Themeless Saturday by Stella Zawistowski
Our renaissance woman from Brooklyn returns! Stella is a copywriter, a power-lifter and an alto in the Oratorical Society of New York. Talk about a woman for all seasons!
I told Stella that I must be catching on to her delightful style as I made very good time and did not find any real heavy lifting. Here is Stella's fun and gracious note about this puzzle:
Don't judge me, anyone: Phil Collins is BY FAR my favorite pop artist. I love him by himself, I love him with Genesis, I even watched that terrible Disney movie "Brother Bear" because he wrote songs for it. So when I noticed that probably his most famous song of all, IN THE AIR TONIGHT, was a 15, I absolutely had to build a puzzle around it. Rich wasn't 100% sold on the first grid I sent, but he also loves the song and encouraged me to try
again fixing an area with less-than-great fill. I did not seed anything else in the puzzle before getting started filling; this was really about my love for Phil and nothing else! My first published themeless as a solo artist, Inkubator's themeless #3 from June 2019, also included a Phil song as a seed: TAKE ME HOME, which I thought was appropriate for a final Across entry. Neither of these is my absolute favorite of his, his duet with Philip Bailey, EASY LOVER. That is a 9 made of lots of easy-to-work-with letters, so I'm sure you can expect that from me soon enough.
1. Calendario square: DIA
4. SAT prep topic: VOCAB - Wanna try a sample?
9. George Harrison played one in "Norwegian Wood": SITAR - Nice to listen to as you read
14. Point B, usually: END if Point A is Phoenix and Point B is47. Baja resort: CABO, it can involve three different modes of transportation
15. Warren Buffett's birth city: OMAHA - The house where he was born is at 4224 Barker Street in OMAHA
16. Stunned: IN AWE.
17. Makeup of some facial masks: MUD.
18. Big wheels?: LIMOS.
19. Breads sometimes served with meze: PITAS - Meze (both singular and plural) is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers sometimes on PITAS in parts of the Middle East, the Balkans, Greece, and North Africa.
19. Breads sometimes served with meze: PITAS - Meze (both singular and plural) is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers sometimes on PITAS in parts of the Middle East, the Balkans, Greece, and North Africa.
20. Middle of dinner?: ENS = diNNer
21. Impolite look: STARE.
22. Weapon for Buffy: STAKE - Standard tool for your local, neighborhood vampire slayer23. Put down: DISS - Street lingo for disrespect and an invitation to a confrontation
25. Competitive event: RACE.
27. Some anti-mob agents: T-MEN - T(reasury)-MEN got Capone
28. Argument-ending words: I SAID SO - When parental reasoning fails...
31. Relevant: ON POINT - "How did we wind up talking about that? Stay ON POINT!"
33. Fluffy herder: COLLIE - Anyone remember Rudd Weatherwax?
34. Kind of bird Blu is in the 2011 movie "Rio": MACAW - Wanna draw Blu?
35. 1981 hit known for its drum break: IN THE AIR TONIGHT - Drum break by Stella's fav starts at about 3:35
40. 10th-century Holy Roman emperor: OTTO I
41. "The Bathers" artist: RENOIR - As long as I'm making lists: He painted Bather With A Griffin Dog, Blonde Bather, The Large Bathers, Bathers Playing With A Crab, Seated Bather Drying Her Leg, Women Bathers, Bathers and The Bathers. Google at will.
42. Mate-related: SPOUSAL.
45. Carlisle of the Go-Go's: BELINDA - If you're a big fan, you probably know which one she is. I'm not and I don't but I liked We Got The Beat.
49. Many a Snapchat user: TEEN - Snapchat is supposed to delete any image a TEEN sends right after it is viewed. Hmmm...what could go wrong with that?
50. Autumn colors: RUSTS - A beautiful view of a New Hampshire scenic drive from a drone
52. Current moment: NONCE - A redux from Joe Deeney's 3/31/21 puzzle
55. Is in the past?: WAS - The longer it is the better I WAS!
56. Ready to blow: IRATE - When I discovered I was so close to being scammed this week!
57. Like Romantic music: TONAL - TONAL, Atonal and Modal Music
58. Watson's co.: IBM - How about a nice game of chess?
59. No-holds-barred happening: MELEE.
60. Nocturnal carnivore: HYENA.
61. Aromatic neckwear: LEI.
62. Deltoid-working exercise: PRESS - Stella would know!
63. Gone from the table: EATEN.
64. "Silent Spring" subj.: DDT - Rachel Carson's seminal work
Down:
1. Lorenzo who sponsored Michelangelo: DE MEDICI - The Lorenzo DE MEDICI tomb with sculptures by Michelangelo
3. Seasons, in a way: ADDS SALT.
4. Bks. in a set: VOLS - A 1973 set of Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia - 27 VOLS
5. Drop: OMIT.
6. Muscly Chevy: CAMARO - There are countless pictures but I chose this "over-the-top" image
6. Muscly Chevy: CAMARO - There are countless pictures but I chose this "over-the-top" image
7. This minute, in Tijuana: AHORA - Quiero jugar golf AHORA (I want to play golf NOW)
8. Manicure layer: BASE COAT.
10. Bent on victory: IN IT TO WIN IT
11. Teahouse floor covering: TATAMI.
12. Come to: AWAKEN.
13. Begrudge: RESENT.
24. Many profile portraits: SILHOUETTES - Are you humming the theme?
26. Response to huge applause, maybe: ENCORE.
29. Plans for losers?: DIETS - Always fun cluing
30. It's about 950 miles north of LAX: SEATAC.
32. Comic-Con event: PANEL.
34. Sports doc's pic: MRI.
36. Gilbert and Sullivan operetta that satirizes Parliament: IOLANTHE.
37. Out of control: GONE WILD.
38. Pull-out furniture item: HIDE-A-BED - I always felt that metal bar in my back
42. Act stingily: SCRIMP
43. Sommelier, at times: POURER - I don't know why the POURER stops like this
44. More affordable, perhaps: ON SALE.
45. Brit's car hood: BONNET
48. "Go, me!": BOOYA - Made known to me on ESPN's Sports Center by Stuart Scott (1965 - 2015)
51. Spots: SEES.
53. Sugar source: CANE.
54. Panache: ELAN - An elegant adjective that frequents crosswords
38 comments:
A sassy girl from OMAHA
Told "I SAID SO", replied, "Oh, Ma,
Couldn't you once,
Just for the NONCE,
Encourage me and say, BOOYA?"
"I could paint just like RENOIR,
Perhaps a RUST and blue MACAW!
Don't be IRATE,
My crayons take!
OMAHA holds that wall IN AWE!"
{A- (two stanzas, one poem).}
They all seem easy looking back. However,.. I knew DE MEDICI, CAMARO and BONNET after a perp or two.
I liked the clue for ComiCon(PANEL). And we had a MACAW once in our NH life. Pedro, our parrot was acting funny until I realized he resented being stuck next to a chimney fire. Oops, his name was Hombre.
Neither CONE nor SCRIMP have a K. That Pope wasn't Pius, nor CaTO. Naturally I had no idea of a 1981 hit song but could name the Celtics starting five*.
If Phillip had been a girl we were going to name her BELINDA. The SE had friendly three letter perps IBM etc).
I only recognized IOLANTHE after six perps. Ok, the more I look at it I expect 15 posts by 9am.
It didn't seem that way after fifteen minutes.
WC
*Lemonade's late post inspires me to watch more PBS and classy TV vs NBA and MLB. Of course UCLA vs Gonzaga was a must see. I saw recap and the questionable foul on Johnny J. The woman's ref ate the whistle. I can only think of Larry Bird for a greater NCAA run.
Good morning!
Started off with DIO -- have I mentioned that I hate it when I need Wite-Out on 1a? Also needed it to morph TOPIC into POINT. Noticed that NONCE was back for an ENCORE, and the CSO to C-Moe with POURER. Are there really multiple coats to a manicure? Thanx, Stella! and Husker.
COLLIE: My nephews first word wasn't Mama or Dada. He was perched in his high chair at the Sunday night dinner table. At 6:00 the familiar theme music started on the TV in the living room, and he blurted out, "Wassie!" (Yes, Husker, I remember Rudd Weatherwax. I also remember that the Lassie dogs were males.)
"Ready to blow": Anybody else think of La Soufrière volcano on St. Vincent? It's putting on quite a show, and half the island has been evacuated.
LASSIE yesterday, COLLIE today....coincidence or planned?
Fun puzzle, slowly made my way through it. IOLANTHE was an unknown, but got it with the perps.
I enjoy WC’s posts with sports references, with me also a Boston fan. And the UCLA/Gonzaga game was a classic, and even better, by picking UCLA to go deep, I won $675 in one of my March Madness pools. Hopefully no 1099 from the guy who runs it.
Thanks for the heads-up, jfromvt.
All I can say is TGFP because that was the only way IOLANTHE could have ever been filled. DW likes Genesis but they always sounded too commercial (aka Stella's pop artist) for my tastes. I'm sure I'd heard the song before but really didn't know it; all perps. Tiger Woods wrecked his Genesis a few weeks ago. Just a couple of other unknowns filled by perps- PANEL & RENOIR, which I WAGged after R was in place.
OTTO or PIUS- waited for the first perp
IN UNISON with Gary I wanted ATONALLY for the Gregorian chants but DIA stopped that thought.
Wilbur & jfromvt - I DIDN'T recognize IOLANTHE after eight perps.
I.R.S Enrolled Agent- jfromvt can probably deduct his LOSSES that he didn't tell us about from his $675 to give him a net loss which he can't deduct.
This one took me 11:41. It was favorite of SZ's recent offerings.
"Iolanthe" and "De Medici" were unknown and un-perp-able. The first "n" in "nonce" was the last square for me. I don't remember seeing "diss" with two S's/esses.
Our reviewer told the waffle cone story while pretending not to tell the waffle cone story. Is there a name for that kind of thing?
Back on the FIR track with a Stella Saturday! At first glance it was intimating, but little by little it filled in smoothly. Unknowns were IOLANTHE and BOOYA but perps were friendly. Spelling was an issue with SILHOUETTE and I tried "ago" for WAS before remembering that trick, again perps leading the way. Give us more, Stella. I enjoyed it! Thanks, Husker Gary, for your helpful review and many links. Hearing from constructors always is interesting, too.
Nice offerings, OwenKL. Good to see you again. And I hope everyone is having a good start to the weekend!
I'm with Gary - one of the faster Saturdays I've filled out - and I was all braced for a big challenge with Stella being the constructor! I didn't remember the NONCE from the recent puzzle so that was all perps.
D-O yes there are multiple coats to a manicure if you go to have one done - if you do it yourself not necessarily. Lucina would be the expert - but there is usually a base coat- often clear - then 1-2 coats of color and then a top coat - again often clear. My daughter and I sometimes go for pedicures as a treat around our birthdays, but I rarely get a manicure. It certainly wouldn't last with my work/life - I think I've only done that before my daughter's wedding!
Gary - enjoyed the blog and all the musical links! Thanks Stella for the puzzle!
Still enjoying the afterglow of a Stanford women and Baylor men's championships in March Madness - I won the overall bracket in our friendly family competition- no $$ changed hands!
Good morning everyone.
Cranky start at first. Finally got most of the east filled. Then took a break and slowly got the rest. Didn't know BOOYA, but perps were firm. Favorite clue was for DIETS. Assumed Buffett had a lifelong strong attraction to OMAHA. My Spanish is getting better so, no prob. with AHORA, DIA, and CABO. FIR.
Husker - - Thanks for not repeating the story before about how a waffle maker at the St. Louis World's Fair turned a waffle into a cone when an ice cream vendor next door ran out of dishes.
BTW - Another fine intro.
Yes, jfromvt could deduct his gambling losses (up to the amount of his winnings..but no higher), and only if he itemizes deductions. With today's high standard deduction, that's a steep hill to climb.
Made excellent time solving this, but for the life of me could not get the first letter of 20A which crosses with DE ME DICI. So, that "e" gave me a DNF.
Valerie says, "Very workable and that always makes it enjoyable." The East fell first top to bottom - a not very common way to start. IOLANTHE was not known but fell into place as the perps were figured out. Very well written recap with spot-on graphics, Gary. Really enjoyed seeing Alfred for SILHOUETTES.
Good Morning:
This was a perfect Saturday-level puzzle, IMO, a Goldilocks’ treat, for sure. My unknowns were Belinda, Boo Ya, and Iolanthe, but, as was mentioned by ATLGranny, perps were fair. The fill was clean and fresh, crosswordese free, with only a sprinkling of three-letter words. I enjoyed the critter trio of Collie, Hyena, and Macaw and the huge number of CSOs: Ray O (MRI) Omaha (HG) Pourer (Moe), Ahora, Dia, Cabo (Lucina), DO (Otto), and, last, but not least, Vocab (All of our former teachers). I noticed only the lone duo of Cane/Cone.
Thanks, Stella, for a most enjoyable solve and thanks, HG, for the super-duper write-up, links, and visuals. Glad you didn’t fall victim to the scammer. I just had a call yesterday that told my answering machine that there was an order being placed on my Amazon account for a $999.00 iPhone 12. Press 1 if this is correct, Press 2 if it’s not. This is about the 3rd or 4th call supposedly from Amazon but the scammers are so stupid, the Caller ID read Watervliet Arsenal with a phone number of my area code and 3 number prefix. It’s probable the tenth time they’ve used Watervliet Arsenal for all sorts of scams.
Have a great day.
Thank you Stella! And a BOO YA for a rare Saturday FIR. I wouldn't call this an "easy" puzzle, but one with a lot of fill that I happened to know (one person's trash is another person's trivia). And thank you Gary for another superb review!
NNE got me off to a good start with DIO (later DIA for proper SEASONING) and DeMedici (among other things the father of Pope Leo X), which perped to some gimme crosses ...
... which ground to a stop at 35A. "TOAD" was too short and "IN A GADDA DA VIDA didn't perp, so I had to wait for it, but even then it still didn't click. When I listened to Gary's clip I recognized it immediately, but was even more blown away by it being a FAV of STELLA's, who is also an ORATORIO chorister. I really love eclectic musicians. One of my FAVs is a classical DJ for WBJC FM in Baltimore whose last gig was catering music to Heavy Metal fans, but has a degree in vocal music from Peabody and not too long ago sang the lead in G&S's MIKADO.
36D Speaking of Gilbert and Sullivan, I've heard of, but not heard IOLANTHE, but it's now on my short list. Anybody who satirizes Parliament is okay in my book. I'll betcha' Prince Philip (RIP) had a few choice words for them in his day.
The SW corner was a bit crunchy, but as I was IN IT TO WIN IT, it finally fell. The last letter to fall was the "B" in CABO and BOO YA, which were complete unknowns. But Crazy Cramer on CNBC uses BOO YA a lot to whip up investors, so I swagged that.
Thanks again Stella and Gary!
Cheers,
Bill
Hola!
DIA of course successfully started this Saturday journey for me. Thank you, Stella Z.!
It was also a nostalgic recollection of the MUD baths (literally) we used to take in California when my niece was alive.
Yes, inanehiker, you got it right. A manicure consists of a CLEAR BASE COAT, two color coats then a clear one. But before that a lot of filing, smoothing and some cutting happens. It typically takes one hour. For holidays I like white tips topped with clear.
I am not familiar with IN THE AIR TONIGHT so really messed up AIR but it started with SAID NO instead of SAID SO and never saw SEATAC. Also OTHO I, not OTTO. Hi, d-o!
And of all things to err on, CABO!
Stella! Stella! Stella! You beat me today.
However, I enjoyed Gary's recap as always!
Have a spectacular day, everyone! Buen dia!
Our first bed was a HIDE-A-BED; that and a table and four chairs were our first pieces of furniture. A sheet covered the window for many months. Upstairs sat empty for over a year. Clothes hung in the closet and some on the floor. Slowly, very slowly we acquired other furniture; the first was a queen bed. When our daughter was born a co-worker loaned us a baby crib then as she grew, my brother loaned us a regular size crib. So much changed in 50 ears!
Nice Saturday challenge (sure, cuz I FIR)
Knew some answers only from prior LAT CWs like SEATAC and NONCE (nonsense) plus an earlier puzzle indicated that the essay had been removed from the SAT.
Held onto waffle iron too long, spree/MELEE and misread male-related for mate-related so the SW was last to fall. The only HR Emperor I could think of was Otto (or Otho) none that ended in the letter I : an eventual "duh" head slap.
(Lassie whimpering)..."What girl? Jon Provost wants more money to play Timmy and Rudd Weatherwax tossed him in the well?"
Vampire's last meal......STAKE
Male Geishas....TMEN
Indonesian citizen....MELEE
Sweet citizen....CANE
(anyone see "Mank" ? Great flick, oscar contender)
Stella u r amazing. Do you sing while power lifting?
Thanks HG Beautiful weekend in the Mohawk Valley
Stellar! I was IN IT TO WIN IT and started confidently at 1 Across with DIA and 1 Down with DiMEDICI. FIW! My daughter used to live in Florence and I've visited Lorenzo's tomb. No excuses; I didn't check the perp, and my Italian language skills aren't skillful.
Thanks, Stella, for an excellent puzzle, and Gary, for a great review.
Lucina: As an ex-religious you know a lot about manicures and nail artistry. When we lived in Rochester NY years ago we had a nun as a "co-pastor", always a sharp dresser: earrings, accessories etc. At one mass she performed an interpretive dance in tutu and ballet slippers while we sang the "Our Father"
We called our parish. "State of the Art Catholicism" 😇
For the record, La Sou-Fra-ere ... that Des-Otto ( the First ?) mentioned, ... is Frawnch for 'Sulfur outlet', in case anybody is curious.
Thats the volcano on St. Vincent, that erupted yesterday.
Them, Saint Vincennesians, sure know their periodic chemical elements.
i would have added Hydrogen, as well, since the gas is probably Hydrogen Sulphide - rotten egg flavor.
IOLANTHE was an unexpected surprise, ... who is Lanthy or Lenghty and why do we Owe him anything ? Probably some unscrupulous pol in Westminster.
AHORA ... sounds like a vulgar expression, unless its a fav israeli wedding dance.
Rhymes with the Torah, from yesterday.
BASE COAT ... some minimal covering for a vile person.
TATAMI .... How a split personality takes leave of himself.
DEMEDICI .... thats whats I buys at the CVS stores... I gets whatever elixir I see-s.
CAMARO - heres arriving some projectiles sans a Bow.
HYENA - wonder how Bambi's aunt is doing.
Definitely a record-speed Saturday for me. The drum solo and Gogo's were right in my wheelhouse so I got off to a good start was in sync with Stella the rest of the way. Somehow got DIA and AHORA immediately even though I studied French in school not Spanish. Thanks for the interesting romp and humorous write up!
Ray-O:
Since I gave up the Habit long, long ago I indulge myself with my favorite vanities and having complete finger nail grooming is definitely one of them. About twice a month I also have a pedicure. The prices have greatly increased so I alternate but I tip generously because the pedicure also includes a lovely leg massage with hot rocks followed by a hot towel. Ah-ah. While waiting for the polish to dry I transfer to a vibrating chair. Life is good!
Dear Lucina, I am one of the many corner denizens who read your posts avidly, and your simple pleasures and joy de Vivre or Weltanschauung, is a pleasure to behold.
I once went and got an estimate for a manicure - pedicure, .... and found I could buy a dinner for 4 on the proceeds, so I declined. But I am sure many Nail workers are grateful for clients like you for keeping their jobs alive and relevant...
Please continue to keep us informed on the many new books that you read.
This was an appropriate Saturday level grid.
Write-overs..... DIO/DIA, BRANDIE/BELINDA, IRON/CONE, OPENER/POPPER/POURER.
Kind of a lazy day for me, not a complaint.
Stay safe.
Huge DNF. INEEDYOUTONIGHT and NAILCOAT, two wrong answers absolutely sunk me. Stella, u got me!! Sorry, HG, I didn’t even read your what I’m sure was a witty write-up. Got stumped with a CW not even half filled, and just came here to report my defeat. Rats.
Tough one for me today. I got the whole right side fairly quickly, then was stuck.
I did a bunch of yard work and then came back in to try again. My subconscious must have worked overtime, as I slowly managed to fill in more. Eventually I filled it all in.
Phew!
As NaomiZ said, "Thanks, Stella, for an excellent puzzle, and Gary, for a great review." Really fun solving this one.
Surprisingly easy for a Saturday, but fun.
Great links, Gary.
I am a big G&S fan. I have seen most of their works, except IOLANTHE, but I know of it. I doubt that it is performed as much as the others. None of its songs are recognizable to me.
I used to get regular manicures in the 70's. It left my nails so dry and brittle that I stopped. The nails still are brittle and one thumb nail is permanently damaged. I go to the podiatrist for a trim rather than get a pedicure.
Gary, did you mean the twist at the end of the sommelier's pour? I do that to stop the bottle from dripping.
Aromatic neckwear brought to mind the vampire and so I thought of garlic. I needed the EI to get LEI.
When a host offers a sofa bed, I close it and am more comfortable just sleeping on the sofa.
Today I joined my first meeting of the book club here. I loved it. We discussed The Engineer's Wife. Self taught Emily Roebling was largely responsible for guiding construction of the Brooklyn Bridge throughout the debilitating illness of the chief engineer, her husband. She was an amazingly intelligent and forward looking woman in a time when women were expected to keep their "place."
Ray Ohh Doppelganger
One of my favorite authors is Martin Walker who writes the Bruno series of books. Bruno is the police chief of a village in France who charmingly solves many mysteries there. I just last night finished Black Diamond about troubles in the truffle industry. Truffles are so valued and desired that it even leads to murder.
However, I have eclectic tastes as attested to by my bulging bookshelves. Awaiting my next night time reading (I like to read before going to bed) is one by Gin Phillips, Hidden Summer. I've read her books before and really like her style.
Tough PZL--half was easy as pie, the other half outside my frames of reference.
I found about 50% doable--before grinding to a halt.
But it was fun while it lasted.
I gotta remember that the MACAW is not an Irish bird.
No time today for Erin go Bragh! I messed up the whole sector with McCAW!
I am a semi-G&S fan. "Semi," because I have four or five real favorites, but only know the rest by reputation. I wasn't sure about the plot of IOLANTHE, but it fit!
~ OMK
BOOYA! Nailed it!
Hi All!
Thank you Stella! Nice (hard but doabale) Saturday puzzle.
I had the R from MRI and GHT (in 37,8,&9) going down and filled Phil's song. I would quibble with you on Easy Lover but this is a no-judgment zone :-)
Last year, IN THE AIR TONIGHT hit the charts again after YouTuber twins reacted to it.
Did you know Phil Collins was also an avid collector of Alamo | TX memorabilia?
Excellent re-cap HG. Thanks, as always, for getting some behind-the-puzzle info.
The East filled quickly but the SW and Texas area took me at least 5 walk-aways and come-backs [weren't for WC's 'keep at it' comment FLN, I may have not come back]. It wasn't until I committed to BOOYA (sans perps) that the final squares fell into place.
WOs: wrong steak, McCAW (LOL OMK!), meet b/f RACE, chic->ELAN, curls -> PRESS.
ESPs: DEs b/f ENS (duh, she's talking about diNNer not miDDle) DIA, AHORA, IOLANTHE
Fav: is was WAS.
{A}
Maternal Grands had a Lassie dog, her name was Colline [sic].
Lucina - I donno if faux-RayOhh (@1:39) is being catty or not but you just do you.
We love ya!
Waseeley - re: eclectic music: Eldest is getting a degree in vocal music (and other in psychology) but her favorite bands are RUSH and The Beatles. When I drove with her last week, her play list went from opera to rock to Celtic jigs - I got dizzy driving :-)
Speaking of eclectic music... Anyone remember The Dead Milkmen's Bitchin' CAMARO? [if you click it, stick with it; it's funny]
Cars? No, not a CAMARO but an '86 Alfa Spider.
I took it out today w/ DW along for the ride...
Talk about mid-life crisis' dream come true - driving a hot-rod with an even hotter blond in the passenger seat. BOOYA!
Cheers, -T
Thank you Lucina, for your recommendation(s).
I will certainly follow up on that.
BTW, I was definitely not being catty or otherwise.
Why can't an anonymous blogger offer an opinion of sincere admiration, without his or her motives being suspect.
I certainly hope that we live in a more mature world on this blog, without being second guessed.
FauxRayOh - No one can see the body language behind the keyboard and may misinterpret type. I wasn't sure if you were DISS'n' the mani/pedi or in awe of it...
Accept this as an apology.
//BTW, your take on Ray's malapropisms were funny.
Cheers! -T
AnonT:
I considered that but if someone asks me a specific question I do my best to reply regardless of any ulterior motives. It's on them, not me.
My siblings and I with Mark are meeting for dinner tonight. Oh, thank God for everything being open! We are going to a very nice Italian restaurant, L'Amore. Time to get ready!
Vidwan, it saddens me to see you think you have to apologize for and defend your comments.
Rats - Plan B did me in (duh). With _ND filled in and not knowing Lorenzo (who?), I jotted in A without pausing to run through the vowels. Oh, well, I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle, Stella!
Thanks much, HG for your interesting/educational recaps, especially the Phil Collins video! "In the Air..." brought back fun memories. Never knew Collins was on drums, after all this time since I'd not seen him perform.
BOOYA - love the sound of that word and am very familiar with it. Bill Spencer, local Channel 2 News' award-winning consumer/investigative reporter always closes his Friday segment on "Rats and Roaches Report" (restaurant reviews) with a "Booya to ya!!" He's kinda like Marvin Zindler (dec.) without the white pompadour wig and blue-lens glasses and 40 years younger. For non-Houstonians, Marvin uncovered what was really going on between the sheriff and a woman in Bryan/College Station (Texas A&M town) which ultimately was the basis for the movie "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" 40 years ago (sorry, TMI). Speaking of 40 yrs....
Anon-T, thanks for the video clip of the twins "discovering" In the Air Tonight. Cute guys. I do remember seeing them in the news in August. Also enjoyed seeing them listening for the first time to Dolly's "Jolene". And also thx for the Phil Collins link. When that was reported several years ago, I always wondered how in the heck a Brit got so fascinated with Texan history.
Sorry - meant to post "...the sheriff and a businesswoman in Bryan/College Station..."
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