google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, April 23, 2021, Jeffrey Wechsler

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Apr 23, 2021

Friday, April 23, 2021, Jeffrey Wechsler

 Title: We must eliminate CR gas (dibenzoxazepine).

Once again I am blogging a Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle. (Thank you Moe for graciously offering to let me blog the April 2 and you would blog the the 9th and 16th so we would be on schedule for sharing the duties 50/50) and it turned out the 23rd is another JW).

Also, like last time, I am assigning a meaningful title to the puzzle, whether intended or not, because if you know of the risks of CR TEAR GAS  which is 10 times stronger than the original tear gas, you will understand the importance of a ban. I am very much against violence. Particularly if the often irreverent, sometimes entertaining comments offend and you want to beat the crap out of me. Back to real entertainment, as Jeffrey has removed the bigram - CR - from the beginning of four/five in the language phrases and the resultant phrases are clued to amuse. There are none better at this style. Once again to meet the creative need, Jeffrey uses a non-square grid this time 15 columns by 16 rows. I guess that the extra row was the result of double themers in the middle, but that is just a guess. This lead to a plethora of 5 and 6 letter fill and left the theme fill as the only long word or phrases. Which means it is time...

15A. Judicious use of an Egyptian goddess?:  {CR}ISIS MANAGEMENT  (14). I am not sure how you "use" a goddess but she was an interesting deity, the daughter of GEB and NUT.


20. Source of some cruise ship beer?:  {CR}AFT BREWERY (10). I think there are actual ships with breweries on board. CARNIVAL VISTA.


35A. With 40-Across, good advice for correcting a manuscript?: {CR}EDIT WHERE (9).
40A. See 35-Across:  {CR}EDIT IS DUE (9). Giving credit where credit is due. 

52A. What a theater hopes its "Bus Stop" revival will be?:  {CR}INGE WORTHY (10). William Motter Inge the author of BUS STOP was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, including PICNIC, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize.


58A. Audiophile's flat, say?: {CR}AMPED APARTMENT (14) Now that the theme is out there, I am amped to get to the rest, so away we go. 

Across:

1. Opening for recorded music: CD-SLOT. I hear the grumbling already when 1A is not simple. (Sorry D-O). The term seems clunky but it has about 76,200,000 results from Google. 

7. Pass: ELAPSE. Time, oh good good time

13. Placid: SERENE. Hopefully while the time passes.

14. Cheese-making sites: DAIRIES. Yes, you need milk.
                                  
17. In concert: AS ONE. We acted together.

18. Scott who played Danno on "Hawaii Five-0": CAAN. Son of James Caan this 5'5" actor has made his own way in Hollywood.


25. Caesar's last gasp: ET TU. I should have et only one.

26. Most exposed: BAREST. Maybe like THIS?

27. Like microbes, before microscopes: UNSEEN. Sneaky little guys.

29. Lover of Aphrodite: ARES. The war god; she was the ISIS of her people.

30. 39.37 inches, in Ipswich: METRE. Where are the Duke and Duchess hiding? SUFFOLK COUNTY

33. Really enjoy: SAVOR. No dinosaur but LINK.

42. Some brass: TUBAS. Don't confuse them with the SOUSAPHONE.  

43. Frisbees, e.g.: DISCS. Do you remember the PLUTO PLATTER? Growing up in Connecticut I knew that the Frisbee's name is a spin-off from a defunct Connecticut bakery, Frisbie Pie Co. New England college students often tossed empty pie tins around for fun, a habit that led them to refer to the Pluto Platter as a "frisbie."

44. Salon supply: GELS. Not for me.

45. One on a regimen, perhaps: DIETER. Or maybe a PILOT.

49. Mountain guide: SHERPA. A clear CSO to C.C. and her affectionate appellation for us.

51. Cornerstone word: ANNO. Latin year placed in building cornerstones. 

56. Evidence of surgery: SCAR.

57. Soffits are under them: EAVES

65. Big 12 rival of the Longhorns: SOONERS. Texas and Oklahoma.

66. Knowledgeable (in): VERSED. OKL is well versed along with others here.

67. Indications of humanity?: ERRORS. Who said "to err is human, to forgive divine" ? Answer below if I remember. 

68. Upper crust groups: ELITES

Down:

1. Franchise whose opening themes are songs by The Who: CSI.

2. Paris' Rue __ Martyrs: DES. Street of martyrs

3. Indian honorific: SRI. Not Indian but a Hindu honorific, do you think it is related to 41D. "Hey" assistant: SIRI?

4. Guitarist Paul: LES. Mr. Electric Guitar

5. Where Mark Watney was stranded for about 560 sols, in a 2015 film: ON MARS. Played by Matt Damon. Interesting movie.

6. Wonderland service: TEA SET.


7. Raring to go: EAGER.

8. Rest: LIE

9. Tentacle analog: ARM. Back in the day my young female friends would complain that their date was like an octopus.

10. Fragments: PIECES.

11. Law group: SENATE. Oddly this was hard.

12. Passed-down property: ESTATE. A common misconception.

14. Kierkegaard, e.g.: DANE. Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (b. 1813, d. 1855) was a profound and prolific writer in the Danish “golden age” of intellectual and artistic activity. I kept trying to find a 4 letter word that meant philosopher. Eventually after rejecting many incorrect 4 letter words of frustration, the correct one surfaced.

16. "Get on it!": NOW. Make it so!

19. Field role of early TV: NUN. Silly Sally role.

20. Demean: ABASE.

21. Capacitance unit: FARAD. Named after Michael Faraday, this is the SI unit of electrical capacitance, equal to the capacitance of a capacitor in which one coulomb of charge causes a potential difference of one volt. Huh?

22. Roman fountain: TREVI. Much nicer than the one by our pool.

23. Stupefy: BESOT.

24. Nomadic shelter: YURT

28. Mature eft: NEWT. Cute reversal clue/fill. 

30. Just what the doctor ordered: MEDS. Nice!

31. U.S. Cabinet-level dept.: EDUC.

32. Family __: TIES. Poor Michael J. Fox, from Teen Wolf to physical struggles.

34. Theme park offering: RIDE. Charging a $100.00+ per day, sounds like being taken for a ride.

36. More vast: HUGER.

37. "The Great Movies" series author: EBERT.  His OBITUARY.

38. Actor Fiennes: RALPH. Actor Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on December 22, 1962 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. See 30A if you do not believe how much thought goes into finding entertaining fill.

39. One of ten in Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son": ESSAY. A book I found profoundly moving while in college, and now, in my dotage I ponder his words as I observe the division in our people. “You can not describe anything without betraying your point of view, your aspirations, your fears, your hopes. Everything.” This may be what keeps us apart.

45. Court figs.: DAS. District Attorneys.

46. If: IN CASE. My little Georgia boys learned "for case."

47. Captivate: ENAMOR. 'N AMOR? The Submariner?

48. Lethargy: TORPOR."lethargy, listlessness," c. 1600, from Latin torpor "numbness, sluggishness," from torpere "be numb, be inactive, be dull" (from PIE root *ster- (1) "stiff").

49. Sharp turn: SWERVE. Onomotopoeia? LIST. I left out the fifth O until the final run through.

50. Hiker's stopover: HOSTEL.

53. Gets closer to: NEARS. Relax, I am almost done.

54. Openings: GAPS.

55. Mendes of fashion: EVA.  To SPANK or not?

59. Brian of Roxy Music: ENO. ENOugh is ENOugh!

60. "__ Rosenkavalier": DER. Literally the red knight (Spitzboov?) a complicated OPERA with Strauss' music.

61. CT scan relative: MRIMagnetic Resonance Imaging. Mine for later today has been canceled as the blood work showing my levels for Bun and Creatinine was not reported in writing.

62. January Ga. hours: ESTEastern Standard Time.

63. Previously called: NÉE. Only if you are a female; so many languages are gender specific. Does that make it harder for the new generations?

64. NFL scores: TDS. Or FGS.

We have slogged our way though another Friday with the help of the 24 plus fonts available as I solve and write. Jeffrey always manages to not only find and interesting and chalaenging theme, but he packs the rest which such variety. I had a great time, I hope you did. Until next time, I remain Lemonade.

Notes from C.C.:

Chairman Moe and  Mark McClain made today's Universal puzzle. Click here to solve. Congrats, Chris!




62 comments:

Wilbur Charles said...

I did this last night. Suitable Friday difficulty. I didn't notice it was Jeff W. Catching onto theme (finally) was helpful as FARAD was unknown

FLN, Red Headed League was one of the first Sherlock stories I read. Very enjoyable. My theory is that when Doyle "killed off" Sherlock at the Reichenbach Falls it was because the British Govt shut him down because of politics.

WC needs to get to sleep

unclefred said...

Nope. I managed to complete the last few JW CWs, but this one stopped me entirely. After 30 minutes and not even 1/3 fill, I threw in the towel. Got stuck on 1a .... and it didn’t get better. I HATE CWs that take letters away and you’re supposed to get the clue anyway. Sorry, JW, I am not a fan of this CW. Lemonade, thanx for ‘splainin’ it to me, but....no. I did not like this CW.

Lemonade714 said...

WC, Doyle wrote extensively about why he killed Sherlock and it did not involve the GOVERNMENT

Lucina said...

Hola!

Thanks, JW and Lemonade! Most of the time I have learned to wiggle into Jeff Wex's wave length and this was fun especially since I found that CR was missing in each themer. And the lack of abbreviations is astonishing! EDUC is the only one I see.

CSI in the original was the best one. It had a great cast and excellent writing, IMO.

CSO to Canadian Eh at METRE.

Some time ago Sunday Morning featured living in a YURT and I was surprised at how big and roomy it was.

I loved INGEWORTHY! Just the pun is amusing with the mention of INGE is brilliant.

Ugh on HUGER. I prefer more huge although if something is that large does it really need to be superlative? I guess as a comparison such as "which elephant is huger?"

Again, I salute JW for his creativity and the use of actual words instead of so many made up phrases although he is a master of those as we have seen.

Now I shall try to return to sleep and read more comments later. It's 4 A.M. here.

Every day is a gift! I hope you enjoy this one, everyone.





desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Quick and witty -- got the theme as soon as ISIS showed up. (Did she ever admit that her parent was a NUT?) No problem with CD SLOT, Lemonade. I hate the ones with an obvious 1a answer which turns out to be wrong. INTRO was too short and nothing else seemed obvious. No foul. Noticed the TUBAS CSO to the late, great Abejo. Best of all, this one was sports-free, giving d-o a good shot at success. FIR in under nine, so life is good. Thanx, JW and Lemonade.


LES Paul: He figure out that music recorded at 15 IPS and played back at 30 IPS was twice as fast, an octave higher in pitch, and remained in the same key. He used that gimmick a lot -- almost all the time.

FARAD: It's a truly huge unit. Most real-life capacitors are rated in microfarads or picofarads. But in this day of integrated circuits, a capacitor component is rarely seen, except in power supplies.

desper-otto said...

figured. D'oh.

kerek said...

35 Across. CRedit where?

Anonymous said...

I managed to solve this one in 9:22, and I will consider that an accomplishment.

Clever puzzle, though I did not like "Der" and "Des."

Farad was unknown to me, and I'm familiar with torpid, but not torpor, which (eventually) showed itself. I'm also familiar with Eva Mendes as an actress, but not "of fashion."

Wilbur Charles said...

CRedit is due

Yellowrocks said...

FIR. Fast Friday for me, although I took more than 9 minutes.
Enjoyed the puzzle, Jeff. Saw the theme almost immediately. I am accustomed to adding or subtracting letters on a Friday. Occurring only once a week, I find it fun.
I believe that finding 1 A and 1 D quickly spurs me on and mussing it sometimes psychs me out, but not today.
Thanks for the expo, Lemonade. I found your clip on Doyle @5:33 interesting.
Funny about octopus arms. We used to say Romans hands and Russian fingers.
That picture of the dry ground reminded me of the West in the news today. It has well below the normal rainfall, even with a potential rainstorm coming and will enter the dry season at a deficit.
I knew SOFFIT from being the property manager at my church.
Sally Field matured beyond her silly roles in Flying Nun and Gidget and became a fine dramatic actress. Norma Rae was my favorite film of hers.
Yesterday I was really HUMAN. Among other snafus I broke six eggs loading the groceries into my car and later punctured a seltzer can. I think like having trouble with the first puzzle answer, one error cascades into more.

Bob Lee said...

Showing my age--As a Baby Boomer, the Flying Nun of the late 60s didn't seem like early TV! I think of someone in the 50s like Ernie Kovacs! Ugh!

Since my NY paper doesn't show the 'clue' to the long answers, I'm really proud of myself for figuring out the missing CRs. A fun puzzle.

ATLGranny said...

FIR streak continues on this Jeffrey Wechsler CReative puzzle. Very enjoyable, with perps to save me when I made missteps. Saw the theme develop though having IrIS MANAGEMENT for a while slowed things down. Another WO was S CURVE before SWERVE. Understood the central themer when I got WHERE and IS DUE. Oh sure, give (CR)EDIT WHERE (CR)EDIT IS DUE. Don't we all? Thanks Jeffrey and thanks to Lemonade for your extra frisky review today. Lots of fun to read.

Bob Lee, only the Sunday puzzle has a printed title for the puzzle and some (like this puzzle) don't include a reveal of the theme within the puzzle if it is easier to figure out.

Hope you all are doing well and can SAVOR this Friday. Another week flies by!

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-EDIT WHERE EDIT IS DUE alone would make this brilliant puzzle noteworthy! INGE WORTHY? Wow!!
-If you have a CD SLOT, you know what a paper clip is for
-Microscopes discovered UNSEEN tiny things while telescopes have found HUGER UNSEEN things. (I wonder if Jeffrey winced when he settled on HUGER)
-Back when we actually had our TV’s repaired, the technician showed me how he had to discharge the capacitors before he started working so he wouldn’t get a nasty jolt.
-Yes, the spelling of METRE will make Canadian EH happy today! :-)
-To ERR is human, to really foul things up takes a computer – Paul Ehrlich
-I was fine with granddaughter retaining her pre-marriage name. My DW, not so much
-Lovely job, Lemon!

TokenCreek said...

About the only time I cringe at seeing a JW puzzle in on a Saturday. Really enjoyed this one once catching the missing CR. JW is almost always fair but thought-inducing and that keeps my brain from fading :). Thanks LEMON for ride-thru. For moi, the ride-thru is as important as the final destination. TC

Oas said...

Great morning all.
What a wonderfully crafted puzzle this was.
Thank you Jeffrey Wechsler for the fun.
Caught the theme at EDIT WHERE EDIT IS DUE.
The crunchiness of this puzzle forced me down to start with SHERPA & HOSTEL .
I got AMPEDAPARTMENT but missed the theme til I came to the middle.
Surprised myself with knowing YURT,TORPOR and TREVI.
CD SLOT should have come to me but as it turned out the C in the #1 square was the last fill, and yes the Mcd’s coffee had turned cold, like the weather this morning.
Thanks L714 for the blog, always entertaining.

I agree withe you Lucina that HUGER seemes a little out of place . A bit of a stretch.

Cheers

TTP said...




unclefred, I too remember not caring for crosswords with adding or missing letters, or with phonetic spelling in lieu of the actual spelling. They seemed to be too much of a gimmick. Probably why I didn't care for rebus puzzles with a single square needing multiple letters or words to get the solve. Over time, I've just learned to not pay attention to the theme clues on them until I absolutely had to, or until they were filled in. They simply add another level of complexity to a pastime game that would otherwise have gotten too boring too quickly. I guess that's why I also don't mind proper names in crosswords.


The charges in capacitors are one of the reasons for the "no-user-service" types of warning labels on many electric and electronic products. You can still get zapped even when the unit is unplugged.

Bob Lee, who is Ernie Kovacs ? :>)

When searching for counts of multiple word phrases, put the search argument in quotes. Otherwise you'll get erroneous results.


Much to do. TY, JW and L.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

A Friday JW puzzle + A Lemonade review = 🤗. I loved the theme which was obvious early on, but you still had to use the old noggin to get the Tada. Farad was unknown and it took me forever to get Siri, maybe because I don’t use that function. We had some cute duos with CDs/Disc, Des/DAs, and Les/Des. My favorite C/A was Inge Worthy. Lots of CSOs, too: Anon T (Sooners), CEh (Metre), Lucina (Nun), Ray O ( MRI), and all of our Teachers/Professors (Essay and Educ).

Thanks, Jeffrey W, for another delightful solve and thanks, Lemony, for your spot-on analysis and entertaining commentary and links.

Our weather is more like December than late April. We’re supposed to have very strong winds later, to boot.

Have a great day.

Big Easy said...

I couldn't get the ISIS MANAGMENT until I realized the missing CR from AFT BREWERY. Jeffrey's puzzles are fair because of their lack (mostly) of proper names. So I FIR even though I didn't really know INGE but that's what perps are for. Took a WAG to get ON MARS.
RALPH Fiennes was unknown.

The two EDITs were the toughest because I wasn't expecting the same word used again.

NUN- Sister Bertrille, the Flying NUN was truly an idiotic show.

Maybe there wasn't enough CR used in Minneapolis, Portland, and other cities or if you think otherwise you can just send a check to the innocent merchants whose businesses were destroyed.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Agree with TTO about missing letters/rebi, and with Lucina about INGE WORTHY brilliance.

Started off with a sea of white in the north. Chipped away in the apses along the sides and eventually had the bottom done. Began to see the missing CR theme and eventually got it all. Patience, and realizing that Jeff usually gives you a path through it to the solve prevailed. FIR.
Had 'traces' before PIECES, and 'estb' before ANNO. Learnt FARAD in physics, but, as an engineer, have only found a use for it in puzzles. Nice job, Jeff. BZ
DER Rosenkavalier - Means 'The Knight of the Rose". My big problem was DER or 'die'. Assuming Kavalier was masculine, went with DER which is the usual entry when the German definite article is invited. (I have never seen the opera.)
DAIRIES - Thought of Argyle while filling this in. I think that was his line of work. My Dad was apprenticed to a DAIRY in Germany when he was 14. (Meierie in L. German - a word I frequently heard. 'Molkerei' in German - Can see the common root with 'milk' there)
A cheese-making site can also be called a cheesery. Usually you hear DAIRY or creamery, though, at least in upstate NY.

Picard said...

I was delighted to see NEWT today because of getting to hold one yesterday on our crazy, impossible hike. Hiking with my unicycle partners Danielle and Nancy and Danielle's son Charles. Charles has an extraordinary ability to see wildlife and gently handle it.

Here Charles, Danielle, Nancy and I took turns holding the NEWT that Charles found for us yesterday.

Loved this Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle. I am curious why you don't like letter removal puzzles unclefred?

SW a challenge for me w SOONERS, ENO, DER. FARAD a gimme for this electrical engineer. As noted by desper-otto we are used to dealing with tiny fractions of a FARAD in our designs. In Centimeter-Gram-Second units, capacitance is actually measured in centimeters! A picoFARAD is on the order of magnitude of a centimeter: Two plates of a square centimeter area separated by one centimeter.

Kierkegaard well known to this former DANE who minored in philosophy.

Lemonade Way cool that you grew up in Connecticut. For awhile my father was a professor at UConn when I was growing up. Did you ever go to the DAIRIES on the UConn campus? Best ice cream anywhere as you look at the cows who delivered it!

NaomiZ said...

I agree with Oas: "What a wonderfully crafted puzzle this was." ISIS MANAGEMENT gave us the gimmick, and the many three-letter fills made that easy to get. However, I must admit to a bad square -- square number 1! I came up with aDSLOT, and shrugged at aSI. FIW.

Thank you, Jeffrey, for the fun, and Lemonade, for the cheerful review. Hope you're feeling chipper.

inanehiker said...

Enjoyed the amusing theme. Since I had AMPED and ART - I originally had AMPED QUARTERS - but it needed more letters so perps helped guide me to AMPED APARTMENT.
I FIW because I had AD SLOT before CD SLOT - because You Tube music often has an ad on before you can watch the music video. I have never watched any of the CSI TV shows so ASI seemed just as good - thought it might be something like American Soccer Institutes! BZZT!

Had to see how many letters before filling in RALPH over JOSEPH Fiennes - both wonderful actors!

Re: Bob Lee's comment about what constitutes "early" TV - I graduated from college in 1981 and someone from my class just posted a meme that was captioned, "2021 is as far from 1981 as 1981 is from 1941" Yikes! Time flies!

Fun Friday with Lemonade and Jeff!

desper-otto said...

Spitz, in my ute we called 'em cheese factories. There seemed to be at least one per section in our little corner of Cheeseland.

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

FIR after correcting ESTD/ANNO; ENER/EDUC; and TREE/TIES

Jason, my pleasure to always provide you the recap of a JW puzzle! You and he do have a bond, and it shows in your review

I hope you all will have a chance to work the puzzle that Mark McClain and I collaborated on at Universal Crossword today. I have to give a SO to Malo Man for providing me a necessary critique prior to submitting that idea to both Mark (for grid help) and Universal for publication. Oddly, that e-mail exchange (off line) has lead to Joseph and I sharing a lot of common interests. Thanks again sir!

My Moe-ku du jour (with two extra syllables):

Campers chose to stay
At inn, despite what looked like
A HOSTEL environment

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

With handfuls of hair pulled out of my head I stared with TORPOR at the center of the puzzle. Finally realized "re" was METRE, a nod to Canada eh (sorry about ENAMOuR) and the rest fell into place. Lots of cool misdirection and novel answers. The theme quickly became obvious but why would any theater hope for a CRINGEWORTHY performance? ( the plot of "The Producers"? maybe?)

Lucina, as an ex-religious Spanish speaker of Mexican heritage did you ever get to meet Sr. Bertrille, the Flying NUN?, (San Tanco Convent in Puerto Rico)

Three roads (tre vie, "VEE-eh") converged in Rome where the fountain was placed... evolving into..TREVI. Thought Aphrodite's main squeeze was Eros not the bad boy god of war ARES, (and my one inkover 😊.)

SIRI's predecessor was Alex G Bell's "Watson, I need you" .... MRI herniated DISCS or DISkS? (I let the voice activation system decide). RALPH pronounces his name "Rafe" (or is it "Ray Fines"?)..IMHO his brother Joe is the better actor.

Where snake-like fish go to pray....ELAPSE
A mature Gingrich.....NEWT.
"Son, will you do this for your Dad?"...SHERPA.
Inflatable paddles....ERRORS.

Great write up CC.

"Out came the 🌞 and dried up all the snow..."
🕷





Lucina said...

Picard:
What a cute EFT! I'm curious to know how it differs from an ordinary lizard? And am not sure if I've ever seen one. A family of lizards lives in my patio and I'm quite sure they keep it free of small, undesirable critters.

ABEJO came to my mind, too, when I saw TUBAS.

Malodorous Manatee said...

I found both the puzzle and the recap to be, with a nod to Bill and Ted, most excellent. For me the solve went quicker than Wednesday's. Thursday, of course, having been another matter altogether.

Speaking of SOs, thanks, Ch Moe, for your kind words. I am happy to have assisted ever so slightly.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Interesting puzzle, JeffWex, thanks. Thanks a bunch, Lemonade.

This puzzle was hard for me. Only a handful of first entries did not turn red: NUN, TREVI, SHERPA, HOSTEL. I bled over much of the rest if I didn't have big snowy white spaces. But I kept pecking here and there & finally filled it. Hand up for getting the theme gimmick with EDIT DUE. That was good to help fill three others.

I saw a strange presentation of DER Rosenkavalier. College music faculty summer project: half a dozen profs sat in folding chairs on a stage with the libretto in hand and sang the opera. No costumes, props, or moving action at all. I was sixteen and sat thru it with my music teacher. She liked it less than I did.

Lemony, thanks for the drawing of EAVES. I thought I knew the right terms to intelligently explain needed work to a repairman, but wasn't sure. I do! I have a dangling soffit because of rotten fascia boards & bent gutters that put water where it shouldn't go.

I am celebrating today. After a week of not being able to use my bathroom sink because of a clog that no amount of vinegar, hot water, and plunging would budge, the drain is flowing. Such a frustration not being able to drive. Had to order liquid plumber from Amazon & wait thru bad weather delays of three days past promised delivery date. An hour after receiving the drain cleaner, problem solved. Yay!

Misty said...

Woohoo! Woohoo! I love Jeffrey Wechsler puzzles--even on a Friday when, of course, they are bound to be toughies. But I did surprisingly well on this one, getting a lot of sections, so, many thanks, Jeffrey! And cool commentary, Lemonade, thanks for that too.

I got ISIS right away, thanks to SRI and LES. But MANAGEMENT took a while, and I never did get the missing CR until Lemonade's write-up. But I loved so many items, like Caesar's sad ET TU, and that DIETER with a regimen, and, yes, ERRORS do indicate humanity, don't they? And my German and affection for opera gave me DER "Rosenkavalier." Lots of fun, thanks again, Jeffrey.

Have a great weekend coming up, everybody.

Vidwan827 said...


Thank you Jeff W. for very challenging puzzle, and Lemonade for a wonderful review.

I knew a JW puzzle had to be challenging ... after all, he has to maintain his high standards.
I would describe it as trying to catch flumoxxed fireflies on a foggy Friday night.

Rules of the game:
1. The long answers will not make sense ...
2. Fill in what you can, even barely sensible,
3. Fill in the short words to get any headway,
4. Go back to 1.

I am reminded of an art critic, who once commented on Jackson Pollock, ' .... but it IS art .'

Lemon, I can relate to monthly BUN and Creatinine tests, very personally. Perhaps we share a greater DNA relationship than would be normally envisaged. As a compliment, I imagine you as a Lemonerd, because of your passion, not ony for the etymology for words, but especially because of your arcane knowledge on the statistical frequency of their usage. Who would have ever thought of that ? For it is not the words in themselves, but their usage and acceptability that establishes them.

Sri ( actually pronounced 'shree'/ more as Shri, and written as such - ) just means Mister. Originally for a title, like Esq. for a married man, but now used indiscriminately, irrespective of marital connections,( or problems- ).

SIRI comes from "SRI", the hugely famous, but much-less known in popular news, Stanford Research Institute, an offshoot of Stanford U. which developed .... CALO, ...... (the ) Cognitive Assistant thet Learns and Organises.
Too many pages on Wikiedia, to be linked.
But SRI developed many umpteen robots, remote sensing, the mouse,( or one of the Mice- ) , and EPA pollution standards and even magnetic ink character recognition ( on our bank checks - ). I have relatives who work there.
IMHO, the SRI is atleast, as important as the NSA.


Without broaching on religion, and apologies, in advance, to those of whom are of the persuasion of the ancient Egyptian religions, I am still trying to determine, from the picture, whether ISIS is wearing a two piece bikini, or a one piece, or a onesie, or a halfsie. We must however marvel at the ancient creative artists and copywriters of long ago, that they could produce an image so passionately revealing, and yet so tasteful.

have a nice day, all.

Anonymous said...

I did it without getting the theme or understanding my answers. Go figure.

Yellowrocks said...

Drop the CR in each theme answer. The theater wanted an INGE WORTHY performance, worthy of Inge's great reputation.

Wilbur Charles said...

Lucina, I saw your sleep post and realized you're two hours behind while I'm ahead. The diff? I needed a nap and you were going to bed.

UncleFred , I've been following your progress, keep at it. My regular solving paralleled my joining CC. Esoteric clueing like the "CR" is part of joy; TTP and I solve Evan Birnholz Wa-Post xword where rebii* and other tricks are common. I've had a nit now and then too.**

Speaking of esoteric, my Doyle theory related to his dabbling (between lines) in Rosacrutianism , European politics and IMHO sensitive to the highly sensitive British ruling hierarchy.

Note, The founder, our ubiquitous EDGAR ALLEN POE postulated that the best way to hide something was 'in plain sight '(Purloined Letter)

Note that the Eagles(Hotel) and Beatles(LSD) denied similarly that their works had hidden messages. IMHO again, the Crown might have even paid Doyle to desist ***

*Rebuses?
**I'd estimate a half dozen in 8 years
***Or an offer not to be resisted

AnonymousPVX said...


Another JW beauty for Friday. This one filled nicely.

Write-overs....AGA/SRI, TREE/TIES, EROS/ARES.

Mr. Electric Guitar could be Leo Fender as well...invented the first electric bass guitar I believe.

Forgot to post yesterday. I use the usual Finish /Jet Dry rinse aid. No spotting here as the water is municipal and soft.

Stay safe.

Kelly Clark said...

Beautiful puzzle today -- agree with all on the downright coolness of EDIT WHERE EDIT IS DUE and INGEWORTHY. Also enjoyed the Chairman's and Mark McClain's "Letters from Greece" opus -- thanks!

Lemonade714 said...

TTP, are you serious about not knowing the great ERNIE KOVACS ? Then again he did die in 1962 at the age of 42. His wife was the Muriel Cigar girl who wanted you to sspend a little DIME with her.

Anonymous T said...

Whoot! I did it! A Friday JefWex and I nailed it -- theme and all.
//theme helped when I finally figured it out; then I was able to suss the reveal and fix east-central.

Hi All!

Thank you JW for a fantastic puzzle. I didn't get INGE until Lem explained it (ok, that's pretty witty) but otherwise a (mostly) clear grid.

Thanks for the expo Lem and a nice pic of TREVI.
//I'm always jealous of you well traveled Cornerites that tell us about a place cited in the puzzle. Today I can actually say: "TREVI - I've been there! The gelato place to the left of the fountain is pretty good :-)"

WOs: Dyes which lead to 'wiDer' and (with NEWT next to it) got thinking we were going to have a WW theme. All that got restyled with a little GEL.
ESPs: RALPH, DER, DES. CSI took an 'abc' run to get the C.

Fav: Boomer SOONER! [thanks for the SO IM!] I got my MS there, DW her PhD, and Eldest is wrapping up a double major in Music and Psychology come December.

FLN - 'weaner pod' is new to me Picard. Thanks.

Naomi - you're quicker than I; I was trying to figure out what kind of APARTMENT when I went back to the themers. That's when then the penny finally dropped.

inanehiker - I saw something for My Generation [obligatory The Who] (HS class of '88). Essentially, Me talking about the '90s today is like (old) folks in the '90s telling GenX how great the '60s were.

Thanks C.C. for linking C. Moe's 'Greek festival'; Nicely done Mark & Moe (cute Ku too).

Even a 1.5 nF capacitor can provide a heck of a shock [11:17 - I love this guy; even bought the "Full Bridge Rectifier" tee].

Y'all have a peaceful afternoon.

Cheers, -T

CanadianEh! said...

Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
Yes, I FIRed and got the CR theme. Many smiles.

And yes, I will take a CSO at METRE (and another one at MEDS). I have made you all very aware of some of our different spellings. But then I had to enter SAVOR (and LOL Ray-o, I did not even notice ENAMOR!).
TURPOR is a wonderful word (and doesn’t have a U even for me😁😁).

ESTATE beside SENATE (and the different pronunciation) was interesting.

Family tree changed to TIES, tent to YURT, wider to HUGER (ugh).
Hand up for Dyes before GELS, and trying to find a shorter word for Philosopher - oh, DANE.

Weather is warming up this afternoon and snow is melting. I’m off for a walk.
Wishing you all a great day.

NaomiZ said...

In case Picard does not return to respond to Lucina:

Newts are salamanders, amphibians with smooth skins. Efts are juvenile newts. Lizards are reptiles with scaly skins, like snakes.

Picard was holding a newt in the photos.

Ol' Man Keith said...

How's this for a happy Friday PZL?! -- a Wechsler that is quite doable!
Hurrah!

I couldn't suss the gimmick until I filled INGE WORTHY. The missing "CR" clarified everything.

Thank you, Ray/Sunshine for the explanation of the original of TREVI. I never knew...

Tomorrow I'm expecting a visit from an actor friend I have not seen in the flesh in nearly FIFTY YEARS! Ye gods.
I directed him as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, one of our finest productions back in my LORT days.
In my last season of my first theater in Richmond (VA), he was Horatio to my Hamlet.
("What make you from Wittenberg, Horatio? I know you are no truant!")
~ OMK

Anonymous T said...

FLN: OMK - I meant to ask, were you in the audience or the play (or directing!) the 14 yro Dame Juliet Dench?

Ray-O: I thought Trevi was three rivers, but I Googled and you are correct.
Regardless, the fountain is beautiful and the restaurant 1/2 a block a way (on the right) is (was?) nice.

NaomiZ - Anoles which my backyard immensely. Yes, they're a lizard but cute and you don't mind the occasional one in the house.

Cheers, -T

Ol' Man Keith said...

Happy Birthday, Will Shakespeare!
457 Years Young.
~ OMK

Jayce said...

As Oas said, "What a wonderfully crafted puzzle this was. Thank you Jeffrey Wechsler for the fun." I see NaomiZ also concurs. I loved this puzzle.

Stay well, all.

Lucina said...

WC:
Yes, I see that you are way out on the eastern end of the country. I hope you enjoyed your nap. I really needed to go back to bed as I have had such a busy day. Tomorrow 14 people will be here for dinner and many preparations are required. Three of my siblings (two sisters and a brother), my sister-in-law, her sister, a niece and my daughter and her husband and three children, another grand-daughter, a family friend as well as Mark and myself. I love that we can once again gather for social events. Our governor has even dismissed masks.

Ribs, corn and salad are on the menu as they are easy to prepare and someone is bringing dessert.

PK:
How awful for you to be in such a situation and I am glad that it was resolved with the arrival of drain cleaner.

NamoiZ:
Thank you. I should go back and study those photos more carefully.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Oddly, yesterday the answer TRIO evoked a Three Coins in the Fountain graphic and today we have the TREVI Fountain.

Wilbur Charles said...

Re. Time. I recall in the 50s parades the Spanish American War vets leading the WWI and WWII vets. Late 80s or early 90s chaps.

Is having ARES and MARS in same xword nit worthy?

Added bonus if you knew the first name of our worthy DANE*

Didn't we just have CSI? Sunday? Perp me once, shame on you, Perps me twice…

BTW, very doable Saturday. Fun for all.

WC

*SOREN (Kirkegaard)

Wilbur Charles said...

Ps, Lucina eat your heart out, literally. Have a great time. You are blessed

Lucina said...

WC:
Thank you! Yes, I am truly blessed. Like everyone else our entire family has been unable to meet all during the year of Covid-19 so I welcome the opportunity. One of my nieces is planning a HUGE party in May. Family gatherings can be between 30 and 60.

No, we are not of Mexican descent, but from the Spaniards who roamed this area and populated it in the 16th century.

CMoe:
I solved your Greek-themed puzzle, found it entertaining and just a teeny bit challenging.

Husker Gary said...

Addendum
-inanehiker - As to the age comparison you made, this occurred to me the other day. I am subbing in 2021 at 74 years of age and so if I had a sub like me in 1961, that sub would have started teaching the year after WWI ended in 1919. Wow!
-PK, when our kitchen sink plugs up it backs up into the dishwasher and it then refuses to run until I sop up the excess water in a spill tray. Liquid Plummer you say…
-I remember Ernie Kovacs and the Nairobi Trio. Okay, mostly Edie Adams and her Muriel Cigar Ads – “Why don’t you pick one up and smoke it sometime!’

Chairman Moe said...

Lucina @ 6:36 --> Thanks for the feedback on our puzzle! I wonder if the placement on a Friday had anything to do with its difficulty??!! ;^)

PK said...

Husker, Yep, Liquid Plumber! I was fearing I would need a flesh & blood plumber.

PK said...

Husker, the stuff may be in several strengths. Mine is entitled Liquid Plumr Pro-strength Full Clog Destroyer Plus PipeGuard Liquid Drain Cleaner. Whew!

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Lucina....My feeble mind has all it could do to get through a puzzle. Thought you had said once there was a Mexican heritage. My mistake Lo siento. So are you related to ZORRO?

Anon T. You may be thinking of the Fontana dei Quattro Fiume in Piazza Navona ("Fountain of the 4 rivers", the Nile, Danube, Ganges and Rio de la Plata of the Americas...their names I had to Google 🤔)

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Fiumi rivers plural. Glad at least I got the puzzle right 🙄

Lemonade714 said...

As always our Friday solvers entertain also. I was hoping someone would comment on the ARES MARS appearance in the same puzzle. I loved it.

Thank you also for bringing up Leo Fender who did actually begin the electric guitar business going before Les Paul did, though I think it was a variation of Les' original idea. They received a joint award I think from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. All the outstanding gutarists played both designs.

No surprise about Scott Caan being that short? Anyone else recall the Pluto Platter?

Sleep well Corner

i need to have my comment read back to get o the typos...ah well

Wilbur Charles said...

L714, I'm not a Dr of Cruciverbal but suspected that Ares-Mars combo might be against the fine print. I actually was careful to check Perps before inking in ARES

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Also was just mentioning next door that tomorrow's (Sat) seemed unusually doable. I missed last Saturday so I can't compare

WC

Anonymous T said...

Ray-O: You're right! I was mixing up my fountains. DW (who's been to Italy more than I (she took her students 5 years in a row)) showed me both while we were in Rome for the week. From there she showed me around Florence & then we ended our 31st anniversary trip in Venice. We so want to go back.
Next year she's taking here students to Spain - so that's probably the next on our list.

It's kinda funny - when I first started at *Big Oil* I traveled to Cairo, Aberdeen, and Calgary. Then $$Oil crashed and I never made it to Perth and Argentina before they were sold off.
But, then, DW started traveling for her International students' study program and went all over Russia, China, Italy, and, coming soon, Spain (last year she canceled the Spain trip 4 days before leaving because of C19 - good thing she did too; two weeks later they wouldn't have been allowed back into USofA).

Cheers, -T

Lucina said...

Ray-O:
Some of my relatives have had their genealogy traced and have as yet not found any relation to Zorro. Yea. Disappointing.

I am so tired. It's going to be an early bedtime for me and tomorrow is another busy one.

AnonT:
Those are all wonderful places to visit. I hope your trip to Spain pans out. I would go in a heartbeat if I could.

Unknown said...

Late post cleaned out the garage ALL DAY! THEN TOOK A loooong jacuzzi bath. I, too, wonder why my paper (L A Times) doesn't give us the title to the puzzle???? Knowing the title often helps the solver get the theme. Finished this entry in about 90 minutes, but had to see here what the clue was.

Anonymous T said...

Unknown @1:23...

You can't sleep either?
There are no titles for Mon-Sat LAT puzzles... That burden is our our Expo SHERPA's for the day.

Lucina - I don't care where DW takes me next. I'll be w/ her and learning new things/cultures. Always fun when we both can put work aside.

Cheers, -T
//Did anyone want another museum story?
We were in Gilroy, CA to meetup with college friends.
We also went to SFO to see DW's aunt (who we will see this August for her 80th BD!).
DW's aunt (who lives across The Bay) has life-time passes to pretty much everything Artsy in SFO [even the opera & ballet!].
She (DW's Aunt) took us to the Chihuly exhibit and, gosh darn it, if our our friends who lived in Gilroy was just ahead of us in line.
//DW's Aunt showed her patron card and we skipped the line :-)

Our college chums had 3 rambunctious little boys at the time (I'm Godfather to the Eldest) that didn't mind much to what they were told and my buddy didn't seem to care.
I spent my whole time, while trying to enjoy the art, keeping those little imps from breaking expensive glass :-)

Cheers, -T

Hungry Mother said...

FIR, no write-overs. I liked the theme and it helped figure out the themers (after the first).