Good morning to you, cruciverbalists, from your local manifestly malodorous
marine mammal. It is now December and it has been a full week since
this year's Thanksgiving holiday observances. Whatever the form yours
may have taken let us hope that everyone has stayed well.
The August 1, 2020 Crossword Corner post has some comments by, and
biographical information about, today's constructor, Kevin Salat. You
may find it worth the time to peruse it. Here is a link:
THEME: It Is A Far, Far Better Rest
For today's puzzle, Kevin has created a theme that is good. No, it is
better than that. In fact, it is quite literally:
At three locations in the puzzle Kevin has placed a synonym for CUT
directly above the word REST. All are found among the Across
clues/answers and the answer at 63 Across does double
duty. It not only serves as part of the theme but it is also
the reveal.
16 Across. Outshine: ECLIPSE.
18 Across. The Home of the highest terrestrial
biodiversity: RAIN FOREST CANOPY.
_____
37 Across. ICU hookups: I V DRIPS. In the Intensive Care Unit they might hook you up to
one or
more IntraVenous DRIPS.
41 Across. Airbag, e.g.: PASSIVE RESTRAINT
_____
61 Across. Extra: SPARE.
63 Across. Superior ... or what this puzzle's circled
letters represent?: A CUT ABOVE THE REST.
A look at the Answer Grid shows the placements. It would have been just a touch more elegant if Kevin, somehow, had found a way to work in a four letter synonym for CUT at 37 Across. Then all of the pairs would have stacked four letters over four letters. That, however, is a mere nit to pick.
Across:
1. It's not clear: BLUR. On the other hand, this
graphic is clearly BLURry.
5. Strategic corporate name change: RE-BRAND. An almost,
but not quite, made-up word (aren't they all) using RE. Not all
RE-BRANDing represents an improvement.
12. Expert: PRO. This could have been clued as Con
con.
Can Can
15. Arm bone: ULNA. Alternative clue: Bone commonly
found in crossword puzzles.
17. Cornish game __: HEN. A straightforward fill-in-the--blank clue.
21. Partner of mirrors: SMOKE. The expression "SMOKE and Mirrors" is used to describe the
obscuring or embellishing of the truth with misleading or irrelevant
information.
22. What duct tape has a lot of: USES. You only need two
items in your tool box. If it does not move and it should - USE the
WD40. If it moves and it should not - USE the duct tape. There
is a brand of Duct Taped called Duck Tape.
23. Computer operating system with a penguin
mascot: LINUX.
25. Little helper?: ASST. In this instance, when
combined with the question mark, "Little" tells us that the answer will be
an abbreviated version of a synonym for helper - ASSistanT.
27. Identify: PEG. A legitimate answer, as in "I've got
you PEGged" and just enough of a stretch to be quite clever.
28. Texter's segue: BTW. Shorthand for By The Way.
29. Building up: AMASSING.
34. 3-Down concern: SCAB. 3-Down's answer is
UNION. A SCAB is a strikebreakers who works at a place where, and
when, the unionized workers are on strike.
40. 19th Greek letter: TAU.
44. Craft measured in cubits: ARK. Recently, we asked
the question "What's a cubit?" A cubit is an ancient measure of
length approximately equal to a person's forearm. Noah was
instructed to build an ARK that was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30
cubits high.
A Full-Scale Version of Noah's Ark
45. What chefs do often: RETASTE. Another
almost-made-up word formed by sticking RE at the beginning.
Is Linquish a word?
46. Single-file travelers, at times: ANTS.
47. "King Arthur's Song" musical: SPAMALOT. No it
isn't. Yes it is.
King Arthur's Song
49. Red or Ross: SEA. The Red SEA borders Asia and
Africa. The Ross Sea abuts Antarctica.
51. Were, now: ARE. A riff on verb tenses.
52. Baja's opposite: ALTA. In English, lower and
upper. We often see Spanish words in the puzzles. French,
also. Rarely, Slovene.
54. __ Mahal: TAJ. Probably a reference to the tomb
of Itimad-ud-Daulah in Agra but it could also be a reference to this
gentleman:
57. Chew out: SCOLD.
59. Fast-food option: TO GO. In some
jurisdictions, today, the only option is to order
your meal TO GO. Also, the name of a dog hero in a 2019 Walt
Disney movie. It was rated PG - for those here who might be
curious.
66. Relations: KIN. Relations as in family relatives and not, for example,
algebraic - reflexive, symmetric, transitive or anti symmetric.
Can you think of other types of relations? I knew that you
could.
67. Part of the CMYK color
model: MAGENTA. Cyan, Yellow and Black (aka
"Key") are the other colors. One reason that black is referred to
as "Key" in this model is because in the German version there is already
a color that starts with the letter B (blau).
68. Bassoon cousin: OBOE. OBOEs often appear in
crossword puzzles. One of the most famous OBOE passages is
from Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev.
The OBOE plays the part of the Duck.
The Duck
69. It can cover a lot of ground: SOD. Installing
rolls of SOD can provide a very nice form of instant
gratification.
70. Specter: PHANTOM.
The Phantom of the Opera
71. Puts on: DONS. Doff and DON both date to the
14th century with Doff coming from a phrase meaning "to do off" and
DON coming from one meaning "to do on".
Down:
1. Rupture: BURST.
2. Cub : bear :: cria : ___: LLAMA. While he is not familiar with the word "cria", this debonair
dugong is familiar with the sophisticated art of
poetry.
The one-L Lama, he's a priest
The two-L Llama, he's a beast
And I will bet a silk pajama
There isn't any three-L Lllama
--- Ogden Nash
3. Group with a rep: UNION.
4. Arrange in order: RANK.
Some USMC Ranks, In Order
5. Rock's __ Speedwagon: REO. The original REO
Speedwagon was a truck designed in 1915 by Ransom E. Olds. The eponymous rock band was formed more than fifty
years later, in 1967.
An REO Speedwagon Truck
6. Beige relatives: ECRUS. We abide the recurring
appearance of ECRU because it is a very constructor-friendly
combination of letters. But the plural somehow seems far less
acceptable. Greens or Blues or Reds seem okay. Maybe
that's because those words all have alternative meanings.
7. Hallowed: BLEST. An archaic form of
Blessed. BLEST is (s)he who expects no gratitude for (s)he
shall not be disappointed.
8. What yeast makes dough do: RISE. The current
pandemic has resulted in a significant RISE in the number of people
making bread at home.
9. Bldg. units: APTS. APartmenTS
10. Situation Room gp.: NSC. The gp abbreviation
tells us that the answer, the National Security Council, will also be abbreviated.
11. "You're on!": DEAL. As in "It's a
DEAL."
12. Do the minimum: PHONE IT IN. A colloquialism
for dong something in a perfunctory or unenthusiastic manner.
13. Vile: REPUGNANT.
14. Black stone: ONYX. Have you ever searched
online for a color photograph of ONYX?
19. Bowling a 300, e.g.: FEAT. The odds of a
professional blower bowling a perfect game are said to be
approximately 460 to 1. The odds for the average bowler are
about 11,500 to 1.
20. Pinches: NIPS. NIPS has many definitions of
which pinches is one.
26. Turn while seated: SWIVEL.
28. MLB scorecard entries: BBS. Base on BallS more commonly called Walks. Barry Bonds holds
the Major League Baseball record with 2,
558.
29. Wonder Woman adversary: ARES. Long before
Wonder Woman was just a glint in her mother's eyes, ARES was the
Greek God of War. He often appears in crossword puzzles clued
as a belligerent being or as the son of Zeus and/or Hera.
ARES
30. Drops above the ground: MIST. I got lost in
the MIST today and didn't have the foggiest idea where I
was.
31. H.S. exam for college credit: AP TEST. Advanced Placement Test It would be a safe bet that more than a few Cornerites
have taken AP TESTS.
32. Georgia, once ABBR.: SSR The
former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics eventually encompassed fifteen nominally independent
republics. The clue was a bit of misdirection intended to have us think, I
think, of the U.S. State of Georgia or, perhaps, of a Ray
Charles song.
33. Courage: GUTS. Do you know what really takes GUTS? Digestion.
34. Apt rhyme for "aahs": SPAS.
35. Italian dish of thinly sliced raw meat or
fish: CARPACCIO. By most accounts, the dish was
named for the painter Vittore CARPACCIO who was known for the
characteristic red and white tones of his work.
36. Do some informal polling: ASK AROUND.
38. Quash: VETO. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
holds the record for a U.S. President. He issued 635
VETOs. Grover Cleveland and Harry Truman RANK second and
third with 584 and 250, respectively.
39. "Fiddlesticks!": DRAT. Both are expressions
of mild annoyance or irritation. In the 17th century,
Fiddlesticks (originally Fydylstyks) was appropriated from it's
original usage as musical instrument bows and began to be used to
indicate absurdity.
42. George's musical brother: IRA. It is nice
to see IRA with a Gershwin clue instead of a type of savings
account.
43. Energizer size: AAA. To get this one it
helped to know that Energizer is a brand of batteries.
48. Liquefy: MELT.
50. State of comfort: EASE. Also, the final
word of Tom Lehrer's "It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier"
(1959).
"At Ease"
52. Secret __: AGENT. Oxymoronically, there are
many well-known Secret Agents - both in real life and from the
world of entertainment. Mel Brooks and Buck Henry created
this one:
Maxwell Smart
53. Numbers game: LOTTO. The CFO of my
children's school once described the California State LOTTO as "A
tax on the stupid."
54. Fitness portmanteau: TAE BO. This
portmanteau is a "mash up" of TAEkwondo and BOxing.
55. Burning issue?: ARSON. We have seen this
play on words before. A clue meant to be taken quite
literally.
56. Ballet leaps: JETES.
57. Upscale retailer: SAKS. In September 15,
1924 SAKS Fifth Avenue opened their most recognizable store
located between Forty-ninth Street and Fiftieth
Street.
SAKS Fifth Avenue
58. Slightly soggy: DAMP. It's a myth that people's joints hurt because it's cold
and DAMP. 'Turns out that it's a mist ache.
59. Frat party costume: TOGA.
60. One may be self-cleaning: OVEN. There are
several good reasons to never use your oven's the self-cleaning
feature.
62. Spur: PROD. I never knew how a grown man
could cry at his own wedding until my father-in-law PRODded me
with his shotgun.
64. Cry of disgust: BAH.
65. Western omelet morsel: HAM. A Western Omelet has eggs, salt, butter, bell pepper,
scallions, white cheese and, of course, HAM. If you
did not know the recipe the perps very likely bailed you
out.
__________________________________________________
________________________________
MM Out
__________________________
51 comments:
Good morning Cornerites.
Thank you Kevin Salat for your enjoyable Thursday CW.
I FIR in 36:34 min.
Thank you Malodorous Manatee for your excellent review.
Ðave
Okay, you have me thinking. First of all, Fred Flintstone does not wear bowling shoes and bowls with a rock, so his stats do not count. Here I am in the land of 10,000 lakes. Up until this year I normally bowled in two leagues per year with an average of 120 games per league per year or a total of 12,480 games over 52 years. I generally got into a few tournaments each year with an average of maybe 20 tournament games per year for a total of 1040 games. A grand total of 13,520 games. I have 20 sanctioned 300 games for an average of 676 games producing a 300. This would make me not as good as the pro, but better than Fred Flintstone. One note - of the 1040 tournament games I have only one 300. Also at my age and medical problems, I still intend to bowl after the vaccine becomes available, not sure if I will ever see another 300 on the scoreboard. Thanks for listening. Boomer
Yabba Dabba Dooooo !
Good Morning, MM and friends. This was a brilliant theme! The C in A CUT ABOVE THE REST was my last fill. It wasn't until then that I truly appreciated the theme.
QOD: Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink. ~ Martin Lomasney (né Martin Michael Lomasney; Dec. 3, 1859 ~ Aug. 12, 1933), American politician
I found this theme very clever. I did the bottom first and the reveal helped in the solving.
ECRUS seems as worthy to me as blues and reds.
Rebrands seems quite common, retastes, not so much, but still valid. Especially in Scrabble, prefixes and suffixes are added. My BIL added ER to almost any verb. Now I am thinking he could have added RE to beginnings.
From yesterday, I had heard of CINQUAIN and inferred that it was a five line poem. In looking for an example, I found that a cinquain had a prescribed number of syllable in each line. I like this early one.
Listen…
With faint dry sound
Like steps of passing ghosts,
the leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees
And fall.
Frost-crisp'd sounds like the rustle of the dry leaves.
CINQUAIN
Good morning!
I'll just lie here another five minutes...and suddenly it was 6:20. Oops! Amazing how long you can sleep when there are no rampaging felines demanding breakfast.
Enjoyed this puzzle, even read the reveal, and the REST is history. Interesting expo on Doff/DON, Malman. Around here a three-l-llama is a big fahr. I don't think they had AP TESTs back when I was in school -- we were too busy ducking and covering. Clever puzzle, Kevin. Thorough expo, Malman.
I didn't see the theme, although I recognized there were circles. This took 9:54 to solve.
I had erroneously had NSA instead of NSC, which slowed me down in the top right.
I could easily bowl a 300 - it just might take me 2-3 games to total up to that score. Not much of a feat that way though.
I'm always amazed when a constructor has to have two levels fit a theme! Great job Kevin!
Smooth sailing today.
Thanks for chiming in Boomer - when I saw the stats for 300 games I remembered that you had bowled several. I saw the frequency stats and my thought was "he's way better than average but not quite a pro" which you confirmed!
Thanks MM and Kevin!
FIR and saw the theme as far as the cuts are concerned. I always liked unix and loved LINUX when I was a math/comp sci prof. I don’t do much coding anymore other than some javascript, HTML, and pcp on my various websites.
Another CSO to Anon-T with LINUX. And, thanks (FLN) for your village info. I would think from a batch of 10k votes, pulling 100 randomly and carefully verifying would yield the integrity(statistically) of same.
Duh, I saw the CUTs but didn't notice they were above REST.
Miscellaneous question. Anyone hear Keynesian pronounced with stress on second syllable?
There's an E1 Private. And the E-9 is Sgt Major. But things may have changed in 50 years.
I had NSa(gency) first. Also ugH and sort/RANK. Relatively smooth Thurs solve.
AP TEST?. Nope, after my time. We originally called it accelerated. I asked Guidance why I should get B's in ACC(Honors) instead of A's in regular college prep. So I OPTED out. His response could have been "How about studying?". I was in a gang and couldn't be caught carrying books home. I took my French book home, the max allowed. Mrs Riley was a bear.
Beatles said Georgia was always on their Mi,Mi,Mi...Mind
CARPACCIO was 8 perps.
How did Grover Cleveland find time to pitch and veto?
Thank you MaloMan for your usual detailed and entertaining write-up. I liked Tom's defrocked Marine comment.
WC
Ps, FIR.
Manatee: Nice write-up & links. Good job!
Well this was a FUN solving experience.
Never caught the theme until the write-up.
It is going to be 70+ degrees here today. Yeah!
Boomer: I am impressed with how many games you have bowled.
I think I am up in the 10 to 12 games in my life time.
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
Musings
-REST stood out like a brick in a punch bowl. I wonder if Kevin could have omitted the circles.
-George VI’s boys: David and Albert were an heir and a SPARE: This event caused the SPARE to take a job he did not want.
-During WWI, George the V REBRANDED the royal house to Windsor from the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He had a lot of KIN in Deutschland but…
-When FB players ram their ULNAS into an opponent it is called a “forearm shiver”
-During the 1987 NFL UNION strike, my neighbor was a SCAB player for the Dallas Cowboys
-Sometimes the SCOLD is as much for the SCOLDER as for the SCOLDEE
-Yes, I said TO GO at the drive-thru once!
-Some think Hoagie Carmichael’s Georgia On My Mind was about his sister Georgia
-Teachers who PHONE IT IN get paid the same
-Jeff Foxworthy called LOTTO a redneck’s 401K
Good Morning:
I loved this theme for many reasons, one being some snazzy fill like Phantom, Ask Around, Phone It In, Carpaccio, etc. (I love Carpaccio but haven’t had it in years.) Also impressive was the perfect revealer and the execution of the clever theme. I noticed the first two Rest entries but didn’t connect the synonymous Clip and Rip because I thought there was some rhyming scheme involved. Another plus in my book is that there were so few proper names. Lastly, there were more three letter words than I like to see, but the majority were actual words, which I find far less distracting than abbreviations, plus, they were evenly distributed throughout the grid. I needed perps for Llama, Magenta, and Linux but no w//os. Liked the duos of Are/Ares and Bah/Spa(s). Keven brought his A Game with Asst, Amassing, Ark, Ants, Are, Alta, A, Apts, Ares, Ask Around, AAA, AP Test, Agent, and Arson. Nice CSO to Boomer at Bowling and to my sister, Eileen, whom I refer to as The Energizer Bunny!
Thanks, Kevin, for a most enjoyable solve and thanks MalMan for your very humorous and fact-filled expo. I loved all the GIFs. I use one every morning in my wellness text to my niece. Usually, it’s a depiction of a dog, cat, or bear doing all sorts of antics. You’re doing a great job of blogging and your sense of humor adds an extra layer of enjoyment! 🤡
Have a great day.
BTW I loved the bowling gif of Fred Flintstone. I can almost hear the tinkle-tinkle-tinkle sound of his tip-toeing that would accompany it!
Not too difficult today, FIR with only one change- NSA to NSC; didn't consider CNN because REBRAND & ECLIPSE were already in place. Not seeing the forest for the trees I noticed the circled cuts but not the "REST" until I was filling 63A with A CUT ABOVE in place.
ALTA- didn't know baja meant lower.
LLAMA was all perps.
FEAT- the odds of my rolling a 300 game are about the same as winning the Powerball AND MegaMillions in the same week. (BTW- I've never bought a lottery ticket)
CARPACCIO- total unknown- perps all the way
SPAMALOT & "King Arthur's Song"- both unknowns.
So when will C.C. rig this blog so we can PHONE IT IN. It would be interesting to hear others' voiced.
Good morning everyone.
Slow out of the chute this morning. Got early footings in the SE and worked my way up. Knew I knew 26d SWIVEL, but had to wait for PASSIVE RESTRAINT to get it . Thought of 'swerve' and 'slewed' first. Perps helped with getting CARPACCIO right. Good puzzle; challenging solve; no nits. FIR.
Anyone notice we got our column back from yesterday? This one is 16x15. Play later, -T
DW & DD on the mend. Thanks for the kind words of support.
FIR, the puzzle was more like a Tuesday. A CUT ABOVE etc. explained the theme: CLIP, PARE, but RIP implies rending not cutting with a tool. Thought the other two end to end horizontal answers would be associated with the theme as well. Guess not. But...didn't get the "REST" of the story until Mal Man's comment. Never knew about the MAGENTA connection to the color black.
accio is a pejorative suffix in Italian (carpa = carp) ergo CARPACCIO can translate "BAD CARP" which...could be applied to a serving of raw fish. 🤢🤢🤢
Ironic that ECLIPSE Implies darkening (solar or lunar) as opposed to outshining. But I get the gist. I'm sure "cria" has appeared before. The double LL gave it away though. FEAT = doing Saturday CW FIR with no inkovers. Not familiar with PHONE IT IN used that way.
Took AP English in HS. (So no college Freshman English) Skipped AP American History to take "Driving" first half-semester so I could get a break on car insurance. First class to train on an automatic gear shift car. For the other half I took "Typing". The first class to use electric typewriters...so innovative!!...who would of thunk 53 years later l'd be typing this with my thumbs on a small phone screen. Or just...talking...
Anyone remember the adventure comic strip "the PHANTOM"?. Our local paper carried it when I was a kid.
Goldilock's shout after tasting Mama Bear's porridge "_____!!".....SCOLD.
Breeding small dogs again...REPUGNANT.
Most suitable...APTEST.
Your daughter didn't start the fire, it was _____ ARSON
Tackles the passer....SAKS
Another excellent puzzle by Kevin Salat, and excellent review by Malodorous Manatee.
Not much else to say as I solved the puzzle and read the review at some point in the wee hours. The thought of CARPACCIO and thought of a Western omelet made me hungry.
Boomer, I've probably bowled somewhere around 2000 games. Although I've come close, I've never rolled a 300. The ABC did send me a "Century" wrist watch for bowling 100 pins over my average. I think I'd started the season with something like an upper 180 average, and then threw a 297 a few weeks in. Some of the guys in the league still call me a sandbagger :>).
RE 54A TAJMAHAL IS MAUSOLEUM BUILT BY MUGAL EMPEROR SHAHJAHAN IN MEMORY OF HIS FAVOURITE WIFE MUMTAJMAHAL.
Yay! I closed on the condo today and now am able to pay for my membership in my continuing care retirement community. I have a $60,000 incentive rebate that expires today. I just made it! Phew! I could move in immediately but need to wait for moving van availability, so I will pay today and move on Dec. 10. My membership includes dinners, so I will be able to pick up a dinner from there every day from now until the 10th. That avoids the hassle of having my kitchen packed up. I am looking forward to setting up my new home.
Seam, ripper
Congrats YR, glad it all worked out.
Anonymous Indian...THERE IS NO REASON TO SHOUT..,caps off please.
This Thursday grid had some grit, had to plow (plod?) through to get the solve.
Unaware of why one shouldn’t use the self-clean feature in an oven.
I fail to see why "a cut above the rest"
is considered a good thing?
and one for Boomer...
Well, that was interesting! I didn't notice that the circled words were over REST until the reveal. And the long themers helped speed along the fill when I figured them out. FIR and enjoyed the puzzle, Kevin. Thanks. And thanks to MalMan for the colorful review. The explanation of DONS and doffs was interesting, as DO said. Vile wasn't REPUGNANT to me at first, but PEG pointed the way in that area. Spur was URGE until perps gave me PROD. New clues for old fill (OBOE) appreciated.
Out for a walk now while it's still sunny. Hope you are having a good day!
Re. "1987 NFL UNION strike". Doug Flutie fresh of DJT's NJ Generals was signed as replacement player by Pats. Sold Foxboro out. Strike over. Forced out of league then became CFL Legend.
CED, two hilarious cartoons. Where do you come up with that stuff?
WC
I finally FIR after way too much time just staring at blanks until a lightbulb would come on. Thanks, Kevin, for a very interesting challenge. I’m with Irish Miss about minimum proper names being more enjoyable. This one made me think, not just identify.
MalMan Man, I love your Tom Lehrer clips. I’ve never seen this one. “Fight Fiercely Harvard” is a favorite .
Also, Peter in the Wolf is timeless. I, my children, and my grandchildren have all loved it - and learned about the instruments too!
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Kevin and MalMan.
I saw the theme early (once I parsed ACUTABOVETHEREST correctly) and went back to fill in the cuts and the REST below (I agree that a 4 letter cut at 37A would have been perfect!). I already had CLIP and entered Lop instead of RIP which held up the centre until the very end.
But my personal Natick was not knowing the Spanish ALTA (a clue like "a Canadian Prairie province" would have been better for me LOL) and messing up LOTTO (don't ask!).
Inkblots in the SE corner were created by entering ASHES for "Burning issue?" (get it! I thought it was great) before finally conceding that ARSON was needed.
Another inkblot with Grit before GUTS (I was thinking of the movie, True Grit.)
I wanted OTH before BTW, PHONE in on before IT IN (thinking of virtual Covid meetings)
I noted ECRUS and TAN; also TOGO crossing TOGA, and TAEBO crossing OBOE.
The aahs and SPAS cluing brought a smile.
REPUGNANT is just a great word to say - almost onomatopoeic (there's a vowel-rich word for some CW constructor!).
CARPACCIO was an answer in the Triple C category on Jeopardy the other night.
YR- glad things are looking up with the move. Thanks for that Cinquain yesterday.
Ray'o- good news re DH and DD.
Wishing you all a great day.
That's still quite a FEAT Boomer. My 11 year old granddaughter bowls better than I do. I consider it a FEAT if I keep the ball out the gutters for 10 frames!
I liked it. I didn't have a clue about the theme but I enjoyed solving. What Ididn't like was completing the puzzle only to be thoroughly naticked at the crossing of BBS and BTW.
That's a beautiful poem YR.
Sure WC. The tribes living in the islands just south of Florida call themselves "KeyNEEsians".
Hi All!
Knew(ish) the visual theme but couldn't parse the reveal. ACUTA-OVE TH[E|Y] REST??? OVE[R] THE REST...Um. Started second-guessing fill - is it really LOTTO? :-)
Ah! A <space> C.
Thanks RELM (wait, Kevin?*) for really fun puzzle chock full of sparkly words (as noted by IM). I suppose the extra column gave you, Kevin, room to play.
Fantastic expo MManatee; Enjoyed SPAMALOT, TAJ Mahal, and LOL'd at HEN (precooked).
I was skeptical of the stats: "But Boomer has at least 10(?) 300's."
Oh, I didn't realize you bowled that much Boomer :-) -- Oh, 20 perfect games? WOW!
WOs: BLESs, started Goad b/f realizing O was in the wrong place. TAo, TAiBO
ESPs: ALTA, ARES (as clued)
Fav: I'll go with showin' a little love for Linux (Hi WC!). Now, let the flavor wars being!
//kubuntu (that's ubuntu w/ kde windows manager) & Kali - not to include all the little Raspberry Pi boxes I have.
Hungry Mother - I think you meant PHP; wouldn't want to give the Cornerites the wrong idea :-)
CED - LOL gallows' humor comics.
YR - Good news! So, one week just waiting on the moving van and then you can RE-nest.
Ray-O: Glad to hear they are getting better! BTW, The Phantom is still carried in HChron.
Speaking of Jeopardy, C, Eh!, I finished "Who is Alex Trebek" last night. Thanks to whomever (more than one of y'all, likely) who recommended it.
Tonight I start another Canadian's (semi-auto) biography - Jim Carrey's "Memoirs and Misinformation".
Cheers, -T
*Houston Chronicle credits Robert E. Lee Morris as constructor. That's two misattributions in a row.
Puzzling thoughts:
In somewhat reverse order ...
Dash T —> our Arizona Republic newspaper also credited RELM as the constructor. Same yesterday, giving credit to the wrong designer
CED —> LOL at your links
Yellowrocks —> thanks for the CINQUAIN example. I’ve been tiring of creating Moe-ku’s and Moe-l’icks; maybe I’ll take a stab at “Moe-quains” ...
Weassely from yesterday —> Knob Creek is definitely a good “shot”! At the moment, Elijah Craig Single Barrel and Buffalo Trace (of the producer who makes Blanton’s) are my Bourbon choices, but Knob is an old favorite. As an aside, since it’s getting colder here in the desert Valley, I am having a taste for Manhattans. Guess I need to buy some rye whisky 🥃
My puzzle is rather “clean” although there were a few write overs before I realized the word REST had to come under the circled words. My biggest blotch was when I had DEWS/MIST. Took me awhile to recall SPAMALOT but the perps corrected
Boomer —> amazing FEAT of 20 perfect games
Double M —> enjoyed your recap; the Peter and the Wolf clip was great 👍🏻
Now, to start thinking how I can pun a CINQUAIN ...
This puzzle was fun to solve. Just right in its construction, to wit: enough gimmees to get you started sufficiently to puzzle out the remaining answers. Nice to see words like CARPACCIO, REPUGNANT, MAGENTA, PHANTOM, and even SCAB. Hand up for not seeing the RESTs below the cuts. Thank you for the entertainment, Mr. Salat.
Thank you, oh malodorous one, for your terrific write-ups.
Answer to Wilbur Charles's miscellaneous question. I, for one, have never heard Keynesian pronounced with stress on second syllable. Would a Jamaican pronounce it with the stress on the last syllable?
LW is making split pea soup with HAM bone for supper tonight and it is smelling good! Definitely not malodorous. Benodorous?
Good wishes to you all.
I have been told that due to numerous electronics in modern ovens, it is unwise to use self cleaning feature.
Thank you Kevin and thank you MM for all the spiffy gifs.
FIR, but didn't get the theme until MM "revealed" it. Does it still count?
17A "Cornish game hens" didn't originate in Cornwall, are raised on farms, not hunted and are technically not even hens, if you define "hen" as a chicken capable of laying eggs. It is a marketing term describing a low-cost, single-serving sized, tender chicken, killed before it reaches egg laying age. They are delightful eating though and I'm sure all you CORNy CORNerites would love them!
23A LINUX. Is a "freeware" derivative of AT&T's Unix OS, originally developed for internal use at Bell Labs. It is far more widely used than most people realize. It is the OS of choice on server farms, it's cheap and it is "portable" to most HW types, not just Intel-based platforms. It wouldn't surprise me if this blog were actually being hosted on a Linux server (feel free to chime in on this TTP or Anon-T).
Linux is ideal for use in fast-paced systems administration environments serving critical operations. Linux is largely command-line driven as opposed to GUI based systems like Windows. While this may seem a drawback, its designers drew a distinction between ease of learning and ease of use. Windows, e.g. is much easier to learn due to its extensive use of menus to guide new users, but not as easy to use as Linux in server environments. Linux does have literally hundreds and hundreds of commands but these are due to the complexity of server internal operations. But as the 80/20 rule tells us, only about a fifth of these are commonly needed.
Oldtimers have often said that you really only need one command and that is "man", short-hand for "manual pages". By mastering this command, one can quickly locate the specific command and options needed for the most complex operations. Retrieving specific information via a menu tree can often waste a lot of valuable time. Sorry if this is TMI. I know we're not supposed to talk about religion on the blog, but I just can't help it!
55A For any constructors wishing to take MM up on his challenge to include more SLOVENIAN in your puzzles, you might start with this: "FLOTUS birth place?": ans. NOVO MESTO, tr. "New Town".
Bill
Dear Jayce:
"Would a Jamaican pronounce it with the stress on the last syllable?"
No, an Armenian would.
Thank you all for your kind comments. I just finished a 1,000 mile drive and am a bit tired.
Anon-T, funny you don't look knew-ish.
MManatee - Oy vey...
Waseeley - don't forget the Berkley Standard Distribution (aka BSD), also derivative of Ritchie & Thompson's UNIX). As to your point, all(?) Android phones run Linux; Google (owner of Blogspot) runs their own variation of Linux.
In my DOD days, my UNIX mentor came in with a book, "Look, O'Reilly is writing children's books now."
@4:12 - My Pop's a handy-man and has seen more than one OVEN "pop" after a self-cleaning. Like you said, the circuits can't handle the high-heat. Jayce?
I wish I knew that before //story follows:
~20 years ago, the Weekend before Thanksgiving, I decided to use the self-clean option on my fancy built in the wall oven - 1st one I ever had w/ Self-Cleaning.
Sunday morning, the oven didn't work.
I took the face off and circuit board out and took it to my (wood) work bench.
I flipped the circuit board over and took a big sniff -- ah, there's the relay that lost it's SMOKE.
Next day at the office, I spend ~2hrs of my bosses time finding that relay on-line.
I found one and had it overnighted (well, it got to me Wednesday)
I got the new relay on the board, pop'd the board into the oven, and -- IT WORKED!
Thanksgiving was saved!
....
Black Friday, I ordered a new OVEN; I wasn't going to burn down my house due to my poor soldering skills :-)
Cheers, -T
Michael, ArmeiAN KeynesiAN, mon!
T-square, I have very limited experience with self cleaning ovens so can’t speak to that. I can and will say that if the heat burns up a circuit board then the design is hugely defective.
Thanks Kevin and MalMan for an interesting puzzle and expo. Jayce summed it up perfectly.
I had to work hard on this one (interrupted by dragging the Christmas stuff out of the attic). I was pretty sure I had an FIW, because I didn’t recognize CARPACCIO, and my intuition did not disappoint. Because I had BAS, instead of BBS for 28D, I missed SCAB for 34A, which I should have been able to suss anyway and would have automatically given me 35D. However, with all of the Wite-Out I used today, I feel very lucky to have only had two incorrect letters on the grid.
“The ANTS go marching one by one….” However, they end up 10 by 10.
SPAS --- My avatar is lying here on the desk watching the monitor as I am going through MalMan’s expo. Hopefully, he didn’t get the message. “No, Kismet, you are not going to a cat spa! You’ve already gotten into enough trouble today with the Christmas decorations.” (None of the cats has really ever messed with them much in past years. They seem to have gotten over this year’s edition of the “new” already.)
Roosevelt’s holding the record for VETOS is logical, since he was in office for so long. I’m going to have to do some research to see why Cleveland had so many. Truman really doesn’t surprise me (DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN), but I’m now more curious.
No, WC. I’ve never heard that pronunciation.
Ray –O: Glad to hear your ladies are on the mend. As –T said, THE PHANTOM is still with us. After all, be IS the ghost who walks!!!
You are correct Anonymous Indian. The Itimad-ud-Daulah is in the same city as the Taj Mahal, but is not a mausoleum. Some consider it a prototype of the more famous tomb. To my eyes at least the "Jewel of Agra is much more beautiful n.
A Czech might, e.g dVORak, jaNAchek, etc.
I accent the first syllable. KANE zee 'n. Many dictionaries agree.
When the black ink cartridge in my printer is empty I believe my printer mixes cyan, yellow and magenta.
I reached out to my '66 alumnae and an emeritus responded that he may have heard a Brit pronounce it my way.
WC
Re: The comments on the Taj Mahal and MM's blog ...
Yet another anonymous indian comments and Responds ... the "regular" one...
Indians, like any other cultivar, come in all types, and shapes and sizes.
Doesn't bother me, thats the way it is. With all varieties of humans.
I, am not my brother's keeper...
The prev Anon Indian put his/her message, in all Caps, because presumably he (she?) was all upset !
He/She needs to understand humor ( on this blog ;->) and the concept of sarcasm....
And the personality of the Crossword Reviewer, and HIS blog....
A gentle hint to MM .... we, indians, take our monuments seriously, like anybody else,..... like europeans would comment on the Learning Tower of Pisa, or the Arc de Trump. One of us ( and there are a plethora of us ...) might, just, come out of the woodwork, and raise a 'stink' on any unforgivable misteaks, intentional or otherwise ... ;->)
Not that a 'stink' would be noticeable on your avatar.
Now, seriously,
1. I'timad-ud-Daulah's, IUD, Tomb, and his story is also in Agra, and was the 'draft' for the Taj.
IUD was the grandfather of Mumtaj Mahal, .... The Mughals had many incestous marriages, which pretty much ignored the laws of consanguinity. He was also the father of her husband's,( the emperor, Shah Jahan's ) mother, Nur Jahan.
2. Shah Jahan's youngest and (IMHO, the most cruel son ), was Aurangzeb, who succeeded him, through warfare. He was the last of the 'great' mughals.
His favorite wife, called Aurangabadi Mahal ( "the beauty of the palace" of Aurangabad ) died in Bijapur, in South Eastern India.
Her Mausoleum, is also built like the Taj, but nowhere, as famous is in Bijapur, 350 miles, SSE of Mumbai.
3. There is also a modern replica, Copy Cat, of the Taj Mahal, built near Dacca or Dhaka, Bangla Desh . Built by a Bangladeshi film producer (!), in 2008, for US 56 Million, in five years. Good for him.!!!
This is what the Taj Mahal, Bangla Desh, looks like ...
I realize, and am very cognizant, that this is TMI, Too Much Information , but .... if you are ever on Jeopardy, post Alex Trebeck (RIP) ......
The Link for the Aurangabadi Mahal Mausoleum
Yet, Another, you are entitled to unforgivable misteaks, no matter how rare. And who am I to criticize anyone for TMI.
Not for nuthin' but the clue was simply _Mahal -- no other context.
So, with Taj as fill, the c/a could refer to The Mausoleum or the Blues musician. [Wiki -- read how he came up with his stage name (last part "Early Life")]
That said, thanks YAAI @9:45 for the history. You too Vidwan!
Cheers, -T
My only comment today is that yet again the Arizona Republic newspaper cited a different constructor, Robert E. Le Morris. How does that keep happening?
Too late for any other comments. Today was a strange day for me and I worked on the puzzle off and on all day.
Good to hear the positive news, Yellowrocks.
Strange day for me too, Lucina. Hope all is well.
BTW, my guess would be that the original file for syndication had the wrong names. The error was caught and a new corrected file was sent out. Some papers processed the new file and others didn't. That's my guess.
Going to try to get back to sleep. Strange day, indeed.
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