19-Across = *Failed-delivery words: RETURN TO SENDER
And for the record, I am not nor never have been an Elvis Presley fan. But somehow after solving this clever puzzle (a collaboration between Alexander Liebeskind and Jeffrey Chen) and getting the ACTUAL reveal, an earworm of Elvis' hit single just wouldn't subside
So let's follow the other entry clues and see if we can get on the right path:
37-Across = *Arrives back at square one: COMES FULL CIRCLE.
53-Across = *Bamboozled ... and what the circled letters, when connected in the proper sequence, can be?: THROWN FOR A LOOP
As for the SECOND "theme", it's what the reveal shows when you connect all of the circled letters after following the clues. And if you're really good at Scrabble or Jumble or any other "letter-unscramble" game, you might have looked at the letters randomly and come up with it. But if you actually "follow" the circles using the clues, you see that the letters form the word: BOOMERANG! And while the shape of the circles isn't a perfect boomerang it's pretty close. And looking back on the "hints" it makes perfect sense. (BTW, if I were a betting man I'd have wagered that OMK saw this immediately!)
Now if your on-line or paper/printed version contained no circles this would be a difficult puzzle to solve.
And instead of an earworm this second theme word made me think of this:
When blogger's (C.C.'s) husband
Leaves her a message, Siri
Says that BOOMERANG
The grid:
Across:
1. Spec. for tires: PSI.
The Brit's bamboozled;
Thought he was rich when he saw
There're POUNDS per SQUARE INCH . . .
4. Alphabetical lunch: BLT. So is a PBJ, just FTR
7. Show stoppers: ADS. Margaret and I differ in how we view and absorb ADS when they interrupt our TV shows. I pretty much ignore them, but I do agree that they're a nuisance
10. PC component: CPU. Wait, WHAT? Three abbr.'s in a row to start this puzzle? Hmmm
13. Close to a delivery: IN LABOR. One of my favorite clues in this puzzle. Almost made me break my water . . .
15. Searches, like a pig does for truffles: ROOTLES. I thought the word for this was ROOTS. But after checking one of the on-line dictionaries I stand corrected
And for those who prefer a video to a cartoon:
17. Attending: GOING TO. Seems too formal a clue for this phrase. GOING TO the prom, e.g., should feel a bit different than just "attending"
18. Starts up again: REBOOTS.
NFL Video game's main pursuit21. Perfect spot: EDEN. A crossword staple
Is just to let every player compute
So it should come as no shock
When punt's about to be blocked
You can unplug and then let him REBOOT
22. Lease alternative: OWN. Consumer Reports has an article that compares leasing vs owning for new cars
23. Bond, say: ASSET. Not JAMES? Ohh, as in a Municipal Bond, e.g.
26. Home of Triple-A baseball's Rainiers: TACOMA. For the non-baseball fans here, "Triple-A" is the highest level for the "development" of players for Major League Baseball. Tacoma has a long baseball history and has been the playing venue for many recognized baseball stars. From Wikipedia: The team (TACOMA Rainiers) became associated with the nearby Seattle Mariners in 1995, whose Triple-A team for the previous ten seasons had been the Calgary Cannons. Tacoma adopted the Rainiers name in part as a tribute to the Seattle Rainiers minor league teams that played in Seattle from 1938 to 1964 in the Pacific Coast League, and again from 1972 to 1976 in the Northwest League (NWL). The Tacoma Rainiers play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which hosted the baseball portion of the 1990 Goodwill Games. The Mariners' T-Mobile Park is about thirty miles (50 km) to the north.
Since their affiliation began with the Mariners in 1995, nearly all of the organization's home-grown prospects have passed through Tacoma, including Alex Rodriguez, Raul Ibanez, Felix Hernandez, J.J. Putz, Kyle Seager, Ken Griffey, Jr. (on rehab assignments), and more.
32. Order to leave: SCAT. Could you use this same "order" to Ella Fitzgerald when asking her to stay?
35. Eyeroll inducer, perhaps, briefly: PDA. "Public Display of Affection". Margaret and Moe
36. Not seen as much: RARER. It's RARER to see my hair now that I've decided to go totally bald
41. Worship: ADORE. I did a double-take when I first read this clue as I thought it said "Warship"!
42. Dubai's fed.: UAE. Fed. meaning "federation". United Arab Emirites
43. Information: DATA. Is TMI (too much information) DATA overload?
44. Diddles (around): MESSES. Hmm. We had "diddles" as a clue and "ROOTLES" as a word entry. I guess what goes around comes around (!)
46. __ opposite: POLAR. Named for the North and South POLES I would imagine. Despite my privilege of being "spam-immune" as a blogger, I will NOT bring up politics with this phrase. But maybe a cartoon instead?
48. Granola bit: OAT. Dunno why I penciled in ORT before OAT . . .
50. Folk tail?: LORE. Another great clue. Tail and tale are homophones, but in this context the word LORE can truly fit as it is the "tail" end of FOLKLORE
60. Incredulous response to an unexpected revelation: YOU WHAT?!.
61. Oxford campus: OLE MISS. When Margaret and I went on our cross-country road trip earlier this summer we stopped for a visit to this author's residence. OLE MISS is about the only "game in town" in this bucolic setting that is Oxford MS
63. Blow off some steam, maybe?: POLLUTE. As I was matriculating at the University of Pittsburgh, this was the image you got. Now that the steel mills no longer populate the city, the POLLUTE rate has gone way down
64. Many a door opening: KEY SLOT. Learning moment for me. I always thought it was called a KEY HOLE
65. Neruda wrote one to "things": ODE. So even if you didn't know who Pablo Neruda was, the clue is very helpful. Most ODEs are written "to" a thing, as in ODE to a Grecian Urn
66. Many a golfer's aim: PAR. A CSO to Husker Gary, TTP, Boomer, WC, et al. PAR is the "normal" score to shoot on any given hole on a golf course. The basis for this is the sum of how many shots you're expected to hit to reach the green (aka, putting surface) plus two putts. For an "average" golfer, a hole that measures 581 yards in length (a PAR 5) might require the use of a Driver, a Three Wood (now called a "metal"), and some iron club (4-Wedge) to reach the green. But if your name is Bryson DeChambeau, and you're able to hit a Driver 417 yards and cut the corner of the hole, you reduce this to a PAR 4. Open the link and you'll see how he managed to stun even his peers at the 5th hole at Whistling Straights during the Ryder Cup matches
67. Naval initials: USS. A CSO to Spitzboov (as well as any others who served in the Navy); The letters USS, or U.S.S., are short for UNITED STATES SHIP
68. 46-yr.-old satire: SNL. Short for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. A brief history is embedded below
Down:
1. Wilbur of "Charlotte's Web," e.g.: PIG. I wonder if Wilbur the PIG was able to spare himself from slaughter because of his ability to ROOTLE for truffles?
2. It might keep you up: SNORE. Not I. A CPAP is great for both the user and the partner!
3. "Fine, you got me": I LIED. I am a believer that it is often better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission
4. Many air rifles: BB GUNS. Jean Shepherd wrote 'A Christmas Story' and the main protagonist, Ralphie, coveted a Red Ryder BB GUN from Santa
5. Trilogy with hobbits: Abbr.: LOTR. Another abbr.? Lord Of The Rings
6. 1982 sci-fi film set in a computer: TRON. This seems pretty lame when you consider how far computer technology has progressed over the past four decades
7. Common keyboard symbol: ARROW. Yup, they're "flying" everywhere!
8. "It __ add up": DOESN'T. You could've fooled me!
9. Iced tea brand named for a Florida neighborhood: SOBE. SOuth BEach. This:
10. Lump: CLOD. Two definitions found. Wonder about synonyms? The Thesaurusaurus makes his cameo appearance
11. Best on drums: PETE. I got this little word play immediately. PETE Best was The Beatles drummer from 1960-1962. Some guy named RINGO took over. I guess he's better than Best?
12. Cold War initials: USSR. Short for UNITED STATES SHIP REPAIR. Ok, I just made that up!
14. Predators named for their prey: ANTEATERS. Another clever clue. ANTEATERS also eat termites, in case you thought they were monophagous
16. Overwhelming homework amount: TON. How come we never see the word "HYPERBOLE" in crossword puzzles? Or is it only reserved for clues?
20. Equal, as a sum: TOTAL UP TO. 8-Down clearly says that it DOESN'T!
24. Beach lotion meas.: SPF. SPF stands for 'sun protection factor' and the 50 in SPF50 refers to the amount of protection the sun screen offers compared to unprotected skin. ... For example, when applied correctly, SPF30+ allows 3.3% of UVB rays to reach your skin while SPF 50+ allows only 2% to reach your skin
25. School URL ending: EDU. Here is a link to my daughter, the professor, at music dot uga dot edu
27. NFL's Cardinals, on scoreboards: ARI. Six and Oh, baby! I'm a Steeler fan at heart, so of course I loved watching the Cards knock off the Cleveland Browns this past Sunday! I've officially jumped on the ARIzona Cardinals "bandwagon". Of course there are probably less than 1% of you reading this who could care less!! ;^)
28. Bridge locales: CARDROOMS. I first put CARD TABLE but realized that the clue was plural; and therefore the answer should be, too. Oh, and CARDROOMS is one word, not two
29. Penguin predator: ORCA. The JETS and WILD also fit. Wonder who might "get" what Moe is referring to? Look at 27-Across for a hint . . .
30. Tuna __: MELT. A diner staple. Believe it or not I have never ordered one. Tuna Salad sandwich yes; Tuna MELT, no
31. Geometry figure: AREA. Here are a few "formulas" for calculating AREA, geometrically
32. Bit of trickery: SCAM. My iPhone (through T-Mobile) is set up to silence any call that appears to be "SCAM likely". I like that. But it's been awhile since a Moe-ku; and here's a different "take":
Engineer likes shrimp.
When he learned how to catch prawns
Did he just SCAMPI?
33. JavaScript lines, say: CODE. I may be the least geeky of our bloggers. But I knew this answer without hesitation. Though I'll be damned if I know why! For geeks or non-geeks
34. "Famous" cookie guy: AMOS.
38. "Get the picture?": SEE. Yes
39. Asian language: LAO. Just a snippet
40. Road Runner frame: CEL. Too easy for a Friday. Enjoy Wile E Coyote, sans Road Runner
45. Beethoven's "Waldstein," e.g.: SONATA.
47. Where to see strikes but not strikeouts: ALLEYS. Another CSO to our "themer" du jour BOOMER! Hoping that he is getting his share of strikes at one of his favorite Bowling ALLEYS
49. Subsequently: AFTER. But of course!
51. Stirs up: ROILS. ROILS the Royals
52. One of three companies in the Seiko Group: EPSON. The others?
53. This clue has on: TYPO. This is another VERY CLEVER clue! It most certainly does have a TYPO. I see one, do ewe?
54. Rain protection: HOOD. Not a rain protector, but I thought this "HOOD" cartoon was clever:
55. "No shirt, no shoes, no service," e.g.: RULE. "No politics, no religion and no personal attacks. Please limit your posts to FIVE per day." That's the RULE here
56. Symbol of wisdom: OWL. Not sure that I was too "wise" when I began smoking these instead of cigarettes. I don't do White OWL anymore but I do enjoy a stogie now and again . . .
57. Demolish: WHUP. Only in Jumanji!
58. Amazon Fire TV Stick alternative: ROKU. It's been 2-1/2 years since I "pulled the plug". No cable, no dish; just my little ROKU streaming device. Love it!
59. Brew choices: ALES. They're my favorite "brewski"
62. MLB's Cardinals, on scoreboards: STL. Only in Major League sports can a team get to the playoffs - as did the STL Cardinals this year - and still find reason to fire their manager
And with that, I am OUT! See you NEXT Friday, too, as Lemony and I will then be back on schedule. Cheers!
45 comments:
FIWrong. Had United Arab Republic instead of Emirates, and couldn't for the life of me figure out what CRL and what it has to do with road runners, real or cartoon! (BTW, the rapid transit train from Santa Fe to south of Albuquerque is the "Rail Runner")
I didn't do any better with the theme. I even typed the bubbles out with proper placement on my notepad, and couldn't see the pattern until I mulled over what would fit the reveal -- a paper airplane, a balsa plane, a yoyo, a lasso? Finally it hit me on the back of my head! And it wasn't until I started working on my l'icks that
The United Arab Emirates
Have lots of projects on their plates
Oil for power,
The tallest tower,
The deepest dive-pool of any place!
Mount RAINIER is just southeast of TACOMA
Mount HOOD is south, a little ways ove'.
Smack in-between is a mountain
That became a fountain!
We hope Mount Saint Helens' stays in a coma!
(A favorite story: when my first wife left me about '73, she went back to her little home town, "where nothing ever changes" -- Kelso, Washington, at the foot of Mt.St.Helens. She was/is Mormon, and one of their oft-sung hymns is "Firm As The Mountains Around Us")
{B, A-.}
And it wasn't until I started working on my l'icks that I saw the secondary reveals at the other two asterisked clues!
Good morning!
This one was definitely Friday-worthy. Fell into the CARD TABLE trap, exactly as C-Moe did. Also tried TARP for that "Rain protection" -- useful in Tacoma where it's Rainier. Boomer wouldn't appreciate that CSO. He prefers "lanes" to "ALLEYS." Thanx for the challenge, Alexander, Jeff, and C-Moe. (Republic?)
My problem with tuna salad is the copious amounts of mayo routinely added.. Why not a side of mayo to be added to taste.
Owen C-Moe : Yes, I was talking about 53D, "This clue has on" ( TYPO). I had no clue whatsoever. I'm thinking experienced cruciverbalists have seen something similar and ferreted out the simple answer.
I was therefore completely stumped in SW. Brain fog on THROWN. And misdirection as I inked deflaTE for "Blow off steam". Yes, better answer than POLLUTE but wrong. So…
I peeked. ODE,PAR: Correct. Peek again, oops. And yes, Wilbur, you blind PIG, the acorn you were looking for was WHUP as in we "demolished" the Redsox in games 4 and 5(quoth Anon-T)
To fit the RULE clue I had Cafe where that sign often exists. At least thinking it ended in eD, I refrained from sheD as a "rain protecter".
So. FIW. My streak lasted a week
Re. STL manager firing. I call it Detroit Lion's disease. As if the Manager or Coach makes that much difference. Owner = Stupid in Sports. With Robert Kraft a rare exception
Thx C-Moe especially for explaining TYPO. I had all day Thursday to try to work out that SW but it had me THROWN FOR A LOOP.
WC
A great Friday puzzle for the offering today. It took some thinking to get the SW realize the TYPO clue because I think of steam for POLLUTE as harmless water vapor. My FB coach always said we had to WHUP the other team. I didn't catch the BOOMERANG theme until the puzzle was completed and I unscrambled the circled letters.
One unknown today-SOBE tea
ROOTLES- seen it before but only in a puzzle
PAR-in baseball you get three strikes; in tennis you get two serves and you have to win four points to win the game but you can lose points and still win the game. But in golf you get ONE HIT and each stroke accumulates. No strike two. No second serve.
PSI-all the new cars have Tire Pressure Sensors, which are great UNTIL they quit working and a message pops up and STAYS on the screen until you have it repaired. You can't turn it off. Anything wrong with the tires? NO. A very expensive repair for a non-existent problem. The tire's fine but the sensor is bad. A $5.00 tire gauge will (and does) work just as well. If another tire pressure sensor goes bad I will use duct tape to cover the screen so I don't see the message that will not go away.
Chairman & Wilbur- Never had a tuna melt but when it comes to MAYO my explicit rule is- NO Mayo and I send it back to the kitchen. Ditto for sour cream and tartar sauce. DW likes all three and I'll tell the waitress to put them on her plate but not on mine.
My FIR streak for the week is intact but tomorrow is Saturday and it's easy to FIW or DNF.
Today's puzzle took 7:06 to come to me.
Oh joy, circles.
I didn't see the theme/gimmick until coming here, but I'm guessing that took a lot of planning.
Seemed like very few proper nouns today, which is good.
FIR, but erased WHiP and tarp (Hi, BE). DNK ROOTLES, Neruda, or that EPSON was part of Seiko. Didn't get the gimmick even though I tried after finishing the grid.
I read "it might keep you up" and was disappointed that Viagra has six letters.
Like BE, I did a double-take when "steam" was POLLUTion.
I have a flu shot appointment this afternoon, but I'll try to get a Moderna booster instead/in addition. Then I'm going to opening night at the Norfolk Admirals for my first minor-league hockey game.
Thanks to Alex and Jeff for the fun, easy-for-a-Friday puzzle, and to C-Moe for the fun review.
A Friday FIR, what's not to like! I admit to some WOs: I give/I Lose/I LIED, for example, right at the start. KEY SLOT was a surprise to me too, C Moe. A learning moment for me was EPSON. I was trying to think of different watch brands that fit. The final corner, the SW, wasn't such a mess as I waited before filling TYPO. Clues like that require tricky shifts in thinking. Lots of challenging fun with this theme, Alexander and Jeff. The longer themers were helpful fill once known and I was able to puzzle out BOOMERANG, though missed the shape the circles made.
Thanks so much for your review with all the added information and entertainment, C Moe. We can see that you spend a lot of time preparing it and look forward to next week's offering. Hope you all have a great weekend coming up!
Hola!
I am still on ESTime and awoke way too early. However, I am still too sleepy to see the gimmick. I'll check back later.
Finished with no problems. I've never had a Tuna MELT but it filled easily.
Thank you for explaining SOBE. I had no idea.
IN LABOR. Please don't remind me!
Thank you, CMoe as well as Alexander Liebeskind and Jeff Chen. Fun Friday!
Enjoy your day, everyone! Later. I'm going to try to return to sleep.
Good morning everyone.
Got lucky and FIR. Finally sussed the TYPO clue which was well done. Don't feel that steam, of itself, POLLUTEs, but could carry other detritus as pollutants. Wondered about WHUP, too, but perps RULED. No wite-out or strikethroughs were needed today; very RARE for a Friday.
USS - My ship, USS Beale, is the 2nd in line on the left side of the avatar. The bird farm is USS Valley Forge. The photo was taken in early August, 1959. several hundred miles east of the Virginia coast.
Thanks MOE for a fine intro and all the explaining.
I liked the 2 way challenge today, Part A, actually solving the grid was a FIR in 18 minutes, about par for a Friday. Part B, solving the Jumble out of the circled letters did throw me for a loop as it took me about 15 more minutes rootling my brain to figure out boomerang, and looking back at the first row long answers is when I had my aha moment. Totally missed the shape of the circled letters resembled a boomerang till it was pointed out. Really liked the clu for typo also! Thanx Alex and Jeff for the fine collaboration, Rich for the edit and Moe for the interesting write up.
WC ~~ the Detroit Lions, to my knowledge no head coach of the team has ever went on to be a head coach of another team, looks like the curse of Bobby Lane not only covered the team but also the coaches.
Great fall morning all
Thanks to constructors Alexander and Jeff for a doable Friday morning excercise.
OLEMISS was the last to fall as I wasn’t sure of EPSON or ROKU.
TYPO should have come quicker than it did.
Changed Whip to WHUP .
The rest fell into place nicely .
Saw the theme after THROWN FOR A LOOP showed up and realized the other two long fills were also clues to the BOOMERANG.
Cheers
A good Friday challenge. The top row with its three abbreviations immediately caught my attention. The long theme answers were all pretty intuitive and that helped to fill in lots of squares. FIR but the BOOMER RANG (!) aspect was not noticed until it was all done. I liked the use of the two Cardinal clues - if they'ed added something avian it would have been a hat trick. I had first electronically "penciled in" BUY instead of OWN and wanted to go with SAY WHAT!? so those took a bit to work through.
FIR in my as usual slowest-of-the-cornerites-time of 37. This is a very clever CW, which I managed to complete with no W/Os. PBJ/BLT had to wait on TRON perp. DNK ROOTLES, NERUDA, or that EPSON was part of Seiko. Don’t consider steam as pollution. Chairman Moe says CW started with three abbreviations; looks to me like four: PSI, BLT, ADvertisementS, and CPU. I do NOT see the circles forming the shape of a boomerang, not even close, but this is still a very imaginative CW. Thanx, AL & JC for the challenge. And thanx CM for the entertaining write-up.
Musings
-A brilliant puzzle where Jeff lends another helping hand.
-“53. This clue has on” goes into my Clue Hall Of Fame!
-Chris, I’m a big enough Elvis fan for both of us. :-)
-A PAR wrecking BOOMERANG is when a putt fails to get up a steep incline and comes back to your feet
-COMES FULL CIRCLE – I’m sure our resident Shakespeare scholars will think of this Shakespeare passage from As You Like It
-When I see an obscure word (to me) like ROOTLE, I wonder if it was just a welcome discovery for the constructor
-I had _ _ _ L _ T E first and thought DEFLATE was letting off some steam
-At the end of The Music Man, Professor Harold Hill admits to Winthrop, “I LIED”
-What a beautiful professor, Chris!
-From a documentary I watched last night: Disney’s first full-length film, Snow White required 120,000 hand drawn CELS. It cost a $1M to make and was called Disney’s folly. It grossed $8M its first year and has made millions more since then
Fun puzzle, easily solved, but getting the BOOMERANG sorted out was a bit of a challenge. The key (for me) was the use of the words "when connected in the proper sequence" so I didn't look at it as a Jumble. Obvious, after the fact. Thanks, Jeff and Alexander.
I'm fairly certain that a few readers here immediately translated Alexander's last name.
Hand up for KEY hole and tarp. Also, (something like taken) FOR A ride, before THROWN and LOOP became apparent.
C.C., BOOMERANG ! Check your phone mail. Very funny, Moe !
United Arab Emirates - More Indians live in the UAE than do Emiratis, who only comprise about 20 % of the total population. - Wikipedia. About 88 % of the population and 85 % of the workforce in the seven sheikdoms are foreign born. - CIA World Factbook.
Moe, that drive by DeChambeau was incredible. Did you ever have occasion to play The Golf Club of Illinois (a links style course) in Algonquin ? The #1 handicap hole is the 11th. The closest tee box on the PAR 5 is the White tee box at 531 yards. 3 tees back, the Black is a whopping 678 yards. Flyover of the 11th at The Golf Club of Illinois. Long and straight, and slightly uphill. Don't slice (as I did at the time). Bryson would probably eagle that one, too.
I used to watch the ARI Cardinals highlights and look at game stats to see how Larry Fitzgerald was doing. Then Superbowl XLIII in 2009. He caught two TDs, but James Harrison's 100 yd int return for a TD at the end of the first half, and Santonio Holmes' TD tiptoe end zone catch in the waning seconds of the second half sealed the deal for the Steelers. One of, if not the best Super Bowl games.
FLN, Wilbur Charles, thanks for the clarification. Now I get it.
Oh, and I forgot to add that at the time I played the 11th at GCI, there were no houses to the right of the fairway as there are now. Good thing.
Inkovers: keyhole/KEYSLOT (c'mon I wasn't the only one), whap,whip/WHUP
"Seiko" fit but already in the clue..lol.. Emron also kinda fit but I resisted the temptation...Not sure how "Show Stoppers" are ADS..soon find out. (just read the commentary, I get it now.) TYPO...cute clue. ROOTLES: another example of verbifying a noun? Forgot to work out the circled letters, The Boomerang coulda just smacked me in the head.😖
When some Anteaters run out of usual prey they go after uncles. What would I du without my ROKU.
For "diddle around" had blank, blank SSES....tempted to lead with PI... then got perps SCAM and CODE ergo MESSES. a sports question, "Messing around" gets you to which base? (may lead to a "strike out", a good thing down the ALLEYS). Liked Jinx's almost "Viagra" trial.
The name OLEMISS always brings to mind the struggles of James Meredith.
Small donkey....ASSET
Further back in the ship....AFTER
What you do with take-out....EDEN
Sadly last weekend in the Adirondacks, getting to cold to keep camp open....🥶
Flukey Friday. Thanks for the fun, Alexander and Jeff, and CMoe.
I DNF today, as I did not get TYPO and POLLUTE (I had Whip instead of WHUP and could not see the correct fill). Plus, I was THROWN FOR A LOOP by not being able to rearrange the circles to see BOOMERANG. Ah well!
Yes, CMoe, RETURN TO SENDER by Elvis was a given today.
I had Riles before ROILS, Tuna Roll before MELT.
Hand up for CARD table before ROOMS.
I was close with At Term, but IN LABOR (no U sigh!) was even closer to delivery.
ROOTLES was a head-scratcher.
My Canadian brain went to the UK for Oxford campus. OLE MISS required a few perps.
My Famous cookie guy was Andy before AMOS. I don't think we have those cookies in Canada. We don't have SOBE either (all perps).
Mini-computer theme today with CPU,REBOOTS, ARROW, CODE, DATA, TRON. Could we add those Famous Cookies and an EPSON printer?
You can add No Vaccine Passport to the RULE here for indoor restaurant service.
RIP, Canadian theatre legend Martha Henry. OMK, did you know her??
MarthaHenry
Wishing you all a great day.
Fun Friday puzzle, Alex and Jeff--many thanks. And helpful commentary, Chairman Moe, thanks for that too.
Love seeing those circles BOOMERANG around the puzzle like that.
Got IN LABOR right away--been there, done that.
Clever clue for ANTEATER--yep, they are predators named for their prey.
Of course, got EDU instantly--been there, done that one too.
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody.
Ray-O @10:38 made me think of: he who MESSES around will strike out with his wife and end up sleeping in an ALLEY!
Puzzling thoughts:
Alexander Liebeskind - if I recall from my HS German, "liebes" means love and "kind" means child.
d-otto: Fixed. Thanks for catching Republic - must've been a TYPO!!
wc: Mayo's ok - in small doses. We use an Avocado Oil-based one we get at Costco. As for NFL/Sports Owners, Robert Kraft's biggest "boner" was getting caught at a "happy-ending" massage parlor in FL a few years back. Art Rooney Sr was a pretty darn good owner; Dan, too . . . the jury is still out on his grandson
Big Easy: I'm not a fan of either sour cream or tarter sauce
YooperPhil: I used to root for the Lions back in the '60's; I'm familiar with the curse
unclefred: Yes! 4 abbrs. to start the puzzle. Thanks for finding the AD's
HG: Thanks; I'll let my daughter know! For the record, that photo is a bit dated but she's still very beautiful
TTP: Yes to Golf Club of IL. I played it in the early 1990's - fairly soon after it opened, IIRC. Larry Fitzgerald has retired, so to speak, but I still don't think he made it "official". Yes, XLIII was an amazing game. Maybe the best ever, IMHO
Reading last nights late posts for me all excited
To try and figure out the SW corner, but it didn't
Whup me as I got most of the perps with WAGs.
I could not however make any sense of the theme
Circles at all. TGftB!
(Thank Goodness for the Blog)
There were a few things that concerned though.
I read the Blog, then read YooperPhils comment
About reading how the circles resembled the shape
Of a boomerang, and thought,
"I don't remember reading that!"
Thanks for pointing it out, as it it is quite remarkable how
The circles loop around.
But it also got me worried that I dont remember what I read,
Which has sent me to the following, although, honestly,
I haven't read the whole thing yet...
True Friday puzzle that was doable but needed some perp help and a SWAG (Scientific Wild Ass Guess) or two to get some of the unknowns like ROOTLES, OLE MISS, WHUP and KEY SLOT (vs KEY hole.) Thanks Alex, Jeff and Moe.
I initially filled in OTIS instead of AMOS for the cookie guy. Perps changed my mind.
C Moe: It is still possible to SNORE while using a CPAP machine, but it does cut it down a lot. Whenever you stop breathing, the CPAP machine ramps up its pressure and will start you breathing again. But as I said a few days ago, it is a pain being tethered by the hose.
I agree with Big Easy about the tire pressure sensors. I've had to have some re-calibrated and eventually replaced. Which is annoying.
Have a great day everyone.
Thank you Alex and Jeff for an intriguing puzzle (not that I knew that until after CMOE 'splained it). It was a DNF for me as it never occurred to me that Rich would INTENTIONALLY ALLOW A TYPO in any of his puzzles (damn METACLUES!). And thank you CMOE for a truly masterful explication of the two theme levels. The BOOMERANG THROWN FOR A LOOP and COMING FULL CIRCLE is one of the cleverest SCAMS in CROSSED WORDS that I've seen. Also, I loved your sweet mODEku to C.C. and BOOMER. And your even sweeter pic of a PDA [🙄].
A few favs:
15A ROOTLES. Who knew? Actually it was Charlotte's spinning of adjectives like “Some Pig”, “Terrific”, “Radiant” and “Humble” in her web above Wilbur's stall that saved his bacon, turning him into a tourist attraction.
18A REBOOTS. Known among Microsoft users as the "Get out of the car and get back in again" solution to HUNG computers.
50A LORE. Fav misdirection (only because I got it on perps). Missed "tail" as a YACFAS ("Yet Another Clue For A Suffix").
25D EDU. Dr. Pollard has quite an impressive resumé MOE. You really should come up with a way to work one of her performances into a review (or even your next puzzle!).
47D ALLEY. Speaking of BOOMER, has he weighed in on this yet? Or has he has he intentionally STRUCK OUT trying to school the Corner on the correct name for a bowling LANE?
Cheers,
Bill
Hi All!
Let's see... I'm guessing Alexander constructed the top 1/2 and Jeff clued the bottom; the south was a bugger :-)
Thanks guys for the puzzle.
C.Moe, YOU WHAT?!? Heck of an expo; enjoyed all the clips.
WOs: N/A
ESPs: WHUP(?)
Fav: PETE Best's clue.
Sparkle: CODE next to SCAM (phish), Cardinals 2x (both useta be in STL), TRON (I put $$ of quarters in the Bally Midway machine in my misspent ute).
Now that I really look at the grid... ARROW keys interfacing with DATA via CODE that TOTALS when you hit RETURN. THROW FOR AN* (endless) LOOP and you'll have to REBOOT the CPU. Then, just load TRON and play.
{B+, B+}
BigE - DW's Alfa & Youngest's Civic both have that PSI idiot-light. When one comes on, suddenly it's my problem(?). Click and Clack recommend electrical tape :-)
TTP - re: houses near the tee. I don't know what prompts rich folks to have full plate-glass facades facing the course. If it wasn't for a very lucky ting off their flag pole, I'd have had to pay $$$ for a window (or just run like hell...)
// I'm a horrible golfer but my BIL (avid) sometimes insists we go.
RAY-O: I wanted Putzes b/f MESSES.
"How was your Sunday, Pop?"
"Uneventful; Just putzed around in the basement. A few See & Do projects."
WC - My buddy and & I, with our DWs in tow, will be at game-six tonight. We'll be in the third-tier along the third-base just inside the (sponsored by Chick-fil-a) fowl pole.
I think I'll leave my glove at home; fat-chance a ball up there.
I'm hoping it DOESNT go to 7 games :-) Go 'Stros!
My favorite ANT EATER is an Ardvark [7:21]
Cheers, -T
*that's THROWN's 'n' that I creative-licensedly moved over. :-)
I agree with Gary that 53D belongs in the crossword clue HOF.
BE @6:57 AM I'm with you on pressure sensors. I can't tell you how many times I had my Ford 150 BE (Beta Edition) in the shop trying to resolve those persistent idiot lights. So this idiot had all four tires replaced (still with lots of tread). But in the course of replacing them my mechanic discovered that my brake calipers need replacing. That discovery might make the whole experience worth it!
To be pedantic, BLT is alphabetic in two meanings of the word, whereas PBJ is in only one.
Ray - O @10:38 AM You could fill a whole ROOM with CARDS. 😁
Thank you Alexander Leibeskind and Jeff Chen ... I thought Leibeskind meant 'be kind when you're in love ..'. I knew Jeff Chen is generally a difficult puzzle maker.
Thanks Ch Moe for a very charming review, including your PDA. And thanks for your daughter's CV ... at one time, I used to think the bassoon was a sort of monkey... unfortunately you can't see the entire instrument in the picture.
I had a good time with the puzzle. The TYPO finally fell, it was mystifying.
When I saw Oxford campus, I immediately thought of Miami University ... of Ohio. which also in Oxford, near Dayton. Some of our daughters friends went there. I guess the founders chose the name Oxford, so it'd sound impressive...
I dont think of blowing off steam, as polluting. Its just water vapor. It might be pollution in a Cold Storage plant, or a drying plant.
Have a nice day, all.
You ****** Christian Democrat, you !!!
Okay, now I've broken all the RULEs of the blog, Religion, politics, personal attack ...
Lets see if I get deleted .....
Whaaaa .... this is a legitimate political party in Germany ?
And they're in the ruling coalition ? Jiminy fiddlesticks.
TYPO was a stumper until I had a couple perps, but it was a strange meta-clue because it told us that it was a meta-clue.
ROOTLE was another odd but legit one. I knew it was something like that. So looked it up just now and found a couple synonyms: root and ablaqueation. Also as YooperPhil noted, rootling.
"Brillat-Savarin (1825) noted that truffles were so expensive, they appeared only at the dinner tables of great nobles and kept women."
WHUP was another odd one, and I amused myself by writing a cryptic clue for it:
What's up, surrounding the rest of a can of ass.
POLLUTE, I agree steam was a very poor clue for it, and it was a very poor solution to steam. A cryptic clue:
Contaminate survey of Utahan group.
Hand up for BUY < OWN, SAY WHAT‽ < YOU WHAT‽, KEY HOLE < SLOT.
IIRC, TUNA MELTS were a staple of my grade-school cafeteria. Loved them!
WHat's UP surrounding
rest of a can of [WHUP-]ass
POLLUTE = POLL + UTE
One can blow off steam with a POLLUTing set of curses...
"@#$!*" is what we see in the comics :-)
Drive over to the east side of Houston and you'll see "steam" coming out of the refineries. But, when you smell the air, Oy!
That aint H2O (Benzene comes to nose).
Cheers, -T
A great movie that could never be made today included a line spoken by Slim Pickens: "Well, that's where we go a-ridin' into town, a-whumpin' and a-whumpin' every livin' thing that moves within an inch of its life. Except the women folks, of course."
I hate to be a wet blanket (oh, who am I kidding, I love it), but IMO the clue "this clue has on" wasn't good, since it was intentional and therefore not a typo. "Intentional typo" is an oxymoron, like "government efficiency", think I.
My favorite pro sorts owner was Walter O'Malley, who owned the Dodgers. What made him special, in addition to excellence, was that baseball was the family's business. Other owners got most of their money from sources other than sports.
I think the best of all was Superbowl III. Some future TV Medicare supplement insurance salesman guaranteed the underdog Jets would beat the prohibitive favorite Colts. Other favorites were VI, XII, XXVII, XXVIII and XXX, solely because the Cowboys won.
I'm sure that the bomb-throwing Cornerites who wrote snarks about the dangers of hunting with Dick Cheney will be offering similar comments about the risks of making movies with Alec Baldwin. Oh wait - I'm not so sure.
I enjoyed this PZL. FIR. I did wonder about ROOTLES, but I will assume it is OK.
Question about TYPO. How can it be a typo if it was intended to look like one?
Ans. It can't.
Chairman M, I too have never ordered a tuna MELT.
It sounds unappealing. I was a kid raised on tuna sandwiches in my brown bag lunch, and I never desired to addd anything to a simple tuna/mayo blend.
I had another kind of MELT recently. At a BBQ restaurant, I ordered a pulled pork MELT, just to experiment.
I was disappointed. I could barely taste the cheese (Monterey Jack, I believe), but it interfered with the texture of the shredded pork by smoothing it out, and it reduced its saltiness.
~ OMK
___________
DR: One diagonal, near side.
It yields a rather esoteric anagram, but a FULL 15 of 15 letters, a true JACKPOT!
This is one for ENT specialists, especially those docs for whom hay fever is a sub-speciality.
It refers to an ocular symptom of that unpleasant affliction, i.e., when the levator palpebrae muscles of the eyes are incapacitated through exposure to large quantities of ragweed dander.
We know this condition as ...
"POLLINATION LIDS"!
Wilbur ~
It doesn't take a lot of mayo to give the tuna that creamy tang. I'm with you.
But. a little more on the side is a good idea.
There are times when the mixture is a little too dry, and another dollop of mayo would cure that.
If it's on the side, you could ROOTLE around for it, and apply as needed.
As for the TYPO clue, I see I was not alone in my objection. Jinx and others blew the whistle before me.
Maybe we wouldn't have complained (and might have solved it sooner) if the clue had included "sic."
~ OMK
Lynx @3:24 PM I'm with you Lynx. That clue was a low blo.
I'm have to profess that I'm a member of a Pro Tuna Melt sect, specifically the Swiss Synod. IMHO I find the communion of the two to be quite holy.
I feared this puzzle because of Jeff Chen's byline but ended up enjoying it. A pleasant solve; difficult but fair. Excellent recap by Chairman Moe. I didn't see the boomerang. Nothing more to add to what you all have already said.
We got our flu shots yesterday and are both glad that there have been no ill effects whatsoever, hardly even a sore arm. "Booster" shots this coming Thursday.
Take care, all.
Sorry, Chairman M, but you lose your bet. (How much are we good for?!)
I had a hard time figuring out BOOMERANG even after reading your explanation.
(I kept making the wrong turns when tracing the circled letters.)
No, my thing about uncovering anagrams in diagonals is (a) the diagonals must be directly from an upper corner to the lower opposite corner, and (b) the letters must be contiguous.
Even with circles to guide me, I don't "see" words--not easily-- in other configurations.
Besides, I was excited today in finding a 15-letter JACKPOT anagram in today's grid! (See my 1st post, above.)
~ OMK
Jayce @ 6:02, (We got our flu shots yesterday and are both glad that there have been no ill effects whatsoever, hardly even a sore arm. "Booster" shots this coming Thursday."
I got my flu shot yesterday and "Booster" last Thursday. Other than two sore arms, no ill effects.
That! was a great game!
Sorry, WC. The BoSox threatened a couple of times but couldn't get a runner across the plate.
Youngest & I had fun.
Lucina - In the Coca Cola boxes were about 30 Sisters in their habits swinging the rally-towels. My buddy is also Catholic (youngest of 10) and took solace the Sisters were praying for the Astros' win :-)
If Atlanta (ahead 3-2) wins one more against the Dodgers, Astros will get the home-field advantage for the World Series.
OMK - that's a stretch for the DR but you can't ignore a 15 jackpot :-)
Tuna MELT - nope. Give me a tuna-mayo spread on white and nothing else.
Jinx - you left out the final lines of the scene...
"You spare the women?"
"Naw, we rape the shit out of them at the Number Six Dance later on."
Blazing Saddles is, IMHO, the second greatest movie ever made. Life of Brian is #1.
The latter eviscerates religiosity while the former does the same for racism.
Speaking of religion... as I typed this, I heard on the BBC that Douglas Adams' Electronic Monk is becoming a reality(?!?).
CED - read the above with intention... At least that's what link #2 [TL;DR]* seemed to say :-)
Cheers, -T
*Too Long; Didn't Read
AonT
I'm pleased to know that the religious Sisters are out enjoying themselves in public. There was a time when that would not have happened!
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