Nickelodean remake starring an emotionally unstable songbird and his dimwitted cat?
Wren and Stimpy
Hello Cornerites! It's Chairman Moe here recapping his second straight Bruce Haight Friday Crossword Puzzle. And this one was quite a doozy! While it didn't make me sick to my stomach, I did feel like a Wretch midway through ...
So, if you hadn't figured it out by now, Bruce looked at using a silent "W" in his four puzzle answers to offer a pun of a familiar phrase. Not an easy task, as there are precious few words that begin "WR" where the "R" word is an actual word. How do I know this? Well, as I began blogging I found this list of words beginning with wr where the w is silent. Not a lot of choices, and aside from MY punny addition, Bruce chose all of the others.
Well, maybe not ... I wonder if this one ever made the short list?
A Moe-ku:
Couple with COVID
Had to ink their vows. It was
The "Write" of Marriage
17-Across. Kitty Hawk?: WRIGHT PLACE. This one didn't strike for me immediately, although I did eventually think of the Wright Brothers. Kitty Hawk, NC was the PLACE where the brothers trialed their first airplane flight. Their Memorial there is shown below:
22-Across. Englishman Charles' ripped-up early essay attempts?: WRACK OF LAMB. Charles Lamb, aka "Elia" (a favorite crossword puzzle word) was not the first "Charles" to come to mind. Prince Charles wouldn't fit. So I "wracked" my brain trying to figure this one out, but how did Bruce know that the Chairman's most favorite meat dish is this:
38-Across. Good insurance risk?: WRECKLESS DRIVER. Very clever! I wonder if this was the "seed entry"? Regardless, it was by far MY favorite pun among the four.
47-Across. Pre-Christmas affair?: WRAP SESSION. The word "affair" threw me off. Dictionary dot com defines "Rap Session" as: a usually informal or unstructured group discussion, attended especially by people with shared interests, concerns, or problems. The pun is clever but I didn't think of how this made sense, given the clue. As far as a WRAP SESSION, I usually left the Christmas present "wrapping" to my kids or the wrapping department found at most major Department Stores . . . Maybe this couple were having a mini-wrap session. Love the sweaters!
And of course the unifier: 59-Across. Winning, in sports slang ... and what each of four puzzle answers is doing?: GETTING THE "W". And while this all makes sense NOW, my first impression of the W and R came from this erstwhile "hare hunter" (shown below), although his was replacing the R for a W, and that form of speech impediment is known as rhotacism.
On to the "Wrest" . . .
Across:
1. 3.0 and 4.0, briefly: GPAS. As in Grade Point AverageS. I think I finally graduated with a GPA slightly higher than 3.0, but not by much. Never an "A" student, I, but this song came to mind:
5. "The Fall" guy?: CAMUS. Perps filled this one for me. You? Never connected the clue to a book and its author.
10. AOL rival: MSN. I had this in, then erased it, and finally put it back in once the perps fell into place
13. James' evil golfing opponent, in a 1964 film: AURIC. I got this one straight away. And similar to the last Haight puzzle, GOLF is at the fore! AURIC Goldfinger was JAMES Bond's foil in the eponymous movie based on Ian Fleming's book. Here is a scene worth watching all the way through:
15. Up to one's neck: AWASH. Also, a 500 mile long river in Ethiopia . . . who knew? Picard maybe?
16. Subj. of a "delayed" notice: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival or ETA: the 6th letter of the Greek Alphabet
19. Monk's title: DOM. Here is MY favorite DOM:
Famed actor starred in
A musical, and was then
Billed, as Greg KEEN EAR
21. One with all the answers?: SIRI. She may have all the answers, but don't try getting too friendly with her. Just ask Raj on TBBT:
27. Tight gp.: BFFS. Texting talk; Best FriendS Forever (BFSF) might be more grammatically correct though
31. Some voting machine parts: LEVERS. LEVERS seem so old-fashioned re voting machines, and now that many folks are voting via snail mail maybe the lever shown below is the new "retro" LEVER . . .
32. Arcade plumber: MARIO. Pac Man reference
34. 2010s White House name: MALIA. Wait a darn minute! Didn't we see her yesterday? MALIA Ann Obama, born July 4, 1998. As waseeley said, she's of legal age now. Do we feel old or what?!
35. 1860s White House name: ABE. CLecho . . . and do you "get" why I emboldened the "CL"?
41. "Didn't I tell you?": SEE. Didn't I tell you?" It will be all right!! Sing it, sister!!
42. U.S. laundry soap since 1918: RINSO. DREFT also fit, but it wasn't introduced until 1933. PUREX, too, but that was in 1923. RINSO, OTOH, was the first mass-marketed laundry detergent, so this "fit the bill"
43. Mound stats: SAVES. Mariano Rivera - whose STATUE (see 44-across) is shown below - is the Major League Baseball pitcher who has the most total SAVES in a career, and was a first ballot unanimous inductee in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
According to mlb dot com, this is what constitutes getting a SAVE: A relief pitcher recording a save must preserve his team's lead while doing one of the following: Enter the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitch at least one inning. Enter the game with the tying run in the on-deck circle, at the plate or on the bases. Pitch at least three innings.
44. It might be a bust: STATUE. I hope I won't be censored here, but does this STATUE contain two busts? Or is it three?
46. Where Ford gets an F: NYSE. "F" is the New York Stock Exchange symbol for The Ford Motor Company
52. Forgets the lyrics, maybe: HUMS. And when my belly "HUMS", sometimes I take:
53. Evil laugh: MWA HA HA. Used twice, previously, in the LA Times Crossword Puzzles; May 7, 2018 and Aug. 16, 2014
58. "59-Down" need: AMP. Well, if you "got" 59-Down. Part of a band tour: GIG, then you could've gotten 58-Across. Mine took a few perps to fill
63. Bit of online mirth: LOL. More texting talk; Laugh(ing) Out Loud may be considered a bit of "mirth"
64. Bury: INURN. Literally, when a dead person's ashes (cremation) are placed IN an URN. When this vessel is placed into a burial plot (aka "crypt" or "mausoleum") it is INURNed
65. Gooey goody: S'MORE. Moe-L'ick. This is an archived one that I don't think I posted here before. It was a limerick "smack-down" in which I answered another's (Kirk Miller). Follow along . . . mine is the second one:
There's a marshmallow salesman named Mel
Who's successful. The way to excel
Is to use a technique
That is rather unique
For his job. You should learn the soft sell.
You know, Mel sells his treats, door-to-door;
Which of course, many people, abhor.
If they’re unwilling to budge,
He’ll add Graham crackers and fudge,
And of course, then they all want S'MORE.
66. Poetic conjunction: ERE. Crossword-ese
67. Shoot for the stars: GO BIG. Yesterday's Arizona Republic newspaper had a headline on the Nation's News page (AP article by Lisa Mascaro and Josh Boak) entitled: "Biden urges House to 'go big' on aid".
But when I first saw the answer, my thoughts were, "GO BIG, or go home!"
68. Corrosive chemicals: LYES. I'll tee this one up for Ray-O-Sunshine. Don't let me down, buddy!
Down:
1. Rubberneck: GAWK. What is it about driving past an accident that makes us all want to rubberneck/GAWK?
2. Sheer: PURE. There it is! First synonym listed!
3. R&B's India.__: ARIE. According to Wikipedia: India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), also known as India. Arie (sometimes styled as india.arie), is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over 3.3 million records in the US and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 23 nominations, including Best Rhythm and Blues Album.
4. Take the offer: SIGN. "Get them to SIGN on the line which is dotted . . . . . "
5. Three-time Best Director of the 1930s: CAPRA. Frank Russell CAPRA was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who was best known for these two films (for which he won an Oscar) in the 1930's (It Happened One Night (1934), and You Can't Take It with You (1938)); he was also the Director for "It's a Wonderful Life" which has become a classic film shown during the Christmas Holidays
6. Spiked punch?: AWL. Cartoonist Leo Cullum had this "punny" version of the word "AWL". See below:
7. Kid's cry: MAA. But I am sure that some of you parents, when your kid cried "MAA", knew it was DAD's turn to find out what was wrong . . .
8. Neil Armstrong alma mater: USC. Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) from Wapakoneta, OH, earned is BS from Purdue University and his MS from the University of Southern California; who's iconic marching band tune played often at their football games. "Fight On"!
9. __-crab soup: SHE. SHE-Crab Soup, also called She Crab Bisque, is made with female crabs. Makes sense. In addition, the roe of the female crab is added to the recipe. Unless you live in an area where crabs are regularly harvested, you will probably have a more difficult time finding “female” crabs. Click on this link for the recipe
10. Smart regarding marketing: MEDIA SAVVY. Defined as having a good understanding of the influence of the internet, newspapers, television, etc. and how to use it effectively. These people are media-savvy and they are not going to say anything on camera that makes them look stupid.
The Blog's "no politics" rule kept me from saying more!
11. Picnic spoiler: STORM. Well, ANTS didn't fit!
12. Desert along Africa's southwest coast: NAMIB. In Namibia. One picture = lot of Moe's words:
14. Mull (over): CHEW. Thesaurus +
18. Sailing moniker: TAR. CSO to Spitzboov?
21. Shooting option, briefly: SLR. Single Lens Reflex. This explains it better than can I
23. School meetings: CLASSES. I couldn't get anything with the letters "PTA" to fit. I guess in the broadest sense of the clue, school meetings could mean CLASSES. Does this clue make it fit just for a Friday puzzle?
24. "That '70s Show" role: KELSO. Ashton Kutcher as Michael KELSO was the dumb pretty boy of the group, who hopes to coast through life on his good looks. The show ran from 1998 to 2006 on Fox Network. I never watched it. Kutcher later starred in Two and a Half Men after Charlie Sheen was written out of the show
25. The "Tristia" poet: OVID. Publius Ovidius Naso known as OVID in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. One of his works was "The Metamorphoses"
26. Quake causes: FEARS. I didn't quite get this clue and answer, but I found this clip on The Weather Channel
27. Autobahn autos: BMWS. The BMW - short for Bavarian Motor Works - is one of several German Autos that can be found driving on the Autobahn. I put in AUDI first, as I drove that brand for over 17 years, and actually drove my A5 on several Autobahns, as I took the "European Delivery Option" when I bought it
28. One may be taken for a ride: FARE. Clever clue! Taxicab drivers still accept a FARE from passengers, while Uber and Lyft drivers get their $ after the passenger's "FARE" is collected by the APP. Tips are optional ...
29. Shopper's lure: FREE SAMPLE. Another great clue and fill. FREE SAMPLE? Of course! But you'll not find one at this merchant now that we are in a pandemic . . . at least not here in Arizona . . .
30. Quote qualifier: SIC. SIC is a Latin term meaning “thus.” It is used to indicate that something incorrectly written is intentionally being left as it was in the original, thus the quote qualifier. SIC is usually italicized and always surrounded by brackets to indicate that it was not part of the original. Place [sic] right after the errer [sic]
33. Gumbo pods: OKRAS. I would've bet that the plural for OKRA was OKRA (as in Deer/Deer). Word Hippo agrees, sort of, but OKRAS is/are acceptable
34. Screen lists: MENUS. Simply stated, MENUS are a set of options presented to the user of a computer application to help the user find information or execute a program function.
For my appetizer, I will have "File"/Save As
For my main course I will have "Edit"/Undo
And for dessert, "Help"/About
36. Fliers with combs: BEES. Ouch! This one hurt! If it weren't for the perps, this might have stayed in its hive. Not even sure what I considered at first . . . but this flier might need a comb (Note: Meant ONLY in good humor and spirits!)
37. Source of "clan" and "slogan": ERSE. Word origins. Clan and slogan are words that originate from Gaelic (also known as "ERSE"). All words come from somewhere, no? ERSE is also a very popular crossword answer. We probably had it earlier this week ...
39. Miller option: LITE. OK, I will admit to being a "beer snob" as I find most all LITE beers, including Miller's, to be quite watery and unappealing. But clearly I am in the minority as Miller's iconic brand sells somewhere north of 100 million cases annually
40. Evan : Welsh :: __ : Scottish: IAN. AKA, "John". Here are other names for John
45. Pranks, in a way, informally: TP'S. This one is a stretch for me, but back on June 6, 2018, the LA Times allowed it with this clue: "Pulls a Charmin shenanigan, briefly". I posted a cartoon before, regarding this. Check 46-Across
47. More than a high roller, in casino lingo: WHALE. One of two words that C Moe had to look up in order to solve the puzzle. The other was NAMIB. Interesting that the two words I "missed" were in the exact opposite corner location from each other. Critical corners though, as the other words in those corners didn't fall for me straight away.
I've been to many casinos in my lifetime but can't honestly say I've heard the term "WHALE" before. But then, I usually played Blackjack at a $5 or $10 table ... I was a minnow! Click on this link to read 5 crazy tales of Las Vegas WHALEs
48. Buzz: RUMOR.
49. Cyberchatting: I'MING. Abbr. for Instant MessagING
50. Have mastery over: OWN. Would our cat owners here agree?
51. Badgers: NAGS.
Think of an upper midwest team in the NCAA . . .
Moe-ku:
Madison athletes
Who are pesterers are called
The Wisconsin NAGS
54. Webmaster's code: HTML. HyperText Markup Language. Our blog is done this way. Had HTTP yesterday
55. Call from a bridge: AHOY. Spitz, do you have any knowledge of this; its origin perhaps? Was the phrase actually used aboard ship?
56. "__ goes!": HERE. Possibly the phrase I uttered when posting my first blog
57. Floors: AWES. Another Friday clue, perhaps. "Stuns" is a word I would use to describe AWES, but "floors" is perfectly acceptable. "To cause an unpleasant surprise for"
60. "The Realistic Joneses" playwright Will: ENO. Will ENO is an American playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. His play, Thom Pain was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. Total unknown to me
61. Slow boat: TUB. Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a . . .
62. TNT component?: TRI. TRI Nitro Toluene. Invented by Alfred Nobel of the Nobel Peace Prize fame. Go figure!
And with that, POOF! We're done! Here is the grid. I highlighted the "W's"; "AWL" seven of them. Did anyone else "get the Win?" Please add any thoughts and comments below . . .
C-Moe (and yes, this emoji is pretty accurate . . .)
52 comments:
A typical Friday toughie of which the first five minutes I spent “wracking” my brain about whether I could finish this or not, but I managed to slog through in 30:16 with no help. Thought I was done in 28:00 but nooo, had to look over the grid twice to find my mistake(s), which turne out to be “rightplace” and not “wrightplane”, and I originally thought Neil Armstrong must have gone to OSU, and I never heard of USN. Anyway, thanks for the challenge Bruce, enjoyed it!
Good morning!
Keeping Gape/GAWK and fra/DOM for far too long pushed this one into overtime. Don't remember ever hearing the expression "KEEN EAR." Finally got things wrighted and Got THE W. Whew! Thanx for the toughie, Bruce, and for the excellent expo, C-Moe. (Learning moment: ERSE and Gaelic are the same thing. Who gnu?)
RINSO: Always thought "Blue" was part of the product name.
STORM: Because ANTS was too short and SHOWER was too long.
BMW: Mine is a year-and-a-half old and just recently passed 5K miles. It's making a major excursion (50 miles round-trip) this morning to get my second Covid jab.
So, a FIW today, with one Wrotten square. Did not know NAMIB and left SIRe for SIRI. Maybe if I had slowly and patiently done an alphabet run there.... However, I had such a struggle in that corner it looked like I would have four bad squares for a while so I will be happy to have this result. It was a slow process filling in so much white space but I saw the theme in the middle and it was a big help with the other themers. Thanks Bruce for the Friday challenge and thanks C Moe for the rich review. I'll be returning to read more links throughout the day. C Moe, my take on Quake causes was FEARS might make you "quake in your boots."
Well, off to the rest of the day. Look forward to reading more comments as they come in. Have a good start to the weekend!
A clever theme and answers, but that’s all I liked about this puzzle. Usually enjoy Bruce’s work, but this had way too many proper nouns and Naticks for my liking.
I knew 17A would be WRIGHT but not knowing CAMUS, CAPRA, or USC slowed me down for a minute. KELSO was another unknown filled by perps. I wanted GAPE before GAWK.
But really Bruce, MWAHAHA crossing IMING (are those real words?) crossing INURN.
Voting machine LEVERS- been a long time since I used a mechanical one.
RINSO & DREFT - aren't those the ones that put a towel or a glass in the large boxes of soap? Nope, it was DUZ detergent and that "DUZ" it for me today.
Thanks Chairman Moe! Wren and Stimpy - Love it!
This could play as pretty difficult, even for a Friday, but we never promised you a wrose garden. Good luck!
FIR, with good help from the theme. Proper name hell today, but I wriggled through. USC was my favorite football team when I was a kid growing up in the Bay Area and attending all Stanford home games as a Cub Scout. I liked the fight song.
I grasped the theme pretty quickly. The last section to fall was the NE because I had put in WRIGHT PLANE as my initial fill and, therefore, USN for the alma mater. I knew that it is USNA and PLANE just did not feel correct. Being in SoCal, changing USN to USC was an early guess at what might work....and it did.
Speaking of Plane, it was nice to see an "Airplane" clip even if it took quite a creative leap to tie it to the clue/answer (Fliers ?). Don't know much about the Garfunkel/Taylor version of Sam Cooke's song but it is a very good "cover". Seeing the sample table reminded me of many a tasty, multi-course lunch. Next year at COSTCO!
Chairman Moe: Outstanding, informative write-up & links. Good job !!!
Especially enjoyed the AWL cartoon.
Well I am living in a area that has gone NUT'S over the Super Bowl.
I am expecting a Tampa Bay Buc's victory.
I've even increased my "Betting Limit" if I can find a Kansas City Chief fan
who wants to make a BET.
I'm willing to go a whole $ 2 dollars ... Win-or-Lose ... no "Point Spread."
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
Good Morning:
My feeling about today’s offering is exactly the same as jfromvt @ 8:09. I would also add that some of the cluing was obtuse, even for a Friday. The best part of the solve was the evocation of my slightly tipsy husband, in a very posh restaurant, ordering a Lack of Ram. My w/os were Sell/Sign, Fra/Dom, Inter/Inurn, and Tug/Tub. Auric, Eno, Whale, Kelso, and Namib were unknowns.
Thanks, Bruce, for a Friday challenge and thanks, Moe, for your bright and cheerful expo, filled with fun links and visuals. I especially enjoyed seeing the young and handsome Sean Connery and, also, Alec Baldwin, before his descent into frequent fits of questionable behavior.
Have a great day.
First pass through I was staring at a puzzle as white as my snow covered yard. But FIW (MalMan fixed this) One letter mistake WRIGHTPLAnE crossed with USn. Figured it should actually be USNA(cademy). Thought a lot of astronauts were NAVY. Otherwise not a bad Friday challenge. Got the theme but "GETTING THE W" is a new one on me. First time ants didn't ruin a crossword picnic. NAMIB desert STORM.
Kitty Hawk...something a mother cat has to look out for. "The Fall guy"?: Adam wouldn't work, perpwalked CAMUS. RINSO was a WAG, doubted a name like Cheer would have been used for laundry soap in 1918. FEAR causes one to quake (tremble) good misdirection.
WRECKLESSDRIVER is almost a
contronym. Learned what a WHALE is. Actually recalled AURIC from an earlier puzzle as India ARIE was unknown.
CAPRA (It. for goat) crossed with LAMB. Inkovers:
mare/FARE, tug/TUB, inter/INURN (put in an urn not bury)...Fra/Dom (like DO) . I would argue for BWAHAHA.(is there regionalism to evil laughs?) .
MWAH is the sloppy kiss
Unisex restrooms: both women and ____ MENUS.
Boarding house denizens..... RUMORS.
Sorry Moe though I LYE awake all night, I cannot tell a LYE, can't come up anything 🤔 Just let it LYE.
LEVERS: Call me a luddite (yer a luddite) but I preferred the old voting machines, total privacy (pay no attention to the voter behind the curtain) and LEVERS allowed changes/error corrections with a flip 'o the wrist. Then yanking that huge LEVER with a clunk to cast the ballot and step back into the light with a real sense of accomplishment. 😊
Good morning everyone.
A slog like WC said FLN. Lots of good stuff. Some --'A Bridge Too Far'. Ended up with lots of good guesses, but ended with two red cells @ GO BIG. I did GET all THE W's., and sussing them was fun. Liked the long downs, FREE SAMPLE and MEDIA SAVVY. Liked getting AURIC, NAMIB, and WHALE (with 47d clue). Had 'fluSH' before AWASH, and 'Sell' before SIGN. Lots of great and creative cluing.
C-Moe re: AHOY - We have that a lot. I don't remember specific instances, but I'm sure it was used for boat hailing, etc. If I heard 'avast', I'm sure AHOY was used. Other languages seem to use it, too.
Musings
-Just like my old ’55 Chevy – Hard to start in cold weather but well worth it!
-I pulled camuS from somewhere and so it must be She Crab
-They’re proud of him here too!
-The Buffalo Bills have been to four Super Bowls but never have gotten a W
-TAD was another Lincoln in the 1860’s White House
-GAWKERS line the bridge south of town when the Platte River floods
-MEDIA SAVVY – Take one pig and one tube of lipstick and apply generously
-CLASSES, I taught full-time for 42 years and averaged 7/day (42 x 180 x 7 = 52,920). Add 1,200 for subbing
-We call getting free samples at Costco grazing
-Does Lily OWN us? I’ve never seen documentation but…
-Tin, I’ll take that bet! $2 straight up on KC.
C-Moe, your review was simply over the top. Especially liked the awl comic. Slow to get a toehold anywhere for a while til filling wrecklessdriver then the race was on. Well, maybe not a race but a fast walk. Like others, I had Fra before Dom, inter before inurn, and USN before USC. Had to look at mwahaha long and hard before letting it go and deciding it fit. Camus was the last to fall for a well-earned FIR.
My favorite answer: MWAHAHA! Original. Loved it!
I had wrightplaNe and usN instead of of plaCe and usC. Oh well.
Also, I had LASERS instead of LEVERS at first for voting machines. Hey, get with the modern age! Are those old lever-based machines still used anywhere?
I'm posting early (for me) because I TITT (has nothing to do with 44A - see below). Thank you Bruce for a real learning experience, including several things I kneW, but had forgotten. And to MOE for an exceptionally informative and groWn-Worthy experience. I count my lucky stars that I didn't draW today's puzzle yesterday! Fav answer was WRECKLESS DRIVER. Fav review link was the one for WHALES. I'm more of an AMOEBA myself. Last time I was in Vegas (at an EXPO) I bleW a Whole half a saWbuck on nickel slots, Won it all back on the last draW of the LEVER and left neat piles of nickels as (part of) my tip for the maid.
I was able to perp most of the clues, but went astray up north: Waffled my Way through 1A with AVGS, GRDS, and finally GPAS. Put in CAPRA and AWASH, but took them both out when I forgot CAMUS (and here we are in the middle of a PLAGUE), thinking the "The Fall" referred to a serial murderer mystery series of the same name (the first couple of episodes made dW and I QUAKE WITH FEAR and We had to stop Watching it). I was finally driven to LIU, only to find that none of the characters names, save one fit: BURNS, but then couldn't think of another 5 character director from the 30s beginning with B. I'm from Chesapeake Bay country and I'd never heard of "SHE-crab" soup. The final insult was that I have an AWL on my Swiss Army Knife, but was too enebriated by the "punch" to remember it. That's when I "ThreW In The ToWel" and came here seeking solace. I feel much better now!
Cheers,
Bill
Hola!
Oh, Bruce, what a bruising you caused with this W-ridden puzzle!
In fact, I'm almost out of wite-out as a result of this solve. Yes, I, too, WRACKED my brain for about two hours as it took a long while to even start. Finally the NE gave up its secrets with MSN, ETA and DOM. I considered FRA but discarded it before writing it. MEDIA SAVVY quickly emerged and started me on LAMB but it took much longer to finish the phrase.
The cluing was almost too clever but once I found Bruce's wave length I was off to the W. WRAP SESSION was my favorite.
In Jeopardy I imagine James Holzhauer is considered a WHALE since he earned millions.
RINSO! Talk about a blast from the past! Though I'm now familiar with BFFS, I really don't like IMING. MWAHAHA reminds me of Cloris Leachman in Young Frankenstein.
Luckily CAMUS was part of my curriculum and I knew him as "The Fall" guy.
Thank you, Chairman Moe. I enjoyed your moe-kus as well as your chatty review.
Only recently I saw part of Thunderball with a young and lithe Sean Connery but I don't recall AURIC in it.
Enjoy your day, everyone! It's mani-pedi day for me.
AURIC was in Goldfinger - - played by Gert Frobe.
I was hoping someone else knew that Neil was a boilermaker.
Chairman Moe Thank you for the shout out regarding the geographical AWASH. Learning moment for me, too!
Wow. This was really hard. And some crossed Naticks for me. Thought "The Fall" had to do with the fall from Eden. SERPENT did not fit but SNAKE did. And that might give KSU for Kent State University. Hand up OSU seemed likely, too for this Ohio hero. Never heard of DOM so cross of that and NAMIB was a WAG to FIR. Learning moments.
I did not know that RINSO still exists. I only knew it from the opening lines of the song "I'm Black/Ain't Got No" from the musical "Hair". Is anyone else familiar with this song?
Listen for "I'm RINSO White" in the opening lines of this song.
The WRIGHT PLACE is actually Kill Devil Hills which is near KITTY HAWK.
Here are some family photos including some of my mother and me at the real WRIGHT PLACE.
I have shared this set of North Carolina photos before.
From Yesterday:
WA Seeley, Lucina, AnonT, Jayce Thank you for the very kind words about my SURFING and TOADs laying EGGS photos. Somewhere I think I have photos of the actual TOAD EGGS, too.
WA Seeley Thank you for asking about the Silver Spring location of the TOAD sex. It is a swampy area behind the Kemp Mill Shopping Center. It is along Sligo Creek.
This seems to be the spot where I took the photos, or very close to the spot.
Have you ever heard of Sligo Creek? The creek continues for many miles and I once rode my bike the entire length of the parkway.
Hi Y'all! Bruce, groan. Are you sitting there going MWAHAHA for WRACKing so many of us? I filled er but didn't consider it GETTING A W.
Moe, thanks for cheering us up.
got MARIO MALIA ABE just as I was deciding to throw in the towel.
WRECKLESS DRIVER gave me the theme but I struggled with the others.
I thought Armstrong went to a military academy.
Now I need a nap.
Friday toughie for me, but still enjoyable--many thanks, Bruce. And I love your pictures, Chairman Moe, along with your Moe-kus.
Nice to see CAMUS in a puzzle, and fun to see MALIA again. She must be delighted to become a puzzle favorite. I couldn't believe it was DOM, and not FRA, for that Monk's title. Don't think I've ever seen OKRA on a MENU.
Have a great day, everybody.
I’m totally with jfromvt and Irish Miss.
I thought 7D referred to baby goats, and 26D referred to being scared, “one quakes in his shoes”.
Stay safe.
Yes WC, you were correct; I am still slogging through this CW.
I haven’t read the blog at all but wanted to say that
This Canadian is saddened to hear. of the death of Christopher Plummer
RIP
Hand up for USn/PLAnE, and fra for DOM
BMW actually stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, a coincidence that the English translation still works.
Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and gelignite, as safer-to-handle nitroglycerin, but not TNT
Hi All!
Two BAAd letters. Baa for WAA and NArIB(?). DOM never occurred to me (nearly went with DOc). FIW and the L(oss).
Thanks Bruce for the puzzle - enjoyed all but the NW ... that was a slog but most of it came out in the WASH.
Fun & informative expo C. Moe! Thanks for explaining AURIC (R was a total WAG). BTW, FEARS make you Quake in your boots (Hi PVX!).
Oh, and it's Donkey Kong MARIO first appeared in; Pac Man is right out :-)
WOs: stEW->CHEW, heR->TAR, bWAHAHA, oRE->ERE.
ESPs: ARIE, CAmUS, DOm, ENO, SHE-crab(?!?)
Fun c/as: AWL, FEARS, HUMS, MENUS
Fav: c/a STATUE
In hacking, WHALing is phishing the C-Suite (CEO, CFO, COO, etc); i.e. going after the big fish.
The Fall Guy was not The Six Million Dollar Man (Lee Majors).
Dr. John was in the RIGHT PLACE [5:07] but it was the WRong time.
Tin - Mattress Mack, as he's locally known, is letting folks get their (purchased before the game) furniture FREE if the Bucs win Sunday. His hedge? A $3.46MM Vegas bet on Tampa to cover the spread.
Y'all have a great afternoon!
Cheers, -T
Picard @11:47 AM I used to work in the Medstar Health data center in Cherry Hill and would pass over Sligo Creek every time I'd visit the Washington Hospital Center, our main campus near Catholic U. Great pics of Kitty Hawk!
Misty @12:01 PM I tried FRA, but then remembered DOM=Deo Optimo Maximo (Latin for "God infinitely good, infinitely great"). Used principally by the Benedictine Order.
Uh, Waseeley @ 2:46:
I always thought 'dom' was short for 'dominus', and Mirriam-Webster allows that as one meaning:
"Honorific title
Latin dominus master"
(Not to mention this one: "The Document Object Model (DOM) is a programming interface for HTML and XML documents.")
Michael - isn't the DOM more a SCHEMA than an interface? :-)
Picard - I later got around to your Kitty Hawk pix; love the 'cat eye' glasses and clothes colors of the '50s. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, -T
Puzzling thoughts:
Bruce Haight, thanks for stopping by this morning! Glad you enjoyed my wrhetoric
No guesses about why I emboldened the letters “CL” in clecho? I’ll give you a hint: 2010 White House Name/ 1860 White House Name. Look at what’s different ...
-T - my kids were into Mario and Donkey Kong. I pre-dated that!! But thanks for the correction
Enjoy the weekend ...
C Moe
C.Moe - CLue echo. But Olio clicking Cornerites know that :-)
History of MARIO and his brother Luigi. As an Italian-American, I'm not sure how I feel about WWII's axis' partner portrayal of us :-) #PudgyPlumber
Cheers, -T
Moe! D'oh! and the penny just dropped -- Roman Numerals. Very cute. -T
I managed to wag NAMID/DOM for FIR. Is DOM short for Dominican? Is that the "Monk"? I thought of DETective Monk.
Spelling EAR as air held me up. Xword was definitely CHEWy. Kid made me think of a goat's BAA. Once I had the perps I remembered CAMUS. INter/URN,Tee/TRI.
Lots of V8's: SMORE,LITE,BEES. SAVES took 3 perps I'm embarrassed to say. I actually knew CAPRA, a big help. And AURIC too after I grok'ed James. I binge watched 70s but KELSO still need the K. That was a show that went on and on. My recall is kaput these days.
We fortunately had IMING , BFFS And MALIA. I too own a BMW but naturally looked for Opel or Audi.
Having an Android, C-Moe's links never showed up. Maybe post a list of the URLs.
Tin, my nephew got in on a futures bet on TB at 55-1. I'll bet he threw a cnote on the Bucs. He'll insure it with a grand on KC.
Gary, I thought of Tad, too. So, was Neil a Boilermaker or a Trojan?
Picard I liked those NC photos from your 'ute.
-T, how about Mario Bros*? Btw, did you ever see the movie? Great flick with the Cooper's on the elevator with Lara's theme playing.
(1.50 mark). CL=150(years diff bet ABE and MALIA) N'est-ce pas? I just caught the "Doh"
So, why is DOM "Monk"?
WC
*LIU gave me early history. Phil was born in '89 and started playing in 93-94. He tried to teach me Mariocart when he was five, despairing at my primitive brain(he was trying to teach me how to think)
Michael @3:19 PM
"DOM" comes from the Motto of the Benedictine order and is included on the label of the eponymous liqueur. See Benedictine Heritage (of the liqueur that is). Scroll down to the bottle of Benedictine. It's on the label. Hmmm. 54A is HTML. Could this be a masterful piece of indirection by Bruce, who DOMinated a lot of us today. :-)
Speaking of thinking.... Bad news. Saturday is a slog, too. 1/2 not bad but lots of pop-cul and Arcane clueing.
Good news. If Wilbur can FIR y'all can too. I had started, got busy then had two Arnold Palmers at lunch and rushed back to finish while caffeine was still in the brain.
I'll stop there, the temptation is too much.
WC
Well, I got most of Mr. Haight's opus.
I missed SMORES.
I was going for, but never reached, some kind of trail mix thing, starting SPOR_.
SPORG SPORQ? Who knew?
Something that fiendishly healthy hikers eat.
Lessee. I also missed CAMUS. Gave up at CA_US, of all things! Shoulda had it. But...
The very first fill I had was MARIO. And I never even played that game.
And I got ALL the long fills, the "WR" ones.
So when it comes to GETTING THE W, count me in!
Excellent exposition today, Chairman M!
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal only, on the distaff side.
There are only two vowels among the fifteen letters, so the anagrams are severely limited.
If I allow myself to recycle the 15 letters, doubling them one time, I can interpret the secret message as a preference for cowboy hats, a...
"FONDNESS (for) STETSONS"!
I take it back. Just two but side by side
DNF by choice.This whole thing was a dreadful slog.The fill felt like loads of antiquated names and ARCANA.This puzzle was just completely not on my wavelength. MWA HA HA? Really.That’s just ridiculous.Question-mark clues,felt like there were too many of them.No idea of theme. I usually like a B.H. puzzle but mot this one.
I did not mean to imply that AURIC was in Thunderball just considered it a coincidence that I had watched a James Bond movie which I haven't done since watching with my late DH.
R.I.P.
Christopher Plummer. I heard it at the salon while having my nails done.
Some of you are much too clever (I'm looking at you, WC). Roman numerals!
Puzzling thoughts II:
Ding Ding Ding!! Winner winner, chicken dinner!! Yup, the CL in Clecho was the 150 years between ABE and MALIA. And that's how MY brain works! ;^)
On a personal note, I and Mark McClain have a collaborative puzzle set for April in the Universal Crosswords venue ... hoping one of these days to put one here for all of you to critique!
With regard to the missing links . . . TTP, what say you? Did I make an HTML errer [sic]?
Lucina and others ...
AURIC of course is the reference to the symbol for gold on the Periodic Table of Elements - AU - and while I don't recall his first name being used in the film it somehow registered with me right away
WHALE and NAMIB were my LIU's ... even though I had a "cheat sheet" . . .
Ol' Man Keith:
I am AWEd by how often you can get an anagram with the diagonals. Very clever. And thanks for the kind words . . . glad you enjoyed, along with all of the other posters here.
CM
I was solving this puzzle on the community computer, having fun but going slowly. When I hit a wrong key it disappeared and so did I. I am not familiar with that machine.
Arm chair travel:
Here is a Dutch Babe delivering Diesel bunkers to a houseboat/barge in Amsterdam Harbor. Tamira IJpma, bunkerschipper. Her name is Tamira IJpma and seems to be a one-person crew on a small refueling vessel. Near the end she takes time out to feed the swans in the harbor.
Dear Spitz:
I've heard of heilsgeschipper and bullsgeschipper before, but bunkerschipper is a new one. It's like what I used to do long ago, but she's lucky: doesn't have to check the oil or tires, or clean the windshield.
Today was definitely a WROUGH day at the Corner. Looked at it for a couple of minutes when I woke up this morning and saw that I didn’t have a chance, which didn’t help my blood pressure reading any. (I keep telling Myself NOT to look at the puzzle until after I’ve done my blood pressure, but Myself doesn’t listen).
After staring at the puzzle for a long, long time when I got to work, I concluded that it was way above my paygrade, so I decided to just look at the four theme answers, so that I could at least work the rest of puzzle. Luckily, I only had to read down to WRIGHTPLACE in Chairman Moe’s excellent expo, before I got the message, and I was able to suss the others. Still had a couple of errors (NACIM and BWAHAHA). I also didn’t know CAMUS, so I had WAA, instead MAA.
For all of my talking (complaining) about the Vast Wasteland, I DO KNOW “That ‘70’s Show.” I didn’t watch it when it was originally on TV, but it was repeated on one of the movie channels for a long time, so I have seen most of the episodes. Since I am now in love with Laura Prepon, I wrote DONNA before KELSO, but RINSO (I remember the ads) wouldn’t fit. Yeah, it was a silly show, but….
*Last year, I had a long phone conversation with guy in Kill Devil Hills who had called to buy a raffle ticket from us. It’s on my bucket list.
*I’ve heard KEEN EAR, but I can’t remember where or in what context.
*My sister’s living in Vegas for 20+ years gave me WHALE.
*Of course, I knew AURIC! Moe, I THINK his first name might have been mentioned a couple of times at the beginning of the movie. NOW I’m going to have to watch it again!
*MARIO Brothers was about the only Nintendo game I played, back in the day.
*I agree about QUAKE in your boots.
Picard and others: I’m a few days behind in looking at the various links. I’ll get there.
NOW the Saturday puzzle is out on the LAT website! Kizzy said to print it out, so that he can start working on it!
Of course, HE just woke up from his latest nap!
NAMIBIA was mentioned on Jeopardy a few weeks ago and for some reason it stayed in my mind. Most things about Africa fascinate me, especially its vastness and diversity of everything from geography to animals and their habitat to the many people there. I've read about Ethiopia, South Africa, the Congo, the Sahara, Egypt, etc., etc., etc. They are all so different from each other. I've had students mostly from Sudan and two from Ethiopia. They are warm and very nice people. Many priests from Nigeria come here as missionaries. I've known three.
5 across was also responsible for one of the all-time greats who wrote a very timely song 40 years ago. recommended if you don’t like singing: https://youtu.be/LhuUz0hqTtc
I think Kid's cry: MAA is referring to the sound made by a baby goat (a kid).
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