Saturday Themeless by C.C. Burnikel
I suspect I should not have any favorite constructers but this week's puzzle is by C.C. who is my favorite and also my friend. In this picture she is with me when I made her the newest Cornhusker fan a few years ago. She is a sweet and brilliant person who has been a wonderful presence in my life and I'll bet in yours as well. Her thoughts on this puzzle:
"I've done a few 68-word grids in the past, but my favorites are 70 or 72 words with triple stacks of 10 or 11's. I hope you enjoy this puzzle."
The blizzard of open squares was very striking in her pinwheel design and her clever cluing is always a treat. I had a small boo boo at STATED instead of SLATED, blithely ignoring ELTA for ELLA. Sigh...
1. Stamford-based humanitarian relief group: AMERICARES.
11. Model's makeup, maybe: CLAY - Walter Williams submitted his 8mm CLAYmation film to SNL of Mr. Bill and it became a hit.
15. Spot for a wistful stroll: MEMORY LANE.
16. Green target: HOLE This one did not 61. __ out: hit the edge of the hole without going in, in golf: LIP.
17. Brilliance: PROMINENCE.
18. Tunnel diggers: ANTS.
19. Collect dust: SIT.
20. Tamboura kin: SITAR.
18. Tunnel diggers: ANTS.
19. Collect dust: SIT.
20. Tamboura kin: SITAR.
21. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spin-off: ANGEL.
22. Team apparel, informally: UNIS - Some of the UNIS (uniforms) worn by Husker FB players over the years
24. Covert ops outfit: CAMOuflage
25. One may be blank: STARE - or this...
26. Mixes together: POOLS.
28. Not take well?: POACH - People who POACH endangered animals are beyond contempt
30. Understand: GET.
31. Quick cuts: SNIPS.
33. Single-serving coffee units: K-CUP PODS.
35. Curtains: DOOM.
37. Next in line: HEIR.
38. Decisive defeat: WATERLOO - Also a silly 1959 hit
 |
| A reenactment in front of The Lion's Mound that was built after the battle as a memorial |
42. Condescend: STOOP.
45. Cooking student of Martha: INA
 |
| INA Garten Martha Stewart |
46. Preserves, as beef: CORNS - A St. Pat's favorite
48. 1966 Literature Nobelist Nelly: SACHS - Born in Germany and fled to Sweden in 1940
50. Tenzing-Hillary Airport site: NEPAL - Also called Lukla Airport. From there it is a 10-day trek from this most dangerous airport in the world to the Mount Everest Base Camp.
50. Tenzing-Hillary Airport site: NEPAL - Also called Lukla Airport. From there it is a 10-day trek from this most dangerous airport in the world to the Mount Everest Base Camp.
52. Singer Lorde's given name: ELLA - Her IMDB
54. Rooney __, co-star of the 2015 film "Carol": MARA - 94% on Rotten Tomatoes
55. Welcoming expression: SMILE.
56. Needle: TEASE - If it's unwelcome and persistent, it passes into bullying
58. Tandyr __: Central Asian flatbread: NAN - Russian: лепёшка, "flatbread"
 |
| Made in Kurgyzstan |
60. "It was fun!": WHAT A BLAST.
62. Subject of Huáscar: INCA.
63. Be totally stumped: HAVE NO IDEA - For me, see Huáscar above
64. Part with teeth: GEAR.
64. Part with teeth: GEAR.
65. Short-term bus purchase: ONE DAY PASS
Down:
1. Energizes: AMPS UP.
2. Sheep originating in Spain: MERINOS.
3. Joy, for one: EMOTION.
4. __-com: ROM - Doris Day did ROMantic COMedies as well as anyone
5. Ring around a pupil: IRIS
4. __-com: ROM - Doris Day did ROMantic COMedies as well as anyone
5. Ring around a pupil: IRIS
 |
| Not always the same color |
6. One "whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be": Bierce: CYNIC.
7. Pub device: ALE TAP.
8. Went wild: RAN AMOK.
9. Cross a line one shouldn't cross: ENCROACH - This is ENCROACHMENT and not offsides because the ball hadn't been snapped yet and there was contact. Gotta love the center's (#56) pointing.
7. Pub device: ALE TAP.
8. Went wild: RAN AMOK.
9. Cross a line one shouldn't cross: ENCROACH - This is ENCROACHMENT and not offsides because the ball hadn't been snapped yet and there was contact. Gotta love the center's (#56) pointing.
11. Lamasery music: CHANT - noun, La·ma·ser·y - a monastery of lamas.
12. Way back: LONG AGO.
13. Took in, say: ALTERED.
14. "Sure, why not?": YES LET'S.
21. Barbecue receptacles: ASH PITS.
23. What a coach's hands-down gesture may mean: SLIDE. 29. Signals: CUES.
21. Barbecue receptacles: ASH PITS.
23. What a coach's hands-down gesture may mean: SLIDE. 29. Signals: CUES.
27. Trivia quiz site: SPORCLE - Go to this site and enter a category in the search window
32. Flight school hurdle: SOLO.
34. Many a charity tournament: PRO AM - D.J. Points (PRO) and Bill Murray (AM) won this event at Pebble Beach.
32. Flight school hurdle: SOLO.
34. Many a charity tournament: PRO AM - D.J. Points (PRO) and Bill Murray (AM) won this event at Pebble Beach.
36. Over: MORE THAN.
38. Hits the jackpot: WINS BIG - Good luck. You'll need it.
39. Buttercup cousin: ANEMONE.
40. Bubble tea ingredient: TAPIOCA.
41. Legally off base: ON LEAVE - Not AWOL
43. It precedes some puck drops: O CANADA - One of the most lovely anthems in the world. Celine sings it before a puck drop.
43. It precedes some puck drops: O CANADA - One of the most lovely anthems in the world. Celine sings it before a puck drop.
44. Expresses appropriately: PHRASES.
47. Designated: SLATED - The Huskers were SLATED to play Illinois in Dublin, Ireland this fall, but Covid concerns have moved it to Champaign, IL.
49. Some mall hirees: SANTAS.
51. Site for a rite: ALTAR.
53. Corpse Pose, e.g.: ASANA - Sava means corpse and ASANA means pose
53. Corpse Pose, e.g.: ASANA - Sava means corpse and ASANA means pose
57. Many a TikTok teen: EBOY - So, you really want to know...
60. Warm-hearted Seuss character: WHO - Horton heard 'em
46 comments:
FIWrong. First red check revealed rIm < LIP and ONE wAY < ONE DAY. Once those were corrected and surrounding white was filled, I still was left a double natick that I only filled with several WAGs: SAChS + MArA + PhrASES. I'm ashamed of myself for not knowing Nobel laureates better, movie stars not so much. I do protest at PHRASES however. Expresses is an excessively loose correlation with the word, and appropriately not at all, since a phrase may as likely be inappropriate or even irrelevant!
At WATERLOO, Napoleon met his DOOM.
In Rome did great Caesar's fate loom.
That was LONG AGO, in the past
For now, let's HAVE A BLAST!
Enjoy life, and forget about the tomb!
An ANGEL swapped his harp for a SITAR.
He thought it sounded better, by far.
But God did require
Only harps in His choir!
As a SOLO now, the angel rocks guitar!
The rationalists said it made no sense.
How the doofus raised to PROMINENCE.
With TAPIOCA for brains,
BRILLIANCE was not his game,
And charisma clearly wasn't his offense!
MEMORY LANE is not a good place to play.
Not when minds can be molded like CLAY!
Some things we forget,
(But not any regret).
And false memories PASS as real ONE DAY.
{B+, A-, B+, B.}
Good morning!
Wow, I was on C.C.'s wavelength this morning. Finished about four minutes faster than my previous best Saturday. Had to swap my blank SLATE for a STARE, but that was my only Wite-Out moment. Well done, C.C., and thanx for the sterling expo, Husker. (I won't even mention than missing "u.")
ROONEY: I remember her as Lisbeth Salander. I'm more familiar with the work of her sister, Kate.
CHANT: I was thinking of Lamaze training, not a house for One-L Lamas. D'oh. "Time to get your pants on..."
I agree Gary, I love CC xwords , especially on a Saturday when I know it'll be doable but a hellava ride to the FIR
My WATERLOO was nearly in wanting SLATED but not knowing my Seuss. I'd inked IHAd A BLAST. But clearly CC is enamored of our national pastime so naturally she'd borrow a first baseman from the good Doctor- note the cross with "Second Base!"
And of course a little baseball and hockey along with a paean to dear SANTA and my favorite , ON LEAVE which fortunately was not legalese.
That TShirt describes me perfectly*. Speaking of golf, Jordan was red-hot yesterday, eh?
CAMO took PROMINENCE among many brilliant clues(eg "outfit")
Gary that "curtains " clip was adorable.
ROM/tel unraveled the NW. All of a sudden the xword started filling
Four brilliant l'icks today Owen
FIR on a Saturday, life is sweet.
WC
** When I turned 40 I had the completely lucid but utterly insane idea that I could be the Redsox Lefty out of the bullpen
To get WATERLOO out of my ear I played
This 50s classic
WC
And too soon after Richie met his WATERLOO with Buddy and the Big Bopper
DNF, my usual Saturday fate. Completed 47 entries, 44 correctly.
From looking at their state DOH covid dashboards, it appears that Virginia and Florida have the worst behind them. The number of new cases seems to have peaked, and in Florida, new cases are trending lower. Since it is apparent good news, you'll never hear it on TV. (I'm still going to be in line for my booster on October 5th.)
Stay well everyone, and on to Sunday
Good morning.
Fun puzzle, with lots of good misdirection and places where different answers would fit but not work. Thank you, C.C. and Gary.
Again, a one letter FIW. Like Gary, I had StATED insted of SLATED, and never noticed that the clock didn't stop. In fact, it was only when I started reading the review and saw Gary's comment that I went back to the puzzle and saw that it was still running.
Had Americorps before AMERICARES.
ASHBinS before ASHPITS.
Part with teeth. If part was read as a verb, then comb, as in part your hair. If part was read as a noun, then GEAR.
I hAd A BLAST before correcting to WHAT A BLAST.
Tunnel diggers ? With four letters and one must be S ? Bees or ANTS. One neighbor had a heck of a time dealing with the bees that tunneled (bored ?) through the wood siding on the front porch of his house.
POACH or rOACH for "Not take well". "Don't roach that joint, bro !" is hippie speak for share the weed. Something like that. Or maybe not. Maybe it was bogart.
CORNS - Another neighbor brought over some sweet corn and tomatoes yesterday afternoon. So very nice of her. I made the bacon for BLT sandwiches. When it was almost done, DW went to the fridge for the head of iceberg lettuce, but I'd mindlessly picked up a head of cabbage when shopping. D'OH ! So we had BT sandwiches instead. Now I need to either pick up a corned beef for the cabbage, or make coleslaw.
SPORCLE was easy. So many memory games and quizzes. Fun site. On more than one occasion, inanehiker has mentioned that she got an LA Crossword answer because she had recently seen it in a Sporcle quiz.
Never heard of Nobelist Nelly, but the perps were fair. I like when that happens.
FLN, so, Dash T, did you get the inside baseball on inside baseball ? Kinda neat to know how the term originated.
TX MS, thanks for the info about the emu on the lam. And thanks Dash T for the video. When she said, "What is it ?" and then "He's too big to be a turkey" I would have loved to be there to say "Pollo gigante !" I wonder if it was someone's pet or just a feral emu ? "Who do I call ?" she asked. I'd have called the county game warden. Then we might have seen it on an episode of "Lone Star Law"
Sigh, me too. FIW. Wasn't sure about MAeA and SAClS, but PleASES seemed to work. So two wrong squares. But WHAT A BLAST! A challenging but fun puzzle by C.C. on Saturday. Thanks! Big thanks to you as well, Husker Gary. Great job on the review.
Some WOs were Sneer/STOOP and I don't get it/HAVE NO IDEA. I had aLtA/ELtA/ELLA and stirS/POOLS. Lots of daunting white space at first but MEMORY LANE came easily. On to the rest of the day. Hope you all have a super Saturday.
I needed every second of the 17:10 it took me to finish. Never heard of Ina, and had no idea who/what Huascar was. I also stumbled with stated before slated, and ash bins - then ash pans - before ash pits. I'm familiar with Sporcle, but still resisted putting it in.
Nicely done, C.C.
Well hello Gary & C.C. The NW was the last to fall today due to the unknown AMERICARES. PEPS up wouldn't work for AMPS UP after MERINOS was filled. But C.C.'s "Brilliance' showed though today and her PROMINENCE in "Crossword world" rose a bit. It takes some guessing for things of which I really HAVE NO IDEA in order to FIR. SPORCLE, EBOY, SACHS, ELLA, & CHANT were complete unknowns.
Never watched "Buffy" but if she killed vampires she must be an ANGEL.
Any Asian flatbread? Usually NAN or NAAN.
"Corpse Pose"- ASANA. Anything I know about yoga came from this website.
INA Garden- another fill learned from this website. Honestly I didn't see the clue because WINS BIG, ANEMONE, & TAPIOCA were already filled.
Rooney MARA- I've never heard of the film but I just had a WAG because those two families owned NFL teams.
CYNIC- I don't know who Bierce is or was but his definition seems a little off. He confuses facts with opinion. Not everybody agrees on what things "ought to be" but a realist, not a cynic, sees things as they are.
Jinx- I agree with your assessment. I've been taking screenshots of the daily statistics in LA since May of last year. It's mainly those over 70 (like me) and those with underlying conditions who are dying, not the young. And when you see the rapid loss of protection from the vaccines you have to wonder what the future will be. It's obvious that the asymptomatic vaccinated can transmit the Delta variant. I had my 2nd Pfizer jab on Feb. 3rd and will be getting a booster soon.
Hello all! Wow this puzzle was tough for me but I eventually got it. Took more than the usual time. Lots of unknowns. Thanks CC and Gary. Great job. I am a huge fan of Ina Garten just love her and her cooking style. Not so much Martha. My other very favorite cook/chef is Lidia Bastiannich. Met her at a book signing and have been to one of her restaurants in NYC. Just great. Sorry for my tangent. Have a great day everyone.
And Jinx thanks for the Covid update. 8 months after last Moderna shot makes me due for booster in December. I will be signing up for sure.
This plugged along with a few erasures here and there. Like D-O I had blank SLATE before STARE was needed by perps. ASHPITS started out ASHCANS and then ASHPOTS, and HEAD of the line switched to HEIR in response.
Yes, TTP, SPORCLE was a gimme. I like to play their quizzes every day if time permits- I started playing in 2012 when my daughter introduced me to the site when she was in college - their office was near her university in Seattle. She ended up working for them after college for six years! Matt & Derek who started it began it to get better at Jeopardy! It's also a great site for school age kids who are trying to learn the states, capitals, presidents, etc so much more fun to learn it with a quiz than flash cards!
HG - my husband's cousin is sad that she lost the Husker season tickets she had with her husband since the 1960s (even though they haven't been playing well the last few years) her memory has been failing and she forgot to send in the renewal check!
I thought of this song with WATERLOO instead of Gary's link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj_9CiNkkn4
Nice to be back - we were in Wisconsin for a week
Good Morning:
I always enjoy solving CC’s puzzles whether themed or themeless but, I must say, this one wins the Gold Medal hands down. The cluing and the fill were very Silkiesque, IMO, which provided a challenging and rewarding experience. At first pass, I had a sea of white and a hopeless feeling but, ala Silkie, a chip here, a chip there, and, voila, mission accomplished! Nelly Sachs was unknown and Americares took forever to register but P and P paid off. Other bumps in the road were Stated/Slated, Slate/Stare, Steal/Pinch/Poach, Perfume/Emotion, and Ash Bins/Pits. These were all a result of CC’s deviously deceptive cluing. I liked the Altar/Alter(ed), Sit/Sitar duos and CC’s trademark declaratory phrases: Yes, Let’s, What A Blast, and Have No Idea. And the frosting on the cake was having only 8 three letter words. Nice big CSO to CEh at O Canada.
Thanks, CC, for a truly enjoyable and satisfying solve, reminiscent of the much missed Silkie and thanks, HG, for an especially sparkling commentary and visuals. Those Marino’s are so ugly they’re cute! I think we all share your sentiments about CC, thanks for expressing them so elequently.
TTP @ 8:23 ~ Your cabbage/lettuce miscue gave me a good chuckle as it reminded me of my husband bringing home plaintains instead of bananas. It also conjures experiences with checking out at the grocery store when the teenage cashier has to ask you what a particular vegetable or fruit is. 🙃
Have a great day and stay safe and healthy!
A FIR in an embarrassingly long 45 minutes. Like others, it was ASHCANS:ASHBINS:ASHPOTS:ASHPITS. I print out my CWs and fill in ink, so u can imagine the mess of W/Os there. Also had RIM:TIP:LIP, for another mess. DNK SPORKLE, ASANA, EBOY. I kept looking for the theme and reveal, determined to not miss the theme before coming here to the blog, as I usually do. Just my luck to pick a themeless CW to finally remember to suss out the theme! Although I struggled terribly to complete this CW, it was still fun, thanx C.C. Terrific write-up, too, HG. The Bugs Bunny clip is grin-worthy, thanx. You made me curious about O Canada! Now I’ll have to see if I can find an English language version. TTP mentioned picking up a cabbage instead of a head of iceberg. Cabbage amazes me how long it will remain good in the fridge. It can be in there a month; take it out, tear off a few outermost leaves and the rest is still perfectly good! It’s pretty amazing to live in Fort Lauderdale and watch a hurricane hit New York! Yikes! Talk about climate change! Have a good weekend everyone.
Superb Saturday. Thanks for the fun, C.C. and HuskerG.
I started with a sea of white, but P&P and perps gave me a FIR.
My toehold started in the SW, and I move counter-clockwise around the grid with the centre filling last. Steal changed to POACH and ASH Pots to PITS (HEIR was a lightbulb moment) for the Tada.
My model was wearing Olay before CLAY; I’m still not sure I GET that one!?
DH gave me the baseball SLIDE.
It took a while to parse AMOS UP.
Hand up for blank Slate before STARE, until SLATED appeared. Can we have a dupe? No!
This Canadian has never heard of AMERICARES, but I entered AMERICA and finally parsed the RES.
But I will take a CSO with O CANADA. Thank you C.C.! Thanks for the love and link HG. And of course you all know that the tenth word is LOVE. (See my comment from the other day)
Plenty of Saturday misdirection in the clues. Green referred to golf not eco; way back was time not route.
EBOY, Really? Another E word. I’m showing my age here. (But I did like YES LETS and WHAT A BLAST.
I thought of Abba with WATERLOO.
I learned about SPORCLE with a HG link LONG AGO.
Can UNIS be short for Uniforms and Universities? Not an abbreviation I hear here for either.
Off to do my Saturday chores.
Wishing you all a great day.
I see that inanehiker thought of ABBA too.
TTP, “missing U”? Did I miss a non- British/Canadian spelling? 😮
FLN, thanks for the CBC love😁👍
CORNS in the present tense seemed odd to my ear; but it makes sense that that is how you get Corned Beef.
FLN, yes TxMs, that "insurance salesman" was an on-the-loose emu that was spotted in our little town. Dw and I walk three miles through the 'hood every morning, but we haven't spotted him. We often see deer, raccoons, occasional feral hogs, and buzzards, but not emus. There was a woman just outside the city limits who raised Shetland ponies, goats, emus, and ran a wedding chapel, but she moved away a few years ago.
BTW, if you decide to watch the video attached to that emu article, just fast-forward to the 3-minute mark. Otherwise, it looks a lot like Geraldo's Al Capone's Vault fiasco.
inanehiker, one time some years ago I went on a binge at Sporcle and spent hours upon hours taking quizzes in so many categories. It can be addictive, but super fun to play, especially on sub zero days in the dead of winter.
I did however just play a few NFL quizzes, and one that asked for the names of the starting lineup for the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates when they became the first team in MLB History to start an all minority lineup in a game. Huge fan back then, and they won the World Series that year against the favored Bal'more Orioles, so I thought I would do well. Talk about a trip down MEMORY LANE ! Neat that your daughter worked there and contributed to the success of that site !
Irish Miss, LOL on that plantain mistake, too. I'd definitely have to look up a recipe for plantains !
Canadian Eh, no, not me. It was the other Tom that noticed the missing u (in Camouflage).
Lizza, we are also fans of Lidia, and enjoyed watching INA in the past. I've made some of Martha's recipes, but sometimes she has special spices or ingredients that are hard to find or would be likely be single use, or just a lot more expensive than I want to spend since I'm not as accomplished, and doubt my palate would know the difference. Saffron Mayonnaise, anyone ?
Thanks C.C. and Gary. A challenge, as it is supposed to be, but we worked through everything. I should have figured out CORN Ed beef far more quickly than I did as I have been known to make my own (and then turn it into pastrami).
Loved it. I had not heard of bubble tea.
CC you did me in 🤨 ...The mid and northwest was my WATERLOO. I made my Saturday morning cappuccino in the machine right next to the Keurig...walked out to the deck with newspaper, pen, coffee and IMMEDIATELY forgot the name "Keurig" thinking that was the answer (stay calm..just go on with the puzzle, it'll come to you)...what a STOOP🙄...when my brain finally unfroze it was the wrong anyway..wrote glue for model (toy model kit), wrong, but great misdirection. I also like clues that have a clue within the clue like "Tenzing - Hillary"
Keurigs are a great convenience but those mllions of non bio-degradable used KKUPPODS just add to the pollution problem. I put regular coffee in a small reusable K-cup shaped basket in the Keurig that works and tastes just fine....
13 y o granddaughfer had me try bubble tea 2 weeks ago, not my cuppa...DW uses TAPIOCA as a thickener in her amazing apple pies😋....Tamboura?... Nobel prize winners from decades ago seem to be a CW favorite.
I can sing "Oh Canada"🇨🇦 cuz a kollidge Frat brother from PEI (ask Canada Eh) made us pledges learn it and sing it for him everyday.
If a "Corpse Pose" is laying on your back, not moving, I've finally found a Yoga position I can manage. 🤗
I like Ina Garten, because she honestly looks like she truly enjoys food..(I'm looking at you Giada). My problem with cooking shows is that you follow directions precisely including the end part where the cook goes to the oven and pulls out the finished dish. Every time I go to MY oven at that point it's always empty!!!😳
Inca vehicle....HUÁSCAR
Keep taking the test and you'll ______ ONEDAYPASS
Dollars are legal ____ in the US... TANDYR
Make up female MERINO legs....UNIS
Extensive flooding here in the Utica-Rome area. A bud flew up from Florida to help clean up his family's local business. A new phenomenon in the last few years.
Thank you very much C.C. for a subtle, enigmatic, and ultimately humbling puzzle. Not only did I score a DNF, but multiple FIW's scattered throughout the SW. I think I must have twisted my arm patting myself on the back up North, and so couldn't even manage a DOG PADDLE by the time I waded into the depths of the SW. In a word, a MAESTRA-PIECE.
There was so much clever cluing and fill, I don't know where to start, so I'll start with ...
1A Wanted AMERICAN CPT (American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which is very HUMANE, and a RELIEF to the contestants when it's over, but it was one letter too long.
11A Needless to say WALTERS is not my favorite sculptor. I've never seen any of the SNL CLIPS, but I've heard the incessant refrain from them dozens of times.
FTR, my favorite sculptor is a dearly departed NY artist named Nina Salter, whom I had the privilege of studying with at Towson University's ceramics department in Maryland. And she actually DID sculpt (and fire) my HEAD (back in my head days). I still have it, but HAVE NO IDEA what to do with it!
22A This is also Brit slang for UNIVERSITIES.
60A I had WHAT A TREAT, which accurately describes this Burnikelian Opus.
63A I got the answer to this one, but HAD NO CLUE as to the answers in the immediate area.
6D Leave it to AMBROSE BIERCE for this meta-clue, free of charge. Here are some more of his timeless quotes (see especially the first one).
13D Quick, get that lady a belt!
27D A meta-clue for the Corner?
43D And another CSO to CanadianEh!
57A EBOY? What's a TikTok?
Cheers,
Bill
A really challenging C.C. puzzle today. Ended up turning on Red Letters with only about a third of it filled in which is my typical Saturday approach. Gary's tour through the grid helped my understanding a lot today.
That airport in NEPAL is truly dangerous. I've watched the Smithsonian Network show "Air Disasters" where they analyzed one of airplane crashes at this airport. Here is a listing of airplane crashes in Nepal.
TTP: I can see how easy it would be to pick up a head of cabbage instead of a head of lettuce. How many times have men gone shopping and come home with the wrong item? I do all of the grocery shopping and DW does most (but not all) of the cooking. Occasionally I screw up and don't get the right item or forget to get one that was asked for by DW. There is a true story by Jeanne Robertson titled Don't send a man to the grocery store that is hilarious. I can see it happening.
Have a great day everyone.
Woohoo, a Saturday C.C., Woohoo! Of course, Saturdays are toughies for me, so I had to work hard to get even a few just to get started. But the clues were clever, and it was fun, even if it was tough. And, Husker Gary, your pictures were great.
I thought putting UNIS (uniforms) next to CAMO (camouflage) was clever. That welcoming expression made me SMILE. I've never heard the Bierce quotation, but it described a CYNIC pretty well. But my favorite set, of course, was getting SANTAS and ALTAR, with the clues, if not the answers, right on top of one another.
Delightful poems, Owen.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
Nice solid Saturday puzzle. Stumbled over names, sporacle was new to me. Ray-O-Sunshine, you always make me laugh. I needed one today, as I helped my sweet lab, Sugar, cross the rainbow bridge. Until she retired she was one of the hospital therapy dogs. We also visited nursing homes and schools, where she would stretch out on the floor and “listen” to the kids read. She will be missed by many, especially my cats who would cuddle with her, and “wash” her face. We have lots of good memories and pictures that help heal the heart.
Waseeley, usually an unhappy employer will fire the entire employee body, not just the head.
Yuman, sorry to hear about Sugar. Sounds like she was a neat dog.
oc4beach @12:03 PM and TTP, et. al. "Colcannon" is a great dish to make with cabbage. Also has mashed potatoes, leeks, butter, cream, and other myocardial infarct-ants. I made a batch yesterday for dinner tonight. There are lots of recipes online, and I'll post my "super deluxe Colcannon" within a week or so.
Yuman @12:27 PM I'm sorry to hear that Yuman. Labs are such wonderful creatures. We had two (Neptune and Jupiter), each for over 15 years, but they eventually had to leave us. Sad days.
D-O @12:43 PM Nina coveted some black clay I had mixed, and I had enough of it left over from a project to sculpt just my head. I had shoulder length hair at the time and looked a little like JC. But people who knew me better knew that the color of the clay body was closer to the color of my soul.
Yuman, so sorry to hear about Sugar. 😥
Yuman, sorry to hear about your Lab. They are wonderful beings. I have helped a couple cross the same bridge and like to think that they greeted Sugar upon arrival.
Yuman, I'm so sorry about Sugar. Our Mister Ripley crossed the Rainbow Bridge a week ago last Monday. Hurts, I know.
CC! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! It's so obvious that you really care about your solvers when you construct -- whether a wonderful themed puzzle or a seamless sizzler like today's. Thank you so much!
oc4beach, she was hilarious !
Bill, thanks for the Ambrose Bierce links.
Yuman, sorry for your loss.
BigE, the quote is not to be taken literally. This ditty I penned many moons ago may explain Bierce's point
In the land of the blind the one-eyed reign
Or so the sages speak
But in the land of the one-eyed men,
The two eyed man is a freak
WC
How cool to get a PZL from the high priestess of our site! Thank you, C.C., for bestowing this gift!
I am too thrilled to feel bad at the lack of diagonals...
I managed to do the upper storey entirely on my own bat. I probably could have finished it all, but I was impatient to uncover the full cleverness, so I must admit to three cheats in the bottom half.
My favorite? Probably O CANADA. I guessed CanadianEh! would enjoy the shout-out, but I also happen to like the anthem all on its own. It is not militant but lovingly patriotic--and simply a fine melody.
In fact, I rank it as co-equal with my other favorite national anthem--that of the Japanese. These two tunes stir the soul whenever I hear them.
My other fave fill? TAPIOCA. Because I love the taste.
I liked it so much as a child that family and friends called me the "TAPIOCA Kid."
~ OMK
This puzzle stumped me big time. Totally kicked my ass around the block. There is so much I don't know! Terrific puzzle, well constructed, but far above my ability to solve. But hey, I learned a LOT! Many thanks to you, C.C., for enriching my mind and expanding my horizons.
Good wishes to you all.
W.C. ~
The two-eyed guy may be a freak
in the land of one-eyed blokes,
but a freak with the cheek to speak of weeks
of well-studied angles and obliques
undreamt of by mono-sighted folks*.
~ OMK
____________
* Take that, you linear geeks!
oc4beach @12:03 PM Just got around to the Jeanne Robertson clip. ROTFL. DW will love it!
Thank you giving our national anthem some love today Husker. I broke my ankle a couple weeks ago (I had a rescue equal to Picard's video from the other day, God bless those responders) so could not "stand on guard". I did however sing along enthusiastically with Celine, in both our official languages. While I am not her equal by any measure, it was very fun. We do the puzzle later in the day, and all of our thoughts have already been expressed by others so we don't often post. I will say though that we enjoyed this puzzle very much. Thank you CC, and to Husker for blogging it. It is raining here today on the parched Canadian prairie. So thankful.
Jayce @3:22 PM Thanks JC - as Bierce might have said, "Misery loves company". Actually my Mother said that a lot, especially when we were whining about something!
Hi All!
Dang, C.C., you'd think I'd be on your wavelength after our collaborations...
Nope, I had to cheat @1a! //and a few more nudges from HG's grid.
Thanks for a great puzzle that I cheated my way to a DNF at square 53d. Like HG, I had StATED and had NO IDEA Lorde's given name.
Thanks for the expo, HG. I learned what an eBoy is.
WOs: PROMINaNCE, Cures -> CORNS, ASH bins.
ESPs: MERINOS, INA, SACHS, eBoy.
Cheats: Yeah, so SUE ME ;-)
Fav: CLAY's clue. I was 'model on the runway' far too long but 'base' make-up wouldn't fit with AdoptED [which didn't fit with the ANTS I wanted]. The Aha! at 'those models!' made me SMILE.
{B, A, A, A} //said the MERINO ;-)
OMK - I don't get it (it's cute but...) and, alas, another diagonaless day.
Yuman - Sugar (I assume that's him as your avatar) was a beautiful dog. I feel for you 'cuz I know what a best friend Tinker (Choc Lab) is to Pop. Take your time for a new pal, but do get one.
LfromAlberta - sorry about your ankle but do chime in more oft. C, Eh! can't be responsible for all the extra 'U's :-)
TTP - I was 'this close' to inking Corps but I couldn't think of a 9d w/ a P (and 'toe the' was too short ;-)). Hence, I finally took a cheat (there's an AMERICARES(?))
Didn't the term 'inside baseball' originate as what we, today, call 'small-ball?' That is, scrappy hits and steals as opposed to relying on the 'long-ball'. Last night, the 'Stros hit 4 dingers with runners on -- resulting in crooked-numbers through the 1st five frames.
inanehiker - I had ABBA playing in my head at WATERLOO too. Welcome back.
D-O: LOL 'Geraldo's vault' and first 3 minutes of that emu video.
Fellow cooks: The one thing I learned (& still use) from Martha was using 1/4tsp of white-pepper in chocolate-chip cookies. The pepper cuts through the sweet ever so slightly making them super delicious.
Fellow Bierce fans: The Devil's Dictionary. I learned of Bierce reading The Devil's DP [Data Processing] Dictionary.
Bierce made words fun!
Cheers, -T
OMK - Never mind. I missed a post from WC and your first (learn to refresh -T!). Cheers, -T
OMK, my 2I'ed man is not a cynic but more like a Galileo or someone who pointed out 1978 when the Sox had the 10 game lead on the Yankees (who just won their 9th in a row)
-T, OMK is talking about linear thinkers ie black and white with no depth. Anymore and I'm liable to go political or worse; religious
WC
BTW, Boomer or Gary or any golf fans: What happened Jordan Speith today????
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