Hey there Cornerites! It is I, Chairman Moe, back as promised! It's September and I and my better half Margaret are back from a long and deserved vacation. 5,678 miles covered, all by car; 21 states visited; quality time spent with both family and friends after missing this in 2020 . . . I could go on, but I have a crossword puzzle to blog! And don't think that I wasn't a NERVOUS WRECK wondering if I still have the ability to parse puzzles after taking such a lengthy hiatus! So how fitting that I got this appropriately clever theme to solve, courtesy of our constructor du jour, August Miller. August now has four LA Times puzzles to their credit, two of which appeared on a Friday. Let's see how they caused my anxiety:
20-Across. 2013 Mark Wahlberg war film: LONE SURVIVOR. As you'll see when the grid is printed, the word "NERVOUS" is scrambled - or "wrecked" - within the contents of the answer. Lone Survivor was a biographical war film based on the eponymous 2007 nonfiction book by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. Set during the war in Afghanistan, it dramatizes the unsuccessful United States Navy SEALs counter-insurgent mission Operation Red Wings, during which a four-man SEAL reconnaissance and surveillance team was given the task of tracking down the Taliban leader Ahmad Shah. The film was written and directed by Peter Berg and stars Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, and Eric Bana. See the trailer below:
28-Across. Warning on some serving containers: NOT FOR OVEN USE. Many pre-packaged food containers are solely meant for use in a Microwave and not a conventional oven, and vice versa. But then again, many packages come with labeling that imply they're impervious to ANYTHING!!:
42. 1960 Melina Mercouri rom-com: NEVER ON SUNDAY. According to Wikipedia, the plot of this movie was that Ilya, a self-employed, free-spirited prostitute (played by Melina Mercouri) who lives in the port of Piraeus in Greece, meets Homer, an American tourist and classical scholar who is enamored of all things Greek. Homer feels Ilya's lifestyle typifies the degradation of Greek classical culture, and attempts to steer her onto the path of morality, while, at the same time, Ilya attempts to loosen Homer up. I kind of recall this, but I was only 7 years old at the time ... I do remember the Academy Award winning song, though; do you? Listen:
The grid:
Across:
1. Wind instrument's flared end: BELL. See below:
5. Asian noodle: UDON, and 19. Evening course for many college students: RAMEN. Not exactly a clecho, but close
9. "As if!": PSHAW. DRATS fit, too . . .
14. Smoothie ingredient: ACAI. ACAI is now officially "crosswordese"
15. Endangered Pacific bird: NENE. The State Bird of Hawai'i
16. Big name in games: ATARI. Another "crossword" staple
17. You might take a day trip on one: WHIM. After a month on the road, Margaret and I have NOT had a WHIM to take a day trip; although, the triple-digit temp's here in our part of AZ have made us itchy to find cooler weather. We can drive about 2 hours north and find respite
18. Suffragist Carrie Chapman __: CATT. All perps. I was not familiar with this suffragist
23. Comb: SIFT. Very useful when emptying the litter box
24. NBA player since 2013: PELICAN. Their history as a franchise
30. Previously owned: HAD. A lengthy clue for a 3-letter word
31. Great Plains tribe: OTOE. More crosswordese
32. Homeland Security org.: TSA. Transportation Security Administration; formed in November 2001 about 2 months after 9/11
33. Passed unremarkably: GOT A "C". I'm pretty sure that I had a few of these during my college years (1970-1974), and my 2.0+ GPA enabled me to keep my 2-S status during the Vietnam War
35. Info on rap sheets: M.O.'S. Short for "mo·dus op·e·ran·di", or the way a criminal "operates", in this case
36. Not hiding much: SHEER. "Oh, Moe! Please don't show us anything too revealing!!" OK
38. Prefix with -logue: EPI. Did anyone else pencil in "DIA" first? I did
39. Minimal, with "of": A BIT. As in a direction to a barber, perhaps . . . "Just A BIT off the top and sides, please"
41. Proposal amt.: EST. Short for "estimate"
47. Long Island university: ADELPHI. HOFSTRA also fit but proved incorrect
48. Coat for Santa?: SOOT. Cute clue! A quote from "A Visit from Saint Nicholas": "He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and SOOT"
54. Bishop in "Alien" films, for short: DROID. Lance Henriksen
57. Pokémon species whose final form is Alakazam: ABRA. Or, the beginning of a magician's chant: ABRA cadabra
58. "Fancy seeing you here!": OH HI. Maybe what some of you said when you saw C-Moe doing the recap today?
59. "TODAY with Hoda & __": JENNA. Twin daughter of George and Laura Bush
60. Winter air?: NOEL. "Air" as in song
61. Slinky, e.g.: COIL. Having a set of stairs made this toy so much more fun to play with
62. With "over," request for room: SCOOT.
63. Spanish muralist: SERT. This guy from Barcelona:
64. Skater Michelle: KWAN. This gal:
Down:
1. Cry out loud: BAWL.
2. Call back?: ECHO.
3. Stretched out: LAIN. "LAID" fit, but then again, it doesn't for this clue!
4. Citrus soft drink: LIME SODA. Not my favorite clue and answer; not sure that I ever drank a LIME SODA. LEMON-LIME SODA, yes. It's called; "7-Up"
5. Free from shackles: UNCUFF. I tried UNLOCK at first . . .
6. Treasured by: DEAR TO. August Miller used several two-word answers in the fill of this puzzle
7. Airing: ON TV. See the recap of 6-Down
8. Sinus-clearing aids: NETI POTS. According to the Mayo Clinic, A NETI POT is a container designed to rinse debris or mucus from your nasal cavity. You might use a neti pot to treat symptoms of nasal allergies, sinus problems or colds. If you choose to make your own saltwater solution, it's important to use bottled water that has been distilled or sterilized. Delightful!
9. Some former inmates: PAROLEES. I just recently saw that Sirhan Sirhan was granted PAROLE for his assassination of Robert Kennedy . . . or is that comment too political?
10. Lead the cast of: STAR IN. See the recap of 6-Down
11. Omelet choice: HAM. My "go to" omelet choice is mushroom, spinach, and black beans
12. "__ you serious?": ARE. See 11-Down. Yes!
13. Succeed: WIN. Do you think it's a WIN when you solve a Friday puzzzle with no cheats?
21. Command before "Stay," maybe: SIT.
22. Video hosting service with a big YouTube presence: VEVO. In case you wondered, VEVO connects artists with their audience globally via music videos and original content, working directly with them to find unique ways to bring their music to life. Vevo also works with emerging artists, providing them with a platform of global scale and reach, to find and grow their audience
25. Too adorable: CUTESY. My grandson fits this clue, as I'm sure yours does, too!
26. It's a plus: ASSET. A "minus" is called a DEBIT
27. Approaching: NEAR. We are NEARing the end of the blog
28. __ lands: NATIVE. We saw many NATIVE land areas on our trip; sadly, many have added casinos and hotels to their lands, but they do provide both revenue and employment
29. Turnips, say: ROOTS. As in "ROOT" vegetables
30. Was optimistic: HOPED. I HOPED I would be done by now!
33. Actress Rowlands: GENA. The "1968" version
34. Complained about: CARPED AT.
35. Common sights at kids' soccer games: MINIVANS. LOUD MOMS fit, too!!
37. Pet lizard's basking spot: HEAT ROCK. Huh?! This one stumped C Moe I'm afraid. I tried HEAT RACK at first, but neither one seemed "correct". Did anyone else have a problem with this?
40. Nobelist Niels: BOHR. Atomic structure and nuclear physics is BOHRing . . .
43. Weather-affecting current: EL NIñO. EL NIñO weather currents spawn hurricanes, methinks
44. Kind of shark: USURER. Mako? Great White? Nurse? Hammerhead? Oh! THAT kind of "shark"! As in a "loan shark" who charges exorbitant interest rates
45. Margarita order: NO SALT. Ordering a Margarita with NO SALT would be like Tinbeni ordering a Scotch "on the rocks"!
46. Notable index, with "the": DOW. The DOW Jones Industrial Average is the barometer for the "health" of investments. It has set many new "highs" over the past decade
50. It's found among the reeds: OBOE. Cute clue! An OBOE is a double-reed instrument, and is the one that sets the pitch for the orchestra. Playing an "A"
51. Site for DIYers: eHOW. eHow is an online how-to guide with many articles and 170,000 videos offering step-by-step instructions. eHow articles and videos are created by freelancers and cover a wide variety of topics organized into a hierarchy of categories. Wikipedia
52. Trendy smoothie seed: CHIA. And I just thought they were pets!
53. Pottery basic: KILN. CLAY was my first answer, but a KILN is used to "fire" the CLAY and make it a pot
54. Supplies the tunes, briefly: D.J.'S. Short for Disc Jockey'S
55. "Parks and __": REC. Parks and RECreation is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur
56. Artist Yoko: ONO. And we end with another Crossword staple proper name
Well, this was fun! And I wasn't as much a NERVOUS WRECK as I thought! Thanks again to desper-otto for filling in for me while on vacation! Please add your comments below!
DNF. Naticks at NE_I_OTS, CAT_, _ELICAN, EHO_, K_AN. Pelican?! NETI POTS?
ReplyDeleteThe theme also escaped me. 7 letters! I think that's the longest jumble I've ever seen! I got the reveal before I'd really looked for the theme, but that many letters I don't think I would have caught it.
I had a plethora of type-overs. For example I first had ALOE at 14a, and ACAI at 52d, but then perps forced me to move ACAI to 14a to make way for CHIA at 52d. LEMONADE < LIME SODA. PRO < EPI-logue. A.K.A. < M.O.'S. Etc. ad absurdum.
She was known as NERVOUS Nelly, and it fit her, I reck'.
She was scared of everything, she was a nervous wretch.
Once a talking PELICAN
Convinced her to stay on land.
He told her ocean waves were quivers of a nervous WRECK!
Kitty was a CUTESY, a long-haired Persian cat.
She was DEAR TO CHIA, and would SIT upon her lap.
Chia would say PSHAW
To Kitty having any flaw,
Despite white hairs carefully arranged thu-out her flat!
GENA and JENNA lived in Genoa
Pledged to be friends forever mor-a.
Lest they GOT A C,
They GOT A.C.
To keep them cool till exams were ov-a
{B+, B, B-.}
Like OwenKL, DNF. After a long struggle finally gave up. Too many things I DNK, together with a couple of bad WAGs, and my ship was sunk. Ya got me, AM. Nice write-up, CM, thanx. Glad your vacay went well.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, C-Moe. Was there some special reason you chose "their" and "they" in your first paragraph? Gender uncertainty? Unfamiliar with VEVO or NETIPOTS, so d-o couldn't perp things in the Dakotas and went down in flames. Also failed to read the full reveal clue, and missed the theme, but that's par for the course. I'll take a CSO at D.J.s from a former life. Couldn't sleep this morning, and got up extra early. I'm pretty sure that's the cause of my DNF. What else could it be? Thanx, August and C-Moe.
COIL: Slinky reminds me of The Abyss The crane was yanked off the ship on the surface, and came crashing down onto the rig below. Surprisingly, no harm was done...until it "slinkied" over the cliff and began yanking the rig behind it.
Odd Friday. I FIR, while the smart kids above didn't. Erased snow for SOOT, hiya for OH HI, levo for VEVO, etsy for EHOW, aka for MOS, acai for CHIA, cutest for CUTSY, vase for KILN, and erased, then "steted" NO SALT and COIL. Realized the gimmick was anagrams and stopped looking.
ReplyDeleteI'm a DIY kind of guy, but I rely on YouTube for most of my direction.
I've only heard of NETIPOTS because the disgusting TV commercial for the powered nose rinser-outer says its better than those devices.
I remember the NEVER ON SUNDAY song but not the movie.
Thanks to August for the Friday puzzle that was fun, even though it is actually September. My favorite was the clue for RAMEN. And thanks to C-Moe for the fun tour. Welcome back.
FIR but never got the theme
ReplyDeleteThis was crunchy but slowly doable - though I FIR, I had to come here to have the theme explained.
ReplyDeleteLike Jinx, I remember the song from NEVER ON SUNDAY - but after reading the plot I was way too young to be watching a movie with that plot. I remember my grandma taking us kids to see "What's new pussycat?" thinking it was a kid's movie. I was only about 5 - but all I remember was some adults talking in the film and 5-10 minutes into it my grandma was yanking us out of there!
I had heard of WikiHOW so it wasn't a big jump to get to E HOW.
VEVO produces most of the content when musicians have an original music video on You Tube.
Thanks CM and welcome back! Thanks August in September
Hi Y'all! Tough one, thanks, August. (Should have had this a few days ago in your name-sake time.) Welcome home, Moe. Good expo.
ReplyDeleteI have a NETI POT. Contrary to the picture, the water does not squirt from the eyes. It flushes the nostrils & does help a lot when I can bring myself to use it. Hard to get refills for it tho.
Last to fill was the NE corner. PSHAW? Not from that clue. Red-letters to the rescue for every single word in that area.
DNK: UDON (I know we've had it.), CATT, VEVO, DROID, ABRA, SERT. Could not come up with OVEN. Never remember that on a package.
Did know PELICAN & have watched them play. However, when the owners changed the name it seemed like a really bad mascot to me. Or could it hold a basketball in that beak pouch?
In my last teenaged year, I remember seeing NEVER ON SUNDAY and thinking it was very naughty. Embarrassed to be watching it in the company of others.
Hand up for not liking HEAT ROCK. Hot ROCK sounds better but...
I eked this one out in just under 12 minutes. It was a good puzzle, but I've grown tired of the "word hidden within other words" or "word broken up by other words" gimmicks.
ReplyDeleteOriginally, I had confidently entered "heat lamp."
Not only haven't I seen "Never On Sunday," I don't recall hearing of it. Catt and Sert were also unknown.
DNK VEVO, ABRA. Daughter has a NETI POT but DNK spelling. Tried flAT ROCK. Didn't suss MOS until seeing the writeup, could translate to Method of Operation.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteI can’t remember solving a puzzle with a jumble theme word so spread out as it is in this one but that fact added to the Aha surprise reveal. I’m glad there were no circles to lessen the challenge. My only unknown was Abra and only w/o was Miro/Sert. The tricky cluing added to the difficulty level but nothing was unfair, IMO. Lots of fun duos, too: Nene/Nino, Açaí/Chai, Dow/How, Udon/Ramen, Echo/EHow, Rec/Wreck, and the hat trick of Otoe/Oboe/Ono. CSO to Bill at Kiln.
Thanks, August, for a fun solve and thanks, Moe, for the great summary, links and visuals. Welcome back and glad you had a nice vacation. Your grandson is a cutie, for sure.
Have a great day.
Oh Hi, Ch. Moe. Welcome back. Great write-up for what, for me, was a tough puzzle. There were several things I did not quickly grasp (and a few that I had never heard of) but, eventually, (15 minutes) everything became visible through the fog.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason 24 Across reminded me of this:
A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican,
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week
But I'm damned if I see how the helican!
I wanted heat "lamp."
ReplyDeleteBut I never had a pet lizard
learning moment...
Musings
ReplyDelete-A worthy Friday challenge! Rearranging all the letters in NERVOUS is amazing.
-A colleague said she hardly ever cooked and so she stored her Tupperware in her tiny apartment’s oven. One day she decided on a WHIM to bake cookies and fired up the oven…
-I knew of MOTT but not CATT. Time to use the north end of my Paper Mate Sharpwriter #2.
-The only place I saw EPILOG(ue) ON TV
-CARPED AT? Try being a coach for kids whose parents drive MINIVANS to the game.
-Computer DIY sites have saved me many times
-Cute grandson looks ready for corn on the cob, Moe!
Hi all. So, on a WHIM, Margaret and I are taking a day trip to Prescott. Will check in later …
ReplyDeleteDO: yes! I didn’t know whether the constructor was a guy or a gal. No info on them on the ‘net
A Friday inky mess. Multiple inkovers and so many alphabet runs I can say it backwards. FIR but had no idea there was a theme. Figured the "citrus soft drink" would be an ADE and filled that, not realizing that a "soft drink" is usually carbonated. Once that was corrected GOTAC made no sense, oh! GOT A C. 😂
ReplyDeleteNone of us of a certain age would likely not know the Greek rom com nor its famous theme. but the Wahlberg flick was mostly perped. If you are part of the generation that uses "As if" you probably would never say "PSHAW" but I get the connection. GENA Rowlands (2004 version) was in one of the most Rom-Communist films I've ever eye-rolled/gagged over 🙄 "The Notebook" (Hey, I'm entitled to my opinion). SOOT, there is no Santa, he succumbed to "coal minors lung" 😆
Like others I erroneously entered HEATlamp. While writing this our 40+ year old tortoise Tootsie 🐢 is warming herself on her HEATROCK in her terrarium. Don't mean to offend anyone who uses them but NETIPOTS seem kinda disgusting, 😳 (sorry PK); was looking for an antihistamine type answer, maybe even something like horseradish!! The RAMEN and "winter air" clues were cool.
Had ACAI in the NW, thought it was the "trendy smoothie seed" as well in the SE...Do the eponymous pets grow from a covering of CHIA seeds? The definition of "infinite" is the number of clues for OBOE. Also CUTest/CUTESY, Shove/SCOOT.
George Bernard ____ PSAW
Always bragging about his Nobel Prize, Niels was a _____ at cocktail parties....BOHR
When repeated, equine denial...NENE
Welcome back C.Moe from your odyssey 🚌. Sounds like a fun time.
Frantic Friday. Thanks for the fun, August and CMoe (welcome back).
ReplyDeleteI had great difficulty with this CW at the start. Moving to the Down clues helped, but I almost decided to throw in the towel. Coming back with more P&P worked, but hand up for several inkblots. A couple of Google searches clarified Cott to CATT, ACAI to CHIA (I knew we could not have ACAI twice!).
I wanted the theme reveal to be NERVOUS NELLY, then Nancy (not PC😮?), but finally the W on DOW gave me WRECK. I did find all the NERVOUS letters in the themers. Clever.
Hand up for wanting some kind of LIME_Ade before SODA perped.
I wanted Scooch before SCOOT.
I merrily entered a final -ed given the tense of the clue for 33A. Parsing GOT A changed that!
How many hands are up for changing Laid to LAIN?
I smiled at the MINIVANS at the soccer games. I was one of those Moms!
We missed you CED.
Wishing you all a great day.
Thank you for an August for an august puzzle, one on which I unfortunately GOT AN F, as in DNF. Just too many DNK's. It's good to have you back CMOE. I'm glad that you and Margaret enjoyed your vacation and I'm glad to see that you still have your WITS about you. A fine review.
ReplyDeleteAnd rather than bore everyone with any more DIDN'TS, I'm going to go can tomatoes!
Cheers,
Bill
Ray -O @11:51 AM Ray -O, you disappoint. Wondering all morning as to what you'd do with ABRA, I'm a NERVOUS WRECK with the SUSPENSE. 🤹♀️
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWell this Friday grid had a super-Saturday level of clueing.
Got the solve, but many
Write-overs…LAST/LOST/LONE, NOWAY/PSHAW, CUTEST/CUTESY, ETSY/ENOW, ACAI/CHIA.
So if this is our Friday puzzle, what does Saturday hold in store?
Stayed tuned, see you tomorrow.
AnonymousPVX @1:09 PM I DNF, and I'm a NERVOUS WRECK about tomorrow. 🙃
Delete'Comb' and 'Sift'. Mixed metaphors much?
ReplyDeleteI’ve tried 4 times to thank you all for your kind good wishes over our Ida m but my posts never go thru. Don’t remember what I wanted to say except Thank You!!!
ReplyDeleteSwampCat
Maybe try again to describe this mess. Part of the roof that blew off our building came through my window. The whole building flooded and we were evacuated to a church to spend the night. I finally made it to the Gulf Coast where I am safe if not sound!
ReplyDeleteOur power and water are off and we can’t go back in the building. The excitement is over but misery is just beginning.
I’m thinking about all of you at the end of Idas path. We always think Hurricanes die after they hit land. Ha! This one didn’t ! Hope all in its path are ok . Stay safe!
SwampCat
SwampCat @1:52 So glad you are well and sorry for all the difficulties you face. I live in the Northeast and Baltimore had heavy rains, but no flooding or loss of life. Annapolis had some flooding and one young man (19) was killed. Philadelphia had major flooding and the Schuylkill River overflowed it's banks , blocking two Interstates. My nephew who lives there send us a picture of his brand new Jeep in water above the hood. In New Jersey and New York there have been major losses of life (over 45 deaths). We don't prepare for major flooding up this way, unlike you folks down South, who have extensive experience with major storms.
Delete"Heat rock" was definitely a stretch.
ReplyDeleteNope - not for me. I don’t need grid spanning trivia stacks.Threw in the towel on this PP laden mess.A week’s worth of unknowns jammed into one Friday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI just cant believe it. This was one of the easiest Fridays for me in a long time. The Last five weeks ive given up or never finished cause they were to hard for me. From the reading of comments on how hard this was im just puzzled. To me you guys are scholars!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @2:36 PM. Scholars? I'm just a good BSer, which is why I always use "WAS" for my initials. 🙃
DeleteA fine PZL, once again demonstrating that much of the art of cruciverbalism is in the cluing.
ReplyDeleteThanks to both August Miller & Chairman Moe for today's pleasures!
Never knew of E-HOW. I guess it's for real.
And I don't think I ever heard of the N.O. PELICANs.
Formerly the Hornets, they appear to be a negligible team.
I wonder how an owner can take pride or earn money from such a losing enterprise. I understand they can make big bucks selling luxury boxes, but what businessman is going to shell out a bundle to sit in splendor a watch a losing team?
Any thoughts, Wilbur?
Our gardener came this morning to remove my old work sink and patio grill, items I once enjoyed but can no longer use.
Now at least I don't have to see them staring back at me when I sit out in the sun.
~ OMK
_____________
DR: Just one diagonal today, far side.
Its anagram (13 of 15 letters) refers to the cheese rations enjoyed by those aboard the Russian space station.
I refer of course to...
"MIR PROVOLONES"!
OMK, The Pelicans are an embarrassment to many of us in N’Awlins! The Original Pelicans were a baseball team that provided great entertainment for those with low expectations and not much money. The open wooden bleachers offered a view through the spaces and the loudspeakers broadcast the games to one and all. It was a great tradition, fondly remembered!
ReplyDeleteWhen the basketball Hornets Shanghaid the name many of old enough to remember the rickety ballpark by the railroad tracks were horrified! The Pelicans were a baseball team!!
Ramen - evening college course ?
ReplyDelete19 across
Ramen. College course ? 19 across
ReplyDeleteRamen. What some college students use as a dinner course.
ReplyDeleteI DNF AT ALL!!!
Becky
Ramen noodles. College meal course.
ReplyDeleteGot the NERVOUS WRECK theme which helped with unknown LONE SURVIVOR.
ReplyDeleteNEVER ON SUNDAY was a song I remember hearing on the radio as a child and that I enjoyed it. I play it often now on my flute.
Some tricky proper name crossings: GENA/ADELPHI and EHOW/KWAN and especially VEVO/PELICAN. Amusing clue for RAMEN. Happy to see physicist Niels BOHR who helped develop quantum mechanics.
Sorry if HEAT ROCK offended some people. It really is a thing and well know to those of us who have PET LIZARDs.
Here are my PET LIZARDs sitting by their HEAT ROCK.
Does that make it better? These are leopard gecko lizards native to the deserts of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. They are very easy PET LIZARDs to care for.
Did anyone else think of this Rolling Stones song "19th NERVOUS Breakdown" today?
Watching this video I was surprised at how many lyrics I had wrong.
SwampCat Your situation sounds very scary. I do hope you are able to salvage your most important belongings. Please keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteFrom Monday and Tuesday:
Yellowrocks and Irish Miss Thank you for the additional kind words about my ACADIA NATIONAL PARK photos! As I say, for us in California, Cadillac Mountain is more like a hill. but it is very beautiful and offers spectacular views in all directions. Good that you were able to climb it OK, Irish Miss!
Jinx and CC Thank you for kindly sending me the puzzles that I requested. As it turned out, our power came back in the middle of the night. We were warned in advance that we were one of about 1,200 lucky Southern California Edison customers who were going to lose power. We have no idea exactly what it was for and we had to pack our refrigerator and freezer with ice to protect our food. I sent a bill to them for the ice! It will be interesting to see if they pay it!
Thanks again!
WARM ROCK --> HEAT ROCK. Like CMoe, I say "Huh?"
ReplyDeleteI penciled in PRO before EPI.
ABRA is also the name of a woman in East of Eden. Symbolism?
Sure enough, LAID had to become LAIN, which, frankly, I think is plain wrong as the answer to "Stretched out".
Is "Parks and REC" valid? *Nose wrinkle*
The fact I had MOTT instead of CATT messed me up in that area for a long time.
Just as Jinx did, I liked the clue for RAMEN.
Good to hear from you, SwampCat.
Good wishes to you all.
Welcome back C-Moe love your write-ups
ReplyDeleteCATT was a WAG. We had another Suffragette ending in TT recently. And there was Carrie Nation. Oh, thx, MOTT.
I have recounted my Intrepid,Strider,Underhill connection with Neil's Bohr*.
USURER was seen recently too
Lol on getting yanked out of "Pussycat" after 5 minutes. Romy Schneider if I'm not mistaken
PSHAW was a favorite Nero expression. A&E did a great series of Wolfes
I needed the V's esp to help with VEVO
OMK, yes, one thought. Charge $6.00 for cola or coffee; $13.00 for chicken tenders and even popcorn . Glad I don't drink beer, I'd be broke. But PELICANS are the upside with good, young players. BTW, I went to Rays-Redsox last night.
Unexpected FIR when I put it down last night. Filled fast but went to online to find something other than PETIPOTS and CATT.
WC
An amazing FIR, after my string of recent FIW puzzles this week. Even found the jumbled NERVOUS entries in the themers, before I got WRECK. That corner consumed a lot of time and ink this morning because of false entries for ROCK, EHOW, and KILN. It finally worked out before I was a total WRECK. Then I ran out of time until now to read the blog and comments. Busy day, but I wanted to thank August for the challenge and C Moe for the review. Welcome back! We missed you, C Moe. Good to hear from you too, SwampCat.
ReplyDeleteI only say this to encourage Saturday solvers. Wilbur FIR.
ReplyDeleteHanging fruit count ie Solids:Maybe 4. Better than nothing.
As usual looking back I say: duh. P&P was all unknown except one that I put in the LHF category.
One or two sport questions.
Good luck, stay with it.
WC
Time? Irrelevant, immaterial and calls for honesty from the solver.
I can't help myself. There's a LHF for the Cali crowd which is directional and a 3 perp'er for TROU*.
ReplyDeleteBut as I pondered thinking "How about Natick to Boston? And lo and behold there's Natick's pride and joy, Doug Flutie touting a male enhancement ad.
WC
*The Rest of us
Ps. Two 18 year-olds beat two #3 seeds at US Open Tennis. Sandy, you're into that.
DeleteHello from Norman, OK. We're up here for Eldest's final recital.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the puzzle, August. The number of Vs helped me hone in on the theme - which was helpful @42a.
Welcome back, C. Moe. You didn't miss a beat bloggin'
DNF: AB_A crossing a shark. I wish I would have thought of 'loan shark' as type of shark.
WOs: started Horn b/f BELL, HEAT lamp, VEmO
ESPs: CATT, JENNA, KWAN, GENA
Fav: 19a's clue for RAMEN
{B, B+, C+}
"Cheesy" DR, OMK. ;-)
OH, HI... Welcome back CrossEyedDave.
Nice to hear from you SwampCat - you'll stay in our thoughts.
Enjoyed reading everyone.
Cheers, -T