Malodorous Manatee, here, wishing a Good Morning to all you cruciverbalists. Today, much like our water-loving friend, above, the constructor, Craig Stowe, seems to have leaned a bit too heavily on the keyboard. As a result, we have characters (letters) that are repetitious, redundant, and repetitive. Or, not. Craig must enjoy repetition because he has had puzzles published in the LA Times in January and February of this year. With this one in March, he now has a 2021 LAT Hat Trick.
LETTERS, WE GET LETTERS, WE GET LOTS AND LOTS OF LETTERS
Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Patti Page
At three places in the grid, Craig has substituted multiple identical letters for the more common name of an event, a product, and a group of drug sniffing dogs. A clever and well executed, if none-too-subtle, theme.
20 Across. Meeting of powerful nations: GGGGGGG SUMMIT. Seven, count 'em, Gees. The Group of Seven, or G7, SUMMIT meetings are held between the USA, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, The United Kingdom and Japan to discuss international economic and monetary issues. Russia used to be part of what was then called the Group of Eight (with 40 across G8 would have been interesting) but Russia got kicked out after annexing the Crimea.
40 Across. Campbell's concoction: VVVVVVVV JUICE. Eight (an octad) Vees. V8 JUICE is made from vegetables and fruits by Campbell (known mostly for their soup)
.
59 Across. Team at a drug bust: KKKKKKKKK UNIT. Nine Kays. Dogs in the police K-9 (canine as in dog not tooth, although there is a relationship) UNIT are trained to sniff out drugs and other contraband.
Brian Griffin K-9 Cop
. . . . and now, sufficiently invigorated, let us move on to the rest of today's puzzle. We'll leave the completed puzzle for the end of the recap because, today, locating the theme answers requires neither circles nor highlighting.
Across:
1. John follower: ACTS. A reference to the books of the Bible (New Testament).
5. Whack, biblically: SMITE. A nice juxtaposition with 1 Across.
10. Behold, to Cicero: ECCE. "Cicero" is a tip-off that the answer will have something to do with the Roman Empire or the Latin language.
14. Young Adult novel by Carl Hiaasen about an owl habitat: HOOT. Carl Hiaasen writes very humorous books. My favorite was written in collaboration with Dave Barry and eleven other authors who each wrote one chapter of:
15. Wore: HAD ON. What, I hear you asking is a HADON ?
16. Devise, with "up": DRUM. Our first, of many, idioms today, to DRUM up something means to bring about by persistent effort.
17. Blue-green: AQUAMARINE. There are other blue-green colors.
19. Garage occupant: AUTO. A garage is a good place to park an AUTOmobile.
22. One looking at a lot of tickets: USHER. Or, for an answer, a compulsive speeder. Or, for a clue, an entertainer.
USHER
24. Berliner's "Blimey!": ACH. Our German language lesson for today.
25. School contest: BEE. On Monday it would have been clued as Spelling Contest.
26. "It's __ good": ALL. NO didn't have enough letters. NOT was not good. Another idiomatic expression.
27. 2016 US Open champ Wawrinka: STAN. A tennis reference unknown to this author (it could have been golf for all I knew - they both have US Opens). Thanks, perps.
Stan Wawrinka
31. Possessive pronoun: OUR. His? Her? Its?
33. Landlocked Asian country: LAOS. While on a visit to Cambodia, our group of ten intrepid travelers took a day trip to LAOS. At an open air market a vendor was selling some of the local libations. He offered us a sample of this one. Only one member of our party was curious enough, brave enough, and stupid enough to take him up on the offer. Guess who that was.
Yes, Those Are Real Snakes
35. Native Nebraskan: OTOE. One of the North American tribes. OTO, Cree would also have fit the space.
37. Carpenter's tool: RASP. Sometimes clued as "a hoarse voice".
43. Spotted: SEEN. As opposed to Spotted like a leopard, for example
44. Breeze (through): SAIL. Yet another idiom in today's puzzle.
45. Vegas rollers: DICE. Also used in Yahtzee.
47. Ping-Pong table need: NET.
49. Messy one: SLOB.
51. Goat's cry: MAA. Often, BAA.
Goat Sounds
52. Braying beast: ASS. Some constructors are reluctant to include ASS in their puzzles due to a couple of its many connotations. Today's "I will pass on the graphic" moment.
55. Trig. function: COS. COSine. In Trigonometry, the ratio of the side adjacent to an acute angle to the hypotenuse (in a right triangle). It would have been cool if I had remembered that from the tenth grade but I had to look it up.
57. "I can take __!": A HINT. Idiomatic? On the cusp.
64. Green on a weather map: RAIN. The first time I ever saw four-color weather radar was on a small plane taking off from Mobile, Alabama in 1980. On the cockpit display, we could see a violent storm (lots of red) closing in on us in real time. The pilot started the takeoff roll as we were closing the cabin door.
65. Largest portion: LIONS SHARE.
68. Miranda __ of "Homeland": OTTO. A proper noun that was unknown to this mindless marine mammal.
69. "Solutions and Other Problems" writer Brosh: ALLIE. See 68 Across, above.
70. Wheelhouse: AREA. The idiom "in one's wheelhouse" is synonymous with "right up one's alley" or AREA of expertise or interest.
71. Retreat: NEST.
2020 - 2021 A.D.
72. Blind parts: SLATS. As in window covering.
73. Old autocrat: TSAR.
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
Down:
1. "Got it!": AHA. We can at least put in the H until we figure out if it's going to be AHA or OHO.
2. __ au vin: COQ. C'est francais, n'est-ce pas? A chicken dish made with Brandy and wine.
3. Compassionate but strict approach: TOUGH LOVE.
4. Put on: STAGE. As clued, a verb. As a noun:
5. Carpet type: SHAG.
Now or Later
6. "All Rise" actress Helgenberger: MARG. This proper noun was known from CSI and not from the clue or from Ryan's Hope.
Marg Helgenberger
7. "Got it": I DIG. Wow, 50's hipster slang!
8. Island kingdom whose capital is Nuku'alofa: TONGA. This was easier than if the clue had been "Capital of the Island Kingdom of Tonga".
9. "Romanian Rhapsodies" composer: ENESCO. George ENESCO, often spelled Enescu, composed the two Romanian Rhapsodies in 1901. He was born in Romania but also lived in France. Therefore, the spelling variations.
For Two Clarinets and a Piano
10. Answer to the riddle "What cheese is made backward?": EDAM. An oldie but a goody. M A D E < - - - > E D A M
11. Roomba pickup: CRUMB. True, but a bit of a stretch. A Roomba is an automated vacuum cleaner that can pick up all sorts of things in addition to CRUMBs.
12. Term of affection: CUTIE.
13. Gush on stage: EMOTE. A lot of actors seem to over do it in crossword puzzles.
18. Diamond VIPs: MGRS. A baseball reference. ManaGeRS. My mother, who hailed from Brooklyn introduced me to this book:
21. Freedom, in Swahili: UHURU. Not to be confused with UHURa.
Shown, Here, On The Right
22. Chi.-based flier: UAL. United AirLines is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
23. Some Balkans: SLAVS. There were many other ways to draft this clue as SLAVS include Belarusians, Rusyns, Ukrainians, Czechs, Kashubs, Poles, Slovaks, Sorbs, Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs, Slovenes, and others.
28. "Mazel __!": TOV. A Hebrew / Yiddish expression of congratulations. Literally, good fortune.
You've Almost Finished The Puzzle, Mazel Tov!
29. Quads on roads: ATVS. All Terrain VehicleS.
Fun For Everyone
30. Breakout stars?: NOVAS. A NOVA, plural sometimes NOVAE, is a transient astronomical event that causes the appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star.
A Nova In The Andromeda Galaxy
32. Surprise attack: RAID.
34. Cinematographer Nykvist: SVEN. SVEN Nykvist is best know for his work with Ingmar Bergman. Even with no idea who they were looking for, the name in the clue was a hint that the answer would very likely be a Scandinavian name.
36. Sermon subject: EVIL.
Dr. Evil
38. Curved sabers: SCIMITARS.
39. Butter __: PECAN. Knife? Finger? No a sweet.
41. Jersey type: V NECK. We have seen this clue and answer before.
42. "On the Floor" singer: JLO. I confess that I would not recognize Jennifer LOpez if I bumped into her on the street. I am even less familiar with her music.
46. Put away: EAT. Yet another of today's idioms.
48. Stein's partner: TOKLAS. Alice B TOKLAS and Gertrude Stein were a couple for forty years. I did see the 1968 movie.
50. Makes illegal: BANS. We never know, until the perps, if it will be BANS or BARS but we can fill in three of the four letters and that usually helps.
52. LeBron's hometown: AKRON. LeBron James, arguably one of the best ever professional basketball players, was born in AKRON, Ohio.
53. Do lutzes, say: SKATE. Today, not the fish but a jump done on a pair of ice SKATEs.
The Russian Explains It
54. Vaudeville fare: SKITS. Short comedy sketches of humorous writing. Often, parodies.
56. Ability: SKILL. Our third-in-a-row answer consisting of five letters and starting with SK.
58. Percussion pair: HI HAT. A HI HAT is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal that is often heard in x-word puzzles.
A Hi Hat
60. One in a sailor's repertoire: KNOT.
61. Beverage nut: KOLA. I seem to recall having KOLA in the last puzzle that I blogged. This time, no Koala riff.
62. Make mittens, say: KNIT.
63. Exploits: USES. The answer could have been DEEDS but not of the type used in a game of Monopoly.
66. Irish actor Stephen: REA. He visits us often.
67. Mr. Potato Head piece: EAR. Mr., Miss, Mrs., Ms., NB and other Potato Heads have been in the news lately with all of their various pieces. Back in the day we used real potatoes. Did I spell that correctly, Dan?
__________________________________________________
______________________________________________
MM Out
Wow, a real struggle, and a DNF. Are we sure this is Thursday? Lots of proper names, some foreign words,...... Never heard of Toklas. I’m afraid I didn’t have the patience for your CW, Craig. Very clever, though. Terrific write-up, MM!!
ReplyDeleteThis was a difficult puzzle because of the proper names chosen. One I did not struggle with was 68. Miranda __ of "Homeland": OTTO as she has been before us as clued a few times. I think her PICTURE might be familiar, especially if you like the LOTR trilogy.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, 69. "Solutions and Other Problems" writer Brosh: ALLIE rang no bells, nor did SVEN NYKVIST . I am not complaining, just pointing to my struggles. Learning is good and I have seen the book ON THE SHELVES AT B&N
Happy day all and thank you, Joseph and Craig
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteHey, even d-o can get the theme if you beat him over the head with it. This was a Wite-Out-free excursion. Noticed the OTOE/OTTO/AUTO triumvirate. Also the CSO to Mme Defarge with KNIT. Gotta love it. Thanx, Craig and Mal-Man.
"transient astronomical event" -- This one gets my vote for king of the euphemisms.
Garage occupant -- Not likely around here, unless you happen to have a house with a 3-stall garage. The rest of the garage is for storage and lawn equipment.
MARG -- I remember her best from China Beach (1988-1991).
This was a short struggle at the beginning but once I got the gimmick at the G-7 summit it was smooth sailing for the rest of the solve. At first with the initial G and then a later G - I thought it would be G EIGHT SUMMIT- but it neither fit nor was right!
ReplyDeleteWe had OTOE - but MARG Helgenberger is another native Nebraskan from HG neck of the woods in Fremont, NE.
Thanks MM and Craig!
FIW, my brother speaks Swahili but I fell for the "heR" trap. I've heard of ENESCO just never thought of OUR.
ReplyDeleteEasy Thursday, fun theme. I didn't know what to do with those G's at first. Then it became apparent and the theme made for rapid fill below.
That's Betsy's fav ice cream, I'll take neapolitan.
MaloMan, what if she was with her beau, ARod?
A certain Dr Bob Smith whom Splynter is familiar with hailed from AKRON.
I think I mentioned before that the High Hat was a bar in Boston's Combat Zone.
I was told that I have an odd pronounciation of pet-ate-ah. Never realized that. OH.
MARG must have been Galadriel with that perfect Elvish face.
Hmm. Two easy, two difficult. I never can figure that out. Can I call it easy when I FIW?
WC
For the record I found Fri, Sat relatively easy
DeleteWilbur, MARG wasn't in LOTR. The reference was Miranda OTTO who played Éowyn, a royal daughter of Rohan, in the 2nd movie.
ReplyDeleteI loved it!
ReplyDeleteIt was a struggle at first: What are all these repeat letters? That can't be right. AHA--I eventually figured it out. I especially liked that they went in order 7-8-9.
My only unknown was Allie? Ellie? Ollie? Brosh. But going down I remembered I Love you Alice B. Toklas so guessed the A. I didn't know how that fit with Stein. Oh...Gertrude.
More...More! Bravo.
I wondered why so many G's and then so many V's. Summit tipped me off and, suspecting the result, I filled in and counted all the G's. AHA I got the theme which sped things up. My last fill was the A in TOKLAS and ALLIE. I knew TOKLAS, but was not sure of the spelling. Many of the names needed perps and wags.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that WHACK is so informal and SMITE is stuffy and old fashioned.
Crosswords taught me to connect Swahili FREEDOM, UHURU, with Star Trek UHURA, just remember to change the A too U.
WC, Friday and Saturday last week or this weekend? Many of us found that last week's were bears.
DO, Hi. CSO to you.
I had a single car garage which barely fit my compact car, making it difficult to access things on the shelves. I used it for the car only in cold whether so I didn't have to deal with the ice and snow. Now I park outdoors, but maintenance cleans the cars, moves them to plow the parking spaces and then puts them back.
Cold weather, not cold whether.
ReplyDeleteWhat a HOOT! FIR again. The first themer was puzzling until I realized all those Gs were meant to be close together. Then the next two themers were easy to figure out. In addition, Craig used a lot of fresh fill: AQUAMARINE, TOUGH LOVE, LION'S SHARE, and SCIMITAR, to name a few. Stein slowed me down because I was thinking of a beer mug. Actually Gertrude Stein is the first person named Stein that usually comes to mind for me. It's a mostly clean looking page today with few WOs. I see others had similar reactions for the most part. (Hi! inanehiker, WC, Bob Lee and YR) Looking forward to reading later comments too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Craig and MalMan for an excellent job today. It's always interesting to read the review and get added perspective as well as the daily dose of humor. Have a great day, everyone!
Once I figured out the repeat letter trick, I fared fairly well, although I hated that otherwise it was a trivia contest.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone.
ReplyDeletePiece of cake. Once I saw the gimmick with the K-nines, I went and pre-filled all the G's and V's. Misspelt ECCE with 's's, but corrected it to get CRUMB and CUTIE. One of the easier Thursdays in a while.
Gotta run. Off to a routine doctor visit. Feeling OK so far from yesterday's 2nd Moderna shot.
Tschüß
Good morning? My AHA moment was not on the G-7 (formerly G-8) because I didn't know either MARG or ENESCO and with the three G's of STAGE, MGRS, & SHAG in succession I thought one of them was wrong. But when I noticed the three V's in place the puzzle solved itself. Faster than normal Thursday.
ReplyDeleteThe only WAG was the cross of TOLKAS & ALLIE Brosh-unknowns.
HOOT- didn't know but with the owl clue and perps it was an easy fill.
Miranda OTTO- new to me
UHURU- all perps
Biden's K9 unit is now in the 'doghouse'; sent back to Delaware. The bit some Secret Service agents.
Mr. Potato Head- I read that his masculinity was somehow restored. The miracles of modern surgery.
Clever puzzle! I didn't "CCCC" the theme until I started putting all those K's at the bottom. Several unknowns, but perps cleared them all up, and I like learning stuff - trivia or not. I did DIG the cute double entendre to start off with John being a tough Act(s) to follow - if indeed that was intended.
ReplyDeleteDNF.Wow I really struggled with this one.This was the most unfun puzzle,full of Natick crossings,foreign words and random strings of letters.Another puzzle chock full of obscure names. Ach crossing uhuru? So now we have foreign word Naticks? Why do I have to know Latin,German,AND Swahili just to solve a freaking crossword puzzle?Already sick of has on/had on aha clues and the "same clue for two answers" baloney.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. If I have a bad day I suffer in silence.
DeleteFun theme, causing counting out the sequence of letters. The TOKLAS/ALLIE cross was a near Natick for me, but I kinda knew Alice’s surname. As I wrote HADON, I was staring at HASON from yesterday’s solution in my Naples Daily News page. Not the fault of the editor, but weird. BTW, we have vaccines for sale down here in the Sunshine State.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Wait a minute, there can’t be that many G’s in a row. Never mind.
-Yesterday we had HAS ON and so a day later HAD ON seems right
-The cousins TSAR Nicholas II, King George V and Kaiser Wilhelm II couldn’t stop WWI from starting
-Yes, inane, Here’s a sign I drive by on the way to golf
-In 1969 The Friends Of Distinction sang I can DIG it, he can DIG it, She can DIG it, we can DIG It They can DIG it, you can DIG it Oh, let's DIG it Can you DIG it, baby
-I’m sure Casey Stengel was a decent MGR but with that lineup, who wouldn’t be. When he was MGR of the Mets, he lost over 100 games per year
-I remember AKRON for hosting The Soap Box Derby which was seen on Wide World Of Sports
-We stopped a roofer from exploiting DW’s then 95-yr-old mother
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteAny puzzle that has Canines in any way, share, or form is a winner in my book. I loved the theme and even though the proper names were mostly unknown, I thoroughly enjoyed the solve. I went astray at Kona/Kola but any roadblocks were cleared by the fair perps. I liked the Eat/Ear duo and the abutting Ear/Rea anagram. Nice CSOs to Madame Defarge (Knit), HG (Otoe), and a hat trick for OMK (Stage/Skits/Emote).
Thanks, Craig, for the clever theme and thanks, MalMan, for you wit and wisdom. Have to return later to view the visuals as they didn’t appear, as usual.
Temps in the 60’s today, but short-lived come tomorrow night. March is an unpredictable month and has given us some of the worst snowstorms on record. I still can’t believe the clocks get changed Sunday.
Have a great day.
Thank you Craig for a wwwwwwwwonderful puzzle and to MalMan for an iiiiiiiiiiiinsightful review.
ReplyDeleteLoved this theme, as it actually helped! I started getting suspicious that something might be afooooot when I perped 3 v's in a row in the middle of 40A.
52A FLN - CED beat you to it yesterday MM.
30D A NOVA appears new compared to the surrounding stars, but it is actually the last gasp of a DYING STAR. The DREGS of hydrogen and helium ions fuse during the explosion and can be captured during planet formation, and are thought to be the source of our heavy metals (iron, silver, gold, etc.).
48D TOKLAS is rumored to be the namesake for the word TOKE, the act of puffing on certain types of cigarettes.
60D Also Boy Scouts need a basic knowledge of KNOTS to obtain First Class rank, and more advanced knowledge to obtain Pioneering Merit Badge. Also KNOT THEORY is branch of mathematics.
Cheers,
Bill
Figured the first 3 clues across were biblical and assumed it was the gospel of St. John but stilled erred with Luke /ACTS. The only digital "inkover". I've heard of "ECCE homo", "behold the man" uttered by Pilate. G8 minus Russia (yoh MalMan) started an unusual stuttering theme. (But no CCCP for USSR?) Held the letter key down too long? Or sat on yer phone? Didja? Craig? 😉. A relatively EZ Thirzdae.
ReplyDeleteFinally spelled KOLA without a C. Recently HASON so it follows today's answer would be past tense HADON (perhaps a VNECK?) STAN who? SVEN = Stephen I methinks
Carl Hiassen, one of my top favorite writers. Hilarious novels about the foibles of Florida and its folk. Remembered Star Trek's Uhura's name derived from UHURU. (Again, Yoh Malman) Yesterday a NEST was not a home (tell that to Burns and Allen "Just a Love NEST" 🎶 was their theme song) but today it's a retreat? Huh? Wha?
"One looking at a lot of tickets": scofflaw 👮♂️. My 10 yo GS is starting to beat me in ping pong 🏓. "I Love you, Alice B. TOKLAS" Peter Sellers 1960's film featuring cannabis brownies 🤩. Mal man isnt that 🎵 from the Perry Como TV show?
Letters, we get letters,
We get stacks an’ stacks of letters . . .
Dear Perry . . .
Would you be so kind,
To fill a request,
And sing the song i like beast
Some of us Cornerites _____ pick....KNIT
A seasick sailor? I kid you _____ KNOT
Adam caught the "first" virus. Is ____ too?.. EVIL
Bill Cosby won't be pushing _____ products anymore...JLO
C. MOE: I was in Homer Simpson's downtown Springfield yesterday. Glad to see you're open for business 🍺🍻.
Great job MallowMan
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr. Stowe, for a unusual puzzle, which I liked, and MalMan for a charming review.
The repeat vowels on the long answers gave me a double stare (?) but after the G's and the V's I got the theme. Very innovative, although this necessitates a harder side fill...
This is NOT meant to be political. !!! MM, since you mentioned it in your blog, I used to wonder why PRC ( Mainland China - ) is not a part of G7 or G8 ? Based on GDP, GNP.( but not, per capita GNP ... ) Army military size, Nuc. power, Space rocketry, Forex (Forgn exchange ) holdings etc., it would appear to qualify...
But, This IS a political question. so I don't need a reply or a point of view. Those who are at all, interested enough, can easily Google it. End of discussion.
I just realized the correct spelling of Sci-mi-tar, pronounced Si-muh-tr. I used to pronounce it Skum-i-taar. and didn't put an 'i' after the 'c'.
Sci is like the word, Science... silent first C.
I was shocked at the picture of the order Serpentes, in the bottles of LAOS hooch, but not surprised ( ;-P) ) that you tried it.
After all, you only live once..... or twice....
If you can get a US dealership, you could become a genuine snake oil medicine man ..... and learn to speak glibly with the forked tongue....
Have a nice day, all.
Thursday Toil. Thanks for the workout, Craig and MalMan.
ReplyDeleteI had both a DNF and FIW today for a non-stellar finish.
But I did get the multi-letter (plethora?) theme (with all the Ks in 59A), and I went back to fill in 20A and 40A.
ACTS was an AHA moment. Doe would not fit.
Unknowns filled by perps included OTTO, SVEN, AKRON, MARG.
HOOT was a WAG from "owl" in the clue (hi Big Easy).
My "Diamond VIPs" were Umps before MGRS.
Teal was just a tad short!! but AQUAMARINE finally perped.
I had difficulty parsing TOUGH LOVE; I was looking for something like a kid glove.
But my Natick (like others I see) was the cross of the unknowns TOKLAS and ALLIE.
SVEN is Scandanavian and means "youth"; Yes, Ray-O, the Anglicized version is Stephen. I would have had no trouble if the clue had been "Frozen reindeer"!
Nice catch, d'otto, re the " OTOE/OTTO/AUTO triumvirate". And MalMan and Ray-O saw the Biblical references in the first 3 clues.
I too saw the CSO to MadameD; another nice catch by Irish Miss re OMK triple CSOs.
The only Swahili I remember from our Kenya trip and safari are Jambo (hello) and UHURU (name of a park in downtown Nairobi and first name of their president).
Hungry Mother - Vaccines for sale?!!! They have been warning us here of phone scams about that!
Wishing you all a good day. (I have done all the CWs this week but have been too busy some days to post here.)
Canada eh. The next scam will be selling fake vaccine passports. Just you wait. 😏
ReplyDeleteThursday toughie, all right, but how innovative and creative! Many thanks, Craig. And always enjoy your comments and pictures, MalMan.
ReplyDeleteLots of unknown names, and had to look up many of them. But how cool to see Alice TOKLAS in the puzzle. She and Gertrude Stein were a famous, loving couple back in their day. My other favorite clue was the one about EDAM cheese MADE backward. Cracked me up.
Have a great day, everybody.
Hola!
ReplyDeleteWEES! Yes, what you all have said and then some! What a creative puzzle from Craig Stowe! It does look like he sat on the keyboard for some of the fill.
The plethora of G's startled me at first then it hit me like a V8 can! I also noted that they were in numerical order 7, 8, 9.
I knew MARG from CSI.
UHURU always stumps me because my mind insists a female name should end in A.
RAIN???? Is that such a thing? Not in this AREA!
Not many of our sermons are about EVIL; most are about loving one another.
TSAR always awaits for C, Z or T as the starting letter.
Have a thoroughly thrilling Thursday, everyone!
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun Thursday solve for me...I’d have titled it
“Fun Without Circles”.
19A and a pet peeve of mine...down here there are no basements - as you dig down a few feet and get wet, so everything is on a slab. Thus there is no basement storage. When I bought this (new but already built) house I had a platform and a pull down ladder installed as a condition of sale. So my storage is up in the attic and my cars are in the garage - where they belong. I think it a really poor idea to keep cars, which depreciate constantly, out in the elements when not in use. Add up all the money spent on cars and you come up with a very tidy sum. Why not try and keep the cars nice as long as possible? They just take a beating when parked outside 24/7 from both water and heat. My last (new) car lasted 16 years and looked great when it left.
And that is that.
Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteExcept for some of the names, today was an interesting puzzle. MM's tour was informative and enjoyable.
As I was going through it I only had the first 3 K's and I couldn't figure out how the Klu Klux Klan was involved in a Drug Bust team. Once more K's became apparent the V8 can hit me in the forehead and I was able to go back and add more G's and V's. A cute approach today.
I didn't know some of the proper names, ENESCO, STAN, OTTO, SVEN and ALLIE were unknowns but perps and SWAGs filled them in. I did remember UHURU from past puzzles, so that one didn't bother me.
MM I assumed the USHER was a theater usher taking tickets.
MARG Helgenberger has been a favorite of mine since China Beach.
Update on my Darwin Awards friend. His doctor convinced him to get the J&J shot, which he got yesterday.
Have a great day everyone and please wear your masks.
I don't know why,
ReplyDeleteBut 8 always thought "gimmick" puzzles
We're reserved for Fridays..
Figured it out when vegetable kept turn8ng into V's.
Speaking of figur8ng stuff out,
I was "today's" years old when I discovered how to edit type on an iPad.
I must be using (or trying to) an iPad for 5+years now, and have still been having trouble
When one of the updates changed the keyboard so that swiping a letter 8nstead
Of pressing it produces a different character.
As you can see, I still have trouble with "I"'s com8ng out as 8's,
And I gave up on trying to fix them because the only way I could was to
X out each and every letter until I got back to the mistake.
Well, I just found out (by accident) that when you tap the curser,
The copy/paste option appears. But if you hold your finger on the curser
Without removing it, you can move it anywhere and make corrections!
Did anyone else know this?
Why d9nt they tell you this stuff?
Speaking of telling you stuff,
here is how Uhura got her name.
CED @1:21PM You were really seeing straight on that last bit. And now my eyes are a little blurry for it.
DeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteNo -
a) in the SW; KKK would not be in a puzzle... And
b) what does the Klan have to do with a drug bust?
Move back North; MGRS, SHAGs, I DIG... wait...
not going to be THE G eight?? Then what?
*light bulb goes on*
AHA!
How much fun Craig! Thanks.
Once I glom'd the theme and filled the repeat letters, perps finally came to fruition. #ICouldaHadA-VVVVVVVV!
MManatee - Fun expo provided a perfect grid chaser. I still have links to click :-)
WOs: UHURa (#StarTrek). Hand up for cOLA.
ESPs: Not gonna lie, there were a lot of names.
Fav: Butter PECAN - my favorite ice-cream of my ute.
//I'm partial to high-end vanilla now.
Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John.... Nobody follows John(?). Another V-8!
My 2 & 1/2 car garage holds 2 Alfas (DW refuses to park outside and the '86 Spider doesn't really have a top) I still have all my implements of construction / destruction shed'd in there too.
Waseeley FLN - 'That dog wont hunt' is quite common down south.
//But Biden's Major will bite :-)
Loved the CSOs everyone's already cited and reading everyone's post.
Back at it (this has been a busy 2 weeks -- thank you Microsoft Exchange (NOT!))
Cheers, -T
Didn't refresh b/f posting says...
ReplyDeleteOC4 AND CED beat me to my post. Good job guys; now I look like a total moron :-)
Cheers, -T
ReplyDeleteReal and Fake COVID-19 Vaccines for Sale -
In fact, many, if not most, South Asian countries ( and many countries in Africa ) allow and permit ( and encourage ! ) for Covid-19 vaccinations to be imported privately, and sold, on retail, legally and administered privately. There is an active 'white' ( read 'Legal' ) market for the sale of 'futures' for the prestigious and proven- efficient, three or four western CDC/WHO Emerg Use Auth. approved vaccines. ( Moderna=$33, Pfizer-$20, AstraZeneca /Oxford/SerumIndia/SKBio -$4 and J&J -$28 etc )
The Chinese SinoVac and SinoPharm are genetically reenginerd products from the common cold virus of the plains chimpanzees. So, now the chimps colds are delivering us salvation from the colds of the Bats and Pangolins. Both SinoVac and SinoPharm have not been approved yet but have been distributed and being used in vaccinations in many countries.
Naturally, this has encouraged a lot of fake products - existing vacs of DPT, MMR, DTAP and BCG (Bacille-Calmette-Guerin TB vac )amongst others are being used as Covid vacs, without the patients finding out. BTW, the BCG may just turn out to be effective - it has shown a great deal of promise .
Worse, some vacs have been released and given as Official Country Aid, to some countries, where the vacs have not undergone sufficient rigorous tests, double blind studies, and toxicity and effectiveness peer review. This is just an effort of one-up-manship and particularly to further foreign policy aims.
This is a fact of life, in areas and countries, where healthcare is primarily a profession for profit, like all other professions. Most govts do not even have a provision in their national budget, for this unexpected luxury.
Most national govts can't afford to buy or even obtain a reasonable amount of doses, notwithstanding multiple WHO and UN resolutions to the otherwise. Passing a plethora of WHO/UN resolutions is akin, and as effective, as p---ing in the ocean.
Capitalism and laissez-faire market behavior is the name of the game.
Fake Vac "Passports" There has been a theft reported in an eastern US state, of a certain drug store inventory shipment, which, among other items, includes boxes of cards from the CDC and Dept.of HHS, sanctioned Covid-19 Vacn Record Card(s), form MLS-319813_r of 8/17/20.
If resold illegally, and misused, this record card could very well turn out to be the 'passport' that Ray-O-Sunshine was referring to.
This card does not require any seals or stamps, and merely contains hand written information, with no official imprints. Could be filled out by a 4th grader.
I'm learning a lot today,
ReplyDeleteUsually those tutorials are like watching paint dry,
But I discovered this guys iPad tips for seniors
That I found very helpful.
He also has tips #2 an #3 that I have not watched yet,
But I want to try consolidating 4 home pages into folders so there is only one home page,
And play with widgets. Better yet, see his channel for other tips..
Word of caution!
If you hold down an icon till it wiggles in order to move it,
And you accidentally tap the "x",
You will delete it.
I am hoping to learn how to retrieve some of these thingies...
Following up on CED's comment, above, here is the link to a tutorial for another piece of technology:
ReplyDeleteAmazon Echo - Silver
CE DAVE, I liked the clip about how UHURU became the name, UHURA.
ReplyDeleteTHE HOLE TRUTH, yes my vaccination card was just written in pen by a clerk. I've been thinking how easily these cards could be faked.
Poor Major, the White House dog. It was just a little nip that did not even break the skin. I would not call that a bite. It was certainly not worth all the brouhaha and publicity. I have gotten little nips like that from my favorite kitty. It's no big deal. One reporter was talking about euthanasia. Unreasonable! And the dogs were being sent to DE anyway because Dr. Biden was going be away from home for a bit.
Good afternoon, everyone! Been really busy! This retired life is one deadline after another.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the good news: I get my first Covid shot Sunday at 1042 over in the Land of Sugar.
The bad news: It’s been an off and on time here at the Corner. I’ve been working on the puzzles, but I haven’t had time to come here to check them out, correct the errors/blanks, or read your comments.
Today, I had another DNF, with only a couple of WRONG, DUMMY! thrown in for good measure. I didn’t know STAN or OTOE, and I left in SUVS (hey, lots of them are four-wheel drive now), but changing it to ATVS wouldn’t have fixed anything. Once I saw all the Gs, Vs and Ks, though, I got everything else fairly quickly. A few required perps.
ECCE --- Back when the Mass was in Latin….
Ecce Agnus Dei.
Ecce qui tollit peccáta mundi.
Behold the Lamb of God.
Behold him who takes away the sins of the world.
And, on a lighter note:
Roomba
Funny PZL - It took me the longest time to be willing to put so many consonants in adjacent boxes. "Unnatural!" I fumed. But then I had a jolly good time.
ReplyDeleteSurprised I had not seen the EDAM/MADE gag before. New one on me.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Two diagonals, one per side. The near end anagram (13 of 15 letters) offers a strange phrase. I interpret it thusly:
This is the state you reach when you manage to win a contentious debate without a noticeable uptick in your blood pressure.
The shorthand version of this honors your...
"OUTARGUE AORTA"!
I *loved* today's puzzle, and also found MalMan's expo delightful. Unusual theme, brilliantly executed. Yes, there were a few actors and/or sport players I didn't know, but that's an everyday occurrence. If I can easily FIR, that means the perps were fair. So kwicher whynin! Thanks to Craig for the puzzle, to MalMan for the very good humored review, to Rich for the accessible cluing, and to all who play along in a playful spirit.
ReplyDeletePuzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun puzzle! What an enjoyable recap. Gobsmacked am I. Echoing d-otto, my grid was pristine and error-free. I got the theme straight away so the fill came fairly easily for a Thursday.
Thanks D-O, I get that stuff mixed up a lot
ReplyDeleteYR, I solve ahead when I can. I have the weeks available as a Sunday insert. Last week I started Saturday on Friday afternoon and ran out of time. Or ideas. So I gave myself plenty of time this week.
If you wait, after the UHURU/Uhura clip is "How MLK convinced her to stay on Star Trek"
"qui tollit peccáta mundi", boy we had fun with that Latin as kids. There was the joke about Biscom who won all the dominoes.
It seems 50-50 on difficulty level.
WC
Puzzling thoughts 2:
ReplyDeleteRay-O @ 10:35 --> thanks for the SO and picture (of you, I presume?) at MOE's!
What NaomiZ said.
ReplyDeleteI think I had a delayed reaction to the second Pfizer shot yesterday. It hit me like a truck. Fever, chills with lots of "rigorous" shivering, tiredness, weakness, and general malaise. I feel better today but am taking it easy because I still feel only about 80%. I know all the reports say that if one is going to have after-effects they occur within a few days of having the shot, but mine (if indeed they are actual after-effects) happened about 2 weeks later. Perhaps not unusual for me, since any change in my medications commonly takes 2-3 weeks to show any effects. So I'm taking it reeeeeeeeal easy today.
Good wishes to you all.
Fun puzzle Thanks Craig and M M.
ReplyDeleteFiished the puzzle early at Mcd’s then got caught up in a busy day.
Irish Miss. I empathize with you as we have also had too many relatives and friends dying in the last couple of months. If there’s a bright side it would be that none lately have died of the virus. Natural causes like Cancer, Kidney failure, Stroke , Heart attack and sadly vehicle accident have kept us busy sending condolences. Almost surreal how many .
On a brighter note the geese have started to return from southern climes signaling the hope of Spring.
The birds are about 4-6 weeks early. I guess the snow storms in Texas and other snow bound states have chased them north early.
Cheers