Theme: VELOCITY. Theme answers contain words that indicate rapidly and efficiently getting from one place to another
18 A. Academy attended by James T. Kirk: STAR FLEET. From the original Star Trek TV series: boldly going where no man has gone before. A Fleet is a group of ships under a single command. FLEET here is an adjective - as all the theme words are - indicating rapid motion. Fleet is also an enema, but we'll just let that go.
24 A. Artist with a record 32 American Music Awards: TAYLOR SWIFT. [b 1989] She's has some success. SWIFT is another synonym for FLEET. It's also a bird that, appropriately, holds the record for the fastest confirmed level flight, at 69.3 mph.
34 A. Deeply hurt: CUT TO THE QUICK. Literally, this means to cut through the skin to the living tissue; figuratively it means to be hurt and offended. Here, it's another synonym for SWIFT. It's also a brand name for flavored powders to make your cold glass or warm mug of milk a bit less bland.
49 A. Inviolable, as a rule: HARD AND FAST. This means it is fixed and definitive, not to be modified or avoided. The sense of fast in this expression, now otherwise obsolete, is "locked in place." It's the root of the verb fasten, meaning to firmly attach. In the puzzle, FAST is another synonym for QUICK.56 A. With immediacy, or a hint to the four other longest puzzle answers: POST HASTE. Yet another synonym for FAST. From my brief examination, it seems that this can either be a single word, or a two-word phrase, with or without a hyphen.
Hi, Gang, JazzBumpa here. Hope your Christmas was happy and safe. The holidays go by quickly. The theme notwithstanding, let's not speed through this puzzle, but take it slow and steady.
Across:
1. Invents, as a word: COINS. Devising a new word or phrase. The phrase itselfe seems to have been coned in American Literature with the earliest recorded use being in the 'The Southport American' newspaper in 1848.
6. Laugh-a-minute sort: RIOT. Fun guy.
10. Lucas of "Raising Hope": NEFF. [b 1985] Most recently, he starred in the CBS sitcom Carol's Second Act.
14. Bandleader's exhortation: HIT IT. In all my decades of playing in all sorts of ensembles and venues, I don't remember ever hearing the leader say this.
15. Egyptian life symbol: ANKH.
16. Pest on a pooch: FLEA. Dog annoyer
17. Red-tide contents: ALGAE. The color is due to an algal bloom, often caused by an up-swelling of nutrients from the ocean floor following a storm.
20. Shape, as clay: SCULPT. Make it look like something other than a lump.
22. Mayberry lad: OPIE. Young Ron Howard.
23. Org. in much recent news: CDC. The Center for Disease Control.
26. "We'll let you know," on skeds: TBA. To Be Announced.
27. 18-Across jr. officer: ENS. Ensign.
28. Threaded fastener: NUT. To make a mechanical connection hard and fast.
29. Claw into: TEAR AT. Rip apart
31. Fire truck alert: SIREN. Listen up!
33. Tourette syndrome symptoms: TICS. Idiosyncratic and habitual features of a person's behavior.
17. Red-tide contents: ALGAE. The color is due to an algal bloom, often caused by an up-swelling of nutrients from the ocean floor following a storm.
20. Shape, as clay: SCULPT. Make it look like something other than a lump.
22. Mayberry lad: OPIE. Young Ron Howard.
23. Org. in much recent news: CDC. The Center for Disease Control.
26. "We'll let you know," on skeds: TBA. To Be Announced.
27. 18-Across jr. officer: ENS. Ensign.
28. Threaded fastener: NUT. To make a mechanical connection hard and fast.
29. Claw into: TEAR AT. Rip apart
31. Fire truck alert: SIREN. Listen up!
33. Tourette syndrome symptoms: TICS. Idiosyncratic and habitual features of a person's behavior.
39. Brooklyn Coll. is part of it: CUNY. The City University of New York.
40. Double duty?: STUNT. I had to think about this one. Performing STUNTS - dangerous skilled maneuvers in a movie scene - is the duty of a star's STUNT double.
41. Convent leader: ABBESS. Head nun.
44. Shoelace, e.g.: TIE. A tie is a type of fastener.
45. NBA's Heat, on scoreboards: MIA. MIAMI's basketball team.
48. Inouye Airport arrival gift: LEI. Hawaiian flower garland necklace.
53. Investment inits.: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
54. Common ointment ingredient: ALOE. Extract of the ALOE vera plant, a succulent cultivated for tis medicinal uses.
55. Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil: NIEKRO. [1939-2020] He played for 24 years in the majors, from 1964 to 1987. Sadly, he just passed the day after Christmas after a long battle with cancer.
59. Step: TREAD. Stomping is optional.
60. Worked in a garden: HOED. Used a hand-operated cultivating tool. Or emulated Santa.
61. "Because You Loved Me" singer: DION. Celine [b 1968]
62. Battle zone journalist: EMBED. This was confusing. I was expecting a specific name, not the category. The answer is a bit awkward, since it is a noun that looks like a verb.
63. Criteria: Abbr.: STDS. Standards.
64. Racy message: SEXT. Portmanteau of SEX and TEXT.
65. Rotary phone features: DIALS. Does anybody have one of these?
Down:
1. Unsullied: CHASTE. Refraining from sexual activity. The Unsullied in Game of Thrones certainly did this. But, in general, is this a good equivalence? You decide.
2. Prop for the Tin Man: OIL CAN. I still wonder how it happened that tin rusted. Must be a Oz thing.
3. Men working on a network, informally: I. T. GUYS. Experts in Information Technology, aka nerds.
4. One Direction's "cute one" __ Horan: NIALL. True? You decide.
5. "C'mon, we're in a hurry!": STEP ON IT. Go faster, referring to pressing a vehicles accelerator pedal. Theme echo.
6. Late-summer orientation mtg. holders: RAs. Resident Advisors: students who are responsible for supervising and assisting other, typically younger, students who live in the same residence hall. One of our granddaughters has this position in the honors dorm at her school.
7. Like many trailers: IN TOW. Pulled by a vehicle
8. Giraffe relative: OKAPI. An artiodactyl [ungulate with an even number of toes] mammal native to the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa.
8. Giraffe relative: OKAPI. An artiodactyl [ungulate with an even number of toes] mammal native to the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa.
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9. Frugality: THRIFT.
10. Patriots' org.: NFL. National Football League.
11. Exciting, as an atmosphere: ELECTRIC.
12. Survey info: FEEDBACK. Requested information.
13. Big shots with big balances: FAT CATS. More specifically, rich political donors. It is also commonly used to describe a rich, greedy person who, due to ownership of large amounts of capital, is able to "live easy" off the work of others.
10. Patriots' org.: NFL. National Football League.
11. Exciting, as an atmosphere: ELECTRIC.
12. Survey info: FEEDBACK. Requested information.
13. Big shots with big balances: FAT CATS. More specifically, rich political donors. It is also commonly used to describe a rich, greedy person who, due to ownership of large amounts of capital, is able to "live easy" off the work of others.
19. Honor in a big way: FETE. To honor or entertain (someone) lavishly.
21. Town near Provincetown: TRURO. Two of the 15 towns surrounding Cape Cod Bay.
25. Editorial "let it stand": STET. From Latin, it is a form of the Latin verb sto, typically translated as "Let it stand."
30. Feuding: AT IT. A multi-purpose phrase, depending on what the definition of "it" is.
31. Eyelid ailment: STYE. An inflamed swelling on the edge of an eyelid, caused by bacterial infection of the gland at the base of an eyelash.
32. Smart students' org.: NHS. National Honor Society.
34. Two, to eight, e.g.: CUBE ROOT. To cube a number is to multiply it by itself twice. That number is then the cube root of the product.
35. Impartial: UNBIASED.
36. Sundance's sweetie: ETTA. ETTA Place [dates uncertain] Companion of Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, aka, the Sundance Kid. Along with Butch Cassidy they were members of the outlaw gang known as Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch.
37. "Glee" cheerleader: QUINN. Quinn Fabray is a fictional character from the TV series Glee, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. The character is portrayed by actress Dianna Agron.
38. Not yet corrected for publication: UNEDITED. Having no STETs nor deles.
39. Islamic leaders: CALIPHS. The chief Muslim civil and religious ruler, regarded as the successor of Muhammad. The caliph ruled in Baghdad until 1258 and then in Egypt until the Ottoman conquest of 1517; the title was then held by the Ottoman sultans until it was abolished in 1924 by Atatürk.
42. 1979 exile: SHAH. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi [1919-1980] of Iran.
43. Soup followers: SALADS. In multi-course meals.
45. Folk singer Miriam known as "Mama Africa": MAKEBA. [1932 - 2008]
46. Gal Gadot's birthplace: ISRAEL. In case you were wondering about this woman.
47. Disagreeing: AT ODDS. Loggerheads doesn't fit.
50. Riveting icon: ROSIE.
51. Rehab program: DETOX. A process designed to remove addictive toxins leave the body.
52. 1938 Physics Nobelist: FERMI. Enrico [1901-1954] An American physicist who created the first nuclear reactor. He won the Nobel Prize for his work on induced radioactivity by neutron bombardment and for the discovery of transuranium elements.
57. Six-pt. scores: TDS. TouchDowns in American football.
58. Tolkien's Treebeard, e.g.: ENT.
And thus does Fangorn bring our Wednesday to a slow moving close. Hope you enjoyed the journey. Now - stay home and stay safe Happy New Year. See you all in January.
Cool Regards!
JzB
49 comments:
Good morning!
As soon as I saw, "enema, but we'll just let that go," I knew it was JzB day. Solved this one apace, and even got the theme early. I think that makes once for this year. Enjoyed this outing. (Is Hong-Kim the last name, or the first? I'm never sure.) Also enjoyed your subtle humor, JzB. (There's no C in those flavored powders.)
TINMAN: Just for the halibut, we rewatched The Wizard of Oz Sunday night. I was surprized at the number of scenes I'd forgotten. Tried to rewatch the original Ocean's Eleven last night, but the disk was a victim of "digital rot." We had to give up. I tossed the disk.
"Ataturk": Despite what you may have heard, it is not true that he named his first born Attaboy.
Hoang-Kim. Sorry.
Hola!
Is this Hoang-Kim Vu's first contribution to the LAT? The name is unfamiliar to me but then my memory is slowly eroding. He gave us a good, challenging puzzle.
Of the many names in this puzzle several were known to me and luckily, NIEKRO, was recently in the news otherwise totally unknown as is MAKEBA. It was almost a Natick. Also I have never watched Glee so QUINN was filled by perps. Anthony QUINN would have been easier.
In my past life I never met an ABBESS, only Superiors as the directors of convents are called. These days the head of the Order is called President. Nuns take a vow of chastity so are expected to remain CHASTE throughout their lives. For some it's the hardest one to keep.
I associate TRURO with Poldark.
I'm sorry to say I find TAYLOR SWIFT'S voice annoying but obviously I'm in the minority.
Interesting to have both CALIPHS and SHAH in the puzzle.
Have an exceptionally fine day, everyone!
d-o:
Attaboy! Very funny.
With a puzzle you're AT ODDS,
Praying to the crossword gods.
You go AT IT in a rage,
TEAR AT the puzzle page,
QUINn, nIEkRO & MAkEBA elicit sobs!
{B-.}
Took 6:15 today. Didn't know Quinn, Makeba, or Truro. Stumbled at CUNY v. SUNY.
I am not a fan of Ms. Swift's music, but I do enjoy watching an Okapi at the zoo.
Can’t complain about a LOTR reference. I was HASTy before HASTE for the only write-over. My family has often stayed in North TRURO while visited P-town.
Without regard to the theme; this was not a speed run for me.
Never heard of Niall Horan, Lucas Neff, or Quinn Fabray. Must be getting old.
Had SnaPtoIT for a long time making NW last to fill.
Almost slid right through today's puzzle with the help of our familiar ointment ingredient: ALOE..Lots of proper names and initials that I was somewhat familiar except for QUINt/tIEKRO...guess Im not Glee-ful...so I FIW..plus one inkover: Rosey/ROSIE.
Pat myself on the back (😖 yeow!) at least for parsing the theme...Lots of ITs and ATs
Always need to perpwalk ANKH (or ahnk?).Skeds is now a word? Seems there aren't many CW editorial STETs or UNEDITED puzzles. Didn't t realized EMBED could be used as a noun.
The Tin Man was faking: Tin does not oxidize in water, so he didn't rust in the rain or from crying.
N - Q link....OPIE
Makin' babies...SIREN
Vote for singer Nelson or Martin...ELECTRIC
Pursued.....CHASTE
A Gala gone bad...'The agony of de ". ____ FETE
JzB..thanks for your detailed commnetary. Learned a lot
Well, today HASTE made waste for me. Filling in the last two entries, I QUICKly started reading JazzB's review and SWIFTly found two errors. Yes, I had a FIW. I'd left HOOT in RIOT's place even though HAS made no sense. I had changed ONTOP to ONTOW, thinking it didn't quite sound right but left it, as I wrote in TAYLOR SWIFT. Curiously CHASTE was slow to come to mind. The first three entries across in that corner were there but then I bogged down in the NW. (Hi Mark) Overall I found lots to like in the puzzle. Thanks Hoang-Kim. Thanks as well to JzB for a humorous take on it. I saw what you did at the start, going speedily from one themer to the next.
Liked your poem using the puzzle words so well, OwenKL. I agree with Lucina about Attaboy, DO. Good fun. Attaboy!
And fun to everyone else as we creep towards the new year.
This was a little crunchy until I got the theme which helped greatly. One bad cell, my natick was the K in NIEKRO and MAKEBA.
In movies you hear bandleaders say "HIT IT" frequently.
Chaste can mean undefiled or stainless as in chaste, white snow or it can mean pure in style; not excessively ornamented; simple.
Other than speedy, fast is still used today as in "The beast was held fast by many ropes." or "He held fast to his beliefs in spite of all proof to the contrary."
Imbed as a noun for a journalist moving along with the troops was used in many news reports about the war in Afghanistan and other places.
Jazz, very informative and humorous, as well. Thanks.
This went smoothly - I drew out of the brain recesses NIALL for the One Direction member - I would never have known he was the "cute" one - but I had never seen someone with a name spelled that way so it stuck.
I got DION - but wasn't thinking of Celine DION but the one named male singer of the 60s-80s.
I am a TAYLOR SWIFT fan - especially her more acoustic songs. One of her first hits - "You Belong With Me " reminds me of my teen years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw
Thanks JzB and Hoang-Kim!
Sorry, I prefer the community computer to my Kindle for puzzles, but I forget I am not ID'ed.
Yellowrocks
Jazz: Good job on the write-up & links.
D-O ... I watched the Wizard of Oz a couple of nights ago ...
It always amazes me how much I enjoy seeing it (AGAIN!) at this time every year.
Well this was hardly a "Speed-Run" ... needed quite a few "Perps Crossing" to get a few answers.
But I will say this was a FUN solving experience.
Only Two more Sunset Toasts to go for 2020 ...
Looking forward to 2021 ... its gotta be a better year.
Cheers!
Thank you LeoIII for mentioning Phil NIEKRO Sunday afternoon!
Hi All:
Thanks for a (crunchy) Wednesday puzzle Hoang-Kim. Wonderful expo and informative links JzB; enjoyed it.
WOs: TAs -> Ras, SHAw
ESPs: NIALL, DION, NEFF, OKAPI, TRURO, QUINN, MAKEBA (I work with a Makeba; she's great)
Fav: Clue for ROSIE was cute.
{A}
FLN - waseesley From Johnny's Seeds I get the General Lee Cucumbers. They can stand the Houston heat. //think they'll be changing the name of that breed?
Lucina - I LIU Only 2x before have we seen Hoang-Kim's name
Sunday April 26, 2020 Hoang-Kim Vu & Jessica Zetzman
Thursday, May 2nd 2019 Hoang-Kim Vu
If you've seen this video [0:25], it's likely all you think of at Taylor Swift :-)
Cheers, -T
Good Morning:
This was a tad crunchy but perps were fair, so no serious stumbles. Neff and Quinn were both unknown but not Niall and Makeba. How timely the Niekro entry is. I saw the theme as soon as I entered Swift right after Fleet and that allowed me to fill in the next two themers without any helping letters. The reveal, however, was an unexpected phrase. CSO to Ferm at Fermi.
Thanks, Hoang-Kim, for a mid-week treat and thanks, JzB, for the wit and wisdom in your summary.
FLN
TTP, I, for one, appreciate your watchful moderating of inappropriate comments. I’m especially pleased by the removal of the whiny, broken-record postings of Mr. or Mrs. “Lame”.
Have a great day.
Musings
-7” of snow, clear sunny sky and no wind today. I didn’t even put up my hood when I fed the birds this morning.
-Today’s blizzard of obscure proper nouns cleared themselves
-Claw into – Don’t leave a bag of bird seed sitting outside
-Why it’s called a knuckleball
-Patriots got to see if Belichick or Brady was more valuable
-The “Rosie” story was a great link in your fun write-up, Ron
-This very famous letter mentions FERMI in the first line and led to the Manhattan Project
Fun puzzle and another great JzB write-up.
Lot's of names as others have said but the only real head scratcher for me was "double duty."
FIR but didn't get it til I came here.
Have a great and safe day everyone.
JB2
Too many names I didn't know.
So many issues.
Yep, I'm with the group on the 3 crossing names: quinN, NieKro, maKeba
Otherwise a nice puzzle. As a sci-fi fan, loved seeing STARFLEET and ENS.
Good Morning.
Thank you for a really fine puzzle, Hoang-Kim Vu. FIR, but all my errors were careless spellings. I righted them on crosses.
JazzB, Thank you for the informative tour. I also enjoyed the Rosie link. When I was at the Smithsonian about 15 years ago, a docent told me it was the number one selling poster.
NIEKRO died last week. I find the CW timing eerie. FERMI died very young of stomach cancer. I do imagine it had to do with early exposure to nuclear materials. We've learned a lot since then. I remember when they were building the linear accelerator (?) at Fermi Lab in Batavia IL. It was on my way to college. I didn't know what the conveyors (hauling dirt from the dig) along the highway were for until I saw a special on the 50th anniversary.
Lucina, I'm with you on Taylor Swift. (And maybe Carrie Underwood, too.) It was especially evident to me when listening to All Christmas radio if she sang behind Karen Carpenter or Barbara Streisand. Not that I'm one to judge--I have no ability to sing whatsoever.
We may almost be there. I saw a Covid Vaccine caravan of heavily armored vehicles 10 days ago. I couldn't take a photo, because my phone was in my coat pocket and I didn't get the seatbelt undone fast enough. (DH was driving) Oh, well. I'll just have to remember that little bit of history--if I have any brain cells left for such storage.
Stay well. Enjoy the sun or the snow.
Just the right amount of crunch for a Wednesday, and a fun theme on top of that. Didn'nt know Neff, Niall, Truro, or Quinn but all were easily gotten by perps. Knew Niekro right away from being a sports follower. I got Dion, but was thinking of Dion Demucci (sp.?) from the '60's. Got 'er done for a FIR in good time.
Kirk didn't register. ENS fit though. My wo was tin/OILCAN. I think I got the whole thing going with old friend OPIE.
Re. Shoelace. I was trying to think of that xword oldie for the end of the shoelace. ???
RiP to Joe NIEKRO. Or is it Phil? Yep, Joe is his brother
Ah, that DION. I always think of the Ruby guy. He might have been with Buddy in that fateful "Day"*
I'll second the CSO to Anon-T for IT GUY, not to speak of "Tin"
I hope no one got Naticked by TRURO
WC
*(The Music Died). Apparently the $38.00 was too much. "That's what my mother paid for a month's rent in Brooklyn"
During a physics class at University (1971-2) our elderly irascibile physics "professore" was impatiently waiting for his young asistant to set up an optics demonstration. The nervous kid dropped a lens and broke it.
There was total silencio in the hall. The professor growled that Enrico FERMI had given him that lens as part of the optics apparatus when he (il professore) was a student.
The assistsnt finished and quickly left the room.
Ray-O: re: Fermi lens - That. Is. A. Tragedy. My question: Why wasn't something that important not on a shelf out of the reach of God and everyone?
HG - Pop has an old-school metal trashcan for his birdseed. The lid (looks welded together) is so heavy, even the raccoons can't get it open.
WC - In a episode of Phineas and Ferb, they wanted to make sure everyone remembered aglet [1:39] so held a "Live Aid" style concert. As soon as the concert was over Dr. Doofenshmirtz's [0:04] plan goes off and everyone forgets again...
And that's why you can't recall :-)
Cheers, -T
Like Yellowrocks, I had "one bad cell ... the K in NIEKRO and MAKEBA." I was able to perpwalk the other unknown names. How QUICKly a winning streak is cut short! Thanks for the fun, Hoang-Kim, and for the thoughtful review, JzB.
Crunchy but interesting Wednesday puzzle--many thanks, Hoang-Kim. And neat commentary, JazzB, thanks for that too.
I started really slowly with FLEA, OPIE, LEI, and a few others. But before long I got the bottom three theme answers, which helped solve that section quickly. Had CUT TO THE JUICE for "deeply hurt," which didn't make much sense. Oh, QUICK--yep, makes more sense. And I was delighted to get ROSIE the RIVETER.
Fun poem, Owen.
Have a good day, everybody.
Post Haste?
I do believe that all this rushing around is not in our best interests...
Puzzling thoughts:
Very informative recap, JazzBumpa. I liked your avoidance of further describing the “brand name/product”, FLEET! Though, I never thought of the enema name in that context. I wonder if it was named for a person or for its QUICK action?!
I am not familiar with today’s constructor, but found his/her work easy to parse. I am not a huge fan of having a lot of proper names or repetitive two-worders. As I believe Ray-O mentioned, HIT IT, AT IT, and STEP ON IT are too many. The “Ni’s” would definitely not approve!
The two “uns” in 35&38-down were also a bit redUNdant, but I digress... I had a pristine grid UNtil I came up blank in the alphabet rUN I used to try to avoid the EMBED/MAKEBA Natick. I often wonder, as a constructor, if some thought isn’t given to avoid having two UNusual words cross each other.
My other mistake, after reading Ron’s recap, was having SUNY in 39-Across. I knew CCNY could be the answer, but that would’ve screwed up the CUBE ROOT. I did not know that there is a City University of New York. But given the news over the past decade or two, I should’ve seen that CALIPHS was the answer and not SALIPHS
Oh well ... at least I showed up before midnight!! 🤡
Yay, d-o has finagled an appt for the Covid vaccine. It's two weeks away, but at least it's a definite date. I got an invite because (in addition to being an old coot) I'm a Methodist Hospital patient. Don't know if it'll be Pfizer or Moderna -- don't care.
C-Moe, "Fleet" is a brand name, but it appears to be used generically, just as all sodas are Cokes in Texas.
C-Moe, just found out that the Fleet enema was created by Charles B. Fleet. (That B appropriately stands for Browne.)
D-O: If only his name was John/Jon or even Lou [read: loo] Browne Fleet what an aptronym that'd be.
//Note: aptronym was COINED by Frank P. Adams :-)
Cheers, -T
d-otto --> thanks for "doing the dirty work" with the Fleet enema origins. So I took a look at the "Charles Browne Fleet" wikipedia page, and see that he is also the inventor of Chapstick! Now isn't THAT an interesting combination ...
Thanks, Hoang-Kim Vu and JazzB! I liked the puzzle.
Two letters away from an FIR. I didn’t know NIALL (misspelled ALGAE), didn’t see my SEXY/SEXT-ENY/ENT error. Left me with a great big (stupid) FIW!
Other unknowns were NEFF, OKAPI, TRURO, QUINN, TERMI and MAKEBA, but perps got all of them.
AT IT and AT ODDS: In other news, Goldie and Lupin are AT IT and AT ODDS again in “Breaking Cat News.” There was a truce over the holidays, but they are fighting again.
Yes, we have a ROTARY DIAL telephone (along with some other OLD office equipment) in our “mock office” at the museum. Our funnest thing we do is ask the kids to dial their phone numbers on the rotary dial phone. We could make a whole Candid Camera-type TV show out of it.
THEN, we tell them about BUSY SIGNALS (causing MANUAL REDIALS), NO CALLER ID, and (the MOST unbelievable to them) PARTY LINES.
I was a TAYLOR SWIFT fan way back when she started, and I probably still have her first three CDs, but I can’t say that I have heard any of her music since then. I can’t find definite proof, but I seem to remember that she opened for Brad Paisley here in Houston, a long, long time ago. If she did, that was another SOME DUMMY DIDN’T GO TO THAT CONCERT EITHER deal!
It took me awhile to figure out EMBED. It was my last fill.
My brother in Cocoa Beach texted me this morning that one of his neighbors in his condo called the VA in Orlando and found out that Covid vaccines are available there. The neighbor is 88 years old, and the VA told him to come right over.
You’re welcome, -T. What an amazing coincidence! I wonder if this puzzle had already been scheduled for today, or whether it was substituted in for another one --- sorta like a relief pitcher. Joe Neikro, Phil’s younger brother, died in 2006. Joe pitched for the Astros from 1975 to 1985.
Moe said, " I often wonder, as a constructor, if some thought isn’t given to avoid having two UNusual words cross each other." I frequently think the same thing.
I have a friend who used to work for Fleet Bank. You can guess the constant comments she received.
I new friend invited me to share some wine at her apartment after dinner tonight. Slowly I am making friends.
I am finding it much harder to remember new people's names when their masks hide their faces. Before I moved I often saw long time friends whom I did not recognize with the mask on.
Now I understand that we can have one or two persons at a time visit our apartments. I received a gift box of snacks for Christmas. I will have to add some wine and invite people in.
Yellowrocks
Hello everyone.
Late to the party today. Trip to Syracuse to see my Dermatologist. Routine visit. Stem-to-stern inspection. Thankfully no new skin cancers or pre-cancers. Lunch with BH at our favorite Greek restaurant (Symeon's) afterwards.
Finished the puzzle after getting home; easy enough; and no errors. I was kinda sure about MAKEBA and very sure about NIEKRO, so that K crossing went well. How prescient is that, with Niekro passing on this week?
Thought maybe Lucina left the convent because she got passed over for ABBESS. I think she had other fish to fry. Love her posts.
Although I didn't attend STAR FLEET acad., I was an ENS once.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
TTP FLN @ 1934. Rhetorical answer. The short answer is: I don't mind.
I find singly consistent negative posts annoying, and usually don't read them to the end. But I am always mindful that I am a guest here on someone else's blog and strive to follow the posted rules and the accepted decorum.
If the disparager violates the posted rules, then the answer is easy. If the content is more subjectively bothersome, then deletion may be in order but needs to be consistent. IMO
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Hoang-Kim and JazzB.
Definitely crunchy today, and although I got the clever POST HASTE theme, I FIWed with the Natick cross of NIEKRO and MAKEBA. The N in QUINN was a WAG. I see that I am not alone.
Plenty of inkblots today; plus my NW corner was blank for a long time.
I thought of Mold before SCULPT, and WHO before the American CDC.
I always want to spell CALIPH as Caleph. Fortunately I have learned IRA.
Oh, the threaded fastener is for a NUT not clothes. (I used Velcro fasteners on the doll clothes that I made for Christmas)
We have a TRURO in Nova Scotia; I can never remember the one near Provincetown. (Apparently both were named after TRURO in Cornwall, UK.
NHS and CUNY were all perps for this Canadian. (Thanks for explaining, JzB)
Ray-O- I too noticed the plethora of ATs and ITs. FAT CATS crossed TEAR AT which crossed AT IT. Then we had HIT IT crossing STEP ON IT. Plus IT GUYS - LOL!
I will forgive the redundant UNs (one crossing CUNY) as just a STUNT.
Favourite today was Double duty?=STUNT.
YR- sounds like you are settling in to your new place nicely and meeting new friends.
Glad to hear that the vaccines are reaching some of the Corner folk already. Here, we are still reaching front-line HealthCare workers, Long Term Care residents; the Moderna vaccine has been shipped to the far North Indigenous communities (not so finicky re deep cold requirements). (Although some joker might wonder that the far North was not cold enough! Nope- not for the Pfizer one.)
Wishing you all a good day.
Thank you Mr. Hoang-Kim Vu, for a challenging CW puzzle, and JazzB for an interesting and thoughful review.
I wanted to check on the gender of Mr/Ms Vu, and I found out that he is a male, with a BA from Gr.Wash Univ. and an MPH ( Pub Hlth) from London Sch of Topcl. Med. and presently Fin and Oper Director, for Malaria and NTDs, for PATH, a huge health care NGO think tank, in Seattle. NTD is presumably (other) Neglected Tropical Diseases - CDC definition.
I had a joke about Tourettes syndrome, but that'll get my post deleted...
I also have a third definition for HOED, but look at the line above this one ....
I also thought EMBED was a verb, not a noun.
I am not familiar with the TinMan, in Oz, but I thought that he needed the Oil Can to lubricate his joints, not for any rust problems. While Tin does not rust, it will corrode, depending on the environment, and oil will not help to prevent it. Maybe, the Tin Man was a 'tinned' one, just a layer of tin on galvanized iron. But oil would not help anyway. Thank God, The Wizard of Oz, was a musical, not a chemistry documentary.
Finally, to the best of my reading knowledge, Fermi got a Nobel prize, because he was supposed to have discovered a new element. But, later on, it was found that it was only an isotope. He used the gold in the prize, to finance his and his wife's escape from fascism and the Nazis, to the UK and then to the USA. ( His wife was jewish.) This is only a small note, .... not to take away any credits from one of the most brilliant scientists of the 20th century.
Widwan:
Your comment about the Wizard of Oz induced a loud chuckle!
YR:
How very nice that you are adjusting so well to your new home and making friends. I can't imagine myself in a like situation and admire your courage.
Puzzling thoughts update:
A possible CSO to our own Tinbeni with 2-Down ... but if I know OUR Tin, his version of an "OIL CAN" is THIS!!*
For those unaware, the 25.4 oz container of Foster's is colloquially known as an OIL CAN
Spitz
Have you tried the Acropolis on James St? Run by a girl I went to ELHI (🙄) with and her Greek husband. Excellent
Widwan. The Wizard of Oz was actually a subtexrual documentary about early 20th century organ transplantation
Sorry ...Vidwan...end of the day eyesight dimming
Overposter (TBd) say...
C. Moe - LOL Chapstick for your... (is there ALOE in that?)
D-O: I've read there can be 2 days of sickly down-time after the vaccine. I'm not an anti-vaxxer just letting you know what to (maybe?) expect. //Was it Ray-O or MManatee that got it early? Do tell.
//story-time...
I've got to put in a word for my friend MAKEBA [her first name, not last (didn't know of Miriam)].
She's such a kind person. After the Temple bombing a few years ago, sitting to my right at our staff meeting, she clutched my wrist and said, "I'm so sorry for what happened to your people."
It took me a second...
"Oh, I'm not Jewish."
"But I though you were Jewish. I'm Sor..."
"No need to apologize. What happened shouldn't have. I'm agnostic but no one should ever be hurt by hate."
"You're not...(?)"
"No, I just love the comedy and the Chosen Ones who tell the truth through humor." #JonStewart #MelBrooks #we can go on and on... :-)
//And don't forget our German scientists that were better than the Russian's German scientists :-)
Makeba lost an Aunt to Covid this year and now she's battling breast-cancer. She's such a kind soul and doesn't deserve this.
[ADHD say... anyone see the Soul movie [Trailer] yet? Pretty cute*]
Anyway, Lucina, if there's any prayer left in your old Habit (and I know there are), send one to her. She's not Catholic but... Why not?
//story over but apropos(?) follows
OIL CAN: Oz never gave nuthin' to the Tinman [America - 4:46] that he didn't already have...
Y'all know I love readings yous thanks for the playtime!
Cheers, -T
*when Youngest was 3 or 4yrs old she said, and I quote, "I'm so glad I picked you as parents while I was waiting." WTF?!? I might rethink this agnostic thing :-)
Nice one, but too many proper names/places in the SE sector. Had to cheat to get a toe hold to finish there.
Another day, another proper credit in the LA Times! We must be favored by the gods...
~ OMK
____________
DR: A three-way on the near end. The main diagonal offers a relatively serious 11-letter anagram...
"THEOLOGISED"!
Pretty damn sober-sided I'd say. Or how about a 10-letter answer?...
"IDEOLOGIST"?
But haven't we had enough references to (and results from) dogmatism so far this year?
I would rather settle for THIS 9-letter anagram of (yum)...
"CHILIDOGS"!
The 80s Redsox had OIL CAN Boyd. He pitched the third game in the '86 WS but was passed over for Clemens in game Six.
Another escapee of the Nazis was FERMI's contemporary Neil's Bohr(whom we've also seen here). Stevenson (Intrepid) rescued him under the alias, Mr Underhill. I've mentioned that Strider(Intrepid) used that alias for Frodo when escaping the Shire*. Later editions of "A Man Called Intrepid" deleted that nugget, probably at the urging of MI5. Bohr couldn't remember the alias despite being one of the greatest brains of the 20th century.
WC
*The Ring of Power could be similar to Atomic energy secrets
Ray-O- @ 1637. We'll have to keep the Acropolis in mind. We both like the kabobs at Symeon's and they have convenient handicapped parking for BH. Thanks for the recommendation.
OK,
It's late enough,
all the people rushing thru should be gone by now...
I just found some recent YouTube posts that I thought you might enjoy.
Now, this is for people who want to slow down, relax, take it easy...
Any of you enjoy taking a long slow walk in the rain?
(& getting older, afraid of breaking something?)
Well, this guy is for you!
Now bear in mind that I enjoyed this in full screen, 2 feet away from a
HD 46" tv, so your experience may vary. But still, the illusion was
only occasionally broken by an umbrella popping into view, otherwise
I was sure I could feel my hair getting wet, & the cold water dripping down the
back of my neck...
This is Garret Mountain Reservation. & if it were not raining,
you would be immersed in a sea of humanity, as at 30 minutes,
you can see it overlooks route 80 in Paterson NJ, only 10 minutes from NYC.
So, slow down, & take a relaxing walk in the rain in my New Jersey backyard.
Note: if you like this, you must see his walk in the snow to
Island Pond via the Appalachian Trail in Harriman/Bear Mtn State Park.
AnonT:
Done! Prayers for your friend, Makeba, are on their way heavenward. And BTW, prayers are for everyone, not just Catholics. In fact, especially for those who are not Catholics. Just, remember, prayers are not always answered the way we want them. I hope the best for her.
Groan. A conspiracy theory about the Wizard of Oz! I can't believe it.
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