34. *Period after a crash, perhaps: DOWN TIME. Double down. Double time.
43. *Figure in many Monty Python routines: CROSS DRESSER. Double cross. Double dresser.
60. *Figurative place for deferred options: BACK BURNER. Double back. Double burner.
 |
| Ed Sessa |
Across:
6. "Bicycle Thieves" director Vittorio: DE SICA. Saw the movie ages ago.
12. Cleopatra's killer: ASP.
15. Hindu epic hero: RAMA. The Ramayana epic.
19. Wanting words: I WISH.
20. Spots for spectacles: ARENAS. Sports spectacles.
21. Lobbying gp.: PAC.
22. Airline whose name means "to the skies": EL AL. Different EL in 27. Pacific current: EL NINO.
25. Stuck playing a familiar role: TYPECAST. Tony Danza has played quite a few Tonys in movie/TV.
28. Top drawers?: ARTISTS. Draw-ers. Great clue.
30. Incomplete body of art: TORSO. Rich does not mind this kind of art/ARTIST clue/answer dupes.
31. Budgetary figures: NET COSTS.
36. Wood cutter: SAW.
39. Do another hitch: RE-UP.
40. Time VIPs: EDS. Editors. Rich Norris is ours.
42. Burglar's take: HAUL.
47. __ mentality: MOB.
48. Ones using mixers, for short: DJS.
51. Former Sony brand: AIWA.
52. Afghanistan neighbor: IRAN. I've never had saffron, you?
53. Saucer, briefly: UFO.
55. "Hey, that's great!": OH COOL. And 62. "Give me a break!": PLEASE.
58. Animal shelter: LAIR.
59. "Family Circus" creator Bil: KEANE.
64. MLB's "Splendid Splinter" Williams: TED. I heard from our own Splynter last week. He's still solving crossword every day. He's thinking of moving to Connecticut.
66. Phi follower: CHI.
67. Staggers: REELS.
73. "Bless you" evoker: ACHOO. And
76. "That feels good": AAH.
77. Rum __ Tugger: "Cats" role: TUM.
78. Making a big deal out of: HYPING.
85. Files in shop class: RASPS.
88. Emulate a frigatebird: SOAR.
89. "Godzilla" franchise co-creator Tomoyuki __: TANAKA. Learning moment for me.
90. LAX posting: ETA.
91. Job safety org.: OSHA.
92. Eclectic magazine: UTNE. Reader.
93. Cephalopod's discharge: INK. Want some?
94. "__L": "Bye for now": TTY. Might be Rich's clue.
100. Pained expression: OUCH.
102. Bank account ID: SSN.
103. Very wide shoe: EEEE.
104. Pink Floyd's Barrett: SYD.
108. Biometric security procedure: IRIS SCAN. Another great fill.
112. Mtge. issuer: S AND L.
113. Like some eaves in winter: ICICLED. Not a word I use.
115. Pharaoh depicted on the Sphinx: KHAFRE. Learning moment also.
119. Capital east of New Delhi: KATMANDU. Nepal.
124. Gillette blade: ATRA.
125. Cool, like a cat: HEP.
126. Crib outfit: ONESIE.
127. Gaming rookies: NOOBS. Sometimes it's TYROS.
128. Back in the day: THEN.
129. Holiday song syllables: LAS.
130. Lipton rival: NESTEA.
131. Forum garments: TOGAE. Often TOGAS.
Down:
2. Base runner?: AWOL. Good old clue.
3. Oz traveler: LION.
4. Welcome at the door: ASK IN.
5. Fight souvenirs: SHINERS.
6. Hammarskjöld of the U.N.: DAG. Have not seen this fill for quite some time.
7. Historical period: ERA.
8. "Sonic" consoles: SEGAS.
9. Like krypton and xenon: INERT.
10. Don't get: CAN'T SEE.
11. Piedmont bubbly: ASTI.
12. Likely will, after "is": APT TO.
13. "Oh yeah?": SAYS WHO. Lots of colloquial phrases in Ed's puzzles.
14. Angel dust, briefly: PCP.
15. Snap back: RECOIL.
16. Cause to sweat: ALARM. Can you believe the looting happened in Minnesota on Black Friday? None of the guys was caught.
17. Vertical billiards shot: MASSE.
18. __ sax: ALTO.
24. Well-known: NOTED.
26. Julius' cry to Marcus: ET TU.
29. '60s activist gp.: SDS. Students for a Democratic Society.
32. Nobelist of 1903 and 1911: CURIE. Marie.
33. "William Tell," e.g.: OPERA.
35. Big cheese: NABOB. I did not know "big potatoes" is not a phrase until D-Otto commented last time. We have small potatoes, but no big potatoes.
36. Rogaine target: SCALP.
37. No-frills font: ARIAL.
38. "Holy Toledo!": WOWIE.
41. Beat handily: DRUB.
44. Florida coastal city or its county: SARASOTA.
45. Red-and-white topper: SANTA HAT. Really miss our Santa.
46. Scornful look: SNEER.
47. Latte variant: MOCHA.
48. Ready to eat: DONE.
49. "An Innocent Man" songwriter: JOEL (Billy)
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50. Canon AE-1 et al., for short: SLRS.
54. Cover for some superheroes: FACE MASK. For us non-heroes also.
56. "We don't have much time!": HURRY.
57. Stealthily nears, with "on": CREEPS UP.
59. Mauna __: KEA.
61. Modeler's buy: KIT.
63. Seller's supply: STOCK.
65. Rachel Carson subject: DDT.
69. Quick snooze: NAP.
70. Family name in Chicago politics: DALEY. The Daley family. Richard M. Daley here.
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71. Hubbub: FUROR.
72. Sounds of hesitation: UHS.
73. Musical opening: ACT I.
74. Family group: CLAN.
75. Tarzan type: HUNK.
79. Little bits: IOTAS.
80. Rival of Tonya: NANCY. Nancy Kerrigan. Tonya Harding.
81. Devotion to Mammon, biblically: GREED. Mammon is biblical term for wealth. I did not know.
83. Come out of one's shell: HATCH.
84. Toy dog's barks: YAPS.
86. Draws back: SHIES.
87. Philatelist's buys: PANES. Stamps.
95. "What nerve!": THE IDEA.
97. Dye-making compound: ANILINE.
98. Insurance lizard: GECKO.
99. Old TV series with a scuba-diving hero: SEA HUNT.
100. Guy who's often out: ODD MAN. Odd man out.
101. Pac-12's Bruins: UCLA.
102. Go downhill fast: SKI.
105. Saddam's party: BA'ATH. Read more here. Saddam took power in 1979. Outed in 2003.
106. Between, in Brest: ENTRE.
107. Some bra features: C CUPS.
109. Curly-coated cats: REXES.
110. That is, to Cicero: ID EST.
111. Jar Jar Binks' planet: NABOO.
112. Card game for three: SKAT.
114. "Let's do it!": C'MON.
116. Aggressively promote: FLOG.
117. Singer McEntire: REBA.
118. Latin "to be": ESSE.
120. Devils org.: NHL. The New Jersey Devils.
122. Lose power, as a battery: DIE.
123. Org. that makes traffic stops?: DEA. Drug traffic.
Some extra notes:
1) I don't have any updates from Al, hopefully I'll hear from him soon. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
2) For those who have trouble posting links on our blog Comments section from your iPhone/iPad/Mac, you can turn smart punctuation off by going to Settings, tap General. Then, tap Keyboards, and toggle Smart Punctuation to off.
Thanks to TTP for the solution.
FIWrong. I thought REXES were hairless cats, and eaves were ICI CLaD. So, one bad cell. SOo much better than Fri or Sat! It did take an awful long time, tho, and multiple passes, and a few t/os.
ReplyDeleteI read the reveal before trying to figure the gimmick out, because I still had so many blanks. Just as well, since add-a-words are anathema to me. Saw how it applied to the themers I'd uncovered so far, but I don't think it helped me get any of the rest. The title was no help, either.
When ARTISTS sculpt a TORSO,
The abs are what they always show.
Never muffin tops,
Love handles (Oh not!),
And beer bellies just will not go!
A shoe width of E.E.E.E.?
How can such a weird thing be?
I think only a clown
Who didn't BACK down
From a steamroller who didn't agree!
{A, A.}
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteThought this one went really fast, but still took almost 20 minutes to complete. I was in the zone on Dr. Ed's wavelength. Got the theme (what?), but am still not sure what a Double DRESSER is. Thanx, Mr. Sessa (was it Mr. or Dr., C.C.?) and C.C.
RAMA: Classical music lovers probably remember Rama Lama Ding Dong.
KATMANDU: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" The KATMANDU.
SEA HUNT: Early vehicle for Lloyd Bridges as diver Mike Nelson, before he found his metier in the Airplane.
Hi Y'all! Real mind exerciser from Ed Sessa, Thanks. Great expo, C.C.
ReplyDeleteThis took me over an hour to fill and the last ones on the top tier had to have red-letter help. Oh well, I'm learning and engrossed in something other than my problems which is why I persist.
Never heard of REXES cats so looked it up after reading the blog. I see in pictures there are two types of long-haired curly REXES, Selkirk & LaPerm. A number of other REXES are so short-haired as to appear hairless as Owen thought.
I remember the TV show SEA HUNT & knew who starred but couldn't think of HUNT for a long time. Perps.
C.C.: I've never had saffron.
DNK: DESICA or his movie, RAMA, TANAKA, IRIS SCAN, KHAFRE, SEGAS, ARIAL, ANALINE, BA'ATHE.
I tried "gases" before INERT perped in.
Thinking of you, Spitzboov.
Double dresser is a tall chest of drawers.
ReplyDeleteActually I think a double dresser is wide and a tall dresser is a bachelor chest.
DeleteI will try and try to solve a puzzle on my own accord, never seeking help, or looking things up, or red letters etc, until I have exhausted all possibilities I can think of, and mostly I am successful, but today after more than an hour of bandying about letters, I had to admit defeat at the pen of Mr. Sessa, my first loss since Stella Z’s last offering a few weeks ago. I thought my problem lay somewhere in ANILINE, IRIS SCAN, NABOO, REXES, KHAFRE, or FLOG, but when I started looking things up I realized I had WAGged my way correctly on those, which made me scan the grid several times looking for my error, which I ultimately found when I changed Tarzan’s HULK to HUNK, it was TANAKA and not TALAKA. 🤦🏻♂️.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I always enjoy the challenge and today certainly offered that, thank you Ed!
Thanx also to C.C. for the synopsis, I too thought the “Top drawers” was a clever clue! And just how many E’s wide can a shoe possibly get?? Happy Sunday to all!
Used plug instead of flog. That threw me.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-DESICA and TANAKA filled in themselves and I'm sure ICICLED made Dr. Ed wince just a little
-DOUBLE STANDARD - it depends on whose ox is being gored
-They broke out of TYPECASTING
-I imagine Wimbledon has some NET COSTS.
-Those National Enquirer UFO's never seem to set down at MIT
-Climb Everest - Fly to KAT(H)MANDU, scary flight to Lukla, hike or helicopter to base camp
-YouTube showed me how to easily repair a RECOIL starter
-This movie about Marie CURIE is a must for scientists and feminists
-SLR's are nice but, C'MON, my iPhone is always with me
-My neighbor is in charge of the HATCHING operation for millions of eggs for our Costco Chicken Plant
-ODD MAN OUT - An fifth bridge player shows up
-Thanks again, TTP!!
mixed doubles?
ReplyDeleteFIR, but not quickly. No red letters or hints. I missed the DOUBLE theme, but I liked it. I saw quite a few double letters. But that didn't pan out.
ReplyDeleteI waited for the spelling of KHAFRE and BAATH. REX, the cat, was new to me.
Icicled is verbified. I very rarely see or hear it, but it is a real word. Meh.
Top drawers? Aren't drawers usually worn on your bottom?
TANAKA is a common Japanese surname which I wagged from a few perps.
DE SICA is new to me. I know a few Sicas.
A double dresser has two long drawers across its width for most of its height. It may be tall or not.
I looked up shoe widths. The article went up to 6 E. Clown shoes made me laugh.
Alan was with me from Wed. to Sat. We spent Thursday with David and his family and stayed over for one night. It was wonderful to see my grandson, temporarily home from college. They quickly scarfed down every bit of my potato filling. DIL gave us a care package to take home. Delicious. I made a turkey salad with some of the leftovers. The best turkey salad I ever tasted. David's turkey was seasoned just right.
BTW, I liked the dance puzzle a few days ago. Thanks for the CSO.
Sunday Lurk say...
ReplyDeleteSpitz - we're still all thinking about you. Can't wait to see you back at The Corner.
{B+, A}
D-O: A dresser with two columns of drawers. An image.
Thanks for the CURIE movie recommendation, HG.
Bob Seger is going to KATMANDU (if he can ever get out of here, that's what he's goin'a do). [6:07]
Cheers, -T
Anon-T and YR, thanx for the DOUBLE Dresser info. I looked at the photo. That's what I've always simply called a dresser, no "double" required.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteCan you believe it's Advent already?
Ed Sessa always adds some sparkle to his puzzles. Thank you for that. And thank you, C.C., for giving us the rundown on his grid.
It filled about normally for a Sunday. I just had a few pauses at DESICA until perps filled most of it. Very likely I have mentioned in the past that ARENA in Spanish means "sand".
Bil KEANE resided right here in Scottsdale, AZ. Several businesses have cartoons that he drew especially for them. The Sugar Bowl, an ice cream parlor, seems to have been a favorite haunt as they have several of his cartoons.
I don't understand FLOG as promote. I originally had PLUG but NOOBS changed that.
Learning moment for me about KHAFRE being depicted on the Sphinx. Great Scrabble word, Sphinx.
My wite-out got quite a workout today when dealing with Ed's amusing misdirections.
I hope you are all enjoying a relaxing Sunday, everyone!
FLN
ReplyDeleteLemony @5:21 PM Just got back from Thanksgiving II at my Son's, stuffed to the gills. After dinner we watched a PIXAR animated feature film called "Inside Outside" voiced by a team of A-List stars. A very clever representation of personified emotions such as Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust all at work inside a young Minnesota girl named Riley, and how everything went haywire when the family up and moved to San Francisco. I highly recommend this family movie.
Thank you Ed for a Sunday challenge, for which I threw a horseshoe. Sailed through the North, but the surfing got rough down South and we left for Church with lots of WHITECAPS. But when we got back, BAATH surfaced and I finished (unlike that war, which is still really going on). Unfortunately PLUG wasn't aggressive enough, and I NATICKED PHAROAH KHAFRE. Other than that a real delight.
And thank you C.C. for the theme analysis, which as usual SAILED right over my head. Hand up for SAFFRON, which Teri uses in her Bouillabaisse recipe. A little saffron goes a long way, but if the cake in your picture were pure saffron, it would cost a fortune. I just priced it on Amazon for $113 per oz.
53A UFO. The more PC term these days is "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena".
119A KATMANDU. Anybody remember this one?
33D OPERA. William Tell was one of the few Rossini operas with a French libretto and tells the story of the liberation of Switzerland from Austria.
81D GREED. MAMMON is Hebrew for WEALTH. Money is not the root of all evil, but the LOVE of it is.
Cheers,
Bill
Grumble, grumble. I messed up four squares today, three of which I wondered about but still got wrong. I did celebrate getting the rest of the puzzle and the theme. Like YR I looked for double letters and such at first rather than noticing the word double was needed.Too many WOs to list. Some careless mistakes but learning moments too. Thanks, Ed, for a good experience today. Thanks, C.C., for reviewing the puzzle and clearing up remaining questions I had.
ReplyDeleteHope you're doing better, Spitzboov.
Friday night I watched the Kate and Leopold movie recommended on the blog. It was fun and I am mentioning it to friends now.
See you all tomorrow as I try to start another string of FIRs.
Fun Sunday puzzle, many thanks, Ed (even though I needed quite a bit of help). And always love your Sunday commentary, C.C., many thanks for that great help too.
ReplyDeleteMy first problem was that I put in TOTO for the Oz traveler--not that cowardly LION.
But I immediately got DE SICA, and that helped with the top middle.
Especially helpful since it confirmed that DAG was correct.
And all that let me get ARTISTS for those funny top-drawers.
Well, enough about my Sunday successes, though there were quite a few more.
Have a lovely Sunday, everybody, and I'll see you after a hopefully easy Monday tomorrow.
I liked this puzzle and enjoyed solving it without having to look anything up. Ed Sessa is definitely a master constructor. Like YooperPhil, "I will try and try to solve a puzzle on my own accord, never seeking help, or looking things up, or red letters etc, until I have exhausted all possibilities I can think of, and mostly I am successful."
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to you all.
I managed to FIR today after correctly spelling to get ANILINE to fill IRIS SCAN which filled REXES, Never heard of a REX cat so I looked it up like PK. DE SICA, KHAFRE, NABOO, & TANAKA were foreign unknowns filled by perps. Lots of maybes today.
ReplyDeleteDRUM or DRUB
RIPE or DONE
NOBLE or INERT
SEE IN or ASK IN
TOTO or LION
DOWNTURN or DOWN TIME
TOGAS or TOGAE
ERS, EHS, UHS, or URS- take your pick
ALARMed at looting? I'm not. Keep electing 'soft on crime' types for DA & AG and that's what you will get. The ones in prison all sing the song by Billy JOEL- I'm "An Innocent Man".
CROSS Dresser- Corporal Klinger
DOUBLE Dresser? Not for my DW. Hers is a TRIPLE dresser. I thought ALL dressers were doubles with a mirror. Live and learn.
The EL NINO effect is not a current; it's a shifting of warm water from the western Pacific to the east and when it goes back west it's the La Nina effect. The water shift is the ENSO- El Nino Southern Oscillation.
YooperPhil and Jayce- I always attempt to solve it on my own, on paper, and in ink. That's the challenge. Wouldn't do it any other way.
I also try to solve everything on my own, but it seldom happens that I know everything. I do work with red-letters on to tell me if I'm on the wrong track. If I still can't figure things out I do the red-letter runs. I've got enough other frustrations at my age without my recreational pursuit aka crosswords adding more stress. Many of my life experiences don't show up in puzzles.
ReplyDeleteWow! I just awoke from a long NAP! I did not think it would last that long when I lay down "for just a while."
ReplyDeleteDitto for not wishing to look up anything and it is a RARE occasion when I do. Normally I can work out the solve even if it contains unknown names, terms, etc. That's the "puzzle" isn't it?
I LIU FLOG and a secondary meaning is "to promote" but it also means "to whip" which is the more common meaning and the one I am most familiar with.
I feel a sense of relentlessness to flogging as promoting. Sort of a pejorative word.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr. Ed Sessa for along and nice Sunday puaale. I was a little worried when I saw the constructor's name, but rest aasured, I had a very good time.
ReplyDeleteI didnt get the theme, though, the 'doubles' were fantastic !
Thank you CC for your explanatory review.
As for using Saffron, I've used it before ... its like a 'fine, delicate' tea flavor ... whose flavor comes out only when
a) you have to use a lot of it, $$$ ...
and/or b) Use in milk or other white sweets where the saffron fibres/strands 'show up'....
In both cases, you need your guests to KNOW that you used it ! For snob points....
By the way, I still have it, but dont use it anymore ... I have found more flavorful choices, like mint/ pandanus leaf extract / rose essence / almond essence / kewra flavor etc.
The imports come from Pakistan, India, Iran (largest producer -) and Spain. The spanish saffron is probably the best. Kuwaitis are by far the largest consumers, of saffron which they use in their tea(s).
Dag Hammarskjold is the only person who has won a Nobel Prize ( for Peace- ) AFTER he had died.
Generally the Nobel is not awarded after you have died, they're only for the living, but the Nobel committee made an exception in his case, since they had already decided to give him the prize, and he died in an aircraft crash in Ndola, Angola in 1961 .. the UN plane was shot down by a hostile fighter jet ... probably from the Congo. There has been a suspicion that certain western interests may have been involved.
Also, the fact that he was a Scandinavian, did not hurt, with the Nobel Committee's decision.
Finally, a little typo ... 105 Down Saddam's party - BA'ATH.
Saddam took power in 1979. Outed in 2003....
I didn't know he was 'in the closet' ... maybe you meant 'ousted' .. ;-o)
Have a good week and the Monday, to come, you all.
There's plug, flog, and also hawk. My wife's father used to "hawk" newspapers, as they once said of him. He built a successful newspaper wholesale outlet from it and was quite successful, able to support 8 children, a wife, and a mistress quite comfortably. I had the great honor to meet him once; a tremendously honorable gentleman, well deserving of my and others' respect. He was travelling the world to make a last visit to all of his children, who had emigrated to the U.S. and Canada (mostly New York City and Toronto, and me and my wife in California), to say goodbye before going back to Hong Kong to die of throat cancer. I will never forget him and the visit he made to us at our home at Stanford.
ReplyDeleteBTW my wife's mother was exceptionally respect-worthy as well. She had sold off the business emigrated to Canada and lived in her eldest son's house (which was quite a mansion) in Toronto (Mississauga, to be exact), and I had met her several times when we went up there to visit. For her birthday one year, I composed a poem to her in Chinese which I wrote on fine vellum paper (worthy of framing) with a traditional brush and ink in the best calligraphy I could muster. Judging from her wide smile and multiple nods of her head I think she liked it.
Such good memories!
ReplyDeleteGood evening.
I failed at the intersection of FLOG and KHAFRE. Did not know that one definition of FLOG was to hype excessively.
Thanks for the SO, C.C., and you are welcome, Husker Gary. Perhaps the tip will help others. It was a learning moment for me to discover that the issue even existed, although I did recall that Cross Eyed Dave had written one time a few years ago or so about having issues with links being misinterpreted when using his iPhone versus his Mac desktop, or something like that.
Jayce, Big Easy and Lucina ~~ we share the same philosophy when it comes to solving, the challenge is what makes it fun, the more we have to wrack our brain the better, satisfaction comes with a FIR, and if the constructors can make us concede, more power to them, I respect that!
ReplyDeleteJayce:
ReplyDeleteThat is truly impressive! I am amazed and can imagine how much more your mother-in-law must have been impressed. What a wonderful gift to her!
Calligraphy is so beautiful. I learned it in an art course that I took as an elective and I love to address birthday cards in that way. When I was teaching I would write in calligraphy the names of students on their graduation certificates.
I have forgotten to mention to IrishMiss and C.C. how much I enjoyed solving their puzzle.
YooperPhil:
Of course! The whole point of solving puzzles, IMO, is to do them without assistance.
Steady solve, today. WAG at the KHAFRE /NABOO Natick. One of the advantages of solving in an app is that if one guesses that final letter correctly the device lets one know that (s)he has successfully completed the puzzle. I hope that everyone had a wonderful T'day weekend.
ReplyDeleteA tall dresser is usually called a HIGHBOY.
ReplyDelete