Well dang, Moe, what got your dander up this morning??! Actually, it's probably a combination of travel (as we speak, I am off visiting family), stress from the omicron variant of Covid-19 (my Mom's Assisted Care Living Center gets at least 3-4 new cases of Covid every day), and knowing that there are just 14 more shopping days until Christmas. But I'll survive; kinda like this guy who had to deal with some road rage, and whose initials are also a hint to today's puzzle theme: (note, there are a few mild expletives that could not be deleted from this video)
I normally trade weeks with Lemonade714 whenever there is a Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle on my Friday; but due to my travel this week, I knew I couldn't, as I would not have been able to deliver a blog on December 17th. Sorry Jason for not sharing this one, and I hope you'll stop by to offer your thoughts on this WACKY idea. Jeffrey was able to squeeze 5 play-on-word entries into a 15 x 15 grid, using about 1/3 (61) of the 185 letters in his themers. No "reveal" was necessary once you saw that getting the "CK" out of the entries was common to all. Let's explore how (the) heCK did it:
18-Across. Tinker Bell's play ender?: FAIRY TACKLE. Without the "CK", FAIRY TALE remains. Nice, but that must be one big FAIRY to end a (football) play with a TACKLE. A TICKLE, maybe . . .
My favorite FAIRY TALES growing up were narrated by Edward Everett Horton and a cast of toons from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show:
24-Across. TV channel with bizarre humor?: WACKY STATION. Whack off the CK, and a WAY STATION appears. A WAY STATION is a stopping off point for those on a long car, bus or (4-Across. Commuting option:) RAIL trip. Originally meant "a STATION between STATIONs". It's a place to have a meal, go to the bathroom, stretch your feet, etc. And for those of you who, like me, are curious about whether there are any "WAY" radio STATIONS, here's a link
37-Across. Harbormaster's income source?: DOCKING BUSINESS. Chuck the CK and DOING BUSINESS is left. Did you ever wonder what the letters "DBA" mean after a corporation's name? Well, I can provide an example: The Corporation: "HELEN's FOOD SERVICE, INC", dba "HELEN's CATERING". DBA means: DOING BUSINESS as . . .
48-Across. Unreliable origami practitioner?: FICKLE FOLDER. Flick the CK and FILE FOLDER remains. Clever clue and answer. And of course a reminder of an archived Moe-ku:
Origami-ist
Sucks at Texas Hold'em, 'cause
He will always FOLD
And our 5th themer: 59-Across. What an education budget provides?: SCHOOL BUCKS. Shuck the CK and SCHOOL BUS becomes the more familiar term. A little Simpsons video for your entertainment
Here is the grid:
Off we go to cheCK out the rest of the clues and solves:
Across:
1. Bookmarked item: URL. At first I wasn't looking for an abbreviated word. But "URL" is widely known by internet users, and "bookmarking" a page makes it easier for to find a previously visited website
8. "Gone With the Wind" feature: DRAWL. Meh; the clue is OK but not great
13. __ Wee Reese: PEE. Harold Henry (PEE Wee) Reese, HOF inductee in 1984. Glad to see the former Brooklyn Dodger baseball player back to the crossword grids, if even for just 1/2 of his nickname
14. Old Icelandic text: EDDA. Prose EDDA is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland back in the 13th Century
15. Discussion-ending word: PERIOD. Literally, when someone says, "PERIOD, end of discussion!"
17. Bud 4 life: BFF. This had to be a texting acronym: Best Friends Forever
20. Food bits: ORTS. Another of the more tried and true crossword answers; or is it "tired" and true? Anyhoo, here's a ku:
Sex-starved sous chef saw
Pleasure from leftovers. Does
He sew his wild ORTS??
22. Relocation: MOVE. Back in my corporate life, I MOVEd (relocated) 5 times in 36 years. After leaving that, and before retirement, I MOVEd an additional 7 times. Hoping this is the last!
23. Schooner gear: SAILS. Gear, like deer, can be either singular or plural
27. This is one: CLUE. Duh! It sure is!!
28. Tech review website: CNET. I visit this site whenever I am looking to upgrade my iPhone or replace a laptop. Good reviews
30. Duration of employment: STINT. See 22-Across; My STINT at one company was 25 years, and quite honestly, I could've stayed longer
31. Protected: SAFE. Or what 13-Across often was when he stole second base. He led the National League in stolen bases twice; was 2nd four times
34. Adjustable border: HEM. HEMlines brought about the "mini-midi-maxi-dress" styles back in the 1960's and 1970's
41. Bother a lot: IRK. All of these "Greek-named" Covid variants are starting to IRK me
42. Marquee name: STAR. There are a plethora of STARs in the movie "STAR Wars". Too many for one marquee to house
43. "___ War": Jules Verne-based game: NEMO'S. Learning moment for me. Never played it. Wonder if you have "to find NEMO"?
44. Aching: SORE. A couple of ibuprofen tablets at bedtime helps ease my SORE fingers and joints
47. What an a cappella singer never wants to be: FLAT. Only because SHARP wouldn't fit, but as a former singer, it's much easier to go "FLAT" than to go "SHARP"
54. Cheaply, after "for": A SONG. From the freedictionary dot com: "The expression dates from the sixteenth century. Shakespeare used it in All's Well That Ends Well (“I know a man . . . sold a goodly manor for a song” [3.2]). It was a cliché by the time Byron wrote, “The cost would be a trifle—an 'old song'” (Don Juan, 1824)
57. Bash: GALA. As in a GALA affair. Black tie and ball gowns
58. Past time: YORE. The "time" when we used the term in 57-Across
62. Cold air quality: NIP. No NIP in the air as yet here in the Phoenix AZ area, but it's getting closer. Low temp's are nearing the 50 degree mark. Your mileage may vary, but that's cold here!
63. Get into gear: SUIT UP. I put SHIFTS in first before perps came to the rescue
64. Health factor: DIET. I am on a seafood DIET: I see food and then eat it
65. 31-Down, e.g.: Abbr.: NCO. Non-Commissioned Officer. An example of this is: (31-Down. Rank above cpl.) SGT.
66. Meter creators: POETS. A CSO to OwenKL, Misty, WC, Old Man Keith and sometimes, Moe
67. Jacuzzi effect: EDDY. As in a whirlpool; a Jacuzzi effect is also helpful when you're 44-Across
68. Remote inserts: AAS. As in "double-A" batteries; though many of ours require AAAS
Down:
1. What a "V" symbol means in violin music: UPBOW. I had to look this one UP. Violin lounge dot com says this: "Up bow is indicated by the V marks above the notes in the second picture. The V looks a bit like the tip of your bow. The up bow movement goes from tip to frog. Just as the down bow mark, this doesn't tell you something about the bow division"
2. Type of optical telescope: REFRACTOR. This:
3. Mouse activities: LEFT CLICKS. First ever usage of this in a crossword puzzle! And I'm guessing that JW didn't use this as a "themer", because no one ever has heard of the phrase: LEFT CLIS
4. One whistling often: REF. I was thinking of a tea kettle so POT went in first. Clever mis-direction
5. First president to live in the White House: ADAMS. Pretty easy to suss as WASHINGTON or JEFFERSON had too many letters
6. "... a tale told by an __ ... ": Macbeth: IDIOT. Filled with perps, so I didn't have to cheat on this one. If memory serves, JW likes to throw a Shakespeare quote into his CLUEs
7. Caterpillar, say: LARVA. Another no-brainer
8. Immunization letters: DPT. Diphtheria Pertussis and Tetanus. An immunization given to babies, I believe. WebMD describes it as: "Tdap is a combination vaccine that protects against three potentially life-threatening bacterial diseases: tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough). Td is a booster vaccine for tetanus and diphtheria. It does not protect against pertussis. Tetanus enters the body through a wound or cut"
9. Good thinking: REASON. I like to think that this has its roots in mathematics
10. Grasped by few: ARCANE. As I progress toward the age of 70, I may someday choose a homophonic combination of words to describe this CLUE: OUR CANE
11. User-edited site: WIKI. WIKIpedia has been bugging me the past few days to give them a donation
12. Hang loosely: LOLL. An abbreviation of LOLLygag, perhaps?
16. Paris' Pont __ Arts: DES. Frawnch - filled in with perps, once again
19. Still: YET. Oxford Languages shows that the word "YET" is becoming popular again as an adverb or conjunction
21. Keep from scoring: SKUNK. Any cribbage players out there? The term "SKUNK" in cribbage means to hold your opponent to fewer than 90 points (121 points = "game"), and is worth two pegs in the scoring of games won. Ms Margaret and I play this game often. Neither of us wants/likes to be SKUNKed
25. Hairy legend: YETI.
Abominable
Snowman may be a myth, and
YETI still exists (to some)
26. Summertime treat: ICES. ICEE also fit. As did the rapper, ICE T
29. Figure in many devotional paintings: THE MADONNA. Giovanni's rendition:
30. Reagan-era mil. program: SDI. Strategic Defense Initiative
32. Org. with cases: ABA. American Bar Association, and a CSO to all of our Crossword Corner barristers
33. Pelt: FUR. We had the opposite CLUE and solve the last time I blogged. Was this funny then and now??!
35. Things few understand: ESOTERICA. Collins dictionary dot com uses ESOTERICA in a sentence this way: "I have inherited her warmth towards ESOTERICA; she had none for people, but she loved her dreadful facts. It was the sort of ESOTERICA I had never had an interest in but which now composed a whole world
36. Ed.'s stack: MSS. Abbr. for MANUSCRIPTS
38. Nuclear physics time unit: Abbr.: NSEC. Nano-SECond. One billionth of a SECond. How did anybody have the time to measure this??
39. Facts: INFO. Read the Crossword Corner blog each day and you'll get plenty of INFO
40. "M.O." rapper: NELLY. He grew up with the name Cornell Iral Haynes Jr
45. Famed: OF NOTE. Merrium Webster dot com says: "important and deserving to be noticed or remembered American writers OF NOTE include Herman Melville, Mark Twain, and Emily Dickinson
46. Dress, as in a particular costume: RIG OUT. From Collins Dictionary: "If you RIG yourself OUT or are rigged out in a particular way, you are wearing a particular kind of clothes
49. Putin's USSR employer: KGB. Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti. And now you know why it's abbreviated. Putin was in the KGB from 1975 to 1991; resigned to begin his political career, and served under Boris Yeltsin in 1996
50. Magna cum __: LAUDE. Means "with great distinction"
51. Famed Castilian knight: EL CID. Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (EL CID) was a Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain. Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific al-sīd, which would evolve into El Cid, and the Spanish moniker El Campeador. He was born in Vivar del Cid, a village near the city of Burgos. From WIKI
52. Forged: FAKED. OK, I will confess that when I was a lad of 18, I FAKED (forged) an expired driver's license, and changed my birthdate to "make me" 21 so I could buy beer
53. Property seizures: REPOS. Short for "repossessions"
54. Brayer: ASS. Bray is the word for the noise a donkey (or ASS) makes. So one making this noise would be a brayer - I guess . . .
55. Atlantic fish commonly called a porgy: SCUP. Stenotomus_chrysops (SCUP). The fish shown in the image below. I'm guessing that Gershwin never considered calling his opera, SCUP and Bess
56. Where I-70 and I-75 cross: OHIO. An easy one for me. I was born in NE OHIO, lived between Cincinnati and Dayton from 1993-2010, and drove across the intersection of I-70 and I-75 many times. DAYTON (Vandalia, actually) wouldn't fit . . . see map below
60. Early RCA output: LPS. Radio Corporation of America (RCA) first began producing LPS (Long Play Records) in the early 1930's
61. Farm enclosure: STY. Pig out? Not when it's in a STY
And once again, Moe has reached the end of his blog. Hope this one was better than it was craCKed up to be! Have a great weekend, and as always, comments are welcome . . . see you on Christmas Eve
38 comments:
FIWrong. 4 cells, all in the NE corner.
mmT < DPT (Measles, Mumps, Tetanus)
faLL < LOLL (drapes, e.g., not people)
I knew the two across words were gibberish, but no idea which letters were wrong, nor what the vague clues were for.
The okay theme didn't appear for me until nearly the end, too late to be of any help.
ORTS, an old crosswordese friend I haven't seen in a long time!
Never heard of NEMO'S War game, SCUP.
CSOs at POETS to the JumbleHints contingent, plus C.Moe.
EDDA/EDDY
Nit: 26d clue is singular (and definitely ICEE), answer is plural (and not ICEE).
The Freemasons have ARCANE rites
They practice on their meeting nights!
They quote ESOTERICA
On how they ruled America,
All the secret details are what WIKI cites!
Captain NEMO warred against
Empires, because he was incensed!
They fouled the air,
For seas, no care,
And sold CLUE games they hadn't licensed!
{B+, B-.}
Good morning!
Made steady progress and never had to reach for the Wite-Out. That's a win in my book. Sensed something was going on with the themers, but didn't figure it out until everything had been filled in. Cute. That spurious CK in LEFT CLICKS was unfortunate. Very nicely done (as usual), JW. Enjoyed your explanation of the ARCANE ESOTERICA, C-Moe.
PERIOD: Can't hear that today without "seeing" Sean Spicer (or Melissa McCarthy) at the podium.
EDDY: Our house came with one of those garden tubs in the master bath. Does anybody ever use 'em? We turned it on one time. (One time only, Vasili.)
SKUNK: I used to play cribbage frequently with mom -- 15-2, 15-4, and eight's a doz. Hard to believe she's been gone for more than 20 years.
LPS: When I read "early" RCA, I was thinking radios and networks. Phonograph records came later. Used to work in radio, but I'd never heard of a WAY radio station.
METER CREATOR: Anyone else read that as "meteor crater?" I often joke that d-w calls me "Origami," because she thinks I'm a fold art.
FIR, but erased alee for SAFE, late for YORE, icee for ICES and pen for STY. Used the theme to complete a couple of the long fills.
Most small sailboats have SCUPpers, kind of self-bailing devices. Never heard of that seafood variety.
Guessed at ADAMS, but it was a two-fer so I gave it a shot.
I would have thought that LPS were products of RCA's middle years. 78s would have been their early output, but those don't work as crossword fill.
I'm an animal lover. But I must admit that my ASS brays too often, especially in cool weather when chili returns to many restaurants. My barking spider isn't any better.
Thanks to JeffWech for the fun, doable (even by me) Friday puzzle. And thanks to C-Moe for the fun review. I remember how cool Phoenix nights could be. Low humidity and long nights yield big diurnal temperature ranges. I lived near 55th Ave and Pinnacle Peak for a couple of years, but it was too hot for my DW. We played tons of cribbage before she started losing her ability for such activities,
Leave it to JeffW to put ARCANE and ESOTERICA in the same puzzle, then proceed to come at us with a bunch of clues and answers that are just that! Consider 1D, who knows what a “V” symbol means “UP BOW” unless you play the violin? Not a real difficult solve for a Friday as I got it in under 20 minutes, but as always with much help from the perps. Had to look over the grid when I was done to find the theme as there was no unifier or reveal (I thinks that’s what they are called in crosswordese?). When I did see the insertion of CK, I thought Calvin Klein 🤷🏼♂️. Thanks JW for another fun puzzle!
Great review CMoe, and hand up for being a cribbage player also, my wife and I play several times a week. I’ve actually had two 28 hands in the past year but have never had the perfect 29, although I’ve been dealt the possibly but missed on the 5 being cut. I dealt her four 5’s the other night but cut an 8 giving her only 20, in the three years we have been playing there have been many SKUNKS, but never the dreaded double. And that’s my bit of ESOTERICA for the day that only cribbage players know about.
Have a great day everyone!
Cribbage is how I learned to count. My father loved the game and I would sit and watch him play when I was very little. I tried to convince him to let me play, but he told me I needed to know how to count and add and subtract. So I learned. That was also when I started drinking coffee (lightened by much milk).
This was another example of Jeffrey's ability to spot and effectuate a theme for a puzzle. FAIRY TACKLE is thought provoking. D-O, I do not think there was any intention for the WAY STATION to be related to radio.
It is a good thing that Moe blogged today as I have had a week...
UPBOW was all perps and EDDA with EDDY placed symmetrically was nice; I also lovea Friday Will S. quote.
Thank you Jeffrey and Chris
Lemonade, I was referring to C-Moe's WAY radio STATION link. From what I've read, they are some sort of religious broadcasters. That could be why I've never run across them.
The cribbage references convince me it is okay to mention that today is the 48th anniversary of my father's death. I have had the 29, double skunked my uncle, been double skunked and had a 15 year winning streak against my grandmother. I miss the days where families ignored television and/or radio but played games and talked to each other. Coincidentally, it is also the 6th anniversay of my oldest brother's death, so it was good that Chris blogged.
Be well all and let there be love and light
Thanks D-O, I must read more carefully...
Wore out the eraser but FIR in the end. Missed the theme completely.
This one took 12 1/2 minutes for me to finish, without making any sense of the theme.
I liked the "drawl" clue, but perhaps only because most Gone with the Wind clues are for "Tara." I didn't care for "rig out." Not my favorite puzzle by Mr. Wechsler, but a good one still.
This would have been much easier if the theme were printed with the puzzle. I don't know why the editor chooses not to.
A lovely Friday FIR, but without the added pleasure of getting the theme. I saw all the CKs but didn't think to eliminate them. I was trying to change vowels before them, led on by the phrase SCHOOL BooKS, which worked. None of the other themers did though. I smiled at DRAWL and LOLL and enjoyed all your challenging CLUEs, Jeff. Thanks!
Thanks go to C Moe as well for his humor and help clearing away the cobwebs. I had similar WOs as others (latE/YORE and faLL/LOLL) but the puzzle wasn't a big mess today.
I played some cribbage off and on through the years, but enjoy letters more than numbers in general now.
Stay SAFE, everyone, and have some joy today.
Good Morning:
This is the second recent offering from JW that differs a bit from his usual wordplay wizardry. I must have been either day dreaming or distracted while solving because I never noticed the repeated CKs and when I finished, I had no idea what the theme was. After a few minutes of staring at the themers, the penny dropped. I went astray at Lore/Yore, Icee/Ices, and Data/Info. Some cute duos were Arcane/Esoterica, Edda/Eddy, Yet/Yeti, and Sgt/NCO. We also had a mini creature theme with Skunk, Sty, Ass, Scup, Fur and Larva.
Thanks, Jeffrey W, for a fun solve and thanks, Moe, for a fun and informative review. (My last move was to my present home in 2004 and that was the 17th move over a 27 year span. My husband was afflicted with wanderlust!)
Have a great day.
Fln, lots of late night talk*. Lucina and Yellowrocks; what great role models thou art.
Near disaster as I pictured a blacksmith bAKE(ing) iron into horseshoes. That was at 11pm. As dawn rose over Marblehead I realized we had a scam artist forging FILEs from a FOLDER
ICK what a gimmick. Actually quite Weschingly clever. No actual reveal. One needed to grok it out. Last word (1) then second word(2,3,4)
abm/SDI. I recalled old xword nugget ORT but needed both K's for ('We SKUNKed them 9-0')
Btw, I'm in the middle of Dotoevsky's The IDIOT. The moral: Nice guys finish last. Btw, nothings changed in 150 years and 6000 miles.
A capella?? The xword version of Yosemite peak for me.
Jeff mixes nasty curves and sliders with just enough 80mph straight balls to be solvable.
Now for ?'s write-up. Ah, C-Moe, he of the haiku and the humor. Great write-up
WC
** I used to refer to it as rhe 'ether' until Argyle gently assured me that the Corner reads "FLN" before the new day posts.
******
Hard as it is to believe, I got origami mixed up with piñatas.
For the equally dense:
"o·ri·ga·mi
/ˌôrəˈɡämē/
Learn to pronounce
noun
the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes and figures.
"an expert in origami"
I liked the DRAWL clue although sprawl works but doesn't fit
PEE Wee's Dodger teammate Gil Hodges just joined him in hof
NEMO was the skipper of sub that traveled 20000 leagues under the sea
C-Moe, try aloe Vera capsules for those achy hands
Actually, my first thought for Caterpillar was tractor
Y.E.T. You're Eligible Too.
I thought at the times "Treat(s)" sb plural for ICES.
ESOTERICA? How many ways are there for a batter to reach first base?*
WC
*The answer is seven: hit, walk, error, fielders’ choice, hit by pitch, dropped third strike, and defensive interference.
Several pages of arcane baseball ESOTERICA
Or…
Spend a 100 bucks on dinner and a movie
Well, back to normal for me after yesterday’s lightening round. FIR, but gaining another booby prize in the process, as it took me 30 minutes. W/Os COLOR:DRAWL, MMR:DPT, ICEE:ICES. DNK SCUP, UPBOW. Never saw the theme until Chairman Moe ‘splained it. I started off in trouble with 1A, as “PAGE” didn’t fit, and needed multiple perps to finally see 3D was not about an animal. Once I got PEE, BFF and ORTS, the NW finally filled. NE was no gimme either. Only when I finally got REASON, ARCANE and WIKI did I get DRAWL, and that corner filled. Good CW, JW, suitably Friday tough, but, eventually, doable, thanx. Terrific write-up, CM, thanx. I enjoyed the Fractured Fairy Tale. Many years ago I bought the entire “Rocky the Flying Squirrel with Bullwinkle” set, I think it was on tape. I was surprised that I did not find the episodes as funny as I remembered them.
Thanx JeffWech for a great puzzle, which I didn't exactly SAIL thru, but did eventually reach a SAFE harbor. And speaking of nautiCKal terms, the theme just SAILED over my head.
And thanks MOE for another another review V(ictory). I too am a fan of R&B, my all time favorite cartoon series.
Some favs:
30A STINT. So why'd they let you go Moe? #PUNABUSE?
34A HEM. My father was a MAXI-malist. He often offered to buy more material for my sisters when made their dresses.
2D REFRACTOR. REFLECTOR fit, but didn't perp.
10D ARCANE. The noun form ARCANA & 35D ESOTERICA are cousins.
29D THE MADONNA. The Church is currently celebrating day 3 of the "NOVENA of the Immaculate Conception" (don't ask, it's complicated). Beautiful painting BTW. Funny, I've never seen a painting of Mary that looked like a teenager from Palestine.
35D NSEC. It didn't take any time at all MOE.
46D RIG OUT. New to me. COSPLAY was too long.
49D KGB. Putin was an Horatio Alger, who made it all the way to the top. The KGB is now called the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation(FSB). Putin is now the boss and the organization still has the same objectives as in days of YORE.
52 FAKED. A CSO to all the Cornerites in the 32D, to check if there's a STATUTE of LIMITATIONS on impersonating an adult. 😁
Cheers,
Bill
Puzzling thoughts:
Hey everybody; am visiting with my 18 month old grandson! Oh, and daughter and son-in-law, too … 😉 If I had one wish it would be to be at least 10-15 years younger. Keeping up with a toddler at my current age is a bit tough, but I’m loving every minute. 😀
TomH ~~ In my online version of the LAT CW the only day where a the puzzle is titled is on Sunday, and personally I prefer it that way as it adds an extra challenge to figure it out if it’s not obvious, and a Friday grid is not supposed to be easy (especially if constructed by Jeff W). But even with titles and circles and clues within the clues, sometimes the theme is so cleverly hidden that I still don’t get it, that’s like a victory for the defense, and I’ll graciously concede :)
Hi Y'all! Interesting puzzle, Jeffrey. Moe you cracked me up several times.
Theme? There was a theme? Saw the ck's but didn't think to take them out. Thanks, Moe.
Bud 4 life = not the name of a beer.
A bit tough today, but that's what Friday puzzles are supposed to be. So, many thanks, Jeffrey. And neat commentary, Chairman Moe. Your allusion to "SCUP and Bess" cracked me up.
Got PEE Wee Reese and EDDA right away, for a good start.
Laughed that "This is one" turned out to be CLUE.
HEM for "adjustable border" was clever.
Nice to get a reference to POETS as "meter creators."
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
I did not suss the clever theme, even though I was looking for added letters. I had trouble in the NE because I doubted my first thoughts of DPT and WIKI. So I FIW, although that corner and the theme were easy for a Friday. I agree that DRAWL was MEH. Thanks, Moe and Jeff for the entertainment.
My first idea of brayer was the roller used in arts and crafts to ink or paint with a stamp. Only three letters, so I used ASS.
I have not played cribbage. We used SKUNK in other games and sports to indicate we held the opponents scoreless. We really skunked them!
I find weather in the 50’s pleasant, “sweater weather.” This weekend promises to be unusually warm, in the 50's. I am not fond of weather in the 80’s.
Unclefred , I laughed yesterday about peeing on cue. When I drive, Alan asks for a rest stop after only fifteen minutes in the car on a big highway with no facilities nearby. Now I insist on trying every time before we leave here, as I do myself, even for short trips.
One winter when snow and bitter cold cancelled outdoor recess most days, my class folded 1000 origami cranes to send to the Peace Memorial in Japan.
TomH, the operative word is "puzzle." The crossword is designed to be a challenge. The use of themes (hidden though they are) was a tool added to help solvers. To tell the theme before solving would make it too easy for most. It also would remove the "a ha" moment. If you read the write-ups here at the Corner you will be able to spot themes more easily.
JW is great at finding themes and presenting them in an interesting puzzle.
Dagnabit!
I had more trouble than usual for even a Friday...
Got the theme at...
oooh!
I just saw my mistake!
I thought I figured the theme at school books!
(school bus, no wonder i couldnt figure it out)
Desper-Otto!
I thought I would be the only one!
Last clue: meteor crater...
crossing smelly, stink y, fish!
dagnabit,
red letter alphabet run="P"
WTF!
Meteor Crater= Poet?
Well damned if I am not going to make it fit!
The answer is Yeats,
(but only one of him, not the plural)
(& you can call a fish whatever the heck you like to make it fit...)
FiniCKy Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and CMoe.
Being away from home, I filled this CW online and not in my newspaper.
Thus I had no inkblots, but I did use a couple of red letter helps.
I did not see the missing CK theme.
Hand up for Icee (and not wanting to change to ICES).
The centre DOCKING BUSINESS was the last to fall.
PK- LOL re bud4 life beer. I thought of Bud lite with that clue too.
Wishing you all a great day.
Hola!
No time to read your comments now. I'll check them later.
My newspaper did not have an entertainment section today so I printed the puzzle from the Washington Post. Not a good way to start but when I saw Jeff Wex as the constructor, that lifted my mood.
Surprisingly this was much easier than JW's usually complex themes and I finished it quickly. It's fun to see WACKY in there. I'm not familiar with SCUP and for a long time was sure it should be SOLE but the perps would not allow it.
HEM is what I normally have to do when I buy new slacks. They are always too long though the store that had my size went out of BUSINESS. Sigh.
I have a deep devotion to THE MADONNA, our Blessed Mother Mary.
Time to go and start the decorating. Mark already called that he is ready.
Have a fanciful Friday, everyone!
YellowRocks @11:56 AM Thanks for "brayer". I've used them many times, but just call them "rollers". ASS was certainly easier fill. I'd have never guessed "roller".
CED, too much knowledge ... is a dangerous thing ... ;-)
Your Mercury Crater, would have befuddled the most ardent CW creator....
Thank you Jeff W. for Very challenging puzzle. I had to think a lot... and more than I have in several weeks. The theme, what theme ... I've given up on trying to figure out themes...
Thank you Chair Moe, for your very interesting review, and Moe-kus. I had never heard of Louis CK before, but the learning experience was useful. I have always believed that the writers of any TV show or movie, are the real heros, and often dont get enough credit.
I had a tough time with NE and the NW and then the other qudrants. Had trouble especially with DRAWL, PERIOD ( as clued), NEMOS ( as clued) , SKUNK ( never played cribbage - must learn the game - note to myself) ....
My immunization letters were originally, BCG ( a french vac for TB). Bacillus Calmette Guerin. TB is endemic in India, so everybody has to be vaccinated, atleast once in their lifetime ... the problem is, most indians already get TB early in life, and like chicken pox, the bac never leaves your body and resides inactive in your blood cells, forever. It gives a false positive on all western skin TINE tests but it really does not bother you again.
Moe, in your last line for the Moe-ku, instead of
YETI still exists ( to some) .... maybe you should have had .... Yet I stil exist. ;-)
Have a nice day, all.
Musings
-Jeffrey’s always elegant puzzles are a LABOR of LOVE with plenty of both the former and latter!
-We probably sold my MIL’s house FOR A SONG but the Alzheimer’s care unit would have gotten it all anyway
-There’s a real NIP in the air today, but it will be 60+ for a few days next week
-The Hubble Space Telescope’s main optical device is this huge REFLECTOR
-Abigail ADAMS hated the White House and was relieved to leave it after five months when Jefferson defeated her husband and became president
-The Notre Dame FB coach took the head coaching job at LSU and was mocked for trying to affect a southern DRAWL at his first news conference
CrossEyedDave @12:13 PM You're blowing my mind again (well, maybe just puffing it). I did a senior paper on YEATS in UNI and never came across that one. Oh wait, I'd graduated by the time the IAU named it. There must have been an amateur "Meter creator" of JeffWech ilk on their staff at the time.
Wonderful puzzle and write-up! THE MADONNA -- beautiful.
Thanks to Jeffrey and The Chairman.
Too tough for me today, and I didn't have enough time to spend on it to appreciate the "what-the-**CK" theme.
Glad to see some others had more success with it.
Hurrying off for another round of surgeries by my dermatologist! (The glory of living in SoCal is all that sunshine!)
~ OMK
On 48 Across FICKLE FOLDER ... and Origani. I have tried a lot of Origami projects, and succeeded somewhat. Also Kirigami, which is folding many small pieces of paper to make small flowers and then combining them to make a ball or a bouquet of flowers or shapes, like Octagons - Octagrams, Stars or Dodecahedrons...
But, one of my favorite pastimes is, the Very Easy, making the 8 starred, 8 pointed, (double sided -) Froebel Crosses or Moravian Stars. All it requires is one, two, or four sheets of light posterboard paper ( about 22"x27" or 20"x30" etc.) of different colors, commonly sold at various craft or discount stores... cut into strips of 2 cm. x 27" .... or 2 cmx30" ,, or whatever the length of the board happens to be.
There are atleast 20 Youtube videos on how to make these stars. Would be perfect for the Xmas holidays, for people like Lucina, and others who are into holiday decorations, especially if you buy the red, green and white sheets of paper. Could have a jewish theme if you use light blue and white sheets of paper. One sheet makes atleast 2 stars,
It takes about 7 minutes to make one of these stars, and I find it very meditating and mind relaxing. You do not need glue, and a sharp scissors would be of help.
I have made and given away literally hundreds of stars to friends and others, and have another hundred worth of supplies in my closet. ;-) It is very enjoyable.
IMPORTANT .... For making the Froebel Moravian Stars. PART TWO.
The most important part of the paper craftins is the cutting the thin strips of poster board into multiple narrow, strips. It is Very Important that the strips be of even size, and 'true', with strict parallel edges ! This cannot be achieved by hand cutting the strips even with ruled lines by a hand held scissors, or even with a craft blade knife and a metal edge meter rod.
Best, to mark the strip lines and cut them with a professional size meter long paper rolling cutter/edger. I have found it best by marking the poster boards and then taking them, and going to a FedEx-Kinkos/OfficeMax/ Staples etc. store and 'borrowing' their professional yard long, cutting board with the rolling cutters. It will be true, save time, and make for a better construction.
Sorry for the TMI, and Good Luck.
Hi All!
JW gets me again - I had to lookup NELLY for extra play and cheat* in the SE.
Thank you JW for the grid. I started strong in the NW (URL, PEE, BFF, UPBOW == off-to-the-races) but petered out in the Carolinians.
Wonderful read on the write-up, C.Moe. Thank you.
WOs: afoOL -> IDIOT, LARVe, ICEe, latE -> YORE [cheat!], something's under the R in IRK(?)
ESPs: SCUP,
Fav: ARCANE ESOTERICA was a wonderful flourish.
I've never played Cribbage, but knew SKUNK'd from Baseball Color Comentary.
{B+, B}
D-O: I read 'meteor' only, like, 100x until perps fell | ABC-run for the P.
CED - You sure are CrossEye'd. Thanks for the YEATs link.
PK - LOL Budweiser quip.
THE MADANNA or A Lady? [Beatles]
D-O: re: EDDY... DW loves the Jacuzzi tub. I do too if I'm invited to wash her hair.
DPT? No, I got my Moderna Booster early-afternoon today -- a NIP of a NAP is due before getting back to work tonight [there's a new CVE in the eather]
Enjoyed reading everyone!
Cheers, -T
*e.g. look at C.Moe's grid with one blind-eye to surrounding squares.
**In the playfully-malicious sense of ARCH we learned this week
I liked everything today: the puzzle, Moe's write-up, and all your comments. I learned the term UP BOW and that V is the symbol for it. Today's PEE was not on cue. "SCUP and Bess" gave me good laugh. I only grudgingly changed ICEE to ICES.
Take care, all.
-T @4:25 PM I sleep soundly at night knowing you are guarding our cyber shores T. Interesting link on the CVE. Sounds like we've come full circle with the IANA finally spawning the need for CNAs. 😟
TomH etal re. "Easier". I think Rich etal are not trying to make Friday easy(hi Looper Phil,Misty,Lemonade) On that note, I picked up CK on FICKLE and found it helpful in solving the others ie. boating/DOCKING
Waseeley, agree on Putin ie Leopards don't lose their spots
Bud4Life. Buy four cases / Mo for ?? Months get it for free for life(+ S&H) after.
CED, How'd you find Yeats? Amazing
WC
Vidwan:
Those are beautiful. I have a faint recollection of helping someone make those stars in the far, distant past.
I used to love crafts of all kinds and did many of them with my elementary school students.
Today Mark helped me with the decorations and it is now complete. My current Christmas tree is very small, 24 inches and stands atop a table, and frankly I have it only for the sake of my grandchildren. The base is loaded with presents. I don't have a fireplace so their stockings are hung on the window sill behind the tree.
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