Theme: AND WHAT TO MY WONDERING EYES SHOULD APREAR? Theme answers are all on or two-word phrases that are [more or less] synonyms for AMAZED.
17 A. Amazed: TAKEN ABACK. Surprised or shocked.
39 A. Amazed: STUNNED So shocked that one is temporarily unable to react;
62 A. Amazed: GOBSMACKED. Utterly astonished.
11 D. Amazed: BOWLED OVER. Amaze, astonish, astound,
29 D. Amazed: DUMBSTRUCK. So shocked or surprised as to be unable to speak.
Hi Gang, the Amazing JAzzBumps here to shock and astound you. Or maybe not. Anyway, I'll lead you through today's AMAZNG puzzle. One might choose to quibble with these equivalences, but I'm just going to let them be. Let's see what surprises are in store.
Across:
1. Tomato used for paste: ROMA. Oval shaped, meaty variety with less liquid content than most.
5. Comic strip frame: PANEL.
10. Cookbook abbr.: TBSP. Tablespoon
14. Issue with a URL: E-MAG. Electronic Magazine
15. Colleague of Amy and Sonia: ELENA. Justice Kagan.
16. Roast, on le menu: ROTI. Is this French?
19. Wilson of "Zoolander": OWEN. [b 1968]. One of this actors that I find to be rather annoying.
20. Boring lecture feature: DRONE. A low continuous humming sound, or a semi-articulate speaker with little change in pitch or inflection.
21. Agatha contemporary: ERLE. Mystery writers Christie and Stanley Gardner, respectively.
22. Blue Bonnet, e.g.: OLEO. Can't believe it's not butter.
23. Small change: DIMES.
25. Swear off sinning: REPENT. Feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin. Does this mean I'll never do it again? Only maybe.
27. Shout from Speedy Gonzales: ANDALE. In context, a rather non-specific expression of enthusiasm.
30. Set, as a price: ASKED. To which a prospective buyer might counter with a bid.
31. Herr's home: HAUS. House auf Deutsch.
32. A or Ray, say: ALER. Baseball player in the American League. Inferior fill, IMHO.
35. Chip away at: ERODE. OK. Now I am going to quibble. "Chip away" implies some sort of percussive action removing discrete chunks, while "ERODE" means a gradual wearing away at a micro level. Not equivalent.
38. Branch: ARM. as of, for example, a body of water.
41. "101 Dalmatians" villain Cruella de __: VIL.
5. Comic strip frame: PANEL.
10. Cookbook abbr.: TBSP. Tablespoon
14. Issue with a URL: E-MAG. Electronic Magazine
15. Colleague of Amy and Sonia: ELENA. Justice Kagan.
16. Roast, on le menu: ROTI. Is this French?
19. Wilson of "Zoolander": OWEN. [b 1968]. One of this actors that I find to be rather annoying.
20. Boring lecture feature: DRONE. A low continuous humming sound, or a semi-articulate speaker with little change in pitch or inflection.
21. Agatha contemporary: ERLE. Mystery writers Christie and Stanley Gardner, respectively.
22. Blue Bonnet, e.g.: OLEO. Can't believe it's not butter.
23. Small change: DIMES.
25. Swear off sinning: REPENT. Feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin. Does this mean I'll never do it again? Only maybe.
27. Shout from Speedy Gonzales: ANDALE. In context, a rather non-specific expression of enthusiasm.
30. Set, as a price: ASKED. To which a prospective buyer might counter with a bid.
31. Herr's home: HAUS. House auf Deutsch.
32. A or Ray, say: ALER. Baseball player in the American League. Inferior fill, IMHO.
35. Chip away at: ERODE. OK. Now I am going to quibble. "Chip away" implies some sort of percussive action removing discrete chunks, while "ERODE" means a gradual wearing away at a micro level. Not equivalent.
38. Branch: ARM. as of, for example, a body of water.
41. "101 Dalmatians" villain Cruella de __: VIL.
42. __ Ludington, 1777 militia-alerting rider: SYBIL. Sybil Ludington[April 5, 1761 – February 26, 1839,] was a heroine of the American Revolutionary War. On April 26, 1777, at age 16, she made an all-night horseback ride to alert militia forces in the towns of Putnam County, New York, and Danbury, Connecticut, of the approach of British forces. I did not know that.
44. "Well done!": GOOD.
45. Widen, as a hole opening: REAM. to enlarge, shape, or smooth out (a hole) with a rotating finishing tool.
46. Attempts: STABS. Tries [which also fits, I discovered.]
48. Very: EVER SO.
50. __ music: orchestrates: SETS TO. Actually, this cold mean simply sitting a melody for a set of words. Orchestration wold be considerably more elaborate. Another iffy equivalence.
52. Ate: DINED.
54. End for soft or silver: -WARE. Sadly, I need perps.
55. GPS options: RTES. Routes to get you were you are going.
57. Bob Marley, e.g.: RASTA. Short fo Rastafari, also known as the Rastafari movement or Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion.
61. Lago contents: AGUA. Spanish lake water
64. Foul weather gear for Brits: MACS. Short for Macintosh - a full length waterproof coat.
65. Permeate: IMBUE. Fill with [something.]
66. A fisherman may spin one: TALE. About the one that got away.
67. Jet black: INKY. Ebon also fits.
68. Until now: AS YET. Will it continue?
69. British submachine gun: STEN. A family of British submachine guns chambered in 9×19mm which were used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War.
Down:
45. Widen, as a hole opening: REAM. to enlarge, shape, or smooth out (a hole) with a rotating finishing tool.
46. Attempts: STABS. Tries [which also fits, I discovered.]
48. Very: EVER SO.
50. __ music: orchestrates: SETS TO. Actually, this cold mean simply sitting a melody for a set of words. Orchestration wold be considerably more elaborate. Another iffy equivalence.
52. Ate: DINED.
54. End for soft or silver: -WARE. Sadly, I need perps.
55. GPS options: RTES. Routes to get you were you are going.
57. Bob Marley, e.g.: RASTA. Short fo Rastafari, also known as the Rastafari movement or Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion.
61. Lago contents: AGUA. Spanish lake water
64. Foul weather gear for Brits: MACS. Short for Macintosh - a full length waterproof coat.
65. Permeate: IMBUE. Fill with [something.]
66. A fisherman may spin one: TALE. About the one that got away.
67. Jet black: INKY. Ebon also fits.
68. Until now: AS YET. Will it continue?
69. British submachine gun: STEN. A family of British submachine guns chambered in 9×19mm which were used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War.
Down:
1. Collecting Soc. Sec., maybe: RET'D. No longer working, like, frex, me.
2. Sharif of "Che!": OMAR.
3. Great white shark relative: MAKO. A fast and dangerous predator.
4. Ulterior motives, perhaps: AGENDAS. Sometimes considered hidden.
5. Patch veggie: PEA. The small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit,[2] since they contain seeds and develop from the ovary of a (pea) flower.
6. "Three Tall Women" Pulitzer playwright: ALBEE. Tis play by Edward Albee [1928-1916] won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1994.
7. Approaches: NEARS.
8. Something in addition to the letter: Abbr.: ENCL. An ENCLOSURE.
9. Celtic rivals: LAKERS. U.S. Professional basketball teams,
10. State cop: TROOPER.
12. Dutch painter Jan: STEEN. [1626 - 1679] From the Dutch golden age, he was one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humor and abundance of color.
13. Burgundy grape: PINOT. Fro wine-making
18. Astronaut Armstrong: NEIL. [1930-2012] He was the first person to walk on the moon.
24. Protein provider: MEAT. Nutrition.
26. Barely managed, with "out": EKED.
27. Cries of discovery: AHAS. Eurekas doesn't fit.
28. __ a one: NARY. Totally absent.
30. River near Arezzo: ARNO. In the Tuscany region of Italy
33. Carries with effort: LUGS. Schlepps
34. "Another Green World" musician: ENO. Brian [b 1948] was a pioneer in ambient music. This was his 3rd studio album, released in 1975.
36. "Buenos __": DIAS. A good gad in Spain.
37. Red Muppet: ELMO.
39. Bed board: SLAT. It supports the box springs.
40. Biblical plot: EDEN. The early garden.
43. "Piece of cake": IT'S EASY.
45. Censors for security reasons: REDACTS. Conceals portions of a text.
47. Noble Italian house that produced two popes: BORGIA.A Spanish-Aragonese family that rose to prominence during the Italian renaissance. The Borgias became prominent in ecclesiastical and political affairs in the 15th and 16th centuries, producing two popes: Alfons de Borja, who ruled as Pope Callixtus III during 1455–1458, and Rodrigo Lanzol Borgia, as Pope Alexander VI, during 1492–1503.
Especially during the reign of Alexander VI, they were suspected of many crimes, including adultery, incest, simony, theft, bribery, and murder (especially murder by arsenic poisoning).
49. Aloe __: VERA. An evergreen perennial cultivated for commercial products, mainly as a topical skin treatment.
50. Hindu ascetic: SWAMI. Read about it here.
51. Eddie __, Olympic gold-medalist in boxing and bobsledding: EAGAN. He [1897 - 1967] is notable as being the only person to win a gold medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in different disciplines.
52. Disney Channel star __ Ryan: DEBBY. She [b 1993] started acting in professional theatres at the age of seven, and has since starred in several Disney productions.
53. It's debatable: ISSUE. An important topic or problem for debate or discussion.
56. Whiskered males: TOMS. Cats, I suppose. But most males can be whiskered, and so are female cats. So - ???
58. 32-card game: SKAT. A three-handed trick-taking card game with bidding, played with 32 cards. It is the official game of Germany.
59. Marketing leader?: TELE-. Cutesey affix clue.
60. Yemeni port: ADEN. Its natural harbor lies in the crater of a dormant volcano, which now forms a peninsula joined to the mainland by a low isthmus.
63. Bumped into: MET. With a little luck, nobody was harmed.
49. Aloe __: VERA. An evergreen perennial cultivated for commercial products, mainly as a topical skin treatment.
50. Hindu ascetic: SWAMI. Read about it here.
51. Eddie __, Olympic gold-medalist in boxing and bobsledding: EAGAN. He [1897 - 1967] is notable as being the only person to win a gold medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in different disciplines.
52. Disney Channel star __ Ryan: DEBBY. She [b 1993] started acting in professional theatres at the age of seven, and has since starred in several Disney productions.
53. It's debatable: ISSUE. An important topic or problem for debate or discussion.
56. Whiskered males: TOMS. Cats, I suppose. But most males can be whiskered, and so are female cats. So - ???
58. 32-card game: SKAT. A three-handed trick-taking card game with bidding, played with 32 cards. It is the official game of Germany.
59. Marketing leader?: TELE-. Cutesey affix clue.
60. Yemeni port: ADEN. Its natural harbor lies in the crater of a dormant volcano, which now forms a peninsula joined to the mainland by a low isthmus.
63. Bumped into: MET. With a little luck, nobody was harmed.
That wraps up another Wednesday. I had my nits, but over-all not too bad.
Cool regards!
JzB
50 comments:
NEIL ARMSTRONG stepped on the Moon, and then
Explored a bit this otherworldly ken.
Was he fated to roam
An orb not his own?
Neil A. in reverse is A. L. I. E. N.
When SPEEDY GONZALES cries "¡ÁNDALE! ¡Ándale!"
He means "Hurry up, don't take all day!"
An impatient mouse,
He scampers about,
BOWLING OVER any gatos that get in his way!
{B, B.}
Good morning!
This was another quicky. Was thinking of Eddie the Eagle at EAGAN, actually he flew in much later. SKAT came quickly -- dad was a SKAT player. Theme was easy to get, no reveal need apply. Thanx, Kurt and JzB.
OKL, you are being hard on yourself today. Both efforts are A worthy. Thank you.
I need to add the third K for Killer Kurt Krauss today as there were things I did not know here on a Wednesday.
Despite my New England upbringing I did not know the story of SYBIL LUDINGTON until today. Likewise, 52D. Disney Channel star __ Ryan: DEBBY has never blipped on my radar, but I did 'know' but forgot about 51D. Eddie __, Olympic gold-medalist in boxing and bobsledding: EAGAN .
I also am not an OWEN WILSON fan, who fits in the WHY? category of film stars.
Thanks Ron and Kurt
FIW. When fill calls for olio/oleo I always fill olio, then just add the crossarms if the perps warrant. STEiN looked fine for Jan. Erased oHo. Took an embarrassingly long time to get PANEL. DNK ROTI, ANDALE, SYBIL, BORGIA, EAGAN and DEBBY.
I thought today's cluing was fresher that usual for a Wednesday.
FLN: If you have a Total Wine nearby, you may want to try the Pacific Peak line of boxed wines. Great wine considering the cheap price, at least it was 5+ years ago when I last had a sip (oh snap, make that a guzzle.)
Thanks, Kurt , for the Wednesday challenge. FIR but with WOs needed. Not the pristine grid I had yesterday. Got the theme easily, though the DUMBSTRUCK area was slow.
WOs progressed from noir/ebon/INKY, Medici/BORGIA, and Ait/ARc/ARM. I was STUNNED when the puzzle finally filled with perps to the rescue and it all made sense. Thanks JazzB for your excellent help today. Liked both poems today, OwenKL. And I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!
Buenos DIAS a todo.
Some language in today's puzzle. Theme was obvious. Only wite-out needed was in getting GOBSMACKED spelt right. 'Issue' was in a clue at 14a, and in fill at 53d. I never knew about SYBIL, either, but perps did. GOOD job, Kurt. FIR.
STEEN - His paintings feature interaction between people in ordinary settings, with humor. STEEN means 'stone in Dutch and L. German.
HAUS - - Huus in L. German; huis in Dutch.
Off to play some bridge.
Good Morning:
Any nits I may have (clue for erode, e.g., as Ron pointed out) are more than forgiven by the very low 3 letter word count. I saw only 4 which is a refreshing and rare treat. Kurt did a nice job with the themers, nothing forced, all very much in the language phrases. I liked the Aden/Eden duo and the mini A game theme: Roma, Elena, Rasta, Agua, Pea, Vera, and Borgia. Sybil, Eagan and Debbie were unknowns, but easy to suss. CSOs to Moe (Pinot), TTP and DO (Toms), and Lucina (Agua and Andale, with Dale, to boot).
Thanks, Kurt, for a mid-week treat and thanks, JazB, for tying it all together.
Hope everyone is safe from Elsa’s wrath.
Have a great day.
Nice Humpday hump.😊
STUNNED that I parsed the theme so easily that I accidentally SMACKED my GOB...Owie!!
Inkovers: plum/ROMA ,dumbfounde(d)/DUMBSTRUCK, yarn/TALE, test/TELE
As Jzb indicates the BORGIA family was actually Spanish (Borja). An Italian student friend at University named Morgia was Jewish, original name was Morja from Spain.
In Penny Lane..."The banker never wears a MAC in the pouring rain...Very strange" (DUMBSTRUCK, really)
Carter crop.....PINOT
Rekeggled.....BOWLEDOVER
Put back in a cage....REPENT
When there ____ ROMA toma(y)toes use Plum...ARNO
Indebted to.....OWEN.
Speaking of OwenKL..if Armstrong was an 👽doesn't that kinda prove the moonlanding was real?
Musings
-Unknowns SYBIL, EGAN and DEBBY fell easily. Uh, I did know that NEIL guy.
-Very nice past tense gimmicks. DUMBSTRUCK did not need an “ED” ending
-DIMES and nickels bought pinball and jukebox entertainment in my misspent youth
-Our neighbor has ASKED for a price that is at least 25% too high for her house
-Hasn’t every chemistry teacher played the song for his students where the periodic table is SET TO music?
-Female SYBIL Ludington joins Jewish Israel Bissel and others who rode on that night but Longfellow declined to make famous. Hmmm… Revere rhymes with hear but nothing rhymes with Ludington or Bissel
-You have to have some real miles on your tires to remember the “ole PEA-picker” Tennessee Ernie Ford
Unlike most of you I had to EKE this one out, but FIR. SW was my last to fill.
Blue Bonnet = OLEO, all perps. IT'S EASY, but I had a brain hiccup.
JAZZB, I agree, we REPENT with the best of intentions and then we REPEAT.
I liked the A or RAY clue, once I sussed the fill was about base ball. Oakland A and Tampa Bay RAY players.
The Borgia's were notoriously flawed, especially Pope Alexander VI. I was shocked as I read about their evil deeds and lawlessness.
Cruella de VIL. I think de Vil stands for devil.
ERODE and CHIP AWAY can be synonyms if you don't take them literally. I like this clue.
ERODE gradually destroy or be gradually destroyed.
"this humiliation has eroded what confidence Jean has"
CHIP AWAY gradually and relentlessly make something smaller or weaker.
"rivals may chip away at one's profits by undercutting prices"
Crosswords and the thesaurus frequently use near synonyms.
CSOs Hi, Ray and Owen.
A few years ago I watched a series "BORGIA" ..(not "The Borgias" another series about the same family)
An American actor played the Pope with an American English accent. His daughter Lucretia played by an Eastern European actress spoke with a Slavic accent. His son Cesare spoke with an Irish accent and son Giovanni (Juan) spoke English with a Spanish accent. Their mother was Italian ergo an Italian accent 😳
I guess this is what happens when a pope has kids...
Anyway it was an excellent series...I assume the series was slated for distribution to many countries.. dubbed into many languages and they needed a common language as a base.
Sybil Ludington, our local Paul Revere, was a no-brainer for me.
1) There is a stature to her near my house. There was also a parade recently that followed her route.
2) My good friend and head of our Writers Group, Vincent T. Dacquino, has done extensive research and written the definitive novel about her 2 years ago (actually this is his 2nd one on her) which includes long lost letters. Haha...they put him atop a fake horse for the parade. You can find his book on Amazon by searching his name if you are interested.
There is lots of misinformation about her, like how many children she had and the exact route taken. She herself spelled her name multiple ways. She is included in the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) from her Father and her husband was added recently in the SAR (Sons of...) from her.
FIR, but forgot to note my start time, so don’t know how long it took me. Best guess ~20 minutes. Theme was obvious early, no reveal needed. For some reason my brain can’t keep OLIO and OLEO straight. Did not know STEEN and STEIN seemed more likely but I went with STEEN anyway, because I had an inkling OLEO was right. Amazingly, no W/Os today. I liked ROMA as a first fill, as it’s always nice to be able to fill the first clue, and get off to a good start. Then PANEL was easy since CEL didn’t fit. DIMES took a while to fill. ONES didn’t fit. ANDALE took a while: I kept thinking AREBA, for some reason. I can’t recall ever hearing anybody actually say GOBSMACKED, I would classify it as archaic, but what do I know? Overall, very nice and fun CW, thanx, KK. And as usual a fine, fun, entertaining and educating write-up, thanx, JzB.
Hi Y'all! Fun puzzle, Kurt. Fun expo, JzB. Thanks.
I knew Sybil. Sunday A friend posted on FB the story of Sybil and a picture of her statue, using her riding crop to fend off an attacker from the back of her horse. I believe she rode a different later night than Revere & company. Her father was a rebel militia leader who sent her. Girls, were you brave enough at age 16 to ride a horse thru the night like that?
This puzzle had some AHA moments when perps showed the correct fill: not Arriba but ANDALE, not tries but STABS, not DUMBfounds but DUMBSTRUCK. Kurt's answers were more violent than mine.
DNK: ROTI, ALER, EAGAN, DEBBY, SKAT, STEEN.
TRIED four other four-letter rivers before ARNO.
“I was gobsmacked by her ability to inspire, galvanise and mobilise people through various different tactics; she was an absolute force of nature.”
"The soprano said she was “gobsmacked” when she received an award letter in August from the Kennedy Center."
"This word comes from Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It still pops up in other places in British slang – for example, “shut your gob!” If you say that you were “gobsmacked,” it means that you were so surprised or astonished, it was as though someone had smacked you in the mouth."
I suspect it is more common in the UK and Ireland, but I have often seen it in American books and other print media.
Hi All!
Scootch over Jinx - I too had OLiO. In addition, I left TELa(market) *sigh*
Kurt - that SW was a bugger; an INKY mess down there, I have. Thanks for the Wednesday morning fun ('cuz that 8a meeting was boring!).
Thank you JzB for the jazzy expo and info re: SYBIL; Paul Revere didn't fit :-)
WOs: read 3d and put orca(?) in 2d, I wanted a DRill to bore, tries held up SW b/f I took a STAB at it. Hand-up for ebon.
ESPs: ERLE, ROTI|STEiN, SYBIL, DEBBY, ARNO, BORGIA, IMBUE(?), EAGAN
Nit: I have an ISSUE with EMAG [dupe].
Fav: Speedy Gonzales' ANDALE.
//Runner-up: ROMA. I've only harvested 6 tomatoes so far but boy were they yummy.
{A+, A}
Ray-O beat me to Penny Lane... //LOL - Armstrong was an alien to the moonies :-)
HG - you mean Tom Lehrer?
BobLee - Interesting; I'll look up his book on her.
Y'all have a wonderful day. It's back to work for me...
Play later. Cheers, -T
Hola!
Such a charming intro by Jazzbumpa! Thank you. I appreciate the fine details of your narrative.
Surprising to see ANDALE in the puzzle. And thank you for the CSOs, IM.
I, too, find OWEN Wilson offsetting but I can't pinpoint why.
It's always a treat to see ALBEE in a puzzle.
Yes, the BORGIAs reached an appalling level of corruption! But other popes of the time were also corrupt. Not to excuse any of it, but they usually were not trained priests. Some were ordained just for the purpose of being popes or bishops and at a young age. It was all about retaining power and privilege. Wealthy families gave their second or third sons to the church since they could not inherit due to the laws of primogeniture. I have to saw I was DUMBSTRUCK when I learned about all that in college. In high school none of those scandals were ever mentioned.
Have a special day, everyone! My sister (from Charlotte) spent the night with me and now it's time for coffee.)
I don't think GOBSMACKED is archaic so much as very British. It's extremely common in Britain, and extremely rare in the US. I would guess 99% of British people know the term, and 99% of Americans have never used it.
As Paul McCartney sang, "Baby I'm Amazed" that I FIR. For me Kurt's puzzle was tougher than the usual Wed. It took a few WAGs after a few perps to fill ROMA, PINOT, OWEN, ALBEE, & ARNO- Xword staples- didn't really know. DEBBY Ryan, ROTI, and Eddie EAGAN were unheard of unknowns filled by perps. I don't follow boxing and the 4-man bobsled- well one guy steers and the other three hop in for the ride.
ANDALE- if I had heard it I certainly don't remember- 100% perps.
The theme was an easy guess one BOWLED OVER was in place.
I hate it when I need to use a drill bit to REAM out a hole on something new and you were supposed to 'just assemble'. It was supposed to fit but it was just a little off.
RASTAs & Gangas- using religion as an excuse to get stoned.
d-otto- Eddie the Eagle was so bad that after he participated in the Olympics the IOC started requiring minimum qualifications for every sport. I think his landing was about half as far as the next to last place.
Bob Lee- protect that statue; some idiots might want to take it down. The DAR & SAR- not woke.
Jazz: Nice write-up.
Well ESLA was a major yawn.
5 inches of rain ... 40 mph wind.
Just like a lot of July, Florida summer afternoon storms.
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
Hand up this seemed extra crunchy for a Wednesday. Hand up valuable learning moment about SYBIL. Did anyone else think her name was CRUELLA DE VILLE? I see that the video spelled it that way.
Right now the whole area of my body near the surgery has turned INKY and I am feeling yucky to match. DW took photos for me to send to the surgeon. Apparently this is a known effect that can happen so I probably will come through OK. For now, not pleasant.
From Yesterday:
Jinx Thanks for continuing your story of MALIBU and TOPANGA.
Check out this 1940s Ford that I spotted on a walk two days ago. Look at the license plate frame. TOPANGA!
LEO III Glad you also thought of another four letter word before SNAP!
AnonT Glad you also thought MINIMUM before MEDIUM.
RayOSunshine You wrote "Those unvaccinated are petri dishes for vaccine mutation and may eventually be the source of a strain that is resistant to the vaccine the rest of us agreed to take. Good bye protection." I agree. Very few individual choices stay individual.
Been away for a while,
new house, beach, no internet etc...
I understand the cakes have been piling up...
But todays puzzle begat some, not nits,
but questions...
Whiskered Male?
at first this was a personal nit,
but, in thinking about it, the clue/ answer was indeed perfectly valid.
but, but, (or butt)
thinking more about it made me look at it from a constructors point of view.
How would you clue the answer "Tom"
(not Dick or Harry?)
hmm, perhaps, wattled male?
(last but,)
I wanted to ask Lucina what she thought of Andale.
Because whenever I would mention it to my South American friends,
(Brazil, et al...)
they would have no idea what I was talking about when
I said Andale, Arriba, Arriba...
but (oops, sorry) they never heard of Speedy Gonzales...
It seems to be a Mexican local thing for "come on, hurry, hurry..."
and means nothing in original Spanish.
Another bit of crunchiness with this Wednesday grid.
A few write-overs…EAUX/AGUA, RAMS/TOMS, YARN/TALE.
I do agree that both male and female cats are whiskered, I have one of each. But the clue says “males” right it it, so I cannot carp.
FLN…a lot of discussion about the vax. My understanding is that even with the “breakthrough” infection, you still don’t die or even have a serious reaction. That seems a huge bonus to me.
My feelings about the “refusers” is rather bleak…I just don’t care what happens to them, and whatever may happen seems well deserved. I also feel this a “Darwin” moment, in that a lot of the refusers may find themselves extinct. Too bad for them, but not like there has been no warning. During the massive die off in 2020, folks actually pulling their last breaths denied that COVID was the issue. Like I said, good luck with that.
See you tomorrow.
Busy day with eye doctor appointment coming up in the afternoon. But enjoyed the puzzle, many thanks, Kurt. And fun commentary, JazzB, thanks for that too.
Always happy to be able to use my German in a puzzle--like HAUS today. Most of the names stumped me, but I got ELENA and ERLE, though not SYBIL, sadly. Oh, and of course, ELMO. I was TAKEN ABACK and DUMBSTRUCK but certainly not BOWLED OVER by GOBSMACKED (but had fun).
Have a good day, everybody.
Staili - is it really just Brit-talk? I've heard GOBSMACK'd aplenty and even used it once or twice... Maybe too much BBC on my part :-)
Cool Ford SNAP Picard! Amazing what your eye catches.
and re: FLN - YR: It's Chrome browser that will give you an 'Oh SNAP' on a '404 not found'.
Nice to see you back CED. New house? You musta paid through the nose in this market.
//Is it sad how we learned so much 'culture' via cartoons? #MelBlancWasAGenius!
PVX - you nailed it. That's how I feel about antis -- it's their funeral.
//which is sad b/c my (CEO) Bro's neighbor died last week of C19. Dude was only in his 40s and had no comorbidities.
Don't get me completely wrong... I have a friend that can't get vax'd 'cuz she just finished chemo - we told her to stay home even though the rest of us went to the office.
She also got a ton of GrubHub gift-cards from us :-)
//maybe religion but from an agnostic-Catholic say.... Skip a bit(?)....
Lucina - That's why I love Pope Frank. A Jesuit who really seems to follow the Peace of Christ.
When I was in Figline's Villa Casagrande I learned of the Medici family (my 1st thought at 47d but couldn't quite recall 'em) where Popes hung about the place (they still had the bed P.Leone X slept in). A lot of misspent opulence, them old Popes.
(and some other $$ not so misspent - observatories [4m]).
Cheers, -T
A good PZL, FIR.
I had the toughest time with Speedy Gonzalez. I got ANDALE in the end, but I had the sound of "Beep Beep" in my head--from the Roadrunner--and found it almost impossible to shake.
I love the expression GOB SMACKED. I keep wanting to use it, but at this age, nothing much surprises me anymore.
~ OMK
___________
DR: Shy? Unwilling to fall in line?
Then you are described in today's anagram (13 of 15 letters), based on the near side diagonal, one of two diagonals to be found in today's XWD...
i.e.,
"MEEK, NONLINEAR"!
Picard, that truck looks like a great target for restoration. Hope all your parts fully heal.
When I lived in LA I listened to a morning radio show on KABC called The Ken and Bob Company, claiming that explained the station's call sign. One of their frequent call-in guests was a guy named Alan Hjerpe (pronounced like the STD), who proclaimed himself the proprietor of the Pacoima Moat and Drawbridge Company. Turns out Alan was a Topanga resident. I met him in the little Topanga post office one day, and he was just as wacky in person as he was on the radio. He gave me a "business" card from the moat and drawbridge company.
DUMfounded < DUMBSTRUCK (Hi, Ray-O, PK)
MEDICI < BORGIA (Hi, ATLGranny)
Scores < SETS TO
Husker Gary:
"Listen my children, prepare to be STUNNED
At the midnight ride of SYBIL Ludington!"
"Listen, my children, of the ride thru each VILle
Heroicly made by Israel Bissell!"
I also found this
"The American poet and historian, Clay Perry wrote an ode to Bissell with these opening lines:
Listen, my children, to my epistle
Of the long, long ride of Israel Bissell,
Who outrode Paul by miles and time
But didn't rate a poet's rhyme."
Interesting puzzle today. Interesting in the sense that I learned something worth learning, namely about Sybil Ludington. I appreciate that.
Whenever I see the word ROTI I think of an Indian flatbread. I see it is also the French word meaning roast. Roast beef in French is rôti de bœuf. Ah, the things we learn.
I sure enough always thought her name was Cruella de Ville. Ah, the things we learn.
Would someone who consumes ale be an ALER?
CED, you mention a very good point about the viewpoints of the constructor and the solver being quite different. Constructor's point of view: "I have this answer, TOMS, so how am I going to clue it?" Solver's point of view: "Jeez, whiskered males could be almost any mammal! Four letters, eh? Cats, dogs, rats...? Walruses doesn't fit..." Wholly different mindsets.
People who think it is a "right" or a "freedom" to not get vaccinated or wear a mask don't know the meaning of those words. Would they claim to have a "right" to pee in a public swimming pool? Would they claim to have a "right" to poop on my front lawn?
Owen, cool poems today.
Jazzb, great write-up today.
Good wishes to you all.
FLN, Anon-T yes I'm a redsox fan but Elsa roared past the last 6 hours. Didn't lose power but no internet. If Tin had no problems out on the gulf ….
ERLE is creator of Perry Mason portrayed on TV by ?*
The secretary* has made appearances here too
Need a serious upgrade on those l'icks. Minimum A- . Yes, lemonade I'll go up a notch.
I agree with YR on vernacular ERODE. The Redsox chipped away on the A's lead and by the 9th it'd been completely eroded.
I saw Picard, pix and inky but the photo was a Ford. Early 40s I'd say. Yes, Virginia, there is a TOPANGA
WC
*Ironsides** and Della Street
** Ok, Raymond Burr
I remember Speedy Gonzales' catch phrase as being "Arriba, arriba, andale, andale." Arriba was tried and discarded.
Jayce, why do you insist that people who have recovered from Covid get vaccinated or wear a mask? I haven't read or heard any evidence indicating that their immunity is lower than vaccinated people who haven't had the disease. I've heard some vague notions on the order of "we don't know if immunity from having the disease will last as long as immunity from vaccination." When there is some evidence, check back in. Otherwise, we don't (or at least we shouldn't) force people to undergo experimental medical procedures when there is no evidence that the procedures will make even the slightest positive impact.
And don't think that I'm an antivaxer. I got mine absolutely as quickly as I could - 11:15 am on January 7th.
As a person who has had a bad reaction to almost every shot I ever received, I am torn between wanting a shot and trying to decide if I am more afraid of a bad reaction or covid+. I've been in quarantine since Feb. 2020, so none of you have any reason to fear anything from me. I am very tired of being at home alone 99% of the time. I'm not an antivaxxer. I'm a bad reactor & catch every germ floating anywhere I go with very little immunity. I'm sure having no fun.
So we have a medical ethics panel today. I got both Pfizer vaccine shots in January and February. For years parents have been using religion as an excuse to not have their children's shots . Shame on them. There will always be some person with an allergy to any medicine.
I think the main fear that some have about the COVID19 vaccines is that they were developed so fast and future long term effects are unknown. But in their defense, so many of the things the "experts" said were wrong and the new religion of THE SCIENCE is full of mistruths.
From May-Sept 2020 I did a DAILY screenshot of tests, confirmed cases,hospitalizations, deaths, ventilator use...etc of Covid in LA. My state except New Orleans has been basically open for everything for over a year. Enter a restaurant with a mask until you sit down and that's it. But half the tables were taken out of the restaurants. When you get to your table the mask comes off and you don't put it back on your face. Some stores required MASKS and others put a sign stating "mask required" but didn't enforce it.
I could go on and on but to make a long story short, LA didn't fare any worse than states with strict lock down rules that destroyed their businesses. But the bureaucracy didn't miss a paycheck.
Jinx, now I see I wasn't clear enough. Thank you for questioning me on that. I'm not calling for people who have recovered from Covid get vaccinated or wear a mask. I neglected to include that group in my thinking. I mistakenly asserted that I believe all folks should mask up. Again, I'm no doctor, but I think it is important for those who are not immune, either from having had the disease and recovered from it or those who have been vaccinated, protect others by following the oft-stated and well-known protocols. If one has no propensity to poop on my lawn, then I have no beef with him or her. Again, thanks for incentivizing me to think and express myself more rigorously.
As a footnote, I will say that, as far as I can tell from news reports, people who claim that not wearing a mask is their "Constitutional right" neither understand what the Constitution says or what rights are. The founders clearly believed and explicitly asserted that people have God-given rights. The Constitution does not grant rights; the people already have them. What the Constitution does is decree that the government cannot take those rights away from the people or infringe upon them; "Congress shall make no law abridging...". And check out the 9th Amendment: it basically says that just because a specific right has not been mentioned in this document, the people have rights not explicitly delineated herein. I.e. the nowadays common legal disclaimer "including but not limited to...".
Best regards,
Jayce
Lemony @ 6:46 AM I'm late for the party as I was helping celebrate the life of a dear late friend at a funeral and reception. It was worth showing up just for your moving clip of Sybil Ludington. I got the first name on perps and said to myself "that sounds like a woman". And what a woman!
HG @9:10 AM Yup, and the treads' are starting to get thin. Stopped growing peas - they never make it to the house.
YR @9:36 AM Yes, it all depends on how fine grained you define "gradually".
Musings 2
-27 holes on a lovely day that felt like fall @ 77F
-Owen, Love the alternatives for Longfellow from you and Clay Perry!
-Anon-T - Yes Tom's song is the one I was thinking of (YR - of which I was thinking) :-)
Bob Lee @10:01 AM Thanks for that Bob. I found the book you mention on Amazon and just ordered a copy for my 12 year old granddaughter, who is horse crazy.
T @11:20 AM Loved the Lehrer clip. Anything that can roll two of my favs (the Periodic Table and G&S) together is great in my book.
Accordig to Google, 'Arriba. Arriba' means Up, Up ... in spanish.
and 'Andale, Andale' means Go On, Go On.
So, a catchy encouragement phrase, for Speedy Gonzales' mousy friends.
Some of my classmates used to think, that it meant 'We have arrived ( swum past the Rio Grande ) and now lets get mixed up with the other folks, and mingle and disappear, so that the authorities dont discover us - '
The cartoonists were not that political, at all.
From Last Night,
As for the vaccination refuseniks controversy, I think, so long as the 'hold outs' are less than ten percent, they should not affect the rest of the general population, and other than risking their own lives, and those of their families, they cannot prevent, Herd Immunity, from occurring, in the long run. They are too minor a sub group to cause the variant to mutate, in my opinion.
There will always be Luddities, like these, among us, and it is too difficult and too expensive for the US Govt to ferret them out. Hwoever, wherever possible the govt should provide monetary and fiscal incentives, if possible, to reduce this number to as little, as possible.
Jayce your explanation is very very good, and your points are worth reading twice.
Thank you. !
Lucina @11:42 AM While he was never a pope, St. Charles Borromeo (patron of my parish) was made a cardinal by his uncle (can't recall which pope) before being ordained a priest. His uncle did this as a way to exert political control over the diocese of of Milan. St. Charles was eventually ordained and became a devout priest, who remained in Milan to minister to his flock during a devastating plague, while all the other clergy and leaders fled to the countryside.
St. Charles later became a leader of the "Counter Reformation", which counter what many people think was directed not at Protestantism, but at reforming the types of abuses that Alexander VI was notorious for. Among other things he created the confessional, so that confessions could be private; and established seminaries to insure that priests were properly educated in church doctrine and practices. As a result, many seminaries today are named for St. Charles. He was rewarded for his reform efforts by an attempted assassination, but survived the knife attack due to the thickness of his clock.
Also it was because of St. Charles that the purported burial cover of Christ was moved from Lirey, France to Torino,Italy and thus became known as "The Shroud of Turin".
Waseeley @ 1947, Nothing like a thick clock to fend off evildoers. :-)
What a timely remark.
DNF. I never could figure out how 62A AMAZED me (which bothers me now for not remembering such a GREAT word), and all the combinations of perps I tried just perplexed me, so the SE corner became a Wite-Out graveyard. Also, didn’t know ROTI/STEEN. Should have remembered RASTA and STEN, but I didn’t. Just a poor effort all the way around for me.
Yes, Picard. I knew VILLE, but the perps ruled!
Guess I watched too many Speedy Gonzales cartoons! No problem with ANDALE.
Gotta go! 18 crumb-crunchers and six adults at 10AM tomorrow. Not sure what ages.
Thanks, Kurt and Jazz!
Now if I could just figure out a way to fend off spell check Spitz. It doesn't take kindly to archaic words like 'cloak'! :-)
Yes, ANDALE is a much used word. If you attend sporting events you might hear the crowd encouragingly yell it to the team or a particular player. ANDALE, ANDALE, ANDALE., pronounced AHN-duh-lay
It has been a busy day here at casita Dale. As I mentioned earlier, my sister, Yolanda, spent the night. We went grocery shopping then met other family members at the movies to see In the Heights. After the movie everyone came here to swim followed by dinner. Since I had not been to the movies much I had enough tickets for the whole crowd, seven of us.
About the movie. It is a delightful movie filled with happy singing and dancing as you might expect from Lin-Manuel Miranda.
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