16. *Progressive Era muckraker: IDA TARBELL.
28. *12-time 35-Down All Star and TV analyst: ISIAH THOMAS.
34. *Australian swimmer with five Olympic golds: IAN THORPE.
59. '00s Britcom about an underappreciated computer support squad ... or what the answers to starred clues comprise?: THE IT CROWD.
Across:
1. Mires: BOGS.
5. Loving smack: KISS. Ever heard of a loving smerp?
13. "Bolero" composer: RAVEL.
14. Spots to clear up: ACNE.
15. Not at one's desk: AWAY. A rare occurrence for many. Except for you lucky retired folks!
18. Socially aware: WOKE.
19. Tundra deer: CARIBOU.
20. Plane engine type: FANJET. The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion.
22. CNN anchor Burnett: ERIN.
23. "Your turn": OK GO.
26. Whack, biblically: SMITE. Past tense, smote. This is a long-ish clip (5 mins), in which Archangel Michael (played by John Travolta) describes how he smote a bank.
27. Stephen of "Citizen X": REA. 1995 film based on Robert Cullum's non-fiction book The Killer Department, published in 1993.
30. Wall St. "500": SANDP. The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices.
32. PreCheck org.: TSA. That'll be extra.
33. Crave, e.g.: WANT.
38. Tijuana home: CASA. Spanish.
41. Gen-Z sweetheart: BAE.
42. Prompts: URGES.
50. Fig. of interest to a dietitian: RDA. Recommended Dietary Allowance of essential nutrients.
51. Slangy "Absolutely!": TOTES. Sub for totally.
52. Petro-Canada competitor: ESSO.
53. Leave early: BAIL.
54. Appliance connection, briefly: AC PLUG.
56. Mass-times-velocity measures: MOMENTA. Plural form of momentum.
58. Swimming great Torres: DARA. Twelve-time Olympic medalist.
62. Early garden spot: EDEN.
63. Muscat's land: OMAN. Oman's port capital. The allures of Muscat, Oman.
64. Book with roads: ATLAS. Nice clue.
65. Easy gait: LOPE.
66. X-rated material: SMUT. Seeing this word more and more, it was in the last puzzle I blogged, too.
67. "__ she blows!": THAR.
Down:
1. Shady part of town: BAD AREA.
2. Of a certain reproductive gland: OVARIAN.
3. Arrive: GET IN.
4. Thick slice: SLAB. Who else thought of bacon?
5. Japanese dance-drama: KABUKI. How to enjoy your first Kabuki experience to the fullest.
6. Party bucket item: ICE.
7. NBC skit show: SNL. Saturday Night Live.
8. Lead-in to made or love: SELF.
9. Blades that cut blades: LAWN MOWER.
10. WWII flag-raising island: IWO JIMA. Iconic.
11. Faux glow: FAKE TAN.
12. Evaluation with a capital E?: EYE TEST.
13. Kitchen cutters: RICERS. Food is pushed or pressured through a metal or plastic plate with many small holes, producing a smoother result than mashing, but coarser than pureeing or passing through a sieve or tamis.
17. Outback hoppers: ROOS. Kangaroos.
21. Outdoor grill residue: ASH.
24. Amasses: GATHERS.
25. Very, very: OH SO.
28. Pub drink, briefly: IPA. India pale ale is a hoppy beer style within the broader category of pale ale.
29. Roofing goo: TAR. Haha. Smells terrible, I hate getting stuck behind one of those with the hot, smoking tar wafting behind it.
31. "Unfaithful" Oscar nominee: DIANE LANE. 2002 Erotic thriller.
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35. Hoops org.: NBA.
36. London gallery: TATE. A family of four art galleries in London, Liverpool, and Cornwall, known as Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, and Tate St. Ives. Tate Modern is the one in London. See here.
37. Yipping adoptee: PUP.
38. Fortress: CITADEL.
39. Much of guacamole: AVOCADO.
40. H.S. course pioneered by Stanley Kaplan: SAT PREP. Interesting fellow. In 1984, Stanley Kaplan sold his company to The Washington Post Company for $45 million.
43. Crunchy bar stuff: GRANOLA. Ohhh, that kind of bar. I was thinking bar like saloon - peanuts or pretzels.
44. Battle waged on Wikipedia: EDIT WAR.
45. Tossed courses: SALADS. Another sneaky misdirection - courses of a meal.
47. The NCAA's Wildcats: KSU. Kansas State University.
48. Govt. moneymaker: US MINT.
49. Academic: MOOT. 1. Subject to debate, dispute, or uncertainty. 2. Having little or no practical relevance, typically because the subject is too uncertain to allow a decision.
53. Sailor's quarters: BERTH. A fixed bed or bunk on a ship, train, or other means of transport.
55. Sporty muscle cars: GTOS.
57. Future MD's exam: MCAT. Kaplan of 40D can help with that, too!
60. "Let's see ... ": HMM.
61. Lac contents: EAU. Eau is the French word for water, and lac is French for lake.
Melissa
52 comments:
Good morning!
Nope. Twas not to be. Problems started at 1a with FENS. Have I ever mentioned that I hate it when I get 1a wrong? Got that fixed, but ran into a buzzsaw in Arizona. My AC Cord wasn't working. Couldn't see SAT PREP, didn't know DIANE LANE, and had no idea who the Wildcats might be. Bzzzzzt, enjoy your ceramic Dalmation. You're no Matt Immodium. Thanx to August and Melissa Bee.
LAWN MOWER: Most have a single blade, not blades. Unless you count the two cutting edges on the single blade as "blades." Those hand-powered mowers had multiple blades, but they're seldom seen today.
BERTH: They stacked us three deep on that aircraft carrier on metal frames with saggy springs. Our compartment slept 70. The crew size was about 1,000 more that the ship was designed for. No problem. Just turn a mess deck into berthing space. Fortunately(?) our "bedroom" was aft, near one of the propeller drive-shafts. The roar from the shaft drowned out all the snoring.
Note to TTP. Good Morning ! Sorry about the White Sox ending their season about a week after the hopeless Twins, While watching the game, they showed a camera shot of the big silver colored bean in the Chicago area. Kind of reminded me of our Big Spoon with a cherry on top in a park just west of downtown Minneapolis. Art is not just the first name of Mr. Garfunkel.
Quite the challenge for a Wednesday puzzle but I did manage to FIR in a few ticks less than a half hour, which is usually about a Saturday timeframe for me. Never knew that “woke” meant socially aware, seems it’s always used in a negative context by politicians to degrade someone with differing opinions. “Kabuki” is definitely a new one for me, as the “k” in “okgo” was the last letter I filled in the grid. First thought of the Wildcats as being Kentucky as the “k” fit, but Ken or Kyu didn’t make sense. Guess I’m not very hep cuz I never heard the word “totes” but I’ll have to work it in a conversation now. I initially had avocado 🥑 spelled wrong, and thought that it was Diana Lane which made the word “tatas”, and I had the feeling that wasn’t correct. And now I know who Ian Thorpe is, and the plural for momentum is momenta. All in all a very fun and challenging start to the day, thank you August and Rich!
YooperPhil, "totes" is often followed by "adorbs" -- totally adorable.
Lots of proper names but the perps were golden. If only I could remember how to spell avacodo (avocodo).
FIW, missing WAGS at TakES and DAnA. SAT PREP is a H.S. course? Maybe they should just teach the underlying subjects.
Phil, come March folks will be talking about the UK variety of Wildcats, not any of those imposters. But two-letter fills aren't allowed in the LAT CW (but are OK in the King Features offerings).
This one didn't tickle my fancy, with the obscure swimmers, old Britcom, and unknown CNN personality. It wasn't just that I didn't know them, but after they were revealed I didn't care. (Ignorance and apathy are long suits in my DNA hand.) But I did like THAR she blows immediately following SMUT.
Good morning.
One cell FIW. My "kitchen cutters" were dICERS and never noticed that made "Bolero" composer dAVEL. I know better. We have a RICER. DW used to make spaetzle, and occasionally potato pancakes with it. I don't think of a RICER as kitchen cutters. More of a food press.
Hi, Melissa. The girl next door Betty is sure laying a heavy smooch on Archie. Looks like she caught him off guard. Good thing rich girl (and Archie pursuer) Veronica didn't see that big smerp.
Dash T has linked videos of "The IT Crowd" before. Funny show, but a bit absurd. It's about a couple of poorly skilled slackers working in tech support having fun not providing any real support. The IT Crowd - Tech Support
Boomer, yes, I watched the series against the 'Stros. My observations ? Abreu wasn't his usual self and must have had lingering effects from the flu. I also didn't understand starting Lance Lynn in game 1. He throws the highest percentage of fastballs at 97 % of pitches thrown, and he was going up against the best fastball hitting team in baseball this year in the Astro's. Set the stage for a series loss.
That sculpture shown during the game yesterday is named Cloud Gate, but true, almost everyone calls it "The Bean". It's mirror-like surface is highly reflective, so if you look at it as you walk around and under it you'll get all these different and sometimes odd views of the people and the nearby skyscrapers that surround it. It's really quite neat. 7 Interesting Facts About The Chicago Bean
An easy Wed. level puzzle and I got IT at ISIAH THOMAS.
But I'd never heard of the term 'Britcom' or "THE IT CROWD".
DIANE LANE was the only unknown filled by perps.
I remember ERIN Burnett from years past when she was on CNBC as a financial anchor.
If MOMENTA is the plural of momemtum, what's the plural of INERTIA?
Wildcats- had to change KENtucky to Kansas State U.
Matt Immodium? That's a good one. His answer well finally 'dried up'.
Jinx-SAT PREP- they don't care if you really know anything or can think. It's all about getting into the 'right' college.
Like YP @6:30, FIR in just under 30. Too many names, for me, making it a bit of a struggle. Like others, AVACADO:AVOCADO a W/O, along with MSAT:MCAT. THEITCROWD? Never heard of it. 9D = fun clue, although as pointed out a rotary mower has only one blade. Thanx AM for your CW. Too many proper names, but other than that a fun challenge. And thanx too to MB for the terrific write-up.
Good morning everyone.
Too many a's in CARIBOU so, FIW. A couple SLABS of chunkiness made this a worthy mid-week puzzle. ISIAH crossing KABUKI wasn't cake, either. Liked MOMENTA. TOTES perped in but I didn't like it. LOPE or 'trot'? CITADEL and AVOCADO settled that.
CSO to -T and many others @ IT.
Thanks MB for getting us started.
Big Easy - INERTIA. plural inertias or inertiae or inertiæ
Have a great day.
Jinx @7:25,I agree, absolutely. Should I say, TOTES? IMO, this is not a Wed. puzzle, too many names. I looked up three or four names along the west coast, even with the IT reveal.
Only in crosswords do you see S&P written as SANDP, same for JANDJ, J&J.
IMO ricers do not cut, they smash or press food through small holes. See mb's picture.
I am old enough to have pictured the push lawn mower with the multiple blades. My sister and I had to mow the front lawn every week. We agreed to alternate taking the left or right side, because the left side had underground yellow jacket nests. We got no sympathy, not even an offer to spray the holes.
AC PLUG was a fun misdirection.
I enjoy many Saturday puzzles where I have to look things up. Not so today. I do not find names to be clever fill.
Musings
-IDA TARBELL? It took a while to feel that was right.
-Betty is really laying one on Archie!
-10 did for Ravel’s Bolero what 2001: A Space Odyssey did for Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra
-OK GO might be good or bad news to a new parachute jumper
-TOTES and BAE are two words that I don’t think will ever leave my mouth
-Many Husker fans would BAIL on KSU games when the Wildcats were behind by huge amounts
-Why or if Pete Carroll made the most stupid play call in Super Bowl history is now a MOOT point.
-My EGO electric mower has two blades
Yep. Lots of names and too much slang (TOTES, BAE, WOKE, etc.) for my taste. An AC PLUG is something I use but an identification that I never use. Ok GO and HMM were necessary, but not first-rate, fill. Still, managed to work through everything and, for the first time, printed out the L.A. puzzle from The Times web site in lieu of solving it on the screen. I just might stick with that approach.
. . . and CC has a USA Today puzzle today with some creative pairings of clues.
Yellowrocks, here's a video of an: Old Reel Mower. My grandfather never had a gasoline engine powered mower, and didn't want one. I mowed their yard a few times with it, and it was a chore, to say the least. When he got too old to mow, or maybe it was after he passed, my dad bought a push gas mower to mow that yard.
Funny about the names today. I knew all of them, pretty much off the bat. But it take a perp or two to get IAN THORPE, and ISIAH THOMAS, and I recalled DARA as DAnA. Her longevity and success in competitive swimming is legendary.
No delay at all in filling ERIN, IVANKA TRUMP and IDA TARBELL. She is famous for her muckraking that exposed the monopolistic methods and greed of the robber barons, but especially Rockefeller and Standard Oil. She was born about halfway between where Abejo and I lived. Just a bit across the state line from where Vidwan lives. She is often credited as creating the field of investigative journalism.
Well, we now know that SMUT does not trigger the new Blogger algorithm that puts commenter's entries into the Spam folder. Erotic and erotica did. Guess we'll learn other words over time.
Speaking of chores, I'd better get to mine.
Thanks August for a tricky Wednesday FIR. Most of this was pretty straightforward, except for the NATICK NEST in the SW. I rolled the DICE on DIANE LANE and TOTES and won the lottery, pulling in SAT PREP and DARA in the bargain.
Thanks Melissa for a very entertaining and informative review.
13A BOLERO. This was not one of RAVEL's favorite compositions. He wrote many truly great pieces and among my favorites is the "Mother Goose Suite". Here's the finale, entitled "The Fairy Garden".
28A ISIAH. GEEZ, ISAIAH doesn't even know how to spell his own name.
30A SANDP. Took me awhile to parse out the AND from the perps.
40A THE IT CROWD. IMHO, having worked in IT for many years I would agree that it's efforts are often "under-appreciated", but some of it is deserved. How many times has the Help Desk opened by asking you, "Is the AC PLUG connected?"
44D EDIT WAR. Be careful you don't get trapped in a WIKI "NO MAN'S LAND". Wiki apparently doesn't provide PEACE negotiators.
53A BERTH. A CSO to SPITZ. Is it a coincidence that today the Navy celebrates 246th Birthday?
Cheers,
Bill
p.s. Composed this while watching the Blue Origin New Shepherd takeoff and landing. We were particularly interested in this, as one of the astronauts, Audrey Powers, is an alumna of Mount De Sales Academy in Baltimore, the high school that one of our granddaughters is currently attending.
Bill, you're right. No wonder I always have trouble remembering how to spell Mr. Thomas' name.
Waseeley - Thanks for the comment. I forgot to note the Navy's 248th birthday. And yes, I've slept in 5 tiered berths during ROTC Summer cruise.
From Yesterday:
PK and AnonT Thank you for your concern about the Alisal Fire raging near us. So far we are safe and still in our home. Thank you.
TTP that's the mower my sister and I used. We would quickly run over the area where the yellow jackets nested, leave the mower and run away.
Hi All!
I loved THE IT CROWD [11:45] and got it with only the D in place.
Thanks, August, for the puzzle. Thank you mb for the fun review.
One more thing on the theme -- all I.T.s are people. Hence, four's a CROWD.
Note: I'm not a fan of names in puzzles, but kinda gotta be for this one. I knew all the theme names after ~3/5th perps filled.
WOs: mars->BOGS, adreana[l] -> OVARIAN, CARaBOU
ESPs: DARA, RAVEL, DIANE LANE, rAVEL
FIW: I had a DICER | DAVEL (Hi TTP!)
Fav: OK GO [Here It Goes Again 3:05]
YooperPhill - Woke, used as a pejorative by those who don't want to recognize social injustices, is to be aware / "awake" and somewhat sensitive to the plight of traditionally trod upon groups. For example, in CyberSecurity, we are (slowly) getting away from the terminology whitelist / blacklist substituting allowlist / blocklist because, "Why does black gotta mean bad?" :-)
LOL last sentence, Jinx.
TTP - I'd argue the guys in IT Crowd were skilled and well versed. Roy's shirt says "RTFM" (Read the F*ing Manual), Moss has a Camel Book poster on the wall behind him, and I think that's an EFF sticker on their door (behind Moss).
After getting stomped Sunday, I was a little worried about last night's game going in. Remember, I'm used to disappointment - Astros fan for 20 year now and was a Cubs fan 25 years before that :-)
Waseeley - but plugging it in IS important. Can't tell you how many times that was my first troubleshooting question to myself and, yep, I forgot to connect the power :-)
Cheers, -T
Hi Y'all! Liked this puzzle & theme, thanks, August. Good expo, thanks, Melissa.
Interesting IT CROWD. DNK IAN THORPE but WAGd it right.
Last fill was 24 G & 25 O in OK GO/Gathers/OHSO.
Have never seen a RICER. Not among my many kitchen gadgets.
KSU was a gimmee but I didn't expect it to be right when I plugged it in. Knew old Willie Wildcat. A lot of my money went there. But it was worth it for a great couple of careers.
To remember AVOCADO spelling I sing AO AO to the tune of "Hiho Hiho, it's off to work we go."
Bill: I think it was probably IsIah's parents who didn't spell right.
Picard: Glad to hear you were okay. Stay safe!
YR; FLN. You've had a run of unfortunate health oddities. I tell my son that I have a gremlin living in my body which decides to attack a different spot to make me miserable most days. Glad you still have the energy to dance.
Is today Friday! I had a harder time with this one than I usually have on Wednesday. Thank you for the challenge, August M. Thank you for the review, Melissa B, I needed it.
I counted 7 names today and the only one I knew right away was RAVEL. Didn't get the theme until MB explained it.
Favorite today, of course, is 37D Yipping adoptee/ PUP.
4D Thick slice/ SLAB My first thought was a thick slice of Mixed Nut Fruitcake for breakfast! I've been making this recipe for 40 years and people love it.
Does anyone else think that, on Monday's Jeopardy, Matt Amodio lost on purpose? It didn't feel like he was really trying to get the answers.
Happy Hump Day!
Thank you Mr. August Miller for a nice puzzle ... no real problems, and I really enjoyed it throughly. Thank you Melissa Bee for a very nice review.
I was not familiar with ISIAH THOMAS, IAN THORPE or DARA Torres, .... so had to wait for perps.
It is absolutely astonishing that one athlete, like Dara Torres, can win 12 Olympic medals, across 5 Olympics (!), ... thats 20+ years .... while quite a few countries don't win a medal at all, for decades. And she is among one of three american women to have achieved that triumph ! And Ian Thorpe won 5 Olympic golds ...
BTW, India, won One gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics, in the male javelin throw.( Countrywide total 1 gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze. ) The javelin throw success was the first time India had won a gold medal in the Track and field ... since 1900 (!), 47 years before it got independence, ..... although the indian field hockey team had won some gold medals since. The javelin launcher was gifted $ 3.7 million from various organisations of the grateful nation, all tax free. Just to show how things are in other parts of the world ....
KAPLAN .... I can personally testify that Test cramming does pay off, in higher scores. I personally had to cram for the TOEFL testofenglish asaforeign language, 4 GREs Gradrecordexams and 2 ATGSBs Advtestfor gradstudy inbusiness, and it does help to prepare for the style, mode, concept, and time management. The Germans call it Gestalt - just the psychology of the exam puts you on surer footing.
have a nice day, all.
Pat, I wondered that, too. Don't know how he could miss the Final Jeopardy.
anon T. I bet you don't say niggardly, either.
Pat, Spitz, I agree. I thought the same thing when Holzhauer finally lost. Amodio said it was his first game in the taping session after three weeks off, and he just couldn't get into the swing of things. But "Danube" in Poland? History and Geography are his two best categories.
A challenging FIR today on August's Wednesday puzzle. Thanks for the interesting fill. I had a couple of WOs: Bunk/BERTH and trot/LOPE (but it's always trot!) but no big trouble with the theme names, thanks to the perps. I started to read the review (thanks, Melissa B!) before taking time to think about the reveal. Seeing her title reminded me to do that, now having a hint but I believe it would have been clear to me anyway. Pretty obvious. But I didn't parse SANDP quickly though we've had it numerous times. Doing puzzles keeps me humble as well as entertained.
Glad to hear you're doing fine so far, Picard. Hope to hear an update on Irish Miss soon. Have a good day all.
Anon, of course there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that word (it's used in the Bible). But only an idiot would use it in a classroom, or in a school board meeting for that matter. Avoiding it isn't WOKE. WOKE is when "mother" is considered a trigger word, as they are trying to cram "birthing person" down our throats.
PK @12:58 PM And it's a good thing, otherwise he wouldn't have fIT in this puzzle! 😀
Wacky Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, August and melissa bee.
Totally a FIW today; but I did get the IT theme.
The whole western coast was a mess. I could plead Canadian disadvantage for DARA (although I did know IAN THORPE), ERIN, SAT PREP. I was thrown a bone (not for the PUP) with ESSO.
No problem spelling AVOCADO, but ISIAH took a while to straighten out.
My kitchen had a Razor (which I thought was absurd), and I had GET TO instead of IN. This gave me an exotic Tundra deer of ZARTBOK (hey, I didn’t know KABUKI either) instead of the CARIBOU that any Canadian should have known. Ach!
MOMENTA was jaw-dropping. (Or is it Ray-o and AnonT’s version of “just a sec”? LOL)
Stay safe Picard. I thought of you as I watched Canadian William Shatner “boldly go where no 90-year-old has ever gone before”!
Wishing you all a great day.
-T, I helped the fone factory usher in home ISDN back in the day. We changed the help desk script to ask "is the green light on the front ON" then if the answer was NO asking "is the power switch on the terminal adapter ON". Only when that didn't resolve the problem did we ask if it was plugged in. This sequence reduced customer frustration, yet still resolved a lot of complaints. And as much as I hate it when the cable help desk asks me to reboot the modem (as if I wouldn't try that before calling those duds), I understand that it is a necessary step when dealing with the general public. (The good news is that my cable internet service has become rock-solid and very fast, after years of substandard service.)
D-O, I agree that it seems that Holzhauer also seemed to lose on purpose during his run and also during the Greatest Of All Time competition. Pressure to keep Ken Jennings the top winner?
C -Eh! @ 2:26 .... I just love ZARTBOK: It's gotta mean something ... maybe the name of the Minister of Cupcakes for Ming the Merciless?
I thought it was DAnA* Torres but perps said DARA. A little tricky today. AND as a middle word fe.
Under "THAR She Blows" Was a pic of Dolly Parton in all her glory. I don't think Melissa B intended it but it was perfect
Aha, Kansas (State)* not Kentucky(KYU). And on second thought that slang is TOTES as Adorbs. FIW again. Seems I only FIR on weekends
I would use MOOT to mean "Whether the Redsox are better than Rays or Yankees is MOOT"(They just beat them both, the debate-abilty has past).
There were two NBA biblical Thomases: Isiah and Isaiah. The latter played for Celtics.
IAN THORPE goes back aways.
So, TTP did you have to un-spam your E(e*otic) post examples?
-T, anyone that's been in IT would have seen similar characters.
WC
** As D-O pointed out. Did Rich know there were two NCAA Wildcats?
A nice Wednesday PZL today from Mr. Miller, neatly analyzed by Melissa B.
IRA TARBELL was a welcome name.
OTOH, I am always a bit hesitant when it comes to proper names, esp. of TV personalities. But in today's examples, the names turned out to be familiar enough.
~ OMK
___________
DR: One diagonal today, far side.
A fairly interesting anagram (13 of 15 letters) refers to the feat of certain stand-up comics who, as columnist Mary McNamara notes in today's LA Times (although she is too polite to put it this way), seem to pull their material from their [ahem] rear ends.
I refer of course to those comedians who are said on occasion (using the past tense) to have...
"SHAT DROLLNESS"!
Once the theme was revealed this became a pretty smooth solve for me. ISIAH THOMAS and his rivalry with the Bad Boy Pistons vs Michael Jordan and the Bulls was a segment of "The Last Dance" documentary about MJ last year.
When I took Honors US History class in my junior year of high school, my teacher thought we all needed to read primary source material rather than use a textbook- I had never had to do that before. One of the books was "The Robber Barons" by Matthew Josephson and excerpts from "The History of the Standard Oil Company" by Ida Tarbell. I never forgot her unique name. I didn't work that hard in a class again until my junior year of college... - but I was glad to have that class in HS because I didn't have many History classes in college being a science/social science focus during those years!
I have a few friends and some of my kids who love "The IT Crowd" - very British humor. I was surprised they didn't have a US version like "The Office" did
Thanks Melissa and August!
The final Jeopardy question was easy. Even I knew it. I can't believe Matt could not come up with it. Likewise, the question that stopped Ken was easy.
As usual sport names did me in, again.
Pat, I agree I think Matt Amodio wasn’t trying to win. Maybe he was anxious to get back to his work on his PHD, and not comfortable with his new fame.
Thanks to all of you for your kind words about the loss of my doctor in the Santee plane crash, and Anonymous T for the additional information from News 7 San Diego. He was a very experienced pilot, may take years to find out what happened.
Picard, hope they get the fire under control, stay safe. The winds were really bad here in AZ, but it brought us some early cool weather was 51 this morning, a welcome change from our long, hot extreme summer.
Matt Amodio (his name means "beloved of God") appeared increasingly tired in his last week of appearances. On the last day he missed some extremely simple questions, and you could see his mental fatigue as he searched for responses.
When it comes to performance energy, the Jeopardy "champion" is always at a disadvantage in comparison with the newcomers.
They are each of them "fresh as a daisy." But he or she is likely to be hitting the wall before the show starts again.
Remember, the show tapes FIVE episodes in a single day. That means the reigning champ only has time to change clothes and get back into the studio before they are "on air" once more.
When we saw Matt doing his thing, he may have just come off of three or four prior episodes. The tension of being under those lights and performing on cue is exhausting even for professional Emcees.
Imagine what it was like for Matt after week after week of five episodes each performance day.
No wonder he looked exhausted the day he "lost."
~ OMK
I meant to add, I agree, it seems that Matt and Ken missed the questions on purpose. It kinda spoiled the contest for me. OMK, I see your point.
Vidwan 827 said, "it (studying) does help to prepare for the style, mode, concept, and time management (of the test)." Right on! I borrowed a study guide for Miller's Analogies from the library. Reading the sample questions and answers clued me in to the thinking behind the test which was much different than I expected.) I aced it. So the director was asked to rescore my test, because my result was so unusual. I highly recommend this type of studying, understanding the thinking behind the test, instead of memorizing facts.
Picard, so shocking and scary. I hope you and yours and the property escape unscathed.
I liked some of this puzzle and not other parts.
What I liked include:
The IT theme.
Words such as MOMENTA, OVARIAN, LAWN MOWER, CITADEL, and KABUKI.
Clues such as "Book with roads", "Blades that cut blades", and "Evaluation with a capital E".
What I didn't like:
Proper names, especially when there is no way to know how they are spelled if you don't already know the person, such as ISIAH.
Fill such as HMM, BAE, and TOTES as clued.
"Green paint" entries such as AC PLUG.
Is EDIT WAR really a thing?
LW and I got the impression that Matt Amodio was simply very exhausted. He looked tired. But it could very well have been scripted, i.e. rigged.
Like Michael, I just love ZARTBOK. Sounds like a kind of African antelope. Thanks for that, Melissa.
Good wishes to you all.
Ah, OMKeith expressed the idea that Matt Amodio was tired far better than I did (before I saw his post).
Jayce @5:03 PM EDIT WARS in the Wikipedia are definitely a real thing. The one I'm most familiar with is related to Intelligent Design theory. Its critics regard it as Creationism masquerading as science, whereas ID advocates regard it as a legitimate science. Because Wiki pages aren't "locked" anyone can edit them. ID critics have used BOTS to monitor changes in the Intelligent Design wiki page, and remove anything that shows up on it even remotely defending it. The anti-ID warriors have even gone so far as removing the pages of tenured academics who have expressed pro-ID views. The people at the Discovery Institute in Seattle, the principal advocates of this theory, have completely given up on making their case on the Wiki. If you're interested in what they have to say, here's their primary website.
Bill, it is Wikipedia, not Wiki. Wiki is a web format. Wikipedia is the crowd sourced online type of encyclopedia that uses the Wiki format. And while I generally agree with your statements, it is not entirely accurate that anyone can edit (all of) them.
Edit wars do exist, and one only needs to look at the "talk" section of many Wikipedia articles to witness that. But on the other hand, some Wikipedia articles only allow write access to those users with an "extended confirmed" user access.
Search, "Wikipedia:Rough guide to extended confirmed protection" for insight.
Wilbur Charles, no, I did not have to approve my blog comment that used the words erotic / erotica. The algorithm appears to gate blog administrators/ authors versus commenters. So if Melissa, or MM, or Chairman Moe wants to use the word, the comment will not be sent to spam. If however, you were to use it as a commenter to a blog, it would go to spam for moderation. I'm still studying the behavior of the algorithm.
BTW, here are the NCAA Division 1 schools using "Wildcats" as their mascot: Kentucky, Abilene Christian, Arizona, Bethune-Cookman, Davidson, Kansas State, New Hampshire, Northwestern, Villanova, and Weber State.
Yes!
CEh! @2:26 PM ZARTBOK doesn't sound very Wednesdayish to me. 🤔
waseeley- I thought it sounded like an animal I had seen on safari (which of course was not in the Arctic tundra). LOL! Michael @3:16 got a chuckle out of it.
CandianEh!: You beat me to my "quote" about "Captain Kirk" finally getting launched.
>> Roy
Oops, I thanked the wrong person for ZARTBOK. Thank you Canadian Eh!
MManatee - Thanks for the heads-up on C.C.'s USAToday. Cheers, -T
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