Hi, Cornerites. Chairman Moe here recapping what appears to be Jonathan Potter's first LA Times crossword puzzle, and perhaps his second ever published work. Pretty impressive to have a Friday - difficulty as your first LAT entry, although I did not require the usual amount of Friday time to complete. Yes, there were some areas where C Moe had to wait for perps, but I am not the fastest solver in the world; just try to solve without looking up words.
Today's puzzle has a clever theme: 58-Across. Educators' concerns ... or, a
phonetic hint to how four long puzzle answers were derived: ABSENTEES,
as in the letter E is missing, or ABSENT from the entries, and provides
a different meaning to a well-known item or phrase. Let's "C" how this
came about!
17-Across. Annual assembly of breakfast lovers?: WAFFLE-CON. Add an "E"
and it becomes WAFFLE CONE
37-Across. Bathroom fixture trial version?: TEST TUB. Add an "E" and it becomes TEST TUBE. Although the video shows a beaker, you definitely have to follow this advice if you ever choose to dilute acid
As for a TEST TUB perhaps this is what Mr Potter had in
mind?
11-Down. Strategy for holding it while in the bathroom line?: WAIT AND HOP. Add an "E" and the phrase is WAIT AND HOPE. Here is a famous quote using the latter:
“There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the
comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the
deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt
what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.
Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget, that
until the day God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is
contained in these two words, 'Wait and Hope'.”― Alexandre Dumas
And of course, if you've ever been to a football game, or at a SRO
play/opera/musical, and had to pee, I'm sure we've all done this:
Last, but not least: 28-Down. Mess made while melting down old jewelry?: GOLDEN GLOB. Add the "E" and it becomes GOLDEN GLOBE. The Golden Globe Awards, as Wikipedia cites, began in 1944. In 1950, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made the decision to establish a special honorary award to recognize outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. Recognizing its subject as an international figure within the entertainment industry, the first award was presented to director and producer, Cecil B. DeMille. The official name of the award thus became the Cecil B. DeMille Award.
When I saw GOLDEN GLOB, the first thing that came to mind was:
Now, it's off to the races to see how quickly we can recap the rest of this puzzle! As this blog is publishing, C Moe is in Athens, GA seeing his daughter, son-in-law, and first grandson! You've all "met" him before ...
Across:
1. Draft sources: KEGS. As in the draft beer that is on tap. Kegs come
in a variety of sizes
5. Arabic for "commander": EMIR. Fresh cluing for this common x-word fill. Usually clued as Arab "ruler", but historically, the word EMIR referred to a commander
9. Parts of a code: LAWS. Although technically there are no "LAWS" in this code shown below, the Comics Magazine Association self-regulated to assure parents, perhaps, that the content in their publications was "safe" for their kids to see and read
13. Pelvic parts: ILIA. The hip bones; plural for ilium
14. __ tag: NAME. A dear departed friend of mine, named Bob, wore a shirt, just like this one, where the NAME tag was silk-screen printed onto the tee:
15. Candied, as apples: GLACE. Technically, gla·cé. From the French glacer; (of fruit) having a glossy surface due to preservation in sugar.
19. Wee Scot: BAIRN. Scottish for "child"
20. Visibly upset: IN TEARS. This video went "viral" several years ago when my (and TTP's) Pittsburgh Steelers upset the Cincinnati Bengals in a playoff game
21. Exhaust, as a welcome: OUTSTAY. I think the quote from Benjamin Franklin is: "Guests, like fish, begin to smell after 3 days." Moe is going to be with his daughter for 5 days. Hope I don't cause this reaction:
23. Sci. course: BIO. Could be clued: "what's found in one's obit"
24. Words with waves: HI'S. Note the clue ... not "his" as in what belongs to "him", but "hi's" as in the short term for "hello"
25. __ Sutra: KAMA. So, C Moe, how do you approach THIS clue/solve on your recap??!! Well, I decided on a brief (and quite informative, I'd say) explanation in a video
and then a Moe-ku (#1, if you're keeping track):
VP Elect's book
On political pleasure:
KAMA-la Sutra
26. Draft pick: LAGER. As in beer; "draft" as in what's ON TAP. So, of
course you ask: is LAGER different than beer? To begin, there is no difference
between beer and LAGER. LAGERS are beers that are fermented slowly at low
temperatures. They also ferment from the bottom up. The yeast literally rises
to the top during the fermentation process. Ales ferment quickly from the top
down and are brewed in a warmer environment. It’s important to note that LAGER
is not a type, but rather a family of beers that includes bright lagers, amber
lagers, dark lagers, bocks, doppelbocks, kellerbiers, rauchbiers, Oktoberfests
and, maybe the most popular, pilsners
29. "No problem!": SURE CAN. Remember back when we were kids and we
were constantly corrected about whether we CAN or if we may? "CAN I come over
and play?" Surely, you CAN ... but my Mom says "you
may not"
31. Playing a fifth qtr., say: IN OT. In OverTime. A
"fifth quarter" would apply to both basketball and football at the
professional level. The NBA plays 12:00 quarters; the NFL plays 15:00
quarters. In baseball, "overtime" is referred to as "extra innings". And my
Mom, bless her heart, who was totally clueless to this, would often ask my
Dad: "Is the baseball game in 'over innings'?!"
32. Langston Hughes Library designer Maya: LIN. Maya Lin, (born October
5, 1959, Athens, Ohio, U.S.), best known for this Memorial:
33. Melted cheese concoction: FONDUE. Remember when this was a staple appetizer theme back in the day?
And Moe-ku #2:
Margaret, to Moe:
"For our upcoming party,
FONDUE? Please, 'Fon-DON't'!"
36. G, in the key of C: SOL. The fifth note of a major scale; the note "G". Interesting that in the image below it's spelled "SO"
39. 9 to 5, say: Abbr.: HRS. Many East Coast businesses operate from 9:00am to 5:00pm; their corresponding Central Time Zone businesses operate from 8:00am to 4:00pm to accommodate East Coast customers. Or so I've been told
40. Like the Inca: ANDEAN. Indigenous to the "Cordillera de los Andes"; the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America.
42. Electric __: EEL. For any of you SCUBA divers out there:
43. Marshy spots: BOGS. Interesting coincidence that a guy with THIS NAME played at FENway Park:
44. Former flier with a NY/Newark/DC/Boston shuttle: EASTERN. Former Astronaut and CEO of EASTERN Airlines, Frank Borman. Here is a bit of EASTERN Airlines Shuttle "history":
46. Prairie home: TEPEE.
47. Tirade: RANT. Moe-Quain #1:
Brutal,
Clumsy despot
Had difficulty with
A Windsor knot; that prompted a
Tie RANT
49. Plural French pronoun: ILS. Pronounced "eel'-uh". I eat and drink
"French" but can't speak a lick
50. Get: SEE. This guy "gets it", see?
51. Real asset ... or no asset at all?: BIG HELP. Sarcasm intended
53. Repeat: ITERATE. Moe-Quain #2:
Repeat:
I say, "repeat
After me, and let me
Be clear!" And to re-ITERATE,
Again
57. Keys: ISLES. From Google: "The Florida Keys are a string of
tropical islands (ISLES) stretching about 120 miles off the southern tip of
the U.S. state of Florida, between the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
They’re known as a destination for fishing, boating, snorkeling and scuba
diving. The southernmost city of Key West is famous for Duval Street’s many
bars, Mallory Square’s nightly Sunset Celebration and the Ernest Hemingway
Home and Museum." But I seem to recall that just before Halloween, Key West is
better known for
this. Enter
at your own risk; it's rated PG-55. Sort of like "Spring Break for AARP
members"!
60. Gruff: SHORT. The one on the left is definitely "SHORT"!
61. Together, so to speak: SANE. "So to speak" is the key to the clue. We used to say that if someone is "SANE", they had their $h** together ...
62. Smell __: A RAT. Figuratively when something doesn't seem right; literally
63. Napping, perhaps: ABED. When you are "in, at, or toward a bed". ASEA (when you are at sea) is another example many x-word constructors use to use an "A" as the start of a four-letter fill
64. Natural gas additive: ODOR. Natural gas in its native state is colorless and odorless. Mercaptan is the additive that is added to natural gas to make it easier to detect in case of a leak. The most important thing to know about mercaptan is that it stinks. Some people compare it to the smell of rotten eggs.
Mercaptans contain sulfur. That's what makes them smell. In a gaseous state, Mercaptan has much the same property as natural gas, so it will also rise and dissipate with natural gas.
Could this be another example of Natural Gas with an ODOR?
65. Sit: POSE. As in "posing" for a picture/photograph. Most everyone is sitting
Down:
1. Only bird whose beak has nostrils at the end: KIWI. I didn't know this, but it's always fun to find a picture that shows it. They're not very big
2. Verve: ELAN. More x-wordese. ELAN is not a word I use too often; nor verve
3. Talent: GIFT. Definitely a "Friday" clue; having a "GIFT" is to indicate ones talent at doing something. This?
4. Conservative choice: SAFE BET. It's a SAFE BET to say that the sun will rise in the East. Moe-Quain #3:
It's a
SAFE BET to know
That Moe will litter his
Recaps with "Ku's", "L'ick's", or now, "Qains"
Money!
5. Start of el año: ENERO. January, in Español
6. Computers with Apple cores: MACS. Cute. The capital letter "A" in
Apple gave it away
7. Twitter shorthand: IMO. In My Opinion.
Honest
8. "Le déjeuner des canotiers" painter: RENOIR. In English, the
Luncheon of the Boating Party. 1880-1881
9. Pride Month letters: LGBT. Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual Transgender. June is "Month" in which they celebrate. "Pride" as opposed to shame or social stigma
10. One with a home in Nome: ALASKAN. At the 3:00 mark, this erstwhile VP candidate spoke (in a SNL spoof) about seeing Russia from ALASKA. Maybe in Nome you could?
12. Skedaddle: SCRAM. To depart quickly; run away; SCRAM
16. "Dark Sky Island" singer: ENYA. Nice
18. Den: LAIR. Synonym
22. Worthwhile: USEFUL. Scott Van Pelt used this word to describe a great golf shot, when he worked for The Golf Channel network
24. Camouflage wearers, at times: HUNTERS. This combination of colors seems a bit odd when you think of it ... but maybe the deer are color-blind?
26. Edelstein of "The Kominsky Method": LISA. Complete unknown to C
Moe, but now that I am streaming, and have a Netflix account, I will have to
catch up; looks like a
great cast
27. Quote book abbr.: ANON. We certainly have had our share of
"ANON"ymous posters here at the Corner ...
29. Part of the fam: SIS. My SIS and I at the RnRHOF in 2018
30. Male swan: COB. I hope that Spitzboov will confirm this, but male swans are called a "COB" due to the knob on its beak. The word "knob" comes from the German "knopf"
32. Soup legume: LENTIL. Moe-ku #3:
We decided to
Give up legumes, pre-Easter.
Our LENTIL promise.
34. Desire: URGE. What one has before 11-Down kicks in
35. Latin infinitive: ESSE. Not to be confused with ESSO, which of
course is Canadian Gas ... or, if Hamlet were an ancient Roman, he'd have
uttered: "ESSE aut non ESSE? Illud est quaestio ..."
37. Univ. aides: TAS. Teaching Assistants. Usually a grad
student who assists the professor of a course in teaching or mentoring
undergraduate students at a University or College
38. Pin in the back: TEN. Wow! What a clue! Boomer probably
spotted this right away. Pin, as in bowling pin. The TEN pin is in the back of
the "rack" of pins, along with the SEVEN, EIGHT, and NINE. I know Boomer has
20 perfect (300) games in bowling, but I wonder how many times he's picked up
this split (the dreaded, 7-10):
41. Blinking diner sign: EAT HERE. Couldn't find any images with a "blinking" sign, but here are a couple to amuse you. The second one is definitely where this Stooge goes to EAT
43. Draft source: BEER TAP. Oh, not the Selective Service "draft".
During the Vietnam War, and when I was eligible to be drafted, I was first
1-A, then 2-S, and finally, 1-H. I'm pretty sure that I found a BEER TAP in a
local bar, more than a few times
45. Sun Bowl city: EL PASO. The
Sun Bowl
is, along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, second to the Rose Bowl as the
oldest post-season college football game. It currently features an "at large"
matchup between schools/teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the
Pacific 12 Conference (PAC-12).
The stadium is called the "Sun Bowl", and is ergonomically positioned into a
natural "bowl" on the campus of the University of Texas, El Paso. The
post-season "bowl game" has been played without interruption since 1935;
however, the 2020 game has been canceled due to the Coronavirus
46. __ Vogue: TEEN. Been waaay too long for me to know about this; not
even sure it was around back when my daughter was a teenager
47. Cleanup hitter's stats: RBIS. Technically, it's Runs Batted In, but I guess Jonathan needed the plural here and used some poetic license. But, you could also argue that this refers to how people say the plural abbreviated phrase: "ribbies"
48. "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" host Tyler: AISHA. Aisha Naomi Tyler (born September 18, 1970). AISHA "replaced" Drew Carey when "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" resurfaced on the CW Network in 2013. Regulars Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Wayne Brady make this one of the funniest comic improv shows. Here's the cast with Arsenio Hall:
50. Guide: STEER. Is this redundant?
52. City limits sign abbr.: ESTD. Established. However, a thorough visit of "City Limits Sign ESTD" proved to me that this clue was forced. All of the ones I found abbr. it as EST
53. Money-object link: IS NO. I can't recall the last time I used cash money to pay for anything ...
54. Leader of space?: AERO. AEROspace, as in the branch of industry associated with aviation and space flight
55. Tazo products: TEAS. Tazo TEA Company was founded in Portland, OR in 1994. It is currently a part of the Unilever family of food and beverage products
56. Santiago-to-Buenos Aires dirección: ESTE. Spanish for "east"
59. Unenviable: BAD. As in not desirable or pleasant; which fortunately, (for me, anyway) recapping these puzzles is not "BAD"
The Grid:
Compliments of our friend Malodorous Manatee:
There is "no Moe"! Give me your best shot below. See you again on Christmas Day ...
47 comments:
Good morning!
A puzzle with LAGER, KEGS, and BEERTAP is right up my alley (next to the TEN pin). This theme must've been super-obvious; even d-o managed to get it. Did trip on TAPS/KEGS and FENS/BOGS -- my only Wite-Out moments. Enjoyed it, Jonathan, and thanx for the tour, C-Moe.
WAFFLE: After hurricane IKE blew through, the WAFFLE House near our offices lost its W, and was ever-after known as the Awful House.
GOLDEN GLOB: The Goldfinger golden girl -- the one in C-Moe's photo -- died a couple of months ago.
We're supposed to get rain today. Good. We need it. Just hope it waits 'til after the morning march through the 'hood.
FIR, with a helpful theme. Very enjoyable solve.
Kicked my butt today. Took almost 20 minutes. Bairn torpedoed me in the top right, as did Sol/Lisa.
I enjoyed all of my visits to the R&R HOF, Coshocton, and Waffle House.
Hola!
A person could get drunk solving this one! Actually, it was very doable. WAFFLECON cracked me up. And how nice to have a new clue for EMIR.
I'll take a CSO at SHORT being just under 5', 4'11"
This was more fun than a visit to the dentist which I will have to do later this morning. But it's Gentle Dental so I won't suffer.
I don't know AISHA but perps were a BIG HELP.
This was a satisfying solve but I don't know who to thank since my newspaper cited Michael Schlossberg as the constructor. It's becoming an annoying error.
But I can thank Chairman Moe for the witty narrative sprinkled with his Moe-kus.
Have a fantastic day, everyone!
Creative puzzle today - congrats Jonathan on the debut!
I got the theme with "WAIT AND HOP" which made the rest of the theme answers come quickly.
Favorite theme answer was the "WAFFLE CON" - I love waffles- I would attend!
Thanks Moe for the fun blog - even watched the whole video for the funny moments on Wheel of Fortune!
I'm off for 8 hours of computer training today for a new electronic med record we will begin in January - if I can stay alert for that long. Wish I was a little closer to retirement!
My kind of puzzle; start with KEGS of LAGER right down to the BEER TAP. Or as the working people used to say, TGIF. Oh, that's today. The ABSENTEES were obvious after CON & TUB. The NE & SW gave me a little trouble. GLACE and BAIRN were unknown. I was thinking GLAZED but it wouldn't fit and the perps wouldn't allow. Also wanted WISH AND HOP for WAIT but it wouldn't work.
On the west coast LISA and AISHA and their shows were all unknowns-perps
RENOIR & KIWI not really known but after a few perps they fell into place
ODOR- mercaptan wouldn't fit. Back in HS in the 60s, ANON-T's high school (Byrd) was evacuated because of a 'gas leak'. Turned out that some mercaptan that was being added to a gas pipeline had leaked SIX MILES AWAY and the wind carried it that far. None of our schools had AC and the windows were open.
Anon@7:13- sometimes we all need heating pads after not completing puzzles.
Good morning everyone.
Fun solve today. Enjoyed the cluing. Misread the hint so, no cigar for the theme, but also no impact on the solve. FIR. Only white-out was I had East before ESTE.
ITERATE - Did lots of that while learning and using FORTRAN II.
TEPEE - Casa Husker wouldn't fit.
ILS - 'They' in French. Ergo plural
DEN - Also the accusative case for 'der' in German. Also an archaism that apperars in some Dutch place names like Den Helder.
COB - knob - per Moe - - Close enough. Knob as, say, a tuning button is Knopf; L. Ger. Knoop. Knob as the thingy on a cupboard is (sometimes) Knauf.
Musings
-I had to get to TEST TUB for this fun gimmick
-GOLDEN G _ _ _ gave me GOOS first
-Call any clerk by the name on their NAME TAG and they will appreciate it
-HI’S was wonderful cluing. Waves as GI’S didn’t cut it.
-A TEN pin is a nightmare for us right handed bowlers
-The Sun Bowl was usually the consolation prize for Big 8 second place teams
-Recently, you begin to hear “He has 100 RBI” and not “He has 100 RBI’S”. Baseball grammarians?
-For Poirot TEA is a tisane which Hastings finds to be abominable
Addendum
-Casa Husker? I should put you in the brig for that one, Spitz! :-)
Chairman Moe: Excellent, informative write-up & links. Good job !
Faves today, 1-a KEGS 26-a LAGER, 43-d BEER TAP.
This puzzle reminded me to "Hit the Liquor Store" and finish my Christmas Shopping.
Hmmm, that'll be a bottle of Scotch, Rum & Ouzo ... and a 12 pack of Red Stripe.
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
Jonathan, welcome and greetings to your brother Harry.
Thought I FIR....nay nay. FIW! Suspected one of the "draft" clues would be sports related so had cager instead of LAGER...(Hey I know lots of girls named Cisa ). That TEEN is a too close to the BEERTAP.
Isn't it over not OUTSTAY? It's bizarre when you have no idea why you know an answer..like COB...must be cerebral storage from an earlier puzzle. Another EEL? Is it CW spawning season? TEPEE was quick and recent. (Moe: loved the TP cartoon 🤣)
An argument to be made that conservative is not necessarily a SAFEBET. ABSENTEES seem to causing a lot of fuss. (Ha! just got it...no E's.) Had chai then realized Tazo needed a plural, TEAS (good, because I expected sit was POSE). I didn't get WAIT AND HOPE but what is SURE CANE? (Oh, not a theme answer)
Indian finally changed to ANDEAN as I was certain the diner sign started with EAT. Oh bowling pin!...cute. (What does a RAT smell like?) So reITERATE is to repeat twice. Knew natural gas was laced with an additive so that an ODOR warns of a leak but didn't expect that as the answer. As Moe says...the additive is Mercaptan (REITERATED, gives you the title of a Walt Whitman poem)
Had les for French pronoun (hey, dummy that's not a pronoun) which forced me to spell LENTIL wrong till ILS sont arrivés..speaking of which, "candied" is past tense so again, français GLACÉ.
The SW was last to surrender once I finally changed surly to SHORT.
Follow the straight ______ " ENERO.
Mr. Wahol's art style ______ ANDEAN.
"Ask 'em if they ate enough." " ______ ? " USEFUL
Wee laddie is a slob. Ye Dinna grrrrrow up in a _____ ...BAIRRRN
Anise flavored alcoholic brews....ABSENTEES
House arrest (quarantine) ends at midnight. DD is fine, DW, lingering but improving cough. (Seems to disappear when scolding Catherine and me.)
Good morning. Thank you, Jonathan Potter, and thank you, Chairman Moe.
Great debut, Jonathon. Good theme, fresh fill, tricky cluing and plenty of beer references.
Figured out the theme pretty early on in the solve, but that was mostly due to completing the SE first. TEST TUB was the hardest to see because I was looking for a long answer with a missing an E based on the reveal. The NE w/ LAWS and GLACE and BAIRN was particularly tough for me this morning. That corner extended my solve until I finally just went with BAIRN and GLACE after finally ruling out any way to make Wish AND HOPE workout with the other crosses.
Hope you are having a great visit in Georgia, Moe. BTW, I used to spend periods of time on the north side of Atlanta over the years, ranging from a few days to a month or so. A WAFFLE House there became one of my favorites for breakfast at any time. Really liked their waffles and omelets. Thanks for the CSO. Hadn't seen that video before. Also, BTW, remember when EASTERN Airlines had a large presence at Pittsburgh Int'l?
I remember one time when I was an early teen, and for whatever reason, was in a bad mood when I responded tersely to my father's simple question. He said, "Don't get gruff with me" and I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I could tell by the tone that he didn't like my response.
Good Morning:
I liked the theme and enjoyed the solve, but, alas, I had a FIW due to Sure, Man instead of Sure Can. A male swan could be a Mob but isn’t. Anyway, it was a cute theme with a great surprise reveal. I had Fens before Bogs but no unknowns. I liked the draft clue clechos. Candied apples was a timely reference as I recently received a catalogue devoted to them. Yesterday, I received a catalogue devoted to brownies. I am inundated with catalogues every December, but this year I’m getting more than ever and for the oddest items.
Thanks, Jonathan, for a fun Friday and congrats on your LA Times debut and thanks, Moe, for the detailed and delightful review. You certainly have a way with words! 🤡
I just heard that one of my nieces has COVID. I hope she’ll have a mild bout of it. So far, no breathing issues which is good news.
FLN
Dave, I hope Carol gets back to good health soon.
Have a great day.
Thanks for the tour, C-Moe, and for the excellent puzzle, either Jonathan (as C-Moe indicates), or Michael, as indicated in the LA Times. Speaking of printing errors ... the Times doesn't seem to know how to deal with diacritical marks. We had missing letters twice recently with Anaïs Nin, and today the clue for ENERO was "Start of el ao" instead of "el año." I thought I was encountering a new language!
Fantastic Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jonathan (congrats on your debut) and CMoe.
I had a lightbulb moment when I filled in ABSENTEES and looked back at the themers. Clever (and it actually helped me fill in GLOB).
But I had a Natick at the cross of AISHA and ISLES; I did an alphabet run but did not see the S (my mind was blocked by thinking of typing or car keys).
Thanks for explaining "pin in the back=TEN" CMoe. Again my mind was blocked thinking of a safety pin (I have been making doll clothes for the grands!) - another lightbulb moment!
I smiled at all the draft clechos with KEGS, LAGER and BEER TAP.
More smiles at the "Apple cores" in the MACS clue; and there were candied apples at 15A too.
We had bathroom humour with TEST TUB and WAIT AND HOP.
Yes Naomi, my newspaper also printed 5D as "start of el ao"; fortunately we have had ENERO often enough that it filled the spot.
I waited for perp to decide whether the family member was Sis or SIB.
And this Canadian thought of Poutine before FONDUE, but it wouldn't fit.
IM- best wishes for your niece's health.
Wishing you all a great day.
Fun theme, not too tough of a puzzle, although alcohol and sports always leave me relying on perps! WAFFLE CON sounds like a great time. Would people dress up as their favorite breakfasts and line up to get autographed pictures with famous hash-slingers?
Thank you, Lucina and Naomi, for pointing out that our papers had Michael Schlossberg as the constructor, and not Jonathan Potter, and again goofed on leaving out the n in el ano. Why is it that hard for the LA Times to give us a correct crossword puzzle, for heaven's sake. But at least we got Chairman Moe's rich and beautifully illustrated commentary--many thanks for that, Moe.
Lots of cheating required, but at least I got off to good start with KAMA and ALASKAN. Nice to get WAFFLE and FONDUE, along with TEAS. KEYS was a clever clue for ISLES. Thanks, Jonathan, for a fun puzzle.
Have a good day, everybody.
From last night...
A flat and G sharp ARE the same, at least on a guitar...but the subject was IN G, not G sharp, so I don't know why that was dragged in.
Today’s grid was tough, IMHO.
I agree the usual term is OVERSTAY, but I have heard “outstayed their welcome”.
Have a safe one.
Busy busy busy,
will read comments & play later,
but I just had to say,
DNF!
Could not figure out "pin in the back."
(thought some nefarious shenanigans were going on...)
& after yesterdays G# Vs Ab,
G in the key of C
was a total mystery...
However,
I did have the best belly laugh
at the Blog image of 46. Prairie home: TEPEE.
Redundant! LMAO!
Thanks, Mr. Schlossberg! Tough but do-able. Just the way we likes 'em.
Oh, no!
OIC: The LA Times has screwed up once again.
My thanks should go to Mr. Potter!
(It is not easy to be grateful, especially at this time of year, to anyone named "Potter." Lionel Barrymore did such a good job, being so bad.)
FLN: Anonymous T ~ I tried entering a semi-colon (;) after Ð, and got nuthin'!
Did you mean the letters ETH or the sign ∂ ?
Neither way works. I just get &∂;
~ OMK
Hi All!
That NW corner was crunch-y!
Thanks Jonathan for a fun grid with few names. Congrats on the LAT debut.
Thank you C. Moe for kicking-off the after-party in style. I still have links to get back to!
11d: WAIT AND Pee? Theme was not S->P.
WOs: eLS -> ILS, Leas->BOGS, lightly inked R in rest for Sit == POSE
ESPs: AISHA, LISA, GLACE & BAIRN are new to me. ENERO 'cuz what NaomiZ said re: 5d's el ao.
Fav: Now how does anyone choose between 3 draughts? :-)
Lucina - Houston Chronicle credited Michael too
IM - sorry to hear about your niece. I'm wishing her well. //get her an oximeter so she can monitor O2 levels.
Ray-O: I was so close to stopping at C for cAGER but continued my ABC-run; LISA made sense (wAGER got the bronze)
Tinbeni - I've not had Red Stripe in forever!
HG Runs Batted In(s) seems redundant but RBI also sounds singular - RBIs. I donno but maybe this NASA doc I found last night will help.
BigE - I'm impressed you remembered Byrd - I forgot where you said you went... Shreve?
OMK - Ð in HTML displays Ð - don't forget to use CAPS for Ð and lower for ð
The Waffle House Index. [2m - NPR]
Cheers, -T
OMK - In my editor Ð looks just like that - it's after I paste into Blogger and post that it becomes Ð. //Note: I have to type & to get the & in Blogger.
Cheers, -T
Thanks to whoever it may have been that authored the puzzle and to Ch. Moe. Both the puzzle and the recap were lots of fun. FIR in about a dozen minutes with the toughest sector being the NE with BAIRN, GLACE, and SURE CAN.
I solved the puzzle yesterday and spent much of the intervening time happily wondering just how Ch. Moe was going to handle 25 Across. The chosen approach is quite interesting both as an exposition and as a guide to handling similar situation when they arise in the future. Now, just where did I misplace my copy of Gray's Anatomy?
Dear IM @ 10:40:
Yep, I swear this must be National Catalog Month. The poor letter carriers are definitely getting their exercise this month, hauling tons and piles and kilograms of catalogs....
I dunno,
my 1st thought was Anon-T's Nasa Doc...
All I could think was:
"Jeez, this thing could be shorter..."
2nd thought,
I usually loathe missing letter themes
as they have been done to death.
But the reveal, absent E's is pure genius...
unlike this guy...
Yes, a Friday FIR! Like AnonT I found the NW corner crunchy. Started with IPA and IBIS before considering ALE, finally seeing that KEG and KIWI worked. I too put WAIT AND PEE before checking perps and understanding the theme's trick. After that my only misstep was putting STERN before SHORT. So, somewhat messy today, but could have been worse. Thanks go to Jonathan for today's just-right challenge. And to C Moe for his wealth of information which cleared up my remaining puzzlements (ten pin, OK....bowling!)
Friday night, time for some cheese and wine. Enjoy your weekend everyone!
Anon-T @ 3:15 --
Thanks for Ms. Miller's NASA publication on acronyms.
One that is very apt today: "The way abbreviations are capriciously spawned, it would not be surprising to hear of a hardware development project called the Thermometric Geostrophic Interface, or TGIF.
Hello Chairman Moe. I spotted the bowling question that I get now and then. I cannot tell you how many times I have left the dreaded 7-10 split but I am sure that I never picked one up. A pocket hit usually leaves it and you need to toss a ball much faster than I can to pick it up. It's all about hitting one of the pins hard enough to knock it back out of the pit. I have bowled in a league with a guy named Dave Pashina who has picked it up seven times. He's pretty good though, He also has more 300 games than I have.
Lucina, you're exactly 1/2" shorter than my 95 year old mother!
The stockade might be more apt HG.
NaomiZ, at first I thought it might be Portuguese, until the perps started to fill in the answer, then realized it was an old Xwd standby.
Just back from ER. Wife got suddenly more short of breath plus new calf pain. Has a deep vein leg clot that spread to lungs. Admitted for IV blood thinners for a day then switch to oral. Covid now neg. Likely due to inactivity of 2 weeks of quarantine and bedrest.
Ray-O-Sunshine,
Our prayers are with you...
Boomer got me wondering about why the 7-10 split was so difficult,
&, since my most difficult decision about bowling was
how many socks to wear with those rental shoes. (Eeeww!)
I looked it up..
Here is a very interesting look behind the scenes
that is 11 minutes long, but covers the 7-10 split,
a look into the machinery,
using robotics to beat the system (it was a bust...)
& will also teach you not only the 7-10 split, but the dreaded Greek Church!
Unfortunately, it will not tell you how to deal with those stinky rental shoes...
Ray O ~ Sending prayers and best wishes to you and yours.
Ray O - Our thoughts and best wishes are with with you and yours.
Ray-o Sending thoughts and prayers for DW
Ray-O, so sorry to hear this. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Fair Park
Liked it. Thanks Jonathan and thanks CMoe for a very entertaining and informative analysis (haven't played the video re the Kama Sutra yet, but it's definitely on my front burner).
FIR. Fav clue was the answer to Boomer's Bane. And to think that someone has pulled off 7 7-10 splits! Sounds like a miracle to me.
I got most of the themers on perps. A dim lightbulb went on when I filled 58A, but thought for only a few seconds that it was "T"s missing, not "E"s. But then I SAW it in 17A, 37A, 11D, 28D (despite never having seen Goldfinger or the Golden Globes). I just don't get 43D - so what's a BEER TAPE?
A word to the disenchanted. We all encounter the occasional clue, whose answer we don't "SEE" or even disagree with. But those who consistently dismiss whole puzzles because they don't meet THEIR standards should consider the difficulties faced by the constructor and the editor vis a vis the tastes and capabilities of their diverse audiences.
IMHO, dissenters are faced with several choices. One is to move up to a higher plane, e.g. the NYT or London Times (although I sometimes find the Mon-Tue NYT puzzles easier than the LAT's. A second is to treat it as a game, like poker, and "to play the hand you're dealt", or golf where you "play the position you find your ball in". And then learn whatever you can from the clues and the answers provided in the blog. After all, it was none other than the NYT's Will Shortz who "democratized" Xwds by opening them up to people of all levels and life experiences.
Bill
FLN Dash T @11:01 - I should have known it would take a rocket scientist to answer this. I agree with the author's recommendation, and KISS in general (but not TOO Simple!), but suspect that some geek somewhere out there has violated it.
Ray-O-Sunshine. I'm very to sorry to hear about your wife. I will redouble my prayers for your family.
Congrats, Jonathan. Thanks, Chairman Moe.
Best wishes IM and Ray-O.
Now, to the puzzle.... Today I had a bad case of the D A., otherwise known as the STUPIDS! Please tell me how a lifelong beer drinker could not suss the answer to 26A and 43D. What a bad day I was having. At least I didn't miss KEGS, but somewhere along the way, my mind shifted from beer to sports or military drafts.
ENERO: Duh! How did I miss this one? Well, I had IMAM, instead of EMIR, and I only replaced the AM with the IR, which kept me from getting 5D right. That spells DUMMY! Worst part about it is that my limited knowledge of Spanish includes knowing the months of the year. The second time I lived in El Paso, a dozen streets in the subdivision were named --- IN ORDER --- the months in Spanish.
Poor Grumpy Cat! I still miss her!
Believe it or not I started this post about 8am EDT
I was one of the earliest DCUers. I have a five number ID.(That's what came up for TEST TUB?)
My line from "Grogan at the Helm" was "and Collinsworth's sweet companion has now begun to cry"(the Pats win over Miami eliminated Bengals-1986)
Brockmire's wife apparently read KAMA Sutra. "
Of course you realize Wade had an extra D
There also was North EAST Airlines. Slogan:"Come on down". A comedian had fun with that one
ILS, "eel" just drop the S unless followed by vowels as in ILS ont( they have. )
It's always been RBIs and always will regardless of the invasion of wonks into the National Pastime. Ok, "Baseball grammarians" will do.
Wherever did you find that STEERing wheel C-Moe?
I beg to differ, I find the "D" more common on ESTD. I still had to work for that clue(as I did for a bunch (and as I had to work on the East coast of Saturday's xword, whew)
I take a chamomile "tisane" at night. Of course the bag is provided by celestial seasonings.
How about detention, HG? I just got it.
Jamie, lol on hashslingers. Actually Ms Mondo of Faneuil Hall Diner fame had a certain way with hash.
OMK, I know Colonel and Harry; who's Lionel's Potter?
Ironically, right after WAIT AND HOP I was doing exactly that. TMI on the rest
In Beaufort where I ran to escape Irma the waffle house was the only place open. Tipped staff generously.
So, FIR again. RayO, my thoughts and prayers for DW. My heart ER visit was minutes from being too late.
Finally… I just had an xword discussion and mentioned anons chiming in like @1028 after 20+ comments lauding the xword. Not a criticism but a remark re. "Incomprehensible"*
WC
Ok, I have expressed similar frustration as "Pasted 'Kick me I'm stupid sign' on his own butt"
Aha!
Thank you,Anon T!
I worked it out as you said, and here it is! = Ð
WC ~ Lionel Barrymore played Mr, Potter in It's a Wonderful Life.
~ OMK
I went for a 45 minute nap and slept for 4 hours... I guess my trainer worked me harder than I thought.
OMK - Whoot! Glad I could help.
Ray-O: Only reason I'm posting so late -- if you're like me, you won't be sleeping well tonight so you may read this... God Speed to you and your DW. We're all in your corner.
Time to watch CED's 7-10 split video.
Cheers, -T
Ray-O-Sunshine, may light pour down on you and yours!
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