Good morning, cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, here. It is time to rise and shine. If your cat did not wake you up this morning perhaps your dog did. Or, your significant other. Or, it's now the afternoon in your time zone. In any event, grab that morning newspaper or that electronic device and head for the puzzle page.
THEME: THE FOUR V's
In "Big Data" the Four V's are Volume, Veracity, Velocity, and Variety. In today's puzzle, by Jeff Stillman, the letter V, and only the letter V, is used as the clue to each of the four long answers. A straightforward theme, this was.
In addition to being the title of a Thomas Pynchon novel and a TV show, V can, of course, take on may different meanings and Jeff has employed some of them to good advantage.
Here are the themed answers:
17 Across. V: VICTORY SIGN.
27 Across. V: T-SHIRT NECK TYPE. Self explanatory.
44 Across. V: GEESE FORMATION. Also, self explanatory. The theory is that the V formation conserves energy and facilitates co-ordination.
59 Across. V: CAESAR'S FIVE. Roman Numeral. If Jeff had been able to work in V, and only V, theme answers (and I would be willing to bet that he tried) then that really would have been a coup.
That's it for the theme. Now, let's take a look at the rest of Solver v. Puzzle.
1. Two-mile-high city: LA PAZ. LA PAZ, the capital of Bolivia, sits at an elevation of 11,942 feet.
6. Numbskulls: BOOBS. This one has certainly been teed up. Fore! A swing and a miss (to mix golf and baseball lingo). Today's "It's probably best to skip the graphics" moment, shared with 57 Down. In this instance BOOBS is a synonym for other five-letter words such as dopes, bozos, or dodos. All of these words have multiple meanings.
11. Ate: HAD. As in "I had too much to drink last night." In 1967, The Electric Prunes used that expression as the jumping off point for a song.
AMERICAN BANDSTAND
EUTERPE AND ERATO
16. "I __ you one!": OWE. In this case, the clue is most likely referring to the reciprocation of a favor.
19. Carried the day: WON. Did you hear about the person who WON a hundred thousand dollars in the lottery and decided to give one quarter of it to charity? She now has $99, 999.75.
20. Brainstorm: IDEA.
21. Spanish pronoun: ESO. Given their range of dispersion, Manatees generally speak pretty good Spanish. This one does not but has been told that ESO translates, in English, to "that".
22. Understated way to put it: MILDLY. "To Put It Mildly" is an idiomatic expression indicating that the thing referred to is actually larger, more important, or more serious than stated.
24. Old PC display: CRT. Cathode Ray Tube
26. City west of Hong Kong: MACAO. Now, officially, The MACAO Special Administrative Region Of The People's Republic Of China has a human history that goes back 6,000 years. MACAO is sometimes referred to as "The Gambling Capital of the World" or as "The Monte Carlo of the East".
MACAO
33. Scribble (down): JOT. I have a friend who learned Italian by JOTting down sentences that she heard. She used the wrote learning method.
34. Read (over) closely: PORED. Along with 35 Across, these two clues provide a good example of how constructors mess with our heads. Read can be either present tense (reed) or past tense (red), and . . .
35. Wind into rings: COIL. . . . wind can be a flow of gasses that blows leaves all over and lets us fly kites or, as in this case, its heteronym (wined) which means to put something into a COIL. The chances of constructors winding up the use of these tricks is nil.
36. Look into closely: PROBE.
38. Egg: Pref.: OVI. Today's punt from our constructor. It could been clued as "NE opening". Baaaa.
39. Suspends operations, with "down": SHUTS. It is time to turn off the computer?
40. European erupter: ETNA.
SIRACUSA AND MT. ETNA - Photo by MM
41. Low card: DEUCE. As an alternative to the playing card reference (a two), this clue could have cited the 1932 Ford Model 18 which was known as the DEUCE Coupe.
THE BEACH BOYS
43. Female antelope: DOE. DOE an antelope, a female antelope.
48. La Scala locale: MILAN. Il Teatro Alla Scala, what we call La Scala, e situato a MILANo, Italia.
TEATRO ALLA SCALA
49. Word with rolling or bowling: PIN.
50. Slanted, in a way: ITALIC. Tilted and biased both came to mind before ITALIC which comes from the Latin word for Italian, Italicus. The print style was named in honor of the Italian printer, Aldus Manutius, who is credited with being the first to use it.
52. Diamonds, slangily: ICE. Diamonds are called ICE because of (a) their clear, colorless nature and (b) their ability to pull heat away from any warm object with which they come into contact.
54. Bar requests: ALES. One of the most overused words in crossword-dom. A four-letter word with three of them being two vowels and an S does come in handy. This marine mammal does not tire of it, however, due to a significant affinity for India Pale ALES.
58. A.L. East team: BOS. In late 1978, or early 1979, I was walking up a stairwell of The Goldminer's Daughter Hotel in Alta, Utah when I spotted a gentleman coming down the stairs. He was wearing a T-shirt on which was emblazoned "The Yankees Suck". Being somewhat more parochial than I am today, and the Dodgers having recently lost the 1978 World Series to the Bronx Bombers, I said to the man "You must be from Los Angeles." He smiled broadly and replied, "Nah Bahston!"
62. It may need a boost: EGO.
63. Revered ones: IDOLS. Humans are proscribed from worshiping false IDOLS. This bit of wisdom seems, however, to be almost universally ignored.
64. Official Wimbledon timekeeper: ROLEX. Not the person in charge of keeping time but, rather, the timepiece manufacturer and sponsor. Not being a tennis buff, I first tried Omega because it fit nicely in the allotted space.
65. Summer shade: TAN.
TAN LINES THROUGH THE DECADES
66. Article of faith: TENET.
67. Title feeling "beyond power of speech," in an "Into the Woods" song: AGONY. A reference, unfamiliar to the author, to a song by Stephen Sondheim.
AGONY
DOWN:
1. Son of Jacob: LEVI. Coincidentally, on May 20, 1873, U.S. Patent Number 139,121 was issued to Jacob Davis and LEVI Strauss & Company for the first riveted work pants. What we call Blue Jeans, today.
LEVI STRAUSS JACOB DAVIS
2. Dry as a bone: ARID. Sometimes the answer turns out to be "sere" which also has four letters.
3. Go back and forth: PACE. Yo Yo? No. Sway? No way. Vary? Nary a chance.
4. Include with an email: ATTACH.
5. Wild place: ZOO. An actual ZOO is, in reality, a pretty controlled environment. This clue makes more sense when thought of as used in the colloquial expression "It's a real zoo out there" or something similar.
6. Clothing store department: BOYS.
7. Estimate phrase: OR SO.
THREE MINUTES OR SO ABOUT OR SO
8. Kimono closer: OBI. We see OBI often. It is a wide sash or belt worn in Japan since ancient times to secure a kimono.
9. Classic fast-food sandwich since 1967: BIG MAC.
10. Gift bearer, informally: STNICK. What's a Stnick? Oh, ST. NICK !
ONCE AGAIN, THE BEACH BOYS
11. Polite greeting: HOW DO YOU DO. It is not really a question.
12. MP's quarry: AWOL. Absent WithOut Leave
13. Disallow: DENY.
18. Old-school: RETRO. RETRO is defined as imitative of a style, fashion or design from the recent past.
23. Door securer: LATCH.
A BARN DOOR LATCH
25. Ready to pluck: RIPE.
26. Soda order: MEDIUM. This slow creature first thought of flavors, then name brands, then sparkling or flat. Finally, with the aid of the perps, MEDIUM sized became clear.
27. Rich dessert cake: TORTE. I always get confused between a TORTE and a Tart (I know, I know). A TORTE is a rich, multilayered cake filled with buttercream, whipped cream, fruit or jam. A Tart is a shallow, round pastry with no top crust. I remain confused.
28. Building artisan: STONE MASON. The work of the ancient STONE MASONs of Cusco, Peru was remarkable.
INCA STONE MASONRY
29. Trampled: TROD ON. When reviewing the puzzle did you find yourself asking yourself "What's a TRODON?" It was, of course, a species of dinosaur and a close relative of the Iguanodon, the Dimetrodon and the Thesaurus.
30. Emphatic refusal: NEVER. Well, hardly ever.
HMS PINAFORE by GILLBERT and SULLIVAN
31. Mountaineer's tool: PITON. I do not usually think of a PITON as being a tool. It's more a piece of hardware but it does serve a very useful purpose.
A PITON SET INTO A CRACK
32. "Is there something __?": ELSE. A very straightforward fill-in-the-blank clue.
33. Photoshop image acronym: JPEG. JPEG is the acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group. JPEG is a standard image format.
37. Culinary herb: BASIL. A Caprese salad is made with tomato, BASIL leaves and mozarella. Season to taste.
INSALATA CAPRESE
39. Org. seeking far-out life: SETI. SETI stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Often, we see YETI in our puzzles.
SETI MIGHT FIND THIS YETI
42. Playful prank: CAPER. I am too old for this kind of CAPER and I have no taste for the other kind.
CAPERS
45. Summon up: ELICIT.
A CENTROSAURUS
46. False appearance: FACADE. An architectural term that has come to mean false fronts put up by people.
47. Dazed: IN A FOG.
50. "Yeah, sure!": I BET. Ah, sarcasm!
51. __ party: TOGA.
JOHN BELUSHI IN ANIMAL HOUSE
52. "Lost" setting: ISLE.
LOST - OPENING SCENE - SEASON ONE, EPISODE ONE
53. Word before votes or shadows: CAST.
55. Stitch's movie pal: LILO. Stitch, aka Experiment 626, was created by a mad scientist. LILO Pelakai is the young Hawaiian girl.
56. Fifty-fifty: EVEN.
57. Hot: SEXY. I am informed that this is a G-rated Blog. Today's second "Let's skip the graphics" moment, shared with 6 Across.
60. Long division?: EON. At least we got the "?" to tip us off that this one was not going to be straightforward. An EON is a long division of geologic time. Less formally, the term refers to a span of one billion years. Long Division is a mathematical process in which involves dividends, divisors, quotients, and remainders.
61. Mexican Mrs.: SRA. The abbreviation for SENORA, a married woman.
That completes our voyage through this virtual venue. Now it is time to vamoose, venture forth and face the vagaries and vicissitudes of life.
________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
MM OUT
47 comments:
I am blown away at the resourcefulness and energy of all of our newer bloggers. You all find links that are perfect, educational, and entertaining. Well done Joseph and all of you.
Jeff this was fun and went without any unknowns. January coming to an end and I am off to start my day.
Good morning!
This one went Tuesday-fast and Wite-Out-free. What's not to like? Thought of Lhasa before LaPaz, but waited for perps. They're both about 3650 meters above sea level. Thanx, Jeff and MalMan. (I enjoyed your "wrote learning method.")
"Blue Jeans" -- The uniform-of-the-day chez d-o, ranging in quality from dress to everyday to garage-cleaning.
"How do you do?" -- What a stupid expression! The only "proper" response is a reciprocal "How do you do?" Weird. We need to abolish it.
"Trodon" -- In Jurassic Park we learned of the Doyouthinkhesaurus.
What to do with all those V's- aaarrrggghhh!!!!!
Okay, plod along and fill where Jeff allows footholds: like ERATO,ORBIT,AWOL etc. Once I had VICTORY SIGN I knew what to look for.
MEDIUM Soda? Coffee yes,TSHIRT, yes. Ok, size. On coffee I'd guess it would be two cream, two sugar (ugh, I take my decaf with milk*)
My name is Sue, HOW DO YOU DO!!!
Now for the write-up.
The theory was the GEESE used the V formation for defense as did the US bombers.
My first guess was dolts. Splynter might have illustrated this.
If it was 1968 the TSHIRT might have said "Bucky bleep'n Dent**"
I second lemony. Well done MaloMan. And since the music links didn't connect I'll add one.
Beach boys version
Ok, Here's the Prunes
WC I'll leave Agony to someone like Anon-T
*It doesn't matter whether whole,?% or skim. I learned years ago that the milk was just for sweetener (and sweetener is for the cream- I'm just as happy with black)
**Bucky Dent hit a Mike Torres hanger for a Wall Ball three run Homer in the penultimate playoff game that year
Read/Read, Wind/Wind, Nice/Nice, etc. make crosswords fun.
Tan lines thru the years...how true.
This was a quicker than usual Thursday - all the Vs were straightforward. I remember learning about the efficency of migratory birds like geese using the V formation to save energy in Vertebrate Biology oh so long ago. Only the strongest can be in the front as they don't get any help. The others all rotate so everyone can benefit, sort of like a team in a long bicycle race. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_formation
Favorite clue today: Understated way to put it- for MILDLY
Thanks MM and Jeff for a fun way to start the day!
44A In answer to the question, why is one side of the geese flying formation always longer than the other? Because there are more geese in that side.
Victory was mine today in 6:44.
And easy VICTORY for a Thursday puzzle. Didn't really know the "Lost" setting but ISLE was an easy guess. NW to SE fill today with the unknown AGONY filled by perps.
Some V-NECK SHIRTS from women have a very deep V. It's the 'Age of Cleavage".
The Electric Prunes HAD too much to DREAM last night. But they probably had too much to "drink" to cause those dreams.
D-O, I was also thinking LHASA instead of LaPaz.
I too enjoyed the links. Very educational and entertaining.
It's "I had too much to DREAM last night".
Hola!
I, too, had a VICTORY with Jeff Stillman's pupzzle and enjoyed grokking the Vs. No wite-out needed.
And Lhasa was my first thought, too, but ARID blew it away.
STONEMASON brings to mind the book by Ken Follet, The Pillars of the Earth, which traces the origins of European cathedrals requiring the skill of many STONEMASONS.
My BASIL plant is barely making it through the winter cold.
I've NEVER HAD A BIGMAC.
MalMan, your style is growing on me. Thank you.
FIR, with one write-over: BOYS 4 TOYS. Pretty easy theme and puzzle in general. No complaints after getting my butt kicked by SB, NYT mini, and NYT xword.
Good Morning:
This was a very easy solve for a Thursday, mostly because the V’s were fairly easy to parse. That said, I went astray on Ova/Ova and Three/Deuce. Today, Jeff brought his O game: Eso, Macao, Ego, Zoo, So, Do, Retro, and Lilo. Speaking of Lilo, I thought Lilo and Stitch were animals, since I don’t read the comics.
Thanks, Jeff, for a fun Thursday treat and thanks, MalMan, for the outstanding expo. I can’t comment on the visuals or links because they didn’t show up. I’ll try again later. I agree 100 % with Lemony’s opening paragraph at 6:10.
Have a great day.
Thanks Jeff and MM. Is today Tuesday? I think this is the smoothest sail this week. Not to complain though - there was certainly a high VOLUME of fun. MM your restraint with 6A was admirable, but YMMV*. You made up for it though by going right up to the LINE with your graphic for 65A.
1A Like several others I wanted LHASA, but all good things come to those who wait for perps.
48A Dw and I were only only in MILAN for one night and bought tickets to LA SCALA from a scalper, only to suffer through a 3 hour concert of 12 tone serial music. But it was worth every minute to sit in the House that VERDI built.
50A MM I almost thought you were up to your old CAPERS with this one. MANUTIUS sounded to me suspiciously like a Latinate sea creature who lurks in these parts, but Aldus Manatius turns out to be a real person!
Gotta go. Next week beckons.
Bill
* Your Mammals May Vary
Ova/Ovi. Autocorrect strikes again.
V!, FIRight! Tho I did start with
Lhasa (elevation 11,995′) before
LA PAZ (elevation 11,942′).
Two miles, o'course, is 10,560′.
There is a MILD maid of MACAO,
With an abundance of BOOBS -- and how!
She has suitors galore,
And brothers, has four,
And all those boobs are afflicting her now!
He PORED over pics, night to morn
Coffee, to keep alert, he kept pourin'.
But a PROBE from his wife
Revealed something not right --
The pics he was porin' were porn!
{A, B+.}
Manatee: Wonderful write-up & 49 links, Good job.
Finally a proper clue at 52-a, "Diamonds slangily" so I could, for the first time in probably 5 years, enter the answer ... ICE.
Y'all know I never put ICE in my Sunset Toast's.
It is always, Scotch, Rum or Ouzo ... NEAT !!!
Looks like the Super Bowl is going to be played in 75 degree weather.
Go BUC's !!!
Cheers!
Very easy Thursday probably due to fairly obvious ling V clues.
ERATO should be our official CW muse, she can't seem to stay away. ESO, masculine gender (usually feminine, SRA). SETI was recently an outer space puzzle visitor so I 'member'd it. Liked EON for long division. Less crunchy than Monday's geological period.
How did HOWDOYOUDO ever become an introductory greeting? It makes no sense. MEDIUM soda? The size of the cup? Enjoyed a guided tour of the LASCALA in Milan years ago..
Ornithologist guestion. "When geese migrate why is one arm of the V longer that the other?"...ans. "More geese on that side".... ANON@ 7:55 am you beat me to it...lol
DEUCE..why is the ACE the highest not the lowest card in most games ♥️♠️♦️♣️
Great write-up Mal Man right-up there with the best. (I can't imagine those two: Jacob and Levi wearing blue jeans)
What Mr. Dumpty sat on....AWOL (how can you tell from the nursery rhyme that Humpty was an egg ? 🥚 "OVIhomo")
Cinematic Sherlock...BASIL
Large semi....BIGMAC
A fine lager or pilsner, good for what ____ you...ALES
Headed for an arctic weekend I hear
The backwards V sign is offensive in some countries.
"In certain Commonwealth countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, an outward-facing V sign is an obscene gesture equivalent to giving someone the middle finger. The gesture is often performed by flicking the V up from the wrist or elbow."
"...origin legend states that English archers believed that those who were captured by the French had their index and middle fingers cut off so that they could no longer operate their longbows, and that the V sign was used by uncaptured and victorious archers in a display of defiance against the French."
Link text
Good morning everyone.
What Lemonade said @ 0610. Well done.
Had to wait with 1a because perps didn't drop in. Finally thought of LA PAZ and it all came together. First theme fill was GEESE FORMATION. Last was CAESAR'S FIVE. Fun figuring it out. Got it all w/o mishap. FIR.
CAPER - We both love good CAPERS, the bigger, the better. Used a lot on fish dishes.
GEESE …… - - I disagree with the energy saving theory. My fluid mechanics background doesn't mesh with that as they are not behind each other in a 'V'. I feel it is more about staying away from each other's slip stream - in less turbulent air, and thus easier to fly. Somewhat analogous to air controllers referring to large powerful jets as 'heavy' and implicitly warning pilots of lighter craft to keep their distance.
Forming up on a line abreast also allows each bird full view on what's up ahead, rather than the view of the up-ahead bird's hind end.
Enjoy the day.
Musings
-Churchill’s secretary eventually convinced him to use the palm outward V SIGN as the palm inward sign meant “up yours”
-Direct TV satellites are in geosynchronous orbits which mean they are constantly over one point on the Earth and dishes can remain pointed to one particular part of the sky
-Ya gotta love this FAÇADE!
-SHUT DOWN/restart is the Occam’s Razor for computer problems
-395 royalty-free images of “angry woman with ROLLING PIN”
-There is no “small size” any more. Small is MEDIUM, MEDIUM is large and large is…
-SETI – In TED talks many astronomers say there is infinite life “out there” but this guy says we are alone
-Way to go, Joe!
Super entertaining write-up MalMan. I filled Lapaz immediately. Lhasa evokes Apso in my mind. Arf! Tried antic for 42D first, and ova before ovi. 27A was slow coming into focus but the light came on for a tada and woohoo Thursday FIR in average time, not nearly as our good buddy Anon though.
IM @9:02AM you might be thinking of "Milo and Otis".
MalMan ~ I was finally able to see all of your nifty graphics and links. Good job! Fav was the Caprese Salad which I make often. Yum!
Ray O @ 9:34 ~ Just heard our weather forecast. Friday night, -2, Saturday night, -3. Those are true temps, not the wind chill, which is supposed to be in the frost bite territory. Guess who isn’t going anywhere!
Bill @ 11:30 ~ You’re probably right! 🙊🤣
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Jeff and MalMan.
I FIRed in good time and got the V theme.
I had Fools before BOOBS,
Hand up for waiting for perps to decide Ova or OVI, Men’s or BOYS.
Having only TS to start 27A was a head scratcher until I saw the SHIRT.
Yes, that past tense of Read gave me the final D.
The unknown (to me)LILO perped.
Favourite today was the new clue for EON. (Least favourite was the random clue for MEDIUM.)
I knew that kind of ICE was OK for Tinbeni.
Wishing you all a good day.
Delightful Thursday puzzle, Jeff--many thanks. Unlike others, I needed help getting those V answers, but really enjoyed them once I saw MalMan's explanation. And I loved your picture of ETNA, MalMan. I never pictured it that way, and since the word comes up in crossword puzzles over and over, it'll give me a lovely visual image to evoke from now on.
Have a good day, everybody!
Lemonade @ 6:10, on behalf of Chris and waseeley and all of us noobs, thank you!
D.O. @ 7:00, as a child of Rocky and Bullwinkle pad puns run in m my blood.
W.C. @ 7:38 and I.M. @ 9:02, there are some issues with the different platforms (IOS, Android, Windows, etc.) not all behaving in the same way.
Anonymous @ 8:25, thanks. I am familiar with the lyrics.
Lucina @8:48, thanks. I am pleased to be an acquired taste.
waseeley @9:03, it was difficult to maintain restraint and I totally whiffed with Manutius.
To all others who made kind comments, thank you.
In the 1960's to earn a down payment for our first house I worked the 4:00 - 12:00 shift at a TV factory so daddy could be home to tend his sons. We made electron guns for CRTs. I formed the arms to which the very delicate heater coils were welded.
I love capers with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Capers are a condiment, not a dish in itself. Processed in brine and vinegar they are slightly salty and sour.
OKL I thought the second one was best.
Great job MalMan. Delightful.
Loved this CW! FIR in 20 minutes, which for me is good time for a Thursday. Two write-overs: TSHIRTNECKLINE:
TSHIRTNECKTYPE, and HALF:EVEN. Perps to the rescue. Very nice CW, thanx JS! I also loved your write-up MM. Funny thing: when I saw the movie Animal House and everybody in the theater was laughing, I was thinking. “What’s so funny? That was college, wasn’t it?” My fraternity could have been the model for Animal House! MM, thanx for telling me what JPEG stood for, I always wondered. I grinned at your “wrote learning” comment, and liked your tan lines by year illustration. It seems to me if they wanted to honor Aldus Manutius for his type style, they should have named it “aldus” not “italic”. Countdown: four (4) days until my first jab. After a month of trying finally connected and got an appointment.
Manatee shied away from posting an image but I offer this for those who felt disappointed.
A pair of Great Tits
LIke others, I found this to be a puzzle that filled in steadily. The V theme turned out to be helpful. Plus my three WOs were quickly fixed with perps: tOOlS/BOOBS and ELuCIT, a bad spelling choice. Otherwise a tidy looking grid and fun puzzle. Good word choices, Jeff. And another entertaining review, MalMan. Thanks!
I had to dash off to an appointment early this morning right after finishing the puzzle. My good feeling about it was confirmed after lunch by MalMan. FIR! A good start to the day. No AGONY.
Hi All!
FIW - had Napal [sic] instead of La Paz; NEVI could be a name and depending on who was in the LOO, it could be wild :-)
Thanks Jeff for the IV Vs theme; fun.
Great expo MM; I still have to go back and listen to Electric Prunes (don't want to do that during a meeting :-))
I too was looking for Alien TV show [trailer - 2:02] or some such re: Visitors.
V-less fill - Peace Symbol [11]; Roman Number [11] (clunky - should be numeral)
WO: I was thinking Pour or poor and put the R in waiting on the perp. Ooops, wrong pore and not skin. Wrong TENaT at 1st.
ESPs: nEVI, LOO (?), ESO,
Fav: Once parsed, I liked HOW DO YOU DO. I kept trying to put in HOWDy madam.
Inanehiker - I liked c/a re: Mildly too.
{A, B}
WC - I'll skip that opportunity to link Agony (I had to Google it and it's not my bag).
Gotta run; play later.
Cheers, -T
From yesterday....
Someone PLEASE delete the unneeded and incorrect VAX commentary by Shots for Seniors...what may be true in your damn neighborhood has ZERO to do with the rest of the country. But thanks for the judgement, we need more of that.
Today...
As a Yankee fan I must say, I’m not sure about 1968, but I loved Bucky’s 1978 homer over the Green wall.
I opened and worked at a new McDonalds in 1969, the big feature was the (new) separate Mac grill, just for the Big Mac.
And no issues with this Thursday grid.
Stay safe.
Hilarious write-up, thank you!
Gee, I'm suddenly feeling very self-conscious about my habit of saying HOW DO YOU DO -- and yeah, I guess it do say it, rather than ask it. In my church, during the sign of peace rite (which has been ditched for the duration) people tend to give the VICTORY SIGN...it took me years to realize they were giving the PEACE sign!
Thanks again for the fun time.
Kelly - no need to get self-conscious about it. Here's Jason Segel saying HOW DO YOU DO [@1:51 of 5:56] to RUSH. :-)
Cheers, -T
I liked this puzzle. A fun solve. Excellent exposition, MM. Hand up for LHASA before LAPAZ and OVA before OVI.
Cool pzl, Mr. Stillman!
Those long V fills were intimidating at first, but once they started to crack they came roaring into place--and made the rest of the grid easier to manage.
I am with Misty, MM, in appreciating your pic for Mt. ETNA. That's a very different view you offer.
Made me think of Mt. St. Helens--after she blew her top.
~ Hands up for EL PAZ before LA PAZ. (Who can suss gender these days?)
The only herb I grow is ROSEMAY.
Wouldn't fit. Had to settle for BASIL. (Gender again...)
~ OMK
____________
DR: Two diagonals, one on each side.
The front diag (NW to SE) offers a a 10-letter anagram for the military unit for which Pegasus, Tianma, Haizum , and Al-Buraq must provide the transportation.
Naturally, this is the famous...
"AIR CAVALRY"!
Jayce ~ Sorry. I meant to ATTACH your name to the front of my note (above @ 3:46) about LA PAZ, but I coded it wrong.
~ OMK
Hello, all! Thanks Jeff and MalMan!
FIR, in fairly decent time for me. I got most of it done early, early this morning, got some sleep, and then I finished it up after breakfast.
Since Quito starts with a Q, and LEADVILLE wouldn’t fit, LAPAZ it was. Starting with the DOWNS (as I usually do) gave me the first two theme fills; it took a little longer for the last two. Took the longest time to get CAESARSFIVE (last), because of a little mess I had made for myself in the SE corner. I think I was afraid of SRA, mixing it up in my mind with SRTA. Once I got it straightened out, everything else fell into place. Perps got LILO.
MEDIUM --- I don’t know THAT size for anything!
I was always a BIGMAC fan. Either Big Macs or Double Cheeseburgers were always my steady lunch diet on solo road trips. These days, however, it’s the Hot and Spicy McChicken sandwich (keep the lettuce, please). Of course, road trips are still a thing of the past.
Thanks for the links, MalMan and WC, for the LDC clips. It’s still one of my favorite songs. For the non-gearheads (and I’m not anywhere close to being one), here is the best explanation I’ve been able to find to the lyrics:
Little Deuce Coupe
Click on the shaded lyrics, and the meaning shows up to the right. There is some argument about the PINK SLIP lyric. Some peeps think it is BIG SLIP, referring to rear-axle slip-differential. My bad ears sometimes hear BIG SLICKS, as in slick racing tires, but then the car wouldn’t really be street legal. Seems to me a phone call to Mike Love (or maybe just getting a copy of the sheet music) would clear up the fuss.
My Main Man, Mr Kizzy (avatar) just woke up from his second afternoon nap in his sunbeam and jumped up here to proofread my comments. He said MEOW, MEOW to all of you.
Misty and OMK, I am glad that you liked the photo. Sicily is an extraordinary place through which to travel. The Geography is stunning yet relatively compact and comprehensible and, because the Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Jews, Germans and, seemingly everybody else, too, came through there at one time or another there are vestiges of many cultures to experience and appreciate.
Tonight’s full moon is called the WOLF moon. Should be bright and gorgeous in all the cold.
Nice puzzle. More later....I hope
Puzzling thoughts:
Late to the party
MM -> very fun and informative! Loved the YouTube videos and the TRODON
JS -> pretty easy for a Thursday but I really enjoyed the theme and great fill
Lemony -> thanks for the kind words regarding the new bloggers
LEOIII - MEOW MEOW back to Mr Kizzy.
Road trips? Filet o' fish for me at Mc'y D's; otherwise a stop in two hrs and no one likes to do do in public places (we all hate that) [Google Bloodhound Gang's SHUT Up at your own peril - Highly offensive but funny].
Old McDonald's spot.
Last note on that note: Lucina - you're not really missing much re: BIG MAC; more fixin's than... Clara Pelle [interview] will tell ya. :-)
YR - Paternal Grandma soldered batteries for the War. If you saw my link from the other night (this one) it was the females that had the dexterity (patience?) to do the fine/detailed work.
HG - I enjoyed the TED Talk. Thanks.
Nice DR OMK.
No one pointed and laughed at (with?) me at NaPAl - so, it's a good day :-)
Cheers, -T
PVC, Yeah, the heater coils were soldered instead of welded. Welding would have been a disaster,burning those tiny coils right up.
Anon-T:
Thank you for the McDonald's clip. In 1981 I did not watch much TV, only the news with Huntley and Brinkley and that was all. The longest time I recall watching TV was after the assassination of JFK and we were riveted all that weekend.
I've been thinking say...
Is Little DEUCE coupe the ride Brian Wilson* race'd against his girlfriend's T-Bird [Read former's lyrics closely in Leo's link] before daddy took it away after all the fun-fun-fun?
Cheers, -T
*I work with a developer named Brian Wilson (no relation and way too young) -- I have a real hard time not singing Beach Boys' lyrics in meetings when discussing SecDev w/ his team :-)
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