google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday February 18, 2021 David Alfred Bywaters

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Feb 18, 2021

Thursday February 18, 2021 David Alfred Bywaters

 

Today we welcome back David Alfred Bywaters, for a tour around his KITCHEN. It's filled with simple things, nothing you wouldn't find in the Victorian Era (a love of David's):

The themers in this puzzle are MATCHING bookends consisting of things you might discover there, each pair bracketing one of the four long answers.  The reveal is a thing needed by anyone with an old-fashioned GAS STOVE (unless you have one with a fancy electric starter, like Dw's grill):

55. Pilot lighter, and a hint to the four other longest puzzle answers: KITCHEN MATCH
Shown are boxes of SAFETY MATCHES, which can only be lit by striking on the box, as opposed to PHOSPHORUS-TIPPED STRIKE ANYWHERE MATCHESThe latter are considered a FIRE HAZARD.


Here are the utensils and such:

20. "Even dialogue wouldn't have saved that show," e.g.?: PANTOMIME PAN.  [Ouch!]

29. Alpo holder?: CANINE CAN.  Well, a toy CHIHUAHUA maybe.

36. Misleading gossip?: DISHONEST DISH.  Is there such a phrase as LEADING GOSSIP?

44. Face of a petty criminal?: MUGGER MUG The term MUG SHOT is thought to derive originally from MUGG, a Scandinavian word for a drinking vessel. In the 18th and 19th centuries, mugs produced in Staffordshire, England were often decorated with caricatures on the face of ceramic jugs. This may have led to the use of "mug" as a synonym for an ugly face.  Here is a typical 19th Century MUG, alias a TOBY JUG.  Looks SUSPICIOUS doesn't he?


But wait, there's more ...

Across:

1. "I __ out!": WANT.

5. Slavic title derived from "Caesar": CZAR.  The Russian version is TSAR. The first one was really TERRIBLE.  In the US the term is often used to denote "a person appointed by the government to advise on and coordinate policy in a particular area", e.g. "America's new drug czar".

9. President born in Hawaii: OBAMA.

14. Wrath, in a hymn title: IRAE.  The hymn is from the Requiem Mass. This is GIUSEPPE VERDI's setting, sometimes called his greatest OPERA.   Like Rock and Roll it's "MEANT TO BE PLAYED REAL LOUD", but you'd better turn DOWN volume the first time - it gets pretty IRATE.  Expand the screen if you want read the hymn translation (it's even scarier than the music!):


15. Syllables from Santa: HO HO.  Santa is always jolly, as you can tell from his girth, because he is frequently eating this homophonous delight:
 


16. Egret, for one: HERON.  Beautiful birds.  We have a lot of Great Blue HERONS in the Chesapeake Bay region. The Great White Heron (closely related to the Snowy Egret) is a truly spectacular bird.

17. Highway reading: SIGN.

18. __ of March: IDES.  That fateful 15th of March.

19. "Good Will Hunting" actor: DAMON.

23. Stir-fry ingredient: SNAP PEA.  Much meatier than the flatter SNOW PEA, which I believe this clue may actually be referring to.  SNAP PEAS, being thicker have to have the strings removed and are usually steamed:


24. Camden Yards player: ORIOLE.   My home town (well, down town) team.  The official name of their stadium is "Oriole Park at Camden Yards".  The stadium proper is adjacent to a massive office building that served CAMDEN YARD, the old B&O railroad station.  The offices are a little beyond the left field fence.  The team LOGO seems to flutter back and forth from ANATOMICALLY CORRECT (my favorite):

to current the one, which is ICONIC and is the favorite of my SIL, who lives next door and is a real FANatic.  She has the second BIRD on a sign in her driveway that says: PARKING RESERVED FOR FANS ONLY ALL OTHERS WILL BE TOWED!

28. Golden __: AGER.  I think this means A LOT (note correct spelling) of US, Cornerites!

32. Needlefish: GAR.

34. Guys: MEN.

35. Abbr. after Shaker or Brooklyn: HTS.  Located in OHIO and in NEW YORK CITY respectively.

41. Richard Wright's "Native __": SONRichard Nathaniel Wright (September 4, 1908 – November 28, 1960) was an American author of novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially related to the plight of African Americans during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries.
 

42. __ Center: L.A. skyscraper: AON.  The first word that came to mind when I saw this picture was "EARTHQUAKE".  The only words on that topic in this Wikipedia article on the AON were "remarkably slender for a skyscraper in a seismically active area ...:
 

Turns out that was the least of its problems.  When it was completed in 1973 it had no sprinkler system, an oversight that was remedied only after 1988 when this occurred:
 

Five stories were destroyed and had to be repaired, 40 people were injured and one person died.

43. Urge: YEN.  Or Japanese currency with $0.0095 DOLLARS per YEN.

48. Egyptian goddess: ISIS.  She was known as the goddess of the moon. As goddess of life and magic, ISIS protected women and children, and healed the sick. ...
 

51. Anatomical ring: AREOLA.  Not shown in 48A above.

52. Dead Sea Scrolls sect: ESSENES.  They were an obscure Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE. So obscure that some scholars even doubted their existence.  But in 1946 a discovery  near  their  QUMRAN community by the DEAD SEA literally put them on the map (about 45 KM east of Jerusalem).  In a series of 12 caves some Bedouin shepherds, and then later archaeologists, found a collection of lidded clay jars containing many well-preserved scrolls originally from ESSENE libraries.  The collection contains some of the oldest and most complete versions of several books from the Hebrew Bible, especially The Isaiah Scroll.

58. Goes after: HAS AT.

61. Do nothing: LAZE.  My idea of  good time!

62. Hot under the collar: SORE.  See 14A above.

63. On top of things: AWARE.  As in IN THE KNOW.

64. Pentagon measure: AREAFloor space = 28.7 acres (116,000 m2) to be exact.  Add 5.1 acres for the central courtyard.
  
65. Lacking depth and width: ONE D.  Geometrically it describes a LINE, which has only one dimension, a LENGTH.  Also a metaphor for shallowness, e.g. one dimensional thinking.

66. Phone messages: TEXTS.  There are also GRAPHIC versions called SEXTS.  Like 51A, there will be no picture with this one.

67. Exec's benefit: PERK.  Aside from the Corner office (hey WE'VE got one of those!) they get free COFFEE too.  And they don't even have to PERK it.

68. Lepidopterists' tools: NETS.  And they use them to catch these:
 



Down:
1. Tiny tufts: WISPS

2. "God Is a Woman" singer Grande: ARIANA.  Don't know this song.  Heard of ARIANA, but have never heard her.

3. "Stop badgering me!": NAG NAG.  Stop HORSING around?

4. Camper's supply: TENT PEGS.

5. Wind instrument?: CHIME.  A respite from OBOE.

6. Belt with 12 parts: ZODIAC.  A band in the the sky 8 degrees on either side of the ECLIPTIC with 12 constellations (Skyway SIGNS) spaced 30 degrees apart (12 x 30 = 360 degrees).  Just think of it as an imaginary LION running across the sky.

7. "I'm standing right here": AHEM.  Well sitting at the moment.

8. Flower with hips: ROSE.  High in Vitamin C.  You can make a tea with them:

 
9. "Phooey!": OH DARN.  Common expression among KNITTERS when they drop a stitch.

10. Brimless cap: BEANIE.

11. Limb with biceps and triceps: ARM.  The biceps and triceps muscles work together to allow you to bend and straighten your elbow. ... To bend the elbow, the biceps contract and the triceps relax. To straighten the elbow, the triceps contract and the biceps relax.  Try not to think about this too much - you might get muscle bound.

12. Low in the field: MOO.  Or the start of a yummy chicken dish.

13. Martin who wrote many of the "Baby-Sitters Club" novels: ANN.

21. Winfrey of HBO's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks": OPRAH.  Ms Winfrey played Henrietta Lacks. This is a page about her from Johns Hopkins Hospital's website.  I believe there has been some criticism of JHH, that they somehow took advantage of her.  OTOH JHH claims that the HeLA cell line, which was derived from a sample of her blood drawn for a test for ovarian cancer, has been used in research that has saved countless lives (see Frequently Ask Questions in the link).

22. Sharp: POINTY.  Like the BOSS in Dilbert (his HAIR, not his WIT):
 

25. Folk singer Phil: OCHS.  My apologies to anyone who listened to this the last time I got this clue.  His setting of Alfred Noyes' poem The Highwayman is so moving that I am compelled to repeat it, and this is for OwenKL who can still enjoy the verse:
 

26. Wood strip: LATH.  Add an E to the end and you've got a machine tool that can create LATHs from wood.

27. Minnesota twins?: ENS.  A common meta-clue, i.e. a clue contemplating its own nnavel.

30. "May I see __?": diner's query: A MENU.  A real one for once.  No drop-downs if you wear a bib.

31. 1980s-'90s game console: NESNINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM. It's back!  For only $59.99 all you gamers on the Corner can relive your yoot.

33. Find incredibly funny: ROAR AT.  You'll be ROTFL.  Best to do it on a freshly washed floor though.

36. Stern: DOUR.

37. "Bus Stop" dramatist: INGEWILLIAM INGE.  I've always thought this guy was Irish, but the surname is Scandinavian actually, and he was from Kansas.  Very successful, winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for his play "Picnic", but he died a tragic death.

38. __ de plume: NOM.  French for PEN NAME.  If you've had a MUG SHOT (see 44A) recently, you can also use it as an ALIAS.  Very posh.

39. Reason-based faith: DEISM. Not the only one though.

40. Available and fresh: IN SEASON.  A favorite of LOCAVORES.

41. Like a wee bairn: SMA.  A diminutive used by"L" averse SCOTS.
 
45. Small racer: GO KART.

46. Select groups: ELITES.  A much abused term, but good glue.

47. Eccentric type: GEEZER.  I thought it connoted an OLD eccentric type, like YT.

49. Pray aloud, perhaps: INTONE.   As hinted at by the second syllable these particular prayers would be CHANTED.

50. It's not for everyone: SECRET.  [Shh!  People are listening].

53. __ preview: SNEAK.

54. Tool storage sites: SHEDS.  Or a shelter from the rain.  This shed shelters our  GAS fired stoneware kiln, complete with PILOT LIGHTS on the propane burners.  The shed attached on the right does hold a tiller, mowers, and gardening tools:
 

56. Thunder sound: CLAP.  So what's the sound of one thunder clapping?

57. Rabbit-like animal: HARE. The perennial LOSER.

58. Bowler, for one: HAT.  The American Indians have a saying: "If your feet are cold, put on a HAT".

59. More than impress: AWE.

60. Jazz instrument: SAX.  A reed instrument (a.k.a. a woodwind) patented by Adolphe Sax in 1846.  He intended it as an instrument for classical orchestras, but for some reason it didn't catch on.  It was later taken up by jazz greats like as John Coltrane and Charlie Parker, who made it one of the most popular solo instruments in jazz combos. A few years before he died, a dear friend of mine, a sax player himself, introduced me to another great, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan.  Here's his rendition of "The Shadow of Your Smile": 


 Here's the grid:


Cheers,
Bill

p.s. C.C. has a link to David's very interesting website on the right column of this blog.  As I don't think people who are browsing via cellphone can see it, I've included a link here.

waseeley

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Bywaters is one of my favorites.

Anonymous said...

Finished just under the 10 minute mark. "Essenes" and "sma" were unknown. I had snow pea before snap pea.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Waseeley and friends. I liked today's theme. I quickly saw the matching kitchen implements.

I know of ARIANA Grande for 2 things: (1) there was a horrific terrorist bombing in Manchester, England after one of her concerts there. Twenty-three people were killed; and (2) and in 2015, she was caught licking doughnuts in a bakery shop.

We lost power on Monday. Yesterday the inside of our house registered 42F. We let our faucets drip, so no frozen pipes. We were fortunate to be able to check into a hotel, so have been able to stay warm. Electricity came on late last night, so we returned home again this morning. The freeze here is not over, however. I hope all of our Texas crossword family is able to stay safe and warm. The last time we had such a long freeze here was over 30 years ago.

QOD: If you can only be tall because somebody is on their knees, then you have a serious problem. ~ Toni Morrison (née Chloe Ardelia Wofford; Feb. 18, 1931 ~ Aug. 5, 2019), American author and recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature

Wilbur Charles said...

In the reading from ESSENES is a ref to Eisenman and James, the Brother of Jesus. He believes St Paul was the "Wicked Priest".

Early R&R often featured the SAX. I was listening to Little Richard's Lucille on our local radio station that plays 50s-80s.

Took a few minutes to get started but this was much easier than Wednesday for me. Especially after grok'ing the KITCHEN Puns.AREOLA and DOUR were my last fills.

WC

Bob Lee said...

A fun puzzle, but I thought at first the long theme answer should be KITCHEN KITCH to match the other answers.

I was proud I knew ESSENES although I don't know how.

And at first I guessed OH SNAP instead of OH DARN.

And my paper was missing clue 48, but ISIS came with the crosses.

Wow...few comments here. I guess the storms have people busy. Here in NY it is only dusting a bit currently. I feel for the folks in Texas--we were out 5 days once and froze. Needless to say I bought a generator.

ATLGranny said...

Thursday already, and a puzzle from David Alfred Bywaters. Good start to the day! I quickly saw that the beginning and end of each phrase MATCHed, but it took longer to make the KITCHEN connection. The long fills went well because of this bookending, as waseeley called it, but I didn't see DISHONEST clearly after I wrote it in since I was parsing it DISH ONEST. A few WOs: DOUg Stern, AGEs, and eCHS before perps corrected them. Also my brain was determined to fit the Egret into the wrong place, 17A, so I wrote bird before seeing the error. (It was 25% right as Splynter would say.) Otherwise a tidy grid with interesting fill, David. I enjoyed reading the link, waseeley. Thanks for providing it as well as an entertaining review of the puzzle.

Glad to hear things are looking up, AnonT. Waiting to hear from DO and Leo soon too. And from the rest of you all who are safe and warm these wintery days, we hope!

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A fun run not without some hurdles
-A MUGGING is petty?
-SIGN, SIGN, Everywhere a SIGN, Blockin' out the scenery, Breakin' my mind, Do this, don't do that, Can't you read the SIGN?
-Jerry Seinfeld became a billionaire with his ONE-D personality
-Dry wall has replaced LATH these days
-The menu for me yesterday included LOBSTER. It was great and waitress got a 25% tip
-Off to get (a) shot!

Anonymous said...

Nice write up.Your 51 across comment made me chuckle. Enjoy the day.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Thanks to DAB and wasseely for today's clever romp.

Matt DAMON not only starred in Good Will Hunting but co-wrote it with Ben Affleck. They received an Oscar as playwrights.

TEXTS appeared today in the same spot as yesterday.

ISIS and Ibis confuse me so of course I had to use wite-out to correct my error.

I liked seeing OTRAH and OBAMA in today's grid.

HAT and BEANIE make a nice pair.

I love wind CHIMEs and have a nice collection in my patio.

Monks and nuns INTONE their prayers when they chant them.

It's wonderful to hear from you, Hahtoolah, and know that you are safe.

Have a warm and cozy day, everyone!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a different theme but easy enough to see, with a surprise reveal. My only w/o was Snow Pea which is what I always used in a stir fry, not Snap Peas. Liked the duos of Ens/NES and Hat/Beanie. There was a cute, creature mini theme with Egret, Hare, Oriole, and Gar, and a Moo for good measure. Speaking of creatures, I was disappointed with the announcement that next week’s episode of All Creatures Great and Small is the finale. I really enjoyed the series, despite wanting to throttle Tristan more than once.

Thanks, DAB, for a Thursday challenge and thanks, Bill, for the wise and witty analysis.

FLN, glad you made out fairly well, Anon T, considering how much worse it could have been. I hope we hear soon from DO and Leo and that they weren’t too seriously affected. BTW, I loved A Man Called Ove.

Have a great day.

Malodorous Manatee said...

A nice Thursday puzzle and recap. Many thanks to both authors. . . and a Five Man Electrical Band reference in the comments. A very good way to start the day.

Ten Down triggered the following although the spelling is different - or "var" as they'd add to a clue:

Come On Kids Let's Flip Our Lids



Tinbeni said...

waseely: Nice write-up & links. Good job!

Well this seemed like a typical Thursday puzzle. FUN to solve.

D-O Hope you are warming up. I miss your comments.

Cheers!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Nice crisp puzzle today. FIR. Liked the way the theme was done.
We had a short précis on CZAR (from Caesar)the other day.
MATCH - Funny, the Dutch word for a match to light a fire is 'Lucifer'.

-T - - Glad you're back on the 'grid'. Lucky your plumber could come right out.

Hungry Mother said...

Accidentally left a square blank this morning: SON/SMA. So I can’t say I filled it in right. I’ve heard of Native SON and I’ve seen SMA before, so I think I coulda been a contender. Stella!

oc4beach said...


I sort of got the theme today with enough clues left for it to be of help. Great write-up by waseely.

The NW was the last to fall today. SNOW PEA vs SNAP PEA, and the lack of IRAE and WANT messed it up until I erased the NW and started over again. Then the TA-DA occurred.

I hope all of the impacted Texans, etc. get their power and water problems squared away soon. My nephew in Austin got power back yesterday, but doesn't have any water. He goes across the street to the Starbucks where he works to get water and something to eat.

We have 3 inches of snow here in central Pennsylvania with another 6+ inches predicted overnight, plus some freezing rain to come at the end.

Be safe, Stay warm and please wear your masks.

Anonymous said...

I liked the matching entries. I liked canine cans. Alpo is sold cans. Minnesota Twins, NN was cute. Didn't fool me. I was looking for MATCH before KITCHEN.
I have removed strings from many a snow pea. I love snow peas so my DIL assigns me that kitchen duty. There are recipes for stir fry using sugar snap peas, too. The pods are tender and the peas are a little larger, but sweet.
I want out, reminds me of cats and small children. The tots want to play in the snow. Soon they want to come inside. As soon as you divest them of all their gear, they want to go out again.
I enjoyed my tour of Qumran where the Essenes lived and where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.
The snow here began at 8:00 AM. It likely will be 8 inches deep or so, maybe followed by sleet.
TENT PEGS are the reason I gave up tent camping at 80 yro. MY knees protested hammering them in.
I left the library and its computer earlier because every day a woman who wears her mask around her neck and refuses to cover her nose comes in. So rude and thoughtless.
I had to leave my apartment now because the painter is making repairs. My only duty was to report the problem. Easy Street.
YR

Spitzboov said...

YR @ 1054 - - So, tell her to get the mask on. I've asked people to stay back 6' at the grocery check-out line. You could always discourage her by SECRETly disconnecting the ethernet cable to the computer. Maybe she'll find something else to do.

xtulmkr said...

I read the clue for 19A and promptly tried to fit Robin Williams into 20A. Once that was corrected the rest was filled without any additional ink overs.

Shoveled my driveway Tuesday of 6 inches accumulation to wake up this morning facing another 4 to 6 inches of coverage. To make matters worse, when the snowplow came through the street it deposited a two-foot-high wall at the end of my drive. I wouldn't bother but I promised to take a friend to get his COVID vaccine tomorrow.

CrossEyedDave said...

All I can say in my defence is
That all I did was google kitchen match
and this came up...

So to apologise,
here is something different.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

CrossEyedDave et al,
I have some glitch with Google search bar. When I try to paste something there for search, the right click does not work. I tried Firebox and Chrome and Edge, same problem.

Am I alone?

Misty said...

Very clever and fun puzzle this morning--many thanks, David. Like others, I enjoyed seeing both OBAMA and OPRAH. And I thought MUGGER MUG was hilarious. Also, neat pictures, Waseeley, thanks for those too.

Irish Miss, I just started watching "All Creatures Great and Small" and just love it. So I too was devastated to hear the next one will be the last episode. I just hope they'll do a re-run.

My heart goes out to all of you with the heavy snows and power out problems. Stay safe, Hahtoolah and xlulmkr.

Have a good day, everybody.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

ZODIAC is a belt? (Thanks for 'splainin' I think I understand 🤔)
I guess ONED means 1 dimensional? Like 3D? Never seen that abbrev. used.
CZAR is spelt rawng.

Thought I parsed the theme gimmick once I got CANINECAN (whatever that is). So put match at the start of the "pilot lighter" clue since that was the last word ..which... didn't work like the other themed answers..oooohhhh MATCHing KITCHEN type containers.
PANTOMIMEPAN (the 60's comedian Jackie Vernon talked about listening to his Marcel Marceau record collection)

Isn't a GEEZER just an old guy? (Hold on I just saw one!.. wait..I was just passing a mirror 🧓)....HASAT a frequent visitor but never heard it used in conversation.

Drink this, it'll put ____ yer chest...HERON
2021 Chinese ZODIAC year of the country singer, the ____ OCHS
Provide the bride price....DOUR
Gold ager Dorothy always had a ____ retort...SNAPPEA
They tried to edit his play but William wouldn't give an ____ INGE

Great write up...learned lots stuff



Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

FLN, glad to hear from Anon T - hope that all of the others in TX (and LA and any other mid-southern states that have been affected by the big storm) are OK

My only write-over today was GOCART/GOKART - other than that, a clean grid.

ATLGranny - I, too was looking at DISH ONES T DISH - HONEST! ;^)

We have a gas stove - both stove top and oven - and I/we love it. I do the majority of the cooking and can't imagine ever going back to electric. I get to use my cast iron skillet!!

We, too have a set of wind CHIMEs we originally bought to scare away some birds who were nesting in our eaves. It was right in front of our main window to the street, and the birds were both noisy and dirty ... anyway, the CHIMEs didn't work because the enclosed porch area never gets enough wind!

Another winning theme from DAB and a fun recap from W. A.

W.A. -> I grew up about 50 miles north of Baltimore and attended a lot of ORIOLE games as a kid. But those were at Memorial Stadium, not ORIOLE Park @ Camden Yards. My most memorable game was May 8, 1966 when Frank Robinson hit a HR that cleared the left field bleachers. Here is a link for you to recall some highlights of the ORIOLE's 1966 season

See y'all tomorrow . . .

waseeley said...

A timely addendum to the subject of the Dead Sea Scrolls. There was an announcement today in the NYT that Nathan Golb, a leading "Dead Sea Scrolls" skeptic died recently at age 92. The above Wiki article also contains link describing his book Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls In a nutshell he theorized that the scrolls were representative of many different streams of Judaism, and had been collected in Jerusalem in the run up to the Roman siege in of the city in 70AD, and then stored in the Qumran caves to save them. I've not had time to read much more than that, so I don't know what his explanation is for the nearby Qumran ruins.

waseeley said...

CED 11:48 AM No need to 'pologize' for C&H. But I'm still glad you ATONED for it with the kitchen fails. 17 & 7 look a lot like MalMan to me!

Bill

Old Okie said...

Not a bad midweek puzzle, took my wife and I about 45 minutes to finish it, we might be thawing out this week, it is up to 22 degrees today,supposed to be in the 50's and 60's next week. Wife can finally get her second corona vaccine. feel sorry for those Texans though. I can remember in years back, when it got cold up here I would go to south Texas, I liked Port Aransas. WE stayed right on the beach and you could walk for miles up and down it.

AnonymousPVX said...


An appropriate level of difficulty grid by DAB for Thursday.

Had 46D as ATEAM b4 crosses changed it to ELITES.

One more day til my Moderna shot...I have never eagerly anticipated a vaccine shot before...I just want to go out for breakfast and have eggs and hash without the side order of potential death...those eggs aren’t THAT good.

I love how Texas officials are doing everything they can to offload the responsibility of their own private grid failures. Yes the windmills froze, unlike the ones in Iowa...Iowa got the ones with antifreeze I guess. And I never knew an electric plant powered by gas, oil or coal could freeze, but anything can if you don’t insulate against the possibility. Live and learn...I hope.

Stay safe.

CrossEyedDave said...

CC,
I have never had the particular problem that you describe,Hopefully
Anon-t will chime in.

I know it sounds cliche'
But it sounds like some program is corrupted.
The first thing to try is always
Restart...

(Turn it off, then on again...)

This is step one in fixing garbled programs.

Ol' Man Keith said...

A clever idea from Mr. Bywaters for the theme, although it led to some awkward phrases.

I sometimes call myself a GEEZER. I suppose I am "eccentric" in some ways, although I must leave it to others to point them out.
"Coot" is another descriptive word; I take it to be a synonym.

Lucina ~ I hope you didn't see OTRAH on today's PZL.
~ OMK
___________
DR:
One diagonal, on the far side.
It offers an anagram (13 of the 15 letters) for a brief excursion on the lunar surface, or just a short dance step, a...
"TERSE MOONWALK"!

waseeley said...

CMoe @12:58 PM Thank you! I remember that game, although I wasn't at it. The Sun's pictures celebrating that Series were iconic.

But I was later very disappointed when they decided to close "Memorial" Stadium, which had been dedicated in 1954 with these word towering above the entrance ...

"As a Memorial to All
Who so Valiantly Fought
and Served in the World
Wars with Eternal
Gratitude to Those Who
Made the Supreme
Sacrifice to Preserve
Equality and Freedom
Throughout the World

TIME WILL NOT DIM THE GLORY OF THEIR DEEDS"

It was dedicated to our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters who had only recently returned from the long fight against fascism. I thought at the time that it was a betrayal of their memories. We forget so quickly.

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, David and waseeley.
I FIRed in good time and saw the theme. Hand up for entering MATCH instead of KITCH.

We have had Agee so much recently that I reflexly entered him before INGE.
The “cattle are lowing” gave me MOO.
Were the tools being stored in Boxes or SHEDS?
The wording of the clue gave me CZAR and not Tsar.
“Hot under the collar” was SORE, not the hated Ired. We had IRAE and couldn’t have a dupe😁.

This Canadian required perps for AON.
We had a Bowler HAT and a BEANIE. I also smiled at MEN crossing A MENU.
Favourite today was “Minnesota twins? = ENS”.

I hope things are looking up for our Texan friends and any others caught in the cold. Glad to hear from AnonT last night. Hahtoolah, glad you could get to a hotel.

Wishing you all a great day.

unclefred said...

If re-booting the computer doesn’t work try downloading the latest version of Google, and/or c if there are updates to your operating system (Win 10, or whatever). I recently spent two days struggling to get my printer to print via WIFI only to find there was a Windows 10 update I needed to patch an error in the version I was running. So my yelling at the printer and threatening it by wildly waving a large hammer above it was to no avail; it was a software glitch.

unclefred said...

FIR, but a half hour struggle for me and Google. Again, I used Google too much to have any real felling of satisfaction at getting ‘er done. Dang. But, hafta say, a good, witty, well designed and clued CW, thanx, David! AND very nice write-up, thanx, Waseeley.

Husker Gary said...

Addendum
-I am sitting here watching a NASA marathon on the Science Channel six hours after my shot and really can't detect any after effects. Our Three Rivers Health Organization handled the administration like clockwork:
*Check in took two minutes
*We were directed to a woman with a yellow flag across the arena
*We sat for two more minutes and a man took our information yet again
*Our nurse named Betsy then showed up and gave us a shot we didn't even feel
*We waited 15 minutes and then went out to shop for groceries
-Incidentally, I told Betsy she was "faster than a speeding bullet" and the Superman reference was completely lost on her. Sigh...

Yellowrocks said...

Spitz, I asked her and her husband to wear their masks several different days. He yells at me. Today I said, "I will have to leave. You should cover your nose," as I stormed off.

Ol' Man Keith said...

I am sorry that folk in so much of the country are enduring terrible winter weather. My sons are in Texas and Arkansas, and they are feeling some of the worst storms--and power outages--of all.

And here I am in SoCal, safe from fires and storms and--fingers crossed!--from any recent earthquakes.

It is UNFAIR, I know. But our country is so large, some parts seem always to be protected when others are in danger. That may permit us to help each other through the hard times, through the worst of disasters.

Just a few minutes ago I woke up from a nap. I'd been exercising in our front courtyard, and I usually take a nap in the warm sunshine when I'm done. I woke to the sound of our wind chime. I saw how lovely the spot was, surrounded by date palms and cypress.
I felt an itch on my chest,.
As I scratched, I picked up the rhythm of the chime, and I thought, "Heaven can't be any better than this."
~OMK

Spitzboov said...

Yr - Thanks for your reply. Sorry for the dust-up.

Jayce said...

I also was unable to use Google this morning. The web page seemed frozen, stuck. So I did my searching with Yahoo today.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle today. Hand up for entering SNOW PEA at first and then having to change it to SNAP PEA. I also had to change WADER to HERON. I think of GEEZER as simply meaning old; in jest LW sometimes says I'm a Geezer and she's a Geezette.

I wonder if Mr. Bywaters was toying with NAGNAG as a possible theme entry.

Back in the late 50's I had the pleasure of having tour of the Carling's Black Label brewery in Shaker Heights, by the father of one of my classmates.

Hoping all you Texans, Sooners, Louisianans, etc. soon get relief and back to normal.

Lucina said...

OMKeith:
Thank you. I did not notice my error and I'm beginning to think I need stronger readers. I love OPRAH and hope she forgives me for misspelling her name.

Anonymous said...

Not fun for me today.I really dislike fill-in-the-blank clues. A few are o.k.but this was excessive. A lot of the clues seemed really off the mark. Forced, awkward, somewhat inaccurate or misleading.

Jayce said...

Google is working again.

Anonymous @5:40PM, can you be more specific? Which clues seemed off the mark, forced, awkward, etc? Thanks.

Spitzboov said...

Anon @ 1740 - Don't know which clues bothered you. For example, NOM de plume and SNEAK preview seemed very much in the language and quite appropriate for a Thursday. Same with Golden AGER.

SansBeach said...

Good evening all. Another DNF. A little over my pay grade but fun. Thanks DAB and thank for the 'splainin' waze. Couldn't connect enough perps to get 20a and canine can??? Meant nothing to me and the connection to 55a. I did get most of the bottom through the n east. Got the first stab today and looking forward to the final. A little soreness at the injection site tonight but feel good. No reason not to have done.😎😎

Vidwan827 said...

Thank you Mr. Bywaters for a challenging puzzle, and Bill Waseeley for a charming review. The blog was very informative, and lots of interesting points.
The Cw, itself, was rather difficult, but I learnt a lot.

Bill W., I have a point to make ... on 35 Across, HTS., Shaker and Brooklyn .. you wrote 'Located in Ohio and New York City, respectively.'
Do you realize what you did ? The first is a state, and the second is a city. Surely, you can be consistent, and Shaker Hts could have been referred to, as abutting Cleveland Ohio ...

Shaker Hts, is a prestigious, upper class, inner ring city, next to Cleveland OH It has had numerous 'firsts', in being one of the first planned cities in the nation. It also probably has a higher per capita income than Brooklyn NY.

Jayce, I do enjoy your posts, but since you post so late, I dont often get a chance to respond and show my admiration. Your post in referring to the Carling Beer Brewery, got me bewildered, because I had never heard of a brewery in the city of Cleveland. Apparently, it closed down in 1971, and then ran as a mom and pop operation, for another few years. I dont drink beer, merely because of personal preference, but the only local beer I have heard of, is the Great Lakes Brewing Co. Thank you for the memories, and some info on this area's history.

Thank you CED for the 22 Kitchen Fails ... that was hilarious, and plus it has a lot of other links to other very interesting topics, traits on Japanese and Chinese behavior, that took most of my evening.

Have a good evening all.

Spitzboov said...

Shaker Hts is a city. Brooklyn Hts is a residential neighborhood. Other than ending in Hts, there is no real symmetry between the two. Cities are in states, neighborhoods are in cities. I think the comparison by Waseeley is apropos.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

D'Oh! DAB beat me. I finally had to look up INGE to eventually fix Roil AT. Had I noticed it was PAN - PAN and not just P-PAN, I'd gotten the MUG - MUG.

Thanks DAB for a fun diversion my first day back in the office after nearly a year.

Thanks Waseeley for the expo & what @8:34 said -- LOL ISIS Bra'd self.

WOs: HaRON, bEg -> YEN, the aforementioned ROil AT | iON Center
ESPs: ESSENES, AON, ANN, SMA
Fav: c/a for SECRET

How I got Native SON? [The Judybats 3:18]

HG - Surely you tuned into Perseverance's landing today. I can't wait for the images to come back.

CED / C.C. - so it was a Google glitch? Sorry, hyper-busy today.

PVX - discussion of our Texas-only grid is a political minefield - a no-no at The Corner. Let me just say, for the producers, it's pure free-market capitalism. And, OMK, when we isolate ourselves, there's no one to help when we need it ;-)

Hahtoolah - Let me give you a third - Ariana Grande was engaged to SNL's Pete Davidson. [Interview w/ Pete 6:12]. Glad to hear you got a hotel in time; they were at capacity here.

Oc4 - glad to hear your nephew finally got power back. Houston can moan but many north of us dealt with this storm much longer. (Hi Old Okie!).

Back to work.

Cheers, -T

Michael said...

The comment for 5A, "Slavic title derived from "Caesar": CZAR. The Russian version is TSAR.", is slightly off. The Russian and Slavic word is TsAR'". where the "Ts" is just one letter, pronounced as in 'iT'S a run."

The problem began when the Germans began the"Drang nach Osten" and started running into Cyrillic languages. When they put them in Latin letters, they used the letter "z" for the 'Ts' letter. This is why Polish spelling in particular is so impenetrable to us: when we see some word like "Szczecin" ('Stettin' in German), we just short out.

Wilbur Charles said...

C-Moe warned about the Fri xword but other than being a JeffWesch seemed straight forward. Ok, the theme is hidden and will take some unraveling but that's the fun part.

On to Saturday.

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Shades of the Enron days, eh?

waseeley said...

-T @9:01 S'ok. The house rules don't say anything about Economics. Glad to see you back!

waseeley said...

VidW @7:52OPM I was aware of the poor parallel structure of that answer and meant to go back and fix it, but never did. Some years back we spent several days in Cleveland attending my niece's graduation from Case W. Fell in love with the city which has some great museums and music. We saw a production of Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen, the most astounding opera performance we've ever seen. We stayed outside the city and I believe we may have passed thru Shaker Hts several times back and forth to downtown. I recall a large, wooded neighbor with a long shaded road sloping down toward Lake Erie. Thanks for bringing it all back to mind.

Cheers,
Bill

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Interesting puzzle, DAB! Thanks.Enjoyed your expo, weseeley, especially The Highwayman, a fav, and the sax solo.

C.C., I had trouble last night with Google. I was trying to open the IRS tax table and just kept getting another menu of sites. After about 45 minutes, the tax table finally opened and I could get what I needed. Very frustrating.

The other nights I was trying to convince Amazon that I do have an account with them which they denied. Finally gave up. Next day I actually got an intelligent human being with no foreign accent who quickly got the account back up and running and made necessary changes. I was overjoyed.

Glad all you in the storm path are doing better.