch on Clarabell, W.C. Keeshan was one of several Clarabell portrayers.
Happy birthday, B-E (and a belated HBD to Oo and Rich).
WC, Johnny Most and his voice is emblazoned in my memory from that Havlicek moment.
Watched "Kingsman: The Secret Service" the other day, so I knew 37A first shoe was "Oxford, not Brogue"
58A had to be MINNESOTA. WISCONSIN has 6 hockey titles...
Didn't Johnny Most also say something like "That guy keeps hitting Havlicek's elbow with his eye."?
Good Morning:
When I solved with pen and paper, I usually checked crosses before filling in a word, but solving digitally, with the ease of Xing out any errors, has led to popping in the first word that comes to mind. Today, this resulted in: Rolex/Omega, Atoms/Hairs, Crete/Corfu, and Curls/Chins. I saw the theme after the second pair of shoes and immediately filled in the revealer. Spectators, to me, always referred to a woman’s shoe. I knew Marisa Tomei because I saw that movie but even though I saw every episode of The Killing, I couldn’t remember Mireille’s last name to save my soul. CSO to Ray, Tin, and Wilbur at Ray, and to CC and Boomer at Minnesota.
Thanks, Tina, for an easy Friday solve and thanks, Moe, for your well-explained summary and the numerous links and visuals. I could have done without Friday The 13th, but I survived it. I’m not a fan of horror movies.
Happy Birthday, BigEasy, hope it’s a special day. 🎂🎉🎊🎈🎁
I’ve kept my outings to a minimum but today I have to go for a blood draw, pick up some prescriptions, and select numerous birthday cards. Mask time!
Have a great day.
Good morning. Thank you, Tina Lippman, and thank you, Moe.
Tina, if this was your LA Times debut, keep 'em coming.
Really enjoyed this puzzle.
MOCCASIN FLAT made me laugh.
Did a trainer's job = RETAPED. - First thought was animal trainer.
Kangaroo player: KEESHAN - Moe, I had the K, could picture him, but could not remember his name.
Jumped in with enthusiasm: HAD AT IT. Synonymous with "took a stab at" or "gave it a go."
Lexicon with 600,000+ wds = OED. - How many times do the readers here see a legitimate word with an Anon comment of "xxxxxx is not a word."
“One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die.” — Evelyn Waugh.
Get an approximation of your vocabulary in about 5 minutes. Test Your Vocab Just remember that bragging in the comments is a bit naff.
Anon @ 8:24 - Small, Medium, Large. That was covered in the review.
Good morning everyone.
Happy Birthday to Big Easy. Have a great day.
Very daunting solve. West side moved along, but rest was slow in coming.. Some key fill like PONY, CELIAC, KEESHAN and TOMEI took forever to come into focus because of how they were clued. Tina did a superb job. I had the leading shoe of the pairs early, but, again, the 2nd shoe took a while. Finally grokked the reveal. PAIR OF SHOES. SPECTATOR was a learning. HEMIS was the last to fill although I remember them being touted as an engine type. Lucky on the WAGs, too. No help needed. FIR.
Bob Keeshan played Captain Kangaroo for 30 years.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG EASY ... tonight's "First Sunset Toast" is to YOU !
Chairman Moe: Wonderful, very informative write-up & links.
Yup! I do like my Tampa Bay Rays ... and you are correct my favorite team are the YANKEE's.
Well it is a beautiful, sunny 75 degree day ... time for a beach walk on Honeymoon Island.
Six miles ought to do it.
Cheers!
Wilbur Charles
The library was closed on Wednesday due to Veteran's Day Holiday.
And it was a rainy day ... it 8 inches of rain in one day is considered "Rainy". LOL
Not much wind damage but the coastal areas got a little flooded.
Seems everything is OK now.
When it comes to Hurricanes (even weak one's like ETA) where do you want to be?
50 to 100 miles away.
Just glad I stayed in all day.
Somehow ended up with TOASTIr for the sandwich. I had written in the “r” for Captain Kanaroo’s name and didn’t look at it again. So, FIW/R.
A rare Friday FIR.
My daughter and granddaughters don't care how you define CELIAC, they still have to avoid gluten.
Had to change BATcape to SUIT and ego to SEX.
Don't understand SML as plural tee sizes.
SPECTATOR shoe unknown.
Last to fill...WHO CAN SAY
MO
Happy Birthday to You, Big Easy.
I found this puzzle to be a bit more challenging than the typical Friday solve. The first theme answer I was able to fill in was MOCCASIN FLAT which meant nothing to me. SPECTATOR came next but I have never heard of SPECTATOR shoes so that still left me in a state of ignorance. OXFORD SNEAKER finally drove the theme through my thick skull, but by then it was too late for the theme to be of any help to me in solving the CW. Eventually, FIR.
CH MOE, that recap reads and looks as if it took quite a bit of time to create. Among the many highlights/chuckles the AIREDALE and the PONY GLASSES reign supreme.
OMaxIN @ 9:52 --> SML stands for "S" (abbr for Small) "M" (abbr for Medium) and "L" (abbr for Large). If you re-read the clue, it says Tee sizes, plural. S+M+L are all Tee Shirt sizes.
Also, did anyone else notice that most of my links and videos were only visible on a laptop/computer? I couldn't get hardly any of them to show on my iPhone; neither could Margaret who has an Android phone ... weird ... TTP, any thoughts?
After four straight previous romps,this Friday challenge was worth the wait. Slow going all over the place til some changes brought it into focus. Like IM and others I had to correct atoms to hairs, curls to chins. Also, celial to celiac. I entered sms at 54D thinking plural for smalls, but Lloyd Bridges changed that. In sum, a fun Friday to get the old gray matter revved up. And to you, C-Moe, a most entertaining and enjoyable write--up.
Chairman Moe,
Great breakdown. I wish that I could have had your links show especially toga.
I like that you thought on 42D "this past election showed me, at least, that we don't necessarily DIFFER nearly as much as we think we do." I hope it's not too political to ask why. I would LOVE to think that way.
HOLA!
Happy birthday, Big E!
My first impression of this puzzle was not good but after finding all the SHOES my opinion changed. I love shoes! Though I don't have even a fraction of Imelda's, I do have a large number. These days, however, I am limited to wearing FLATS. High heels were always my preference in my younger days and I liked to match them with my outfits.
I even own a PAIR of MOCCASIN style shoes from the MINNESOTA SHOE company. I love them and at one time had some in different colors.
Except for HEMIS which I seriously doubted this was easily completed. I enjoyed the backward glance at LLOYED Bridges and of course anytime there is poetry I am pleased.
Thank you, ChairmanMoe, for your detailed explanations and illustrations. HEMIS was especially mysterious to me so I appreciate your insight on it.
I love Marisa TOMEI. She was good in the movie cited but she shone in My Cousin Vinny.
HEM was really cleverly clued.
Please enjoy your Friday the 13th. I doubt anyone here is superstitious.
Moe, I forgot to mention how much I enjoyed GRAZE ANATOMY.
I will fix the links. Stoopid Blogger. Give me 10 minutes.
OK, all you phone readers can reload the blog page and you should now have all of the video links.
Moe,
Thanks for fixing the links. I was hoping that the toga video showed John Belushi but alas...
I walked away and thought I may have created an unintentional faux pas.
I was calling Blogger, the application stupid. I was not calling Moe, the blogger stupid.
New Blogger ticks me off. 2 months ago I reported the defect and documented in detail for them and it's still not fixed. If you want to see that detail, just click on my Avatar and the click on TTP's Blog.
Another FIW. Thought "kangaroo player" was a sports guy with so many other sports clues....crossed with semi instead of HEMI.... sheesh. (Watched Bob Keeshan as Clarabelle and later the Captain religiously.) Theme was simple even for me.
As The Moses of her People Harriet Tubman traveled extensively and has more than one museum dedicated to her.
Harriet Tubman home and museum in Auburn NY near Syracuse . Worked in Auburn for a couple years. 3 little kids and busy practice kept us from visiting the site.
CW police should place a limit on how many times ONO (Yoko) can be used as an answer. SSGTS; staff sergeants? Clothing line? Was thinking H&M which wouldn't fit.
Split..peas? infinitives? decisions? Ah, oh, oho...HAIRS! Work for eds?: educators? editors? Needed the narrative to understand the obscure answer MSS.
BATcape/SUIT ...Bicep exercises are usually called curls but chin-ups (CHINS?) will do the trick. Never heard that term nor PONY for a shot glass. Have traveled the Evangeline trail in Nova Scotia and Acadia Park in Maine.
Small coke....MINNESOTA
Replaced the electic oven and switched ____ TOGAS
Joan Rivers: "She was so fat she had more ____ than a Chinese phone book".... CHINS.
My Alma Mater Studiorum, Università degli Studi di Bologna was founded officially in 1088 and is the oldest. Oxford did not meet the criteria for a university until around the 14th century and taught in Latin. Couldn't find what date it became English speaking
A Big happy birthday to Big Easy.
Musings
-Bob Keeshan! Duh!! What a clue, I’ll take a got ‘er done in this forest of proper names!
-Omaha paper had a very nice Gary Larson puzzle I enjoyed. I had to go to Across Lite to get Tina’s
-MOCCASIN FLAT gave me the gimmick but then, SPECTATOR as a shoe?
-Like the OMEGA, I chose an analog display on my Apple Watch, but it also gives me the date, my pulse, the weather and monitors my daily activity
-The current GLUT of oil has given us very nice gasoline prices
-The NOISY time of the 4th of July is a trial for our kitty in our otherwise quiet neighborhood
-C_ _ _ S bicep exercises were first CURLS
-ENOS Slaughter got benched today. No idea on his sub.
-RETAPING over football cleats make modern spats
-This PONY is much more than a shot glass
-Happy Birthday, George! (Bòn fèt in Creole)
Almost forgot to not only wish Big Easy a HB, but also to include him among the CAJUNs here at the Corner.
Thank TTP for fixing the blog links, et al. And no, I never thought you were referring to ME when you said “Blogger Stupid”! And FYI, here in the Moe House, the two words we never say are “stupid” or “gross”!
I know we have a few golf fans at The Corner. This is really weird watching The Masters; no patrons and no blooming azaleas 🌺. The scoring average is on pace to set a record. Even Par may not make the cut for weekend play ..
I recognized all the shoes and enjoyed today's puzzle! I was able to FIR in spite of not knowing the various actresses, sports icons, British sandwich and combustion engine, so I'd say the perps were fair. Thanks for the puzzle, Tina, for the colorful tour, Moe, and for all the reflections on solving, Cornerites!
Lovely theme. I started slowly because my mind was on the chores that AWAITed me. Later when I came back I progressed steadily. Only RAE and ENOS were new to me, easily perped. Last to fill was the H in HEMI and KEESHAN. I forgot he was Captain Kangaroo, but wagged it.
You may not find HAD AT IT, but you will find HAVE AT IT, to attack as in a fight or to attack vigorously as an endeavor. Both are familiar to me.
SPLIT HAIRS, frequently my assessment of nits here.
We love grilled cheese or toasties. Having been a waitress I never saw ketchup used on them, just mustard.
When I was a teen I wanted spectator pumps. My mom though they were impractical as they do not go with all outfits. When I was on my own, I know longer had the yen for them. Mom was right. With my limited funds I needed something I could wear more often.
Link text
Happy birthday, Big Easy. Enjoy your day.
I believe I will treat myself to a take-out lunch before I need to HAVE AT IT again,
It is just a bit early but, for some reason, "Blogger Stupid" reminded me of this:
Tarzan, Tonto and Frankenstein Wish You A Happy Thanksgiving
I have a double ended measure for a pony shot (1 oz.) or a jigger shot (1 1/2 oz.) Not much call for the pony.
Alan lives very close to Blairstown, NJ where Friday the Thirteenth was filmed. Some scenes where done in the Blairstown Diner. Alan and I have eaten there several times. Good food, good service. Diner
I often hear that people are "ailing," especially when the speaker does not know or does not care to say what ails them.
This was a quick run for a Friday - I had one cell wrong - I didn't remember Captain Kangaroo's real name so SEMIS for HEMIS seemed to make as much sense.
I'm with YR and Agnes - I only thought of women's SPECTATOR pumps - I've always thought they were classy especially for spring/summer.
Thanks Moe and congrats to Tina for your debut!
Happy birthday to Big Easy!
MM, I started laughing before I even hit the link, so funny. I miss Phil Hartman.
This Friday XWord had a LOT of proper names, maybe a bit too many IMHO.
I like being a male especially when it comes to 2 things....shoes and makeup. In my working career I had 2 pairs of black shoes for Mon-Thur and a brown pair for casual Friday. And I never spent one penny for makeup. I won’t even get into all the different undergarments, haha.
Lemonade, we all remember exactly where we were. We were in a car listening on the radio. Incredible as it sounds, Red Auerbach didn't allow TV for home games("Giving it away"). It's possible that the game didn't sell out. It was a Bruin's town and the C's had won seven in a row. Bruins were perennial cellar dwellers.
Big 10 schools routinely recruited Canadian kids - a big edge. Four(Beanpot) schools drained Boston talent until ? came to BU and won a bunch.
C-Moe, yes I couldn't see the links on my Android. We smart-phone users must be a pain for blogger support. Haha, I just read TTP's response.
Happy birthday, Big Easy.
WC
Winderful puzzle! Thank you, Tina. Lots of names but all gettable with perps. Very clever theme. BTW I think of spectators as women’s two-tone pumps. Very chic many years ago. Mine were navy and white, 3 inch.
Ch. Moe, I loved all the music videos, but the Pentatonix clip knocked my socks off - WOW!
My initial goofs were ooh/TRA (the French in me I guess) Capri/CORFU, curls/CHINS
.
Ditto, Lucina, on Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny.
Have a great day, everyone.
Learning moment: Spectators are a kind of shoe...
With this knowledge, I can now die happy... (not...!)
Sheesh! I do Xwords to learn the secret of
Life, The Universe, & Everything!
2nd Learning moment: maybe I expect too much...
Happy Birthday Big Easy!
It is tough to find a cake with Big Easy on it,
so I thought I would just cheat & take the easy way out...
But when I saw this, I thought you might like it...
Enos?
I don't recognize either of those Enos's...
The only Enos I remember from TV was the guy on Duke of Hazzard...
I went to find a silly clip, but then I don't remember a Movie version
with different actors?
Oh well, I'd rather remember Daisy anyway...
if you want to be enlightened about a pair of shoes...
You will have to find your own 3rd link to go with this thread...
Another easy “Monday”
AnonymousPVX:
Re: your comment about being a male. Most women, the ones I know anyway, LOVE the choices we get to make regarding shoes and clothes. Now that I have all the closets to myself, I can fill them with the shoes and clothes I chose. Some women, (at least one that I know) fill their closets with clothes and shoes of the same color.
(you ever refresh right before posting and, 'oh s***, it's CED... So?, I'm not going to be posting for at least another 20 minutes?' :-)
Had a Dukes of Hazzard lunch box. #42)
Hi All!
Boy did I MUFF this one...
Thanks for the grid Tina but the pop-culture got me - had to take 3 Googles and a flat out-cheat for TOne -> TOSS.
Oh, and I only caught one shoe in the themers. //Hi MManatee!
Fun expo C. Moe. The TOASTIE maker lost me at 'margarine.' //YR - Ketchup? Mustard? No, dip in Tomato Soup :-)
Moe: EJECT? - unbent paper-clip in the little hole will do the trick :-)
LOL DROIDS clip.
WOs: [see above].
Googles: ENOS, RAE, HERO
ESPs: why bother :-)
Fav: SNOOP DOGG reminded me of this bit [Fluffy 3:03]
LLOYD was runner-up for the Airplane! cite C. Moe provided.
Happy Birthday BigE!
Shoes? these are all I've been wearing since C19 started.*
TTP - I had to look up naff :-)
PVX - I knew where MManatee was headed too. Phil was fantastic!
Cheers, -T
*Well, OK, SNEAKERS too when I work out w/ my tele-trainer.
Dash T —-> great Fluffy video! Agree re: OLEO on a grilled cheese sandwich. Butter or maybe ghee.
Wow i thought yesterday or even Wednesdays was harder than this. This was a breeze. Finished fast. Now i have nothing to do for last work break.
21D I'll echo Wilbur Charles on LOTR. I've read it twice, the 2nd time to my 8 yr old son. My son has read it several times to my grandchildren. Tolkien's descendents had a lot of input on the QC of the movies and they are spectacular. My son has only allowed his older children to see the films, as parts are far too scary for little kids. After you've experienced LOTR, Middle Earth takes up residence in your mind. One of the greatest literary achievements of the 20th C.
58A The U Minn hockey team inspired the creation of an early Internet utility called "Gopher" that enabled the user to "gofer" (i.e transfer) files from other participating universities and research centers. Refinements to this idea plus the advent of graphical user interfaces eventually morphed into the service that we are all using at this moment: the World Wide Web. So the germ of the Web was in Minnesota. CSO to Boomer and CC!
2D Harriet Tubman had many hiding places and transfer points along the Underground Railway. There is also a museum dedicated to her at one such site on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
8D If you haven't seen it I'd recommend streaming "The Durrells of Corfu", the story of a real life family who migrated to Corfu in 1935, after the father has died. Their inheritance was tied up the courts and Louisa had to look for a place to raise her 4 children less expensive than England. They are befriended by the island's only taxi driver and are immediately plunged into a new and exotic world, peopled by fascinating characters. The 4 season series is largely a comedy against a darker background of their struggles to make ends meet and the emergence of fascism in the run up to WWII. Two of Louisa's sons, Gerald and Lawrence became famous in later life. Gerald, the youngest, developed an intense interest in the island's flora and fauna and later became one of England's leading naturalists. Lawrence was an avant guard writer who later became famous for a 4 novel series called "The Alexandria Quartet".
C-Moe, thanx for the blog. Love your Moek'us (which seemed to have fled by the time I completed these long winded comments. PCP?). Did you study under Stephan Pastis, or was it vice-versa?
Bill
waseeley (Bill) @ 4:05 --> PCP the drug? Nope. Although AZ DID pass the law to make recreational marijuana legal, hence the comment about Brownies with MS and SD. Glad you like the ku's. I am a fan of Pastis and Gary Larson. I was a bit of a class clown way back when in HS. I am almost 68 and still don't know what I want to be when I grow up!
Re: LOTR --> as I mentioned to WC, I do plan on watching the "series" with my SO. She is so excited that I have stopped my almost two decade ban on movies. We watched the entire Marvel Comics movie series early pandemic shutdown; and now that it appears we may have even more "time off", LOTR seems a like a good distraction.
Thanks for adding more facts to the blog. I do get carried away but it's a lot of fun doing this. Glad that CC asked me to join the team ...
I liked Chairman Moe's exposition more than the puzzle. Most of the proper names stumped me. So did the sports references, as usual. As CrossEyedDave said, "Learning moment: Spectators are a kind of shoe..." So, not spotted spuds, eh?
Happy birthday, Big Easy! I enjoy reading your posts.
I remember the big HEMI engine in the Chrysler 300C. We test drove one years ago. Nice car, but a gas hog. I still like the looks of it.
Inspector Morse (fictional British police detective) lives and works in OXFORD. Sometimes, when they show scenes of the university, I get a funny feeling; Oxford University looks so much like Yale! Or vice-versa.
Good wishes to you all.
Happy Birthday to Big Easy and to anyone else that I missed in the last couple of weeks !
Moe, I get the gross part, but the stupid part leaves me perplexed unless there's a synonym in play.
Dash T, I'm 100 % certain that you aren't the only one that had to look up naff, and I also think that vocab test doesn't give enough credence to those in high tech fields. Or, for that matter, anyone in any field that has a specialized argot. It was a fun assessment, but hardly meaningful.
Saw this on Twitter: "To anyone who feels like they “wasted” the time during quarantine because they didn’t write a book or learn a second language or get their bodies in shape, I have good news: Quarantine ain't over get back inside." - Denzel Washington
TTP @ 5:04 --> unfortunately, my SO's father called her "stupid" when she was growing up (she is anything but), and that word brings back bad memories. The "gross" part is interesting, as I was never phased by it as a kid; the word didn't have that connotation back then if you recall. But it did have an affect on my kids. But hey, life is too short to get hung up on stuff like that. Although I always say that if anyone has a "right" to poke fun at a name it's me, and anyone else who shares that wonderful surname. As you know, I use the "12 dozen" definition in one of my email addresses ...
Moe, now I understand.
My last name was an easy target for jokes as I grew up. I assume we can both relate to Johnny Cash's song.
TTP - argot? *looks it up*
Oh, jargon :-)
C.Moe - STUPID-O! [say it with a thick Italian accent] is what Gramps and Pop (and I) would call each other (or ourselves) when making a bone-head move while working on something -- It was all in poky-fun.
That your SO was punished by it - sounds like not in fun :-(
I've been grooming my kids for ~20yrs to believe I'm a Super Genius.
Sure, they'd scoff (after they reached age of reason).
But!, my plans work and everything 'comes out in the wash' [now there's a phrase for constructors if a 16x grid is accepted] and the Girls are impressed.
Then!, they believe!*
Cheers, -T
*at least a bit :-) //Still working to convince DW...
H B D, Big Easy!
Tough pzl. I'm with Husker G, Jayce, et al in protesting the slew of proper names.
These always seem to me to represent a failure in pzl-makers' imagination, when they come up short in finding words acceptable under original Scrabble rules.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Two diagonals, one to each side.
On the near end, we see an anagram suggesting several moments of profound insight, such as we may associate with spiritual conversions: i.e.,...
"MANY DAMASCENES"!
-and-
On the far side, we see an anagram reminder of "new" media used in postwar action paintings, led by such artists as Jackson Pollock, a reference to...
"OIL SPLATTERS"!
To Anonymous-T @ 3:02
I apologize for being long winded...
But I find if I do not get rid of it right away,
it comes out the other end...
:)
C-Moe, I'm glad she did too. By PCP I meant "PC Police", as I couldn't find your Moe'kus when I went back to look for them.
I was going to suggest that maybe it was SD who was trying to school MS in the proper recipe for brownies, but I thought it might not be PC. Brownies had all kinds of connotations when we were growing up in the 60's (I'm 73 going on 12). Glad you're going to watch LOTR. You and your SO will love it.
Kangaroo player? Is kangaroo a musical instrument? or a game? Even after perps, who/what is Kee Shan/Kees Han? Did not think of the Captain or Bob Keeshan. (Even though I grew up with him.)
Demi/semi/hemi? Reread the clue and filled in HEMI.
FIR, but didn't know it until I came here.
>> Roy
FIR today , but only with luck and a good lookover before reading the blog. Saw both shoes in each theme fill, FLAT cluing me in after seeing MOCCASIN, MULE, and OXFORD. Spent a lot of ink in some squares before ending up with the right letter. But ultimately lots of fun and satisfaction. Finished it earlier today but no time to read the blog and comments until now. Thanks Tina and C Moe.
Hope you all had a good day. And Happy Birthday to Big Easy!
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Tina and C. Moe.
I got the PAIRS OF SHOES theme which helped to fill my blank areas. Yes, the plethora of proper names held me up.
But I arrived here to discover that I FIWed with Semis instead of HEMIS. I see that I am not the only one here who doesn't know my engines (should have asked DH). Interesting that we had HEM today also.
Like ATLGranny, "Finished it earlier today but no time to read the blog and comments until now."
Harriet Tubman is well known at this end of the Underground Railroad, North Star Journey.
She resided in St. Catharines, Ontario, from late 1851 to early 1862. During Black History month in February, DH and I visited an Open House at Salem Chapel in St Catharines. We were privileged to hear some of Tubman's story from historian Rochelle Bush,the trustee of the Salem Chapel. "A freedom seeker descendant, Rochelle’s maternal great-great-grandfather was the minister-in-charge of the Salem Chapel during the time Harriet Tubman was a member."
SisterTubman
TTP@5:04pm- I saw this post on Facebook today. "Coronavirus explained in craft terms: You and 9 friends are crafting. 1 is using glitter. How many projects have glitter?"
Happy Birthday Big Easy.
Good evening to you all.
One more try to link.
SisterTubman
Waseely, the film version of LOTR has one major difference from the printed version: the Scouring of the Shire, and the death of Saruman in the Shire, by Grima Wormtongue's hand, are omitted from the movie. This is a shame, because our practical struggles as humans are rather closer to those of the hobbits than to those of the more noble Numenoreans and elves.
CED - you knows I was kiddin'. If I didn't love reading your posts (and chasing your links), it would only take 20 seconds to scroll by.
Fun DR OMK
C, Eh! - LOL Glitter analogy! I'm going to use that.
Uh, still no word from PK... Anyone have an inside scoop?
Cheers, -T
Curiosity kept the Cat up too late say...
54a I got w/ -NO--D-GG. I kinda heard of the show from the zeitgeist but never really knew...
So, I just Googled: Potluck Dinner Party [5:50]
Kinda cute (and Patti Labelle makes a cameo!). Did Martha mellow after hard-time? :-)
Cheers, -T
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