Title: A pun puzzle for the openminded.
We welcome back Gary Larson who in just over three years on the big stage has numerous publications here, at the NYT, the WSJ, and the Universal puzzle. I blogged one last October, and Gary does like wordplay. All the "J"s are now "CH." It creates some fun fill and starts us on our way, as they are very gettable once you grasp the concept. The sparkly fill includes ADOPTED, ESTELLE, HEROINE, MOLIERE, ONE LOVE, STANLEY, KALAMATA, and THE OPERA; a diverse knowledge base required so there should be no complaints.
The theme:
16A. Levi's alternatives in the bargain bin?: CHEAP WRANGLERS (14). Wrangler jeans, Jeep Wrangler.
23A. Bright red semi?: CHERRY RIG. This is the biggest stretch for me. First, I learned the term as Jury-rigged, which does indeed have historical precedence, over jerry-rigged, with citations in the Oxford English Dictionary all the way back to 1788. Do non-truckers think about their big rig?36A. Dog collar for obedience school?: PRACTICAL CHOKER. A sad but apt replacement for a practical joker.
48A. Kibbles 'n Bits?: CHUNK FOOD. Well, I never thought of dog food like junk food, nor the little pieces as chunks but you must do what you must do.
57A. Inept patsy on water skis?: CHUMP IN THE LAKE. On that note, I won't suggest you go jump in the lake but get on with the rest of the puzzle.
ACROSS:
1. Supplies food: CATERS. Not the easiest of starts for me.7. Lord with a namesake sports trophy: STANLEY. Requires knowledge of Hockey's Stanley Cup.
14. Showy bloom: DAHLIA. Sometimes sad.
15. "The Miser" playwright: MOLIERE. Studying French in school helped with this "comedy" L'avare. Molière modeled the protagonist in The Miser on a character in Aulularia (Pot of Gold), a comedy by the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254-184 BC), according to the nineteenth-century French scholar Eugène Benoist.
18. Rial spenders: OMANIS. The currency of the country, and two others- Yemen and Iran.
19. Ascended: ROSE. To great heights.
21. Humdinger: PIP. A colloquialism defined by another. US origin, perhaps a blend of hummer (“something that moves fast”) + dinger (“something outstanding”). First attested in a newspaper article in the Daily Enterprise of June 4, 1883, at Livingstone, Montana.
27. Song heard in the film "Marley & Me": ONE LOVE.
Don't cry...okay cry.
31. Sign of success: VEE. Winston and a clecho.
32. Sign of success: SRO. Standing Room Only.
33. Arte who co-owns MLB's Angels: MORENO. A CSO to Lucina.
34. Prayer __: BEADS. And yet, a second CSO.
41. Sported: HAD ON. She sported a Givenchy at the Oscars.
42. Steamed cantina dish: TAMALE. Followed by the third and major CSO to our maven on the Mexican delight, Ms. Lucy Dale.
43. I in Innsbruck: ICH.
46. Mogadishu is its cap.: SOMalia. I like the word Mogadishu.
47. Getty of "The Golden Girls": ESTELLE. She was the youngest of the actresses and the first to leave us; only Betty White carries on. Young Estelle.
51. Petition: ASK.
52. Relaxation: EASE.
53. Smarts: WISDOM.
63. Captain Marvel, for one: HEROINE. The current ONE.
64. Walking on air: ELATED. A favorite word of our own C.C.
65. Taken in: ADOPTED.
66. Parlor pieces: DIVANS.
Down:
1. Govt. agency in many 2020 headlines: CDC. Center for Disease Control. Did you ever notice dis-ease actually means the opposite of ease, like disenfranchisement?
2. Spa emanation: AAH. Oooh.
3. Title Marx Brothers setting: THE OPERA.
5. Gifford's "Live" successor: RIPA. Kathie Lee and Kelly.
6. Like logs: SAWN.
7. Huge hit: SMASH.
8. Passel: TON. Passel supposedly comes from a mispronouncing of "parcel". Ya think?
9. Niger neighbor: Abbr.: ALG. There is a sad STORY here.
10. Nothing: NIL. Important for hockey and football (soccer) fans.
11. Suspicious: LEERY. Not Timothy...
12. E on a scoreboard: ERRORS. Along with R and H.
13. Private aye: YES SIR. A little humor in the clue.
17. Often-steamed serving: RICE. Do all of you here have your own RICE COOKER?
20. It may be inflated: EGO.
21. Ceremonial display: POMP.
22. "__ out?": IN OR. Every pet owner knows this game.
24. First name in daredeviltry: EVEL. He's back!
25. Takes the bait, say: REACTS.
26. Software subsidiary of IBM since 2019: RED HAT.
28. Peace Nobelist Walesa: LECH.
29. Focused, jobwise: ON TASK.
30. Entirely without: VOID OF compassion?
34. Outlaw: BAN. Or a deodorant.
35. To a degree: SOME.
37. Villa-studded Italian lake: COMO. Or our old friend Perry the barber; I get him often. Where George hangs out.
38. Greek city known for olives: KALAMATA. Kalamata olives are rich in oleic acid, a type of MUFA (Monounsaturated fatty acids) which are linked to improved heart health and cancer-fighting properties. They're also a good source of iron, calcium, copper, and vitamins A and E.
39. Building additions: ELLS.
40. Strongly suggest, with "of": REEK. I will again LINK this scene from Game of Thrones, but please do not watch, it is awful and disgusting.
43. Bar staple: ICE. Not at Tinbeni's house.
44. Onomatopoeic dance: CHA CHA. This reminds me of the Cuchi Cuchi girl Charo and somehow really fits with a J to CH theme (in my mind).
45. Quieted: HUSHED.
47. Touch up, perhaps: EDIT.
49. Surgeon's opening?: NEURO. Neuro the boat merrily, merrily?
50. Dominated in competition: OWNED. When did this become the phrase?
54. Threw off: SHED.
55. Where to find a hero: DELI. These days, maybe the only place to find one.
56. Norse patron: OLAV.
58. Unruly head of hair: MOP.
59. Trading place: PIT. Chicago Board of Trade, e.g.
60. Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 __ minor: IN E. An ending E to match a beginning one.
61. First "Jeopardy!" guest host after Alex: KEN. WOW! We are really up to date, Ken is okay but he seems nervous to me.
62. Harris and a horse: EDS. Ed Harris who I featured for his role in ENEMY AT THE GATES.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteYay. D-o got the theme. Quickly inked in CATERS at 1a, and stumbled on to victory. Had to morph AZALEA into DAHLIA. KALAMATA, because KALAMAZOO was too long. Like Lemonade, I'm more familiar with JURY-RIGGED. Thought perhaps JERRY-RIGGED cropped up as a Germany reference during the world wars. Nope. Saw the CSO to Lucina at TAMALE. Overall, this was a very nice Friday offering. Thanx, Gary and Lemonade. (OK, I'll bite, what does GWATCDR mean?)
VEE -- According to PP&M, Winston Churchill often held his cigar in a VEE. As a result, auto racers use the VEE-symbol as an invitation: "Wanna drag?"
Good morning. CHEAP WRANGLERS? I have three pair of them.
ReplyDeleteTo FIR was no problem today. I didn't notice that all the punny changes were J to CH until CHUMP IN THE LAKE. MOLIERE and ONE LOVE were filled by perps. I have no idea what 'ONOMATOPOEIC' means but CHA CHA fit nicely in the grid.
Arte MORENO- yeah, I knew that and the owner of every minor league team. PERPS.
Captain Marvel- I don't really know anything about him or her but HEROINE was a surprise fill.
D-otto- concerning AZALEAS, I had to have all the azaleas and Indian Hawthorne shrubs in our front gardens removed along with all the dirt due to fire blight. They kept dying.
A lad there was from ALGERIA
ReplyDeleteWho felt distinctly inferi-a
He wrote purple prose,
Rejection letter goes:
"Your writing would be bested by a DAHLIA!"
Captain Marvel is now a HEROINE,
Which ELATED a class of American.
While the old Shazam
Who was a man,
Is depressed and addicted to heroin.
An old person who lived in SOMALIA
Was obsessed by the notion of genitalia.
"The concave shes
And convex hes
Are ADOPTED by all of mammalia!"
{B+, B+, A-.}
Today's took me 12:51 to finish. Clue for "One Love" seemed unnecessarily obscure. Didn't know "Dahlia," "Moreno," "Moliere," or "Red Hat."
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the solve and liked the theme, but the NW corner gave me fits, not knowing Moreno and One Love. Finally, though, the light bulb went on and I got my Tada! Red Hat was another unknown and my ignorance of heroine characters equals that of pop music. Just as I learned Pink Floyd is not one person, I now know that Captain Marvel is a female. The things you learn doing crosswords, eh. I liked the Som/Some, Ice/Ich, Ed’s/Edit duos. Big CSO to our resident Tamale Queen, Lucina. My favorite pun was Chump in the Lake.
Thanks, Gary, for a fun Friday and thanks, Lemony, for the entertaining and informative summary.
FLN
OMK, belated Happy Anniversary wishes to you and DW.
Have a great day.
What DO said. Started with CATERS and EASEd on through the puzzle, except I didn't fall for azalea. I live near CDC so knew the flower started with a D and saw daisy was too short. By the second themer I figured out the letter change, knowing the term jERRY RIG, from temporary household repairs, etc. Clever fun today, Gary. Many thanks. And Lemonade, I guessed it was you reviewing today as I confirmed my FIR. Thanks for the information, but did I detect a sad tone? Hope all is well with you. Oh, I just caught GWATCDR: God willing and the creek don't rise! Again, hope you are doing well.
ReplyDeleteA Friday FIR I celebrate, and the weekend approaches! Hope you all are well now and looking forward to the holiday weekend.
Except for some of the names, I liked this one a lot. The name I liked was ELAM; he played a great villain. The themers were extremely helpful.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the puzzle (got the theme pretty quickly) and the write-up (loved the yellow lab).
ReplyDeleteThese days we also have GWATCDR = God Willing And The Curve Don't Rise.
I might or might not get my first injection this evening (PST). Things are still undecided on this county re: 65-plus.
ATLGranny, thanx for 'splainin' Lemonade's initialism. YCTAODNT!
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteOld (sea) dog learning new tricks here. Got it all without white-out. A couple WAGS in the west around MORENO. When IN OR dropped, I knew we were IN. Had CALAMATA, but had to change to the KALAMATA alternate to accommodate ……CHOKER.
Big CSO to Can. Eh! with STANLEY. Agree with HM about the theme fill being helpful.
Have a great day.
This was somewhat of a challenge but a fun one! Like IM - The area around ONE LOVE, MORENO, PIP was my hardest to fill. I guess since it IS an LA Times puzzle the people out there would be more likely to know a co-owner of the Angels baseball team. I do remember that Gene Autry was the first owner.
ReplyDeleteI think of that use of PIP as an old fashioned (or maybe British use) of the word? I know I've read it, but don't think I've heard it used that way- learning moment for today.
I have a friend who raises DAHLIAs for flower competitions so after having the -IA , the rest came pretty quickly.
Thanks Lemonade and Gary for a the blog and puzzle!
I'm looking forward to a Hygge day as my friend calls it - it's gently snowing outside but I didn't have to go to work and am looking forward to hot tea and a good book today!
Hola!
ReplyDeleteA clever and entertaining puzzle from Gary Larson! I nominate this one for puzzle of the month. CH/J reversal finally dawned on me and led me to the finish.
I recall Arte MORENO because he was featured on the front page of the Arizona Republic when he became a ball club owner. And thank you for the CSO but it goes to one of my sisters for her surname.
And speaking of CSOs, I appreciate them but am embarrassed by the attention.
HEROINE really surprised me as I had no idea Captain Marvel was female.
KALAMATA really made me chuckle. Almost ANY city in Greece is known for olives!
I liked seeing MOLIERE and DIVANS clinched OLAV.
Have a "choyful" day, everyone!
Lemonade, thank you, for an elegant expose.
ReplyDeleteFIR. Realizing themes answers would start with CH and replace J after CHERRYRIG was a big help. Except all the clue answers mean mean something else. What does CHERRYRIG mean?
ReplyDeleteThe Mid West was stubborn. Had The Love/ONE LOVE. Lie/PIP for too long. Wasn't expecting POMP for that clue. Like IM didnt know MORENO.
By the by, Did EDITors touch up this puzzle?
Clever private aye clue. NYSE PIT another good misdirection
Ah I see the sound AAH again (oooh..🤨) ..kalamita/KALAMATA (c'mon say it: "it's all Greek to me")
How is CHA CHA onomatopoetic? . (Where's the "cha cha" sound when doing the dance?)
Odin/OLAf/V Being Norse he's also a neighbor of Sweden. Saudi/OMANI another inkover.
Plays the same role _____ REACTS.
Who was the Jeopardy host before Alex is beyond my ____ KEN.
I'll eat the taco today and save the burrito for _____ TAMALE (🙊, sorry Lucina).
Lemonade: Didn't get your George link to COMO and I do have my own rice cooker: DW
Ray-o, George Clooney hangs out there.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-A school-closing blizzard on the prairie today but I’ve got a Gary Larson puzzle to keep me warm
-I remember the firm Scrooge and Marley, not a dog. The only MORENO I know is an EGOT winner
-Mogadishu only reminds me of the barbarism of Black Hawk Down
-ESTELLE got the “no holds barred” Golden Girls lines and delivered them so skillfully
-Our ADOPTED kitty is a great comfort in this quarantine
-The score after after NIL NIL – ONE LOVE
-Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation had POMP to the nth degree
-JH boys stop teasing JH girls if they don’t REACT
-HUSHED – Name that poem: “With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone; He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on”
-50/50 pitcher Frank Lary OWNED the NY Yankees
Lovely Learned Lemonade Literate Blog !
ReplyDeleteIn honor of you and your profession, may I add, Learned Hand, one the greatest of our judges.
Learned Hand, as you well know, was not an honorific, but his given surname. So apt.
Thanks for the Black Dahlia, I had to investigate the novel or novels and the various movies.
Reading through the various novels and novellas etc., and her extensive wiki biography,
Elizabeth Short, The Black Dahlia
was in fact murdered today, January 15th ..... 1947.
And, out she comes, into a crossword puzzle !
Happenstance, Coincidence, or ... enemy action ?
A simple nondescript woman, though admittedly beautiful, she came into fame and notoriety, by the mechanism of her murder and dismemberment.
What a way to die.
But the Black Dahlia lives on in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteThe first question I will answer (and thank you all for understanding my quirks, and I do agree solving puzzles does prove you can teach an old dog new tricks) is who was the host ofJEOPARDY before Alex.
It was ART FLEMING
Thank you, Gary, for a challenging puzzle. Like others, I saw the Js morph into CHs, which was entertaining and helped me FIR. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review, and thank you, ATLGranny, for translating "GWATCDR: God willing and the creek don't rise!" There won't be any COVID-19 vaccinations for the 65+ crowd in Los Angeles County until February at least, so we'll keep working at home and watching the backyard birds ��.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I know that just because a cute bird emoji is suggested by my smartphone keyboard doesn't mean it will show up properly in the blog comments!
ReplyDeleteI had a rice cooker but gave it to my granddaughter. It's too big for my current needs and I like cooking rice in a small pot. At a party I once saw an enormously large version of my previous one.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have suggestions for getting rid of gnats? A pesky one has been driving me mad!
I swear, that picture of young Estelle Getty looked exactly like Myrna Loy. I liked this puzzle a lot, but I tend to like them all. More so toward the end of the week.
ReplyDeleteBecky
Spoke a little too soon about side effects...after my second Pfizer shot on Wednesday began experiencing fatigue and generalized aches late morning yesterday Slept most of the day.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fine today.
Upside?...Had a perfect excuse to get out of doing any of DW's chores. 😉
Delightful Friday puzzle, Gary--many thanks. Thank you, especially for still putting in a tribute to Alex Trebek with his successor, KEN, who, I think, is actually doing a pretty good job so far. And thank you, too, Lemonade, for your always enjoyable commentary.
ReplyDeleteGetting DELI for finding a hero was fun. Prayer BEADS made me realize I haven't thought of a rosary for a long time--a staple of mine, when I was in high school, believe it or not. Oh, now I get it--NEURO surgeon, not a suture or something a surgeon performs. Should have remembered that from previous puzzles.
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
ReplyDeleteMadam Lucina, some chinese food and Kitchen supply stores carry inexpensive electric mini rice cookers for one cup, or less, ... for less than 15 dollars.
As for getting rid of gnats, have you ever thought of getting a gnome to gnash his teeth, and gnarl or gnaw at those pesky things ? I thought of gnus, but they may be quite inconvenient in your part of the woods...
Helpful Hints:
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your interesting suggestions! I actually have a ceramic gnome but that would help only if I bash said gnat with it. As for cooking rice, I do well on the stove top and since I know the exact measurements for a small serving, I'm happy with it. But, again, thank you.
As for TAMALES, I have one dozen in the freezer which I planned to take to my buddy in California but covid precluded the trip. Does anyone know what the chances are of their survival if I mail them? By certified mail I expect they would arrive the next day.
Lucina,
ReplyDeletehere ya go...
Note that apple cider (specifically brags, with the mother,)
Has many uses...
Mea culpa Becky, I fell for this NOT ESTELLE
ReplyDeleteLucina, Certified mail doesn't go any faster than regular mail. You just get proof of delivery. You'd have to use an overnight service to get next day delivery.
ReplyDeleteLucy, my wife 'illegally' sends food by mail using Priority Mail and wrapping the food securely in plastic wrap including one of those FREEZE PAKS
ReplyDeleteDNF today without looking at a map of Africa.
ReplyDeleteLake Como is part of a total Natick,
But SOM should not have been considering history.
(I guess I got confused by the abbreviation...)
The Eds clue got me wondering,
Does Ed Harris always play the horses ass?
I mean, he was the bad guy in enemy at the gates,
He was was the director in the Truman show,
and then I found this...
CED, Ed Harris played a good guy in The Abyss -- crusty, but good.
ReplyDeleteNaomiZ, you still need to use the HTML functions to post any kind of image even for linking EMOJI
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThe actress from the latest Nissan commercials, Brie Larson, is the new Captain Marvel.
Jack Elam was a pretty good actor, he did a comedic take on his western roles in Support Your Local Sheriff and the following (but not a sequel) Support Your Local Gunfighter. Both hysterical, James Garner being no slouch either.
Fail to see how dog food is junk food. Jury-rigged was also how I heard that.
Stay safe.
Anonymous-T
ReplyDeleteSorry about the "I can't hear you" puppy the other day.
I didn't realize how sad he looked until you pointed it out.
hope this makes up for it...
Note:
If anyone is wondering how I find these links,
It was right next to this one about the squirrel waiting
For a package...
read the comments!
Got ‘er done, but after CATERS flew right into place, and STANLEY came after only a few seconds, the rest was a struggle. Also made some truly dopey mistakes requiring write-overs: KALAMARI : KALAMATA (DOH!!!) and YESSES : YESSIR, which were both caught by perps. Owen your third limerick is an A+. Thanx GL for a (for me) challenging Friday CW, and thanx Lemonade for a terrific write-up. Here in FLL they announced the immunizations being given at Holiday Park now don’t require a reservation. Holiday Park is very near me...blocks away...but u hafta be in your car. The line of cars snaked back and forth forever within the park then extended out onto U.S. Hwy 1 for four blocks!! I didn’t get in line, fearing by the time I got there they would be out of vaccine. This whole distribution is a disaster. Looking forward to better organization once Biden takes over. I’ll just hide in my house a few more days. At 76 and struggling with several health issues, hiding for a few more days is probably my best option. Good luck to everyone: stay safe!
ReplyDeleteRay-O @10:37am. A Cherry rig is as the clue states "A bright red Semi". Gary zigged when a lot people zagged i.e. he meant to be taken literally sans substitutions.
ReplyDeleteOther than that I thank Gary for a challenging FIW and Lemony for explaining why. I went astray in the WNW not knowing that the ME has 3 countries that use the Rial, confidently filling IRANIS and then unable to figure out where the MBs set their titled movie. And this was missed by an OPERA FANATIC! Needless to say I was stranded in the DESERT, and to make matters worse it was the wrong one.
Additional thanks to Lemony for GWATCDR. It's one of my favorites, but too to long to type with one's thumbs.
Bill, adrift in a dune, somewhere around the Corner.
Meh puzzle with its high PPP count, naticks, and cryptic cluing
ReplyDeleteNaomi Z
ReplyDeleteTo have 😃 appear in your posts Publish in the Edit and not preview format.
Waseeley
ReplyDeleteI got the answer filled in passivley by perps and should have gone back to look at the actual clue.
😒
Once I figured out the J to CH sound change this puzzle got much easier. Overall I found it fun to solve. Didn't know ONE LOVE or MORENO, and not sussing IN OR from the clue made that area a tad difficult until THE OPERA and POMP broke it open.
ReplyDeleteI think KEN Jennings is doing a darn good job.
Captain Marvel was my childhood hero so I was taken aback that the answer was HEROINE. Ah, a new Captain Marvel. Hmmm. Will they make a new Wonder Woman be a male next?
I have the same question as Ray O Sunshine: How is CHA CHA onomatopoetic? (Technically, the name of the dance is Cha Cha Cha.)
Good wishes to you all.
For all the non-comic book readers in the audience, an explanation of DC's Captain Marvel (Male) and Marvel's who is very much a female.
ReplyDeleteMARVLOUS MARVELS
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteThe first entry gave away the puzzle (CHEAP WRANGLERS) but that didn’t dissuade me from finishing it. 36-Across threw me off as I expected the CH/J sound to come first. Took me awhile to realize the practical CHOKE Gary played on me at that moment!
Couple W-O’s: LORD/ELAM (was a WAG at the time I inked it in); AT TASK/ ON TASK. Otherwise it’s a pretty pristine page for a Friday
For you wine aficionados (or those who’re curious), Lake COMO is a relatively unknown Wine region famous for it's Spumante (sparkling wine) that is the rival of Champagne. It’s called: Franciacorta. The blend uses the same primary grapes as Champagne (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), and ferments with the same method, too. Difference being that the Italian sparklers cost far less than those from Champagne, and are just as elegant or tasty. Courtesy of the Corner’s resident SOMm.
Jason, great recap, and yes, we do have a RICE cooker. I got next Friday and you the last, correct?
Bill, another way of cluing CHERRY RIG might’ve been: Pristine Peterbilt? I always liked the term “cherry” to describe a mint-condition vehicle
Have a great weekend
(Hmm, how many posts am I up to...)
ReplyDeleteI just had to mention jack Elam.
He is not exactly CrossEyed, but he can be pretty silly.
Fer instance, take this clip from Support your local Sheriff.
remember the yellow dog, he comes back to haunt the last link...
And don't forget the doctor from Cannonball Run!
Which reminds me,
This puzzle theme of J's being CH's,
Reminds me that there is nothing sillier
the adventures of JJ & Captain CHaos!
(Or should I refer to him, as Him!)
The CHA CHA is onomatopoeic because the name imitates the sound of the dancer's feet as they move across the floor: one, two, cha-cha-cha. Seems reasonable enough.
ReplyDeleteI own a rice cooker, but DH likes it better when I cook rice on the stove, so the rice cooker is sitting idle.
I froze some pastries from my mom's favorite bakery in L.A. and shipped them via USPS Priority Mail with a re-freezable ice pack. It worked out well, but next time I might splurge on FedEx to get it there overnight.
Enjoyed this Larson special! Took a while in the Moreno/One Love area. I read this blog pretty frequently, but rarely post. If anyone is reading it this late in the day,I would like explanations for several terms i see frequently, please: FIR, WAGS, PERPS, CSO.
ReplyDeleteI'm obviously doing it wrong or not listenimg close enough but can't hear feet making any sound.
ReplyDeleteThe Bristol Stomp...now there is an omomatopoetic dance. Our gym would vibrate with each stomp 🙉
I got Moliere but thought "Miser" was Le Misanthrope although misers/misanthropes like Scrooge Were just depressed
ReplyDeleteThere's also these RED HATs?
Jury rigged or Jerry built
I suppose everybody had a point where they grasped the J to CH sub. IN THE LAKE was mine. I resisted the "ine" on Marvel but why not. At the last second I got the A in TAMALE.
I finally got the PIT re. Stock Exchange.
Advice on tomorrow's xword. Don't give up. Hmm. I say that every week.
WC
Granjan,
ReplyDeleteFIR is Finished it Right; WAG is Wild Ass Guess; PERPS are perpendicular clues that help solve the puzzle; CSO is a Crossword Shout Out to one of the regular people at this site, I believe.
A lovely do-able Friday pzl! Thank you, Gary Larson!
ReplyDeleteTa ~ DA!
Lotsa clever clues.
MOLIERE was my first fill.
I directed one Miser many moons ago, with my old associate director in the title role. Lovely scenery by Pat Tiller, with a special crooked tower on the old Miser's home, where he would go to count his francs & sous. un... deux... trois....
I caught onto the "CH" conversions about a quarter way through, and that helped speed things along.
I guess "CHOKER" is an acceptable synonym for a normal collar or necklace.
I would hate to think I put anything on my dogs that might literally "choke" them.
~ OMK
Granjan, on the home page there's an olio section that explains abbrs.
ReplyDeleteFIR: Finished it Right
WAGS: Wild Ass Guess(es)
PERPS: Perpendicular answer which fill in squares on across or down.
CSO: Shout out as in CSO to Wilbur on MR ED
WC
DO @ 9:12AM
ReplyDeleteYCTAODNT? Is that you can (or can't?) teach an old dog new tricks in this case?
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteIf this is Another Learning Saturday, then why did I work all day?
Big Fat DNF - Had to cheat on (you guessed it) the names.
Thanks Gary for the grid but... Well, I did like the theme and got most b/f cheating.
Fun expo LEM. Thanks for the Marx Brothers clip.
WOs: sWept -> OWNED, irANIS (Hi Waseeley!)
Fav: TAMALE //right Lucina? :-)
Runner-up: RED HAT, best Linux distro after slackware's.
{B+, B, A}
FLN - Happy belated (second? [CED caught that too]) Birthday JD.
FLN - Thanks C, Eh! for Canadian Election details. I guess no primaries gets you the plurality.
Lucina - If your local grocer carries dry-ice, ship the TAMALEs in that.
CED's gnat solution is a solution. As was the Foster Diary's Mello!
I think the new Marvel HEROINEs are to cater to the younger crowd that eschews the whole gender-role thing; both my Girls love 'em those movies.
@5:08 to Granjan - Coincidental Shout Out. See: Comment Section Abbrs
Last night I was taking out the trash and noticed "frost" on DW's back window. With temps over 40F, I thought that was odd. On my way back to the garage, I went to poke/scrape the "ice" with my finger.
The back window collapsed.
It was shattered.
WTF?
If it was a kid with a bat SMASHin' windows, why was the Cadillac nor the Mustang next door unscathed?
Took her car in this morning. New window will be in next Thursday. DW is not pleased she couldn't park in the garage. #myFault(?)
Cheers, -T
No Safelite insurance policy on your car windows Tony? I had a street sweeper kick up a rock and crack my windshield and they came to me and replaced on the spot.
ReplyDeleteLem - It wasn't a crack - it looked like someone hit the safety-glass with a crowbar. It held in place until I touched it. When I closed the door to start the car (and get it on the AAA tow truck's flat-bed) this morning another CHUNK fell into the back.
ReplyDeleteI took it to the Alfa dealer; doubt Safelite would have had the back-window on stock either.
The dealership had to order the back window; it's now on a slow boat from Italy at a cost of $850 just for the part. Can't wait to see what the labor is...
When she fell in love with it, I ASK'd DW, "Do you really want an Italian car?
It's gonna cost $$$ over it's lifetime."
"But it's so pretty."
Suppose that's why she married me too? :-)
Cheers, -T
Thank you all for the great suggestions! I'll mail the tamales ASAP. She will be choyful.
ReplyDeleteI saw what you did there Lucina :-) -T
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