Theme: CHANCE ENCOUNTER
(60. Bumping into someone, say ... and what the end of each answer to a
starred clue can have?) - The last word can precede "chance".
17. *Swing from the get-go: COME OUT FIGHTING. Fighting chance.
23. *Well-made: BUILT TO LAST. Last chance.
30. *Early pudginess usually lost by one's teens: BABY FAT. Fat chance.
43. *Continue to avoid, as alcohol: STAY OFF. Off chance (Thanks, Tony Express). Never had much of a
desire for the stuff. The doctor did not hurt my feelings when he told
me to STAY OFF because it does not agree with my meds.
47. *"Don't go yet": WAIT A SECOND. Second chance.
Boomer here.
Yep, a fighting chance describes me trying to pick up a ten pin. There is never a second chance in the same frame. The opponents generally think "fat chance" that I will make it. It's their "last chance" before they shut up. I hope everyone remembered to turn their clocks back an hour yesterday to get some extra sleep.
Across:
7. URL letters after two slashes: WWW. I know it's the World
Wide Web but I also think it has something to do with pro wrestling.
Speaking of which, did you know that when I moved to Brooklyn Park,
Minnesota, the mayor was Jesse (the body) Ventura. A few years later he
became governor of the whole state of Minnesota.
10. Prefix meaning "huge": MEGA. Very large
14. Single-celled creature: AMOEBA. Very Small
15. "So I was right all along": AHA. "I learned that our
government must be strong, It's always right and never wrong. Our
leaders are the finest men and so we elect them again and again" (Tom
Paxton)
16. Pizza cooker: OVEN. I was once a pizza BAKER and the oven was 500 degrees.
20. Bonuses for the waitstaff: TIPS. Also advice at the racetrack.
21. Whitewater ride: RAFT.
22. Mookie of the Dodgers: BETTS. Maybe he goes to casinos ??
25. Make amends: ATONE.
29. Wallach or Whitney: ELI.
33. Go out, as the tide: EBB. Happens every day when the moon comes up.
35. Econ. yardstick: GDP. Gross Domestic Product.
38. Timeworn phrase: BROMIDE. Read more here.
39. In the same family: RELATED.
41. Dined: ATE. Notice that ATE and EAT have the same letters.
42. Can metal: TIN.
44. Pigs out (on), briefly: OD'S.
46. Bird homes: NESTS. I usually cheat when the golf ball lies in what looks like a bird NEST.
54. Lou Grant portrayer Ed: ASNER. Everyone remembers Lou Grant, however Mr. Asner also was the captain of the slave ship in "Roots"
55. __-Rooter: ROTO. We bought a new toilet from them and they did a very poor job installing it.
56. Worker protection org.: OSHA. Their rules and regulations seemed to be a pain to establish but I guess it was for the better.
63. Clark at the Daily Planet: KENT. I wonder what brand of cigarettes he smoked.
64. NW corner key: ESC. We have one but I have never heard it called that.
65. __ versus nurture: NATURE.
66. Valuable rocks: ORES. I think they come from Oregon.
67. 5G __: mobile standard: LTE.
68. Eats into: ERODES. I guess I ERODE a bowl of cereal every morning.
Down:
2. Mine, in Metz: A MOI.
3. Blowout victory: ROMP. The Braves took home that trophy with the flags in a circle. Congratulations!
4. Pizzazz quartet: ZEES. Some kind of Pizza that I never made.
5. Blood-typing letters: ABO. I am O Neg and the VA sneaked some
out of my inside elbow last Friday. Of course I asked the lady to use
the same hole as previous.
6. Tiny Pacific republic near the equator: NAURU.
7. Pancake cousin: WAFFLE. We have a great WAFFLE baker. I make them instead of pancakes all the time. No syrup though - only fake sugar.
8. Wood shavers: WHITTLERS. I have never done this. I guess I am not old enough.
9. What happy tails do: WAG.
10. Roadside overnight stop: MOTEL. We do not use these much
anymore. I think the last time is when C.C. and I took a golf trip
years ago and drove to Myrtle Beach.
11. Broadway role played by Madonna in film: EVITA.
12. Restroom label: GENTS. Must be upscale. All I ever see is "MEN".
13. Common teen phase: ANGST.
18. Mai __: TAI.
19. "His Dark Materials" channel: HBO. I think I have this channel but I don't remember ever watching it.
23. Are suited for: BEFIT.
24. Dalai Lama's land: TIBET. A region in East Asia occupied by holy monks.
25. Palindromic "SOS" pop group: ABBA.
26. Sharp-tasting: TART.
27. Bassoon relative: OBOE.
28. "Miracle" NL team of 1969, on scoreboards: NYM. The "Miracle Mets" managed by Gil Hodges beat the heavily favored Orioles 4 games to 1.
31. Farewell to Felipe: ADIOS.
32. Most easily chewed, as meat: TENDEREST. Tenderloins are pretty expensive.
34. Not at all spicy: BLAND.
35. Sporty Pontiacs: GTOS. Sometimes called a GOAT. Greatest Of All Time?
36. Nimble-fingered: DEFT.
37. Some emailed files: PDFS.
40. Sailor's yes: AYE.
45. Wall-mounted light: SCONCE.
47. Amusingly eccentric: WACKO. Okay, who is attacking my blog entry.
48. Son of Jacob: ASHER.
49. Silly: INANE.
50. Campers' shelters: TENTS. Years ago I had occasions to sleep in a sleeping bag in a tent. No more thank you.
51. Joan of __: ARC.
52. Not Rx: OTC. Over the Counter. I buy aspirin and vitamins. The VA sends me the expensive stuff.
53. "... said __ ever": NO ONE.
56. Aware of, as a plot: ONTO.
57. Kind of poker: STUD. Normally five cards and you do not get a draw.
58. "__ we go again!": HERE. THERE did not fit.
59. Greek war god: ARES.
61. Electric fish: EEL. I don't think these are fish.
62. Former Egypt-Syria confed.: UAR. United Arab Republic.
Boomer
37 comments:
Good morning!
This was a quick dash to the bottom, Wite-Out-free. Not a problem in sight. Went back after finishing and found the reveal and also the various chances. Nicely done, Jerry and Boomer.
First day of the week, and I am number two .....
Thank you Jerry E. for a Monday easy puzzle, and Boomer for a charming review.
I had no real preblems, but I did not parse the reveal, since I did not try to parse it.
Have a nice day, all.
I agree with DO. A nice puzzle, clean fill and a getable theme. Good way to start the week. FIR. Thanks, Jerry and Boomer.
Favorite fill is WAFFLE. Eat one and have a merry Monday, everyone!
On the "off chance" that Boomer missed one of the theme clues, 43A has a *.
FIR, but erased rout for ROMP, anger for ANGST, and ark for ARC (UNTIE!). DNK BETTS, NAURU, ASHER and "His Dark Materials".
I've managed to STAY OFF booze for goin' on six years. Unlike Boomer, I like it so it is a (minor) struggle for me.
I probably mentioned this before, but there is a restaurant chain in Florida called Ford's Garage. When you leave the GENT's room you see "Women" stenciled on the door glass - gives you a little start.
My Medicare Advantage plans includes access to OTC items. Until last year, DW and I each got a card that was good for $600 per year on aspirin, tooth paste, bandages, nitrile gloves, eye drops, contact lens solution, suntan lotion, mosquito repellent and a bunch of other stuff authorized by Medicare. It was great - we could shop at most any drug store and places like WalMart. Last year they switched to a mail order system - goodbye choices. This year they are keeping the mail order system, but reducing the benefit to $400 per year each. Still better than nothing, but not NEARLY as good as the previous system. But they have far and away the best provider coverage for us, so we'll stay with them.
Thanks to Jerry for the fun, easy start to the week. And thanks to Boomer for the fun tour.
Boomer - I hadn't heard that Tom Paxton song before. Those lyrics endure:
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that Washington never told a lie,
I learned that soldiers seldom die,
I learned that everybody's free,
And that's what the teacher said to me,
And that's what I learned in school today,
that's what I learned in school.
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned the policemen are my friends,
I learned that justice never ends,
I learned that murderers pay for their crimes,
Even if we make a mistake sometimes,
And that's what I learned in school today,
That's what I learned in school
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that war is not so bad,
I learned about the great once we had had.
We fought in Germany and in France
And some day I might get my chance.
And that's what I learned in school today,
That's what I learned in school
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned our government must be strong;
It's always right and never wrong!
Our leaders are the finest men
And we elect them again and again,
And that's what I learned in school today,
That's what I learned in school
Off chance we missed one?
Good morning everyone.
This puzzle BEFITTED me. Easy solve, no aid was needed. FIR. Liked the 9 ltr. downs linking the sections together. The easiness was welcom after the Sturm und Drang of the last few days.
CSO to INANEhiker.
ANGST - Didn't know one word could be a 'phrase'. Maybe some grammar maven will weigh in on this.
Have a great day.
The Chad Mitchell Trio What Did You Learn In School Today?.
Took 4:17 today. Like others above, I didn't see the theme until afterwards.
I didn't know Nauru, and stalled at the crossing of Asner and Asher.
Angst was a phase, not a phrase.
Anon @ 0748 - - Thanks. Guess my eyes are playing tricks on me.
Quick fun solve today, only change was from WACKY to WACKO to have ORES fit.
I haven't heard of BROMIDE in a long time
ASHER is actually a popular boys name for the under 5 set these days. A few years ago it was Ezra, Leo, and Everett. I think of them all as names of grandpas in overalls, but the young people don't know anyone with those names and feel like they are retro and new...
Thanks Boomer for a fun blog and Jerry for the puzzle!
Eels are a specific type of elongated fish, and can be found in both marine and freshwater environments. ... Eels have gills, as most other fish do, and filter air from the water in order to breathe. This means that they never have to go to the surface. Snakes, on the other hand, do not have gills, but lungs.
Ah, wonderful Monday CW! Thanx JE fir the fun 14 minute FIR. DNK: NAURU, ASHER or that “His Dark Materials” is a show on HBO. And had a brain-fart at ASNER, took a bit of a dredge to think of it, where it should have popped up immediately. No W/Os today, hurray, for once my grid looks nice and neat. I forgot to go back and look for the theme, but suspect I would have sussed it had I done so. Thanx too to Boomer for his as usual terrific write-up.
Hola!
COME OUT FIGHTING seems like a hostile way to start this Monday but it became tamer as it progressed. Very easy puzzle today. Thank you, Jerry Edelstein.
And thank you, Boomer, for your lighthearted interpretation.
Naturally I did not know NYM so had a blank cell at M and BROMIDE was not finished either. Timeworn phrase? I don't understand that.
Two of my sisters traveled to TIBET a few years ago and were vastly impressed with it.
Thee is nothing INANE about this puzzle I liked it.
Have a memorable Monday, everyone!
Arguably, one of Americas greatest carvers and whittlers was Ernest Warther, (1885 - 1971 ) from Dover, Ohio ... south of Cleveland. A swiss immigrant with only a second grade education, he started whittling and carving first with wood, then on elephant ivory ( available in those days -) and in hippo teeth to make the most sophisticated and complex engineering designed locomotives. He never sold any of his carvings. He could make a pair of pliers from a single piece of wood, with 22 notches ...
His biographical story in Ohio Magazine.
and From a museum dedicated to his memory, by his sons and descendants.
Good Morning:
A nice, easy-peasy start to the week with a well-hidden theme and an Aha reveal. My only w/o was Rout/Romp and some cute duos were Asher/Asner, Tents/Gents, and ABO/ABBA. CSOs to Tin who has been AWOL for a while, Inanehiker (Inane), and Spitz and DO (Aye).
Thanks, Jerry, for a smooth, satisfying solve and thanks, Boomer, for always brightening our day with your humor and wit!
FLN
Anon T, thanks for the recommendation but that film doesn’t sound like one I’d be interested in. Perhaps I’m too fussy but there it is. I wonder if Ray O is still on vacation or whether he saw my post.
Lucina, glad you enjoyed your early birthday celebration with your loving friends. Any Tamale marathon planned for this year?
Have a great day.
Musings
-A wonderful Monday offering with five themers
-I started so quickly I started to think of timing myself but felt more pressure than pleasure. I went back to enjoying Jerry’s cleverness and trying to figure out the gimmick which I did not until the reveal.
-“How did you WHITTLE that elephant?” “I took a block of wood and WHITTLED out everything that didn’t look like an elephant.”
-I’ve looked at many AMOEBAS (AMOEBAE) under a microscope but did not notice all their vowels
-After 75 years on the planet I frequently think of all the actions I should or should have ATONED for. Should I ATONE for the fact that I did not say “for which I should or should have ATONED?” :-)
-NATURE vs NURTURE – Okay, that explains the behavior but it does not excuse it
-ABO – MIL’S wonderful CNA is taking an 8-wk course to become a phlebotomist
-Since I-80 opened most MOTELS along U.S. 30 stand abandoned
-BLAND – most frozen dinners after leaving the microwave
-DEFT – Definitely needed for all the intricate braided hair I see in schools
-HERE we go again - Husker’s losing yet another game by a close margin to a ranked team
Sorry for the TMI ... but in the spirit of Whittling ...
Here is a Youtube video on how to make a workable pliers in 10 notches, from one piece of wood.
And Ernest Warthers own video is next ti it .....
FLN Hands up for seeing MANET's "Olympia" in the Musée D'Orsay on our first trip to Paris.
After lurking all weekend, after a Saturday Stella Snowdrift and John-Clark's SOUL-CRUSHING FIW, I'm thankful for Jerry's doable, although slightly crunchy Monday puzzle. It wasn't quite the walk in the park for me as for most here. And thank you Boomer for another fine review.
7A Somehow I read it "before" the slashes, and the only three letter protocol I could think of was FTP. As 9D WAG it had to be I eventually realized the ERRor of my ways.
10A MEGA coulda been GIGA, MOTEL wasn't NO TELL and so I went with the former.
54A Seems to have migrated from the NW to due SOUTH by the time the acrosses were mostly crossed.
4D Saw the tricky ZEES as an samples of what a META's FOR.
7D WAFFLE. WAFFLED on WAFFLES, much preferring CREPES or TUNSTALL TACO's (OAT cakes) from my Mother's home town of Stoke.
8D WHITTLE. I'm an occasional WOOD SHAVER (more like a "wood butcher" compared to my Father), and even got WHITTLING merit badge in Scouts.
28D NYM. Had the METS played the O's this year, all they would have had to do was SHOW UP.
48D ASHER. We had the whole TREE last week and not just a BRANCH. IIRC I was having a BAD HAIR DAY.
49D INANE is a CSO to our favorite HIKER, one of the best solvers on the Corner, and definitely not SILLY.
Cheers,
Bill
Hi Y'all! Very welcome fun & fast puzzle, Jerry, thanks. More fun with Boomer, thanks.
Forgot to look for theme.
Hand up for ROut before ROMP.
Someone published that chart of Jacob's sons the other day and I remembered ASHER. Would not have got that otherwise.
DNK: NAURU, WWW, or BETTS.
My nephew & his wife have adopted two black children they fostered since infants. They have three natural children. My sis-in-law says she is seeing a lot of traits in the adoptees that are apparently NATURE which she had thought were from NURTURE. She wasn't going into detail because she has a lot of TACT. She taught kindergarten for years so she was used to all kinds of kids.
Nice Monday puzzle from Jerry. Boomer parsed it nicely also.
Had to wait for perps to get G_P, and most of the theme answers. But they all filled in nicely once I had a few letters to hang on to.
HG @ 9:27 am: I was really rooting for your Huskers on Saturday. I know the feeling of losing by a few points to a team that can be beaten.
Have a great day everyone.
Fun Monday puzzle--thanks, Jerry, and thanks for your always neat commentary, Boomer.
Loved getting the CHANCE ENCOUNTER theme and then seeing all the different words in the starred clue answers.
Always nice to see Ed ASNER turn up. And ABBA. And, of course, EVITA.
Could not figure out how ASHER could be a son of Jacob.
BABY FAT cracked me up.
Have a good Monday, everybody.
Misty, I LIU, and ASHER was the 8th son of the biblical Jacob.
Vidwan @10:04 AM Thanks for all 3 Warther links.
Hi All!
Thanks for the quick fun Jerry; didn't see the theme 'till the end.
Thank you Boomer for kicking-off the Monday after-party in style.
WOs: N/A
ESPs: NAURU, BETTS, ASHER, BROMIDE - that definition was new to me; thanks for the link Boomer.
Fav: WACKO. Car Talk's Click and Clack would refer to many of their callers as WACKO.
// And WAkKO is an Animaniac :-)
Waseeley - what about pop://user@host for PostOfficeProtocol?
Thanks for the WHITTLER videos, Vidwan. Looking forward to chasing that rabbit down the hole later tonight (lots of fun-looking side-links).
Enjoyed reading everyone. Back to work.
Cheers, -T
Filled 47A with stIckarouND then got to the reveal and didn’t think ‘around chance’ could be correct. Taking another look, I thought, “Wait a second! Some of these perps don’t make sense either.” Then the light flipped on.
My goodness, Desper-otto, I didn't know the biblical Jacob had 8 sons including an ASHER. Thanks for explaining.
Hey, Boomer, my Google sez, "A true eel is an elongated finned-fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes."
This was a sweet, EZ PZL from Mr. Edelstein, something to wake us up slo-owly of a Monday A.M.
I did it while chatting via Alexa with my DW who is visiting her family back east.
Madonna was just OK in the movie. She had nothing on Patti LuPone, whom I saw in the original Broadway Evita.
I remember Mandy Pantinkin too as Che--and UC Irvine's Bob Gunton as Juan Peron--in that multiple (Seven!) Tony-winning show. First British show to win for Best Musical.
I am not a big fan of B'way style musicals, but Evita was transformational. In live performance it combined the potency of grand opera with mass politics, complete with the magic of artists sharing the same space with their audience.
It achieved something truly hypnotic, as we watched an actress playing an actress who metamorphosed from a "normal" human into the near-goddess of So. American politics.
It upped the ante for anyone who has spent any time on this earth as a role-playing actor.
Strangely (I think it strange, anyway) I went through a two-month period about a year ago, playing and re-playing every version I could find via Google and YouTube of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina." I found it curiously moving after a gap of 30-odd years since I first saw and heard it.
The vocal line is powerful enough, but the dialog between horns and reeds sends it over the top.
~ OMK
Misty@2:45...Jacob had twelve sons, from which came the twelve tribes of Israel.
First of all I want to apologize to you, OwenKL, for what I now realize could very well have been my "stealing your thunder" yesterday when I enumerated the clues and answers of the puzzle theme. Looking back I see you pointed it out right away in your posting: "I saw early on that the *themers were two-word phrases, and one of the words was the answer to the clue..."
Today's puzzle, as pointed out by several of you, was quite different from yesterday's and Saturday's, in addition to being Monday-easy. I filled as many of the across answers as I could before working on the down answers, and that was all it took. Zip zoop and it was done. Nice to see AMOEBA spelled with the OE. I, too, got a kick out of BABY FAT. I didn't know that 5G was so-called LTE although I am familiar with 4G LTE. Boomer, I got a good chuckle from your statement that you ERODE a bowl of cereal every morning.
Good wishes to you all.
This one filled from top to bottom. Clever clues for mostly easy fill. After Saturday's debacle, I said to self,"ain't gonna do week-end puzzle any more. They take up way to much of my valuable time. Then came Sunday's puzzle and said to self, "Packers don't play until 3:30 or so; so I'll give it a try". After some perps and WAGs, I finish it just in time to watch yet another Sunday debacle at Arrowhead Staduim. TC
Contrary to Boomer's oft-repeated opinion:
Eels
Temporal range: Cretaceous–recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Superorder: Elopomorpha
Order: Anguilliformes
L. S. Berg, 1943
Type genus
Anguilla
Garsault, 1764
Suborders
Protanguilloidei
Synaphobranchoidei
Muraenoidei
Chlopsoidei
Congroidei
Moringuoidei
Saccopharyngoidei
Anguilloidei
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (/æŋˈɡwɪlɪfɔːrmiːz/), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage, and most are predators.
The term "eel" is also used for some other eel-shaped fish, such as electric eels (genus Electrophorus), spiny eels (family Mastacembelidae), and deep-sea spiny eels (family Notacanthidae). These other clades, however, evolved their eel-like shapes independently from the true eels. Eels live both in salt water and fresh water and some species are catadromous*.
*(ichthyology, of a migratory fish) Living in fresh water as an adult, but breeding in the sea.
>> Roy
thanks for the SO from my fellow commenters: Spitzboov, IM, Bill, Lucina! Fun to come home to after a loooooong day at work!
After posting my note above about Evita, I went back to check the on-line videos of both Madonna and Patti LuPone, each doing "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina."
I was right to remember Patti as I did. Both singers come off well in these recordings, but Madonna has a thinner voice that she keeps at a constant level of--what can I call it?--relative "shyness" throughout.
She has one great advantage--the sumptuous studio orchestra, fantastic to listen to on its own.
But Patti is definitely the truer performer. Her voice is deeper, richer, and she has the Thespian art of Sprechstimme that she uses to fine effect to "act" the song as well as to sing it. The song is a poem combining colloquialisms and half lines, like conversational speech. It craves attention to the run-on thoughts.
Unlike Madonna, she varies her thinking and expression through the song's arc. No wonder, she got the Tony.
~ OMK
FIR. Started it early, early this morning, got some sleep, and finished most of it after breakfast. ASHER was my only real unknown, although there were a couple that required perps to make sure I was correct, like SCONCE/LTE.
The only MOOKIE I could remember was Mookie Wilson of the Mets. I knew there was another one, but I had to wait for the perps for his last name.
I had no problem with the theme.
Thanks for the nice puzzle, Jerry, and the nice expo, Boomer!
TIPS are not really bonuses for waitstaff. It’s complicated.
My BABYFAT comes and goes. It’s mostly gone right now, but there was a time….
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