Be it ever so humble, there's no place like Home. Today we move up in the world from a Flat (apartment) to a Manor.
17-Across. Perspiration cause by fear of failure: FLOP SWEAT. Gross! Flat. What is the difference between a Flat and an Apartment?
23-Across. Lucky wristband: CHARM BRACELET. Chalet. I think of these as being more of vacation homes.
35-Across. "Don't cheer yet!": HOLD THE APPLAUSE. House.
44-Across. Best woman?: MATRON OF HONOR. Manor.
Wayne Manor
And the Unifier:
56-Across. Confined to one's residence ... or, as the circles show, a description of four puzzle answers: HOME BOUND. Note that the word spelling out each abode forms the outer Bounds of the answer phrase. Home Bound is appropriate for the past year. Hopefully, we will soon be able to expand our universe and venture out to do the things we enjoyed before the pandemic.
Across:
1. Holiday sub: TEMP. With more people buying online, I wonder how many brick-and-mortar stores will be hiring extra salesclerks for the holidays.
5. Kilt wearer: SCOT.
9. "Mazes and Monsters" novelist Rona: JAFFE. Rona Jaffe (June 12, 1931 ~ Dec. 30, 2005) was an American author. Mazes and Monsters was also a 1982 made-for-TV movie, which starred a young Tom Hanks.
14. Natural soother: ALOE. This has become a crossword staple.
15. To be, to Balzac: ÊTRE. Today's French lesson. Honoré de Balzac (May 20, 1799 ~ Aug. 18, 1850) was a French playwright and novelist.
16. Popular ride app's basic level of service: UBERX.
19. "Is it too risky?": DARE I?
20. X: TEN.
21. Turquoise kin: TEAL.
22. Indian strings: SITARs.
26. Autumn shade: OCHER.
28. Children's author Blyton: ENID. Enid Blyton (née Enid Mary Blyton; Aug. 11, 1897 ~ Nov. 28, 1968) was a British author who wrote over 600 books for children. I am not familiar with her works, however.
29. Spiral shape: COIL.
30. Fashion label from Milan: PRADA.
32. Gross less deductions: NET.
39. Gave the go-ahead: OK'D.
40. Emcees: HOSTS.
41. Ballpark officials: UMPs. As in the Umpires.
42. Fabergé perfume, originally: BRUT.
43. Surgical tube: STENT.
50. Gofer's task: ERRAND.
51. University of New Mexico player: LOBO.
52. Game-winning line: OOO. Think of the game of Tic-Tac-Toe.
55. Arnold of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World": STANG. Arnold Stang (Sept. 28, 1918 ~ Dec. 29, 2009) was a comic actor.
58. "All kidding __ ... ": ASIDE.
59. Totals: SUMS.
60. Poker stake: ANTE.
61. Church council: SYNOD.
62. Redwood, e.g.: TREE.
63. Aussie hoppers: ROOs.
Down:
1. Only president who was also chief justice: TAFT. William Howard Taft (Sept. 15, 1857 ~ Mar. 8, 1930) served as the 27th President of the United States and the 10th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was a very large man, and legend has it he once got stuck in his bathtub. Doubtful, but a special bathtub was made especially for him.
2. Vogue alternative: ELLE. Both are fashion magazines.
3. One born under the sign of Cancer: MOON CHILD. Everything you wanted to know about a Moon Child, but didn't know to ask.
4. Oomph: PEP.
5. Refuse conduit: SEWER. The famous sewer scenes from Phantom of the Opera.
6. Third-stringers: C-TEAM.
7. Dental care brand: ORAL-B. This has become a crossword staple.
8. Asian New Year: TET.
9. Court-ordered, as a review: JUDICIAL.
The Supreme Court of the United States
10. Eased up: ABATED.
11. Born in the wild: FERAL. Feral hogs are terribly destructive.
12. "__ Jacques": FRÈRE.
13. Live and breathe: EXIST.
18. Sun, for one: STAR.
22. "500" initials on Wall Street: S AND P. As in Standard and Poor's.
24. Repressed, with "in": HELD.
25. Harvests: REAPS.
26. It's eight in Madrid: OCHO. Today's Spanish lesson.
27. "Order up!" shouter: COOK.
30. Italian sauce with pine nuts: PESTO. Yummers!
31. Word before race or trap: RAT.
32. Top dog: NUMERO UNO.
33. "SportsCenter" channel: ESPN.
34. Midterm or final: TEST.
36. Crowded into: THRONGED.
37. Elvis' "__ Dog": HOUND.
38. Camera setting that does everything except point and shoot: AUTO.
42. Best Actor winner for "On the Waterfront": BRANDO. Marlon Brando, Jr. (Apr. 3, 1924 ~ July 1, 2004) was born 97 years ago this coming Saturday.
43. Hoity-toity sort: SNOB.
44. Parts of Western landscapes: MESAs. Hi, Lucina!
45. Culturally pretentious: ARTSY.
46. Get in shape: TRAIN.
47. Pancake maker's need: FLOUR. Or you could just use a pancake mix.
48. Metz man: HOMME. French geography.
49. Quite overweight: OBESE.
53. Fully aware of, as a scheme: ONTO.
54. Lofty verses: ODEs.
56. Post-WWII pres.: HST. Harry S Truman (May 8, 1884 ~ Dec. 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States. His Vice President was Alben Barkley.
57. Rowboat mover: OAR.
Here's the Grid:
חתולה
Glad to learn that the ship has finally been freed.
This took me 7:32 to break out of house arrest. Upper right stymied me for awhile not knowing Jaffe or UberX, and "judicial" seemed oddly clued. Lower left also had me tripped-up, not knowing Strang crossing Brando (probably should've known that one, though way before my time) near "thronged," which took a long time to see.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Crossword friends. Spring is finally here and my garden is full of blooms.
ReplyDeleteQOD: There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. ~ Vincent Van Gogh (Mar. 30, 1853 ~ July 29, 1890), Dutch artist
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteZipped through this one, and then looked at the circles. Oh, they're all houses. Oh, HOME BOUND must be the reveal. Probably not the proper order, but d-o got 'er done. Yay. Thanx, Prasanna (Is this your debut?) and Hahtoolah. (Is that cactus the Saguaro of Ceremonies?)
STANG: I remember him from the old Chunky (What a chunk of chocolate!) commercials.
SEWER: I would never call Betsy Ross a "refuse conduit."
D-O @6:58AM SEWER - what a great language we celebrate!
DeleteQuicker than yesterday's puzzle which was easy enough. There were many gimmes today. I saw the theme at the second theme answer.
ReplyDeleteHomebound can mean homeward bound, headed for home. This has always been a happy thought for me. When I was on the street to my condo, I often sang On the Street Where You Live."
It can also be housebound, stuck at home, not such a happy thought.
The "and" instead of the & always jars me, as in SandP or JandJ. It is helpful to know crossword conventions like this.
Enid Blyton was new to me. Apparently she was controversial and banned in British libraries by the time I started teaching in 1960.
I needed a surprising number of perps for thronged, certainly not new to me as a verb.
Susan, always a pleasure to read your well done blog.
A great write up, enjoyed the clip from “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”. The movie is one of my favorite comedies. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks Hahtoolah for confirming my FIR today and for explaining OOO. I'd forgotten Tic Tac Toe. I also didn't notice the dwellings increasing in fanciness, but quickly saw the HOMEBOUND theme as the circles filled in. OCHER slowed me down and caused a WO as I had entered ombre. Umber, ombre, OCHER: I need to get these words under control! Number one got kicked out by perps for the Spanish NUMERO UNO. Overall it was a fun puzzle. Your first, Prasanna? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnother doctor appointment this morning, then no more for weeks. I'm missing my morning coffee. Hope you all are doing well. Stop by again soon, Bill G. I enjoyed hearing from you on Sunday.
"As nouns the difference between ochre and umber is that ochre is an earth pigment containing silica, aluminum and ferric oxide while umber is a brown clay, somewhat darker than ochre, which contains iron and manganese oxides.
ReplyDeleteAs adjectives the difference between ochre and umber is that ochre is having a yellow-orange colour while umber is of a reddish brown colour, like that of the pigment."
Solving crosswords I hold off until I have one of the first three letters. This time it was O in OCHO.
Clever puzzle and terrific write-up! Love the comics!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Granjan. It took me a while to see the dog's tail wagging.
ReplyDeleteI know "flat" is British for the American "apartment," but here I think of a FLAT as one entire floor of a multi-family house, while an apartment is usually any set of rooms in a building with other tenants or businesses.
ReplyDeleteThe 5-feet 11 Taft later lost about a hundred pounds (to 244) with diet and exercise
LOL - I had no idea what SANDP was after filling it in. SAND-P? Duh-thanks for the explanation
ReplyDeleteAlso I didn't know STANG or FLOP SWEAT but crosses filled them in.
Perfect Tuesday puzzle.
And I agree--I love the cartoons added here each day.
Easy solve today. I jumped ahead and wrote MANse into the last themer’s circles. I had to do only the perps on one of the entries due to a spoiler on a blog for a different puzzle today. I knew STANG because I’m old and because I just saw Mad, ... for the nth time recently. BRANDO’s movie was an oldie as well, but no problem for me.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Prasanna for today's challenge. Only in a couple of places. I'm with YR on THRONGED. I don't think I've ever seen it. Also, I've never seen FLOP SWEAT. Once it filled on crosses, parsing it made sense.
Thanks, Hahtoolah, for all the laughs in the explication. The cartoon panels are wonderful.
Today's weather is perfect for a walk along the Lake. So I shall.
Be well and have a sunny day.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteEasy solve, easy theme. Did check circles before fully entering MATRON OF HONOR. JAFFE vaguely rang a bell but was quite perpable. Same withSTANG.
I once had to call the chief engineer at the Buffalo SEWER Authority, a Mr. Suor. He answered the phone: "Suor of SEWER." ( I guess these days you'd get a recording that says "Leave a message".)
Have a great day.
I knew THRONGED, but my aging brain didn't think of it without many perps. I knew it from this Christmas carol:
ReplyDeleteIn the Bleak Midwinter by Gustav Holst and Christina Rossetti
In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron
Water like a stone
Snow had fallen
Snow on snow on snow
In the bleak midwinter
Long, long ago
Angels and Arc Angels
May have traveled there
Cherubim and Seraphim
THRONGED the air
But only his Mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshiped the beloved
With a kiss
What can I give him?
Poor as I am
If I were a shepherd
I would give a lamb
If I were a wise man
I would do my part
But what I can I give him
Give him my heart
Give him my heart
Spanish, French, unknown proper names and it's only Tuesday. But OOO no !! , I FIW: had in onrather than ONTO, shoulda rechecked the resulting nonsense perps🙄
ReplyDeleteThe use of OK'D has been okayed. Think I mentioned once how I skipped pm HS classes to pay only 50 cents for the matinée performance of "It's Mad x 4 World" rather than 90 cents for the evening showing.
D.O. we thunk alike today. Only us boomers would remember these TV ads... Arnold Stang: Chunka Chocolate
DO.. If Betsy messed up the flag d'you think George would suer?
Joking is now kidding ASIDE. Shouldn't it be "Don't clap just yet"? and ain't HOUNDdog redunudant? FLOPSWEAT?.. So that's what was happening to me at my grade school piano recitals. TAFT was so huge he took up two government positions.
Inkovers: numberone/NUMEROUNO, chef/COOK (c'mon I'm not the only one uno! 😁),
Almost forgot the theme...let's see, circled letters..ah...places to live (I see nest is missing! 😄)
The new King Kong movie has gotta be great _____ a monkey's uncle....ORALB
Wallaby-like scheme......ROOS
Getting past third base...HOMEBOUND
Best female prison guard...MATRONOFHONOR
Does wheat FLOUR make good _____? BRANDO
Hah hah toolah ..hilarious visuals..🤣
Fun Fact: Both ENID and SYNOD were used as fill in today's NYT puzzle as well. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Saw the gimmick but not the theme until the reveal
-FLOP SWEAT – Singing in front of 700 people and you start in the wrong key
-Want to amaze a science class of middle schoolers? Get out the slinkys (slinkies?),
-When I started teaching, my NET was pretty gross!
-Note to self: Gofer is not Golfer
-In the park in Nara, Japan, wild-born deer are considered to be sacred and wander UNABATED
-This retired RAT can decide how much he wants to be in the RACE
-While being the director of the Omaha Playhouse, BRANDO’s mother, Dodie, encouraged another young man named Henry Fonda to try acting
-Lovely job, Susan!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was an easy, breezy solve with an obvious theme due to the circles, but the reveal was a clever play on words. I liked the hat trick of C Team, Oral B, and Uber X. I also noticed the mini critter theme with Lobo, Hound, Roos, Rat, and Feral. We also had the O Team at play with Auto, Uno, Onto, Brando, Pesto, Ocho, Lobo, and OOO, plus one cute duo of Bound/Hound.
Thanks, Prasanna, for a fun Tuesday offering and thanks, Hahtoolah, for a jam-packed visual array and entertaining commentary. Loved the hopping Roos!
FLN
Don G, thanks for dropping by. Looking forward to some more neat puzzles from you. (The increased competition you mentioned is evident by the numerous new constructors who have popped up over the last several months in all venues.)
We have a bright sunshiny day, but the temps and wind say it’s still winter.
Have a great day.
Eeeew. Conduit=Sewer so early in the morning. I agree that Betsy Ross woulda been a much better clue.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful debut from Prasanna Keshava if it is in fact, a debut. It produced no SWEAT and I solved as much downward as across to link the long themers.
Thank you, Susan, for the shout out at MESA of which our city is surrounded in the distant mountain ranges.
One of my now late cousins was a graduate of the University of New Mexico and therefore a LOBO.
OBESE is what I feel like from the weight I've gained during this pandemic. Too many of my clothes don't fit. Ouch.
Irish Miss:
I like that you round up all the crossword critters!
Thank you, Hahtoolah, for your always amusing review and today especially the color coding.
Everyone, enjoy a superb day! It's beautiful spring weather here, too.
Thankfully we had RONA the other day with JAFFE as clue.
ReplyDeleteRe. Gary FLK*, "I coulda been a contender"
RayO, I had both those wo's
After the first two I saw HOUSE but MANOR was slow coming. But this was an easy Tues, easier than Monday.
I echo kudos on Hahtoolah visuals. I need to go back in Web mode to see a few more.
BALZAC reminded me of French IV, Senior year. The girls liked Eugenie Grandet. I got stuck with Gide and a dark tale of a guy throwing someone off a train for kicks.
WC
*From Last Week
I enjoyed discovering the theme in the first two theme entries, and using it to help fill the circles on the next two. I only had one question mark, next to STANG, but that turned out to be OK and I liked the links to distant memories of Chunky chocolate. Hahtoolah, thanks for the review and wonderful cartoons! I showed the cottage cheese one to my fancy schmancy DH, who will now have to switch to mansion cheese! Nice puzzle, Prasanna. Thanks to Rich, as always, for editing, and to C.C. for bringing us all together to solve the world's problems, or at least, the crossword puzzle.
ReplyDeleteDelightful Tuesday puzzle--many thanks, Prasanna. And Hahtoolah, your write-ups are always a pleasure, thanks for those too.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite silly clue was X for TEN. Funny to have C TEAM and ORAL B next to each other. Ah, BRANDO--always nice to see him turn up in crosswords.
Irish Miss, I always love your observations about crossword patterns that turn up.
Have a great day, everybody. We're almost at the end of this long month.
For home bound guitar players,
ReplyDeleteIf you have ever tried to play Hound dog and been disappointed
With the A,D,E chord version, this video will keep you busy...
Yellowrocks,
I guess you didn't follow my link several years ago to the
PDF version of Enid Blytons The Magic Faraway Tree.
I had raved about how my second grade library teacher read the book
In instalments to the class.
I guess it helps if heard read enthusiastically.
And here are some houses that will make you appreciate the house you've got.
CE Dave, thanks for the story. Do I remember something linked a few years ago? I can't remember where I put the lid I took off the milk bottle 10 seconds ago. LOL
ReplyDeleteCrazy houses!
All hounds are dogs, but not all dogs are hounds.
I just had someone in to take down a heavy seldom used item from the top shelf. Reaching it makes my shoulder ache for days.
Alas for Cruciverb! They've stopped providing Across Lite versions and now just link to the LA Times website. I liked the Across Lite version best. Anyone know of any other place I can get it? My backup has been the WaPo (Washington Post) site. I can't recall what the advantage was over the LAT, but it was a long time ago I made that choice.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the WaPo, they have a new weekly crossword game at https://www.washingtonpost.com/crossword-puzzles/mini-meta/ that I find enjoyable.
I'll take a CSO on LOBO. I took a few classes at UNM part time while I lived in Albuquerque before I move 60 miles north to Santa Fe.
A fine PZL from Prasanna Keshava!
ReplyDeleteWell explicated and beautifully illustrated by Hahtoolah.
Yellowrocks ~ LOL: I gotta kick outta your explaining how you can't remember something from just 10 seconds ago! I can relate to that.
But in fact I can remember many things from ten years ago--and even more from when I was just 10 years old. As we move on up the age ladder, we learn more and more about the difference between short term and long term memory.
As an old actor, I am especially impressed by my memory of lines from plays I did sixty years ago, whole complex speeches remaining intact.
Especially Shakespeare, of course, because of his poetic rhythms.
And yet, before I retired at age 75, I found it extremely difficult to learn new lines.
The only reason I could play Lear (in my 60s) was that I had played a smaller part in the play in my 20s. Because I stood onstage for many scenes with the King, I absorbed his lines back then!
~ OMK
___________
DR: We have a 3-way on the far side today.
The anagram (12 of 15 letters) in the main diagonal is a little off-color, so in the interest of avoiding embarrassment to anyone, I will block part of the shorter word.
The anagram identifies a well-kept prostitute who is known for her specialty. This is an...
"A** COURTESAN."
WAGGED the theme with the very first theme answer, FLopsweAT which was a huge help. I flew through this CW and was so looking forward to recording a great time for myself....then kinda got stuck in the SW. MAidenofhoNOR gave me the MANOR I sussed was gonna be there and it took quite some time to finally do the WO to MAtron... Didn’t know STANG, and THRONGED did not occur to me. Finally rescued by ERRAND. Only other WO was IKE:HST. FIR, but took 22 minutes, so not the speed run I was hoping for. Rats. But it was a good, fun CW, thanx, Prasanna! And as usual a terrific write-up, thanx, Hahtoolah!!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteFLN....Many thanks for the concern and well wishes for my son (and me). He’s doing a ton better, was released last night, home now.
This Tuesday grid went quickly.
Write-overs....OTRO/OCHO, FENDI/PRADA.
UCONN ladies won in a tough close one over Baylor, in what I consider a rather physical game.
And the announcers said the refs were going to “let them play”. I hear this all the time in all refereed sports. I SUPPOSE this is meant to say there won’t be any “cheap” or “close” fouls made. What it really seems to mean is that we are just going to let the teams mug each other. What I really object to is that is like just suspending the rules. The game then gets super rough, they start calling fouls when they didn’t before in order to get it back under control. And then no one is happy.
You see this in football a lot as well.
Anyway, a nice win and they’re in the Final Four,
Stay safe.
Thank you Prasanna and congratulations on your debut in LA! And thank you Susan - I can't "hold my applause" long enough for amusing us with your sparkling commentary.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't get the theme, but today I did and it actually helped. The fact that the Sun deigned to include circles in the puzzle helped, as I knew they must be SHELTERING something. By the time I got to 23A I saw the FLOOR PLAN and the remaining themers just OPENED THEIR DOORS.
17A Thought that FLOP SWEAT was a made up pun, but now I recall that it's actually a "Four Seasons" phenomenon.
3D Didn't realize I was a "MOON CHILD", a term with a lot more cachet than the official sign name. Very flattering link too, but MOI? I admit though that I do SIDLE a lot.
30D PESTO. Here's a tip. We grow a LOT of basil and use it to make frozen "Pesto Patties". Make LARGE batches, spoon them into mini-muffin pans, smooth over with a knife, cover with plastic wrap and freeze. When they're done, immerse the pan BRIEFLY into warm water, pop them out with a warm knife, and stack them in freezer boxes separated with sheets of wax paper. They make great holiday gifts and they'll last until warm weather next season, when it'll be time to plant them again. Oh, and don't buy individual seedlings - you can get them by the bucket at places like TJ's.
Cheers and bon appétit,
Bill
I liked this puzzle by Prasanna Keshava. Nice job. I also liked your exposition, Hahtoolah.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of FLOP SWEAT; it sounds, as Hahtoolah said, gross.
When I see the word COIL I think of Tesla, but when I see the name Tesla I think of the car.
I wish the clue for STANG could have had some sort of reference to 'Vette.
I also did the Sunday puzzle, which defeated me, and the Monday puzzle which I solved quickly.
Good wishes to you all.
Owen, I graduated from UNM and Santa Fe was one of my favorite places to explore.
ReplyDeleteNow that our governor has totally opened up Arizona our COVID cases are going back up.
I am afraid we are headed towards a third surge.
Be safe, keep wearing your mask.
Yellowrocks @ 9:31AM
ReplyDeleteMy Mother's choir director sang "In the Bleak Midwinter" at my Mother's graveside service last December. That and "On Eagles Wings" were her favorite hymns.
Bill
And another thing. 11D I always think of FERAL as referring to domesticated animals who are abandoned or lost and become wild in order to survive. YMMV.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Wa-Post, TTP, I took your suggestion and solved Evan's sub(Lynn Lempel) xword. I just don't get the theme. Oops , I just got it, ie LEG, ARM…
ReplyDeleteOMK A** has been in ⅘ xwords lately. Although it refers to Balaam variety.
PVX, that's good news. Speaking of above. Also, ESPN is all over the "non-call" and now I have context.
Nice job from Presanna.
WC
I recall Arnold STANG from Hercules in New York with Arnold "Strong" [Schwarzenegger].
ReplyDelete>> Roy
Prasanna had the Christmas day puzzle for Universal this past year. A nice Tuesday well presented by Susan with her personal take. Thank you, ladies.
ReplyDeleteARNOLD STANG voice-over actor long before there was such a craft. If you are of a certain age, you may remember his work as TOP-CAT part of the Yogi Bear world, or as CATFISH in countless cartoons along with being in the MAD MAD WORLD Movie
UConn class of 1969, very proud of 13 straight Final Four appearances for the Lady Huskies (or is that politically incorrect)
ReplyDeletePuzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteRay, thanks for the "ear worm"! I sang this carol back in the day ... bass part ... many versions on YouTube, but this had the original lyrics as you copied
FIW and got the theme. Thanks to the constructor for a clever puzzle.
Susan, two nits to pick:
1) we don't use the term "gross" in this HOUSEhold to refer to things that are disgusting! "Gross" means either "great, large, or twelve dozen" (see my email address)
2) although I've not lived in MESA as long as Lucina, I do reside in the 85207 ... so I, too can take a SO! ;^)
I wasn't aware of "In the Bleak Midwinter" until my music director brought it to me when we were selecting carols for the background of our production of A Christmas Carol.
ReplyDeleteThat's when I came to love it.
It was much later when I realized that Gustav Holst was its composer. I had been using a theme from Holst's "Planets" for my radio show, so the "small world" coincidence tickled me.
~ OMK
ChairmanMOe:
ReplyDeleteI don't live in MESA but I am surrounded by MESAS and buttes as very likely you are too.
Whew - SW almost didn't fall... BRANDO xing STRANG xing THRONGED xing MAden OF HONOR...
ReplyDeleteHi All!
Thanks Prasanna for the grid and congrats on the LAT debut. Did this last year inspire the theme?
Wonderful expo Hahtoolah - I always get a kick out of your comic-laced expos and that Ever Given meme was funny.
WOs: iNon ->ON TO, put ODE in OAR's squares, aforementioned MAden -> MATRON
ESPs: FLOP SWEAT(?!?), ETRE, STANG, JAFFE | FRERE, OOO (oh, that's cute), HOMME, ENID
Fav: NUMERO UNO was fun.
Interesting DR, OMK :-)
FLN - Thanks for dropping by The Corner Don "Hard" G. I'll second Lucina's clamor for more puzzles from you.
FLN - PVX, thanks for the update. Glad to hear your son is better.
Waseeley - I didn't know I was a MOON CHILD either. I read the link and, a crier?, uh - no.
Re: PESTO - I can't wait! I don't need to buy basil seeds nor seedlings. I get so much volunteer basil, I'm set. But I do like your freezing the pesto idea so I wouldn't have to wait...
I've seen MAD MAD World a few time. I recognized STANG's face when I saw him (thanks D-O). I also didn't know he voiced Top Cat; thanks LEM.
LOL BRANDO, Ray-O
I didn't feel like COOKing today so Thai will be here in 20min.
Cheers, -T
Lucina —> I do live in Mesa; due south of Pass Mountain and just west of the Superstition Mountains. I never tire of their beauty.
ReplyDeleteThank you Prasanna Keshava for a very nice puzzle, and Hahtoolah for a VERY enjoyable and cartoon filled blog. You topped yourself with your humor.
ReplyDeleteLemonade, my bro from-another-mother, at your 5:18 pm posting, you wrote ... "thank you ladies." .... I trust you did not mean Hahtoolah and the CW constructor. The name Keshava is a male name, generally from SW India. I have never come across a female of that name. It also happens to be the name of one of my grandsons. The P name is more likely the surname or patronym, and the K is more likely the given name. As to the style, where the surname precedes the given name, is a peculiarity among certain south indians.
Which leads me to the clue on ENID BLYTON, Wikipedia . Enid Blyton is very, very, popular in the British Commonwealth countries, Australia, New Z., Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan and even the UAE. although she is hardly known in the US. She was my favorite author growing up until i discovered PG Wodehouse. She has written more books than Agatha Christie, and the Nancy Drew mysteries, combined, and most indians, who read english novellas, would be very familiar with her name.
Reading through her bio, I was very saddened that she has been Censored by the British Library Assn and the BBC for sexism, racism, and a plethora of Non PC attitudes, to the extent that her books are now, NOT stocked, at all, in the british libraries. That is so very sad and tragic.
Censorship is a terrible double edged heavy sword, that should be handled very delicately, and very reluctantly, ..... if at all.
Like Mark Twain, she wrote at a different age, of the 1940's, when attitudes were different. But her books were never the less, very enjoyable, and I used to eagerly look forward for her latest additions, much like kids anticipate a Harry Potter book, today. I still have some of her books in my library.
Have a nice day, all.
Flop sweat seems commonplace. Due to nerves and anxiety, it is much more potent than other sweat. Eeeew! You can smell fear.
ReplyDeleteSlop sink also seems commonplace. They were located in our school's janitor closets. I was property manager at our church
and was well acquainted with the slop sink.
I’ll take one of them thar MANORs, or maybe a CHALET, thank you very much! Got the theme, and I even remembered to check out the circles.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I messed up FERAL/SITARS, telling myself as I filled in the latter that it didn’t look right with an E in it. Now I know why.
It took me a while to get FLOPSWEAT and to change MAIDEN to MATRON (don’t ask), which is what gave me THRONGED and cleaned up the SW. Needed a few perps for some of the names, like JAFFE, ENID (wasn’t in Oklahoma this time), and STANG. For some reason, I thought Steiger won the Oscar, but since he wouldn’t fit, my fallback position was BRANDO. (I had held off on BRUT; it was obvious, but I still wasn’t sure.)
Having seen references to PRADO so many times, I spent the afternoon reading all about it. My lateness to the party here often results from my going off on such tangents.
Thanks, Prasanna and Hahtoolah!
I actually applied to and was accepted at the University of New Mexico many decades ago. I opted out, though.
Got four feral cats in the back yard, all spayed/neutered and fed twice a day. Before Mama and Daddy got caught and fixed, they had a litter of five, which got hauled off to the vet as soon as she said it was OK to bring them. Three got adopted out right away, but the other two stayed there for almost a year, until we finally brought them home. We were paying their food bill anyway! They sniff at Momma and Daddy through the screen door.
Glad to hear your son is home, PVX!
Vidwan827: "As to the style, where the surname precedes the given name, is a peculiarity among certain south indians."
ReplyDeleteDo cast your net wider -- Vietnamese names, e.g. Nguyen Cao Ky, work the same way; Nguyen is the family name.