Good Morning, Curciverbalists! Malodorous Manatee here along with a semi-aquatic-mammalian friend to wish everyone a positively special Thursday. Today, our puzzle setter is Parikshit S. Bhat, a veteran of at least two other previously-published L.A Times puzzles, who seems to have riffed on his own initials with today's very straight-forward theme. P. S. Bhat has taken five common word pairs that begin with the letter P and added his middle initial, S, at the beginning to create new, amusing word pairs that all start with SP.
Today, The SP awards go to:
17 Across: Fish eggs seller?: SPAWN SHOP. Or, perhaps, baby salmon hit the mall?
25 Across: Command to Siri to read the clock?: SPEAK TIME. It sounds like Tonto is making the request of Apple.
PEAK TIME Energy Pricing
35 Across: Public relations fund?: SPIN MONEY. Pin MONEY is a small sum used to pay for incidentals and SPIN doctors, a slang term for public relations professionals, mold public images of persons and events.
50 Across: Recreational libation?: SPORT WINE. A SPORT is a form of recreation and port wine is a Portuguese fortified WINE.
59 Across: Music for a feisty orator?: SPUNK ROCK. . . . . and a previously-thought-of riff, apparently.
Unless this madescent marine mammal missed something more, that's it for the uncomplicated, yet clever, theme.
Now, with a nod to Paul Harvey, for the rest of the story:
Across:
1. Multiple choice test options, often: ABCD.
5. Researched item: FACT. Isn't it a FACT only after the research confirms it?
9. It may be knitted: BROW.
13. "Mississippi Masala" filmmaker __ Nair: MIRA.
14. Many a map dot: ISLE. Sometimes, the same clue is used for TOWN.
15. Skirmish: RUN IN. There are several ways this might have been clued but the puzzle setter went the argument, or dispute, route.
19. Delete: ERASE.
20. Admit a mistake: OWN IT.
20. Admit a mistake: OWN IT.
21. City ESE of Phoenix: MESA. MESA, Arizona
23. Morning drops: DEW
.
Grateful Dead - Morning DEW
24. Tim who voiced Buzz Lightyear: ALLEN. That's Tim ALLEN on the right, below.
27. Arranged: LAID OUT.
29. "You're on the right track": WARMER
.
30. North end?: ERN North end. South end. East end. West end. F end.
31. Golf date ruiner: RAIN. Or not.
31. Golf date ruiner: RAIN. Or not.
Swinging In The Rain
34. She played Thelma in "Thelma & Louise": GEENA. GEENA Davis
38. One of a 15th-century seagoing trio: PINTA. In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
41. Soft drink nut: KOLA. In the 1880's, a pharmacist in Georgia, John Pemberton, took caffeine extracted from KOLA nuts and cocaine-containing extracts from coca leaves and mixed them with sugar, other flavorings, and carbonated water to invent Coca Cola.
42. Clamorous sound: DIN.
42. Clamorous sound: DIN.
45. "Let me rephrase that ... ": I MEANT.
47. How Clint Eastwood usually delivers his lines: TERSELY
.
53. Copious: AMPLE. I think of copious as being more than AMPLE. Abundant, if you will.
54. Top __: TEN.
55. "Too great a burden to bear": M.L. King Jr.: HATE.
56. Food recall reason: E COLI.
57. Address with style: ORATE. Not a calligraphy reference.
62. Drag racer's fuel, briefly: NITRO. NITROmethane.
63. Word repeated in a combat term: MANO. In this case, MANO A MANO - meaning hand to hand combat.
64. Scary-sounding lake: ERIE. Right now, everyone in Cleveland is taking social distancing very seriously. Even the walkway by the lake is deserted. It's ERIE.
65. Tend: LEAN.
66. Hebrew for "skyward": EL AL.
67. __ date: SET A.
Down:
Down:
1. Early hrs.: AMS. Ante Meridian, although everyone just uses AM.
2. Like Earth: BIPOLAR. The earth is indeed BIPOLAR. But it's not a disorder." Neil deGrasee Tyson
3. Enter on hands and knees: CRAWL IN.
4. Finally occurred to, with "on": DAWNED.
MST3k
6. Stuff in a tray: ASH. Remember ASH trays?
7. Tread noisily: CLOMP.
8. Tent made of skins: TEPEE. Also spelled TEEPEE.
9. Fragile goods concern: BREAKAGE.
10. Play that gave us the word "robot": R.U.R. Rossumovi Univerzalni Roboti (Rossum's Universal Robots).
11. Instantly: ON A DIME.
12. Biblical trio: WISE MEN. The Three Wise Men.
Balthasar, Melchior and Gaspar
16. Exclusive MLB cap supplier: NEW ERA. The NEW ERA Cap Company, founded in 1920, is headquartered in Buffalo, NY.
18. Boy of la casa: NINO. NINO is, of course, Spanish for boy.
22. Spotted: SAW. A tool for cutting. An old saying.
24. Golden brew: ALE.
25. Smelled really bad: STANK.
The Grinch's Take On Last Year
26. Three-pointer, in hoops lingo: TREY.
28. Ocean State sch.: URI.
32. Texter's "I feel": IMO. In My Opinion
33. "Tropic Thunder" actor Nick: NOLTE.
33. "Tropic Thunder" actor Nick: NOLTE.
Down and Out in the Golden Triangle
35. Rating unit: STAR. Often, one to five STARs.
36. Temple of the gods: PANTHEON.
The PANTHEON, Rome - Photo by MM
37. Scot's refusal: NAE.
38. Moving engine part: PISTON.
39. Leave vulnerable: IMPERIL.
40. Recent delivery: NEONATE.
42. Regret strongly: DEPLORE.
43.Under-the-table: ILLICIT
.
44. Bill promoting science?: NYE. Not an act by the legislature.
46. Defunct flier: TWA.
48. Bike storage aid: RACK.
49. Marshmallow treats: SMORES.
51. Response at the door: IT'S ME.
52. Site of many a climber's goal: NEPAL.
52. Site of many a climber's goal: NEPAL.
56. Hydroxyl compound: ENOL. The name is a contraction derived from alkene alcohol. More formally, Alkenol.
58. La-la preceder: TRA.
58. La-la preceder: TRA.
60."Sonata Quasi __ Fantasia": Beethoven's "Moonlight": UNA My mother's favorite pianist was Murray Perahia.
.
Moonlight Sonata - 3rd Movement Murray Perahia
61. New Zealand parrot: KEA. Alternatively, a bird sometimes seen in crossword puzzles.
_____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
On a SPORTY ISLE in ancient times,
ReplyDeleteWhere fish SPAWN in those WARMER climes,
There was a feller,
A FISH EGG SELLER,
Whose SHOP sold also roe-man WINES!
Only Nina and PINTA returned to Spain,
Where Christopher turned and sailed again.
Ship-worms, DEPLORABLE,
Found Santa Maria bore-able,
And scuttled her in the Spanish main!
{B+, B-.}
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteFaster than your average Thursday; even faster than yesterday. Theme understood, and Wite-Out-free. It doesn't get any better than that. I had that same thought about researching a FACT. Thanx, Parikshit and Mal-Man.
MESA: Used to have a brother and sister living there. Both gone now.
DIN: Gunga?
MANO: MMST3K was known for commentary on some of the worst movies ever made. Topping that list in my book was MANOS: The Hands Of Fate.
TREY: Some "March Madness" games are played on NBA courts. Do they restripe 'em due to the differing NBA/NCAA 3-point lines?
Helpful theme which I SPOTTED very early. MM, you should change your name to Marvelous Manatee. I like your marvelous Thursday blogs.
ReplyDeleteI wrote LAIDOWN, a spelling error, which I had to change to LAID OUT.
Fresh clue for ERIE.
I used to spell the tent, TEEPEE, but seeing it regularly in puzzles I now use TEPEE.
I often research so called "facts" to see if they have been updated. Some of what we learned in school about grammar and science are no longer considered facts. And what some people claim as facts are actually misperceptions.
It is good I had the final T perp for OWN IT. I like OWN UP.
AMPLE can mean enough or more than enough.
I think of it as plentiful or even copious. Just exactly enough does not seem ample to me, but if I have ample it is enough to share some.
Amusing theme and since it was discovered early it sped the solve up today.
ReplyDeleteI did have to wait for perps for KEA - I usually think of the Hawaiian Mauna which in crosswords must wait to fill in KEA vs LOA.
Thanks MM - enjoyed the musical links especially today! and for the puzzle Parikshit!
Newborn was inky mess. After smooth going this slowed me down. Somehow I thought Columbus sailed the ocean blue in a Ford PINTo
ReplyDeleteThe A in ELAL was a WAG. Should've been obvious. Hebrew/Spanish cross.
I had _EWERA and was slow on NEW. And OWN IT/up.
And of course not sst/TWA...And of course NEPAL/Tibet*
I like both this morning, Owen especially #2
I told my boss I would take COPIOUS notes at a meeting. He liked that.
WC
*Everest is in Tibet, n'est-ce
pas?
Always enjoy MaloMan Thursdays
Musings
ReplyDelete-Ex-NFL quarterback George MIRA would have been more familiar to me
-Put OWN UP first? I’ll have to OWN IT.
-MESA, AZ in March is also Cubbyville during spring training
-This spring, golf dates have been ruined by RAIN, cold and wind
-Hometown team got to state finals by shooting TREYS. In the championship game they went 5 for 30 and lost
-Making a new three-point line
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI found this very easy for a Thursday, probably because the theme was obvious from the first entry and kind of gave away the remaining themers. Mira and Kea were unknowns but easily perped. Odd to see E Coli two days in a row. PSB brought his A Game today with Mira, Mesa, Geena, Pinta, Kola, Set A, New Era, TWA, Tra, Una, and Kea. Nice CSOs to Lucina (Mesa, Una, Nino), Moe (Wine, Mesa), and Wilber (Nae).
Thanks, Parikshit, for an enjoyable, smooth solve and thanks MalMan for your usual wit and levity and fine commentary.
Have a great day.
Well Good Morning M.M & all. I noticed the SP beginning and it only DAWNED on me that it was an added "S" at S-PUNK ROCK. Duh! Not owning any Apple products the SIRI clue slowed me down. I had to change SPEAK TO ME to SPEAK TIME; ON A DOME didn't make as much sense as ON A DIME.
ReplyDeleteMIRA and NEW ERA were the only unknowns filled by perps, unlike yesterday's puzzle full of proper names. Didn't really know Nick NOLTE but he shows up a lot in puzzles.
M.M. With Clint Eastwood in the puzzle instead of "MM OUT" you should have said " Go Ahead, make my day" with the manatee and aa photoshopped .44 Magnum.
A Thursday FIW, sigh. The top went fast and filled neatly. Slowed greatly toward the bottom, in spite of getting the theme early. A number of WOs after perps showed me the way, making an inky mess there.
ReplyDeleteBut my downfall was one square overlooked when I made a correction, entering the W in SPAWNSHOP which gave me the theme. I hadn't read the clue carefully for 4D earlier when putting DonNED and left DoWNED. Didn't know MIRA ,which could have helped. Dang! A word but not the one needed there. Oh well, the puzzle was fun overall and I thank you, Parikshit S. Bhat. Thank you, Mal Man, for your help and many amusements. SPUNK made me think a bit but I thought it referred to "feisty" being "spunky" which I had heard of.
Hope you all are feeling SPUNKy today.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteRelatively easy. Got the theme early and pre-filled a few of the leading s's. Only wite-out was I had SST before TWA. WAGged KEA. FIR.
NEW ERA - Began in Derby, NY near our former home at Eden. NEW ERA was prominent in Navy ball caps.
ON A DIME - Our Farmall BN tractor could turn ON A DIME. Great for cultivating corn - (doing a 180 at the end of a set of rows.)
Stink STANK - German stinken, stanken.
CSO to Lucina @ MESA
Husker, you'd think those taped lines would get messed up with size-14 basketball shoes hoppin' around on 'em.
ReplyDeleteThe summit of Everest is a border point. It can be climbed from either side.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody remember Eddie STANKy?
Edward Raymond Stanky (born Stankiewicz) (September 3, 1915 – June 6, 1999) was an American professional baseball second baseman, shortstop and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves, New York Giants, and St. Louis Cardinals between 1943 and 1953. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
ReplyDeleteI got the theme but still needed Red Letters to complete the puzzle. Ergo a DNF.
I didn't know MIRA, I tried SUSAN instead of GEENA, and even though I've been to MESA, I couldn't conger it up. I put in MOAB instead which isn't even close to Phoenix. Red Letters and perps fixed them.
A/C stopped working two days ago. I tried resetting the breakers and cycling the thermostats and nothing worked. So, I called my trusty HVAC contractor and scheduled an appointment for today. A little while ago, I decided to reset everything again and the A/C started working. Don't know what the problem was, but I'm not cancelling the appointment with the repairmen. I want them to try to figure out why. Is this a case of crying wolf? Temps are supposed to be in the 90's starting this weekend, so I want it working.
Have a great day everyone.
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, PSB & great expo, MM. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHand up for thinking this puzzle was easier than most Thursday. But I'm sure not complaining. I got the theme on the first one which helped fill most of the rest.
Did anyone else notice after the SP the entries are A-E-I-O-U? Helped me get SPUNK.
DNK: MIRA, NEW ERA, UNA, KEA.
Fast fill for a Thursday but slowed down as I descended into the nether world of the puzzle. Eventually FIR. Is there more to the theme that dropping the "s"? (guess not)
ReplyDeleteMal Man great word madescent consider replacing "malodorous" 'cept then you'd be Madman.😆
Why not a "Thelma and Louise" sequel? (They had parachutes)🪂🪂
Mal man are you one of us cult followers of 15 years of "Supernatural"? I miss Cas and the boys!
Niño this time? not a neñe?...Test options tempted to fill "True" but perpwaited. (when in doubt the answer is usually C)
I thoroughly wash my hands after completing the puzzle due to the frequent appearance of ECOLI. 🙌
Malpensa Int'l Airport in Milan where I flew into for University in the 70's referred to TWA as "Tee-Vu-Ah", (no W in the Italian alphabet, the letter V pronounced "Vu") ✈
DEPLORE as a strong regret? More likely "find totally unacceptable, condemn? denounce"...
lnkovers: tensely/TERSELY, ooh/TRA, city/ISLE
Drag racers use NITRO! Yikes! 😳
Tanned...LAIDOUT.
Cuppa: coffee, _____ : ale....PINTA.
Hard to find item for a while....TEPEE.
Who was Hook's first mate?....ITSME.
On to Friday.
ReplyDeleteThis was tough until it wasn’t.
Once I saw the theme I just put “SP” in front of the themers. Agree with the above post that this type of theme dumbs down the grid a bit.
OC4BEACH - a wise move on your part. My AC unit was reading low on a capacitor but otherwise ran fine, he said once it went the AC might not kick off and start. I had him replace it on the spot. It gets hot here too!
Haircut yesterday and I’m going to the gym today. I wonder how this 68 ish body is going to feel later today and tomorrow…ahhh, spoiler alert, who’s fooling whom, I know I’m gonna be a hurting buckaroo, haha.
Why must we have made up words in crossword puzzles? Some may find them clever or amusing but I find them annoying.
ReplyDeleteClever Thursday puzzle, Parikshit--many thanks. Loved the S-plus theme. And always neat commentary, Malman, thanks for that too.
ReplyDeleteGreat to get pictures of THELMA and LOUISE, all-time favorites. ECOLI and EL AL show up in puzzles a lot these days--glad I always get them. But my favorite clue today was "scary-sounding lake" for ERIE.
Fun poems, Owen, I enjoyed them.
Have a great day, everybody.
The puzzle was just "S"marvey,
ReplyDeleteso I don't have much to say...
So,
Oc4beach,
I assume your AC is the whole house kind
and not a window unit. Down in Florida this wierd problem
happens all the time.
The tray under the unit that catches condesate water &
pipes it outside is notorious for clogging up with algae.
So much so that all new units have a safety switch so that
if the water rises too high in the tray, the unit shuts off...
The clogged pipe may still drip slightly,
water level goes down
safety switches off
unit starts up again.
Best recourse,
Yearly maintenence...
However,
one time I went outside and found the gardeners dumped mulch
all over the condensate pipe totally burying it and clogging it up.
Any decent HVAC installer would have installed a place to enable you to clean out the condensation line that drains your unit. I clean the slime out every year with vinegar.
DeleteAs a long time Sci-fi fan, I instantly knew R.U.R.
ReplyDeletedesper-otto: MST3K's take on MANOS was hugely funny. But my favorite one of theirs was their riffs during This Island Earth.
Stink, Stank, Stunk
ReplyDeleteFIR and enjoyed the solve, except for the names. The theme was fun and helpful. Just enough crunch to be a challenge. More like this!
ReplyDeleteD.O. at 06:45H: It's nice to see, but not at all surprising given the "clientele" here,other MST3K "alumni" on The Corner. The web has recent references to yet another revival. Here's hoping.
ReplyDeleteRay O at 10:44H: No, I cannot lay claim to being a member of that particular cult.
Thanks to everyone for your kind comments.
Hola!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to Mr. Baht and to MM for an amusing start to my morning! Then topped by Owen's funny poem.
PK, good catch on the AEIOU progression!
Although MESA is a neighboring city about the only time I go there is to Riverview shopping center. Oh, and our favorite restaurant, the Longhorn is located there, too. However, my group likes the one in Chandler. I guess we won't see that city in a puzzle.
MIRA is also a Spanish word that means, "look." And nene does not require a tilde.
Hand up for SST before TWA.
Surprisingly, and sadly, this week one of the contestants on Jeopardy did not know the PINTA.
My favorite Nick NOLTE role is in The Prince of Tides. But then, it's the only one where I've seen him.
TIME to go. I have to take my car in for emissions testing.
Have a glorious day, everyone!
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Parikshit and MalMan.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time and saw the S-added theme (missed the SP). (Great observation PK about the AEIOU progression)
But there were several inkblots.
Glenn (thinking of Glenn Close) before GEENA - d'uh!
Hand up for SST before TWA. (We had another airline, EL AL, too.)
Another hand up for Newborn before NEONATE.
I started with Pagoda but it was too short; PANTHEON fit.
I don't know why I was thinking of the Latin Ad Astra before the (star)light dawned on the Hebrew EL AL.
I was toying between Maria and PINTA, forgetting that it was Santa Maria.
This Canadian always thinks of California for that "Ocean State sch." Let's move to the other coast.
Clint Eastwood had his 91st birthday the other day (May 31)!
Stunk before STANK. Okay, I looked it up; STANK is past tense and Stunk is the past participle - close but not a match! Either smells really bad (sounds like Skunk).
I had Illegal before ILLICIT.
Tend (I) MEANT LEAN today and had nothing to do with my garden (which received a lovely rainfall last night).
Wishing you all a great day.
Thank you, PK for pointing out the AEIOU progression, and thank you, MalMan for pointing out the constructor's initials...made the enjoyable puzzle an even more elegant one. Great job, Parikshit!
ReplyDeleteFun theme, pretty easy to figure out, which really helped with the solve.
ReplyDeleteFrom an editing standpoint, not sure why you have ORATE as an answer, and Orator in the next clue. Pretty sloppy or lazy IMO.
An OK PZL from Mr. Bhat today. It held my interest, as did M.M.'s write-up.
ReplyDeleteThe "SP" theme was...well, OK.
Some neat poems from Owen.
Anonymous PVX ~ I feel with you, good sir--in your anticipation of post-workout pains.
I remember entertaining similar apprehensions back in my 7th decade.
Here's something to look forward to when you get to my more advanced age:
You can count on having those pains BEFORE you do your workout.
It'll save you a lot of time.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Only one diagonal.
And it's packed with 11 vowels (out of fifteen letters), giving us very few possibilities for anagrams.
The best I can do is...
"MAINLINE". Boring.
oc4beach: "I couldn't conger it up." had me scratching my head, even looked up the word to be sure. Besides the eel, I learned "The conger was a system common in bookselling in 18th and early 19th century England, for financing the printing of a book. The term referred to a syndicate of booksellers, mostly in London, who bought shares to finance the book's printing." Finally realized you meant conjure!
ReplyDeletePK, good spotting on the vowel progression! I hadn't even noticed the P's, just the S's.
I used to think CGI would arrive when a new movie was made with John Wayne. I don't think that's happened yet, but a CGI Clint Eastwood showed up in Rango.
MM, your square dancers are very energetic. They have been swinging their partners all day without anyone break.
ReplyDeleteANY break, not anyone. Spellcheck, MYOB.
ReplyDeleteI, too, missed the A E I O U progression. Thanks for pointing that out.
ReplyDeleteYR, yes they certainly are very energetic!
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteAh - that made up for yesterday's disaster.
Thanks for the nice easy Thursday puzzle Parikshit. Theme helped break open the south.
Fun expo MManatee - Love me some MST3K!
WOs: N/A
ESPs: UNA, ENOL
Fav: I MEANT b/f TERSELY; when I'm the latter, I have to say the former :-)
{B+, B}
MAIN LINE and you didn't reference drugs? What kinda theatre guy are you? :-)
jfromvt - I too caught the ORATE | Orator dupe. Confused me for a second.
CED - my ACs drain into the upstairs bathrooms' sinks piping. I have to dump a cup of bleach down the sink once a month to keep the algae from building up. Otherwise, the sink will fill up and I need to get the plumbers out (ask me how I know).
Tropic Thunder - my brothers made me watch that movie (they love movies). OMG, it was hilarious. And you won't recognize Tom Cruise in it.
I would link but it's rather profane - Google Tom Cruise Tropic Thunder if you want it.
A favorite MST3K of mine is Girls Town [20m] with Mel TORME.
Cheers, -T
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle and an even better recap. Thanks PS and MM!
FIR, but not before correcting SST/TWA; ILLEGAL/ILLICIT
BREAKAGE also refers to the term wine and liquor distributors use to assess a fee for "breaking" a case of PORT WINE or SPIRITS. I think it was about 10% or $1-2 per bottle back when I was a retailer of both
I will take the CSO to both the WINE and MESA - it's 100 degrees here (in MESA) so a GOLDEN ALE would be more refreshing than a glass of PORT WINE
PK, great notice of the vowel progression!
My Moe-ku today is actually flattering although it might be construed otherwise:
Baht's crossword puzzle
Was really fun! I'm thinking,
Parik, "you're the shit!"**
**
My AC compressor is in a "closet" behind my bathroom and the condensation line is hooked into the sink drain pipe. I am trying to get enough energy to go out and see if the two sunny days are enough to dry out my canvas AC cover. I don't want to fold it up in the garage wet.
ReplyDeleteParikshit, this was a great puzzle with an entertaining theme that helped with the solve! I noticed "add S," and MalMan opened my eyes to "SP." Then PK blew me away with the AEIOU progression! So much to like here. Of course there were a few things I DNK, and the south was more challenging than the north, but perps were fair and I FIR. AMPLE enjoyment! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnon T - Greco-Roman Catholic Wrestling !?
ReplyDeleteCh Moe - Someone had to go there (no pun intended) 😄
Reading all the comments I see many found this CW a bit easy for a Thursday. To me, even though I got the theme with the first theme clue, it seemed about typical for a Thursday. FIR, but it took me 31 minutes. MIRA was all perps. I did not notice the AEIOU progression either when doing the CW. Wow!! Stunning to be able to do that!! Great CW, PSB, thanx for all the effort. Very ingenious. MalMan, thanx for the terrific and entertaining write-up. I especially liked the Clint Eastwood clip.I finally have all the holes in the floor filled. Now hafta wait for them to come back and drill the wall with the seascape mural painted on it. Although I told the Hulett termite guy to drill into it to kill the termites, he refused, so they are gonna hafta send someone else. As for the holes in the floor, naturally the six holes I filled in the closets turned out best. The holes in the open space, where everyone can see them, not so good. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteUnclefred - Next time you need termite treatment, just use the same holes.
ReplyDeleteUncleFred:
ReplyDeleteWhat an ordeal for you! I hope all the termites are gone! They have a habit of returning.
I'm happy to report that my car passed the emissions test. And I went at just the right time. Only one vehicle was ahead of me. Also, the price went down by $9. That doesn't happen often.
ReplyDeleteParikshit is quite a rare indian first name, cognate from the Sanskrit, Parik-sha meaning a test or an exam. Parikshit would mean, one who is capable of being examined, or more likely, one who has been tested, ( and not found wanting). Hence the multiple choice on a test, clue in the CW?
Bhat, the last name, is somewhat more common, a bhat is a hindu temple priest, even a hereditary priest. Akin to say, a Cohen, in judaism. Not necessarily a teacher, or a rabbi. Since it is a 4 letter word, may even come up in a future CW.
What a great name. Thanks, whoever you may be, AKA Name Explanation.
ReplyDeleteUnclefred - Sorry you're still dealing w/ termite companies. LOL Murphy's Law on your tile patches. #schadenfreude(?) :-)
ReplyDeleteMManatee - I assume you're referencing the MST3k 'Girls Town' link... I know, right? It's so funny the movie was even made (and Paul Anka is in it too!*). It is so bad.
Lucina:
1) Re emissions: A nice surprise to your day
b) Pray for MManatee and me; we're ornery boys :-)
Cheers, -T
*MST3K was how I learned of Mel & Paul and why I can ink 'em in when clued -- nutty what we learn from.
I liked this puzzle and all your comments. I had the same experiences as you folks did. PK, nice catch on the vowel progression. Irish Miss, thanks for the observation about all the "A"s. Nice verses, Owen.
ReplyDeleteI have done research to learn the FACTS about a product or service. Did it almost every day as a design engineer.
As for an answer also appearing in a clue (eg today's ORATE|orator dupe), we have seen that occur rather often recently. Has there been a rule change? As Steve used to say, we should be told.
Good wishes to you all.
Anon T - Yes, that was the reference. It's odd that I have never seen that particular movie on Svengoolie.
ReplyDeleteAnonT:
ReplyDeleteOf course. But I assure you, I've known worse. You and MM are all right.
Something I neglected to post
ReplyDelete(Eddie)STANKy coached the chisox in 67 pennant race. Sox inexplicably lost a pair to lowly Senators and got locked out of pennant. Where Leo went Stanky followed.
MST3K??? OK, Decode please. Ok, Anon-T 's links clued me. That was hilarious with the chatter.
WC
.ps, I did Friday on Wed night I believe . It's a little different and may prove difficult for some.
WC
ReplyDeletePVX @ 11:23am: The repairmen showed up eventually and checked everything out and said the capacitor on the compressor was marginal and needed to be replaced, which they did. They thought my problem was the result of a power hit from a storm the day before. At least it's working and nice and cool for sleeping.
CED @ 11:54am: When I lived in Florida the major problem I had with my A/C was that the outside unit corroded so badly from the salt air that it fell apart. We were close to the beach. In this house, the condensate is pumped into the sewer so I don't have the algae problem here.
OwenKL @ 3:09pm: Yep, I definitely misspelled conjure. One of those cases where spellcheck didn't help.
WC, you seem to already have decoded MST3K but, just in case, Mystery Science Theater 3000. Here is the Wiki link:
ReplyDeleteMST3k - WkikpediA
You can also check out the IMDB link and the MST3k website.
Jayce - LOL re: Steve's 'we should be told.' I do miss his expos.
ReplyDeleteWC - The Bo-Sox got the best of the 'Stros today. Alas.
C, Eh! Houston will see you in Toronto tomorrow (er, today).
Back to WC -- MM gave you the 411 re: MST3K. It was a peculiar premise for a TV show but I love the meta-humor - Midwestern sensibility through and through.
Thanks Lucina, there's only so much time I can spend in Purgatory as I learned this last week; working home alone w/ no one around drove me (more) nuts.
Cheers, -T
The MM has outdone himself!!!
ReplyDeleteThe visuals wonderful.... the video so great to see.