Well, well; it's another Friday and guess who is our constructor? Why none other than the inimitable Jeffrey Wechsler! I'm beginning to think he has a lock on Friday puzzles, as well as puzzles that are 16x15 in grid size. While many of his offerings have been difficult for this solver, today's was not ... or is that nit?
JW took the "O" from four well-known phrases, and substituted an "I" to firm - no, that's form - a punny phrase. Friday and Saturday puzzles usually take me quite awhile to finish, but today's was surprisingly easy, time-wise. Lots of two-word phrases, and the 16-square width was needed to fill in the two spanners.
Here is how Jeffrey achieved the vowel replacement:
18-Across. Monarch known for her sketches?: MARY QUEEN OF SKITS. Mary, Queen of SCOTS is more familiar. In this "replacement" JW also switched the C in SCOTS to a K in SKITS - but the pronunciation of both the C and K are the same. SKITS are sketches; these are shoes:
28-Across. Lessons in sympathy?: PITY TRAINING. "POTTY TRAINING" is what I'm guessing Jeffrey was making pun of. And while we might feel empathy for parents of toddlers who are going through POTTY training, there's no PITY! Anyone who's had kids has been there, done that! Now, as for a PITY Trainer, how about this dude, seeing as a "T" was missing?
48-Across. "If you hate my work, make your own sweater!"?: LIKE IT OR KNIT. I guess that whatever your thoughts are about today's puzzle, you still solved it, "like it or not" ...
Any knitters among our group of regulars? I don't knit but I am a sweater ... and speaking of sweaters have you ever wondered
62-Across. Like "Ode on an Eaten Apple"?: WRITTEN TO THE CORE. "ROTTEN TO THE CORE" is a known phrase for one who's incorrigible. As well as a 1965 British Movie title, and a song from the Disney film "Desendants". But this clue and answer gave me a Moe-Ku:
Encouraging note
Sent to Marine recruits was
WRITTEN TO THE CORPS
Here is the grid:
On to the rest of the clues ...
Across:
1. Davis with two Oscars: BETTE. GEENA fit too, but I figured BETTE was more likely the one who'd have a pair of Oscars
BETTE Davis won her first Academy Award in 1935, for her role as a troubled young actress in Dangerous. She then appeared in The Petrified Forest with male stars Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart in 1937. After a rocky period at Warner Brothers, during which time she was suspended for turning down roles, sued the studio and spent some time in England, she returned to Hollywood, and was offered a higher salary and better choice of roles.
Davis received her second Oscar for her performance as a rebellious Southern belle in 1938's Jezebel. A number of critical and box-office successes followed: She played a heiress coming to terms with mortal illness in Dark Victory and Elizabeth I in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (both released in 1939), and went on to deliver several well-received performances in films of the 1940s, including The Little Foxes; the comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner; the American drama Now, Voyager; and the drama The Corn is Green. By the time she severed ties with Warner Brothers in 1949, Davis was one of its largest talents. Biography dot com
6. Also says: ADDS. But when it comes to ADS - especially those on most social media platforms and TV shows - wouldn't it be nice if they could "subtract"?
10. Say: UTTER. When you say "UTTER", do some folks think you said "udder"? And if this was a CSO to desper-otto, would this be UTTOR? "Mark" that down!
15. Warranty holders: USERS. USERS also has a connotative definition; that being the persons who "use" illegal drugs. But I don't think illegal drugs come with a warranty
16. Word with life or world: REAL. REAL life; REAL world. Get it?
17. Indication of further installments: PART I . But even this book omitted the "Part I" before the second "installment" was written
21. Gridiron strategy: PUNT. Also used as a metaphor in REAL life
22. It's often filled with things for which it was not intended: GARAGE. Like this perhaps?
23. It has no cutting edge: EPEE. Great clue! A literal, play-on-words; and Moe-ku, Part II:
Allergic fencer
Stores his swords where? Of course, they're
In an EPEE pen
24. Prince in both parts of "Henry IV": HAL. Prince HAL is the standard term used in literary criticism to refer to Shakespeare's portrayal of the young Henry V of England as a prince before his accession to the throne, taken from the diminutive form of his name used in the plays almost exclusively by Falstaff. Wikipedia
26. MGM rival: RKO. RKO Pictures was an American film production and distribution company. In its original incarnation, as RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. (a subsidiary of Radio-Keith-Orpheum, aka: RKO) it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. Google
34. Ownership query word: WHOSE. Or, when you have "auto-correct" activated, it's sometimes spelled "WHO'S"
36. Precipitous: RASH. Our Thesaurusaurus doesn't agree, but if you drill down deep enough, the word "RASH" can be found as a definition for precipitous ...
37. Substantial: MEATY. See 36-Across; maybe because it's Friday, the more familiar synonyms weren't used
40. Sitter's bane: IMP. Bane = pest; pest = IMP. Out of curiosity, what do sitters get paid these days?
41. Starter at some tables: ANTE. There must be a thousand crossword clues for the word "ANTE". Now there's 1,001
42. __ culpa: MEA. Latin, ‘by my fault’. Said during confession
43. Ascend: GO UP. It's GO UP, not GOUP!
45. Egyptian talisman: SCARAB. I had AMULET before correcting to SCARAB. Moe-ku Part III:
Cairo trainer used
Talisman on his stomach.
He wants to SCARAB
47. Bill: BEAK. As in a bird's bill; Bill: the BEAK of a bird, especially when it is slender, flattened, or weak, or belongs to a web-footed bird or a bird of the pigeon family. Google. This?
51. Zodiac symbol: SCALES. LIBRA doesn't fit as an answer, but its symbol is the SCALES. For folks born between September 23 and October 22. The symbol of the SCALES is based on the Scales of Justice held by Themis, the Greek personification of divine law and custom. She became the inspiration for modern depictions of Lady Justice. The ruling planet of Libra is Venus. Libra is the only zodiac constellation represented by an inanimate object; with the other eleven signs represented by either an animal or mythological character. Wikipedia
53. Military bands: SASHES. Not the musical "band"; this:
56. Judge with a bat: AARON. A sports reference. This "judge" - AARON Judge of the NYY. #99 in your scorecard
57. Related groups: SETS. In last Friday's puzzle, the singular of SETS was clued as "A math group"
61. Start a round: TEE UP. As in a "round" of golf. Most courses start with either a Par 4 or Par 5 which would require one to TEE UP their golf ball on a wooden peg. Meh. I would've preferred the clue to have referred to a basketball official assessing a technical foul - AKA - TEE UP
65. Woodworking tool: ADZE. Moe-ku Part IV:
Lowe's fall promotion
Features woodworking tools. It's
Their ADZE ad's campaign
66. One working on the house: ROOFER. SANTA didn't fit
67. Cyclo- suffix: TRON. A cycloTRON is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest O. Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. A cyclotron accelerates charged particles outwards from the center of a flat cylindrical vacuum chamber along a spiral path. Wikipedia
68. Having multiple leaders: TIED. A rather deceptive clue, methinks; another sports reference? As in the "leaders" of the ________ league division are TIED with 20 wins apiece
69. "Phooey!": AW NUTS. Not an oft used word phrase in xword puzzles, but effective
70. Part of DOS: Abbr.: SYST. DOS is a platform-independent acronym for disk operating SYSTem which later became a common shorthand for disk-based operating systems on IBM PC compatibles. DOS primarily consists of Microsoft's MS-DOS and a rebranded version under the name IBM PC DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Wikipedia
Down:
1. Sign suggesting slowing: BUMP. STOP would've been too obvious; as last Saturday's puzzle revealed, "OH, GOD, NO!" might be my response to seeing this sign, which I'd never encountered before living in both FL and now, AZ
2. Biblical twin: ESAU. OK: what's ESAU's twin's name?
3. Seagull kin: TERN. Unlike Arissa LeBrock, who might be clued as "Seagal" kin
4. "Taste it": TRY THIS. Clecho, PART I
5. Legal honorific: Abbr.: ESQ. An abbreviation for esquire, which is a title used by attorneys in the United States. The term esquire has a different meaning in English Law. It is used to signify a title of dignity, which ranks above gentleman and directly below knight
6. Space: AREA. Or, the final frontier, but that wouldn't fit
7. Woodland grazers: DEER. Slim pickens on the grazing deer cartoons!
8. Fox's partner on "The X-Files": DANA. Hand up if you've never watched "The X-Files". Me! Now THIS DANA was one with whom I'm familiar. Not sure that this kind of comedy would be allowed on today's TV
9. Tough go: SLOG. Kinda like this puzzle for some?
10. DHL alternative: UPS. United Parcel Service is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907.
11. "Taste it": TAKE ONE. Clecho Part II. Which brought to mind THIS old commercial
12. Activate, as a switch: TRIP. These rarely "break" anymore
13. Rock ending, in dance: ETTE. As in the RockETTEs. Anyone ever seen them? I did. At Radio City Music Hall in the 1960's. They performed before the showing of the movie, "Wait Until Dark"
14. Shine partner: RISE. RISE and Shine! I'm not sure that I am this perky most mornings
19. Way some situations turn: UGLY. But never these LA Times Crossword Blogs!
20. Seedless plant: FERN. How many seedless plants were featured in this sit com?
25. Wasted, as profits: ATE. Another Friday definition?
27. Kipling title hero: KIM. KIM is set in an imperialistic world; a world strikingly masculine, dominated by travel, trade and adventure, a world in which there is no question of the division between white and non-white.
Two men - a boy who grows into early manhood and an old ascetic priest, the lama - are at the center of the novel. A quest faces them both. Born in India, Kim is nevertheless white, a sahib. While he wants to play the Great Game of Imperialism, he is also spiritually bound to the lama. His aim, as he moves chameleon-like through the two cultures, is to reconcile these opposing strands, while the lama searches for redemption from the Wheel of Life.
A celebration of their friendship in a beautiful but often hostile environment, 'Kim' captures the opulence of India's exotic landscape, overlaid by the uneasy presence of the British Raj. Goodreads dot com
28. Make big, in a way: POPULARIZE. POPULARIZE: to cause (something) to become generally liked.
"his books have done much to popularize the sport"
29. "Last Call" singer Braxton: TRACI. TRACI Renee Braxton, is an American singer, reality television personality and radio personality. She is the younger sister of American R&B singer Toni Braxton. In 2011, Braxton reunited with her sisters for the WE tv reality show Braxton Family Values. Wikipedia
30. Charged: RAN AT. Only because "SWIPED" wouldn't fit
31. Minute Maid Park athlete: ASTRO. CSO to Dash T, our resident 'Stro's fan
32. "They say ... ": I HEAR. Another of the many two-word answers
33. Study applicable to many sciences: GAME THEORY. Business Insider lists 7 strategies on how to use GAME THEORY to make your life better
34. Freak (out): WIG. This WIG freaks ME out
35. Med. care provider: HMO. Health Maintenance Organization. In the United States, an HMO is a medical insurance group that provides health services for a fixed annual fee
38. Bubble __: TEA. All perps. Never heard of it. Bubble TEA is a tea-based drink that originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s. It most commonly consists of tea accompanied by chewy tapioca balls, but it can be made with other toppings as well. Wikipedia
Place of origin: Taiwan
Alternative names: Boba; Pearl milk tea; Boba milk tea; Boba tea; Boba nai cha; Tapioca tea
Main ingredients: Tapioca, milk, creamer, brewed tea, sugar, flavorings
39. Babble: YAK. The hairy animal clue would've been too easy for a Friday puzzle
44. Took the lead: PILOTED. PILOTED; piloting; pilots. Definition of pilot (Entry 2 of 3) transitive verb. 1 : to act as a guide to : lead or conduct over a usually difficult course. 2a : to set and conn the course of pilot a ship.
45. French "his": SES. I "eat" and "drink" French, but don't speak it. Perps to the rescue!
46. Lib. contents: BKS. As in books found in a library - in the abbreviation form
47. Divides equally: BISECTS. To divide in two
49. Daily Planet reporter: KENT. Clark KENT. The alter ego for Superman
50. Silver with stats: NATE. Nathaniel (NATE) Read Silver is an American statistician and writer who analyzes baseball, basketball, and elections. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight and a Special Correspondent for ABC News. Wikipedia
51. Noticed attending: SAW AT. I SAW by friend Paul AT the meeting
52. Rap's __ B: CARDI. Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, known professionally as CARDI B, is an American rapper. Born and raised in New York City, she became an Internet celebrity by achieving popularity on Vine and Instagram. Wikipedia. Her nickname Cardi B is short for Bacardi. But the famed Cardi B stage name didn't actually originate from the rapper's birth name, Belcalis Almanzar. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Cardi B explained that her title is actually short for Bacardi (the rum). Interesting
54. Roman bills: EUROS. Or coins. Good misdirection
55. Used up: SPENT. I am usually SPENT after doing these blogs!
57. TV screen spots: SNOW. Wow! Here is a throw-back to the old days. This?
58. Prestigious English school: ETON. Or, a collar; or, James Bond's alma mater
59. Vegan staple: TOFU. TOFU, also known as bean curd, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be silken, soft, firm, extra firm or super firm. Beyond these broad textural categories, there are many varieties of tofu. Wikipedia. Sounds "dee-lightful"!
60. [Ignore that dele]: STET. An editor's term for "let it stand"
63. Distinctive period: ERA. What, no baseball reference to a pitcher's stat??
64. PO door posting: HRS. PO as in Post Office. Do they have banker's HRS??
That's all I got! Hope you'll add your comments below. Enjoy your weekend! Thanks again, Jeffrey Wechsler for another challenging Friday "flummox"!
62 comments:
This is the first time that I've been first to post, and will likely be the last! Monitoring a family emergency kept me up, and I decided to solve online for a change. It was fun. Good puzzle, neat theme, very do-able. Thanks, Jeffrey, and thanks, Moe!
SCOTS -> SKITS
POTTY -> PITY
NOT -> KNIT
ROTTEN -> WRITTEN
Not only is the O changed to I, but the words have also all been altered in some other way as well!
Good Morning All. I went well past my usual bed time as I attended a long meeting with our townhome association. You know, the kind of meeting where everything gets discussed and mostly gets tabled until the next meeting. Anyway, ALL RISE, AARON JUDGE and his Yankees left town with a monkey on their backs as Donaldson and Cruz teed off in the 9th inning. Now the Yankees have to visit the barber shop for a haircut and shave.
ChairmanMoe you found this CW easy. Not me. I struggled to finally FIR …. in 37 minutes. As Owen said, it wasn’t just substituting a letter, the whole word was changed. I ended up with several W/Os: SCOTS:SKITS, YAP:YAK, TAKE:LIKE. The start was a problem for me, as I was unsure if it was BETTE or OSSIE. ESAU solved that. He always shows up as “Biblical twin.” Who was his twin? Why is HE never in a CW as “Blblical twin”? Did not know AARON Judge, all perps. AWNUTS took a long time to fill, because I struggled with SNOW, trying to fill DOTS. Anyway, a nice but (for me) difficult CW, thanx for the workout, JW. And thanx for all the time you put into your excellent (as always) write-up, ChairmanMoe.
Sometimes a really UGLY puzzle comes along.
One that's such a SLOG you almost hope your answers wrong.
A MEA CULPA entreaty,
A desire for something MEATY,
And instead of a ta-da, it rings a japing gong!
She was a Tex-Mex girl, her boyfriend thought insane.
TRY THIS she said of salsa -- his mouth burst into flame!
Up North, "spicy" meant mustard,
Maple syrup, lemon custard!
TAKE ONE chili she encouraged -- and it tasered his poor brain!
(I was the boyfriend from Oregon in the second l'ick. 40+ years here, and I still can't take New Mexican food!)
{B, B+.}
Good morning!
Got the theme early, and that helped a lot with the solve. Needed my Wite-Out for RISE/GO UP and OSSIE/BETTE. Nice CSO to Mme Defarge with "KNIT." Nicely done, Jeffrey, and thorough, as always, C-Moe.
GARAGE: That photo looks like mine, with workbench, drill press, router table, tool cart, and wood storage rack decorating the sides. Most folks around here have a shed...or two.
SASHES: Do you suppose Charles got that Merit Badge in the Boy Scouts?
ADZE: It's always clued as a woodworking tool. Looks more like a wood-destroying tool. Not sure I've ever seen one.
DOS: My first computer, back in the late '70s, used Heath-DOS. Later, I switched to the CP/M operating system. Needed something more powerful to take advantage of the massive 64K memory, 300K storage spread across three floppy drives, and zippy 4MHZ clock. Ah, those were the days...
I am worn out from you uber comprehensive write-up Moe. I agree the puzzle was very doable, with the BETTE being a brief sticking point. Is the SCARAB a portmanteau of SCARE ARAB ? I like the BABBLE and BUBBLE pair.
You are correct, AW NUTS makes its LAT debut today after limited run in other venues
LA Times - June 11, 2021
USA Today - Aug. 26, 2020
New York Times - Sept. 12, 2017
Newsday - Jan. 21, 2017
New York Times - June 5, 2016
New York Times - Jan. 21, 2016
Newsday - June 19, 2012
New York Times - March 15, 2012
Wall Street Journal Friday - Dec. 8, 2006
My burning question: Can we now call WASEELY BEAK ?
I enjoyed this amusing JW puzzle! He has such attention to detail with not just the O to I sound but all in words with a T after the vowel! Favorite of the day was WRITTEN TO THE CORE!
Gotta go meet friends for coffee - have a wonderful day!
Mr Wechesler's puzzles always challenge my solving skills. I counted 11 proper names and two clues I didn't recognize: 34 and 38 down, wig and tea, not part of my mind set.
At last, a Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle I FIR! And thoroughly enjoyed. What a nice ending to the week. The theme helped once I got it. Of course I first filled in Scots but I suspected there was something more tricky going on and perps confirmed it. Thanks, JW, and thanks to C Moe for his cheery review. Thanks for parsing PART I for me. Had a couple of WOs, but nothing major. Of course I remember SNOW on TV, though I first tried to fit in ShOW. And didn't we recently discuss ESAU and Jacob, the Biblical twins?
Have a fun Friday, you all.
FIW, getting lazy and missing SCALEr (didn't know SES/r). As usual, loved the JeffWesh special, but I too didn't find it easy.
A PGA player looks at his competitors' balls even before he TEES UP. (Each player has to have his own identifying mark, such as "red dot above the second 't' in 'Titleist'.")
I wish Mel Brooks had made "History of the World Part II."
I abandoned my Medicare PPO supposedly subsidized by Verizon (I'm a retiree), and selected a Medicare HMO. Between the lower price and better coverage, I'm saving about $1,000 per month. Same doctors, same medications.
I learned to program in IBM 360/370 DOS at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, CA. Icing on the cake - learned a little RJE to get my code into the mainframe.
Hola!
Yes, give me a JeffWex puzzle any time! It takes some deep thinking for a second or two and then the chuckles ensue.
I LIKE them all and can't choose a favorite. No UGLY turns on this puzzle!
Yea, me! I remembered AARON Judge from a previous puzzle. TRACI Braxton held me up for a long while since I did not know Toni had a sister.
KENT settled my mental debate between him and Lois.
DANA yes but I fell in love with David Duchovny in The X-Files.
Thank you, Bill, for the outstanding narrative!
Have a lovely day, everyone!
This took me a while (whole left-hand side) but got everything eventually. I loved the theme's long answers.
I also tried GEENA and OZZIE/OSSIE for the first answer before getting BETTE. I didn't need my seatbelt for the resulting BUMPy ride after that. (Hey---did you all miss that Bette quote?)
My favorite answer was GARAGE for something filled with things not intended. I have no room in my 2-car garage for cars. Well, at least the riding mower is in there.
Wasn't sure at first if DOS was the old PC Operating System or these days Denial of Service (hacker attacks done on web sites).
Took about 14 minutes, and enjoyed it.
I find the Traci Braxton clue/answer to be very obscure, even for a Friday.
Babble is a synonym for -babble. The things we learn from triceratops....
It was Moe that blogged today
Good Morning:
Nothing better than a Friday challenge from my favorite Word Wizard. I thought this relatively easy for a Friday, with no unknowns and only a couple of miscues with Yap/Yak and Gum/Tea. I liked Tee Up/Go Up, Try This/Take One, Bubble/Babble, and Euros abutting Spent. I loved the themers, especially Pity Training. CSOs to Madame D at Knit, the Texas contingent at Astro, and a few who shall remain unnamed at Imp.
Thanks, Jeffrey W, for a fun Friday frolic and thanks, Moe, for a very informative write-up, with lots of interesting tidbits, such as Libra bring the only non-animal Zodia sign. My husband was a Libra, but I know very little about the subject other than I’m a Ram. Hand up for never having seen The X Files, although my Libra husband was addicted to it and hand up for having seen the Rocketts at Radio City’s Christmas Show, which is spectacular every year. My favorite cartoon today was the “texting” cow! Great job, as usual.
Naomi @ 3:47 ~ I hope all is well.
Boomer @ 6:30 ~ That wasn’t a very Minnesota-Nice comment about my Yankees!
Jinx @ 8:22 ~ Welcome back. 😉
Have a great day.
Rockettes. Mea Culpa!
Good morning everyone.
My brain was slow today so it took longer to think up some of Jeffrey's great fill. Finally decided on BETTE after trying Ossie and Geena without much luck. But once MARY QUEEN OF SKITS came, I saw where we were headed with the theme. Finally, FIR. Liked SCALES and BISECTS. SNOW had a tricky clue.
Well done, Jeff, and C. Moe.
It's Friday. And we have an easier than usual Wechsler puzzle with an O to I replacement. Just a few A&E unknowns filled by perps- DANA, TRACI, and that 'wholesome' rap singer CARDI B. Just look up the lyrics to some of her trashy 'poetry', especially WAP.
WIG out and NATE Silver- not familiar with those two. Perps.
Bubble TEA- there are a few Bubble TEA places in the NOLA area. My Vietnamese neighbor opened one up that lasted 6 months.
Bill DANA is definitely remembered. There are way too many thin-skinned people who can't take a joke. Snowflakes are easily offended but water rolls off my back.
Fairly fluid Friday fill. The biggest problem was sussing out that Make Big was not the same as Make It Big. Thanks, Ch. Moe and Jeffrey.
Very fun theme today. I got it from the topmost themer and then had a ball guessing the others. Glad to see my favorite movie make the grid, clued differently.
I filled this very quickly for a Friday and then pondered 68A and 48A for quite some time. I had solved in pen. Finally I looked at the online solution and found I was correct. TA DA! I was so sure 48A was wrong. After that reassurance, I finally parsed LIKE IT OR KNIT. Easy to guess theme.
I loved all the BETTE DAVIS TV reruns and Netflix films.
Ossie before BETTE.
As a sitter I was paid 25 cents an hour.
Bubble tea is very popular here. Not for me.
Jinx, LOL Is your golf ball story salacious?
I have enjoyed the Rockettes Christmas show at Radio City several times over the years.
I avoiding grocery shopping today. I will have to give in soon.
Moe, many people misidentify who the blogger is often. Sic transit gloria.
Musings
-Jeffery never disappoints! LIKE IT OR KNIT and WRITTEN TO THE CORE? Wow!
-BETTE and Viola are two Oscar winners with the surname Davis. Not Geena or Ossie.
-I know people with a GARAGE full of junk and three cars that sit outside.
-HAL – Into each Jeffrey puzzle a little Shakespeare must fall
-I have regretted many a RASH decision, ATE my words and had to UTTER a MEA CULPA
-No TEE UP today as we are getting a lovely and needed rain right now
-An angry Canadian Goose with goslings RAN AT me last month when he thought I PILOTED too close in my golf cart
-I played in 95F weather yesterday and was SPENT when I finished at 1 pm
-U.S. Post Office HRS are irrelevant now as our big grocery store has a full facility there
Thank you for that slice of humble pie.
I enjoy JW's puzzles even though I rarely finish them without turning on Red Letters at some point in the process. Today was no exception. However, I did get the theme and was able to fill in all of the theme answers.
Chairman Moe provided a thorough grid tour that 'splained everything.
Of the various Davis possibilities I decided to try OSSIE first. He was nominated for many awards and won quite a few, but alas he did not win an Oscar. Plus Bette Davis' Oscars were a little before my time.
For 22A I needed perps to fill in GARAGE. I can barely fit one car in my two car garage because of all the other stuff in it. The other two vehicles sit outside.
Moe: I got to see the Rockettes in 1959 as a teenager when my parents took us (+ sister) to Radio City Music Hall to see "The Nuns Story." We were so far away from the stage, that binoculars were almost needed to see them.
I tried HALVES before BISECTS but it didn't fit.
I didn't know AARON Judge, but with the double A's from perps, I figured it had to be AARON.
What gets me with some series with a PART I or Season 1, is when a network decides to cancel a show before the second season. Here is a listing of a number of good shows that this has happened to. They leave you hanging with no closure.
Well, enough for today. Enjoy!
Hi Y'all! Loved the theme, thanks, Jeffrey. Moe, Than Ku.
Looking at Prince Charles medals. How dirty & stinky must he have been to get an Order to take a Bath & receive a Neck Badge?
ADDS or ADS. When will people who pay big insurance premiums wake up to the fact that their money is going to pay for those idiotic & annoying TV ads. Wouldn't it be a better use of the funds to lower the premiums or pay bigger on claims?
AW NUTS, my AC is barely cooling. Tech is supposed to come this afternoon. Probably just needs more refrigerant added as in past years.
Filled the puzzle but there were some unknowns & SLOGS in the upper middle & SE that needed red-letter.
My niece's family spent five years in India. My brother says the people of India are the most laid back & polite of any in the world. His theory is that Raj Rule with the occupying British lasted because the Indians were so polite they just never got around to telling the invaders to leave.
YR - Salacious? Not me - even the women of the LPGA look at one another's balls before starting. And I don't even know what "oxymoron" means!
I love Jeffrey Weschler puzzles. To me, they are challenging but fair and always clever and fun.
I’ll take a CSO at 48 across - I am currently making argyle socks for my son’s birthday. Knitting is a favorite “quiet time” activity.
Thanks Ch. Moe for a great tour.
Always love your puzzles, Jeffrey, even a Friday toughie like this. Many thanks. And very much appreciated all your information and explanations, Chairman Moe, an additional and great treat today.
Nice to start with BETTE Davis. Loved your picture of that overcrowded GARAGE, Moe. Mine has so many shelves and cupboards that there's no room for a car. Thought of music when I saw "Military bands"--then SASHES?! Have got to remember that most words have double meanings. One of several AW, NUTS moments for me.
Still, lots of fun. Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
Hi All!
Just enough letters filled to ink "WRITTEN TO THE CORE"(?)... OK, I think I see what's going on. "LIKE IT OR KNIT" was a leap of faith with only --l--ORKN-- in place (yes, I had Lane b/f KENT).
Fun puzzle JW. You almost won in the NW but MARY came to the rescue.
Great expo, C. Moe; enjoyed the Kus (to the Corps, hehe). Oh, and I didn't think anyone else has ever seen Fernwood Tonight; Martin Mull was funny in that.
Oh, and MdF and Wendybird (for two) KNIT.
WOs: TRY SOME (at 11d), sAME THEORY(?) [s was there 'cuz 28a was going to be plural], Ah NUTS, Lane->KENT, and (are you ready for this?), I had alchemist PIrOTs taking the lead (presumably to turn to gold).
ESPs: TRACI, BETTE [Kim Carnes 3:37] (that's how she's spelled?), KIM, SES
Fav: GAME THEORY.
Runner-up: clue for GARAGE. I get two cars in my two-and-a-half-car garage.
X-Files: Watched every episode up-to the second one after the movie. After the movie, it was kind of pointless, mystique-wise.
Gotta run. Play later.
Cheers, -T
What a pleasure, Jeffrey Wechsler writes such fun clues, like “If you hate my work, ...”. You knew that one had to involve KNIT. The theme was easily sassed out, and there were no very difficult clues. I took a while to get BETTE at 1-A and wondered if Geena Davis had ever won two Oscars ( she did win one Oscar for Accidental Tourist). Bette Davis is so well known that I wonder why I didn’t remember her first.
I needed perps for TRACI and CARDI. POPULARIZED emerged slowly. The rest were easily solved. This was a very enjoyable puzzle.
OK C-Me and -T, I'll play. I'll see your "Fernwood Tonight" and raise you a "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." Fade up the music from Happy Kyne and the Mirthmakers.
Jinx, I must be back in my college days. Anything one said could be turned into a double entendre.
Another Friday, another JW gem.
I’m kind of surprised to get through this one with only a few mistakes.
Write-overs….
TRYSOME/TRYTHIS, LANE/KENT.
GARAGES…my pet peeve…if you don’t have room in your garage for a car you need storage or a tag sale. Your house is your home, the garage is the car’s. Add up all the money you spend on your car(s) and then explain why you leave them outside to bake/freeze 24/7. “Hey, how do you keep your cars in such great shape?” I park them in the garage. End of peeve.
PK…an AC shouldn’t need to be filled with any regularity. There must be a small leak, they should find it using the dye. Probably just an o-ring that has gotten hard.
FLN…$1250 labor…isn’t that the price paid for a complete install, including the air handler? If you’re happy, that’s great, it just seems like a lot.
Stay cool.
Thank you Lemonade, for that youtube video on Sic transit Gloria.
I had heard of such a phrase, but didn't know the exact latin words. Something, I should probably, commit to memory. An apt expression that I sometimes, find myself quite guilty of feeling.
I thought it was the logo of the MGM studio franchise, but that logo ( Ars gratia Artis = Arts for Art's sake ) means something else.
Of course, this discussion has nothing to do with Ch Moe, who blogged todays answers, very admirably.
Busy week...TGIF 'cept dinna finish the puzzle, the Mid North got to me.. what boggled me was writing in "does" instead of DEER, (a female deer) leading to fatal gaps such as...GAS..GE RO..L and Fox's partner (never watched X-files, see my hand up?). AWNUTS.☹
Mikey ("he likes it") must be old enough to collect SSI....DW has a cousin who was a former ROCKETTE.
Immediately/erroneously wrote in MARY QUEEN OF Scots (She liked to paint) corrected once I parsed the theme and the perps wouldn't work. Had "Gemini" for the zodiac and "set"up: both perpwalked. Other inkovers yap/YAK....soi ("his" singular) /SES (plural); I'd say beyond what most people would know of frauwnçay.
TV's can still get SNOW but remember the nuisance old ones had with horizontal and vertical "roll"
ADDS with ADZE.
GAMETHEORY? wha?....bubble TEA sounds like an oldie I forgot and had to perp. Moe couldn't u find a tamer wig?🤣.. the nose bone? meh 🤔.. and did you mean "Sketchers"? (is that a picture of Prince Charles being tickled?) Never understand road signs warning of a (simple, not speed) BUMP...why don't they just fix it?
Zodiac pisces symbol....SCALES.
Hair gel....GOUP.
"Milk us now", what cows ____ UTTER.
Too cold in the house, who left the ____? AARON.
What Horton heard....WHOSE.
PoTtYTRAINING; heard a comedian yesterday on Sirius XM radio say his 3yo nephew came up to him and said "Somebody pooped in my pants"
Have to finish planting annuals and fight with DW over WHO'S gonna water them.💦
The roadside sign that tickles me is "Guardrail damage ahead." You're not supposed to hit the darned thing. Must be the guvment's way of saying, "Hey, we warned you; if you hit it, it's on you, not us."
Sic transit gloria was often quoted to us when lessons on humility were warranted. So goes glory, i.e. it doesn't last.
ChairmanMoe, I'm sorry that I misattributed the Blog and I so enjoyed your MoeKus in between. I guess it was still too early for me. After blogging I returned to bed.
BETTE was no contest for me. I noticed that BUMP and ESAU would be the perps.
MEA culpa is recited toward the beginning of the Mass if it's said in Latin. It follows the examination of conscience.
Nice to be reminded that ETON was the school for James Bond (007).
Incidentally, it was also the school for twenty prime ministers of the UK.
Including Boris Johnson. Just saying.
Ta ~ DAH!. A tough but enjoyable PZL from Mr. Wechsler. The last sector to fall was the SW corner, thanks to (or blame assigned to) CARDI of Cardi B. Not knowing anything of rappers, I was slowed down considerably.
[Sigh] Gotta catch up with contemporary Americana...
Today's asymmetric grid (16x15) leaves us with no diagonals.
~ OMK
Anonymous PVX, have you ever had a home with no attic or basement and few closets? We built storage shelves around three sides of our one car garage and I had to have a compact car so it would fit. Our neighbor added two more kids and thus outgrew their condo before they could afford a larger space. One neighbor had to store her son's furniture when he broke up housekeeping. "There but for the grace of God go I" Another cliche, "Life is not a bowl of cherries."
This is in reply to Pk, .... about indians ... and India....
Thank you for your kind words ... but as All stereotypes go, that stereotype about indians being laid back and polite, has just got to be wrong.... indians come, like everyone else, in all shapes, shades and sizes. Some good, some bad, some ugly. ;-)
Without going into politics, the reason the Brits managed to rule India for 220+ years, was in IMHO,
1, Guns, germs and Steel. ( see Jared Diamond's book -).
2. There were 600+ little kingdoms, always fighting each other, and the Brits took advantage of the situation. Nature abhors a vacuum...
3. For better or for worse, the Brits united India ... like Napoleon united an Italy, and someone else, probably Bismarck, united Germany .....
A silly little ditty I learnt in the 6th grade ...
One Indian is a master of himself,
If there are two indians, they will fight each other incessantly,
If there are three indians ... there's foreign rule ...
One britisher is a fool,
But two britishers will cooperate with each other,
and if there are three britishers, they will make one the emperor, and set up a british empire.
Just a little ditty, full of nonsense,that does not apply today.
Have a nice day, all.
Anonymous PVX, have you ever had a home with no attic or basement and few closets? We built storage shelves around three sides of our one car garage and I had to have a compact car so it would fit. Our neighbor added two more kids and thus outgrew their condo before they could afford a larger space. One neighbor had to store her son's furniture when he broke up housekeeping. "There but for the grace of God go I" Another cliche, "Life is not a bowl of cherries."
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and CMoe.
I saw the word change theme, but required one Google search ( for Silver sports player); then arrived here to find that it was KIM, not Jim (I can never remember RKO).
Oh NUTS ( what I had before AW)!
This was a workout for me; now I must get to work and prep for family coming tomorrow (with 4 grands in tow that we haven’t seen in person since Christmas). This Grandma is only a little excited 😁🎶🎉
Wishing you all a great day.
Vita non est miseria fortes viros.
Thank you JeffWech for an UTTER Friday delight and a welcome respite from the fog of yesterday's WAR ZONES. And with this review CMOE, you've established yourself as the KING OF SKITS (comments to follow).
The theme (I's for O's, plus change) was helpful and cleverly punnishing. The rest of the fill was fairly easy ...
1A Lots of possibilities and first I thought of OSSIE, but Jacob's TWIN and seagull's KIN gave it away. Great BETTE bio for one of the leading actresses of her time.
17A PART I. MOE's selection of the movie ATLAS SHRUGGED seems more than a little co-incidental to an earlier RANT this week on Ayn RAND. Does Rich have ESP?
22A I was a little disturbed to see that pictures of my GARAGE are now in the public domain.
23A Best clue yet for EPEE.
24A HAL A storied prince and future king. In his youth he carouses with FALSTAFF and his band of rogues, but upon Henry's ascent to the throne he rejects his old drinking buddy to follow his duties as a King. Sir John appears in many works including the operas "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "Falstaff", Verdi's only comedy and considered by some to be his greatest work. His death goes unreported in Shakespeare's Henry V, but Falstaff dies a hero at the Battle of Agincourt in the Netflix movie The King.
67A TRON Also this film.
69A AWNUTS Sound yummy. I wonder what AWNUT butter would taste like?
8D Hands down on the X-FILES, but I know they're out there. But thanks MOE for the STEVE ALLEN/BILL DANA skit. Allen was my all-time favorite Tonight Show host, as well as the founder of the show. And it's been years since I've seen Bill Dana. What a treat.
20A FERN DNK Fernwood 2 Night, although I'm familiar with some of Mull's and Willard's work. A real hoot, and I'm sure definitely not PC. The only seedless plants I counted were the sensimilla those guys were smoking.
45D MON MA MES
TON TA TES
SON SA SES, etc.
57D Before AC, we used to keep cool in August by sitting around and watching TEST PATTERNS.
Cheers,
Bill
Vidwan: I hoped you would have a reply to my brother's theory. I thought his was funny. His other theory is Indians let the British stay because they built roads and other infrastructure. I told him I thought the Indians built those at British insistence. I found your comments very interesting.
PVX: My A/C freon has been recharged & cooling has resumed. I was thrilled to have a tech show up during his noon hour to take care of me. He is the third different guy to try to find that slow leak in the past four years. Nobody can find it. I keep asking if I need to replace the outside unit or the whole AC. Strangely they say no because it is such a slow leak. I think they look at this old broad in a modest little house & think I can't afford it. If they only knew.
Lemony @7:46 AM More like BLEAK. BTW there are 3 E's in that portmanteau.
Lucina 8:28 AM That was the Chairman's Dance. I'm yesterday's news.
After reading all the comments about garages: All you folks imagine living in a house with no basement, no attic, and no garage. This house is stuffed!
With you, Uncle Fred -- I live in the city and consider myself extremely blessed to actually have a driveway! Fun and funny puzzle, Jeffrey, and a tip o' the hat to the Chairman for a fantastic write-up!
OCBeach, thank you for the link to the multitude of shows that were enjoyable that were cancelled quickly. STAR TREK almost made that list. The good news is that NETFLIX rescues some including one of my favorites LUCIFER
It is great to hear from so many today.
Most houses here have no basement and only a carport, no garage. As a result, the area abounds in storage units! At least three are located within a five mile distance from my house.
Our units have a nice, compact storage shed which in my case, holds boxes of Christmas decorations, my suitcases and assorted other items most of which should probably be discarded especially all the flower vases and extra kitchen utensils. Two boxes contain the large pots I use to cook meat for the tamales. So it's very useful to have those sheds. They abut (CWD Word!) the carport.
Vidwan
This may not be true for all Americans but when I was taught "World History" in the 1960s it was really limited to European history. We were taught the British controlled India....and then they didn't ...through the peaceful actions of Gandhi. That was about it.
Then I saw the movie "Gandhi" a couple years ago (on my bucket list). Assuming mostly accurate...the Brits obviously didn't simply pack up and leave, incredible violence against the civilian population then partition
Napolean actually split Italy up into republics. Giuseppe Garibaldi is credited with what was called the "Risorgimento" the unification under one king as one country in 1861. The people voted the king out after World War 2 and became a republic.
After the midweek ordeals this was a relatively straightforward jeffwesch xword. Just had to grok the i-o switch. Which came all the way when ROTTEN wouldn't fit.
POPULARIZE made use of the Z in the xword staple ADZE. We had a Q so we must have come close to all letters *
Am I the only one to have gab/YAK?
And yes, Boomer, hearing the news of the Twins turning the tables on the Yankees was pleasant. Donaldson and Cruz, I wouldn't count the Twins out too early.
"Start a round " was neat.
Bad news. Saturday is a bear.
BTW, what a tennis match at Roland Garros
WC
*I can't think of the name
I very much enjoyed this puzzle. A very pleasant 45 minutes.
For some reason I wanted VIOLA Davis at 1 across but ESAU (who else?) and ESQ put the kibosh on that. Then, changing ERNE to TERN cinched it.
I did have to look up Toni Braxton's sister's name before being able to solve that area.
I mentally juggled LOIS, LANE, and KENT for a long time.
I was looking for the Latin name of the zodiac sign and the only 6-letter ones I could think of were CANCER and TAURUS. Nope, 'twas the English word SCALES. I'm a Libra.
I loved the clue for EPEE. I hope it was Jeff's clue.
Some time ago I learned that Bill Dana's real name was William Szathmary. His brother, Irving Szathmary, born Isadore Szathmary, composed/scored the theme music to the old Get Smart TV show.
Good wishes to you all.
PK, I'll bet the HVAC techs believe that you have a leak in the tubing inside your house, and don't want to address it. If it were mine, I think I would have them just keep adding refrigerant if the units are at least 14 SEER and are less than 10 years old.
Jinx @5:07 PM Thanks Jinx for SEER, a word I DNK. I guess you have to be a SEER to suss your AC system's SEER?
Musings
-Storage always reminds me of the George Carlin bit about how we all accumulate “stuff”
-My landscaper toured some of the new houses across the road from us and said we could probably get my Cadillac SUV and my mower into their “two-car garages”.
-Cooler temps and .7” gentle rain perks everybody up!
-The Rockettes brought their Christmas Show to Omaha a few years ago and sold out every performance.
FWIW, the complete form is 'sic transit gloria mundi'.
Ray-O-Sunshine, I had the same exact experience you did. I had "does" instead of DEER and then just couldn't figure out that section of the puzzle and had to call it a DNF.
I enjoyed the puzzle as a whole, but didn't really love the theme. I didn't like that PITYTRAINING had the change in the first word while the others had it in the second word, and this answer had removal of a letter while the others all had new letters. Small things but symmetry elevates the puzzle IMO.
staili Yeah, I agree, symmetry could have been better. But if you want to nit pick about small things, KNIT and WRITTEN Added a silent letter, PITY dropped a letter, but SKITS didn't change the letter count at all. And as inanehiker caught, all words also had a T after the I/O, adding one more level to the ingenuity to atone for the symmetry violation.
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