Theme: You'll find out!
Chairman Moe is off vacationing, so d-o has been called up from the minors to see what sort of havoc he can wreak in C-Moe's absence. Jerry Edelstein is a veteran of the crossword stage, having made numerous appearances over the years in the LAT and here at the Corner. Today's he's offered up a letter-swap theme with the reveal FIND OUT. Hint, you need to parse it as "F in, D out." I like well-executed themes that even I can suss.
17. One teaching tchotchke-making?: FRILL INSTRUCTOR. Drill Instructor
37. Overly blunt?: FRANK TO EXCESS. Drank to excess. I've been accused of both.
58. Missives warning about '30s gangster Dillinger?: FEAR JOHN LETTERS. Dear John Letter.
And finally, the reveal...
66. Learn ... and, in four parts, a hint to 17-, 37-, and 58-across: FIND OUT.
Across:
8. Thaw: DEFROST.
15. Like some egos: FRAGILE. Here's a handy list of negative ways to describe a person.
16. He won his only Oscar at age 73 for "City Slickers": PALANCE. He made a memorable Oscar appearance. (19 seconds)
19. John Paul's successor: ELENA. Supreme Court, not the Vatican.
21. 12th-century yr.: MCI. That'd be 1101 AD. Also a one-time telecom.
24. Workout ctrs.: YMCAS.
28. "Sprechen __ Deutsch?": SIE. Do you speak German?
29. Like uncooperative hair: TANGLY. Mine is uncooperative, but not tangly -- just cowlicky.
33. SeaTac-based airline: ALASKA. Seems weird that Alaska Airlines would be based in Washington.
35. Women's rights attorney Allred: GLORIA. Unknown to me, but the perps were kind.
36. Exhausted: SPENT.
41. Polynesian symbols: TIKIS. Totems was too long.
42. "That's old news": I HEARD.
44. More than brushed back: BEANED. Baseball.
46. B-52 mission: SORTIE. Back in the '60s we would see the B-52s every day, heading west from Andersen AFB, loaded with 500-pounders.
47. __ mot: BON. Good one, I say.
51. Dashed no.: SSN.
52. Beauty store chain: ULTA. If you say so.
54. Baking apples: ROMES.
65. Dickinson's "There Is No __ Like a Book": FRIGATE. This C/A made absolutely no sense without the poem's second line. I had to look it up. It's very short:
"There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human Soul –"
67. Son of David: SOLOMON. The original wise guy.
68. Small rubbers: ERASERS. No comment.
Down:
2. Not up to 57-Down, perhaps: IRR. Irregular -- not up to STDS.
3. Moo goo __ pan: GAI. Chinese take-out.
4. Lascivious look: OGLE. Or leer.
5. Place for dough: TILL. Do they still call it that?
7. __ McClain, last MLB pitcher with 30+ wins: DENNY.
8. Three-in-one vaccine, familiarly: DPT. Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus.
9. Thing to lend or bend: EAR. Friends, Romans, countrymen...
10. __ shot: FLU. Wow, it's almost that time again.
11. Place for bats: RACK. Fess up. You tried CAVE, didn't you?
12. Doing the job: ON TASK. "On it" was too short.
13. Nova __: SCOTIA. Our Canadian geography lesson for today.
Spent a night in Halifax back in the '80s. We were bar-hopping, and I
don't remember a whole lot about it.
14. Clipped: TERSE. Like a response.
22. Baby whale: CALF.
23. "You __ not?": IN OR. Green paint.
25. __ May: CAPE. Let's see a show of hands. Did you know this is in New Jersey? I'll bet YR knows.
26. "Dynasty" villain: ALEXIS. She's been played by several actresses, but none better than the original, Joan Collins.
27. Quixote's squire __ Panza: SANCHO. "Whether the stone hits the pitcher, or the pitcher hits the stone, it's going to be bad for the pitcher." -- Man of La Mancha.
30. Persona non __: GRATA. "You're not wanted here."
31. Insert that insulates: LINING. In your winter coat.
32. Chatterbox: YAKKER. Accurate, but seems awkward.
34. Guide: STEER.
36. Plea at sea: SOS. Save Our Souls: ... --- ...
38. It ebbs and flows: TIDE.
39. H.S. exams: SATS. Back in my day we took the ACT -- from American College Testing.
40. Mumbai titles: SRIS. It was still Bombay the last time I visited there.
43. Man cave, maybe: DEN.
44. Ravel work immortalized in "10": BOLERO. This was a difficult
piece to record back in the LP days. Either the soft passages would
get lost in the surface noise, or the crescendo would distort.
45. Bring into play: ENTAIL.
47. Big fans: BUFFS. Windmills was too long.
49. Shore eagle: ERN. Hello, old cw friend.
50. Pocahontas' spouse: ROLFE. John. Should have known this, but had to wait on the perps.
55. Israel's "Iron Lady": MEIR. She was born in Kyiv, but grew up in Milwaukee.
56. Sicilian mount: ETNA. Can you name another 4-letter volcano? Yeah, Fuji.
57. Benchmarks: abbr.: STDS.
59. One may delay your arrival: JAM. Dw's German uncle called it a traffic marmalade.
60. Ioway relative: OTO.
61. Cornish game __: HEN.
62. Help-wanted ad abbr.: EOE. Equal Opportunity Employer.
63. Capek's dystopian play: RUR. Rossum's Universal Robots
64. GPS lines: STS. Streets
And thus endeth our reading from the scripture according to Rich Norris.
C.C. will make the grid magically appear below. Desper-otto out.
36 comments:
Welcome back Tom and thank you for stepping up and stepping in for Moe. This was a pretty straight forward solve once you saw the F replacing the D. The reveal would not have made sense otherwise. FRILL INSTRUCTOR was my favorite. I didn't know the Poem but by then things were rolling.
Thank you Jerry and be careful out there D-O
FIR, but erased die for SIE, smith for ROLFE, SORTeE, and yes, cave for RACK. DNK ROLFE, SANCHO, or Dickinson's pome.
Surprised that D-O didn't know GLORIA Allred. I don't always agree with her, but I always respect her. Unlike so many in the grievance advocacy industry, I'm convinced that she is a true believer and is not primarily looking for a payday.
Wouldn't it have been great if they had replaced Justice Stevens with someone with the first and middle names George Ringo? Or if ELENA had been a Catherine (headline would have read "Cat to Replace Stevens")
I have taken the ferry from Lewes, MD to CAPE May, NJ many times. It takes a little longer to get to Atlantic City from Norfolk that way, but is a beautiful journey that provides a nice mid-trip rest period. CAPE May is a beautiful little town to walk around in.
Thanks to Jerry for the challenge. And Thanks to D-O for the fun review, and for doing the Kelly Girl duty.
I tanked at the crossing of Garson and Pocahontas' husband.
The Frigate clue is definitely Friday level, maybe diabolical level.
"You in or not?" No, it's "You in or out?"
This was a difficult FIR; I inked park/RACK. DENNY/ELENA were LHFs and MC?
Ah, SAM's Club. I had the DRILL INSTRUCTOR from hell* at OCS
This would have been more difficult if there weren't those toeholds. EOO, eeo;dIE,SIE and figuring out the theme which gave me BUFFS.
Thanks for stepping up D-O
WC
*I suppose they all are.
This was a slog, but FIR.
JIN @ 7:05 Lewes, MD? MD?
FIR on Friday! Thank you, Jerry. It had some twists and turns, but I understood everything but OTO. With the first themer, I saw the gimmick, changing D to F. Fun.
Thanks for filling in, DO. Good job! We usually see your early posts, but not as the blogger for the day. We want to FIND OUT how it felt to be our official guide.
Busy weekend with our first "spend-the -night" guest in about two years, coming from Germany. Deutsch will be spoken. Hope you all have an entertaining weekend!
Good Morning:
While the theme was as plain as the nose on your face, the revealer was a big punch-in-that-nose-surprise! It took a few seconds to parse F In D Out, but, boy oh boy, what a chuckle I had when I figured it out. My only unknowns were Ulta (can’t seem to ever come up with that) and Frigate, as clued. We had some cute duos with Sam/Jam, Fragile/Frigate, Den/Hen, and BFF/Buffs. Nice CSOs to Jason (Argo) and CEh (Scotia). We have a Scotia, also, a suburb of Schenectady.
Thanks, Jerry, for a super Friday challenge and thanks, DO, for coming off the bench and hitting for extra bases! Thanks for including the Dickinson poem because, as you noted, that quote was perplexing without the ensuing lines. You did the Chairman proud!
FLN
Pat, thanks for the grammar lesson, it evoked lots of smiles.
Anon T, Pop’s tomatoes are a thing of beauty. Enjoy the forthcoming sauce! 🍅🍅🍅
Have a great day.
Good morning everyone.
Finally got it all w/o aid or sussing the reveal. SIE sind verrückt! But I did like the puns in the long acrosses. Thought the FRIGATE fill was too obscure; even for a Friday. Thanks D-O for explaining. It sure needed it.
Enjoy the day.
DO, great job. Thanks for subbing.
I got the drift with frill instructor. Still, I was surprised to see it expressed as FIND OUT. Clever.
ULTA and GLORIA were all perps. I knew IOWAY referred to a tribe, but OTO was all
perps, too.
I knew FRIGATE had to be some kind of transport to other worlds, but I need six perps to see it. I supplied the I. DUH! I loved the clue.
I have crossed Delaware Bay on the Cape May(NJ)-Lewes(DE) Ferry several times. Once we square danced on this ferry on a very windy day. It was great fun with a lot of laughter. It was impossible to keep time with the music. 1-2-3 stagger, stagger. In those days we wore full square dance skirts with pettipants underneath. I forgot mine. In addition to stagger, stagger my skirt would blow over my head and I had to keep holding it down. (Blush)
DPT shots, among others, were mandated when my boys entered school. I see today they use DTap, instead.
I love the pleasant weather we have been having. High 80's and 90's are not for me.
I thought, especially "at sea" that SOS stood for "Save Our Ship", but was probably chosen for the easy Morse Code ...---...
A long slog but a fun one. It took 41 minutes for me to FIR. I really liked the theme. 19A first thought was the pope, but that was quickly ruled out. Thanx, JE, for a fine if difficult CW. And thanx D-O for the outstanding write-up, and especially for ‘splainin’ FRIGATE, which I got with PERPs but did not understand.
Musings
-I’m pretty sure Jerry saw the gimmick first and then found the fun fill for it
-Some of GLORIA’s famous cases involved women who were wronged by OJ Simpson, Tiger Woods, Anthony Weiner…
-If you taunt a pitcher after hitting a homerun, you can count on at least getting hit, if not BEANED when you next take a bat out of the RACK
-I remember GREER in Mrs. Miniver which was a movie about getting soldiers home from Dunkirk. She won an Oscar for her performance and proceeded to deliver the longest acceptance speech in Oscar history
-Speaking of remembering, BOLERO conjures up a lovely image
-Two candidates for “rubbers” went away before my cwd friend Mr. Eraser appeared
-FLU shot? I’ve just had the pneumonia, covid and shingles inoculations!
-What Disney left out of the movie Pocohantas
-Thanks for pinch hitting in the clutch, D-O!
When I first read that there is no FRIGATE like a book, I thought, "Well, there's no airplane like a meatball, either." Frigates and books seemed to have nothing to do with each other. But after reading the poem, I thought, "Well, that's actually quite nice." CC, thank you for posting that text!
Nice Theme!
Total guess on the U in BUFFS cross with ULTA.
Good old H.S. German: Sprechen-> spricht, sprach, hat gesprochen: speak, spake, had spoken
My Dad always would say to me (and laugh): Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Droppen Sie dead!
Where the heck he came up with that I don't know. (He was in the Navy right after WWII.)
No diss to our German friends on here!
Any time I see "FRAGILE" all I can think of is the leg lamp delivery in "A Christmas Story"
Ooh, fancy! Frah-gee-lay!
Anon & YR, of course Lewes is DE, not MD. Butcha gotta go through MD to get there! Great ferry story, YR.
As with others, this proved to be a difficult FIR. I did not grasp the theme until I found myself staring at BUFF (after a vowel run) and seeing FEAR JOHN.
Fridays are always toughies for me, but I enjoyed this one--many thanks, Jerry. And your commentary was fun, Desper-otto, thanks for that too. I especially appreciated your giving us the Dickinson poem.
Would never have figured out the theme without the explanation though it became pretty clear that all the theme answers started with F. It was the missing Ds I missed.
Lots of nice names throughout: ELENA, GLORIA, MEIR, ELIE, SANCHO, SOLOMON. But didn't know ALEXIS. Got to use my German again with SIE--Ja, ich spreche Deutsch.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
Bravo Jerry Efelstein!
This seemed a typical Friday level grid.
I just had a booster last month…TDaP is what the doc, the pharmacy and the tech called it.
Write-overs…TANGLE/TANGLY, TALKER/YAKKER, RTS/STS.
See you tomorrow.
What is the difference between DPT, Dtap and Tdap ?
DPT ( or DTP - )or DtwP .... the original Diptheria, tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine. w = wholoe cells, of Pert. are used.
Uses inactivated whole cells of the Pert.bacteria. DTP in Uk and Europe.
Toxoids are inactivated toxins used in Vacs.
DTaP ... same stuff, as above, but with 'a' = acellular vac. with select Pert antigens.
Because it uses fewer antigens than the 'w' whole cells, it has fewer side effects.... and is more expensive.
Research also says it is somewhat less effective than DPT in conferring immunity.
So, more expensive for being less effective. MORE is LESS.
The dominant vac in the US today.
Tdap also dTpa ...same stuff as above,
BUT d= reduced dipht toxoid, ap/pa = acellular Pert.
Further diluted, for senior citizens >65. infants and pregnant women.
IMHO, probably costs an arm and a leg. for even less effectiveness ... ;-)
N-N-NOTE ::::- Entirely plaigarized from Wikipedia, except for my smart a$$ comments.
I found OTO a puzzle within the PZL, but thanks to Yellowrocks realized it is a tribal name. That caused me to re-think "Ioway" (which I first just took to be a rural pronunciation of "Iowa").
Overall, an enjoyable PZL, with just a few head scratchers.
Just imagine: A discussion of vaccines-- that did NOT grow overly political.
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal today--on the far side.
Its anagram (14 of 15 letters) refers to some of the thieving leaders (under Putin) who control much of modern Russia's national policies.
These share the dictatorial rule as petroleum "czars."
I mean, of course, the...
"GAS KLEPTOCRATS"!
I noticed the F for D replacement but I had to come to The Corner to FIND OUT that it was F IN, D OUT. Duh. Just a few unknowns filled by perps today ALEXIS, GLORIA, and the idiotic FRIGATE fill- does Rich expect anybody to know that? I had no idea what 'tchotchke-making' was but BFF & IRR were solid downs. Very easy for a Friday puzzle.
Jinx-D-O wasn't alone; I'd never heard of Gloria Allred either.
TANGLY- only heard of tangled hair but the perps were solid.
SAM's Club- I do at least 95% of the grocery shopping between those places. Plus the Sam's credit card rebates 5% on gasoline & 3% on T&E. I got back over $1,000.00 last year.
BOLERO- I think it was a well known piece before "10".
So Joan Collins played ALEXIS. I've read that in real life she was trying to outdo Mae West.
I post very rarely, although I read here daily. Feel I finally need to say how fascinating I find the differing areas of knowledge at the Corner. For example, though not completely familiar with the poem, I did recognize the 'frigate' line. On the other hand, I'd never heard of Ulta. It seems quite true that one person's Natick is another persons 'gimme', yes?
Nice recap, D-O.
I started with the down clues. Got to 3 in 1 vaccine and entered MMR. Caught that error when doing the across clues a bit later.
Sandyanon, that has been my point in those who refer to everything they do not know as a NATICK . That is not point of describing a cross of two very obscure and unfairly clued fill. Solvers are not supposed to know everything. Why would puzzles be fun if we did not learn both from the puzzle and interaction with our favortie solvers.
Tom's write-up today is also a perfect example of knowing something but not everthing. I know KIT KAT BARS but I did not know its extensive and worthy KIT KAT HISTORY . I have read much about the 30s and 40s but the candy bar had not come up. Now I know! I suggest if we make a mistake or not know a cross, stop being defensive and enjoy what you know and what you learn. IMO
Sandyanon @ 4:10PM, yes, exactly.
I liked this puzzle but was able to FIR only because: (1) there were enough toeholds to get started, and (2) the D to F replacement, once discovered, expedited the long fill. Well done, Jerry!
Good wishes to you all.
Even though I tackled the puzzle in the AM, I'm a bit late to the party, as I was battling weeds in the garden preparing for some fall plantings.
Thank you Jerry for a slightly harder Saturday puzzle (whoops, make that Friday!). And thank you D-O for a fine outing. You're a real MENSCH.
Suffered from my usual theme blindness, but after a lot of eddying around got an FIR. Perped, but didn't properly parse the reveal, so it only made sense after D-O explained it.
16A Thanks for the Jack Palance clip D-O. Somebody has probably caught this already, but with 48A we had the shortest AND longest Oscar acceptance speeches. I did know Greer Garson, as she was English and popular with my Mother. Her best films were Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Mrs. Miniver.
19A Nice piece of indirection and it took a few perps to get it. Afterward I'm wondering following who?: John Paul Souter? Make that David. No, John Paul Stevens. How quickly we forget.
28A Nur ein bisschen, despite minoring in it for a year or two in college. I have found it very useful though, for following Die Opern und Deutschen Lieder (the latter an acquired, but delicious taste).
54A ROMES. Speaking of delicious tastes, I remembered this from a puzzle on apples I blogged a few months back. And people think Cwds are a waste of time!
65A Fav c/a. Thank you D-O for including the poem. As I'm always on the lookout for gifts for my granddaughters, a copy of this book is sailing its way from Amazon and should dock here tomorrow.
11D Hand up!
25D DW and I spent a delightful weekend in CAPE MAY a few years back. I nice respite from the noisy beaches on the DELMARVA peninsula to the South.
27D It may be bad for the pitcher, but it means repeat business for the potter!
Cheers,
Bill
BE @3:13 PM TSCOTSKE's are the male equivalent of the female TUSSIE MUSSIE. 🙄
I just now had a few moments to read the blog. Thanks for pinch hitting, D-O. Very nice job.
Bill, you obviously do not know American/Yiddish slang as tchotchke-making is nothing like tussie mussie, and it is not male in anyway
Thank you Mr. Edelstein for a very nice puzzle, and D-O for a fine and enchanting review.
Tchotchkes and such are merely bric-a-brac of little commercial cost, but of sentimental value. Much like trinkets.
As an idiom, depending on the speaker's tone or context, it could mean something worthless, but it can also be used in a less derogatory sense.
Respected Lemonade, I beg to differ ... they can be mail, er, mailed, through all the usual channels. ;-)
Lemony @6:02 PM אָאָפּס
I have always liked the idea that books transport us to other times and places, other world and cultures. This is a lovely metaphor. I very much agree with the clue. DO's Emily Dickinsen poem says it well.
There Is No Frigate Like a Book
by Emily Dickinson - 1830-1886
Vidwan, well said. Tchotchkes and such are merely bric-a-brac of little commercial cost, but of sentimental value. Much like trinkets.
OOPS, other times and places, other worlds and cultures.
Hi All!
Mighty fine expo, D-O. Thanks for the FRIGATE poem for full context. Oh, and 'original wise-guy' was cute.
Fun puzzle and cute theme, Jerry. It took me a bit to get going. Saw the D->F at 17a but never really parsed the unifier 'cuz the SE was filled early on (unlike the SW -- my last to fill).
WOs: TENTE(?) ->TERSE (I had INSTRUCTOn [sic] & KATT [sic] for the longest time); 'FRANK TO a fault.' Oh, yeah, hand-up for SORTeE.
ESPs: GLORIA, FRIGATE, ALEXIS, GREER, ULTA, ROMES (? And we just made apple pies * today. Donno the variety of apple; they were just on the neighbor's tree)
Fav: BEANED. Tricky but smile worthy.
OK, OMK, how'd you pull that DR out? Nice.
Waseeley - I was thinking John Paul II followed JP I (only a Pope for 30+ days, IRRC). Then P. Benedict 16 who preceded P. Frank.
EL__A? Oh, The High Court; of course ;-)
HG - yes, @rubbers, I too was thinking of a pack of Trojans [Brooks].
Enjoyed reading everyone!
Cheers, -T
*IM - yes, we also made sauce.
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