google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday August 5, 2021 Susan Gelfand

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Aug 5, 2021

Thursday August 5, 2021 Susan Gelfand

 

 Moonlighters

Two weeks ago we had a REVEAL without any explicit THEMERS.  This week constructor Susan Gelfand gives us four punny THEMERS with no need for a REVEAL - just four people trying to make ends meet by holding down two jobs (or maybe even three!):

20A. Alternate job title for a locksmith?: HAIRDRESSER. (or a THERAPIST?  Could be a little sTRESSful).

55A. Alternate job title for a librarian?: LOAN OFFICER.  (or PC TECH SUPPORT? - part of a librarian's job these days).

11D. Alternate job title for a file clerk?: MANICURIST.     (or a HANDY MAN?)

29D. Alternate job title for a chiropractor?: DISC JOCKEY. (or a PRO FRISBEE PLAYER?)

Here's some more work for you ...

Across:

1. Assorted mockery: JABS.  Much in the news these days.  I'm not sure mockery is the inducement needed to convince everyone to get the JAB.  But if fear of death doesn't do, I don't know what will.

5. "I Know This Much Is True" author Wally: LAMBThis dark novel was also made into an HBO mini-series.  LAMB is also the ideal meat for Shepherds Pie.  Here's my recipe.

9. Comfy and cozy: HOMEY.  And occasionally cluttered.  At least this office is.

14. Algerian port: ORANOran, also called Wahrān, French Ouahran, is a city in northwestern Algeria. It lies along an open bay on the Mediterranean Sea coast, about midway between Tangier, Morocco, and Algiers, at the point where Algeria is closest to Spain:

15. Type of rug: AREA
 
16. Dodge: EVADE.  Draft dodging is no longer a big issue, although it was in the 60's.  I was a 1A during the NAM years, but was never called, as I won the Nixon lottery when my BDay was assigned number 326. A brilliant stroke, as dividing the 1As into "will be called", "might be called", and "won't be called" greatly reduced the number of protest marches.

Despite now having an all volunteer army there is still a Selective Service System.   One remaining major issue with it  is whether WOMEN should also be compelled to register.

17. Rural landscape standout: SILO.  Also an image for compartmentalized thinking and/or poorly integrated information systems.

18. Google competitor: BING. Microsoft's current excuse for a web browser.  Or BING cherries - they're in season.  Yummers!

19. Unoriginal: BANAL.  Meh.  Something we take for granted. But perhaps we shouldn't.  Hannah Arendt, a political philosopher and Holocaust survivor coined the phrase "The banality  of evil" after watching the trial of Adolph Eichmann in 1961.  The phrase captures the idea that evil acts are not necessarily perpetrated by evil people. Instead, they can simply be the result of bureaucrats just doing their jobs, dutifully obeying orders.

23. Little rascal: IMP.  My favorite IMP is a rascal named Till Eulenspiegel, immortalized in the eponymous tone poem by Richard Strauss.  Here's just the horn motif that Strauss uses to identify him. 
The whole piece is over 18 minutes long and you can find Kurt Masur's complete performance on YouTube if you want to hear it.  Alas, Till meets an awful fate in the end, but is reborn again in every generation to trick us with his merry pranks.

24. Eucalyptus eater: KOALAKoala bears are not really bears, but rather marsupials, completing the later stages of gestation in their mother's pouch.  Koalas are herbivorous, and while most of their diet consists of eucalyptus leaves, they eat the leaves of other trees as well.  Aren't they cute!
25. Chicago exchange, briefly, with "the": MERC.  They handle futures and options trading.  If you need more than this, ask JazzBumpa for a second opinion.

27. Least civil: RUDEST.  One of the things I like about the Corner is how civil people are to one another.

30. Workshop debris: SAWDUST.

33. "Lone Survivor" actor Hirsch: EMILE.

34. Trattoria choice: ZITI.  The English word for trattoria is trattoria: a small, convivial Italian style café.  And ZITI of course looks like this:
36. Machiavelli's "Dell'__ della guerra": ARTE.   The Art of War.  The perennial game of "Let's you and him fight".

37. "S.W.A.T." home: CBS.  Everything you need to know about "S.W.A.T.".  Now if I could just think of something to deal with those pesky mosquitoes in my garden!.

38. Short-order tool: SPATULA.

41. James' creator: IANHere's a spine tingling article on Fleming which will tell you who the real James Bond was (if you read to the end).  It was posted on the WWII Museum in New OR-lins.  And a CSO to our Big Easy.  Perhaps he'll stop by and tell us how his home town is really pronounced - it seems to be a matter of some dispute.

42. Roman aqueduct section: ARCH.  Aqueducts: how ancient Rome brought water to its people.  Aqueducts were used throughout the Roman Empire, and even in Britain.  The first aqueduct I ever saw spanned a valley in Northern Wales.  Canals, run partly over aqueducts, were also used as a part of England's system for transporting raw materials and finished goods to and from factories.
44. Apple music holder: IPOD.  Clecho to 64A.

45. Rosters: LISTS.  E.g. this blog is a ROSTER of clues and answers.

47. Garb often shortened to three letters: PAJAMASPJS.

49. Uncle Sam feature: GOATEE.  I resemble that remark!

50. Portent: OMEN.   Comets were often considered OMENS.   Halley's will be back in 2061:
51. Chases off: SHOOS.  DW wants me to get a new pair of SHOOS.

53. __ drop: MIC.  I always thought it was a singer taking a deep bow with his floor mic, but apparently not ...

mic drop
noun
 informalUS
an instance of deliberately dropping or tossing aside one's microphone at the end of a performance or speech one considers to have been particularly impressive, e.g.
60. Signed: INKED.  While I sign official documents in INK, I do my crosswords in PENCIL.  As I am HUMAN, I tend to ERR a lot.

62. Cut with a beam: LASE.   An article that sheds some light on laser surgery.  See also 34D.

63. Skirt length: MAXI.  My father used to offer to buy extra material for all of my sisters' MINI-skirts, so they could alter them to MAXIS.  I don't think any of them ever took him up on the offer.

64. Jobs in high-tech: STEVE.  Tech-jobs are all virtual these days, but STEVE JOBS definitely was not.  He was the real deal, and the company he founded continues to have a major impact on society.   For example users are still queuing up at midnight for the next shiny new version of the iPhoneJobs was definitely a genius.  Among his biggest inventions was the Silicon Valley work ethic, i.e. all the time!

65. Layer: TIER.

66. Poet during Augustus' reign: OVIDPublius Ovidius Naso, better known to modern readers as Ovid, most famous for his compilation of Greek myths in his work the Metamorphoses.

67. Played (with): TOYED.  In this clip Leopold Mozart (Wolfie's father) TOYS with a symphony:


The credits on the clip attribute it to Michael Haydn (younger brother of Joseph), but it is now thought to have been composed by Leopold Mozart.

68. Bygone GM line: OLDS.

69. Pet pros: VETS.

Down:

1. Kid: JOSH.

2. Puccini piece: ARIA.  This is Nessun Dorma ("No one sleeps") from Puccini's last opera, Turandot. Turandot is the beautiful "Ice Princess", who refuses to wed unless her suitor can answer 3 riddles. Any who try and fail are beheaded.   A stranger, the Unknown Prince Calaf) appears, accepts the challenge, and succeeds.  She is bereft, but to demonstrate his love Calaf offers her a way out: if she can learn his name before sunrise the next day, she can have him executed.  He sings this aria in the night while Turandot's soldiers scour the city for those who they think might know his name, torturing them in a desperate and ultimately fruitless attempt to discover it.   It Puccini's only full-length opera with a happy ending:

 3. Java neighbor: BALIBALI is an island in the Indonesian Archipelago . As this might not be a good time to visit, here is a taste of Indonesia's distinctive GAMELAN music:
4. Marine explorer's aid: SNORKEL.

5. Maze runner: LAB RAT.   The original standardized breed of LAB RAT, also known as the "Wistar Rat" (trigger warning: contains actual pictures of RATS) was co-developed by a woman named Dr. Helen Dean King (1869 – 1955) ,  as a part of her genetic researches while at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia:
Dr Helen Dean King
6. Flounder's best friend, in Disney: ARIEL.  He seems a little chubby for a flounder ...
7. 98th-percentile group: MENSA.  I suspect that there are more than a few in that group, certified or not, loitering daily on the Corner.

8. Captures: BAGS.

9. __ Bible: HEBREW.  A cornerstone of Western civilization, the Hebrew Bible records the history and the stories of the Jewish people.  The major Western religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all trace their origins to the events described in this book.
10. Egg cells: OVA.

12. Dutch cheese: EDAM.  The cheese with the RED rind.  As opposed to EDOM, the Kingdom founded by ESAU, as described in the HEBREW BIBLE!  And not to make light of it, but this book is also a valuable resource for cruciverbalists.

13. Dining review site: YELP.  Here's the Wikipedia's take, which explores some of the controversy around this site.  It also seems that reviewing YELP itself has become a cottage industry among scholars.  Here's a small sample with a ROSTER of article titles churned up by Google Scholar:  unfortunately they're all behind journal paywalls.

21. Rx specs: DOSES.

22. It's often checked by surfers: EMAIL.

26. Nutritional abbr.: RDA.

27. Sum up: RECAP.  Patience please.  We're almost done this RECAP.

28. Sunspot center: UMBRA.
noun
  1. the fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object, especially the area on the earth or moon experiencing the total phase of an eclipse.
    • Astronomy
      the dark central part of a sunspot.
    • literary
      shadow or darkness
30. Small jewelry item: STUD.  I think this NY shop is unclear on the concept.  Any ladies on the Corner thinking of this guy?
31. Condition: STATE.  It seems like physicists these days find a new STATE of matter at least once a month.

32. Present, e.g.: TENSE.  Just thinking about this topic makes me TENSE.

34. Microwaves: ZAPS

35. Skater Midori: ITO.  I just realized that there are no other sports reference in this puzzle.  We'll make it up with a TRIPLE PLAY:
39. It has hammers and keys: PIANO.  An instrument introduced in the Classical era.  Here pianist György Cziffra plays Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Sonata in B Minor, H.245, showing us what Johann Sebastian's son could do with those hammers and keys:
40. Standoffish: ALOOF.

43. It may be glazed: HAM.

46. 1994 sci-fi memoir: I ASIMOV is Isaac Asimov's third memoir, published posthumously.  The title is a pun on I ROBOT, a 1950 novel derived from an earlier collection of nine science fiction short stories:
48. Combined: MELDED

49. Low-level workers: GOFERS.  The University of Minnesota sports mascot, GOPHER, was used as the name for an eponymous app to fetch ("GO FER") files  from remote servers distributed across a wide-area network.  GOPHER was developed by U of M programmers, and was an early prototype of the Word Wide Web.  Hi C.C. and Boomer!

51. Slowpoke: SNAIL.

52. Washed (down): HOSED.

53. Fine spray: MIST.  Let's see, have I MIST anything?  Oh yes ...

54. "__ the Woods": Sondheim musical: INTOInto the Woods intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from "Little Red Riding Hood", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Rapunzel", and "Cinderella", as well as several others.  Here's the Finale (Pt 1):

56. Part of SATB: ALTO.  This acronym was new to me and stands for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass, the 4 vocal ranges commonly used in small ensembles and choruses.

 57. Yield: CAVE.  No, not one of these:

This is the Lechuguilla Cave in Eddy County, New Mexico.  Sounds like it's got some pretty exotic geology: the picture is a GYPSUM stalactite.  Back east LIMESTONE caves are all we have.  A hand up from any of you Southwestern Cornerites who know of it or who've been there.  Lucina?CMoe?, OwnKl?

58. Theater sign: EXIT.  Almost there.  Walk, don't run!

59. Purges (of): RIDS.

61. "Killing __": BBC America drama: EVE.  A British spy thriller and one that DW and I don't have on our watch list.  It YELPs highly, but the trailer is a bit NOIR, so maybe not.

Here's the grid 

waseeley

Cheers,
Bill


40 comments:

unclefred said...

Started slow, NW stumped me at first. The first word into the grid was OVA, followed by EDAM and YELP, which got me HOMEY, and I was off and running. I had to work my way back to finally fill the NW. I really liked this CW! Clever! And not too many names. Not familiar with SATB, but WAGed LOANOFFICER and got LASE which lit the lightbulb for the SATB meaning. Overall, a very nice Thursday CW, thanx, SG. And thanx too to Bill for his as usual outstanding and entertaining write-up.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Wow, d-o got the theme. This was another quickie -- just a minute or so longer than yesterday. Thanx, Susan and Waseeley. ("I would like to have seen Montana." -- final words of Vasili Borodin in The Hunt For Red October.)

EVADE: I was born a little too early. No draft lottery for d-o. Sentenced me to four years in the Navy.

MELDED: Anybody else think of Canasta?

"Nessum Dorma" -- Bruce Sledge sings it in The Sum of All Fears during the scene when all the conspirators get their comeuppance.

"Lechuguilla Cave" -- Beautiful, but not open to the general public. I've seen documentaries about it. Did visit Carlsbad Caverns, though. That was impressive.

ATLGranny said...

A slow start for me too, but finally worked my way down the NE side. Getting the themers really helped after MANICURIST filled. WOs were shag/AREA, family/HEBREW, and avoid/EVADE as well as spelling changes. Almost didn't catch STEVE and EVE. My big error was caused by not figuring out SATB and not reading carefully "cut" with a beam. I entered AtTO and tASE. Sigh. FIW.

But it was a great puzzle, Susan. Thanks for the challenge. And waseeley, many thanks to you as well for your excellent review.

FLN thanks for checking in, Sean, and telling us more about yourself. Look forward to more puzzles from you. And glad to hear from you, AnonT, during your travels. And lastly, hope you all are doing well wherever you are today.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIW, being careless at AmIA x OmAN.

The only famous Wally I know of is Amos.

My PIANO is a 1926 Kranich & Bach grand, lovingly restored in Atlanta by a 3rd generation piano technician and relacquered by a moonlighting Delta Airlines airplane painter.

Thanks to Susan for the challenging puzzle. Just right level of difficulty for a Thursday, according to a poll conducted by The Jinx Institute of Public Opinion. And thanks to Bill for the detailed review. Erik Larson's "The Splendid and the Vile" also has interesting background information on Ian Fleming and Bond, James Bond.

OwenKL said...

An Australian lycanthrope-KOALA
Wore a bolo tie and swung a bola.
He shared a flat
With a fop in spats,
The vampire known as SPATULA!

The flying saucer was a jalopy,
The alien IMP who drove it sloppy.
But disguised as a toy
It was often a joy
At Frisbee tourneys with its DISC JOCKEY!

{B-, B.}

inanehiker said...

Enjoyed this theme and figuring out the first theme answer made the solve go quickly! D-O - I didn't think of of canasta (since I've never played it) but pinochle with MELDED. It was one of my first do-overs as I had MERGED before the perps changed it. As Splynter would say - it was 2/3 right!

UMBRA and ORAN came out of the brain recesses and turned out to be okay


Thanks Susan and thanks Bill

Wilbur Charles said...

I started slow but KOALA/panda got me the K for SNORKEL and I just noticed the BING choice when I used the Computer room to print something online. I am not used to MS usage.

The B in UMBRA/CBS was my last fill
I agree with the pernicious use of "Work Ethic"

Yes a brilliantly cleverly clued xw. My mind awoke during the solve. Friday's tough too but no hints.

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Great write-up waseeley. The epitome of CC erudiyion. Yes we are a diverse lot with well developed cerebae

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Got it all without help. Had 'rabbit' before LAB RAT. Liked the theme. Puzzle had a fresh "feel" to it. FIR.
CSO tp MIST(y).

Good job, Susan. Enjoyed the RECAP, Waseeley.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Clever and challenging!
-Above ground SILOS dotted my childhood landscape. Underground Minuteman SILOS were built later
-One critic wrote of his biopic Jobs -“The irony is that a man who treasured innovation and sleek, stylish design should be the subject of a film that's so bland and bloated.” I agree!
-E-MAIL – Have you ever hit send and regretted the content or used Reply All accidentally?
-Roy Orbison did a lovely job on Nessun Dorma
-Wilbur, thanks for Erudiyion. I told my granddaughter yesterday that Papa is a vast repository of useless information
-Well done, Bill. I’d love to listen to all that music but I’m off to golf.

Yellowrocks said...

Susan, I loved this play on words. Entertaining. Bill, thanks for the informative blog with its explanations, pics and music. Well done.
BANAL, in general, is often used to mean trite and unoriginal, a gimme for me.
“He made it sound so banal, so bloodless, so common" from "The Girl on the Train."
Banality of evil, has a specific meaning.
My favorite car, as to appearance, was my yellow Olds convertable. A+. So pretty, but its reliability and repair record were D+.
Meld brings to my mind pinochle, too. My mom and four of us six sibs played it often. I have played canasta only a few times.
Alan came home yesterday and is doing well. I finally talked to the social worker on Tuesday and the doctor on Wednesday. I think the problem was not my credentials but poor communication protocol at the hospital. They seemed to see it as rare that a family member wanted info.

unclefred said...

Looking at the picture of a Roman aqueduct Waseeley put into his terrific write-up really makes me appreciate the greatness of the Roman Empire. Imagine building that massive, three-tiered structure with no steel and NO POWERED EQUIPMENT. Truly amazing. And to think it is still standing! Today we build things WITH steel and WITH powered equipment and it often deteriorates so quickly it is demolished in fifty years or less.

Sherry said...

I am a N.O. native of 59yrs, till Katrina. New Awlins is the correct pronuciation.

desper-otto said...

Sherry, I thought it was simply N'awlins.

unclefred, I've read that one reason for the long life of Roman construction was the use of volcanic ash in the concrete mix. It filled voids that otherwise would allow water entry, resulting in premature failure.

Alice said...

I enjoyed the puzzle. It always takes me a minute or two to remember that Jobs is a last name. For a moment I wondered why STEVE fit 64-across.

31-down: ShApE before STATE, and then ARhE just didn’t ‘look’ right, even though I didn’t know Machiavelli’s quote.

Thank you Susan Gelfand for a gentle, fun puzzle. Thanks also to Waseeley for your explanations.

Have a good day everyone.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I loved this puzzle for its very clever, fun, well-executed theme, for its fresh, lively fill, for its devious and challenging cluing, and, last but not least, for its paucity of three letter words, to wit, only six. All of the themers were strong and clued brilliantly, IMO. I think my only w/os were Panda/Koala (Got eucalyptus and bamboo shoots mixed up) and Aden/Oran (geographically challenged). Liked the Arte/Arch, Oran/Omen, and Steve/iPod duos. CSO to our missing CED at Imp.

Thanks, Susan, this was a great puzzle and thanks, Bill, for the fact-filled and entertaining commentary. The koala is indeed cute and the Bocelli rendition of Nessus Dorma was quite beautiful but, IMO, Luciano Pavarotti owns that aria. My first introduction to it was as the hauntingly beautiful background music of the devastating horrors of the movie, The Killing Fields.

YR, good news about Alan. 😉

I was expecting two packages yesterday from Amazon and when I checked the tracking numbers was informed that they were both delivered by USPS at 11:10 am and were left at or near my front door. The only thing at or near my front door was my Welcome mat so I spent the next 3 + hours trying to reach the Post Office and Amazon, without success. My patience finally ran out so I called Chase Visa and filed a dispute of the charges. I have no idea if they were stolen or what happened. I left the house at 11:00 and was back at 12:00 and my development is off the beaten path, so theft doesn’t seem likely, but I don’t have any other explanation. I also left a note asking the mail carrier if he had any knowledge of the delivery.

FLN

oc4beach, I’m glad the drops are helping. Best of luck for continued success.

Sean, thanks for dropping by. Will look forward to your future bylines.

Anon T, Pop has quite the green thumb. Beautiful bloom!

Have a great day.

Bob Lee said...

Really creative long answers today. Great job!

I also had RABBIT for the maze runner at first. And I did not know what SATB stood for but got it from the crosses.

Thanks for the explanation of IAN for James' creator. All I could think of was James and the Giant Peach.

My 10-year old IPOD Touch is still going strong. I listen to podcasts while exercising.

Oh yes Killing Eve is definitely noir. Interestingly, when I first watched it while my wife was sleeping, she woke up and liked it! I never would have guessed. Maybe because it starred Sandra Oh (whom she liked from Grey's Anatomy, which I can't believe is still on!)

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

FLN...Vidwan

I also spent 6 years in Rochester: '78 - '84...training at Hignland H. then RGH. All 3 kids born at Genesee H.

My problem with Indian restaurants is their insistence that I have bread with the meal

A typical scenario...

Waiter: "Sir would you like bread with your meal?"

Me: " I'll have none, thank you."

And they bring it anyway!!! 😳

Jinx in Norfolk said...

IM - You have 60 days to dispute charges on credit cards, so you might want to hold off on pulling that trigger next time. I've noticed that "delivered" in the USPS world doesn't really mean it. When Amazon, UPS or FexEx delivery people say it has been delivered, it really has been. You might get the packages today or tomorrow.

Ray, On the rare occasion when DW and I get burgers and fries, I used to tell the server to only bring one order of fries. Sometimes they would tell me that it wasn't any cheaper that way, and couldn't understand me when I would say that I just didn't want to waste food. I usually got two orders anyway, or no fries at all. Same with Mexican combos. I would tell them "no rice" and would get either rice and no beans, or double beans instead of rice. I have since given up.

Misty said...

Fun Thursday puzzle, Susan, a real pleasure. I got most of the right or East section of the puzzle and was well on the way when I started needing a little help. And your pictures this morning were also a treat, Bill--thank you for those too.

My favorite clue was the three-letter hint for PAJAMAS. Can't believe I didn't figure out that JOBS was a last name and not a reference to professions. Got ZITI but don't believe I've ever had the pleasure of eating it (well, I probably did, but just didn't know I could call it that). Anyway, lots of fun and a good start to the day.

Spitboov, many thanks for your kind comment.

And what a frustrating delivery experience, Irish Miss. So sorry that you have this hassle to deal with, and hope you get some sort of resolution.

Have a great end of the week, everybody.

Yellowrocks said...

Here USPS,Fedex and UPS all check in some packages as delivered before they actually are. It boosts the driver's on time record. The packages often are delivered a day or two later. It drives me mad.

waseeley said...

IM @10:10 AM Thank you for the kind words Agnes. Pavarotti was indeed my first choice for Nessun Dorma. The only reason I went with the Bocelli instead was that it had an inline translation, which I thought would be helpful to people new to the aria. But then are there any people who are new to this aria? 😊

unclefred said...

D-O @9:34 Yep, I read that too. NatGeo maybe? Smithsonian? Can’t recall. It is not just the longevity of the aqueduct but it’s initial construction: imagine lifting all those huge blocks (granite?) into place with no powered equipment, using muscle power of man and beast, plus block and tackle. How did they build those huge arches? How did they get them to stand before putting the keystone in place? Hmmm. Sounds like an interesting project for unclefred to research. In the meantime, our use steel allows use to build high, and our use of rebar in concrete makes the concrete stronger….unless water gets to the rebar, and it rusts and expands (corrosion-explosion) busting the concrete. Living in South Florida it is even worse due to the salt in the air. Thus the condo collapse in Miami Beach.

Irish Miss said...

Jinx @ 11:50 ~ You are absolutely right. Two packages arrived today, no explanation, just left at the front door with no notification. This is the first time this has ever happened, but I’ll be less hasty to react in the future. Part of the confusion is certainly the PO’s fault, but Amazon’s shipping info was incorrect as well. They indicated 2 separate packages containing 3 items whereas there were 3 separate packages, the third still in transit via FedEx. I only know about the 3rd package from a FedEx email, not from any info from Amazon. I have been doing business with Amazon for years and this is the first problem I have ever had, but it was a mighty aggravating one!

Bill @ 12:18 ~ Your Bocelli choice was a fine one and the translation was appreciated. 🤗

Spitzboov said...

UncleFred @ 1243 - I think they used falsework to hold the arches up until they could properly insert the keystones.

AnonymousPVX said...


This Thursday grid was a beauty.

Write-overs…NABS/BAGS, ADEN/ORAN, PIN/MIC, GIVE/GAVE/CAVE.

I also read/saw the thing with volcanic ash being used in Roman concrete…makes you wonder why no one still does that.

I prefer LG TVs as they actually make the OLED screens.

MELD = Pinochle for me as well.

See you tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Whew! Started this early this morning but needed to get out for a walk with Maggie by 8:30 before the heat/humidity started rising, cleaning lady coming any time after 9 am so some picking up needed to be done so my mind wasn't completely on the puzzle. The north was snowy until I came back to it later. Thank you, Susan, for the work-out and thank you, Bill, for the info and links.

CSO to Java Mama at 3D, Java neighbor. I know her but I have no idea who her neighbors are!

Hand up for being misled at James' creator, Jobs in high-tech. Only w/o was 57D CedE/CAVE.

YR, glad to hear that Alan is home. Hope you get the info that you need.

A grammar lesson for the grammar nerds here. A ___ walks into a bar...

Have a wonderful day!

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

When I go to an international restaurant just the opposite happens

Waiter: "Sir would you like try one of our international breads?"

Me: I'll have Naan.

and they bring NO BREAD.��

I like to order a Mexican dinner and ask them to fry the beans only once but DW hollers at me.��

Ol' Man Keith said...

A toughie, but doable. FIR. The kind of PZL we appreciate s each theme fill comes into view.
I found myself humming "BALI Hai" as I worked my way through it.
~ OMK
_____________
DR:
Just one diagonal, on the near end.
I think its anagram (13 of 15 letter) is an appropriate designation for an attorney working on behalf of homeless ducks.
Well, we know how controversial an encampment of homeless humans can be. Just imagine how needy a band of wandering mallards must feel!
Surely, they deserve legal aid from some animal-rights org.--such as a designated...

"SORD (look it up!) LITIGATOR"!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Ray, unless (s)he is very good, I'll bet you also request the PIANO player play "After I'm Gone." Another sharp elbow from DW.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle a lot. I also like Alice's adjective for it: gentle. Super satisfaction in solving it. Thank you, Susan Gelfand. And waseeley, many thanks to you as well for your excellent write-up.

A very minor point: Bing isn't a web browser; it is a search engine. Microsoft's web browser is called Edge.

Take care, all.

Wilbur Charles said...

A pair of most excellent l'icks from Owen this morning

Watching ���� vs Australia. Key for US was Adubayo. My Celtic guy Tatum had a horrible game but Booker was MVP. Booker was in NBA finals when pre-olympic losses occurred.

I can't take credit for "Erudion" that was Google. I meant erudition.

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Hmm. "Watching 🇺🇸 vs Australia

Edward Duarte said...

Diversity
30 D
Some guys here too.

Edward Duarte said...

Civil Engineer here.
It IS done today.

Pozzolan is a common additive to concrete to make it stronger.

waseeley said...

Jayce @3:15 PM I sit corrected Jayce. BING is what passes for Microsoft's search engine. :-)

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Susan and waseeley. (and for all the music).
It took me a while to get a toe-hold (I need a Pedicurist😁), but eventually I FIRed and got the theme occupations.

I wanted Jest before JOSH, nabs before BAGS.
BVDS was too long, PJS fit.
I was misdirected with Present (not a gift, not an attendance answer, but a TENSE; lightbulb moment when I realized Jobs was a name (STEVE crossing EVE).
My skirt length went for Mini to MIDI to MAXI. I had a lovely black and white plaid wool MAXI coat back in the early 70s which I wore with a long red knit scarf. I thought I was très chic.
I dislike BING; Google is my default search engine.

YR- glad Alan is home, and that you could get some answers.
FLN AnonT- lovely cactus bloom for Pops.

Wishing you all a good evening.

Vidwan827 said...


RayOSunshine .... a continuum of posts, from From Last Night, and today.

I was in Rochester from 1972 thru first half of 1977 ... I studied at U of R., and worked part time - patient records at Strong Memorial Hosp ( not a doc ) and lived across the street of Mt. Hope Ave. Then in Accounting and finance at the hosp. then at Xerox. I think I lived in a burb of Henrietta, then Greece, then Egypt, then Pittsford, then finally Fairport.

While I hated the dumping of snow in Rochester, I was told the snow was much worse in Buffalo, ..... and the absolute worse terrible snowfall was in Cleveland OH down by the lake.... which is where I have lived now for 44 years....

I dont eat at indian restaurants, if I can help it. Chinese maybe. I dont particularly like naan, but prefer ( frozen ) fresh roasted Parathas, made in Bangladesh... ;-x)

Good night.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Cute puzzle, Susan. I enjoyed the puns.

Thanks for the expo (SATB?) waseeley and kicking-off the afterparty. Thanks for the S.W.A.T. link - I didn't know there was a '17 reboot of the '75 TV show I watched in my ute.

WO: Grunts -> GOFERS
ESPs: ORAN, LAMB, ALTO as clued
Fav: I'll go with ZITI, baked.

{B, B+}

Glad to hear Alan is better, YR.

Pat - thanks for the 'walks into a bar' jokes...
A man walks into a bar and yells "ouch!"

Jayce - re: BING. Google is a search engine too. //maybe you're thinking Google's Chrome?

Ray-O: I'll have your none / naan. :-)

IM - The cactus is just one manifestation of Pop's thumb's greenness: Tomatoes harvested yesterday for sauce today.

Cheers, -T

Terry said...

Ha, none--nan.