Ah, Spring! Just when some of us thought that warmer weather might be here to stay, the cold weather makes a return appearance. Malodorous Manatee, here, with a puzzle from Grant Boroughs who must have experienced a brain freeze because he used the same wintry clue three times.
I Don't Wanna Sound Complaining but Freeze, Freeze Me, Oh Yeah, Like I Freeze You.
40 Across. In the event of a freeze, ...: WEAR WARM CLOTHES. When it's so very cold that water turns to ice, well, that's a deep freeze. Bundle up to stay warm.
59 Across. In the event of a "Freeze!," ...: DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE. When the cops, or the bad guys for that matter, tell you to stop right where you are they might yell "Freeze"!
Across:
1. Toddler's call: MOMMY.
6. The universal language, some say: MATH.
Tom Lehrer Explains It
10. "Time __ transfix the flourish set on youth": Shak.: DOTH. In his works, Shakespeare used a grand total of 31,534 different words thus providing crossword constructors with a vast pool from which to select something that will fit in their grids . . . . even if the word hasn't been heard in four hundred years.
14. Red tide cause: ALGAE.
15. Bio, in a way, is aptly part of it: OBIT. OBITuary. Both the clue and the answer are abbreviations that have become accepted usage.
16. Most populous Hawaiian island: OAHU. Maui is another four-letter Hawaiian island.
20. Little pigs or blind mice: TRIO. . . . . and the Oscar goes to
21. Smelting residue: SLAG.
22. Lowland: VALE.
22. Lowland: VALE.
25. Title choice on a form: MRS. Other options include Miss, Ms., Mr. and decline to state.
27. Destroy, as files: SHRED.
31. Bitterroot Range st.: IDA. "State" is abbreviated so the answer will be an abbreviation - even if it's not the (post-October, 1963) USPS abbreviation. But, you knew that. A segment of the Rocky Mountains, the Bitterroots run for approximately 300 miles along the IDAho and MonTana state border.
32. Take on: ASSUME. As in "to assume the role of".
35. Close: NEAR. As in close the door? Nope, as in close at hand.
36. Rye fungus: ERGOT. This fungus seems to have developed a symbiotic relationship with crossword puzzles.
38. Underestimate, say: MISJUDGE. A woman asked her husband to take a spider outside instead of squashing it. He did. He and the spider walked a bit and then had a chat over a couple of beers. Upon returning home, the husband told his wife that he had MISJUDGEd the spider. "He's a nice guy," said the husband "and he wants to be a web developer."
43. Shelter securely: ENSCONCE.
44. Tech support callers: USERS.
45. Like those who leap before they look: RASH. At the drug store, I could not decide between the Lotrimin and the Tinactin. I mulled it over for a while because I did not want to make a RASH decision.
46. More evil: DARKER.
49. Brown brew: ALE.
50. Aerodynamic: SLEEK.
52. Parker's wind: SAX. Charlie "Bird" Parker was a world-renowned saxophone player
53. Ice cream brand: EDYS. West of the Rockies, and in Texas, it's called Dryer's. In the other parts of the country the same ice cream is called EDY'S.
54. Farm skyline sight: SILO.
57. Sharp barks: YAPS. Sometimes, YIPS.
66. Jug: EWER. Often seen in crossword puzzles.
Jim Kweskin and the Ewer Band
67. Michael Douglas' middle name: KIRK. Hmmm. Isn't that his father's name?
68. Daily delivery: PAPER. As in newspaper. A fast-fading ritual. Pew Research reported in January, 2021 that 86% of Americans now get there news online using their smartphones. The remaining 14% seem to get their news from "The Daily Show".
69. Sky and Storm org.: WNBA. Two teams in the Women's National Basketball Association. Organization is abbreviated so . . .
70. Mid-month day: IDES.
71. Turkey neighbor: SYRIA. Neither Yams nor Stuffing would fit.
Down:
1. Deface: MAR. Freddy Mercury, Venus Williams and Bruno MARs all walked into the same bar . . . but they didn't planet that way.
3. Old British sports cars: MGS. Some good friends of mine are purchasing this fully restored MG:
1950 MGTD
4. Finish choice: MATTE. Obviously not Poronkäristys (sautéed reindeer) - as that would have required a double n in the clue. A photo finish, or paint, choice.
5. Orbital period: YEAR. Different planets have YEARs of different lengths. It always irks me when, on Star Trek, far, far away and centuries from now, they refer to (Terra-based) minutes, hours, days or YEARs - lengths of time that are defined by the movements of a single, infinitesimal spec of the universe: planet Earth - as if those units are the intergalactic standards.
6. Drives: MOTORS. Aahhh, memories of waiting for the day when I would be tall enough to reach the sign at the Disneyland Autopia.
Circa 1955
7. Elementary sequence: ABC. If you headed down the Periodic Table rabbit hole then this one might not have been as easy as ABC.
8. Spanish relatives: TIOS. Uncles en ingles.
9. Web page standard: HTML. Hyper Text Markup Language
10. Baker's dozen: DOUGHNUTS. The preferred spelling. For some reason this made me think of The Bangles.
11. Cereal grain: OAT.
12. Start of many band names: THE. Why "band" ? Why not? Must be why 10 Down made me think of a band.
13. "Ben-__": HUR. Ben Gay? Ben Affleck? Ben There Done That?
18. Crater borders: RIMS.
Crater Lake, Oregon - Rim
19. Faux __: PAS. An embarrassing or tactless act or remark in a social situation.
22. Nielsen ratings units: VIEWERS. The Nielsen TV Ratings attempt to measure ratings share and the total number of VIEWERS of a TV show.
23. Epinephrine-producing gland: ADRENAL.
24. "Cooking With Power" author: LAGASSE.
Emeril Lagasse
26. Seasons in the sun: SUMMERS. This marine mammal referenced Jacques Brel and the Terry Jacks song the last time this situation arose.
28. Member of a league in a Sherlock Holmes title: REDHEAD.
29. With enthusiasm: EAGERLY.
30. Ballroom attire: DRESSES.
30. Ballroom attire: DRESSES.
32. "Love on __-way Street": 1970 hit: A TWO. Originally recorded by Lezli Valentine. I was a student at U.C. Berkeley in 1970 and this is not the music to which we all listened. Grant (or Rich) could have gone with Lawrence Welk's much satirized "and a one and A TWO."
33. Open __ night: MIC. It's part of the lexicon, I guess, but here it's a truncated answer (MICrophone) to a non-abbreviated clue.
34. Non-native speaker's subj.: ESL. English as a Second Language
37. Theater section: ORCHESTRA.
41. "What else?": AND. Yes . . . ?
42. Electronics pioneer: RCA. Radio Corporation of America
47. Vessels with cockpits: KAYAKS.
48. Final, say: EXAM. LAST would have fit in the allotted space. As would TEST.
51. Kipling title orphan: KIM.
53. A 48-Down may include one: ESSAY.
55. Norse prankster: LOKI. I first learned about LOKI by reading Marvel comic books.
56. Poet banished by Augustus: OVID. Banish cOVID.
58. Baby seals: PUPS.
59. Beads on blades: DEW. As on blades of grass.
60. Have title to: OWN.
61. State east of Wyo.: NEB. So. Dakota also adjoins Wyo on the east but, since the clue did not specifically ask for an adjoining state, it could also have been many others.
62. Afore: ERE. Both the clue and the answer are considered to be archaic.
63. First aid skill, for short: CPR. "For Short" suggests an abbreviation. Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation
64. 16-Across garland: LEI. In Hawaii, May First is Lei Day.
65. Timeline section: ERA. One of twenty-four three-letter answers in this cwd pzl.
____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
HAPPY EARTH DAY, EVERYONE !
MM Out
47 comments:
Wear warm clothes today everyone. Very chilly morning in my neck of the woods.
Great puzzle today! Didn’t know Loki. Slag is a bothersome word for me, but got it. Edy’s ice cream is a popular cw fill. It’s good ice cream, my favorite will always be Haagen Dazs. Yum.
Thanks for the puzzle, and thanks MM for your very enjoyable review. I really admire all of you who get up so very early to compose your reviews. Awesome! Thank you.
Soreness in the arm today where I got the second shot. No sickness at all. I encourage you to get the shot in case you have not done so yet.
Great day to all.
Good morning!
No problems this morning. Gotta love a puzzle that needs no reveal. Noticed the CSO to Lucina at ESL. Misread a clue as "Vessels in a cockpit" and was surprised when KAYAKS showed up. The guy who counted those 31,534 words of Shakespeare should get a life. Thanx, Grant (is this a debut?) and MalMan.
OAT: The Quaker OATs plant gave downtown Cedar Rapids its distinctive odor. Note that I did not say aroma.
SILO: Every fall, the dairy farmers of my ute filled their SILOs with chopped corn stalks. Silage was something for the cows to munch on while being milked twice a day.
KIM: Nope. The only Kipling that sticks in my memory is
Yes, Din! Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
Though I’ve belted you and flayed you,
By the livin’ Gawd that made you,
You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
Took me 7:20 to defrost this puzzle.
I forgot Emeril has a last name.
Lizza, I think you've stuttered.
This went at a quick clip for a Thursday - thought it was amusing to have the one freeze clue be in quotes "Freeze" for DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE. It reminded me of the kids' game we used to play "Red Light, Green Light" where you could move on the "Green Light" but had to freeze on the "Red Light"
Thanks MM and Grant!
Gearing up today for a busy stretch at work - my partner is going in for an induction for her fourth child and I will be covering all her results, refills, and messages while she's gone. So I may be on the down low for awhile!
Good morning everyone.
Easy Thursday. Forgot ERGOT spelling, but perps came through. Theme was easy. No wite-out needed. FIR.
LAGASSE - - We've dined at two of his NOLA restaurants; NOLA, and Emeril's. We really liked NOLA.
Bitterroot - IDA - - Learnt about the Bitterroots from Lewis and Clark readings. On their return from the Columbia mouth in 1806, they had to wait until late June before they could cross them due to the snow pack. (They still got to St. Louis by late Sept.)
PAPER - - Didn't get my WSJ again this morning; third time in April. Each time I was assured by a rep that it won't happen again. So each time I call them they tell me they are sorry and it won't happen again. (I did drive them into a very low rate because of their inability to deliver a timely product.)
Is today Monday or Tuesday? Thursday!! Worked it top to bottom without a hitch. Or as we say FIR. Thanks Grant for a clever but very doable romp. MM, 3:oo AM. My 3:00s always have a PM after them. John Deere going in today for Spring tune up. Bought it in 1994. "Nothing Runs Like a Deere" Ta ta.
FIR today on a tidy Thursday with the themers filling in quickly. That helped the nearby fill so no WOs for a change. Very neat and tidy looking grid. Thanks for the puzzle, Grant. Nice interesting word choices! ENSCONCE, for example. MalMan, you entertained me as usual. Thanks for your review today and verification of my FIR.
A cool morning here, appropriate for the freeze theme but not so cold. No threat to plants. Hope you all have a warm and cozy day!
Manatee: Great write-up & links.
This was a FUN Thursday puzzle,
Cheers!
What?!! I’m afraid to post anything!
Your Alter Ego is acting up ....
But, not to worry, your Blocechos ( Blog comment echos ) are increasing our resdership response rate, and improving the statistics on the blog.
We may even reach a hundred today. Yay !
Now, try a different subject, .... we need all the responses we can get .... or herd.
Our Neilsen ratings are already waay up.
This could be the beginning of a great trend.
... now, wheres the repeater command on my instructions sheet ...
Good Morning:
What an apropos theme for this late April cold spell that brought a dusting of the white stuff and way below normal temps. I just glanced out the window and there are snow flurries swirling around, again. Anyway, I liked the theme and had only a couple of stumbles: Love/Math and Momma/Mommy. Red Head was unknown, as clued, but perps were fair. We had lots of fun duos today with Ale/Ole, Ere/Era, Year/Near, Ida/Ides, and my fav, Yaps crossing Pups. We also had several CSOs with Neb (HG), Tios and ESL (Lucina), CPR (Ray O and Inanehiker), and RCA (Misty and Moi).
Thanks, Grant, for a fun Thursday and thanks, MalMan, for the fun and facts in your commentary. Nice to have you back.
Have a great day.
Wonderful CW, thanx, Grant, I thoroughly enjoyed it! FIR in 19, which for me is a good Thursday time. ORBITAL PERIOD had me stuck briefly, I was trying to think of a word for general orbital period, not the planet earth. PERPS to the rescue. I loved your “freeze” theme, too! Funny that doughnuts would be a baker’s dozen, since they are fried, not baked. Do bakeries sell doughnuts? Not the ones I go to. MalMan, thanx for the terrific write-up, and thanx for all the time you obviously put into it. That 1950 MG looks beautiful, but I wouldn’t have it, I’m too practical. Antiques are prone to expensive repairs, and don’t have modern features like airbags and A.C. I’ve had convertibles living in FLL I find it is too hot in the summer to drive with the top done unless I run the A.C. at the same time which seems silly. The picture you posted of the silos shows a very successful farmer to need silos that big to store his crops. Those two on the left are HUGE!! Good for him! (Or her.)
Hi Y'all! Grant granted us a weather-appropriate puzzle today. Freezing here the last three mornings. Thanks to Grant & to MalMan who warmed things up with his witty expo.
MM's cartoon for #44 USERS is very ME. When instructions say "restart", I say, "How?" -- fearing a horrible computer freeze if I get it wrong.
Lizza: don't be embarrassed. The computer should be embarrassed for frustrating you. You gave me a good laugh to start the day and laughter is the best medicine after all. Welcome, dear! If nothing else, you got noticed.
My old eyes read cookpit instead of a coCKpit and I figured the vessel had to be a Kettle. Bzzzt! KAYAK? a KAYAK has a cockpit? Wonder if the Eskimos know that.
Then I read to destroy "flies" instead of "files" and Swats turned red. SHRED? How the heck do you SHRED a fly? Must be a baseball term? Oh, SHRED files -- what I was doing just yesterday. Duh!
Wasn't MaMMa but MOMMY?
The theme today was very appropriate for the weather we are having. It's in the 20's here this morning.
Reasonable puzzle and MM's write-up and graphics were enjoyable.
A few WO's today. MOMMA vs MOMMY, AONE vs ATWO, and YIPS vs YAPS. Also at first I thought that the Sky and Storm organization clue was referring to the weather, so I put in NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). I should have realized that the words were capitalized and therefore proper names. Perps to the rescue.
SLAG was easy. As a UTE there was a large SLAG pile, actually more like a hill, outside of the coal-fired electric plant that was nearby. For some reason there were wild blueberry plants at the base of the pile that grew some very good, large blueberries. Maybe something in the slag heap was beneficial to the plants. However, nowadays the EPA would have declared it an ecological disaster site because of the rain runoff that polluted the nearby stream.
Have a great day everyone.
FIR, with no real problem. MATH is also known as “The Queen and Servant of the Sciences.” I have some nice experiences with KAYAKs.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these bloggers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Nice job, Malodorous Manatee, despite not having your internet services for so long.
In a month or two, I'll be looking for places to cool down as the summer heat comes to bear. Nice puzzle, Grant Burroughs.
Didn't need to see RASH today.
Desper-otto, this is the third published crossword puzzle for Grant at the LA Times. His priors were Monday, September 19th, 2017 and Tuesday, December 19th, 2017.
Thanks, MM.
When I think of "Brown brew" I will always first think of Newcastle.
Lizza, you must try Blue Bell ice cream if you ever travel to the Central/SW U.S.
Musings
-Three clever grid-spanners with the same clue and two nouns and a verb? Cool!
-This new MATH procedure is ludicrous
-My friend’s OBIT did not include any mention of her daughter-in-law’s name this week. We asked a common friend and got the sad story.
-I’ve mentioned before that our drummer grandson Parker was named for Charlie Bird Parker
-New hybrids make SILOS fill up so quickly that grain has to be stored like this
-It takes exactly 365.256 Earth days to ORBIT the sun. Leap years correct for most of that.
-Faux PAS – A horrible tweet by an Omaha talk show host after the Chauvin verdict got him fired immediately
-Our DEW Point is so low we don’t get any DEW or frost
-Nice Job, Joe!
Hola!
Thanks, Gran Boroughs, for a cool puzzle! We have not experienced a freeze in about two years so this was a virtual one for me. Interesting to have SUMMERS in the middle of a puzzle about freezing.
And thank you for the CSOs at ESL and TIOS. I have two TIOS left though I haven't heard from or about them in a long time. Both are in their 90s.
The third freeze clue reminded me of the game we played as children.
I have always thought music is the universal language. MATH surprised me and is a learning moment.
As a retired teacher ABC, ESSAY and EXAM evoke many memories for me. CSO to all the other retired educators on the Blog.
Those SILOS must belong to a corporate organization.
VALE not dale.
I wish you all a warm, not freezing, day!
Thank you, MalMan for your enjoyable Blog with amusing illustrations!
Some learning moments like LAGASSE, all filled with perps. Usually I find this kind of theme a challenge, but this one worked for me!
DON'T MOVE A MUSSEL is a sign at our local reservoir lake as a warning to boat owners to avoid introducing an invasive species.
Here is my article on our recent adventure to see the Elephant SEALS and their new PUPS. Our longest travel since COVID.
More From Yesterday:
AnonT and Wilbur Charles Thank you for the additional comments about my pet FROGs!
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Grant and MalMan.
I finished in good time and got all the freezes (I fear that last night's freeze may have hurt the blossoms for our early fruit.) But I arrived here to discover that this Canadian went west instead of east from Wyo. and ended up in Nev. instead of NEB. (with a resultant Volleyball instead of Basketball Sky and Storm org.). Chalk it up to Canadian disadvantage LOL! (But this Canadian entered Donuts, then, having spaces left over, changed to the "proper" spelling of DOUGHNUTS with a smile.)
I noted the COMPUTER crossing HTML (with USERS thrown in for good measure).
DRESSES crossing CLOTHES was noted also.
Was the DEW on the blades in the VALE (Hand up for Dale before Vale)?
We had MOMMY and TIOS in our family today (and a MRS).
We had MATH (with A TWO and a TRIO-hello Lizza LOL!) and ABCs today for our education, ORCHESTRA and SAX for our music.
Learning moment that KAYAKS' seat areas are called cockpits.
IM beat me to IDA and IDES. (She found more also!)
Lucina saw the SUMMERS in the middle of the Freezes. Nice!
Kawartha Dairy ice cream is the choice of this household!
Picard- great seal photos (and yes that rock formation looks like a seal!)
Wishing you all a great day.
A reasonable Thursday challenge but at one point I was taking FREEZE too literally..you should move muscles to keep warm but not when yelled out by an armed official.
Didn't notice it was plural so had to inkover REO/MGS. Almost put love as the universal language but then perped the middle A T..wha? Is it HATE? (oh, MATH, whew 😅).
If Michael Douglas used his Dad's first name it should have been Issur (last name Danielovitz, "Kirk Douglas", born and raised an hour from here in Amsterdam, NY).
Nearly wrote nerds for users (the one group who would not need to call tech support).
"Ball room attire"? Fruit-of-the-loom and "boxers" wouldn't fit 🤭🤭🤭.....
If your dog doesn't yip but YAPS he must be quite the conversationalist !
When it's spelled DOUGHNUT 🍩 it tastes better, donut? I first had dale (Lucina) for VALE (what are "dIEWERS" and does Nielsen use an applause meter?)
If I'm sitting in the "cockpit" of my Kayak can I put it on automatic pilot and flirt with the FA? ..and ..If you want an ORCHESTRA seat better be ready to play an instrument.
Never call a female magistrate "_____" ...MISJUDGE.
Scams can be the same ______... ESCONCE.
Many crosswords answers are hits or... ____ MRS.
Talk about Freeze, I'm looking out the kitchen window to an absolute blizzard though in exactly one week temperature in Utica expected to reach 80..sheesh 🥶/😎
Great job MalMAN 👏
Hi All!
Thanks Grant for the puzzle that didn't leave me cold. I found the west-central area toughest to crack -- I didn't know that LAGASSE cookbook; I have TV Dinners (signed!), though).
Thanks for the WARM expo MManatee. I can't wait to go back and listen to Tom Lehrer and Stones links (in meetings all morning). Love that MG!
Who else was tempted to enter cAsH for universal language?
WOs: MOMMa, ORCHaSTRA, dALE, wrong LOcI
ESPs: ERGOT | A TWO (T was my last square)
Fav: Don't be RASH [Real History of Rush]
AND, SUMMER xing WARM & HTML xing COMPUTER (Hi C, Eh!) was cute.
LOL 'Ball room' RayO.
Oc4 - I wanted NOAA too, with WNB_ sitting there I was thinking a radio-station's call letters :-)
Picard: Re: PUPs picture with no adults around - looks like it's nap time :-) Nice article.
HG - I think I understood that MATH procedure but why?!? When I was a kid, New MATH included changing basses (base 10, base 12, etc); at least that helped me when I got into COMPUTERs (Base 2, 8, 16).
TTP: Now that you're in IL, you've gotta try Prairie Farms' ice cream.
Have a wonderful day y'all!
Cheers, -T
Puzzling thoughts:
Thanks MM and Grant Boroughs for this morning’s amusement. The Tom Lehrer clip was funny; the song clips brought back memories
Had a couple W-O’s but FIR; as others may have said, this did not feel like a Thursday puzzle, difficulty-wise
Ray-O —> LOL @ the ballroom reference; I’d heard the same joke as: What do a tight pair of briefs and a cheap hotel have in common? No ballroom ...
Been waiting to post this Moe-ku until a clue or fill allowed:
Coroner likes to
Have fun with puns. On Thursday
It’s open Mike night
All different meanings of FREEZE on a cold morning, but not below 32 here and no snow.
I wanted the universal language to be LOVE.
DALE before VALE. I thought of Lucina.
Spitz, I see you are a Lewis and Clark fan, too. Have you read their journals in their own words?
Picard, I enjoyed your seal photos and videos. You captured everything but the smell.
PK, I agree. Would the Inuit recognize such a fancy kayak?
MM, your picture reminded me of our trip with our kids to Disney in FL. They loved driving those cars.
I also can relate to your field trip picture. In the museum there was an exhibit inside a rope circle with a sign that said, "Do not touch. A bell will ring." When one of our little darlings reached a hand across the rope a loud bell was set off. A stern docent came running and warned us that if any more rules were breached our entire school group would be asked to leave.
Thanks for the great review, MM.
YR - Your "Don't Touch" story reminded me of a cute one.
Youngest was TWO & a half or three yro at the time.
DW, being a good Mom & lover of arts, trained the girls very young for trips to MFAH (Museum Fine Arts - Houston) for special exhibits, etc. They learned the artists and, most importantly...
So..., we walk into one room.
Youngest shoots-off, with both hands out exclaiming, "Wawhaa" [Warhol].
DW shouted, "Museum Manners" and Youngest stopped dead in her tracks (less than two feet from the canvas).
Whew, that was close. :-)
Cheers, -T
Macabre Moe-ku, Moe :>) You had to wait for both Open Mic and Thursday? :>)
Dash T, we buy Prairie Farms milk, but I've pretty much weaned ice cream and many other desserts out of the diet. So good, but... When I was in Houston I loved ice cream. There was a place in Houston that made a chocolate ice cream called Tre Scalini that had been awarded the title of best chocolate ice cream in the U.S. I couldn't get enough.
My New Year's resolution was to lose 10 pounds. Only 15 more to go !
YR @ 1247 - - I've only read what journal snippets might appear in Undaunted Courage by Ambrose. Clark's entries are interesting; with his frontiersman attitude and striving to write with apparently self-taught schooling.
I don't know whether it is Boomer or another of my Minnesota friends that has strong family ties with Hutchinson. This article explains the evolution of SILOs in this country, and why they are built tall and round. MORE TO THE STORY: The silo: An end to an era
Fun puzzle, fun write-up, great comments -- thanks to all concerned!
Thanks for the kind comments.
Now, if I could only get Open Mike out of my head. I know, I will try to think of tree frogs and seal pups.
A fine Thursday PZL from Mr. Boroughs, with M. Manatee doing the honors up well!
RCA reminds me of Misty's Dad.
I just saw KIM recently.
I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, and I forgot it was Dean Stockwell in the title role. But he was a real charmer--in a Hollywoody sort of stylization.
A Calcuttan by way of SoCal.
~ OMK
_____________
DR: One diagonal, on the far side.
There are only two vowels, leaving little room for choice among potential anagrams. Only one stands out (11 out of 15 letters), and I really should let it stand on its own.
Perhaps it is the nom de guerre of a certain type of actor? No, no further comment from me...
"DICK STENCH"!
TTP:
That is really interesting about silos. Thank you for posting.
Today was manicure day so my nails are newly red and shiny.
Dyslexic Cornerite say...
C. Moe - I read your Ku as 'crooner'. I kept wondering "Mike? I know Frank and Dean but..."
Then TTP clued me in w/ macabre. Aha! Coroner -- LOL!
TTP - Even though Springfield is an "over-grown farm town" we were city folk (well, biggest city between STL & CHI anyway). I had to Google the difference between SILOs and grain elevators. Didn't know this.
OMK - something about your DR made me think of Ullman's Dame Judy DENCH :-)
Cheers, -T
Loved the puzzle and the review. I did MISgUaGE 38 Across until a REDHEAD came along to help me MISJUDGE it.
DH used to enjoy one of the LAGASSE restaurants in Las Vegas, although there was not a single item on the menu that we could eat. He would ask the kitchen to improvise a pasta primavera with whatever veggies they had on hand, and they always did a nice job. I believe that business was a casualty of the pandemic. I'm afraid we didn't MOVE A MUSCLE to help any restaurants during the last year, except for an occasional order to the local vegan Thai place when I just couldn't cook any more.
Since Lizza's repeat posts were deleted (and now we need more posts/VIEWERS!), I'll relate another museum story...
We were at the Natural History Museum here in Houston. They have a cool diorama behind Plexiglas of a BIG CAT catching prey and other large animals chomping on meaty bits of another kill. I don't recall if there's cavemen in the background or what.
Anyway, Youngest (when she was 3-ish) was a couple of steps ahead of us and turned the corner into the diorama room.
"MOMMY, Soshi (that's how she said Eldest's name), Daddy! W[r]un!" as she zipped passed us going the other way.
She didn't know what she saw but knew it was bad. :-)
Cheers, -T
Anon T ~
Thanks for the link to Ullman's Judi Dench bit. It's hilarious!
Reminds me, though, of how "innocent" the real Judi was when I first saw her--decades ago at the Old Vic, playing Juliet quite believably as a 14-year old.
~ OMK
Anonymous T, that's a wonderful story about your youngest child at the Natural History Museum. Good instincts!
Good stuff today from all of you.
Went back to read the SILO story I missed earlier. We had a big tile silo in the yard along with a big red barn & stone house. Nothing was ever stored in the silo during the 31 years I lived there. The men used a trench silo for the actual cattle feed because of the greater convenience as stated in the story. Because they were an attractive nuisance to kids, etc. and take up a lot of room, many young farmers were pulling them down, hooking a chain to a stave and a tractor. There were a few tragic stories about chains being too short & the silo falling on the farmer/tractor. Every so often I hear the story about my current farmer trying this stunt and leaping off the tractor to run to the side out of the way. Never ran so fast any other time in his life. The onlookers still laugh. He's 6'7" and heavyset so took extreme fear to move himself.
PK - I pulled down a wooden silo, once, as you described. with a tractor. Very long sturdy rope; no problem with debris falling on me. I was far enough away. Wooden silos were replaced by a concrete stave silo swathed in steel hoops. The 2nd silo was concrete poured with rebar imbedded.
Picard, enjoyed the seal pictures, thanks for posting them.
Liza where is your neck of the woods?
Just back from a crazy challenging hike with friends. Did I mention that it was crazy? And challenging? We survived and had a good time!
CanadianEh, AnonT, Yellowrocks Thank you for the kind words about my SEAL PUPS photos. Those elephant seals are massive!
CanadianEh Thanks for validating our impression that that rock formation at Lizard's Mouth looks like an elephant SEAL!
AnonT A very helpful commenter answered my question about the mystery of the PUPS gathered together with no adults around. He said they have just been weaned. So the group is called a "weaner pod"! Learning moment!
Yellowrocks Indeed, SEALS do have quite a distinct odor! Kind of fishy.
Here is another relevant photo from today. MICHAEL DOUGLAS lives here in town and used to generously host fund raiser events at his home. And one of my dance partners was a personal assistant to him
Here MICHAEL DOUGLAS very kindly posed with my Peruvian Pan Pipe Player friends who were performing at his house.
Learning moment that his middle name is his father's first name KIRK! I will also add that MICHAEL DOUGLAS generously donated money for a popular park here and dedicated it to KIRK.
Freeze- the theme was in the clues. But I was unfamiliar with the usage of freeze referring to computers (with 49 years of using them). When we started the big IBM using 80 column cards it was called a 'Cold Start" The "blue screen of death" on Windows systems is the term I know.
No problems with the puzzle today. It must be WestbanK NOLA week with both Antoine "Fats' Domino earlier this week and Emeril LAGASSE today. The only other nationally known person who lived (she moved a few years ago) was named FLOWERS, first name Gennifer (not a friend of Hillary). Mel OTT died before I was born.
ERGOT- an old crossword word.
Anon T... Love those Judi Dench (et. al) impressions. The real British National (comedian) Treasure is Tracy Ulman. Wish she'd return to the tube.
Re: Falling silos. Apparently farming is statistically one of the most dangerous occupations. Reminds me of a favorite macabre short story "The Monkey's Paw" (American version) surrounding a farming accident.
A Museum/Kid like story; My BIL decided to show his 7 and 5 yo granddaughters what a church looked like inside. Although he attends mass his daughter and SIL do not .. When the 7 y o looked up at the crucifix she turned to her grandfather and asked....
"What happened to that guy?
Ray-O, ha ha ha ha ha!
Great puzzle. Didn’t like ergot or ensconce.
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