Hello Cornerites on this last day of April, 2021. My immediate thought when finishing the puzzle, of course, was to find an appropriate Gary Larson "Far Side" cartoon to complement the Arctic elements of Gary Larson the crossword constructor.
Friday puzzles are not normally "themed" with a reveal, but this one had those kind of entries; all of which were play-on-words for common phrases/items that might be found in the frigid north known as the Arctic.
Let's see if we can make "rime or reason" of them . . .
17-Across. Hors d'oeuvre in the Arctic?: FROST BITE. Pretty straight-forward; FROSTBITE (one word) means injury to body tissues as a result of extreme exposure to the cold. FROST BITE (two words) could mean, as the clue implies, a small "bite"/appetizer in the frozen north.
I thought of a Moe-ku, instead:
Poet Robert craved
Ice cream. Wife said, "No"! He asked:
"Can't I get FROST BITE?"
24-Across. Window treatment in the Arctic?: SNOW BLIND. Medicinenet dot com defines SNOWBLINDness as: A burn of the cornea (the clear front surface of the eye) by ultraviolet B rays (UVB). Also called radiation keratitis or photokeratitis. The condition typically occurs at high altitudes on highly reflective snow fields or, less often, with a solar eclipse.
SNOW BLIND in the clue's context might literally mean a window "blind" made of snow. Or this, maybe?
36-Across. Brittle cookies in the Arctic?: COLD SNAPS. In the literal sense of the phrase, a COLD SNAP is a sudden, brief spell of cold weather.
In this more figurative context, a COLD SNAP might refer to these in a frozen state:
51-Across. Linens in the Arctic?: ICE SHEETS. Wikipedia dot com defines an ICE SHEET as: "In glaciology an ICE SHEET (also known as a continental glacier) is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 square km.
The cluing suggests that bed linen in the Arctic would be SHEETS made of ICE. But of course, I have a Moe-Ku just for this:
Igloo lacked plumbing;
Going out in winter means
Taking an ICE SHEET
60-Across. Money for a rainy day in the Arctic?: SLUSH FUND. The term "SLUSH FUND" generally means a sum of money put aside for illegal or non-accountable purpose/purchase. Not something the IRS would be too happy about finding if they audited your books.
OTOH, the "Arctic version" of SLUSH FUND is decribing the word SLUSH as the condition of partly melted snow or ice; a condition that a rainy day in the Arctic might cause. Might this be a blend of both?
If any of this puzzle caused you a "brain freeze", I will try to ease your pain!
Across:
1. "How cute!": AWW. "AWW, isn't he cute in his (27-Across. Jumpsuit:) ONESIE? Yes, this is Moe's grandson (9 or 10 months at the time of this picture)
4. Tree with catkins: ALDER. AN ALDER is a widely distributed tree of the birch family which has toothed leaves and bears male catkins and woody female cones
Moe-klu:
Do they call this tree9. Gives for free: COMPS. As a third person present verb; "He COMPS a few bottles of wine at local tastings." But in real estate terms, COMPS is a plural noun and a portmanteau of "comparable listings"
A Pussy Willow? Of course,
'Cause it's got cat kins!
14. Thai language: LAO. A bit of Friday cluing as technically, LAO refers to the indigenous people of Northern Thailand/Laos as well as their language. Thinking of traveling to LAOS? Here is what not to do
15. Reading from an ark: TORAH. My last blog recap also had the word "TORAH". And while I have no idea why this came into my weird brain, I often wonder is this is sung at a Bat Mitzvah with the refrain: TOR - OR - AH Boom-De-Ay?
16. Use: AVAIL. As an advantage, usually. To get a better, more comprehensive insurance plan, he AVAILed himself as a beneficiary to his wife's.
19. LPGA star Korda: NELLY. NELLY Korda (born July 28, 1998) is a professional golfer who has won four times already in her brief career. Quite tall; 5'10". Daughter of former Czech professional tennis star Petr Korda
20. Skywalker mentor: KENOBI. Only fitting that I would get a reference for OBI-WAN KENOBI at (3-Down. One of a "Star Wars" race with its own -pedia:) WOOKIEE.
21. Others, in Oaxaca: OTRAS. Spanish. I had OTROS at first but erased it when I saw it was the "OTRA" OTRO
22. Tempt: BAIT. Oh, don't tempt me . . . another Moe-ku:
Fisherman’s wife’s in
Labor. First child is nigh. He
Waits, with BAITed breath ...
30. Crowd-__: PLEASER. Moi? Guilty!
31. Tournament pass: BYE. Moe-ku+:
Justin Timberlake
Lost his first golf match after
Getting a Tournament pass.
Was a "BYE BYE" BYE
32. Treaty subject: PEACE. Famous examples of PEACE treaties include the Treaty of Paris (1815), signed after Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, and the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending the First World War between Germany and the Allies. Want to see more? HERE
35. Vivacious: PERT. Time for a visit from our Thesaurussaurus, but it must've known this was a Friday clue:
39. Samoa's capital: APIA. Only in crossword puzzles would anyone think about using this! Four-letter words with three vowels are always useful
42. Something numbered in groceries: AISLE. Mo Pitney - or is it MOE Pitney??! "Clean Up on AISLE Five"
43. Maa, in the movie "Babe": EWE. Cast and crew can be found here. EWE was played by Miriam Flynn
46. Clue's function: HINTING. Except on Friday's where its function is "hunting"!
49. Arcade game gobbler: PACMAN.
54. Actress Cheryl or Jordan: LADD. Cheryl Ladd (born Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor; July 12, 1951) is an American actress, singer and author best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the ABC television series Charlie's Angels, whose cast she joined in its second season in 1977 to replace Farrah Fawcett-Majors. Jordan is her daughter
55. Words to live by: CREED. I had CREDO at first; and then I found out that: CREED is often a shared and established statement of belief. ... Creed is an English word, and credo is the Latin word it is borrowed from.
56. Bond preference?: SHAKEN. "SHAKEN, not stirred" is a famous line used by 007, aka James BOND, when referring to how he likes his martinis. Here are a few examples:
59. "Aha!": GOT YA'. Did anyone else pencil in "GOT IT" first? I did
63. More cunning: SLIER. The comparative version of (13-Down. Wily:) SLY.
64. Book before Joel: HOSEA. As seen below:
65. Singer's asset: EAR. I kind of equate having a good "EAR" as a singer (hearing the melody as you're about to sing) to having a good "NOSE" to a sommelier when you're about to taste the wine
66. Drink to: TOAST. A CSO to our long-time resident imbiber and blog contributor tinbeni. But as I blogged this puzzle, I knew that the whole "ICE" thing with the Arctic references would be "foreign" to him ;^)
67. Wharton's "__ Frome": ETHAN. Edith Wharton (author) wrote ETHAN Frome in 1911. The novel is a framed narrative. The framing story concerns an unnamed male narrator spending a winter in Starkfield while in the area on business. More info available at Wikipedia dot com
68. Soap-making supply: LYE. Moe-ku:
Author Adele Parks
Was fooled by the bars of soap.
"They're all "LYES LYES LYES"
Down:
1. TV ET: ALF. ExtraTerrestrial = Alien Life Form
2. 1970 #1 hit with the line "What is it good for?": WAR. Gotta have another video clip:
4. Memo abbr.: ATTN. ATTN K-Mart shoppers: Clean Up on AISLE 5
5. Western wolf: LOBO. Also the nickname of my neighboring state's athletic teams (University of New Mexico), and a possible CSO to OwenKL
6. Small amounts: DRIBS. I've always heard it used with "DRIBS and DRABS". But which one is smaller? DRIBS or DRABS?
7. Like some kitchens: EAT IN. Usually an area in the kitchen large enough to contain a table and chairs where a family can EAT IN. Duh!
8. MLB scoreboard letters: RHE. Runs Hits and Errors. See image, and a CSO to Wilbur Charles:
9. "Not possible": CAN'T BE. At Thanksgiving, perhaps??!
10. Isn't discrete: OVERLAPS. Do you ever confuse discrete and discreet? I did! But after looking up their definitions, the clue makes sense. OVERLAPS in its noun form means: a period of time in which two events or activities happen together. Kind of like during sports seasons when professional baseball, football, hockey, and basketball games are played concurrently . . . anyway, that's my answer and I'm sticking to it!
11. Listlessness: MALAISE. My "Ray-O-Sunshine" definition: Period when your mother takes a timeout ... MALAISE
12. Hoppy lager: PILSNER. We've had beer references before, so without going into too much detail, a PILSNER is a beer that is rich in its "hoppy" flavor (using hops to add a bitter quality to the taste). So, Moe, aren't ALES also a "hoppy" beverage, and if so, how do they differ from PILSNERs? Ales are made with top-fermenting yeasts that work at warmish temperatures; lagers are made with bottom-fermenting yeasts that need the liquid they're fermenting to be cold and still for a longish time. And now you know.
18. Tennis units: SETS. Game, SET, match! A game in tennis is but one unit of a SET, and a SET is but one unit of a match. One of the few games involving a "ball" in which C-Moe never became very adept
21. Hogwarts mail carrier: OWL. Harry Potter's OWL, Hedwig
22. Short cut: BOB. Cute clue; a shortcut (one word) is a route more direct than the one usually taken; but in tonsorial terms, a short cut can be a BOB. I don't know anyone named BOB who has a BOB, though
23. "__ thoughts?": ANY. A phrase that many of us bloggers use at the close of our recap: "ANY thoughts?"
25. Is the first act: OPENS. A bit of a clunky clue, IMO; I guess that the "first act" of gaining access to a jar of pickles, e.g., is that one OPENS it. ANY (other) thoughts?
26. 2000 Gere title role: DR T. Richard Gere starred in the eponymous movie (OK, it also included "& The Women") as a wealthy gynocologist. Not to be confused with THIS guy:
28. 2019 Uber landmark, briefly: IPO. Initial Public Offering, as in a company whose stock is first offered to institutions and/or public investors. The IPO is underwritten by a bank, normally, and offered for trading on one or several markets
29. Fish in unadon: EEL. Unadon is a portmanteau of sorts; combines the words "unagi and "donburi", ("eel bowl") and is eel filets served over white rice. The dish is prepared "teryaki style"
33. Words of wisdom: ADAGE. Usually a saying in a metaphorical style; e.g., "A penny saved is a penny earned"
34. CBS forensic series: CSI. Last Friday Jeffrey Wechsler clued this as a series in which the musical intro is a tune from The Who
36. Reflective gemstones: CATS EYES. Cymophane is popularly known as "CAT'S EYE". This variety exhibits pleasing chatoyancy or opalescence that reminds one of the eye of a cat. Like this:
37. Swiss peak: ALP. This is almost too easy for a Friday clue
38. Kind of green: PEA. I don't think of a PEA as a "green" (another word for a vegetable), even though it is. I was thinking the color, which PEA also is, as in this shade:
39. Yellowfin tuna: AHI. AHI is the Hawaiian word for "Bigeye Tuna"; the yellowfin is a close relative, and it is usually marketed by that name
40. Highest-pitched woodwind: PICCOLO. The word PICCOLO is Italian for small, and resembles a flute. It is about half the size of a regular flute. Here is how it sounds:
41. Resistance to change: INERTIA. Physics lesson for today: here
43. Obama's first chief of staff: EMANUEL. Rahm Israel Emanuel (born November 29, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 55th mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 23rd White House Chief of Staff from 2009 to 2010, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Chicago between 2003 and 2009. Wikipedia
44. Walletful: WAD. Funny clip!
45. Put the kibosh on: END. Put an end to; dispose of decisively. "He put the kibosh on the deal"
47. Common start of a bumper sticker slogan: I HEART. Any Virginians out there? I want to think that this was the beginning of the "I HEART" bumper stickers, although the original one might have said "Virginia is for Lovers"
48. Outlaw Kelly: NED. NED Kelly was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police murderer. He lived to the ripe old age of 35
50. Staff leader?: CLEF. Music term. Treble CLEF
52. Letter-shaped opening: T-SLOT. A T-SLOT nut is used with a threaded clamp to position and secure pieces being worked on in a workshop. The T-slot nut slides along a T-slot track, which is set in workbench or table for a router, drill press, or bandsaw. ... A T-slot bolt is generally stronger than a T-slot nut and hex-head cap screw. T-MI?
53. Silence: SHUSH. This wasn't even a word until 1920 or so, and its origin is "imitative" ... does that mean it comes from apes??!!
57. Voyaging: ASEA. ASEA is literal; AT SEA is figurative
58. Top medieval Tatar: KHAN. Oh; Genghas KHAN. That guy. I originally saw the word "tater", not Tatar. Which is maybe why I imagined this:
59. Clock-setting std.: GST. Meh. Greenwich Mean Time I get; Greenwich Sidereal Time, not so much. A quick Google search also indicates GST as Goods and Services Tax or Gulf Standard Time (Middle East). Whichever way you parse it, this abbr. did not sit well with me. But YMMV
60. Pop duo __ & Him: SHE. I don't recall this clue so I must've solved it with perps. SHE & Him is an American musical duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. Sounds like music from the early '60's!
61. Thumbs-down: NAY. I almost always give a "thumbs-up" on Facebook . . .
62. Hip-hop Dr.: DRE. Too similar to 26-Down? DRT and DRE in the same puzzle. How did Gary leave out THIS guy?!
The grid:
See y'all in a couple of weeks . . . ANY thoughts?!
47 comments:
FIWrong. Misread two clues as being plural, so had WOOKIEs + BYs.
For the first theme entry, I had "ice cap" morph into "ice canape". Perps soon corrected it.
Sylvester Stallone, known as "SLY"
Portrayed a macho sort of guy.
If he gave his son
His own name, for fun,
Would Sylvester, Jr., be "SLIER"?
In the TORAH, the book of HOSEA,
He talks of his wife, quite a playa!
Infidelity
Is a metaphor, see,
For Israel's spiritual INERTIA!
{B, B+.}
FLN, TTP; PETE ALONSO*
-T, I'll have to mail it. Persons and *alities are involved. It wasn't funny at the time. And...I have a grenade story and a Vietnam 45 story. Gulliver/YAHOO. I was asked that by my 10 year old buddy
Now to Friday and those delicious Moe-kus
The W in WOOKIES finished this. Like some of you I awoke about 3 and solved this and went on and solved Saturday. Then I finished reading Thursday write-up - fabulous
Is SLY and SLIER Xword kosher?
I was thinking of Ork since we just referenced Tobin and Mindy. But as you see I'm not familiar with either. WAR held the NW together.
Yep, Scoreboard looks perfect. Sox are hanging in there and Yanks are off to a slow start. My gripe: Sportscenter had football only one day and BLM another day. I wanted SPORTS!!!
Aha, that explains OVERLAPS(ete vs eet)
I saw "mail carrier " and saw dreaded Simpsons clue.
Moe the "First Act" OPENS the Show (or Play)
Not to be confused with Cat's Paw
The TATARs came nearly 300 years after Ghengis 's Mongols
Just enough solids to perp out the FIR
WC
*He's from greater Tampa area and indeed "Someone" on the way
Thank you Gary for a frosty Friday FIR, which despite some crunch I thaw right thru. Liked the non-theme theme. And thank you CMOE for another thoroughly informative and entertaining review.
Lotsa good stuff here, so just some random ramblings:
3D Took me a while to figure out that WOOKIEE had two E's.
22D BOB was cute and so I went with BYE, even though I don't know what tournament it's used in.
25D Act I of a play OPENS it.
29D Other "DONS" include TEKKADON with Ahi sashimi. My favorite is Chirasi, with assorted sashimi.
36D Fell for CUT at first, thinking faceting, but "SEYES" wouldn't cut it so I settled on CAT.
NE was the last to fall. COMPS and PERT didn't pop-out at first.
Cheers,
Bill
OwenKL @5:58AM
{A,C+} You capture the theme of the entire OT, but HOSEA is a prophet and not in the TORAH.
Good Morning, Chairman Moe and friends. The was a speedy Friday for me. My only stumble was a bit in the New England area.
I just finished reading a fascinating book entitled The Arctic Fury, by Green Macallister, to this was an apt theme for me. This novel, which is loosely based on an historical event, is about a female trek into the Arctic, interspersed with a trial. All of the women who set off on the journey did not return, and the leader was accused of murder.
I played PICCOLO in the band when I was in High School. It was an easy instrument to carry to and from school.
Did anyone else notice SLY and SLIER in the same puzzle?
I learned about the outlaw NED KELLY from Kazie.
QOD: There is no shortage of good days. It is the good lives that are hard to come by. ~ Annie Dillard (née Meta Ann Doak; b. Apr. 30, 2020), American author
You can see an OWL .gif a fan sent me. You may need to be on FaceBook to see this or the poem below.
I have two connections to cat's eye, one's a poem the other's a puzzle
Yes, I'm sort of a LOBO. Took a few classes at UNM after I'd given up on full-time college.
BTW, here's a special haiku for you, Moe:
If by happenstance
You meet SLY, a bodybuilder --
Rocky Horror topped!
I❤️ was not my first choice. I used to make bumper stickers. For example
I BRAKE FOR YARD SALES
and
I BREAK FOR COFFEE.
Good morning!
Rainy this AM, so Soddenlink is down again. I've set my phone as a hotspot and maybe I can post this, even though my PC says it's connected to my phone but not to the internet. We'll see shortly.
No problem with the .puz this morning. It was a Wite-Out-free Friday -- unusual. Managed to get all the cool puns. Thanx, Gary and C-Moe.
EAT-IN: Ours is an EAT-IN kitchen. What was designed as the dining area is dw's office/library. Much better use for it.
Today's puzzle clues? Meh!
I just popped out to buy some groceries, and had to clear the CATKINS from my windshield. These were from a paper-bark BIRCH, a distant relative of the ALDER. TOPANGA, TOPANGA, TOPANGA!
Maybe it was the presence of a theme, but it didn't quite seem like a Friday puzzle.
Finished in 9:09.
I don't think of Pilsners as especially hoppy, not like an IPA. Virtually all European-style beers have some hops to balance the sweetness of the malt. Dr. J had another type of hops.
The PICCOLO feature, following all the booming drums and brass, is my favorite section of "Stars and Stripes Forever."
Another FIR and on a Friday! I was tense while working on the puzzle and had some question marks by WOOKIEE and SLIER but perps seemed solid. Rich does seem to have loosened up on the duplicate rule. Pale ale fit before PILSNER was needed. The Arctic theme helped speed the fill. Thanks Gary for a nice puzzle. C Moe, you outdid yourself. Thanks!
On to tomorrow. Have a fine Friday everyone.
Musings
-Five gimmicks in one puzzle and all of them are in our rearview mirror now! Great!
-Your cute little grandson looks much better in that ONESIE than my 250 lb. colleague who wore them
-I prefer watching women pro golfers like NELLY as their game is more elegant and is not “gorilla golf”.
-The Versailles Treaty brought only a temporary PEACE and served as an impetus for WWII
-This one is at Togafu'afu'a Rd Corner Vaea St, Apia, Upolu Samoa
-Aha, Gary’s gobbler was not feathered
-DISCRETE math is an advanced course about distinct and separate values. Google it if you’re really bored.
-A very famous PICCOLO descant
-America’s March contains this famous PICCOLO descant
-Off to sub! I’ve almost got my golf club dues paid for!
This was the easiest Friday in a long while. I "got the drift" immediately with FROST BITE. WAR, SHE and NELLY filled themselves before I got to them. I was right on Gary's wave length.
I like hoppy beer like IPAs which are hoppier than pilsners. I use pilsner glasses for every kind of beer.
I know of ETHAN FROMME, but have not read it. I tried to sample it several times but lost interest.
I have no EAR for sounds. I liked studying other languages, but my downfall is not being able to reproduce the sounds accurately. The same goes for music.
I thought of GOT IT first, but I already had the Y.
I used to say to Alan "Avail yourself of the facilities now. There is no restroom for next 50 miles." Alas I have not been 50 miles from home for more than a year.
I think of T SLOT as a T shaped cut in some service trucks. You can insert a horizontal bar of a T shaped tool that is attached to a cable into the top of the slot and pull it down to secure it.
AWW, cute grandson, Moe.
HG, thanks for the Stars and Stripes clip. Rousing. We used to sing, "Be kind to your web footed friends, for a duck may be somebody's mother," to that tune.
A CSO and BIG THANK YOU to the Cornerite who tipped me off about Thinking Inside the Box by Adrienne Raphel. This is WORDPLAY the book (and much, much more) and I highly recommend it to all Cornerites - "Adrienne Raphel is a writer whose scholarly interests include the history of the language, poetry, and 20th and 21st century literature. Raphel's most recent book, Thinking Inside the Box, is about the historical, psychological, economic, and anthropological phenomenon that is the crossword puzzle. ..." - from a capsule bio from the Princeton Writing Program at Princeton University where Raphel is a guest lecturer.
First and foremost Raphel is a poet, and her deftness with the English language and with metaphor, plus her willingness to shared lived experiences, makes this book a delight to read. The book starts with the early history of crosswords, the types of puzzles (American style themed and themeless, British style Cryptic, etc.), the early resistance of the British in the acceptance of crosswords, and crosswords in Europe. She describes her experiences constructing a puzzle at a week long retreat in the Berkshires (the home of Hawthorne, Melville, and many other great writers) and then submitting it to the NYT. She writes extensively about Will Shortz, his researches into the history of puzzles in the US, and his role in the promotion of puzzles at the NYT, his creation of the Stamford American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT), and the processes that he and his team use to evaluate, edit, and publish puzzles. She describes her experiences competing at the ACPT (accompanied by her parents no less!) - she describes herself as an "average" solver. Other topics include the relationship and tension between grid content and cluing, the impact of the internet and the Digital Age on the production and content of crosswords, and also the relationships between cryptography and puzzling. The last two chapters of the book are devoted to "The Hardest Crossword"; and to her experiences on an NYT sponsored celebration of the 75th anniversary of their first puzzle with an Atlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2, devoted to crossword puzzles.
Read it, you'll love it.
Cheers,
Bill
WEES for a Friday. Never time myself but I know it went fairly fast. What D-OTTO said FLN. I too prefer the ice-cold 2- 1/4" size aluminum cylinder. My choice is Spotted Cow Ale made only in New Glarus Wisconsin.
Good morning everyone.
Liked the theme. Got most of the phrases quickly but had to wait a bit with SNOW BLIND. All good ones. Last to fill was the AWW/WOOKIEE cross; a near Natick. Had 'shah' before KHAN became obvious. Was a bit non-plussed to see SLIER and SLY in the same puzzle. Lucky with WAGS; FIR.
Speaking of CATS EYES; Ray-O, did you read today's obit page? There's a repeat announcement of a couple weeks ago. Guess SHE had a very large following. Chacun à son goût.
SouthWest corner was difficult since SLIER and SLY didn't seem kosher. Plus usually we use GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) not GST. And I first thought of BASSOON instead of PICCOLO.
Once I got that, I struggled with the NorthEast corner since I didn't know NELLY nor DR.T, and I knew OTRA from doing these crosswords but OTRAS is plural? Eventually I figured out SNOWBLIND and so finished.
I loved the Winter theme though, and am glad Winter here in NY is over! (Although it still is cold at night - I hear my pellet stove going right now heating the basement)
O.K., I agree with Yellowrocks and others that this seemed a bit easy for a Friday....and I love it!! I got the theme immediately and thought I was breezing through it and managed to FIR, but when I looked at the clock it took 25 minutes. So maybe it wasn’t so easy after all! At any rate, and enjoyable CW, thanx, Gary!! Personally, I loved the theme! Also “Words of wisdom” and “Words to live by” in the same CW was a nice touch. Thanx, Chairman Moe for the outstanding and entertaining write-up, you always do a terrific job with it. Have a good weekend, everyone!
As others noted, the puzzle was easier than a usual Friday. It was enjoyable though. Moe's tour was also quite enjoyable.
The double E on WOOKIEE got me for awhile, but it had to be BYE not BYs to fill in correctly.
I didn't have a problem with GOTYA because of perps. Perps helped fill in a lot of the theme answers also.
FLN Dash T: I would say that Dalwhinnie is a very smooth single malt, but I can't say it's better than Balvenie. They are similar and bloth are smooth. Occasionally I like to have a Rusty Nail made with Drambuie and a good scotch.
Have a great day everyone.
Good Morning:
This was one of those “Why didn’t I think of that? themes; I loved it! However, my three nits are the jarring Sly and Slier, the plethora of three letter words, and the too-easy-for-Friday cluing. That said, I liked the duos of Dr T and (Dr) Dre, Ear/Eye(s), Wookiee/Kenobi, and Slush crossing Shush. I also like the critter mini theme with Lobo, Ahi, Eel, Ewe, Owl, and Cat. The Owl and The Pussycat Went To Sea........
Thanks, Gary, for a cool solve and thanks, Moe, for your words of wine, wit, and wisdom. Your links and visuals were spot on and highly entertaining. Your grandson is as cute as can be!
Bill @ 8:59 ~ You’ve certainly piqued my interest in Ms. Raphel’s book as I have recently become addicted to solving Acrostic puzzles, which, years ago, I shunned as being too tedious. Now, I tackle one after the other. I don’t think I have the patience, though, for Cryptic and British-style grids.
Have a great day.
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Gary Larson & Moe for a cool start to the morning.
The NE fourth of the puzzle was snow-covered until the last.
Thanks for the OVERLAP definition of DISCRETE, Moe. Learning moment.
GOT YA took ESP.
DNK: SHE & him.
I had two fingers with painful FROST BITE once. In HS home ec class, I went to the freezer to get something and managed to get those fingers stuck fast. Teacher & other girls thought I was clowning and didn't respond quickly -- just laughed. Had to have hot water poured on the fingers to melt the frost. Resulted in big white blisters that left oozing sores behind. Still bandaged & hurting when I started a job at the local hospital as a nurses aide. Hard to give bed baths with one hand.
Puzzling thoughts:
Thanks WC and WS for ‘splaining the “OPENS” clue and answer; but I stand on my blogging thought that the clue was a bit clunky
HG —> thanks for sharing the PICCOLO pieces from the US Army band
billocohoes & YR —> typically, PILSNERS don’t taste as “hoppy” as IPA’s for a couple reasons: the brewing process of BEER vs ALE for one, and the copious amount of malt used in the PILSNER for two. The malt tends to tone down and soften the bitterness of the hops, but they’re there. And yes, bill, DR J did have a different kind of “hops”! 😂
Just starting the book...
Hi All!
Cold, Gary, cold that NE corner :-)
Fun puzzle - figured out theme at SLUSH FUND and then fill SNOW BLIND and was able to finish North (looks like BOB Lee had the same solve experience).
//Waseeley - COMP (wanted help(?)) did not jump out either.
Fun expo C. Moe - LOL the Turkey's forecast and cute grandson.
Ahh, not Discreet [Ghostbusters @0:22]
WOs: FROsty(?), PICCaLO, sEA green.
ESPs: NELLY, HOSEA, APIA,
Fav: WOOKIEE-pedia is fresh and makes me think of the Chewbacca Defense.
{B+, B} - Good thing I didn't think about BREAK.
They should have used cool water PK. Ouch! (and what a lousy home-ec teacher that didn't know that)
Hahtoolah - yes on SLY(IER) and me too re: Kazie informing us NED.
Oc4 - thanks for the info on the scotch.
Play later. Cheers, -T
Everything was nicely slip sliding along till an ice dam formed in the Middle North and the pace became glacial. KENOBE waited because I had drip too long. (DRIB? really? C'mon) plus I'm actually doing the puzzle in an EAT-IN kitchen! (the sound of a head-slap) 🙄...RHE?... What is a FROnTBITE?..oh SETS not nETS. Truly stewpid. Cold 🥶 hearted Mr. LARSON, fun theme....but as I read the reveal my FIR devolves into a FIW: WOOKIEs crossed with BYs. Like Owen.
(Didn't get a tournament pass)..😳
For sumuvus u left out a lot from the OT.
Many locals AVAIL themselves of COMPS when they play at our Oneida Indian casino "the Turning Stone" and still leave shirtless. 😮
Inkovers: otros/OTRAS (what's new) and it's been just long enuff since the Samoan capital turned up for my feeble memory so apua/APIA. If the staff leader (wait staff)at a restaurant is the ChEF who are Cheryl and Jordan HADD? 🤭🤭
Reading from the ARK, "Dear lord, it's been nearly 40 days..what do we do with all the poop"🤥 ... singer's asset "mouth", a WAD of cash would not fit in a wallet.
I know it's simple science but amazed that something as caustic as LYE can become as gentle as soap. Then there's NED kelly (couldn't squeeze "machine gun" into 3 squares)
Before perps, c'mon..don't lie...you had SLyER too. Not a Bond addict but remember being told by you all about SHAKEN drinks on a prior puzzle. Are play glass marbles (catseyes) considered gemstones? Shoulda kept mine.
"Mamma don'____ that cuss word language"...LAO
Lions & Tigers....CATKINS.
Tabby's dimensions....CATSEYES
Wharton was born in NY, where was _____ Frome?....ETHAN
Old tree...ELDER
Rhinitis making the rounds...COLDSNAPS.
Great job, Chairman...loved the turkey temp toon.
Mr. Larson always provides a good time in solving.
Write-over….EMANUAL/EMANUEL.
I can’t tell you how long I looked at RHE before the light went off.
I agree, the Yankees are off to a slow start….they’re simply unwatchable. They’re not hitting, but then again they can’t run the bases either. Or hit a fly ball to the outfield for a sac fly. Or catch a fly ball and throw it in to the correct guy. Or much of any basic baseball at all. Not bad for a zillion dollars a year.
Stay safe.
Hola!
Ooh! What a cool theme! I loved it and was sorry when it ended! I wanted more. Thank you, Gary Larson. I like your sense of humor.
For a Friday, this was a fast solve, but so much fun! I can't even choose a favorite because I like them all. It is interesting how the mind does a turn-about when looking at different meanings for words. Mine certainly did.
COMPS I have always thought this meant complimentary as in: being guests, we received complimentary tickets for the show.
Even the numerous three letter fill did not annoy me because they added to the fun. BOB, SLY, DR. T, etc. Surprising to see SLY and SLIER. Had no idea what RHE means but it emerged with perps.
People PLEASER gave me a chuckle especially crossing DR. T and OPENS.
OWL immediately filled. All I know about Harry Potter I've learned from CWDS.
Thank you, IrishMiss, for corralling the critters in the grid.
AWW. What a cute grandson, Moe.
Thank you for the extensive narrative and clever moekus.
Have a fabulous Friday, everyone!
HGary, one of your clips was a 404. But I really enjoyed the PICCOLO solo. I love the military bands and Sousa's compositions.
Yesterday I had a MALAISE all day so today I will take a B12 to boost my energy.
The southwest corner is a disaster. Duplicative slier, I heart, GST (which is not a thing), gotya, ugh.
Spitz
I guess we can expect 7 more obituaries for that cat (9 lives)
I read the obit more in depth this time and realized that Lucy's "Dad" Chuck was a friend of mine graduating from Proctor HS. (1967). He suffered from severe diabetes and lost both legs to osteomyelitis in his 50s then developed MS with dementia in his early 60s. He would call me and talk endlessly about HS, eventually died a few years ago. (MS is almost endemic in Utica for some reason)
Just above Lucy's there is an obit for a thoracic surgeon buddy, my age, we went to Utica College and med school together. Died of complications of Alzheimer's dementia.
He practiced at St Elizabeth as well..Had a great sense of humor, always with a big smile, ready with a joke.
He would have laughed to be sharing the OD obituary page with a deceased cat.
Well, Fridays are always toughies for me, but this one gave me a real treat: I got AWW instantly, followed by ALF, LAO, and then WAR--a great start for the top half of the puzzle. Things got tougher going down, but still fun. So, thank you, Gary, and always enjoy your comments and picture, Chairman Moe. Picture of the ONESIE was especially cute.
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
Misty @ 1:10 --> thanks for the comment on my grandson (and thanks to the several others, too), but I was hoping you'd comment on the picture of the GINGER SNAPS! Being from the same "neck of the woods" (you, Lancaster and I, York), Stauffer's was a staple in our kitchen cupboard. I especially loved their chocolate stars, remember?!
Frigid Friday. Thanks for the fun, Gary and CMoe (cute grandson photo).
I finished in good time for a Friday, but arrived here to discover that I FIWed. Maybe it’s my Canadian spelling, but I entered Ahh not AWW.
(Ahh means “That’s cute”, and AWW means “no, do I really haveta” in my idiom.). And HAR and HOOKIEE looked as reasonable as any other unknowns.😁😮
But this Canadian got the Arctic theme. LOLed at SLUSH FUND (and SLUSH crossing SHUSH- IM beat me today).
NE corner was the last to fall. I only had SLY in that corner, and I inked it out when SLIER perped at 63A. (Hand up Ray-o for entering Slyer first!). I fought reentering it (but that’s a dupe & against the rules#!!). OK, obviously those rules have officially been scuttled (or Rich needs to put his proofreader out to pasture with that EWE.). Rant over.
Donates was too long, COMPS fit. Ditto with Ennui before MALAISE.
Another hand up for thinking of the wrong “discrete” and wanting Blabbers.
Ray-o- I enter the feminine A ending first now for those Spanish words, because it seems to be the CW favourite.
Our grocery AISLEs are numbered and Arrowed. You would think, after more than a year of Covid social distancing, that people would have learned, but this morning I still had people trying to enter my AISLE as I was coming out. Sigh. Second rant over.
Wishing you all a great day.
I am sitting at the windshield replacement shop "typing" this. The wrong part was delivered by the endive vendor so I will be here for a while. It's nice to have the extensive recap to read.
Endive? I should have previewed!
An excellent Friday PZL from Mr. Larson. Slightly tough, but rewarding to work.
I'm with Bob Lee on GMT. I capitulated in time, but still...
~ OMK
____________
DR: A single diagonal on the far side (NE to SW).
It offers an anagram (14 of 15 letters) which may serve as the designation of that portion of the afterlife reserved for certain children (now beyond middle-aged) who used to give me grief when I baby-sat them many, many years ago.
(I still remember you!)
I speak of course of...
"BRATTINESS HELL"!
Ray - O - - Thanks for the heads-up.
I liked the theme.
This is just for MManatee 'cuz he's stuck at the shop...
A 20 minute breakdown of the Chewbacca Defense.
Funny DR OMK... I sat my younger sibs (and was always the one in trouble later(?))
Cheers, -T
Thank you Thumper. I have been pondering why the vegetable man is delivering your new windshield; I can't come up with any guess where you were heading. I am off to pray. Be well all
I enjoyed the ARCTIC theme as well as the ARCTIC bear cartoon of Chairman Moe. Hand up SLY and SLIER just seemed wrong. But I am happy to let it go. Learning moment that LAO is a language in Thailand.
Did anyone else think HONK IF before I HEART? I lived in the DC area and am familiar with "Virginia is For Lovers". Never heard of "I HEART Virginia".
Here I was in a JUMPSUIT for the purpose that a JUMPSUIT was originally intended.
This was at Universal City in Los Angeles. Not sure if there is another iFly place anywhere else. I have a friend who is a real skydiver who said that he used this place to learn new skills.
Picard: looked like you were having fun in iFly. There is a similar place in Oklahoma City area. My USAF-retired son took his boys there for one of the kids' birthday celebration a few years ago. I saw pictures of that. Much fun!
Thanks -T!
If it doesn't fit .... have the vendor send another windshield.
That one did fit. All is well until the next rock.
LPGA used to come to Danvers near Boston and I'd go see them
"In a PEA Green boat"
Re. Xwords analyzed. As I said I did Friday, Saturday back to back. Friday was ICE-CREAM because of the long, gettable themes. Saturday was typical.
There's a phenomenon in that the unknowns suddenly become clear. I'm stopped, go elsewhere, get stopped, go back and unknowns fill.
I've left a xword and come back sometime later and dawn breaks on marble head
I'd say slightly easy for a Saturday. If Wilbur can solve...
WC
Wow, Picard, I definitely envy you that flying experience! I've watched vids of a skilled dancer doing a routine in one of those columns in Europe, sooo beautiful!
I was almost frozen out by Gary's super chill puzzle this morning. Thanks to all the talk about beer yesterday, I got a grip with PILSNER, and went on to fill all but three squares at breakfast. Returned at lunch to complete CATSEYES, GOT YA, and GST. Boom! FIR.
Chairman Moe's links and hijinks added to the fun. Enjoyed reading all of your comments throughout the day as well. Looking forward to the weekend.
Picard:
That looks like an exhilarating experience!
Here in Scottsdale there is such a place. I've passed it numerous times while driving on the freeway but have not researched it. Those of you who live here, you might have seen it too, on the Reservation by Loop 101 across from the casino in Scottsdale.
Post a Comment