Good Friday morning! Today I have the pleasure of recapping my fourth Gary Larson puzzle. To say that he is a prolific constructor is an understatement. I'm sure that if I had done some research I could share just how many crossword puzzles Gary has created. But it has to be in the hundreds. This one focuses on homophones and play-on-words. But unlike most homophonic words/phrases, Gary's are all about the sounds represented by certain letters.
"A," you ask? G, will U bear with me for a second? Here's an example:
16-Across. Submits a racy version of a film to the MPAA?: CHANCES R. Right off the bat, Gary hits a home run with a clever play-on-words. CHANCES "R", as in submitting an R-Rated movie to the Motion Picture Association of America. Or is it CHANCES ARE, a very iconic Johnny Mathis hit single?
And not to B undone, we next have: 25-Across. Trouble at the family rec center?: Y BOTHER. Y as in "why", or Y as in YMCA (a rec center, of sorts)? And Moe, Y bother putting this next video clip into the blog? B caws, it will remain as an earworm for the rest of the morning!!
Moving on 2 the next example: 36-Across. Filling in for rapper Cardi?: SPELLING B. As in the "artist" Cardi B. CAUTION: If you click on this link and listen to the video, you could be offended by her language. I don't think she was "chancing R". Here is an example of her work
Or maybe you thought of this SPELLING BEE?
Now that U C where Gary is going with the puzzle, here are the last two "themers":
49-Across. Deans, professors and undergrads?: U PEOPLE. Of the five, this was my least "favorite", but it still fits just fine. The "U" is a term used to abbr. University. Of which Deans, undergrads, and prof's are all a part of. On the flip side, there are so many images to choose from with the phrase: "YOU PEOPLE!" I finally decided on this (with a mini-SO to Canadian, Eh?):
And last, but not least, this: 60-Across. Mediocre bakery item in home ec class?: C BISCUIT. Brilliant. I can just imagine Gordon Ramsay reaming out a chef on an episode of "Hell's Kitchen" for making a mediocre BISCUIT, and giving it a "C" grade. The flip side of this answer is one of my favorite movies based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand. Here is a trailer:
Across:
1. Bad-mouth: DIS. My immediate thought was that the word for this clue should be spelled "DISS". But as we recappers are known to do, I found this on the internet, which explains it perfectly. Yellowrocks, you concur??
4. Times to call, in ads: AFTS. Since the word "ads" in the clue is an abbreviation, the implied word should be one as well. And the plural (times) makes it likewise. Not a big fan of pluralizing abbreviations, but I don't think that the word AFT - as in the rear of the boat - can have an S at the end. Moe rambling here . . .
8. Descendants of Muhammad, in Shi'ism: IMAMS. And Dictionary dot com agrees: IMAM is a title of various Muslim leaders, especially of one succeeding Muhammad as leader of Shiite Islam
13. Mag for execs: INC.
14. Down: BLUE. This is an example of a homonym. BLUE can be a description for sadness or one of the three primary colors
15. Irritate: GNAW AT.
18. Certain war hero: AIR ACE. His battles with the Red Baron are legendary!
19. Fictional spread near Jonesboro: TARA. Well I'll be darned! Just look here, then scroll down to Movies and Literature for confirmation of the clue
20. "La Dolce Vita" co-star: EKBERG. A former Miss Sweden. She made her home Italy after the movie was released
22. Sailor's pronoun: SHE. As I like to have my blogs be interactive, I defer to Spitzboov to expound on this. My first thought was that nearly everything seen by a sailor is referred to as "she", as the image below implies
23. Come down: ALIGHT. But if this were clued as a two-word answer
27. Wound up: TENSE. TENSE? I was thinking that if there were enough spaces, a fitting answer to "wound up" would be: PAST PARTICIPLE OF WIND UP
28. Scottish refusal: NAE. Here is something that if I were a Scot I would say NAE to
30. Serious observance: RITE. RITE of Passage and RITE of Spring were the first "RITES" that came to mind. But wanting to explore further (the last line is a hyperlink - open only if curious) . . .
I love traditions31. Work unit: ERG. Every time I see the word "ERG" used in an xword puzzle, I just want to say, "ARRGGH"
But sometimes they go too far
These RITES just seem wrong
32. Passionate: AVID. I do believe that all of the Crossword Corner bloggers are AVID
34. Started to overtake, with "on": GAINED. Word has it that they are nearly neck and neck!
38. Watercolor user: ARTIST. An ARTIST also uses oils, pen and ink, glass, tempera, bronze, and marble, to name a few others. And while many of the images below are quite ARTISTIC, if they were done in watercolor it might not be so tough to undo
41. Water color: AQUA. Not quite a clecho, but close! According to Pantone dot com, here is what AQUA looks like
42. On the __: famous: MAP. Check out these "famous" locations on America's show
45. Sailor's emergency container: BAIL. Sailors might also call their "emergency container" a PAIL; pretty sure Bert Reynolds called his a "Motorman's Friend" in the movie Semi-Tough
46. Frank McCourt memoir: TIS. As in "TIS:, A Memoir". Order it here if you like
47. Govt. security: T BILL. T BOND also fits. "T" for treasury. The letter "T" could've subbed for one of the other theme entries, I suppose. How about this instead? 47-Across (modified). Shirt sorter at an AA meeting?: T TOTALER
52. Qajar dynasty's domain: PERSIA. According to Wikipedia dot com: In the Western world, PERSIA (or one of its cognates) was historically the common name for Iran. On the Nowruz of 1935, Reza Shah asked foreign delegates to use the Persian term Iran (meaning the land of Aryans in Persian), the endonym of the country, in formal correspondence
53. Wilt: SAG. I don't think I ever saw this guy "SAG"
54. Ebert's partner in the 2000s: ROEPER. Richard ROEPER. Roger Ebert's film critic partner the year after Gene Siskel passed
57. Library ID: ISBN. International Standard Book Number. ISBNs were 10 digits in length up to the end of December 2006, but since 1 January 2007 they now always consist of 13 digits. ISBNs are calculated using a specific mathematical formula and include a check digit to validate the number. Akin to a UPC, in a sense. A bar code for books??
58. Win over: ENAMOR. I think of ENAMOR more of "being attracted to", or having deep feelings for. Wonder what the Thesaurussaurus has to say?
62. Muss: RUMPLE. RUMPLE - from the Old Dutch "rompel" (wrinkle).
It's impossible
To muss Iron Man. Guess you
Can't RUMPLE steel skin
63. "Roll Tide" school: BAMA. They have an exemplary record in college football: Since their first season in 1892 and going into this year, their overall record is 931 wins, 331 losses, and 43 ties, for a winning percentage of .730. I believe they trail only the University of Michigan for the most total victories. They claim 18 National Championships. The nickname "Crimson Tide" dates back to 1907 and probably was coined after the school's primary color, crimson. Certainly a polarizing team; kind of like the NY Yankees (baseball) or New England Patriots (recently, in pro football); you either like them or hate them. And again, there were far too many images to choose from with regard to BAMA and "Roll Tide" . . . here's one I chose due to the futility of trying to beat them
64. Witness: SEE. Or in this puzzle, the abbreviated answer would be "C"
65. Battle tactic: SIEGE. Could Gary Larson have spelled this Cge?
66. Kid stuff: SNAP. As in a breakfast cereal, perhaps?
67. Word in a recipe: ADD. We are trying not to ADD more salt to our dishes
Down:
1. Command: DICTATE. I wonder where the "command" button was on THIS keyboard that contains the root word, DICTATE?
2. Asthma sufferer's relief: INHALER.
3. Working hard to find, with "up": SCARING. Will the day after tomorrow be "normal", or will we find it hard, "SCARING up" trick-or-treaters?
4. Fox competitor: ABC. A nice mis-direction clue. Fox, as in the TV network. American Broadcasting Company
5. Sails force?: FLEET. Punny clue. Not SALES force. But not this, either!
6. Narwhal feature: TUSK. Would help to know what a Narwahl is
7. Macedonian's neighbor: SERB. SERB is the term used to identify a resident of SERBia
8. __ Montoya, "The Princess Bride" role: INIGO. Mandy Patinkin's role of this fictional character
9. Scrape, say: MAR. MAR and not EKE??!
10. Flooded with: AWASH IN. Merrium-Webster defines it as: flooded with or covered by water or another liquid. : floating in a large amount of water or another liquid
11. Tool for the jungle: MACHETE. Or for the Everglades, as this picture depicts
12. Guided: STEERED.
15. Duds: GARB.
Past century fad
That women wore in their hair?
A Greta GARB-bow
17. Won't leave alone: NAGS. Or, the colloquial term for old horses?
21. "__ of the Needle": Ken Follett novel: EYE. "I" of the Needle wouldn't fit
24. Piles: HEAPS. Kind of what my dirty clothes are in when I forget to toss them into the laundry basket
26. Common newspaper nickname: TRIB. Here is a list from Wikipedia
28. Zippo: NIL. This wouldn't fit!
29. Two-time loser to Ike: ADLAI. Adlai Ewing Stevenson II was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. Raised in Bloomington, Illinois, Stevenson was a member of the Democratic Party, and twice (1952 and 1956) ran against Dwight David (IKE) Eisenhower for the US Presidency. He also failed to secure the nomination in 1960; the Dem's chose John F Kennedy instead
33. Check for accuracy: VET.
Animal doctor,
Turned investigator, now
VET's candidate's pets
34. Safari sight: GNU.
Serengeti TRIB
Headline reports "none were killed"
No GNUS is good news
35. Rock with bands: AGATE. Cute clue. I remember having these as a kid. AGATEs were used as "shooters"
36. Rural skyline feature: SILO. Did this guy go a bit overboard during the pandemic?!
37. Nos. averaging 100: IQS. Intelligence QuotientS. Based on a score of standardized tests to measure one's intelligence
38. Ones who take too much advantage of a privilege, e.g.: ABUSERS. The clue doesn't really speak to the "severity" of this noun, IMO. Not sure that "privilege" fits, but YMMV
39. Easter Island, to natives: RAPA NUI. Not a word that I knew, and IIRC, I had to LIU. The words RAPA NUI translate to the indiginous people of Easter Island
40. Draw: TIE GAME.
Ascot and Cravat
Played football. Would you guess it
Ends in a TIE GAME?
42. Pageant held in Memphis in 2020: MISS USA. Past winners
43. Said, "She was with me all day," say: ALIBIED. The verb form, past TENSE
44. Put in the ground: PLANTED. The verb form, past TENSE
46. Three-way joint: TEE. Not the implement that holds a golf ball? Not the name for a casual shirt? OH, this!
48. __-a-brac: BRIC. As in "BRIC-a-brac", miscellaneous objects and ornaments of little value. Originated in the Victorian Era
50. Worker, informally: PROLE. Short for PROLEtartiat
51. Stuff of legends: LORE. Like my blogs??!! LOL!!
52. __ ballerina: PRIMA. __ donna works, too. But this is what I think of when I see the word "PRIMA":
55. Banned pollutants, for short: PCBS. From Wikipedia dot com: PolyChlorinated BiphenylS, are organic chlorine compounds, now recognized as an environmental toxins and classified as a persistent organic pollutants
56. Meir contemporary: EBAN. Abba Solomon Meir EBAN was an Israeli diplomat and politician, and a scholar of the Arabic and Hebrew languages. During his career, he served as Foreign Affairs Minister, Education Minister, and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel. Later, he formed a Swedish rock band
59. It's usually higher on the hwy.: MPG. Miles Per Gallon. Tesla's measure theirs in MPKW
61. Weaken: SAP. Many definitions for this word; now don't be a SAP and believe EVERYTHING I included today!!
Here is the grid:
Comments are always welcome! See you again in a couple of weeks . . .
49 comments:
The quest is on, an A.I. RACE
To build the smartest interface!
In time of peace,
It will problems beat,
And in war it could be an AIR ACE!
{A-.}
Good morning!
Struggled with this one until I figured out the gimmick. Tried HORN for that Narwahl before TUSK horned in. In the end, it came down to _E_ for a 3-way joint WAGged TEE, and (surprise!) it was right. Phew, avoided the dreaded DNF again. Thanx, Gary and C-Moe.
There's not much Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. The houses are just too far apart. Local parents truck their kids to one of the newer nearby developments where houses are crammed together like sardines. That results in a much more favorable sugar/distance ratio.
WOW, a real toughie for me today, no stars or circles as guidance and the twelve 7 letter D-words made for a very difficult solve, but I did manage an FIR in over an hour including a couple walkaways, particularly struggling a lot in the SW and a little in the NE. Some really fine clueing Gary and Rich and I thank you for the Friday challenge! Didn’t know INIGO, RAPANUI, ROEPER, or that ALIBIED could be used in that tense, would have never finished without perp help.
C-Moe, always a pleasure to read your narratives, informative and amusing. A big guffaw for the silo cartoon, had to share that one on FB :)
This took 12:58 to beat Sea Biscuit to the finish line. I could feel Uncle Fred breathing down my neck down the stretch.
I'd never heard of Ekberg, which caused confusion in the top center, as I originally had NBC and NITE/NITS, before ABC and AFTS. I resisted "Serb" thinking Macedonian wasn't shortened.
That was a good Friday puzzle, Gary! Another FIR for me after a big slowdown in the SW. Finally the perps led the way changing pAIL/BAIL, and siskel/ROEPER (spelling that took a while too). Other WOs were CHANgES R/CHANCES R and t BISCUIT/C BISCUIT. I did catch on to the theme early with Y BOTHER. Fun! Favorite word today was RUMPLE. I won't say the puzzle was a SNAP but it worked out in the end.
Thanks, C Moe for your light-hearted review with many additions. Time well spent. Hope you all have a productive day.
My first thought, too, C-Moe, was THA(She blows)
As I mentioned last night my time limit was 20 minutes. I had to leave, just as well. But upon returning the theme clues dropped beginning with CBISCUIT.
If there's NAE pen there's NAE xword. Nor blotchy mess: as with ROEPER/SISKEL and whatever I had before PERSIA. (I hope RAPANUI was right(UNK)- Shouldn't clue have been Easter Island natives?
I knew the letters ISBN but not the order. ALIBIED straightened me out
FIR eventually. Thx C-Moe, I'll check more links later.
WC
Something that's too easy could be Kid Stuff, or it's a SNAP. AFTS is abbreviation of AFTernoonS. Never know when Moe is serious.
Got a city notice of no on-street parking Sunday, as my development usually gets 350 beggars on Halloween, people bringing kids in not just from other neighborhoods but from the suburbs. I'll head to my daughter's house where she'll usually only get 30 or 40.
billocohoes: I should’ve proofread my comments on AFTS. Yes, I knew it was an abbreviation for afternoons. I was trying to indicate how I don’t care for pluralizing abbreviations by indicating that the WORD aft - as in the rear of a ship/boat - would never be plural.
Regarding the “kid stuff” (SNAP) and showing the Kellogg’s cereal trio, that was me being silly.
Don’t feel bad; I don’t know when I’m being serious either! ;^)
This one was a workout for me, especially in the north central region where AFTS took a long while to bubble up through the mud of ABC/CBS/NBC/NPR/PBS. Ch.Moe, that's quite the write-up! From Johhny Mathis to Louis Prima with Snoopy and FLEET enemas in between. Just to name a few. And, oh look whales. Now, where did I put that transparent aluminum?
FIW, missing my wag at Natick INItO x EKBERt. Erased ruffle for RUMPLE, togs for GARB, barn for SILO, and adali for ADLAI (UNTIE!).
“The best bilge pump of all is a [bail] in the hands of a frightened man.”
– Butch Dalrymple-Smith (The quote actually says "bucket".) I rented an emergency raft in a container for a sailboat race from Annapolis to Bermuda, but refrained from filling in "raft".
ALIGHT is also a big HR software company. I have to deal with their software to manage part of our investments. Seems to work fine, but is a little less than intuitive.
Thanks for the challenge, Gary, even if some of it was on the far side of my ability. And thanks to C-Moe for the review, except for those RITEs!
Thanks Gary for a delightful, albeit crunchy puzzle, which ALAS I DNF. DNK ROEPER and TIS and didn't see TEE's as joints, despite having spent 4 college summers selling PIPE FITTINGS in a plumbing supply house. I did however love the theme and got all the themers.
Thank you CMOE for an excellent review with lots of good stuff, especially the MOEKUS.
Favish C/Fs:
4A AFTS. As in AFTERNOONS. In Crosswordese ANY fill can be pluralized. Just add ESSES and serve.
30A RITE. I'll have to keep this short as we're on the way to a RITE we'd rather not attend, the funeral of our Parish Council chairman, who died unexpectedly on a return flight from Europe.
62A RUMPLE. I resemble that remark!
38D ABUSERS. As in, "Crossword CONSTRUCTORS are ABUSERS of WORDS".
42D MISS USA. No pic MOE? TISSK, TISSK.
56D EBAN. Wow MOE, DNK he was a scholar, a politician, AND a musician! Sounds like he was very EPT.
Cheers,
Bill
In the southeast I had t-bond and mixed up ISBN (again) so it took a lot of white out to rearrange the letters to a FIR. A lot of clever clues. Thanks Gary. A superb expo C. Moe.
Nope. Not today. Turfed it big time in the SW. I was going for the win, but in retrospect I should have kicked the field goal for the TIE GAME, and took my chances in overtime. However, my next project awaits, so I uncharacteristically changed the game to error check mode.
I guess I was just too tired this morning after staying up to watch that exciting game between the Cardinals and the Packers. What a game, and what an ending. One for the ages.
Anyway, great puzzle and great write up, so all is now understood.
Desper-otto, it's no wonder that you had a hard time finding that TEE that Moe pictured. I used it earlier this month on this project in my garage. I needed it for the drip leg:
Garage Space Heater pics
Gotta run.
See all y'all later n'at !
Musings
-I saw the gimmick early but I tried to quit in the SW corner twelve times before I gutted it out for a well-earned “got ‘er done”.
-Every real Nebraskan knows this great steakhouse
-STEROID works for asthma relief but my brother’s INHALER helped him fight for air his entire life
-My first Montoya thought was guitarist Carlos
-Here in the very flat Platte Valley, my town and my golf course are AWASH with river water on occasion
-ADLAI won my admiration as the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. when the Russian Ambassador refused to admit they had missiles in Cuba. He said, “I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over, if that's your decision!” You go ADLAI!
-The downside of a high IQ
-Crash! ABUSERS took a long time, RAPA NUI was beyond me, I had TAKE ONE for Draw a long time, SCHOOL_ for U PEOPLE, ENDEAR for ENAMOR, etc.
-Hip for a three-way joint and PROLE? didn’t help either
-I thought Dion’s song was Donna, Donna Lovely Little Donna but seeing the title on Sirius radio showed me I was wrong
Good puzzle and fun summary.
I started at the bottom and found C BISCUIT quickly, so the clever theme was set early on. I looked up INIGO and EKBERG. I have heard of EKBERG, but didn't pay attention to what movies she made.
The bottom two thirds was easier for me than the top. The E in ROEPER confused me for while. I didn't remember that spelling at all. Perped it.
When I was a youth, Johnny Mathis was my favorite singer.
I read Frank McCourt's 'Tis and Angela's Ashes. Both are very dark, but interesting.
Hand up for horn before tusk. Tusk is better.
I always thought DIS means disrespect. I prefer DIS, but must acknowledge that DISS is becoming popular.
Good morning everyone.
Got 3 quadrants fairly quickly but had an impasse in the NW. Finally caved and got help with EKBERG; simply could not remember her. Also knew Narwhals had a TUSK, but couldn't think of the name of that long thingy. So; a happy camper for a Friday. Neat theme. Especially liked Y BOTHER.
SHE - In addition to ships we seem to refer to other large machinery, ie. locomotives/trains as SHE, also.
LLoyds changed its style in 2003 to call ships 'It'.
More about SHE - - RADM Francis Foley wrote this in 1998:
“Ships are referred to as ‘she’ because men love them, but this encompasses far more than just that. Man-o’-war or merchantman, there can be a great deal of bustle about her as well as a gang of men on deck, particularly if she is slim-waisted, well-stacked, and has an inviting superstructure. It is not so much her initial cost as it is her upkeep that makes you wonder where you founder.
She is greatly admired when freshly painted and all decked out to emphasize her cardinal points. If an aircraft carrier, she will look in a mirror when about to be arrested, and will wave you off if she feels you are sinking too low or a little too high, day or night. She will not hangar around with duds, but will light you off and launch you into the wild blue yonder when you muster a full head of steam.
“Even a submarine reveals her topsides returning to port, heads straight for the buoys, knows her pier, and gets her breast-lines out promptly if she is single-screwed. On departure, no ship leaves port asleep, she always leaves a wake. She may not mind her helm or answer to the old man when the going gets rough, and can be expected to kick up her heels on a family squall.
“A ship costs a lot to dress, sometimes blows a bit of smoke, and requires periodic overhauls to extend her useful life. Some have a cute fantail, others are heavy in the stern, but all have double-bottoms which demand attention. When meeting head-on, sound a recognition signal; whistle. If she does not answer up, come about and start laying alongside, but watch to see if her ship is slowing . . . perhaps her slip is showing? Then proceed with caution until danger of collision is over and you can fathom how much latitude she will allow.
“If she does not remain on an even keel, let things ride, feel your way, and do not cross the line until you determine ‘weather’ the “do” point is right for a prolonged blast. Get the feel of the helm, stay on the right “tact”, keep her so, and she will pay off handsomely. If she is in the roaring forties, however, you may be in the dangerous semi-circle, so do not expect much “luff,” especially under bare poles.
“She may think you are not under command or control and shove off. If she edges aweigh, keep her steady as she goes, but do not sink into the doldrums. Just remember that ‘to furnish a ship requires much trouble, but to furnish a woman the cost is double!’
“To the women who now help us “man” our ships, my apologies for the foregoing. Only the opening phrase presents my true feelings. After all, a ship’s bell(e) will always remain her most prized possession, and every good ship has a heart, just like yours. A trick at the wheel, like you, would have been welcome aboard when I was on “she” duty for 40 years. May God bless you all, sweetheart!”
Moe RUMPLE steel skin 😆 LOL 😆!
I had DELUGED > ENGULFED > AWASH IN.
Husker Gary "There's no heavier burden than a great potential" is the story of my life!
Spitz - I've always heard that "a sailboat is like a woman - her rigging costs more than her hull". I suspect that was adapted from Foley. Thanks for the grins.
Wow ! Spitzboov, that was some heavy reading, I hope 'she', er, they, forgive us. The article was very well written, and very enjoyable with all the double entendres. Thank you for reproducing it.
Thank you Gary Larson, for a very challenging, punny and quixotic puzzle. I enjoyed it very much, once I got some of the tricks you employed.
Thank you Chairman Moe, for your extensive and expansive blog and review. I learnt a lot of things. You had so many tangential subjects, I was sometimes left wondering if we were both discussing the same, today's, puzzle ...
First, I have a problem with, a term, I'm not even a follower of ...
8. A .... Descendents of Muhammad, in Shi'ism ... IMAMS.
Shia's ... 'the party of Ali (-ibn-abi-Talib)' ... are, like their counterpart - co-religionists, the Sunnis, an inherently, a huge variety of sects. It would be scientifically, and logistically impossible for all their Imams, or leaders, to be true descendents, or even imagined descendents, of the Prophet. There are the Khojas, the Bohras, the 6 shriners, the 12 shriners, et al. , ones in N. Pakistan, the Hazaras and others in Afghanistan, and 99 percent of Iranians (Persians ...) and ones in Lebanon and Turkey.
It is true that Aga Khan IV, Shah Karim al-Huseyni, ...Wiki "as Aga Khan ... makes a disputed claim of being the direct lineal descendent of the Islamic prophet Muhammad ... through his cousin, and son-in-law Ali and the prophet's daughter, Fatima ..." All from the Wiki...
But, not All Imams claim to be descendents of the Prophet... IMHO
The clue is cute, but not entirely accurate.
The Head or Spiritual leader of a mosque, would be more to the point, and would have sufficed.
have a nice day, all.
Typical Friday but a clever theme which
"I Can C Clearly Now"".
Jonesboro, I was thinking of the "Kool-Aid" of Jones town. RAPA(t,p,)UI: hadda been at least partly hidden in my CW lobe. ENAMOR: to cause to fall in love with? not win over
Have to check with Spitz. thought a Sailor's needed a pAIL (container) to bail (Isn't it a verb not a noun?) 🤔
Known as the H Ross Perot UPEOPLE" speech....” Perot told the Nashville, Tennessee, NAACP...audience on July 11, 1992. “Now I don’t have to tell you who gets hurt first when this sort of thing happens, do I? You people do, your people do. I know that, you know that.”
Inkover: wild/AVID
Liked the AGATE clue. ARTIST seemed too obvious.
Protest likely without hippies....AWASHIN
Tepees or Teepees literally...TENSE
Flight competion....AIRACE
Away to visit the grandkids this weekend Going along trick-or-treating with them. All you grumpies...try to have a Happy Halloween 🎃👻
😁
Friday toughie, but I really enjoyed it anyway, Gary--many thanks. And always appreciate your commentary, Chairman Moe--thanks for that too.
I had most fun in the middle, where I got EYE and NAE, which gave me NIL and then AVID and then VET.
Also neat to have ADLAI turn up after all these years.
It killed me not to get "Deans, professors and undergrads" since I was a professor for so many decades. Oh, U PEOPLE! Had to admit it was funny and made me laugh.
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody.
Sigh. Sadly, a DNF for unclefred. Even to fill with constant Google cheats took 50 minutes. I did get the theme with the very first theme answer, 16A's CHANCESR, after wrinkling my forehead for a while thinking, "What? something's wrong here!" until finally sussing the R as ARE. Even that didn't help, there are just too many DNKs here to even list. Sad day when I Google 39D and still fill it wrong: RAPuNUI instead of RAPANUI. Oy. W/Os TUSSLE:RUSSLE:RUMPLE, SUG:SAG, and an early error, CEO:INC. As I led with....sigh. A very good CW, though, even though you got me, GL, and an extremely nice write-uo, C-Moe, thanx as always for all your time and effort.
Hola!
TIS Saturday? Right? No! Only Friday. Ay, ay, ay! Gary Larson, you are cruel.
I finally finished after starting at 6:00 A.M, going back to bed at the half way mark then refreshed, continued. It was those random letters that frustrated me until I realized they were part of the solution.
I loved the movie, Sea BISCUIT but laughed at CBISCUIT.
I also was one of those UPEOPLE but it puzzled me for along time until I recalled RAPA NUI. usually only RAPA or NUI is found in a puzzle so I liked seeing all of it.
I really, really hate ABUSERS of any kind. My granddaughter found one (emotional, not physical) and sadly, there is nothing I can do about it especially since he fathered my great-grandson.
Who doesn't remember Anita EKBERG? She, the gorgeous one!
I love both Johnny Mathis and the Village PEOPLE! Thank you, Moe, for linking them.
This was a worthy Friday puzzle!
Enjoy the day, everyone! It's bright and sunny here. 63 degrees at the moment but likely to reach 80 this afternoon.
I wasn't feeling well last night, so only submitted one l'ick. Feeling better, so even though it's late in the day, I'll atone.
The Grammarian would ALIGHT from his horse,
Cruciverbians oft just alit, of course.
Now, I don't mean to DIS,
Crosswordese goes like this,
And texting makes SPELLING even worse!
Most fans of YouTube are quite AVID.
They want to see all films as they're ADDED!
Some uploaders are ARTISTS,
Though most are just fartists,
Fans don't judge, they just want to see A VID!
{A-, B+.}
Gary's puzzle cracked me up. The Chairman's write-up did, too. Thanks for the laughter!
Spitz, here's another:
“A ship is always referred to as “she” because it costs so much to keep her in paint and powder.” – ADM. Chester Nimitz
Jinx in Norfolk: yes, those "RITES" were not pleasant to look at nor read about. But I always like to provide equal opportunities! Notice that now I am putting a warning about the attachment or link I insert into my blog.
Spitz, thanks for the missive regarding why a ship - or other mechanical device - is named "SHE". Quite educational. And FTR, I may have known a human "SHE" who was high maintenance!! ;^)
HG: What R the CHANCES that a restaurant in NE would have the same name??! Sounds like a place where the Chairman could get a decent steak and bottle of wine
I'm sure that SOMEONE other than I noticed that I slipped in a Gary Larson cartoon into the blog ... ;^)
Fun fact about this October 2021: The month had 5 each Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I don't think that happens too often. Wonder if it has a "name"?
I claim a foul. "Bail" in this context is a verb not a noun. Should have been clued, "Sailors emergency action." And while I'm griping, "UPeople" is weak.
Dion, was on the fateful Buddy Holly tour. Offered a seat on the doomed flight he weighed the $38.00 vs his mother's rent for a month in Brooklyn and passed.
The Big Booper took his seat. Richie Valens took Waylon Jenning's seat.
Vidwan, actually the mathematics goes the other way. I imagine DNA comparison of the Aga and any 20 random Arabs would show a Relationship
Owen, two very clever l'icks
WC
C-Moe ~~I did notice the Gary Larson cartoon and I’ve wondered - are the cartoonist and constructor one and the same or two different people?
Yooper Phil: two different people
Hi All!
Lucina said it; this puzzle takes a Saturday-level solver :-)
Gary, you got me good. Took 3 Googles for me even get started in the NE & SW.
Technical DNF.
Fun expo Moe; those kus cracked me up.
WO: her -> SHE (thought she was too easy for Friday :-))
Googles: EKBERG, INIGO, RAPANUI
Fav: I thought the theme was pretty dern cute.
South was first to fall, and C BISCUIT gave it away and helped with the other themers. Only question -letter in front or back for rest of the themers.
{A | A, B+}
Nice job on the heater, TTP.
Fun SHE Ship quips Spitz & Jinx.
YooperPhil @4:05 - I wondered that too about Larson but learned a while back, sadly no. Though, could you imagine the crazy puzzle logic the creator of the Far Side would produce? :-)
U PEOPLE? [Tropic Thunder - Robert Down Jr. plays an actor who got really into character playing a black guy. MPAA MA*]
Time for a quick nap b/f Game 3.
Cheers, -T
*if you've never seen the movie, it's meta*-hilarious. Trailer
**stupid Facebook is about to ruin the meaning of meta :-(
Acesaroundagain I'm with you on BAIL. The clue definitely calls for a noun. I just read definitions in more dictionaries than I could keep track of, and not a one of them listed this type of bail as a noun. a few did identify a bail as the handle of a pail, and one listed a derived term as "bailer".
Second day in a row I've cried foul on a clue! Rich must be losing it, getting sloppy on his fact checking!
Didn't see this posted. Finally, the moment Inigo has been waiting for all of his life.
Errata:
OKL -you pointed out my W/O that was an extra curve-stroke making a Pail a BAIL. At the clue, with only the L in place I thought about the seafaring waif from The Mysterious Benedict Society [Trailer] that I watched with the Girls.
//She's the one in the green stocking hat that caries a bucket / pail of emergency bric-a-brac that get the kids out of many harrowing jams.
Cheers, -T
Aces@3:50 PM I guess we've been carping so much about VERBIFIED clues that Rich threw us a NOUNIFIED bone. 🦴
-T @5:04 PM Hopefully it'll ruin Fakebook.
Bail as a scoop to dip water out of a boat is obsolete.
"BAIL: A bucket or scoop used in bailing water out of a boat. [Obs.] The. bail. of a canoe . . . made of a human skull. Capt. Cook."
When I was a kid we called the the thin wire-like handle of a bucket a bail.
Some Shiites believe that their imams are descendants of Mohammed. Sunnis do not.
Moe, I guarantee you would get at great meal at CHANCES R!
Dash T, thanks. The drywall patch area has all been sanded, primed and painted.
You want me to come down and install one in your garage for those cold winter nights in southeast Texas ? 30K BTU space heater. Hopefully that link will work.
It all started when I took the old 28K BTU one off the wall when I was painting the garage. I decided to replace it since I occasionally smelled mercaptan last winter from the old one. And I mean old. I probably originally installed it over 25 years ago, and then remounted it when I insulated and drywalled the garage perhaps a dozen years ago.
Of course, there are always some unexpected gotchas in projects. In this case, I had to replace a street 90 behind the drywall because the new heater required that the black gas pipe stick 1.25" out of the wall farther than the old one.
DW cut up a picnic table cover and sewed on elastic band. So now it has a stretch-to-fit dust cover. Custom ! The project pictures and an article will be in an upcoming issue of Family Handyman magazine ;>).
Time to watch the game. Go 'Stros !
“English spelling is consistently inconsistent, amirite?”
Merriam-Webster - "We Added (455) New Words to the Dictionary for October 2021"
If you take the link, also look at "meta" on their Trending Now.
I liked this puzzle and the level of difficulty. Enjoyed the theme gimmick. Had to change TOUSLE to RUMPLE, which is a really fun word. Had one incorrect square, having misspelled EBAN as EBON thus making BAMA BOMA. I needed a V-8 slap to find and fix it.
The news media is AWASH IN sensationalist adjectives. Everything that happens is explosive, devastating, a bombshell, destructive, horrific, etc.
Meta? Meta? Sheesh! (It means "dead" in Hebrew.)
Thank you all for your recap and comments. Take care, all.
TTP, congratulations!
Frantic Friday. Thanks for the fun, Gary and CMoe.
Officially a DNF today, as I gave up in the SW. Sounds like others had the same issues so I won’t elaborate on my stumbles.
But I did see the clever Letter theme (for the ones that I got), and the Easter Eggs with T BILL (and TEE?). Shall I be Canadian A today?
I did not figure out U PEOPLE, but I see that CMoe has sent me a mini-SO. But I was agasp to see the Don Cherry clip. You Americans may not remember the backstory. Cherry (a longtime CBC sports commentator along with Ron McLean on Coach’s Corner, Hockey Night in Canada) was fired several years ago for his You People comments which were deemed racist.
DonCherry
Wishing you all a good night.
TTP - Starting about 20 years ago, a subscription to Family Handyman has been part of my Christmas gift from Pop. I still have (most) all the issues.
Great Goofs is my first read when a new issue comes in.
I keep trying to get Pop, a professional Handy Man, to submit his projects and handy hints. Here's one 'hint' I sent him to submit a few weeks ago:
"Don't toss the Amazon bubble-envelopes. They make a perfect kneeling pad when working in the garage."
Looking forward to reading your submission.
Jayce - in modern vernacular, meta is self-referential. Like telling a joke about the joke you're telling.
C, 'A'! - see my Tropic Thunder links to back-up the racial overtones of "U PEOPLE" :-)
Cheers, -T
Jayce @7:10 PM Sound like Meta in Hebrew is like [Chevy] NOVA in Spanish.
Jayce, so sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I got comfortable and turned on the TV to watch the game. Turned the volume off because the Braves fans started that annoying tomahawk chant in the first inning, and then promptly fell asleep. Didn't even make it to the second inning.
Jayce and Dash T, I was just kidding about the Family Handyman article. I even used a winking smiley. I should have used an LOL. FH wouldn't see much of a project that only involved a little bit of gas pipe work and drywall repair.
Me too, Dash T. Straight to the back inside page for Great Goofs. Some of those are hilarious. I picked up a copy of FH in 2013 and have been getting it since then. Love it for all the tips and projects.
Some real out there ones in this puzzle. Seems like a trend to try and trick solvers more than make them think.
👍
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