google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday July 18, 2021 MaryEllen Uthlaut

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Jul 18, 2021

Sunday July 18, 2021 MaryEllen Uthlaut

Theme: "Flip-flops" - The second part of each theme entry is a swapped part of the first half. 

22A. The drive-through diner scene that was cut became a __: TAKEOUT OUTTAKE.

36A. The girls who spent the night prioritized chat time at the __: SLEEPOVER OVERSLEEP.

53A. When the dog got loose, some house plants __: ENDED UP UPENDED.

81A. The casual quarterback made an __: OFFHAND HAND-OFF.

99A. A navel ring is a piercing one may __: WEAR UNDER UNDERWEAR.

120A. The fast-learning police cadet had the __: PAT-DOWN DOWN PAT.

Sometimes it's easy for me to understand the theme but hard to explain. Today's is a good example.

I know we call "End up" & "Pat down" phrasal verbs, but what do you call nouns like "takeout" and "sleepover"? 

Across:

1. Wretched: ABJECT. Lots of great 6's in this grid.

7. Mount Rainier gateway: TACOMA.

13. Hoops statistic: ASSIST.

19. Taste: FLAVOR.

20. In favor of Mideast unity: PAN-ARAB.

 21. Arty: CHI-CHI. Golfers know this "arty" guy. Chi Chi Rodriguez.

24. Right after this: HERE ON.

25. Fall garden?: EDEN. Nice clue.

26. Riverbank residue: SILT.

27. Parisian season: ETE. Summer.

28. Vote of support: AYE.

29. What Jill has that Jack doesn't?: DOT. The dot over the i in "Jill".

30. Break: REST.

31. Stab: TRY.

32. 1956 title film monster: RODAN. More powerful than the Godzilla.


34. Smart: NATTY.

41. LP's 33 1/3: RPM.

44. Browsing annoyances: ADS.

45. Wordless agreement: NOD.

46. Sugary ending: OSE. Lactose, e.g.

47. Reduce: PARE.

48. Long: YEARN.

50. Shot __: competitive event: PUT. Also 4D. Track contests: EVENTS. I don't think I can name one shot putter.

51. Privileged people: ELITE. I chuckled at the "scheduling conflict" excuse of that anonymous space flight guy.

57. False front: FACADE.

63. Get into: DON.

64. What a stationary orrery part may represent: SUN. I did not know the word "orrery", the solar system model.


65. Clarifying Latin words: ID EST.

67. Grew dimmer: WANED.

68. Sweetens, as yams: CANDIES. Staple in our home during Chinese Spring Festival period.


70. Iraqi currency: DINAR.

72. Modified for the better: AMENDED.

74. Private: INNER.

75. Barely sufficient: SCANT.

77. Stroke that makes a rally irrelevant: ACE. Tennis.

78. Surrealist German-French painter: ARP (Jean). Here's his "Shirt Front and Fork". I just see a fork.


79. Gazes fixedly: STARES.

86. Expand: ADD TO.

88. Bossy utterance: MOO.

89. African capital on the 30th parallel: CAIRO.

90. "It is a __ told by an idiot": Macbeth: TALE.

94. What chatty tongues do?: WAG. Ha.

95. Poke fun at: KID.

96. Mrs., in Madrid: SRA.

98. Apply a new hue to: DYE.

105. It has pipes and keys: ORGAN. We had to call a junk guy to haul our old organ away.

106. Source of some overhead footage: DRONE.

107. Apple operating system: IOS.

108. Hadrian's defense: WALL. Hadrian's Wall.


112. Follow (along) closely: TAG.

113. "It totally happened!": WAY. I don't understand this clue.

115. Memorable first name in soccer: MIA. Hamm, who lives in Bill G's neighborhood.

116. Small racer: KART.

117. Sailing: ASEA.

118. Indicating stress: ITALIC.

123. Most trifling: MEREST.

124. Fail to take seriously: SNEER AT.

125. Red-skinned root: RADISH. These are daikon radishes. Staple winter food for me.



126. Current events?: EDDIES. Another great clue.

127. Soaked through: SODDEN.

128. Demands and gets: EXACTS.

Down:

1. Following: AFTER.

2. Business end of an ax: BLADE.

3. "North and South" trilogy author John __: JAKES. Learning moment for me.


5. Bill's partner: COO.

6. Confided in: TRUSTED.

7. Showing strain: TAUT.

8. One lining up for food?: ANT. Ah, cute clue angle.

9. Took care of the food: CATERED.

10. Strong speaker: ORATOR.

11. Be resourceful: MAKE DO.

12. Prez on a penny: ABE.

13. Feeling it after a workout: ACHY.

14. Lusters: SHEENS. Spellcheck does not like the plural form.

15. Honorary title: SIR.

16. Picnic pitcherful: ICED TEA. This is the popular summer drink in Hong Kong. Lemon tea. Iced of course.



17. NBA's Steph Curry, frequently: SHOOTER.

18. Early photograph: TINTYPE.

20. Sea anemone, e.g.: POLYP.

23. Gives out: TIRES.

28. "__ of robins ... ": Kilmer: A NEST.

33. Refrains from: AVOIDS.

35. The Eiger, for one: ALP.

37. Secure, as a job or a role: LAND.

38. "Get __": James Brown biopic: ON UP.

39. Choose at the polls: VOTE.

40. Shipping hazard: REEF.

41. Bread-making grain: RYE. My friend Carmen is very into Russian rye bread now. She also likes Japanese milk bread. Guangzhou is very international.


42. Locket, for one: PENDANT.

43. Singer/actress known as the "Queen of Pop": MADONNA.

49. Cause to become: RENDER.

50. Mae West's "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted," e.g.: PUN.

51. Icelandic literary work: EDDA.

52. Sidelong glance: LEER.

54. Consume: USE.

55. Kitty: PUSS.

56. Beethoven's __: NINTH.

58. Response to the sublime: AWE.

59. Largest English-speaking country: CANADA. Wow. Not US?

60. Google operating system: ANDROID.

61. Cook, as much county fair fare: DEEP-FRY.

62. Announcer Hall: EDD. Jay Leno's announcer on "The Tonight Show" (1992 to 2004).

66. Gauge on the dash: TACH.

68. Opposite of trans: CIS. Gender-wise.

69. Hot temper: IRE.

70. Inane: DAFT.

71. Lowdown: INFO.

73. "Give __ minute": ME A.

76. Often "old" eccentric: CODGER.

77. Big deal: ADO.

80. Like fireplace logs: SAWN.

82. Within: AMID.

83. Plant stem joint: NODE.

84. Final Four org.: NCAA.

85. Moriarty, to Holmes: FOE. Professor Moriarty & Sherlock Holmes.

87. __ longlegs: DADDY. Looks like a spider.



90. Cheat on one's sweet, say: TWO-TIME.

91. Freshened up, in a way: AERATED. It seems that golf courses all aerate their greens in fall.


92. Slowpoke: LAGGARD.

93. Often titled stretch: ERA.

95. Massaged: KNEADED.

96. Excalibur, e.g.: SWORD.

97. Put back as it was: RESTORE. Lost all my iPod downloads after I hit the restoring to factory settings button. Good old classic.

100. Not sensible: UNWISE.

101. Pecorino __ cheese: ROMANO.

102. __ Kingdom: UNITED.

103. Laughing: RIANT. Only saw word in crosswords.

104. Its capital is Kigali: RWANDA.

109. Gelatin garnish: ASPIC. Jellied pork, Chinese style. I think Vietnamese has similar dish also.


110. "Not in the __": LEAST.

111. Framework strips: LATHS.

114. Book after John: ACTS.

116. Nine-time U.S. skating champ Michelle: KWAN.

119. Gift with an aloha: LEI.

120. Brief afterthoughts: PSS.

121. Metal source: ORE.

122. Become more intense, as the moon: WAX.

 C.C.


47 comments:

OwenKL said...

FIWrong. Had DIG instead of DON, and didn't notice it made the perps gibberish.

Just from the title, I almost got the first themer with NO perps in place!: TAKEOUTTAKEOUT. Perps quickly re-sorted those last two words.

I'll take a second-degree CSO with Mt.Rainer. All my kids, grandkids, and great-grandkid live near there. My eldest grandson uses a photo of it as his Facebook banner.

A CHI-CHI fop from TACOMA
Loved to have folks look him ovah.
He thought he looked NATTY,
Instead he looked ratty,
And even had an ABJECT aroma!

{A-.}

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Gotta love a puzzle from someone whose name begins UT... The theme was obvious (even d-o managed to get it), and really sped up the solve. My only slowdown was hanging onto ANIMAL too long before UNITED elbowed in. Nicely done, MaryEllen and C.C.

RODAN: As an eleven-year-old, I remember begging my father to take a carload of my friends seven miles to the next town for this must-see movie.

ANEMONE: I was quite old when I learned to pronounce this word with four syllables rather than three.

RESTORE: My FireTV Cube suddenly developed picture problems -- bright scenes looked fine, but indoor scenes were dark and gray. I decided to trouble-shoot it yesterday. Powered it off and back on. Nope. Chose the setup option to RESTORE default settings. Nope. Replaced the HDMI cable. Nope. Ran the HDMI cable direct to the TV, bypassing the receiver. Nope. Contacted Amazon. The tech agreed that the Cube apparently has internal problems. Naturally, my one-year warranty had expired...26 days ago. The tech graciously agreed to replace the unit under an extended courtesy warranty.

Lemonade714 said...

Happy Sunday all;

C.C. you can learn one shot putter before the 2021 Olympics RYAN CROUSER who recently broke the world record.

Canada is approximately 9,984,670 sq km, while United States is approximately 9,833,517 sq km, making United States 98.49% the size of Canada. But in land mass, the US has a bigger land area (3,531,905 sq miles) than Canada (3,511,023 sq miles).

WAY became a slang response to people questioning something happening by saying NO WAY .

My deep dive today was to learn about the word ORRERY which was the name of the patron who comissioned the building of the first one.

Mary Ellen always delivers as does C.C., thank you both

Lemonade714 said...

FLN, a CSO to Tom- Lucy, the Italian word for 8 is OTTO

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, thanks to the clever and easy theme. Erased pro ARAB, ski spa (DNK that Mt. Rainier is AKA TACOMA), witty for NATTY, ease for PARE, dig for DON, faded for WANED, eMENDED, blimp for DRONE, moat for WALL (which, of course, won't work - especially if it isn't completed), relays for EVENTS, and shines for SHEENS.

Does anyone anywhere wear underwear that covers the belly button?

Old punch line from Jill to Jack: "No, but I've got one of these, and mom says that'll let me get all of those that I want."

CSO to moi (et alii) at CODGER.

Thanks to MaryEllen and CC for the fun.

Unknown said...

Hello All ! New to the blog not to the LATx - first post - Looking for a little help on the 5Down {Bill / Coo} connection. Thanks in advance.

@M.E. - Fun summer based "FlipFlop" theme.

KS said...

CC, 113 across is "way" as opposed to "no way".

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

While I admire and appreciate the craftsmanship and creativity of the constructor, this theme wasn’t my cuppa. I readily admit that Sunday puzzles are not my favorites, for a couple of reasons. First of all, the title usually tips off the solver as to the theme which, IMO, lessens the challenge. Second, due to the oversized grid, three letter words sprout up like annoying weeds all over the place; I counted 38 today before my eyes started to glaze over. Third, unless the theme and wordplay are above average, the solve becomes a slog instead of a pleasant pastime.

Despite not caring for the theme, like CC, I enjoyed much of the cluing and there were plenty of fun entries: Nod/Sleep, Wax/Waned, Android/IOS, Edd/Edda/Eddies, Mia/Me A, Era/Sra, Don/Wear, and Ad/Adds. My only w/o was Pro Arab/Pan Arab. I don’t remember any unknown proper names, which is unusual because many Sunday puzzles are filled with them.

Thanks, Mary Ellen, it’s always nice to see your byline and thanks, CC, for the insider’s view and analysis. Enjoyed the “foodie” facts and photos.

Have a great day.

desper-otto said...

Unknown@8:15, maybe this little poem from the Chad Mitchell Trio will explain that entry:

Life is a series
of darlings and dearies
of honeys and sweeties
and sugared entreaties
of moonings and swoonings
and cooings and billings,
all tempered, of course,
by occasional killings.

desper-otto said...

D'oh. The first word in that poem should've been "Love." Proof, once again, that memory is the second thing to go.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Great fun! WEAR UNDER UNDERWEAR was my fav!
-This amateur astronomer enjoyed WAX and WANED in same puzzle
-An ad for a used Kia in Baghdad in Iraqi DINARS
-Our local baseball team is called the Fremont MOO
-Even our local real estate agencies feature DRONE shots of houses
-Steph Curry is one pro athlete I really admire
-I was RENDERED speechless by a Power Point my daughter made for us
-How far would EDDA be mired in obscurity if not for crosswords?
-Golf courses warn you that they are AERATING the greens so you can decide whether to play or not for a while
-LAGGARD – Have you ever had to get 100 teenagers through an airport to the next flight?

Malodorous Manatee said...

Also was not familiar with ORRERY. Nice to have some company.

Unknown, as an addition to the Chad Mitchell Trio usage that D.O. shared - the phrase bill and coo derived from birds rubbing their beaks together and making noises. I guess that to some humans the behavior was evocative of kissing and talking quietly.

Big Easy said...

This CODGER found this Sunday puzzle easier than most. I caught the gimmick at TAKE OUT-OUTTAKE and it made the other theme fills fall in place after just a couple of perps. JAKES. COO, and RIANT-unknowns. What or what is Bill & COO? Never heard of it (them). One change today- SASSY to NATTY for 'Smart'.

EDD, EDDIES & EDDA in one puzzle.
CIS & trans- why is this even in the news? Boys competing against girls-ridiculous.
ROMANO- just a guess for me.
ITALIC- I got it but don't know why it's clued as "Indicating stress"- BOLD or any other different font could be used.

I didn't grow up in ABJECT poverty by 1950s standards because everybody else was just as poor. But by today's standards we would be deprived. No AC, Cable TV, Internet, multiple cars, no party line, no central heat, no food stamps, no housing assistance, wore hand-me-down clothes. Kids these days would call that cruel and unusual punishment.

Malodorous Manatee said...

....oh, and I almost forgot...Happy National Ice Cream Day, one and all!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Theme was easy. Once sussed, it helped fill itself at each theme phrase. Very clever idea by. Mary Ellen. Orrery was a new learning but I don't think I'll use it much. Much fresh fill. Very enjoyable to work on.
RIANT - - Ein bisschen Französich!, I think in Quebec I've had "La Vache qui Rit" cheese. - (The laughing cow.). Infinitive is 'rire'.
RADISH - - I love fresh radishes. My Mom would call them "Radieschen" when bringing some in from the garden, for the supper table.
Bosst: MOO - - Clever clue. Latin for the cow genus is Bos I think.
CANADA - Is Earth the largest English speaking planet?
ANEMONE - A curious mind wonders why 'envelope' doesn't have 4 syllables.

62 years ago today, as a fresh-caught Ensign, I reported for active duty aboard my destroyer at Norfolk Naval Base.

Enjoy the day.

ATLGranny said...

A Sunday sweetie from Mary Ellen: FIR, thanks to patience enough to proofread and catch a couple of oversights. Theme was helpful once the flip-flop was obvious. Some new words including RIANT and orrery. Thanks for explaining those in your review, C.C. All in all a fun puzzle which extended my FIR streak to eight days, nothing to SNEER AT.

WOs included faded/WANED, gab/WAG, yes/AYE, Ted/COO and sore/ACHY. Oh also pro/PAN ARAB, as others have mentioned. Thanks for letting us know about National Ice Cream Day, MalMan. I just made a fresh batch this morning so we have another reason to enjoy a big bowl today. Welcome to the New Unknown! Come back again soon and choose a special name as well. And have a good day, all you special Cornerites!

Bob Lee said...

I loved today's theme, and it helped me pretty much breeze through the puzzle. The NE filled last as it was tricky.

My favorite answer was Jill has a DOT. LOL!

I thought Bill's partner had to be TED (Excellent Adventure). I don't get Bill and COO??

Never heard of RIANT but crosses helped. Nor CHICHI, although I do know che che la femme!!

Being a space enthusiast, I know CIS from cislunar activities which mean activities "between" the Earth and the Moon.

I loved all those monster movies when I was a kid. Let's see: The Blob, THEM!, The Thing, etc. etc. Hmmm I think Godzilla was first, then Rodan, then Mothra?

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2
-Gee whiz, Big Easy, you could have lived next door to me with that childhood. Ignorance is bliss.
-Reality check – The young lady bakery clerk provided us with some great cinnamon rolls with maple frosting and was wearing a NASA shirt. I told her I loved NASA and had taken thousands of kids to Kennedy Space Center. She had a quizzical look and asked me, “Kennedy Space Center? Where is that?
-This very motorized ORREY graced my desk for decades

Sewsweet said...

Doves are said to bill and coo.

Sewsweet said...

Finished quite quickly but missed pan Arab and taut.

SynergyGirl said...

113 Across:
You: “It TOTALLY happened!”
Me: “No Way!”
You: “Way!”

Think Keanu Reeves...

Misty said...

Fun Sunday puzzle, many thanks, Maryellen. And always enjoy your commentary, C.C., many thanks for that too.

Fun to see CODGER and DADDY together (okay, I know it's a spider, but still), surrounded by some negatives, LAGGARD, IRE, STARES, DAFT, DRONE, SNEER AT. Well, maybe not so much fun for us seniors, hmm. At least the top had a bit more cheer in spite of starting with ABJECT. We do get FLAVOR, and ASSIST, and EDEN, and REST, and NATTY, and ELITE--much better.

Have a great Sunday, everybody.

waseeley said...

Thank you MaryEllen for an excellent puzzle and a Sunday FIR. I really liked the theme. I found two major classifications for themes: (1) those that once grasped facilitate the solution; and (2) the more cryptic variety that are puzzles in themselves and can be difficult to suss.

As a solver, when I encounter a type 2 theme, sometimes I don't bother with it and just concentrate on the clues and the fill. Your puzzle was a type 1 and contributed greatly to getting the solution.

As an occasional reviewer, I sometimes have to deal with type two themes, e.g. the one that is coming up this Thursday. But I'll have more to say about that then.

And C.C. thank you for an as usual, nutritious review. And thanks for the Cruciverb recommendation. And thanks to Joe, who has gotten me back on track.

Favs:

All the themers were very clever. And after 22A and the rest, they collectively auto-filled over 100 puzzle letters!

26A Wanted SAND for SILT at first. Sand is heavier than silt and more likely to be deposited on a river bank by centrifugal force. Silt contains finer particles, which tend to remain in suspension and settle only when the river empties into a pond or lake. Most clays are formed this way.

29A Nice metaclue.

64A DNK "orrery", but the perps did. Hands up from anybody who'd heard of this before? But not you Gary! I'm already planning to buy one for my grandkids. They're not too expensive and some even come with Pluto! This even calls for a video! BTW, Holst's suite doesn't include Pluto, as it was written prior to the original discovery of Pluto, and it's subsequent demotion to a planetoid.

78A ARP's creation looks like the aftermath of a ROOT CANAL!

88A I thought the cow moniker was spelled BOSSIE.

70D A CSO to our "inanehiker", although I doubt that she's a daft doctor.

87A Daddy Long Legs are spiders, but they're NICE spiders. The next time you see one try a gentle catch and release. They don't bite. WAY!

Cheers,
Bill

TokenCreek said...

Sunday puzzles are always a long slog for moi but todays long themers provided many, many perps. Made it easier to FIR. D-OTTO: soon there will be a few crossword blogs that begin with UT. (:^)

waseeley said...

Spitzboov @12:06 PM I suspect that Earth is the largest MANDARIN speaking planet. Somebody will probably google it. I'm going down for a nap!

waseeley said...

Spitzboov @12:06 PM For the same reason that my Dad pronounced Odysseus' wife with three syllables!

Lemonade714 said...

Bill there is much more to the DADDY LONGLEGS as there both spider versions and non-spider versions which are different creatures. But they are interesting.

"He, Cromwell, watches. They are not the same couple from day to day: sometimes doting, sometimes chilly and distanced. The billing and cooing, on the whole, is the more painful to watch."
Author: Hilary Mantel

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle and the fun theme. Yes, there were many 3-letter entries, but it seems most of them were actual words rather that abbreviations or acronyms so they didn't bother me so much.
Not knowing who gets credit, I will say that I especially liked the clues for EDEN, DOT, MOO, WAG, EDDIES, DRONE, and CODGER. CODGER is also a nifty fill.
I learned RIANT today. Less than a year ago I learned risible.
Dontcha just hate it when you click the wrong button and lose all your data? Back in the day when I worked in a bullpen of programmers it was not uncommon to hear an anguished cry of "Augh!" when someone accidentally erased all their work. Much snickering usually ensued, acknowledgement that we had all done it at one time or another.
Owen, I enjoyed your limerick today.
Good wishes to you all.

Vidwan827 said...

I really, really liked, er, loved, this puzzle. The flip flops theme made it much easier and I was able to concentrate of some words I didnt know.
Thank you Mary Ut. !!!
Also Thank you CC for a wonderful review.

I knew Orrery was some type of clock ... hopefully I will remember it is a mech repro of the solar system.

HG, Boy=o=boy , you're really into NASA and Space Travel !! You shoulda been a publicist for NASA, ... but then, your students would have lost a great teacher.

Not familiar with RODAN ( did not spend my childhood in the US ) , or Bill and Coo, or 'Way' as a happening - not familiar with mod hip hop slang argot.

When I got Chi-Chi as ARTY, I was surprised. In british India, a 100 years ago,.... Chi-chi meant Cheap, low quality, seedy, and something to be despised and seriously avoided.

Chi-Chi, itself, was a very derogatory word, used by white british expats in India, for other Anglo-Indians... much like the 'N' word used in the US. Its cognate was probably the indian vernacular for the same word, meaning excrement. The cognate for the modern chi-chi is probably 'chic'.

Husker Gary, I saw your link for the used KIA ad. The asked price was IRDinar 16.5 million. At about 1460 Iraqi dinars to a USD, that is about USD 11,300 ... quite reasonable.
Many countries in the world do not have an iron and steel industry, or an auto industry ... like in Arabia, UAE, Iraq and Pakistan, Sri Lanka etc.... The cars are imported as disassembled, then merely assembled and sold.

... So cars are more expensive, are made to last longer, and run for many more years ... and depreciate much more slowly, and tend to keep their value ... unlike the US, where they are treated like last years fashion. I have been told that in Cuba, they are still running 1960's Dodges, Chevys and Fords as taxis.

Have a nice day, and a great week, all.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! What a fun, funny & relaxing puzzle. Thanks, Mary Ellen & C.C.

I say relaxing because I kept trying to fall asleep at the computer during the last inch of the puzzle. Up too late last night. Had to hold my head up with one hand.

Reading C.C's expo, I found at least six clues that I didn't read but were filled by downs. IM, don't understand why you dislike 3-letter words so much. I need them most puzzles.

The slumber parties I used to have are now replaced by SLEEPOVERS. Neither term is accurate. Fun clue. Amusing theme.

CanadianEh! said...

Splendid Sunday. Thanks for the fun, MaryEllen and C.C.
The Flip-flopped phrases appeared early and helped speed up the solve.
Double CSO to Pat with 120A.
I’ll take an obvious CSO with CANADA. C.C., I thought you might be thinking the clue was referring to size, area, and not population. First four largest countries by area are Russia, Canada, China, USA. By population, China, India USA, Indonesia(Canada is #39). We have all that unpopulated area to the north. As Lemonade has noted, our land mass is slightly smaller than the USA, again due to all that water in the north not being counted as land mass.

I noted EDD, EDDIES and EDDA., PSS and PUSS. IOS and ANDROID, ANT and DADDY long legs, SIR and SRA.
I see others have noted some of these also. (IM always beats me!)
We WAXed and WANED. (I’m not touching that with 55D😮; that would be UNWISE.)

I wanted my Lusters to be LEERers. Oh, it is lustres! (My arcane spelling d’o!😁)
I had Rib before KID.
This Canadian thought of Christine Sinclair for the “memorable soccer name” but MIA fit. (We also had ME A 😀)

Thanks for explaining orrery😮🤔. I did not know RIANT either (I should have recognized the French, thanks Spitzboov).
“Showing strain=TAUT”; “indicating stress=ITALICS”. WAY!

Welcome Unknown@8:15, plus Sewsand SynergyGirl who I don’t remember seeing here before.
Wishing you all a great day.

Vidwan827 said...


BTW, Largest Englsih speaking country ? .... based on what ? Area or population.?
In population, there is a certain country in SE Asia whose official language is English, and even if 25 percent speak english ...

Anonymous T said...

Sunday Lurk Say...

HG - what's the shipping on that KIA? Regardless, $11k USD still seems a bit high for a Kia (IMHO, Vidwan ;-)).
Some people just don't get it re: NASA...

Jayce: A buddy of mine, who was working on a database re-work, issued a drop table. He didn't realize he was in prod instead of dev.
Another buddy (Sr. Dev) took the fall:
"I was showing him how it worked in prod and didn't change his instance back to dev. It's not Little Bobby Tables [which is what we called him thereafter :-)] fault."

Misty - what are you saying about DADDYs? Sounds like you're projecting on us old men :-)

waseeley - Which DADDY longlegs? //Lem beat me to it :-(
I've always heard the myth that they are the most poisonous but can't bite #ShortFangs. But I think it's just a myth.
I love to play with them (Pholcidae) out in the garage - they're fun to watch too; esp. when a mosquito I throw into their web ends up having a bad day.

Arps' work looks 'al dente' to me too :-)

PK - last night, Youngest had her last "slumber party" / "sleep-over" with all her best buds b/f they run-off on vacation & then college. I didn't go to bed until 3:40 am and they were all still up talking & laughing. Oddly, they were all up by 9 looking for breakfast.

Cheers, -T

jfromvt said...

Fun theme, one of the easiest Sundays in memory.

Emile O'Touri said...

A nice Sunday CROSSWORD puzzle. Low PP count and fun theme made this easier than most Sunday puzzles. Nice and relaxing after yesterday's slog. Thanks for this.

Wilbur Charles said...

Problem with ORATOR is that Bostonians are careless with R's

eg Oratuhs

This was exactly the Sunday xword we needed after Saturday

WC

Picard said...

I was very impressed with the cleverness of this theme and construction. Some interesting learning moments: COO and BILL. (Had anyone heard of COO and BILL before?) CANADA as clued. ROMANO as clued. RIANT.

ORRERY was a special learning moment. I was quite familiar with these celestial models. But I thought it came from the same root as "horology" which has to do with time. Learning moment that it had to do with the Earl of ORRERY.

HuskerGary Thank you for the photo of your ORRERY. Did you remember the Spilhaus Space Clock sold by Edmund Scientific? Also thanks for that NASA story. Wow.

Learning moment that a DADDY Longlegs is not a spider. Or at least some are not.

We visited HADRIAN'S WALL when I was a teen. I have photos in the town of Carlisle where it passes, but I don't think any are of the actual WALL.

Here are a few photos from my stay at the EXCALIBUR hotel in Las Vegas.

It was quite a bargain. It has a free tram to the Luxor hotel next door, but it is much cheaper.

Lucina said...

Hola!

I agree with jfromvt, easy Sunday and it's a good thing, too, because I was in desperate need of a nap. Sleep would not come last night until about 2 A.M. and I had to rise early today.

I liked the flip flop theme which easily helped me sprint to the finish.

I missed TACOMA which I don't quite understand and also TAUT/PANARAB. Tiredness does not help the solving process.

We are going out for dinner and it's time to get ready.

I hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Jayce said...

Picard, to answer your question, yes, I had heard the phrase bill and coo many years ago. Probably did some of it myself.

Lemonade714 said...

As Jayce said, it is Bill and Coo in that order Robert; perhaps an east coast phrase.

So which article on DADDY LONGLEGS was more satisfying? I regret neither had apicure of the two types together. More is more, I always say

Unknown said...

Breezed through this entry - clever theme helped. Only stumbled three times: NEVER heard "CHI CHI" used as "ARTY" (only as a part of a female anatomy - I had a teenaged son); I mixed up WAX/WANE, and never saw LUSTER/SHEEN as verbs or adjectives ... that's my old schoolmarm tendencies returning. Looking forward to Maryellen's next entry.

Spitzboov said...

Lucina @ 1831 said: "I missed TACOMA which I don't quite understand……"
My map show that Mt. Rainier is some 40 odd miles SE of Tacoma. That would make it a gateway, transportation wise.

inanehiker said...

I was visiting my mom in KC so didn't get to our crossword until I got home this evening. Her paper has the NYT puzzle though - and it had a CSO to CC (as CeCe - the way Boomer's family spells it :)
This was slow and steady due to my fatigue but the theme answers really sped up the puzzle solve. I got the SUN answer by perps - was looking forward to coming here for an explanation but I looked at the clue as "ornery" but if I'd known it was "orrery" I still would have had to come here for enlightenment!
I think of CHI CHI not pronounced with the CH sound but like Shee Shee - I think of it as something fancy but in an affected way.
When I went to camp as a girl - I didn't mind the Daddy Long legs because I knew they wouldn't bite or sting - it still was a little disconcerting as they lurked up at the top of my tent!

Does anybody remember that weird movie with the trained birds - "Bill and Coo" ? It came out in 1948 so I never saw it in the theaters but remember seeing it on TV later
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvdpUrhhcrY

Waseeley - I try and save all my DAFT moments for when I'm off duty :)

Thanks CC and MaryEllen!

waseeley said...

Lemony @2:35 Interesting article. I wasn't aware of the second species. Thank you.

Anonymous T said...

inanehiker... There's only two things that would make Bill & Coo watchable [I made it just past the credits -6m of 1h in] and that's a couple of smart a** robots :-)

Cheers, -T

Lucina said...

Spitz:
Thank you though 40 miles seems like a very long gateway. I get it, though.

We had a wonderful dinner with all my siblings and in-laws. It was a farewell for my sister, Yoli, who will be leaving this coming week.

So much enlightenment here today. Thank you all.

Unknown said...

Thanks Sewsweet for the insight !