Saturday Themeless by Jake Houston
Jake is another new constructor and his puzzle was fun to solve. It featured proper names that spanned generations from Luke Wilson to Georgie Jessel. Wow!
Here is a note from Jake with some personal information:
Hi Gary!
I’m a writer, musician and soon-to-be tech project manager from New Haven, Connecticut. I graduated Yale College (Husker - He is an 6. New Haven alum: ELI) in 2019 with a B.A. in American Studies, and have been constructing crosswords since shortly after graduation. I got really into making themelesses during the pandemic, and this one, from June 2020, was one of my favorite early grids.
Jake added info about this particular puzzle:
Triple stacks are easier to work with than other themeless formats (at least for me), because the grid has a focal point which provides an easy place to start. I built the grid and left Crossfire alone for a few minutes so that it could find some nice combinations for the center stack, and I was happy with this particular trio (31-Across is particularly relevant for Los Angeles!). I then worked outward from there, adding cheater squares when needed. There are a few entries that aren’t ideal (I wouldn’t be in a hurry to use 32-Down in a grid nowadays), but I think there’s a pretty nice density of juicy phrases, and even some one-word entries that I like (who would have known how meaningful 37-Down would become in our lives?). I was also pleased that my original clues for 37-, 39-, and 53-Across survived the editing process - and thanks to the LA Times team for the additional great clues
-Jake
Across:
1. Original airer of "The Flintstones": ABC - The first primetime cartoon show for adults. TV Guide for September 30, 196o:
4. Frat Pack brother of Luke: OWEN - The Wilson brothers are in the top row - Owen is second from the left and Luke is on the right
8. Where a queen may be crowned: PROM - Let's not talk about the movie Carrie
12. Swedish aerospace giant: SAAB.
14. __ system: SOLAR - We learned last Sunday that a mechanical scale model is called an ORREY
16. Emmy winner Ward: SELA - She has a recurring role in crosswords
17. Metaphor for nonstop action: THRILL RIDE - My first big one was the incredible Hulk at Universal Studios Orlando.
16. Emmy winner Ward: SELA - She has a recurring role in crosswords
17. Metaphor for nonstop action: THRILL RIDE - My first big one was the incredible Hulk at Universal Studios Orlando.
19. Throws in: ADDS.
20. Former capital of Myanmar: RANGOON - The new capital, Naypyitaw, is a 4 1/2 hours drive north of the old capital of RANGOON (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar)
20. Former capital of Myanmar: RANGOON - The new capital, Naypyitaw, is a 4 1/2 hours drive north of the old capital of RANGOON (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar)
23. Insurance ad woman: FLO - Haven't we seen enough of her?
24. Prayer leaders: IMAMS.
25. Coach's strategy: GAME PLAN - The great coaches change their GAME PLAN when the original isn't working
27. "I am not strange. I am just not normal" artist: DALI - 15 things about his most famous painting
28. UFC sport: MMA - Mixed Martial Arts is part of Ultimate Fighting Championship
30. Boots, in a way: LOADS - When a computer boots up, it LOADS the operating system. More
31. Hubbard movement: SCIENTOLOGY - L. Ron Hubbard. Old Mother Hubbard moving to the cupboard leapt to my feeble mind first.
35. Reality show with auctioneers: STORAGE WARS - They bid on unclaimed storage lockers. Like many other "reality" shows, there is a debate whether this is real or staged.
36. Illustrations on some old maps: SEA MONSTERS.
37. Uses a lot?: PARKS - Badly below
38. Talk acronym: TED - The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Foundation is a non-profit that offers live talks and TED Talks online
39. It's behind you: PAST.
43. Emergency building section: FIRE AREA.
39. It's behind you: PAST.
43. Emergency building section: FIRE AREA.
46. Transform: MORPH
47. Gilbert and Sullivan princess: IDA.
48. Theater pickups, on signs: TIX - Broadway tickets
49. Multitalented Jessel of vaudeville: GEORGIE - A gimme for those of us with some miles on our tires who might struggle with some contemporary names. His IMDB
49. Multitalented Jessel of vaudeville: GEORGIE - A gimme for those of us with some miles on our tires who might struggle with some contemporary names. His IMDB
 |
| GEORGIE seen here in the 40's with a girl named Norma Jean Baker |
51. Italian tubes: ZITI.
53. Higher education?: BIBLE STUDY - Fun clue
55. U.K. prime minister during the Suez Crisis: EDEN - Lying about what happened cost him his job. How it was handled on BBC's The Crown
53. Higher education?: BIBLE STUDY - Fun clue
55. U.K. prime minister during the Suez Crisis: EDEN - Lying about what happened cost him his job. How it was handled on BBC's The Crown
56. MIT __: business school: SLOAN.
57. Forward thinker: SEER.
58. Fishing boat tools: RODS - The oars and nets were in the other boat
59. Marine hazard: EDDY.
60. Lock-changing aid?: DYE - Locks of hair
Down:
1. Lindgren who wrote the Pippi Longstocking tales: ASTRID - It will cost you $1,200 for a 1945 first edition that is 5. Showing signs of age: WORN.
2. Grand __: BAHAMA.
3. Earthly: CARNAL.
3. Earthly: CARNAL.
4. "Hedda Gabler" setting, now: OSLO - Ibsen's 1891 play was set in Kristiania, Norway which was renamed Oslo in 1925. Learning for me but easy to fill. Talk about your Saturday cluing!
7. Title woman in an André Breton novel: NADJA - Talk about needing perp help!
8. MADD ad, e.g.: PSA - Public Service Announcement
9. Warnings: RED FLAGS - 14 relationship RED FLAGS for women so they don't make a 13. "Not a good idea at all": BIG MISTAKE.
10. Noted fly swallower: OLD LADY - A fun read if you've forgotten it
11. Stonewallers?: MASONS.
15. Set of sheets: REAM.
18. Head of the LAPD?: LOS - Not ELL, but the whole word
22. Actress Sarah Michelle __: GELLAR.
18. Head of the LAPD?: LOS - Not ELL, but the whole word
22. Actress Sarah Michelle __: GELLAR.
25. Rap genre: GANGSTA and 46. Rapper __ Def: MOS
26. Rude losers: POOR SPORTS and 29. Nasty: MEAN.
26. Rude losers: POOR SPORTS and 29. Nasty: MEAN.
28. Barcelona-born surrealist: MIRO - Mira el MIRO (Look at MIRO)
32. Global networking pioneer: COMSAT - Jake regretted this entry but it was right in this NASA guy's wheelhouse. One of the first COMmunication SATellites was called Telstar and inspired this funky 1962 song.
32. Global networking pioneer: COMSAT - Jake regretted this entry but it was right in this NASA guy's wheelhouse. One of the first COMmunication SATellites was called Telstar and inspired this funky 1962 song.
33. Parisian bean?: TETE - Two French athletes competing against one another can be said to be going TÊTE à TÊTE
34. Due: OWED.
35. Like some knives: SERRATED.
34. Due: OWED.
35. Like some knives: SERRATED.
 |
| Plain vs. SERRATED |
36. Got hitched: SAID I DO - Married? No, but thanks for playing!
37. Xanax maker: PFIZER - Common name for tranquilizer alprazolam
37. Xanax maker: PFIZER - Common name for tranquilizer alprazolam
40. Contended: ARGUED.
41. __-sense: superhero asset: SPIDEY.
41. __-sense: superhero asset: SPIDEY.
42. "__ here": "Poltergeist": THEY'RE.
44. Kids: RIBS - The verb not the noun
49. Smiling, probably: GLAD.
50. Choice word?: EENY - ELSE was the, uh, wrong choice
52. Helpful connections: INS - I've never had an "IN" to help me get a job but two former students who are police officers did let me off with a warning instead of a ticket.
54. Gym specimen: BOD - Jake probably didn't mean Dad BODS.
52. Helpful connections: INS - I've never had an "IN" to help me get a job but two former students who are police officers did let me off with a warning instead of a ticket.
54. Gym specimen: BOD - Jake probably didn't mean Dad BODS.
39 comments:
I can't believe I FIRight! It took a lot of passes, and a share of w/os, and several WAGs, but no red letters, and no cheats (unless you count needing the ta-da to let me know when to stop looking for errors)!
I even got 2 CSOs, at 4a and MASONS!
Bad < BIG MISTAKES, EvIct < EXILE, drAgONS____ < SEA MONSTERS, mArrIed < SAID I DO
Joan MIRÓ and Salvador DALI
Made paintings they thought were jolly!
Prosaic things MORPH
To MONSTERS off-course --
Surrealism is real-WORLDLY folly!
There was an OLD LADY who SWALLOWED A FLY,
She was plucked from the bleachers by an outfielder guy!
He threw her to first,
Where her petticoat burst,
And the elastic snapped the umpire's eye!
{B+, A-.}
Love the Swedish ref, in Linköping there are Saab fighter jets hoisted on pillars on display near the highway (E18).
I wanted to mention the other day regarding jellied ham that my second child ate the non-porcine Swedish equivalent of it as a baby with constant delight ("Calf jam" or "Kalvsylta"). She was quite the hungry child, had to have a meal every hour, either solid or mommy-made, but she made up for it by sleeping through the night from the age of 2 months.
Thanks for the puzzle and the explanations. I am only now starting to do Saturday puzzles, having deemed them too difficult for me until now.
Good morning!
Twas not to be. He who never sleeps in over-slept this morning. The extra rest didn't help. Saw Hubbard and read Hubble and was thinking of telescope movements. D'oh! RAGS (Ribs), RAT (Bod), and ELSE (Eeny) kept Texas white. Too many errors in that area to make any sort of WAG. Big DNF. Sezst Lah Vye. Thanx, Jake and Husker.
SEER: That's gotta be those TV Guide folks back in the '60s selling those DVDs.
PFIZER: That was my jab brand six months ago.
SELA: Timely. We re-watched The Fugitive last night. Sela's murdered before the opening credits, but makes several appearances in flashbacks later.
This flowed pretty smoothly - I had more trouble in the lower half than the upper, but it eventually came together. I could pretty much say "ditto" to Gary as to the hang up spots (I'm looking at you NADJA crossed with JAG)
My brother bids on STORAGE units but it is not nearly as exciting as STORAGE WARS and the yield is much lower - but he may only outlay 50-100$ and then he uses the stuff inside to sell if it is antique or collectible, and then furniture/household goods he takes to a ministry he is involved in to distribute to the poor here or in Mexico.
That was a good list of relationship red flags you linked HG - unfortunately the people who should know about these and heed them never do! They just hurtle headlong into relationships and commit too early over and over again
Thanks to HG and to Jake for connecting for the interview!
Thanks, Gary for the write-up.
Welcome, Jake.
This was a relatively smooth solve for a Saturday. The biggest problem was one of my own creation where I first put ELSE at 50 Down - but that was intended by the constructor, wasn't it. Being an Anderson School of Business alum (UCLA), I knew of SLOAN and that straightened things out pretty quickly.
Close to quitting but finally got another FIR on this very challenging Saturday puzzle. Like DO, I had problems with reef/tide/EDDY, rags/RIBS, and else/easy/EENY. Also left eject/EXILE way too long! Didn't know SLOAN but tried it which made BOD work and my inky AREA began making sense. Thanks to Jake, another new constructor, for the puzzling start to my day. And many thanks to Husker Gary for clearing up my questions and the interview with Jake.
Enjoyed your jolly poems today, OwenKL. And from last night, add my well wishes for your health, Vidwan. To the rest of you all, have a splendid Saturday!
Good Morning:
This was a FIW for me as I couldn’t let go of Else (Eeny never crossed my mind) and thinking Tks for Tix and not knowing Sloan finally did me in and I cried uncle. Despite this hurdle, I enjoyed the cluing and the overall solve. Some roadblocks were Nadja, Old Lady, and COMSAT. I liked the Miro/Dali and Owen/Owed duos. I find Owen Wilson a little left of center, behavior-wise, so unlike his brother, Luke. I was not aware of the Frat Pack group, just the Rat Pack and Brat Pack.
Thanks, Jake, hope to see more of your work and thanks, HG, for another sparkling synopsis and commentary, links, and visuals. And thanks for bringing the constructors into the conversation. It’s nice to see the faces and hear the voices of these talented people who give us so much enjoyment.
FLN
Vidwan, sending warm and positive thoughts and best wishes for your improved health.
Have a great day.
DNF, the usual for me on Saturday. Stumbled in the NW Territory, and looked up OWEN and ASTRID.
In spite of not finishing I enjoyed the workout. Thanks, Jake. And I always appreciate Gary's explanation of the things I can't comprehend.
Good morning everyone.
Ended with four red letters; all in the NE. DNK OLD LADY, JAG or GELLAR. Sigh. But I got every thing else. I did remember GEORGIE Jessel. Had ELSE for the longest time but then switched to EENY when BIBLE STUDY, and SLOAN dropped. ASTRID was a total WAG but worth a try because of the SWEDISH Lindgren. Agree about PFIZER being prescient.
Good job Jake. Thanks, Gary, for the fine hot wash-up.
SLOAN and BOOTS/LOADS easy for this MIT guy; wonder how anyone else would get either. Never heard of LUKE or OWEN or GELLAR or MMA or UFC. Knew GEORGIE JESSEL from my grandparents talking of him. Overall a fair Saturday challenge to FIR.
I have heard talks by people who have escaped from the higher ranks of SCIENTOLOGY. A very scary organization. If you know anyone involved, stay engaged with them to help them escape when they wake up from it.
I was in a FIRE AREA this week and a possible major disaster had a happy ending.
When the FIRE danger is high we call it a RED FLAG Day. It was not the case that day. And it is an utter mystery how a FIRE could have started in that AREA. As noted in my article... An investigator from the Forest Service called me the next day to interview me at length. I felt frustrated that there was very little useful information I could offer. I told him at one point a firefighter shouted out "I see where it started" but he was not aware of any such information.
Husker Gary Good of your students to return the favor for your educational work for them. I think your DALI link is not the link you intended?
Vidwan Hope you do OK with your challenge. Please keep us updated.
Yes, I believe we have seen enough of Flo.
Well it took 36 minutes of struggle but finally FIR. Like DO and ATLG my biggest struggle was with the south-central. Having ELSE and TIDE and not knowing SLOAN made for a maddening trial-and-error of W/Os there until everything finally fell. Only I know what the final fill is in that mess of W/Os. DNK MIRO, NADJA, SLOAN, or SELA. And never watched or even heard of STORAGEWARS or FRATPACK. I wish Myanmar had kept the capital as Rangoon; I can remember and pronounce it, unlike NAYPYITAW. It was maddening that I knew L. Ron Hubbard but took a while to dredge SCIENTOLOGY out of the depths of my aged brain. Overall a very challenging but doable CW, thanx JH. Although I struggled, I had more trouble with the Thursday CW, the one with the CORNERSTONES that went right over my head. Thanx HG for your as usual outstanding write-up.
Hola!
A happy Saturday to all!
CSO right away to my daughter who loves a THRILL RIDE! And another CSO to my granddaughter SLOAN(E). She contracted COVID but at age 11 cannot have a vaccination.
My copy of Pippi Longstocking long ago was too tattered to keep. Daughter and granddaughters enjoyed it. The same with There was and OLD LADY Who Swallowed a Fly.
RIBS are what's for dinner tonight! Maybe some ZITI as well.
If my memory serves me, Sarah Marie GELLAR is married to Freddie Prince, Jr. That s what I learned from watching Entertainment Tonight.
Time to get going. There is still much to do before my trip to SFO.
Have yourselves a very special day, everyone! The rain stopped but more is expected.
Thank you, Gary. I enjoyed your stellar report and always like that you interview the constructor.
Picard:
Nice photos as always. And great that you are a concerned citizen who alerts the authorities about fires!
Hi Y'all! Thanks for the challenge, Jake. Keep 'em comin' with gusto, Husker.
I came, I groaned, I conquered.
FLO has been on so long her face is beginning to sag & wrinkle. Still trying hard to be chipper.
NADyA, NADiA, NADeA,(sob) NADJA! Yay!
So what exactly IS Frat Pack? Never heard of it.
Welcome Jake, congrats, and thanks for a crunchy, but fine debut LA outing. After much futzing around (EDDYing even), I managed a Saturday FIR.
Liked two surrealists, DALI and MIRO in the same puzzle. As I've said before DALI is one of my all time favorite painters.
20A First to fill was RANGOON. I recall it from a IT assignment I had to digitize a map of the city, so that a UMAB Prof could graphically depict the numbers of the RAT population in each district, using data he had collected there. I believe his ultimate goal was to somehow reduce levels of bubonic plague in the city. Life in Academia is not as glamorous as a lot of people think!
16D Wanted COP to cross with 20A, but was THRILLed into choosing LOS.
54D Last to fall was BOD, in my case the DAD variety.
Favorite clue/fills were 50D "Choice word" EENY and 60A "Lock-changing aid?": DYE. BIBLE STUDY was also unexpected.
Thank you Gary for another fine review. I especially liked the DALI link, so much that I saved it. I see that you've corrected it back to the ref: "Persistence of Memory". Here was the one you originally linked. Both contain highly interesting blogs on this great painter.
Cheers,
Bill
Bravo, Picard. Just saw your fire pics. After I moved to the city, I had occasion to call 911 and got an operator half-way across the state where I used to live who was cranky and unhelpful. Had no idea how to contact city police then because the city non-emergency number in my phone book didn't answer. Luckily it wasn't a fire that time and the bum knocking on my door at 2 a.m. went away peacefully. I immediately invested in a local cellphone provider.
Well, Saturdays are, of course, toughies for me, and this one was no exception. Still a lot of fun, so many thanks, Jake. And great commentary, Husker Gary.
Didn't get many names, but at least DALI, SELA, and FLO popped up. And I'm happy that that Parisian "bean" didn't fool me: I put in TETE instantly. But others didn't work so well. I, of course, put MARRIED for 'got hitched,' but it turned out that SAID I DO has exactly the same number of letters.
Nice poetry, Owen.
Have a good weekend, everybody.
I eventually finished this one, but not thrilled about the puzzle. Way too many Naticks IMO, another trivia puzzle.
Jake, I'll halfway agree with you about the triple stacks from the solving viewpoint. IF you get one of them the other two fill in a lot easier. But after my BIBLE STUDY class my GAME PLAN was to go watch the kooks at a SCIENTOLOGY class give them all their money. But they would never admit it was a BIG MISTAKE.
THRILL RIDE - the last (and final) time I got on a roller coaster like the one pictured was a BIG MISTAKE; wasted for the next two days.
ASTRID, OWEN, IDA, GEORGIE Jessel, EDEN, NADJA, OLD LADY, - unknowns filled by perps. The cross of OWEN & NADJA finished the puzzle for me.
FIRE AREA- never heard of it
STORAGE WARS- I can't imagine that the junk left in those places is actually worth what they claim. I wouldn't want any of it. But everywhere you go mini-storage places are being built. People are paying over $100/month to keep stuff they should just give away because they will never use it. Get rid of it.
Xanax maker? It was UPJOHN pharmaceuticals (maker of ROGAINE, MOTRIN, & Kaopectate), which merged with the Swedish Company PHARMACIA to form PHARMACIA & UPJOHN, which was bought by PFIZER in 2002. Pfizer also bought Searle (maker of Metamucil, Equal, Ambien & Celebrex), A.H Robins ( Robitussin), Parke-Davis (Lipitor), and Wyeth Labs (made Premarin, Prep-H). When a drug company bought another they would sell off most of the products to others. I'm glad I had a computer system to keep up with what to buy from which company because it was constantly changing.
Stunning puzzle. Love the grid. Thank you Jake, and Husker!
No THRILL RIDE...Came close, but, like many a Saturday, DNF.. plus weather-wise one of the best Saturdays of the summer so kinda let the puzzle slide. (Jake, how does a young 20-something even know who GEORGIE Jessel is without googling the fill.)....
The "global networking pioneer" crossed with "Ticket pickups" as well as the "MIT school", tide for EDDY etc was my downfall.
RANGOON isn't the capital of Burma? Napytywhatta? Myanwho?(I definitely need a new map!)....CARNAL is "earthy" not "earthly" (terrestrial). Tried "builds" for uses lots first
Didn't know the OLD LADY thing..
Husker G. I tried "whipping" for the mother Hubbard movement then wanted to try "rotation" for the telescope . OWEN you made the puzzle!!
Inkovers.. Geller/AR, wear/WORN. Had tide/reef
"...and FLO, she don't know, 'cause the boy she loves is a Romeo" (Supremes, " Back in My Arms again" 1965)
Take out or ____ EDEN.
Labyrinth builders....MASONS
The row after Y.....EXILE
The ____ Lama....DALI
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Robert you seem to always be near interesting photo moments. I do not understand how a person out in public has an expectation of privacy, but I know historically the media has required releases from the people before using any pics. There is SOOOOO much I do not know, and for much of it, I can see both sides.
George, you really know your pharmaceutical histories.
Actors age and if they keep working they do become hard to recognize, and I am not talking about the plastic surgery mistakes.
For example, ANNETTE O'TOOLE and TIM MATHESON 1977 and ANNETTE O'TOOLE and TIM MATHESON 2020 were hard to recognize when I started watching VIRGIN RIVER
Thank you Jake Houston for a challenging Sat puzzle, and Husker Gary for the interview, the blog and the interesting links.
I had a tough time, and was ready to give up more than once, but I'm glad I persisted.
The saturday cluing is very difficult to follow, at least for me.
Alfred P Sloan, was the first and long time chairman of GMotors, and his book, My years with GM, is a classic book on management. ( My first book on Mgmt.) His name is also on the Sloan-Kettering Cancer ctr in NYC. Its nice to know that some people on this blog actually went to MIT... an engineer's vision of what heaven is....
Hi Picard, enjoyed your pictures, and your dedication to get involved, in public emergencies, like forest fires, etc.
Thank you, everybody, for your good wishes.
Re: 20 Across Former capital of Myanmar ... I first thought of capital as currency --- old Sat cluing. Burma had the Indian rupee (overprinted with burmese script) under the british rule, til 1947, then the burmese kyat, now MMA kyats. Fortunately, the answer was the old capital city of Rangoon.
Have a nice weekend, all.
EVICT? Nope. EJECT? Nope. ELSE? Nope. TIDE? Nope. REEF? Nope. SAND(bar)? Nope. KIDS? Nope. RAGS? Nope.
Big fat DNF.
Earthly means CARNAL?
Good clues for OLDLADY, PARKS, PAST, BIBLESTUDY, and DYE.
Names:
1. OWEN
2. SELA
3. FLO
4. DALI
5. IDA
6. GEORGIE
7. EDEN
8. ASTRID
9. NADJA
10. GELLAR
11. MOS
12. MIRO
Good wishes to you all.
Hi All!
I got this far b/f cheating (ASTRAID)... Not bad (for me) for a Saturday (and what I got was 100% right!?!).
Doh!, THRILL!!! I kept thinking rollercoaster and couldn't make the leap until cheat
//Keep it up, SwenglishMom - few years ago (8?), I couldn't get a Wed w/o cheats
Thanks Jake for the Saturday afternoon diversion and congrats on your LAT debut.
Nice expo HG - and thanks for reaching out to Jake for some inside baseball.
//COMSAT was just fine by me too.
WOs: N/A
ESPs: aplenty (IDA, EDEN, GEORGIE, SELA [I know, I know], NADJA, MIRA, plus more, I'm sure)
Fav: Thar be [SEA] MONSTERS
Sparkle: c/a for PARKS; PROM; SPIDEY, COMSAT (3COM wouldn't fly)
The girls had the OLD LADY Who Swallows a Fly doll. It came with all the critters you could stuff down her throat.
The SLOAN Foundation (Alfred P. (of GM) setup MIT SLOAN [and Vidwan beat me to it]) seems to be an underwriter of ~1/4 the PBS / NPR shows I watch / listen too.
{A+, A} //I should have gotten your 4a CSO; I did think of you at 11d.
RayO: Thank you! re: 3d. I kept thinking non UFO fliers 'cuz of the 'ly.'
Picard - That is a good story with fantastic photos. Seems you just happened to be at the right place at the right time to prevent a BIG FIRE. Your SPIDEY sense was hot.
I also noticed, in your 'here' link photos, graffiti on the rocks. I saw the same in CO when hiking with Bro. Do the kids with spray cans think future archeologists will try to ID the tagger in the primitive art? :-)
waseeley - RENGOON project; that's interesting. I did visualization but I was more interested in machine vision. Had a prof that was keen on using MV to detect potential cataract eyeballs. He had us grads write a program to determine the size of veins in the eye from photos (smaller veins lead to cataracts (or was it larger veins(?))). My effort was rather pedestrian so probably didn't end up in his final diagnostic tool.
Y'all have a wonderful Saturday afternoon. I'll lurk tomorrow ;-)
Cheers, -T
Saturday Stumbler. Thanks for the fun, Jake (congrats on your debut) and HuskerG.
I finished with many inkblots and knew I had some errors in the South- central AREA. I came here to discover more errors.🤔😮😮
Hand up for Else, Tide, Eject and then Expel. Also Married before SAID I DO.
I had Ingrid before ASTRID, VERNAL never was corrected to CARNAL (talk about 7 Deadly Zins!)
I thought of Gray before WORN for “showing signs of age”.
My MISTAKE was Bad before BIG.
I made a guess for the rapper with Lil- it was MOS.
I smiled at the MADD ad crossing ADDS.
Big Easy- I am familiar with all those companies over the course of my career. They were constantly being bought up, merging. Then we added the generic manufacturers.
SwenglishMom- glad to see you back the last few days. Some Nordic flavour today with OSLO, SAAB, ASTRID.
FLN- I didn’t get a chance to post, but I learned about WHO’s on base here. AnonT gave me the link. We Canadians had Wayne and Schuster.
Vidwan- best wishes for your health issues. Keep popping in even if just to say hello.
Wishing you all a great day.
Terrific Saturday PZL by Mr. Houston!
FIR, enjoyable throughout--and made all the more pleasurable by his message to the Corner.
I knew this was for old-timers when GEORGIE popped right into my Ol' TETE.
I can see where others were upset about CARNAL being maybe "Earthly" versus "Earthy," but I wasn't bothered--as the perps added up neatly.
Perps solved the many, many Naticks for me.
I wanted FIRE WALL, but we "can't always get what we wa-ant...."
~ OMK
___________
DR: Just one diagonal, near side (NW to SE).
It contains a long anagram (14 of 15 letters), a hidden version of something from my own profession, from an aspect of theater arts not widely known to the general public.
The particular job title contained in this anagram is one that has come into its own in my lifetime. Adopted from German drama specialists, this job combines the roles of theater historian, literary expert, and drama critic.
A theater's artistic director will frequently turn to this person to answer questions concerning the text of a play, to connect the play to others of the same author or of similar theme and significance, or to solve problems of corrupt or conflicting versions of the play.
This specialist often writes the program notes on a play being produced by the theater.
When these specialists come up with a particularly rich discovery in a text, they may be said to have found a...
"DRAMATURGE'S GEM"!
The key for to me is getting purchase. fe OSLO , PSA, EDEN, SLOAN and some other safe guesses. All said, the xword got very inkily botched.
I grabbed another insert* and had virgin white to restart the NW. It's a peculiar but welcome phenomenon to fill where I had no idea ten minutes earlier.
Am I seeing that this will be graded more difficult than I'd thought? "Dredging" obscure P&Ps from the brain is part of the beauty(ie. GEORGIE Jessel)
Picard, read the article on FB, 911 technology has issues. Another issue is tel-no identification vis a vis bill paying which makes updating cell-nos counter productive
Haricot vert is green 'bean'. In 9th grade I called it Harry Kott much to the amusement of my classmates
WC
** Winn Dixie keeps Sunday throughout the week. They'll never miss the insert.
Ps, I see I posted a jumble poem instead of the first half of my CC post. I had somewhere to be at ten am(EDT) and rushed
OMK - that was a long walk through the woods but worth it for the DR.
C, Eh! - I looked up Wayne and Schuster. I've got some learning to do...
BigE & C, Eh! - same thing is happening now in CyberSecurity tools. It's hard enough to keep up with attacks but now we have to track which vendor owns which tools(?)...
WC - I got 49a right for the wrong reason. I read vaudeville and, with enough perps filled GEORGIE thinking of Brooks & Bancroft.
Cheers, -T
Re. Boomers vs modern-day technology. When my redsox had beaten the Yankees 7 straight iwent to YouTube to catch a recap of the latest game.
There it was and I watched 9 innings never realizing that it was a gaming reconstruction.
Later, live TV had a Sox-Yanks game and I thought it was 2nd half of a day-nighter.
That's when realized something was rotten in Beantown. I looked back at YouTube and there were the words: GAMING!!!
I showed Phillip and we were both rotfl , him at me; me at the clumsy tech-pics(which should have been obvious)
Anon-T*, I hate you(lol)
WC
I'm blaming Tony for this technology as a convenient scapegoat- it comes with being a Redsox fan
Ray, I'm also with you on Earthy vs. EarthLy! I see I misremembered it as WORLDLY in my l'ick, where neither earthy nor carnal would have fit.
Did no one remember Burl Ives?!? But he ended with a different last line:
"She's died, of course!"
Picard, another reason for recording cars might be to help identify missing persons should the fire get seriously out of control.
C,Eh?: Who's On First has a lot more history to it than most people realize.
Knowing or figuring out names just isn’t that interesting to me. This is a pretty good puzzle. It just didn’t play that way for me. Just crammed full of PPP.I show up to do crosswords, not to fawn over celebrities.
Lucina, PK, Vidwan, AnonT, Wilbur Charles, OwenKL, Lemonade Thank you for your comments on my FIRE AREA photos and actions.
It all seemed unreal at first. This must be a problem in many cases of disasters that need quick action. At first I wondered if it really was a fire. And then I wondered if I was really the only one who was seeing it. Surely, someone else would have already called it in. Fortunately, it only took a couple of minutes to realize I really needed to be the one, but it seemed like I paused far too long.
We were quite mystified by how long it was before anything seemed to happen. As more and more firefighters showed up, most of them seemed to just be standing around doing nothing obvious. It seemed that they had to wait for the fire engine that had a water tank and then they had to assemble a hose out of many shorter sections. It doesn't just unreel off of a big spool. Even so, it seemed like there was just one guy spraying water and another guy with a chain saw. And a lot of other firefighters just watching. But they must have known what they were doing because they got it out.
PK Interesting that you had the same experience with a 911 call on a cell phone going to a distant place. In my case it was registered at my home address which was directly below the fire. And it was with Verizon, a major carrier. It seems like it could ID my location based on which cell tower was connecting with it. I very rarely use cell phones, so it is all a bit alien to me.
AnonT Yes, just horrible about the paint vandalism. I refuse to call it "graffiti" because it has no purpose except what dogs do when they pee on things: Marking territory. I just call it "dog pee". We have done some cleanup efforts to remove it, but it is 100 times harder to remove than it is to make.
One other note about today's puzzle: I remember watching THE FLINTSTONES in prime time as a child with the whole family. Anyone else? It definitely was written for adults, but I enjoyed it as a child.
Relieved that Edison is starting to bury their lines. About time.
Did you know Lotte Bailyn at Sloan? She was a grad of Swarthmore and Radcliffe. Went on to MIT to teach and do research on careers in science and technology. I cited some of her excellent work in research papers.
Picard...re: The Flintsotnes. I believe polls showed at the time that many earlier Hanna Barbera cartoon shows like "Yogi Bear" and "Huckleberry Hound" were being enjoyed by adults so The Flintstones was created and targeted for an adult (maybe I should use the term "grown-up) audience...(Not "adult" as it's understood today..☺)
Picard - look closely at HG's graphic for 1a. Fintstones ran at 8:30 pm in the '60s. I watched it in the '70s during Saturday morning cartoons while munching highly-sugar'd cereal.
Some say The Flinstones were based on The Honeymooners but this article says no (are we going to believe what we read on the internet? :-))
OKL - No idea Ives did the OLD LADY song. LOL.
C, Eh! I watched a few Wayne and Schuster shows. The funniest bit so far is this intro. Thanks for the introduction.
Cheers, -T
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