Title: A timely tribute to Broadway.
We all know (or should know) that puzzles are scheduled long before publication. However with the recent death of Broadway ICON Steven Sondheim, it seems some outside influence created this time slot for our entertainment and reflection. And dramatically none of the eight (8) huge hits were created by Sondheim. I am however, foreshadowing the write-up, so it is time to get to work.
My internet sleuthing located Jeffrey Diton both at the Crossword Collaboration Directory* and on Facebook. It seems he is "retired and living the dream in Cary, North Carolina" though I know not his vocation. This is his world wide debut puzzle so let's give him a round of applause. (too much foreshadowing)? Not unexpectedly this puzzle does not check all the usual Friday difficulty boxes - too many words, word lengths too short - but he does bring some pizzaz. PET MD, ICEMAN, KRAUSS, LOW-RES, MIDORI , YASGUR, ALL YEAR, MISTRIAL and SLEEPERS are all solid fill. The ones in red are new. If you did not trek to Western NY on August 19, 1969, you probably don't know Max Yasgur and his farm in Bethel. N. Y. but those are stories for a different day. What he does do is include in each theme answer 2 one-word Broadway musicals. I find no commonality within the selection that determines which he chose, I hope he comes by and explains.
16A. Nightclub for seasonal workers?: ELF CABARET (10). Malls hire elves to accompany Santa and we all enjoy a night out at a cabaret, old chum. LINK 1 and LINK 2
22A. Reaction to opening a can of Whiskas?: CATS APPLAUSE
56A. Styling gel for a '50's teenager?: HAIR GREASE (10). HAIR with it's nudity was very bold for Broadway and GREASE a wonderful tribute to WEST SIDE STORY a Stephen Sondheim musical.
And the unusual Friday reveal:
34. Hit shows, and a hint to four puzzle answers: BROADWAY SMASHES. I am not sure if this was Jeffrey's intention, but I parse the clue for the show with individual names as Broadway Smashes, but for the entire answer Broadway's Mashes. YMMV.
Across:
1. Some model home residents: DOLLS. A very cute beginning.
6. Wrinkle, as one's brow: KNIT. HISTORY.
10. Rocky greetings: YOS. From the movie, not a bad romance.
13. '40s-'50s "Giant Brain": ENIAC. This is the 48th appearance of this fill in the LAT.
14. Streaming biggie: ROKU. Read all about IT.
15. Gas station convenience: MART. This one was slow in coming for me.
18. Capital on a fjord: OSLO. Norway here we come.
19. Easter supply: DYE. Of course EGG fits also.
20. Watson portrayer opposite Jonny Lee Miller's Holmes: LIU.
21. California athlete: ANGEL. Baseball in Anaheim.
26. Hardly well: RARE. Very nice Friday deception, not ill but not cooked much.
29. Surprise hits: SLEEPERS. This sense of the word may have originated in the world of gambling in the nineteenth century. When a card player unexpectedly drew a winning card, the card was called "a sleeper."
30. Pontificates: OPINES. C.C. has mostly eliminated that from this blog's posts.
33. Narrow strip of wood: LATH. The name derived from the spreading action, which is like pulling an accordion open. wiki
40. Top-notch: A-ONE. From astronauts HG? I know they own A-OK.
41. Note in the key of B major: D-SHARP. I know nothing but B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, and A♯ are all part of the B major scale. more wiki
42. Hung jury result: MISTRIAL. A victory for a criminal defendant.
46. Pop of pop music: IGGY. An 80's phenomenon.
50. Nice thoughts?: IDEES. The French Connection.
51. What "W" may mean: WIN. L loss.
52. Pilot or Explorer: SUV. The world has been overrun by this vehicle choice. The fact that they now can get 30 to 50 mpg or are electric has helped.
55. Gold rush town where Wyatt Earp ran the Dexter Saloon:
1. Act: DEED. Do a good one. It...
2. Just: ONLY. Takes a moment and can improve someone's
3. Long sentence: LIFE. A strained bit of incarceration humor.
4. Lakers rivals, on NBA scoreboards: LAC. The Clippers
5. Milan's La __: SCALA. Charlotte has her Ballet debut this coming Sunday.
6. Alison of bluegrass: KRAUSS. An intersting Duet.
7. Scand. land: NORway. It's back.
8. Prez after Harry: IKE. Nicknames not initials.
9. Tsk relative: TUT. King?
10. Max who owned the Woodstock farmland: YASGUR. An interesting HISTORY.
11. Discount phrase: OR LESS. Is it ever less?
12. Pinched: STOLE. This is a fun word which has so many meanings including stealing and being arrested; rather a broad spectrum. See 26D. Hold up: ROB. Not Reiner.
15. "Hidden Figures" actress Janelle __: MONAE. This MOVIE
1. Some model home residents: DOLLS. A very cute beginning.
6. Wrinkle, as one's brow: KNIT. HISTORY.
10. Rocky greetings: YOS. From the movie, not a bad romance.
13. '40s-'50s "Giant Brain": ENIAC. This is the 48th appearance of this fill in the LAT.
14. Streaming biggie: ROKU. Read all about IT.
15. Gas station convenience: MART. This one was slow in coming for me.
18. Capital on a fjord: OSLO. Norway here we come.
19. Easter supply: DYE. Of course EGG fits also.
21. California athlete: ANGEL. Baseball in Anaheim.
26. Hardly well: RARE. Very nice Friday deception, not ill but not cooked much.
29. Surprise hits: SLEEPERS. This sense of the word may have originated in the world of gambling in the nineteenth century. When a card player unexpectedly drew a winning card, the card was called "a sleeper."
30. Pontificates: OPINES. C.C. has mostly eliminated that from this blog's posts.
33. Narrow strip of wood: LATH. The name derived from the spreading action, which is like pulling an accordion open. wiki
40. Top-notch: A-ONE. From astronauts HG? I know they own A-OK.
41. Note in the key of B major: D-SHARP. I know nothing but B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, and A♯ are all part of the B major scale. more wiki
42. Hung jury result: MISTRIAL. A victory for a criminal defendant.
46. Pop of pop music: IGGY. An 80's phenomenon.
51. What "W" may mean: WIN. L loss.
52. Pilot or Explorer: SUV. The world has been overrun by this vehicle choice. The fact that they now can get 30 to 50 mpg or are electric has helped.
55. Gold rush town where Wyatt Earp ran the Dexter Saloon:
NOME. LINK.
60. "Dagnabbit!": DRAT.
61. Wind from the French for "high wood": OBOE. The name oboe was originally hautbois, or "high, loud wood" in French, also sometimes spelled hoboy in English. The Italians transliterated the French name to oboè, and the English followed around 1770 with oboe. Oo has friends called Bo which leads me to many bad musical puns.
62. Baseball VIP: OWNER.
63. Half of a Chinese pair: YIN. I wouldn't YANG your chain about that.
64. Conference giveaways: PENS. I have so many free pens in my house but they do not last long as they are very...
65. Demanding attention: NEEDY.
Down:
61. Wind from the French for "high wood": OBOE. The name oboe was originally hautbois, or "high, loud wood" in French, also sometimes spelled hoboy in English. The Italians transliterated the French name to oboè, and the English followed around 1770 with oboe. Oo has friends called Bo which leads me to many bad musical puns.
62. Baseball VIP: OWNER.
63. Half of a Chinese pair: YIN. I wouldn't YANG your chain about that.
64. Conference giveaways: PENS. I have so many free pens in my house but they do not last long as they are very...
65. Demanding attention: NEEDY.
Down:
1. Act: DEED. Do a good one. It...
2. Just: ONLY. Takes a moment and can improve someone's
3. Long sentence: LIFE. A strained bit of incarceration humor.
4. Lakers rivals, on NBA scoreboards: LAC. The Clippers
5. Milan's La __: SCALA. Charlotte has her Ballet debut this coming Sunday.
6. Alison of bluegrass: KRAUSS. An intersting Duet.
7. Scand. land: NORway. It's back.
8. Prez after Harry: IKE. Nicknames not initials.
9. Tsk relative: TUT. King?
10. Max who owned the Woodstock farmland: YASGUR. An interesting HISTORY.
11. Discount phrase: OR LESS. Is it ever less?
12. Pinched: STOLE. This is a fun word which has so many meanings including stealing and being arrested; rather a broad spectrum. See 26D. Hold up: ROB. Not Reiner.
15. "Hidden Figures" actress Janelle __: MONAE. This MOVIE
17. Tiny amount: BIT.
21. Top dogs: ALPHAS. They no longer are just males.
22. Wrestler-turned-actor John: CENA. Thank you all for last week, as I was unsure if "S" or "C."
23. Not seasonal: ALL YEAR. As a condo dweller this is a very familiar concept.
24. Pod residents?: PEAS. But do they pay rent or taxes?
25. Website for animal owners: PETMD. This is an awesome tool for anyone who has and/or loves animals. LINK.
27. Fig. in lending: APR. All you never asked about but should know about the difference between APR and INTEREST RATE.
28. 2016 Olympics city: RIO. Too soon to forget.
31. Tinder outings: E-DATES. Never tried it. Are they E-xciting?
32. There's a point to it: SWORD. Very fun, unless it is being stuck into you.
35. "It's not __, it's a when": AN IF. An old fahioned threat!
36. __ guard: SHIN. Football (soccer) players unite.
37. Crone: HAG.
38. Unit of energy: ERG.
39. Bond, for one: SPY. Excited about the new movie or the Rock wanting to be the new Bond?
42. Olympic skater Ito: MIDORI. Which came first, the skater or the
21. Top dogs: ALPHAS. They no longer are just males.
22. Wrestler-turned-actor John: CENA. Thank you all for last week, as I was unsure if "S" or "C."
23. Not seasonal: ALL YEAR. As a condo dweller this is a very familiar concept.
24. Pod residents?: PEAS. But do they pay rent or taxes?
25. Website for animal owners: PETMD. This is an awesome tool for anyone who has and/or loves animals. LINK.
27. Fig. in lending: APR. All you never asked about but should know about the difference between APR and INTEREST RATE.
28. 2016 Olympics city: RIO. Too soon to forget.
31. Tinder outings: E-DATES. Never tried it. Are they E-xciting?
32. There's a point to it: SWORD. Very fun, unless it is being stuck into you.
35. "It's not __, it's a when": AN IF. An old fahioned threat!
36. __ guard: SHIN. Football (soccer) players unite.
37. Crone: HAG.
38. Unit of energy: ERG.
39. Bond, for one: SPY. Excited about the new movie or the Rock wanting to be the new Bond?
42. Olympic skater Ito: MIDORI. Which came first, the skater or the
DRINK.
43. Certain clutch player, in sports parlance: ICEMAN. I think of
44. Shooting competition: SKEET. Good for hand to eye coordination and to keep the skeet population under control.
45. A bit fuzzy, as an image: LOW RES. Not Hi-res.
47. Blowing a lot: WINDY. Chicago, chicago, my kind of town.
48. Evasive maneuver: ZIG. Or do you need to zag also?
49. 2001 scandal subject: ENRON. Greed games.
43. Certain clutch player, in sports parlance: ICEMAN. I think of
44. Shooting competition: SKEET. Good for hand to eye coordination and to keep the skeet population under control.
45. A bit fuzzy, as an image: LOW RES. Not Hi-res.
47. Blowing a lot: WINDY. Chicago, chicago, my kind of town.
48. Evasive maneuver: ZIG. Or do you need to zag also?
49. 2001 scandal subject: ENRON. Greed games.
52. Sound: SANE. Which they were not as they decided to go after the new ones not the...
53. Secondhand: USED. In the land of Rolls Royces, designer dresses and Rolexes used stuff is very popular for the almost and the wannabe.
54. To a high degree: VERY. There is little chance I will dance this dance.
53. Secondhand: USED. In the land of Rolls Royces, designer dresses and Rolexes used stuff is very popular for the almost and the wannabe.
54. To a high degree: VERY. There is little chance I will dance this dance.
56. Bunny __: HOP.
57. White House nickname: ABE. He has been linked to the Civil War.
58. Charged particle: ION. Why don't they just pay cash?
59. Farm mom: EWE. Not me !
57. White House nickname: ABE. He has been linked to the Civil War.
58. Charged particle: ION. Why don't they just pay cash?
59. Farm mom: EWE. Not me !
Gee, I am worn out and it is only 7:00PM. I was fascinated by MalMan's write-up today going back to the old minimalist ways of the early blogs, but I also really enjoy all that Hahtoolah, Waseely, Chairman Moe and the rest find and link. Ah, decisions. Welcome Jeffrey D. come see us and thank you and the readers and posters
First the grid:
Four ballerinas in rehearsal:
I am out
57 comments:
Hi Y'all! Thanks for the challenge, Jeffrey Diton, and congrats on your debut. Thanks, Lemony, for 'splainin' the theme, which I didn't get on my own.
Last to fill was the NE corner where YASGUR, MONAE were unknown & had to be red-lettered. Rocky greeting was not something said in the Colorado mountains. ANGELs are not the California athletes I watch. MART didn't occur to me.
DNK; ENIAC, ROKU. But the rest of the puzzle flowed in nicely.
I did it again. FIWrong. Red letters showed one cell, KRAnSS + LIn. KRAUSS is completely unknown. Didn't recognize Jonny Lee Miller, but once I had LI_, I knew it was the actress I had admired. Asian name. LIn, LIe? Got my ta-da on the third try, LIU.
Familiar theme style, we've had it a couple times with team names. Figured it out with HAIR GREASE, which sent me back to fill in the rest. Thought it was a mix of B'way plays and movies.
ELF, FROZEN, movies,
WICKED, HAIR, plays,
CABARET, CATS, GREASE, plays made into movies,
APPLAUSE I didn't know.
ROB was a VERY WICKED galoot.
Rob was what he did for loot.
He was given away
When he tried to say
An OBOE he STOLE was a flute!
Toymaking ELF was a SEASONAL gig,
He wanted an ALL-YEAR job to rig.
He became harbor-master,
And caused a disaster --
His supply-chain snarling was big!
{A-, B+.}
Good morning!
Yay, d-o got the theme before seeing the reveal -- missed the "mashes," though. Was thinking flying squirrel for Rocky. D'oh. Took an alphabet run to get MART -- AIR was too short. Interesting to see TSK as a clue for TUT. We had both in the puzzle just the other day. Very nice debut, Jeffrey. You outdid yourself on the expo, Lemonade.
KRAUSS: Became well-known after the release of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. I just added her Raising Sand album of duets with Robert Plant to my music server last month.
ENRON: It was exactly 20 years ago yesterday that it all fell apart. There are lots of folks in Houston who lost everything, and will never forget. It showed the folly of funding your retirement with stock of your employer. You can lose both your job and your retirement in one swell foop.
Off to give blood this morning...
FIR, but really dislike crossings of proper names (Liu and Krauss).
I never thought this was puzzle-worthy design.
Welcome, Jeff. I am sure being published in syndicated media takes a lot of time and effort. Congratulations!
Lemonade, thank you for adding the depth for which you are renowned. As a fellow South Floridian, I too am well aware of the seasons when the snow birds arrive, open up the shuttered condos and fill the restaurants - ah, the holidays.
This puzzle felt more like a Wednesday than a Friday but it was a fun fill.
I got the theme early because I bounced around and solved the reveal in the first few minutes. I am not strong on Broadway plays but the fills flowed.
I found the YASGUR fill easy, except for the spelling. Who can forget The Woodstock album with Max YASGUR's opening line, "I'm a farmer" to the 200,000 people on his field cheering him.
Happy Holidays, All.
Like others, the crossing of Liu and Krauss was my Waterloo, as well as Yasnur.
Fine puzzle, except for all the proper nouns, especially where they crossed.
I parsed 34 as Broadway Smashes, but Lemon's Broadway's Mashes is better. Never the less, it was helpful in the solve.
In the 50's we did the bunny hop in high school.
Midori means green in Japanese. Midori is also a green alcoholic drink.
Wikipedia, "Midori is a sweet, bright green-colored, muskmelon-flavored liqueur made by Suntory."
YASGUR was easy for those of us in a certain narrow age range, but his farm is nowhere Western, or even Central New York state, it's barely west of the Hudson River. MISTRIAL isn't really a victory for the accused, just a delay.
MONAE from perps. Didn't really know KRAUSS, Kept thinking baseball for 29A and trying bLEEdERS or bLooPERS
Disaster in the NE. Of course I didn't know the Woodstock guy. I was on my final leave before Nam.
Rocky (mtn) hiS made sense. Is LESS = OR LESS and yes, gas stations adjunct could be a MART but I was left with rest(rooms). I should have taken another look at my completed xword before coming here.
Oh, I had PET Me as musical notation is not my Forte
After I'd filled all the long themes I groked what SMASH HITS was all about. I agree with L214 about the cleverness of a lot of clues.
WC
Btw I was able to recall the Lucy LIU as Dr Watson portrayal. Have not watched a full episode but I loved the A and E series on Nero Wolfe
More on ENRON later.
FIW, missing my wag @ PET Me x e SHARP. But I got my wag at LIU x KREUSS, so I got that goin' for me. I knew both the actress and singer, but didn't know the role for the actress nor the spelling for the singer. Also DNK that ELF and APPLAUSE were Broadway productions. When I lived in LA, the Lakers rivals were BOS - Magic vs. Bird.
Crossword frequenters CSNY sang:
Well, I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, "Tell me, where are you going?"
And this he told me
Said, "I'm going down to Yasgur's Farm
Gonna join in a rock 'n' roll band
Got to get back to the land
Set my soul free"
DO - DW and I were at a retreat for Lucent executives and top sales people at Marco Island. Several senior execs spoke, and one of them OPINEd that Lucent stock was under-valued and he advised employees to convert their 401(k) holdings to their stock. I knew that it was a terrible idea and convinced my DW of that. However, we knew a couple who did just that and lost nearly everything - several hundred thousand dollars - when the company declared bankruptcy. It is unbelievable that the exec would be so callous to give such disastrous advice when he had to know it was very risky at best, and financially suicidal at worst.
Thanks to Jeffrey for the fun puzzle, and to Lemonade for the interesting review.
Took me just under 10 minutes to confuse PetMe with PetMD.
Seemed like a lot of proper names today, and lately.
Good morning. Definitely an A&E puzzle with the BROADWAY SMASHES. Were any of those shows SLEEPERS before they made it big? I FIR but struggled in the NE with two side by side 100% unknowns YASGUR & MONAE. The PETMD was a guess for the key of B. I never understood why any composer would write that way with five black keys. I wonder if Rich would allow a French key someday? DO, RE, MI...ETC-sharp or flat. TI-MAJOR or DO-MINOR would take solid perps and make heads spin.
LIU- as a female Dr. Watson? news to ne.
NOME- also a "perp for Wyatt Earp".
Alison KRAUSS & Led Zepplin together? Plant sounded different on "Houses of the Holy"
CENA- wrestling IS acting with a good vs. evil script
A total screw up until I realized it was SHIN and not chin guard 🙄...then everything rapidly fell into place with multiple familiar BROADWAY SMASHES. (Brylcreem wouldn't fit amd I spelt it wrong anyway 😃).That still left the bare cupboard of the NW. I had held off on DOLLS, thought it was wrong, and on ELF, apparently didn't know the movie was made into a play, so before accepting a DNF I what-the-heck filled in those two which perped the rest and ended with an unexpected FIR.😄
"Elementary" with Jonny Miller and Lucy LIU, one of my favorites. Never heard of Krauss. Interesting how many of these shows are reworkings of old movies or plays.🤔
During my HS intro to Shakespeare I wondered what kind of kids hautboys were. (Will's stage direction: "exeunt hauboys" at the end of a scene/act)
"Hardly well"..RARE a bit clunky
YASGUR...Jinx you beat me to it...So I erased the same lines from CSNY'S "Woodstock"😉
Tiny taxi line up....ELFCABARET
Feline software program rules.... CATSAPPLAUSE
Wrap....STOLE
Hoping for a decent weekend
Thank you Jeffrey for easing us into a Friday FIR and congrats on your debut. I think you'll like it here. Entertaining theme which started to help after the second themer.
And thanks Lemony for another A ONE review and thanks for the CSO. My New Years resolution will be to try not to PONTIFICATE so much, but don't know if I can make it ALL YEAR.
Lot's of sparkly stuff:
1A DOLLS. My granddaughters love these homes and reside alongside their DOLLS in their imaginations.
14A ROKU. Pretty much all we watch these days.
29A SLEEPERS. And don't forget the Woody Allen Sci-Fi hit.
30A OPINE. "Pontificate" is from the word PONTIFF, i.e. the POPE who sometimes speaks "infallibly", but this infallibility is actually very limited.
40A A ONE. I thought this was from the steak sauce, unnecessary for RARE steaks.
55A NOME. DNK that Wyatt got his start in Alaska.
25D PEAS. Whales, seals, and dolphins didn't fit.
44D SKEET. TRAP was too short, but is another type of shooting contest. In SKEET the pigeons arc across the shooter's view. In TRAP they ARC away from him. I've never done the latter, but I think it's harder.
Jinx @ 8:05 AM Funny, despite Joni Mitchell's song helping make Woodstock a legend to those of us who couldn't be there, she never made it to the gig. The dirt roads leading up to YASGUR's farmed were backed up for miles.
Cheers,
Bill
Huge FIW today at NE corner. Above the themer CATS APPLAUSE which I got right, only OSLO and STOLE were OK. I had blank squares as well as "at LoSS" which didn't help. On the other hand, I did get everything else except for PET MD, putting "Me" like WC. I should have looked at my unused piano keyboard which has no "e" SHARP. Anyway I enjoyed the puzzle, Jeffrey, and look forward to your next one. Good job creating the theme.
Lemonade gets my thanks too today for humor, deft explanations of my puzzlements, and other learning moments (OBOE origin).
Today is Friday. Enjoy it everyone!
Bill the rustic aspects of Bethel, N.Y. in 1969 have been exaggerated. The roads were not dirt roads and there were multi-laned roads until you go close. There was a two-laned paved road that followed a hill past the "downtown" Bethel to the Yasgur farm. There were also way more than 200,000 people there.
If people are interested here is an COMPETITIVE SHOOTING .
AG, you understand why I do this after 10+ years.
Like others, the NE corner was the last to finish with the Naticks there. Cute theme, helped with the solve once I got it.
Thanks everyone for the congratulatory comments and to Lemonade for the great blog. I’m super excited to be making my worldwide puzzling debut. I’m a lifelong solver who took several puzzle construction courses through JASA during the pandemic. This puzzle was a nod to my son who is in musical theater and my godson who recently graduated with a degree in theater design. I hope he can use that degree real soon.
I worked in IT for Mars for many years and Whiskas is one of our pet food products. Happy to work that clue in. I’ll try to avoid name crossings in the future, although LIU was originally clued as a NY college.
Thanks again and I’ll keep plugging away.
Jeffrey Diton
Frantic Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
I required Google help with some of the names to get to the finish. But I arrived here to discover I FIWed. Hand up for E SHARP which seemed logical with PET ME. (And yes, ATLGranny, there is an E SHARP; it is the same as F natural, even though there is no black key.)
I saw the theme SMASHES but missed the extra layer of MASHES. And there was an Easter egg (oh that was DYE) with SLEEPERS.
I must run. Busy day.
Wishing you all a great day.
Congrats on your debut Jeffrey. And thanks for dropping by the Corner.
Hope to see more of your work.
Hola!
Thank you, Jeffrey Diton, for the puzzle and for your comments. Not too many constructors post on the Corner and it's always a pleasure to read their insights.
I started solving at about 6 A.M. and when I went to pick up my newspaper, the paramedics were arriving at a neighbor's home. I hope it isn't serious though I may or may not find out.
La SCALA started me then I jumped around a bit, filled KNIT, ROKU and CABARET though ELF came much later. Strangely enough I recalled IGGY Pop. But I don't know if I've ever heard of YASGUR. Maybe. Janelle MONAE was excellent in "Hidden Figures" as were all her co-stars.
Had it not been for that movie I doubt many of us would know of the valuable contribution those women made to the space program.
ICEMAN in that context is new to me so thank you, perps.
Thank you, Lemonade, for your helpful and insightful commentary.
Happy Friday, everyone!
FIW in the upper right Natick sea. Had HOS/HASGUR. Never plan to see a ROCKY movie.
I only know ALLISON KRAUSE who was murdered at Kent State around the same time as WOODSTOCK, I think. She was a classmate of my brother. Her sister was at his wedding.
Otherwise I enjoyed the fun BROADWAY MASHES theme!
By amazing coincidence I just found this photo I took of the WICKED FROZEN CHARLES River!
It was one of the first photos I took when I was off at MIT. It was taken from my dorm high above the CHARLES.
From Yesterday:
Vidwan, CanadianEh, AnonT, Lucina Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comments regarding my DEGAS PASTELS photos. Glad it was a learning moment for some of you, too, that he worked in PASTELS!
Woodstock was a distant event to me in 1969. I had two toddlers who were more important and took most of my attention. Didn't listen to the music of that "generation". Didn't understand the hippies and the protestors, living close to the farm out in the middle of Kansas was my world then. Never smoked weed. So I'm kinda proud not to know YASGUR.
I've liked Alison Krauss's music since she was a teenager, however.
PK, so you are chastizing those of us who went to Woodstock for the Music because our situation and perspectives were different? In this day and age where hate is such a prominent commodity, I would be proud of the good things in your life like raising your children but not proud of what you never tried or learned. I foolishly keep hoping one day we will all get along. I am certainly not proud of all that I do not know about growing up on a farm in Kansas which was limited to Judy Garland's tortured on screen childhood. I am only expressing my opinion and it can be ignored and it is not intended to insult.
Like D-O @6:00, I thought of Rocky the Flying Squirrel first, and like RayO @8:30 I thought of BRYLCREAM first. But no matter what spelling I came up with, BRYLCREME didn’t fit. Besides, I was sure of ION and suspected HOP and ABE, so that whole thing was wrong and slowed me down, in addition do DNK KRAUS, LIU, YASGUR or MONAE. Thought of PETCO before PETMD, but although I don’t know much about music, knew there is not an OSHARP; so it had to be PETMD. All-in-all a 34 minute slog that with a few lucky guesses came I managed to FIR. A substantial challenge, thanx, JD, and congrats on your first LAT CW. Lemonade, thanx for all the time and effort you put into your write-up, although yesterday's minimalist approach is equally acceptable in my mind.
Picard, it is amazing how little the skyline has changed looking over the Charles except the trees are much taller.
Delightful Friday puzzle, and I even got a lot of it on my first try. Many thanks, Jeffrey, and thank you for stopping by. And your commentary is always helpful, Lemonade, thanks for that too.
I used to love watching Lucy LIU and Jonny Lee Miller playing Watson and Holmes on "Elementary." A happy memory.
Like others, had EGG before DYE for that Easter supply.
Nice to get OSLO in that tough corner.
And, also, LA SCALA.
Owen, I liked your Rob poem.
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody.
Picard
As you probably know, that bridge is 364.4 + 1 ear smoots long.
Lemonade, what on earth were you doing at Woodstock for which you think I might be chastising you? The news that we got about that event was totally decadent. Even in my wildest years, I would not have wanted to learn anything from it. Maybe it was sensationalized by the news.
A true Friday puzzle from Jeffrey Diton today. Both the puzzle and Lemon's tour were SMASHING.
When I made my first pass through the puzzle, both across and down, I had a sea of white space. I had to turn Red Letters on to get it done today. Perps helped as usual.
I didn't have a problem with LIU and KRAUSS crossing because I watched Lucy Liu opposite Johnny Lee Miller. I think she was the better actor of the the two.
EADJED: Jeffrey, Welcome. Maybe a theme that you could pursue is one based on the NFC East. Particularly the Cowboys vs. the Giants.
They say that there were about a half million people at Woodstock and only 600 Port-Potties.
Have a great day everyone.
Hi Everyone:
Late to the dance due to two medical tests this morning. One was a breeze, the other less so. Anyway, I did the puzzle last night and I made the same mistake as several others which cost me a FIW. I thought Pet Me sounded like a cute, cuddly web site for pet owners and E Sharp seemed very logical. Who knew there was a Pet MD web site? Pet owners, probably. Despite this miscue, I enjoyed the theme, even though some of the “Mashes” are silly sounding. I needed perps for Nome and Krauss and for the spelling of Yasgur.
Thanks, Jeffrey, for a refreshing Friday challenge and congrats on your debut and for dropping by. Good luck in your future puzzle endeavors. Thanks, Lemony, for your detailed and insightful commentary and your trademark tongue-in-cheek wit. Best wishes to Charlotte on her upcoming ballet debut.
Have a great day. It’s a cold, blustery one here.
Lemony, what did PK write that made you feel chastised? I am of the Woodstock generation but didn't go due to work requirements, but would have gone and would have partaken in just about every opportunity. I don't feel chastised, I just think it's diff'rent strokes. BTW, PK didn't have to smoke pot - I smoked enough of it by the time I was 25 to suffice both of us for a lifetime (you're welcome, PK). But I stopped when I moved to California and found a job I was really into, and haven't been into any drugs since (except I didn't quit drinking until 2016).
BTW, the other day folks were sharing their challenges with the USPS. When I got back home Wednesday because of my RV breakdown, I found that they had delivered my pathology results here, ignoring my forwarding order. No cancer that God, but I was worried about it and wondered why I hadn't heard.
Hi All!
Needed a cheat to remember the Cavs (Lakers wouldn't leave my brain!) and I still FIW @22a: CAT NAP PLEASE(?). CAT(s) fit the theme but...
//at least all the squares were filled :-)
Thanks Jeffrey for the puzzle and congrats on the debut.
//Thanks for dropping by The Corner. IT you say? Networks? Servers? Desktop? (I do CyberSec). BTW, there's other HI-tech-nerds that hang out here.
Thank you Lem for fixing my grid and the mighty-fine expo.
WOs: a few there shoulda be
ESPs: Seemed like everything was perps until a WAG; lots of (too much?) A & E
Fav: ENIAC & ERG just 'cuz a) EE, b) that's the fill that got me going
{A, A+ (all things considered :-))}
D-O: I was going to mention the H. Chron had an article on "where are they now" re: ENRON execs yesterday.
Jinx - If I'd have known then... Actually, I did know better than to put IRA $$ into my employer but I was so "we're doing right." I'm still losing 1/2 'cuz stock went from $55 (strike) to current valuation. //worse - stock was <$5 18mo ago [yikes!]
Picard - 'cool' pic. I went to MIT & Harvard...
On my trip to Boston (I'm not that smart; U State for -T :-))
Woodstock: I was negative (-)1.16 yrs old when it happened. The music / hope / idealism of the day, however, somehow runs through my being.
Peace, -T
Lemony @9:35 AM Probably just Joni's FOMO about not "getting back to the garden".
And thanks for the shooting link. I've never heard of "sporting clays". I just like to throw the stuff.
Jeffrey @10:09 AM So glad you stopped by. I wouldn't worry too much about name crossings. They just come with the territory. We do like lots of PERPS though. We bought some last minute SCALPER tickets to LA SCALA, but all the music was KEY LESS (12 tone serial). But it was worth it just to sit in the house that VERDI built.
Picard @10:29 AM WICKED PIC PICARD!
Kerry_no_longer_in_Carefree 11:45 AM I couldn't believed that "364.4 + 1 ear smoots long" actually googled.
Musings
-Fun premise and helpful when I sussed it out
-We are saving $40/month with our ROKU units
-MART/YASGUR/MONAE were my last fills
-"A-OK" means fine at NASA. "No Joy" means not fine.
-We experienced crossworders are immediately suspicious when we see NICE
-Seasonal - Lawn mower is put away, snow blower comes out next week
-Gotta run, a gaggle of sophomores are coming in.
PK @11:49, "decadence" and "freedom" have many different definitions for different people.
Thank you, Jeffrey and congrats on your debut! And thank you, Lemonade for the exposition!
Living in Boston, I naturally fell in love with WICKED FROZEN. (And my Dad wouldn't let me go to Woodstock.) :-)
Thank you Jeffrey Diton for a challenging puzzle, which I found very enjoyable, and thank you for coming to the blog and offering your insight and comments.
Thank you Lemonade for your wonderful review and many zany and humorous comments and deep thoughts on many items, most of us would have otherwise, definitely, missed.
Thank you Waseeley on the 364.4 Smoots + 1 ear links ... I had no idea that the simple prank could be so brilliant !!!
Since the graduates of MIT and Harvard are generally, naturally, such intrinsic geniuses, you can bet that they will go on to become very important members and personalities in real life ! Smoot was the chairman of the Intl Organsn for Standardization !! ... and a cousin of a Nobel Prize winner, to boot ...WOW !!!
So, even a prank is so ingenious and intelligent that it becomes a phenomena.
To my simple, non-MIT and non-Harvard mind, the 364.4 + 1 seemed to be equal to 365.4 which is approx one solar year in earth days ... and I let it go at that... something beyond my ken. I further thought year was misspelt as ear ...
BTW, when I saw Charles River, in the CW clue, .... I immediately thought of Harvard and MIT, and wondered if that could be a part in the answer...
I did not know many names but MONAE, LIU. and ROKU and some others were famiiar. I knew of YASGUR from solving CWs but not the proper spelling. Rocky, I thought was from Bullwinkle, thought I have seen the mpvie with Stallone. I first had HOS ...instead of YOS.
I did not know the theme, until the final answer appeared, I thought some of them were only movies. I havent watched any plays in real life, unless you include The Chorus Line...
The 'D' in PET MD was my last guess.
I read the clue, as, Fig. in LAnding .. and my first answer was ETA, then I read it again.
On APR, I thought this referred to Only the Simple Interest Rate compounded infinitely, .... but I learned today, that it also includes all the fees and closing costs, capitalized as a part of the loan amount ... That Makes a Lot of Sense !
Have a nice day, and a good weekend, all.
PK "The news that we got about that event was totally decadent. Even in my wildest years, I would not have wanted to learn anything from it. Maybe it was sensationalized by the news." That was my point, you had no real knowledge of the event or the farmer who got paid to rent his land to promoters and musicians.You accepted a stilted and uninformed view of the event. Yes there were people there who did drugs, but neither you nor anyone I have ever met stopped going to restaurants or bars because some people get drunk and are obnoxious. As much as I relish being able to get information from around the world, I understand that I cannot beleive everything I read. As far as "what on earth were you doing at Woodstock" I was having a very interesting and unique experience. The most dramatic thing I experienced was watching the locals gouge the attendees by demanding money for water. In 1969 people I knew shared their water. Why would you ask what I was doing? It is not an attack on you but on a world where we let other control our thinking without knowledge.
My 2 bits on the Woodstock comment from PK...
My humble opinion is that PK was speaking her mind, and she is entitled to, and Lemon need not have got offended in any sense. No harm done.
I was in India, in 1969, and never heard of Woodstock until the movie came out, a year later.
I watched the film, twice, only because the tickets were heavily discounted ... it was not very popular, to say the least. The public thought it was yankees going crazy and acting thoughtlessly ...
I was shocked by the laid back attitude of 'my generation' and the easy going, devil-may-care, careless behavior. My first thought was .... This is America ?! ... this country is either doomed, or going to Hell in a hand basket !?! Dont these kids have a job or something to live for ?
Plus I could not understand the music or the anti-war protests. The latter especially, seemed so disrespectful of national unity, and downright traitorous. I was struggling to pass my BE exams, and get some sort of a job to supplement my family's income, and I couldn't fathom how these kid-adults had nothing to worry about.
A USIS officer once told me that ... 50 percemt of americans work their butts off on the job, and the other 50 percent just live off the fat of the land... Seriously, I wonder what that percentage is today.
Now I believe, that there is a season for everything ( Turn, Turn, Turn ) ...especially for the youth, ... a season to be young, to be careless, to be carefree, even a season to die ...
This is not meant to be political, or even disrespectful, ... just a part of my education.
Thank you, Mr. Diton for a fine debut PZL.
And Welcome!
Hard to believe (but true) ~ I got all the way through this one without recognizing the theme answers as B'way shows. Certain titles stood out (CABARET, CATS, WICKED), but the others just slipped by.
I admit I wasn't looking for a theme.
Yet the strangest of all was ELF. What was that word doing next to CABARET?
Then, when I read Lemonade's answer & finally understood the theme, I was still puzzled at the pairing.
Sure, yes, I guess it can be called a qualified ("seasonal") hit, but connecting it with CABARET still had me scratching my head.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals, on the far side. The central diagonal offers a calming anagram (13 of 15 letters), a prescription for an event that can induce the jitters in the best of us.
For those who have yet to face this ritual, it is recommended that you approach your partner in this act with the idea of putting him or her at ease.
Try it, and see if you can...
"MARRY SERENELY"!
Brother from another, why "need not have got offended in any sense. No harm done." In my opinion, uninformed or misinformed opinions have led to the divide in the world. Where leaders of countries, businesses and religions believe they are right and the only ones who are right. The world was once flat; humans would never be able to fly; polio could not be eliminated; the Cubs would never win the World Series...the number of accepted facts goes on and on. Do you think Vladimir Putin is open to all suggestions? Is there continuing racisim and homophobia in the US? How can we produce enough food but have so many people starving? How can we have so many homeless? Why do people not work when the jobs are begging for people? I was not offended, I was saddened. I am not young any more but my grandchildren and I fear for there future when lies and deceipts control the news. When media belong to political parties. I will stop here because I agree this is not the proper forum, but this group is the largest group of "friends" I have and if you all can't get behind healing, who will?
Vid..
I didn't consider myself a traitor to my country because I was against the Viet Nam war. Nor was my WWII Navy service Dad who came out against the war right from the start. Nor were my two Marine cousins who fought in the war and were opposed to it as well.
Ray-O: I served Desert Storm. I wasn't sure it was the "good war," but I needed $$ for college and "Crap! we've not had combat since Nam".
Every male member of my family (except for Stoner Uncle) served. My Army Bro is the Real Hero.
Vidwan - It's more 80/20 rule. 20% do the work to cover the rest.
In the following, I hope I'm reading every one correctly (I'm probably not :-o)
The Beatles were seemingly an ally of UK's colonies.(?)
Watch Get Back on D+ and see there was a rendition that was a protest:
Get Back (you Pakis) | Go to India and tell the Brits to Get Back to where They Once Belong...
[wow! that protest could have made The Beatles huge! :-)]
Oh, and you said! My Generation. [The Who @ Woodstock (warning: crap sound)]
===
Ok, let us full-stop re: Woodstock.
//Full disclosure - I'm a hippy at HEART and but wasn't even a fetus then.
There's a dichotomy that's still playing out in our 'over-lords' who try to play (oft destructive) personal freedoms [Rock 'n' Roll!] against our more wholesome wonts.
//Anyone watch the Supreme Court hearings re: Mississippi's law? yeah - that.
It's a left-right brain argument that I think all rational being have within themselves.
[see: RUSH - Hemispheres [18:53; none of y'all (esp. WC) will last >1min :-)]
Smoke dope if that's what you need to cope with your fleeting life. Drink if you must.
I say, have a hit and feel the peace within you - and then spread that peace all around [if you're not to lit to walk :-)]
Woodstock was a moment in (before my) time. Folks tried to re-create it in '99 [HBO trailer].
Not the same.
Peace, Love, & Understanding. -T
Thank you Ray. But life always reminds me to slow down. After finishing my most recent mini-diatribe, I went to kitched to rinse out my coffee cup. When I turned on the water the outside pipe came loose and I had a quick indoor, fully dressed shower.
As such, I apologize if I over-stepped; if I offended, or if I just got plain boring. I know my role here. It is to entertain and amuse. I forgot.
I had L's link running and this came up.
Sondheim 1994 Interview I thought some of you would enjoy
Enron's mistake was thinking it could distribute/allocate electric power like pork bellies. Typically they gave no thought to people.
The oil industry sets the price at the pump according to futures prices but they've been to big to mess with. Deadly in fact.
WA, Wyatt's NOME adventure was AFTER Tombstone. Also…
"Clunky"?? ILLY , that would be clunky.
Anon-T, I need a subscription to read that article. I read a book about it. I'm tempted by the 99 cent offer
Re. Byrds. I remember 'McGuinn and McGuire' from the Mamas and Papas.
WC
Tnak you also -T.
Wow, I never expected my comment about why I didn't know what's-his-name would cause so much ado. I just wanted to show the contrast of life and experiences I have had. Thank you Jinx, Vidwan, & Tony for your comments. Out here, several of my classmates went to Vietnam as the patriotic thing to do since their dad's had served. They then came home, married, raised families and held responsible jobs.
REALITIES OF THE VIETNAM WAR .
Many of my friends did not serve but they too "married, raised families and held responsible jobs".
Also, too many of my friends served, died in Viet Nam.
I somewhat enjoyed this puzzle.
My late brother-in-law served in Viet Nam, was then relocated to Luke Air Force Base here in Arizona, met my sister, married her and took her to North Carolina where they lived happily for 30 years until his early demise of a heart attack.
He is the only person close to me of whom I know served there.
One of my brothers was in the Air Force but never went out of the country. Most of the time he spent at Fitzimmons AFB in Denver. I was teaching there at the time so he would come every Sunday and we played cards. He taught all of us nuns to play cards.
I remember WW2 as the war that made clearest sense.
But we got into it w/o fully realizing what a "Good War" it was.
We only gave up our isolationist sentiments when the Japanese attacked us,
& we declared war on them and on Germany when they both moved against us first.
The general public had no idea that Japan was responding to our oil embargo, and in the beginning we were unaware of Nazi excesses in killing concentration camp inmates. The full weight of the Holocaust and other war crimes came to light gradually (to the public), and they gave the true justification for our insistence on "unconditional surrender."
I was a kid, and my dad was in the Coast Guard. I was proud of Iwo Jima (on my 6th birthday), of the A-bombs, of our country and of our commitment to freeing enslaved lands.
The flag still reminds me of that.
Over these many decades, it has become more difficult to hang onto that clear, clean memory.
~ OMK
I grew up in the shadow of the Holacaust. The first poem I ever wrote (circa age10) was entitled "Six Million = 6.0 X 10 to the 6th", a vain attempt to capture the magnitude of that horrific atrocity.
JED our constructor mentioned he "took several puzzle construction courses through JASA during the pandemic." I was curious about J.A.S.A..
Peace, love, and understanding. What a concept. Too bad people aren't trying to do more of that these days.
I'll need it when my daughter and son-in-law and their 4 and 1 year old come to stay with us for two weeks while their house is being re-floored.
Help!
Becky
As a Vietnam vet I guess I should opine. WWII vets had PTSD too and treated same with alcohol. In many cases passing the trauma on to offspring.
Another factor was hostile reception upon returning home. I'm pleased to see that current veterans get the opposite eg. Positive thanks.
Complete detachment was a coping mechanism. Alcohol helps there. Solution? c. Jumble May-Sept
WC
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