Theme: "Director's Cut"* - Six famous directors are separated one black square. See Answer Grid.
21. *Marvel hero with a red-white-and-blue costume: CAPTAIN AMERICA. 23. *Soviet newspaper: PRAVDA. Frank Capra.
34. *Hunk: STUD MUFFIN. 36. *Take only the best: CHERRY-PICK. David Fincher.
49. *Instrument played with mallets: GLOCKENSPIEL. 53. *Citrus used to flavor tea: BERGAMOT.Steven Spielberg.
71. *Turkey's area: NEAR EAST. 72. *Symbol of worthlessness: WOODEN NICKEL. Clint Eastwood.
86. *Camper's knot: CLOVE HITCH.
89. *Ridiculous, as an excuse: COCKAMAMIE. Alfred Hitchcock.
103. *"Walk This Way" rap trio: RUN DMC.
104. *Oscar-winning role for Judi Dench: QUEENE LIZABETH. Steve McQueen.
Love the theme and execution. I did a "Director's Cut" for the Universal a while ago. But Joe's approach is far more impressive, with long director names and full six grid-spanning entries.
Only 138 words (our
standard is 144). Lots of nice non-fill, some chewy. Not surprising
since we see more themeless grids from Joe.
Across:
8. Iraq port city: BASRA.
13. Knighted English composer: ELGAR (Edward)
18. Bust of Pope Paul V sculptor: BERNINI. Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Here's the bust.
19. Language family including Finnish and Hungarian: URALIC.
Wiki says "The name "Uralic" derives from the family's original homeland
(Urheimat) commonly hypothesized to be in the vicinity of the Ural
Mountains."
20. "I Hope You Dance" singer Womack: LEE ANN.
24. Like a racehorse's hooves: SHOD.
25. Apple pie order: A LA MODE.
26. Last-second online auction bids: SNIPES.
27. OXO tool: PEELER. This is the peeler I use. It's made in Thailand. Works great with mangoes.
29. Comet, to some: OMEN.
30. Summer hrs. along the Mississippi: CDT.
32. Humdingers: LULUS.
38. Android alternative: IOS.
39. Halloween decoration: BAT.
40. "Family Guy" kid with a football-shaped head: STEWIE. Never watched the show.
41. __ Beta Kappa: PHI.
42. Diva's numbers: SOLI. Plural of solo.
44. Base-level rideshare option: UberX. OK, this site has
detailed information on UberX, UberXL, etc. "UberX seats 4 passengers.
UberX cars are typically sedans such as Toyota Prius, Honda Accord".
Gary used Uber during his DC trip a few years ago.
46. Host before Carson: PAAR (Jack)
57. Cattle catchers: ROPES.
58. Cantina fare: TAPAS.
59. '60s-'70s epithet based on a 21st-century Emmy-winning drama: MAD MEN ERA. OK, Wiki comes to the rescue again: "According to the pilot episode, the phrase "Mad men"
was a slang term coined in the 1950s by advertisers working on Madison
Avenue to refer to themselves, "Mad" being short for "Madison".
60. Appliance found in Provence?: OVEN. Provence.
61. Survivalist Stroud: LES.
62. Okra or orca unit: POD.
63. "Dracula" author Stoker: BRAM.
64. Phisher's crime: WIRE FRAUD.
68. Throat problems: FROGS.
70. Grand Canyon sights: CACTI.
74. Cravings: YENS.
75. Slightly lit: TIPSY.
76. Kindle technology: E-INK. Always made me think of Jeff Chen, who debuted this entry long ago.
77. Back on a ship: AFT.
80. Gem weight units: CARATS.
82. Water source: TAP.
83. Little terror: IMP.
93. Worked on a Royal: TYPED. Royal Typewriter.
94. Fragrant neckwear: LEI. JimmyB sent me this fresh lei from Hawaii on the day our Hawaii puzzle was run in the LA Times. So fragrant.
95. Giants manager Kapler: GABE.
96. Cruel boss: TYRANT.
97. SoFi Stadium team: LA RAMS.
99. Family planning topic, familiarly: THE PILL.
102. Big apes: LUGS.
107. Made a case: ARGUED.
108. Seventh of eight: URANUS.
109. Part of town to avoid: BAD AREA. Here's the Asian grocery store I visit often. Still boarded up. Wells Fargo at our street corner just took down the boards yesterday.
110. They may be skinny: JEANS. Out of style now, according to TikTokkers.
111. Finish by: END AT.
112. Rock's Lynyrd __: SKYNYRD.
Down:
2. Take on, as tenants: LEASE TO.
3. Mythological lyrist: ORPHEUS. Husband of Eurydice.
4. Boundless: UNTOLD.
5. Jeweled headgear: DIADEM.
6. Oxford, to Oxonians: UNI. University.
7. Fruta en una colada: PINA. Spanish for pineapple.
8. City in NW Germany: BREMEN. Home of Beck's Brewery.
9. "Breaking Bad" actor __ Paul: AARON.
10. Arrived headfirst, perhaps: SLID.
11. General Mills cereal: RICE CHEX. Boomer likes Wheat Chex more.
12. Landmark health legislation, briefly: ACA. Also 20. Health care provider: Abbr.: LPN.
13. À la King?: EERILY. Stephen King.
14. Jump to one's feet: LEAP UP.
15. Talked back to: GAVE LIP.
16. List-shortening words: AND SUCH.
17. Transfer __: RNA.
19. Fish sauce taste: UMAMI.
22. Floating above, say: ALOFT.
26. Like Waldo's shirt, in kids' books: STRIPED.
27. Inflation meas.: PSI. Pounds per Square Inch.
28. Russian cabbage?: RUBLE. Can't fool our regulars.
31. MTN __: DEW.
33. Mountain footwear, maybe: SKI.
35. Pass out: FAINT.
36. __-Alt-Del: CTRL.
37. Heat up again?: RE-ARM.
40. Matches, as a bet: SEES.
42. Stage backdrop: SCENERY.
43. Gives a thumbs-up: OKS.
44. Raised: UPPED.
45. Leaning: BIAS.
47. Spend time in a cellar, perhaps: AGE. If you're a bottle of wine.
48. Returned, as a football kick: RAN BACK.
49. Cultivated: GROWN.
50. Houston Texans coach Smith: LOVIE. He was Bears' coach before.
51. "Carmen," e.g.: OPERA.
52. Henri's "Hi": SALUT.
53. Symbol of authority: BADGE.
54. Pfizer rival: MERCK. Hope I don't develop the itch again after my second Pfizer shot in early May.
55. More than just talk: ORATE.
56. Language of southern India: TAMIL.
59. Temperamental: MOODY.
62. (The) big leagues: PROS.
65. Bank charge: FEE.
66. French alternative: RANCH. What's your favorite dressing?
67. Has at: ASSAILS.
68. Dandy fellows: FOPS.
69. Move surreptitiously: SNEAK.
70. Bengals, on scoreboards: CIN. Cincinnati.
72. Accompanying: WITH.
73. Bite like a puppy: NIP AT.
75. Tight-lipped: TACITURN.
77. Do something: ACT.
78. Bit of fishing tackle: FLY LURE.
79. Santa Monica Mountains' __ Canyon: TOPANGA. Unfamiliar to me.
81. U.S. __ 1, East Coast hwy.: RTE.
82. Immune system component: T CELL.
83. Picturesque language: IMAGERY.
84. English church honorific: MINSTER.
85. Furry friend: PET.
87. WWI battle city: VERDUN. Also unknown to me. Wiki says the Battle of Verdun was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse.
88. One of a quartet of '50s singing siblings: ED AMES.
89. Domed top for a threaded fastener: CAP NUT.
90. Relatives of Tonys: OBIES.
91. Polite two-word English term of address: MY LADY.
92. Oranjestad native: ARUBAN.
95. Actress Davis: GEENA.
98. Fast-food NYSE ticker symbol: MCD. McDonald's.
100. Beer foam: HEAD.
101. Mad __: word game: LIBS.
103. Rule that Gandhi opposed: RAJ.
104. "¿__ pasa?": QUE.
105. __ Starkey, longtime drummer for The Who: ZAK.
106. Once possessed: HAD.
Happy Birthday to Kazie (Kay),
who has shared with us many of her traveling pictures over the years. Hopefully she can visit her family in Germany soon.
 |
| Kay and her husband Barry on Tamborine Mountain, overlooking Brisbane |
C.C.
51 comments:
DNF. The SE stumped me. FLY..RE (LURE, WARE, ??RE), ED..ES, R..D.C, ..R.MS I couldn't see, and TOPANGA I've never heard of.
In the NE I also had rPN<LPN.
Even with the title, it took me a while after I finished to go back and find the gimmick. I'd bet most crossworders who don't read any blogs (i.e., most crossworders) will go to bed tonight still wondering what today's theme/gimmick was.
Pairing CAPTAIN AMERICA with PRAVDA was perverse.
Imagine if CAPTAIN AMERICA
Had been directed by Frank CAPRA.
A feel-good movie
'twould have been groovy,
And maybe even reviewed in PRAVDA!
If some movie, A LA KING (Stevie)
Had pie A LA MODE served cheerily,
The CHERRY pie
Would have an eye,
And the ice cream would act EERILY!
{B, B+.}
Good morning!
Nope. 'Twas not to be. STEvIE and SKYNeRD did me in. URALIC? Really, Joe? Dw's father used to live just a few yards off Rte ONE in Alexandria. Names of teams, coaches, arenas, and players are always tough for d-o. Took some time to realize that giantS should be LARAMS. That made the SW corner last to fall. Thought I was home free until C.C. set me straight. Sezst lah vye. Thanx, Joe and C.C.
Happy Birthday, Kazie.
I couldn't think of any movies directed by Steve McQueen. D'oh. It's a different Steve McQueen. This one was born in '69, and probably didn't race through the streets of San Francisco in his Mustang or try fence-jumping on a motorcycle.
CC, thank you for the write-up! I was one of those who went to bed last night after finishing the puzzle and had no idea what the theme was. Very clever! I didn't love the MAD MEN ERA clue, though. I thought it made it sound like the epithet was from the TV show, which didn't make sense because the TV show came later. I think "according to" or "as described by" would have been better than "based on."
Like others, the SW was a lot of trouble for me, with the unfamiliar trio of CLOVE HITCH/TOPANGA/FLY LURE intersecting.
Today was the day I learned that Mountain Dew's logo now reads "MTN DEW." I used to love Mountain Dew, but I haven't had it in years. From Wikipedia, the logo changed in 2008, but I never knew until now.
A bit of trivia: ZAK Starkey is the son of Ringo Starr, whose real name is Richard Starkey.
Happy Birthday, Kazie ! Thank you, Joe Deeney, and thank you, C.C.
Solved the puzzle and looked for the theme. Noticed the pairings of the starred clued, and reread the title. Then saw EASTWOOD and HITCHCOCK. My aha moment.
Never heard of David FINCHER but after reading the Wikipedia on him, I've seen some of the music videos he directed as well as feature films such as "Seven", "Gone Girl", "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and others.
Had to guess at letters in a few places. The first I in BERNINI was a guess and my last fill. Earlier, it was T in TAMIL, but finally got BERGAMOT so I guess it really wasn't a guess.
"Worked on a Royal" had me stumped because I was recalling a Royal Pioneer motorcycle that made Mike Wolfe go gaga over on American Pickers. Finally got a couple of letters that made me realize TYPED was the answer. That P helped immensely with the unknown TOPANGA. Never heard of it, and have no reason to understand why I would or should have known that. Seems obscure to me, but it made the corner work, so I guess all is fair.
Wanted CPI for "Inflation measure"
The fill-in-the-blank answer was "Transfer RNA" but it made me think of this article that touches on, among other points, the promise of Messenger RNA vaccines. A 20 year overnight success that's saving millions of lives and bodes well for the future.
C.C, you cracked me up with "If you're a bottle of wine." at 47D. "Spend time in a cellar, perhaps"
Desper-otto, I remembered learning about Steve McQueen (the director) from a Google knowledge panel error when reading about Steve McQueen (the actor). See 13A - Penny-ANTE in the write-up.
I do a great deal of fly fishing, have never referred gear as a fly lure, interesting. Still a fun puzzle.
I really did not enjoy this puzzle. Obviously written by an older man with so many trivial sports (the first names of coaches, really?) and dated clues (EDAMES, PAAR). Was so frustrated by the end with things like URALIC, I didn't even make the effort wasting my time to figure out the theme...just came here.
This just feels like Joe Deeney doesn't want anyone to be able to finish, or enjoy, his puzzle.
Good morning everyone.
Happy Birthday tp Kazie. Miss your posts.
Eventually got it all. Deeney is tricky. Didn't get the point of the 'OVEN' clue until later. Somehow dragged BERGAMOT out of the dim recesses of my brain. Fresh fill like GLOCKENSPIEL and CAPNUT kept it interesting. Guessing at ELGAR got the obstinate NE going. Good Sunday grinder.
BREMEN - Years AGO, we embarked at the nearby port of Bremerhaven on TS BREMEN. (An uncle and aunt on my mother's side lived just a few miles NE of Bremerhaven.)
URALIC - Got it easily enough. Linguists still seem to argue about the closeness of the Finno-Uralic--Altaic languages.
RANCH - Since CC asked, my favorite is creamy blue cheese dressing with some crumbles of blue cheese strewn in. Yummers. (lecker or lekker)
HEAD - One of those English words with so many meanings. One of many is hydropower potential. For example the hydro plants at Niagara have a nominal HEAD of 300 ft.
Musings
-Theme? What theme? FINCHER? Still an amazing puzzle!
-BERGAMOT and URALIC were no walk in the park either! :-)
-We love UBER but it is killing the taxi, parking garage and rental car businesses
-Famous Irish named on The Smithsonian Channel’s Aerial Ireland included BRAM as a native of Dublin
-My H.S. ROYAL
-Where I sub, skinny JEANS have given way to leggings
-All capital letters in MTN gave me pause
-Our favorite salad dressing. It is made in Duncan, NE (pop. 351) and is widely available everywhere. Have you ever had it?
-This was not the 50’s singing siblings quartet
-Anonymous and Unknown – Joe is a young and a superb constructor. Here is a picture of him and his young daughter in one of my Saturday themeless write-ups
-Happy Birthday to our peripatetic (how ‘bout dat word?) Kazie!
So I turn on the TV and switch to CBS Sunday Morning. Mo Rocca is doing an interview piece on actor Russ Tamblyn. Very interesting. Then he gets to the point of describing a period when Tamblyn, feeling unfulfilled, moves to TOPANGA Canyon and pursues a bohemian lifestyle.
Never heard of TOPANGA, then have it in a puzzle and hear of it on TV, all within a few hours. Coinkydink, I guess...
Never heard of TOPANGA, then have it in a puzzle, and hear of it on TV, and have TTP comment on it, all within a few hours. Real Coinkydink...
Didn’t get the theme, which really didn’t matter, since I got all the long answers. But overall, I thought this was more a trivia puzzle than a crossword puzzle, so really didn’t enjoy it.
We get our paper; not for the news (they're not good at it.) but for for the crossword and the obits. Today they had an obituary on the obit page for a cat. - - 12 column inches. She transitioned over the Rainbow Bridge. She was predeceased by the resident cock-a-poo. A very giving entity, she visited the elderly in nursing homes and did a lot of snuggling. Although her mother was allergic, she was loved anyway. She gave love but didn't expect to receive it. She will be missed by her mom, extended aunts and uncles and is survived by a furry sister. She is profoundly grateful to the DVM and staff for her care during her last days. She was of the 'tabby' persuasion.
Horrid amount of trivia today. I faliled with LOVIE, because I was expecting a French OVEN and didn’t know the word, so guessed a “u”.
Oh, wow. Hand up this was quite a challenge! So many unknown crossed proper names. But in the end it was worth it when I figured out how to find each of the DIRECTORS and the CUTS. I do not consider a puzzle solved until I figure out the theme. Hand up I never heard of FINCHER but I had seen some of his movies and liked them.
Why is MTN abbreviated?
When I saw STARKEY I thought of Ringo Starr.
staili Thanks for verifying the connection!
Learning moment that CLOVE HITCH is a very useful knot to know. Aerosmith did WALK THIS WAY, so RUNDMC was a misdirection. The OVEN clue had me laughing when I got it! LOVIE is a guy? I can't believe I FIR and got the theme. But it took two rounds of trying, hours apart.
Given that this is a Los Angeles newspaper TOPANGA is a gimme there. But I had heard of it before I came to California. It is famous for its spectacular views and precariously perched residences.
One of the most famous sights along TOPANGA CANYON Road is the Getty Villa, which is at the very foot of the CANYON. Definitely worth visiting!
Here are some of my Getty Villa photos of our visit to TOPANGA CANYON.
DW is in the second row. No photos of me.
From Yesterday:
Lemonade Thank you very much for the reviews of the VONNEGUT novels. I realized I had not read them all. But I had read all the ones he recommended!
Lucina Glad you found that information helpful. After reading his own recommendations, I would indeed recommend Cat's Cradle more than Breakfast of Champions. But Slaughterhouse Five is definitely the one to read.
desper-otto Glad you agree!
By the way, Slaughterhouse Five is one case where I would say the movie is as good as the book. So, if you watch the movie I would say you will have had the full VONNEGUT experience!
D.O., I know, right ? I read some more about Topanga. Apparently Will Geer moved there after being blackballed for refusing to testify during the McCarthy hearings, long before he became grandpa on "Little House on the Prairie". Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys and his house guest Charles Manson, Woody Guthrie, Neal Young and others lived there in the bohemian lifestyle to do drugs and to get away from the hustle and bustle of big city life. Apparently its heyday was in the 60s and 70s, but according to one article, it's a place where you can still go now to see "aging hippies in their native environment." Funny, but it may be tongue-in-cheek, because homes sell in the $1.5 range.
For something different, try C.C.s crossword "Bookends" over at the USA Today website.
I made it! FIR today to make a full week of FIRs. But it was so close. I finished earlier but made myself wait to read the blog after a careful proofreading. Doing that I found some overlooked errors: MTN SEV and RAN_ H (left blank while doing crosses thinking C or K?) Second thoughts gave me the solid MTN DEW and RANCH! Woohoo! to borrow Misty's phrase.
Saw the director's names after a little puzzling and gradually understood Joe's subtle clues: EERILY after trying royaly and regaly, (different Kings and iffy spelling). I don't know why PRAVDA was so hard to spell today either. But at last it all worked out. A learning moment: URALIC. Thanks, Joe, for filling my morning with a good challenge. Thanks, C.C. for confirming my answers.
Hope you all are having a good weekend! Oh, and Happy Birthday, Kazie!
I am NOT a trivia person, but I FIR and figured out the theme afterward, so it seemed like a typical Sunday challenge to me. Perps helped with the unknown celebrities. Never heard of SNIPES as last-second auction bids, but was very much annoyed by them in the days when I did a lot of eBay shopping.
Thank you, Joe, for a good test, Rich for editing, and C.C. for explaining it all. You are lovely in a lei!
This one presented a challenge starting with DIADEM and ORPHEUS and BERNINI with whom we were, fortunately, familiar (nice doors). It did not help that we never groked the theme...got sidetracked with CAMERA being contained in CAPTAIN AMERICA. All in all, even though some of the puzzle was COCKAMAMIE, the less-than-common vocabulary proved to be more enjoyable than maddening (didn't he coach the Raiders?). I had never heard of it but Valerie got BERGAMOT very quickly. I had heard of GLOCKENSPIEL but she got that one long before I saw it. Unlike some others from different parts of the country, the LA RAMS / TOPANGA Canyon cluster in the SW came easily. Bette, Viola, aha GEENA Davis. Now that we see the theme (thanks, CC) it is, perhaps, the most impressive part of the puzzle.
FIW. Two bad cells, but I really enjoyed it! Thank you, Joe Deeney.
The only bad thing about The Getty Villa is if you approach it from the north on PCH you have to drive past it for some distance before you can make a U turn and access the entrance. Did you know that after WW II you could homestead land in Topanga Canyon? Well, maybe before, too. And yes, it is full of (very rich some them) artists and hippies. I did jury duty with Tony Dow's (Leave It To Beaver) wife and discovered that he is an artist now, hiking through his acreage, finding interest knots of wood, polishing them like crazy and selling them. Apparently the Louvre bought one.
One nit I've been having for a while: cantina snacks, tapas? Cantinas are Mexican, tapas are Spanish.
Becky
Hi Y'all! After 1:22:06 time on this, I am half blind and very annoyed. Next stop: recliner & eye drops.
Filled it. Yay, red-letters!
Too blind to do more than scan the theme reveal & comments.
TTP & D-O: I cannot believe I pulled Topanga canyon out of thin air after perping TO___.
Technically a DNF for moi. Had 5 blanks wich DW WAGGED correctly except for STEVIE. Got the theme but the only FINCHER I ever heard of was a cop in the "Halley Dean Mysteries" on Hallmark. Orpheus was the name of one our hot air balloons back in the day. Others were Pollux, Castor and Bacchus. All on my avatar. Puzzle was fun so I was not disappointed about my DNF.
This LA Times puzzle is syndicated across the country. I complete it from the Arizona Republic and the Chicago Tribune depending upon the time of the year. Many bloggers are unfamiliar with Topanga Canyon.
Spitz...
I do the 2 week old OD Sunday NYT puzzle but like to review the Sunday LAT blog and comments for future clues/answers...I just just saw the cat obituary! IMHO...disrespectful to the other deceased on the same page....
The incredibly long OD obituaries are a contentious issue as well. They cost the familes a fortune and are pushed on the bereaved by the funeral directors.
When my Mom died suddenly in 1998 my Dad was obviously distraught. The funeral director took advantage of this when she "interviewed" him soliciting minute details of her and their life together. I knew she was "padding" the obituary she intended to have published. I told her not to have anything printed till I reviewed and edited it. I cut it down by two thirds, A significant reduction in cost and a more appropriate tribute.
DNF Hated this one.Too many proper names,foreign words and sports references. This PPP-laden schlock made every inch of progress in this puzzle an unbearable solg. Name crossing names are a no no. How do you not see that when you're making this?? Why bother having a theme if it is so hidden that it is nearly indiscernible.
Ray-O - - @1256. - - We lost our daughter at age 46, but our ex-son-in-law and ourselves helped each other out. (He would raise our grandson.). Because we had moved through time, first WNY, then Utica area, and she had been living in Boston, we chose to place the obit in 3 different newspapers, knowing the cost. The funeral director near Cambridge, Mass handled everything for us and never put any pressure on our family.
The obit was written by our son, a journalist. I had to ask him twice to shorten it. (But I think it was part of his grieving process, too.)
The funeral guy merely transmitted it to the papers and coordinated the billing.
This was a toughie. I got all the way to FAR EAST and WOODEN NICKEL before I gleaned the theme. Since I love movies, the directors’ names came fairly easily... except for FINCHER. I’ll have to check Google for his/her films. Even though I had the theme, I FIW. I completely agree with Becky, and decided a Cantina wouldn’t have tapas. And while I’m totally familiar with TOPANGA canyon, it simply didn’t compute this morning and I kept trying to make tujunga canyon fit there.
Thanks to Joe Deeney for a great puzzle, and to CC for many good explanations.
Sunday Lurk say...
Happy Birthday Kazie! We miss you!
HG - you made me Google 'peripatetic'. Oh, you mean a hobo [7:29 of John Hodgman] :-)
//Mom's sister, after she retired (USAF), RV'd around the country with her hubby doing odd-jobs for fun. She told me of a time they ballooned (Hi TokenCreek!) over a guy's land and then sold him the aerial photos.
TTP - I didn't do today's puzzle but, wouldn't you know it, I (FLN) related that Eldest got invited to join PHI BETA KAPPA [and today is her birthday too!].
Oh, and thanks for the mRNA article. A true break-through.
C.C. - Dressing: an AGE'd balsamic w/ first-press olive oil is my fav over a bed of spring-mix greens. Put that next to a plate of noodles and I'll save the salad for last so I can savor it.
Spitz - on a salad w/ fat (read bacon) Bleu Cheese is lovely too.
Re: Zak. The only other drummer from a famous (drummer) father I know of is Jason Bonham.
Spitz - I couldn't help but giggle re: cat OBIT. Final bios are for the living -- I'll let it slide. :-)
//said the Sunday Ass before reading your 13:13 post...
Y'all have a relaxing Sunday.
Cheers, -T
Fun Sunday puzzle, many thanks, Joe Deeney! And, C.C., I loved seeing the picture of you wearing that lovely lei! So glad you posted it.
Yes, the theme answers were toughies for me, but there were lots of fun items everywhere. Lots of names I didn't know, but I got PAAR and GEENA Davis--though I never heard of the kid with the foot-ball shaped head. Nice to have some serious art popping up here and there, like ORPHEUS, and ELGAR, and OPERA. And although I never saw the production, it was nice to learn that Judi Dench played QUEEN ELIZABETH.
But the one that tickled me most was learning that there was a coach named LOVIE.
Have a great Sunday, everybody.
Dash T, congrats, and kudos to your daughter ! And yes, that was a good read on mRNA.
Alice, you must be in the LA area to know of TOPANGA.
Ray-O, I often see many clues and answers in the Universal and USA Today puzzles reappear in the LA Times puzzles. Sometimes with minor differences in the clues. More than a few times they've helped get Friday and Saturday answers in the LAT. I don't do the NY Times crosswords because I don't have access, but let me know if you ever see TOPANGA in it.
I'm going to keep writing TOPANGA so it won't be so obscure the next time.
Thank goodness for Crossword Corner! Incredibly, I FIR but with no idea of the theme -- thank you, C.C.!
Judi Dench played Queen Elizabeth I (best supporting actress) in the 1998 great film "Shakespeare in Love" (Best picture) with Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow. The Oscar stuff and date I had to LIU but the film is worth a view if you can find it.
TTP: TOPANGA, TOPANGA, TOPANGA..got it!
Wow, now it's popping up everywhere.
Took my time to FIR, fun one
Thanks! Great update on mRNA research!
Sundays are often a slog, and when a constructor who specializes in themeless puzzles presents one you know it is going to be filled with many mew things. I am surprised at the reaction to BERGAMOT which we have discussed often with the EARL GREY TEA . I used to follow baseball as fanatically as others, but that has passed. I was very surprised to see that GABE KAPLER was the manager in San Francisco. I recall he was a Tigers' draft pick and he was part of the 2004 RED SOX team that not only broke the curse from 1918, but had the greatest comenak in baseball history. (Sorry Hondo and Tin) Down three games to none to the Yankees and behind in game four. They came all the way back and then beat the Cardinals in the world series.
My real unknown was who the hell is LES STROUD ?
Speaking of the 2004 World Series, it featured Gabe Kapler for the Red Sox and Shawn Green for Cardinals. The Red Sox also had two other players who were Jewish. The world series was late in Otober which had it overlap with the most sacred day YOM KIPPUR when we fast from sundowm to sundown. It also is a challenge for the players, as we do not work. Sandy Koufax made headlines when he sat out during a World Series and Shawn Green was committed to not play. Kapler asked his Rabbi what to do, and he was told "after 86 years, play!"
Thanks Joe and CC. This puzzle was a bit crunchy for a Sunday, with more whitepace than usual, and DNF due to a really clever piece of misdirection. The theme sailed completely over my head, but I see it now that CC pointed it out (and I thank my lucky STARS I didn't draw this one!). Pretty clever stuff, but enough perps for the harder clues to finish every one but one.
A lot of good stuff too:
19A I got URALIC on perps, but it was unknown to me. I was taught that these languages were FINNO-UGRIC, and apparently the two terms are close synonyms. As the second half of the latter started with a U and ended with a C, I thought there might be an alternate spelling of it, but it always came up short.
49A I associate the term GLOCKENSPIEL with musical clocks, and apparently a mechanical glockenspiel is used in some clocks, e.g. in the Marienplatz in Munich. Didn't realize it was a standalone instrument played with mallets, but the word pattern did emerge after some perps.
53A Although I perped BERGAMOT, I always thought it was an herb (in the mint family) not a citrus fruit. It is an herb actually, just not the flavoring used in teas.
59A MADMEN ERA. Couldn't see what the perps were telling me but finally gave into it. Very clever clue.
60A My downfall. Had the O-EN, but my French couldn't supply the missing letter and I didn't know LOVIE. A very clever piece of misdirection. I love meta-clues, but fell for this one.
86A My goto knot for tying things tightly is the eponymic TAUTLINE HITCH, but CLOVE emerged from the perps. I do use it though(it's actually used to finish a tautline hitch).
13D Didn't know Ms Womack's first name but finally perped her when I realized that A la King didn't refer to a monarch, Martin Luther King, or Elvis, but Stephen.
66D CSO to CC - Olive Oil and TJ's White Balsamic Vinegar.
Thanks again Joe and CC.
Cheers,
Bill
Thanks staili @8:08 AM I knew that Ringo's was NEE (guess it would be NE) Starkey, but had never heard of ZAK. I'm glad his taking after his old man!
Lemon,
I watched every episode of "Survivorman"
with Les stroud long before anyone ever heard of Bear Gryllis.
He can be entertaining while poisoning himself with
wild edibles...
Here is a clip where he explains a story,
the 1st 3 minutes are set up,
and after 3 minutes explains how he accidentally
called a bull moose that almost killed him...
Learning moment Where the mountains meet the sea...
Directors cut?
Nemo?
aannndd, thats all she wrote...
Hola!
Almost missed this party today! I am exhausted from yesterday's activities and then today's clean-up and today's putting away things.
First, happy birthday, Kazie! I also miss you and your wise commentary.
I solved this off and on in between working around the house. BERNINI was my first fill. I have read so much about the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, etc., then BASRA since it has been often in the news. PRAVDA, too.
Sunday puzzles are always slow to fill and this one was a LULU! GLOCKENSPIEL just drifted out of my memory and I loved seeing COCKAMAMIE for some reason.
As with others, the SW corner was hardest. RUNDMC and LA RAMS refused to budge so LIU. My daughter loves vampire stories so I've bought some for her by BRAM Stocker.
My favorite clue for was POD. Cute.
Thank you, C.C. You do look so cute in that picture.
I hope you've all had a satisfying Sunday! My work still awaits me. Still not finished but it was worth it.
I liked this puzzle a lot even though I required red letters to finish it. It didn't help that I misspelled Ms. Womack's name as LEANNE and Lynyrd's last name as SKYNIRD. At least I knew TOPANGA Canyon from having driven I-210 many times. I think it is BERGAMOT that defines Earl Grey tea. All told, it was an enjoyable hour and a half. Stay well, all.
WASEELY- yes bergamot is an herb with similar properties to the citrus fruit bergamot; they are both named BERGAMOT .
Becky my well read friend, in this country many cantinas have a Mexican slant, but the word is from a Spanish root: "A cantina is a type of bar common in Latin America and Spain. The word is similar in etymology to "canteen", and is derived from the Italian word for a cellar, winery, or vault. In Italy, the word cantina refers to a room below the ground level where wine and other products such as salami are stored." Nothing in the clue suggested the cantina serving tapas was in the US, or Mexican.
Did you know Tony Dow from the show business world? Did you ever run into Wendy Moniz? Are you watching the Oscars?
Couldn't figure out the theme; oh, one of those where the answer is separated by a black square - always forget to check. C.C., great work! Guess my brains were scrambled this a.m. - HAJ (hadj) instead of RAJ! Ack - completely wrong region - not thinking at all, but I only vaguely remember RUNDMC. Cute clue - a la King.
TTP, FLN re "casting out nines"... I'm horrible at explaining things, so I googled. There are many YouTube videos for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The simplest format below is for addition. Apologies - I know there are Corner instructions for inserting links, but I'm frustratingly tech-challenged so I admire all of you, Cornerites.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-att_001&hspart=att&p=casting+out+nines#id=2&vid=58d3e0125fd83d472b254984f777dfcd&action=click
I almost forgot!
happy birthday Kazie!
Oops, I-210 passes by Tujunga Canyon, not Topanga Canyon. Somehow I knew Topanga anyway.
CASTING OUT NINES for TXMs
Lemon - many thanks!
Lots to like here, in spite of some rough spots. I agree with Anon@9:12 AM that "fly lure" is not a thing -- at least not a thing people who fly fish say.
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