Theme: DRESS TO THE NINES
17. Execs who only look the part: EMPTY SUITS.
25. Ostentatiously nice sort: GOODY TWO SHOES.
41. Pompous types: STUFFED SHIRTS.
55. Pretentiously elegant one: FANCY PANTS.
Hey Cornerites, Melissa here. This appears to again be a debut for Mr. Beckert, it's nice to see that so regularly.
I never realized there were so many phrases for pretentious people and clothing, nice job, Ed.
Across:
1. Midday tide-me-over: SNACK.
6. Landlocked African land: CHAD.
14. Common wrist measurement: PULSE. Ohhhh, of course.
15. Tatting fabric: LACE.
16. Geometry calculation: AREA. Height times width.
19. Pics for docs: MRIS. Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
20. Stephen Colbert's network: CBS.
21. Jury makeup: PEERS. Theoretically.
22. Beyond heavy: OBESE.
23. Burden: TAX. That's the truth.
24. Screwdriver, e.g.: TOOL.
31. MLB game-ending accomplishments: SAVES.
32. Tomatoes used to make paste: ROMAS.
33. Guest beyond a velvet rope: VIP.
35. Pac-12 squad: UTES. Utah Utes - college football. Utah beat Oregon 38-10 last Friday to win its first-ever Pac-12 championship.
36. Shrink in fear: COWER.
37. Spreadsheet input: DATA.
38. Debussy's sea: MER. This is a full 24 minutes, and beautiful.
39. Expert: MAVEN.
40. More delicate: FINER. Bit of a nod to today's theme.
44. High-flying mil. group: USAF.
45. __ museum: ART.
46. Land divisions: ACRES.
48. Hard stuff: BOOZE. Tricky.
51. Pollution watchdog org.: EPA.
54. Designated money: FUND.
57. Help in a bad way: ABET.
58. Puckish: ARCH. Who got this right away? Puckish = playful, especially in a mischievous way. Arch =
59. Type of coffee or whiskey: IRISH.
60. Start from scratch: REDO.
61. Simple tops: TEES. As in T-shirts.
62. Tot's tea party guest: TEDDY. Teddy bear. I've had a few tea parties with dolls and bears. Speaking of tots, my granddaughter recently explained why her little sister was crying: "I didn't see it, but nothing happened!"
Down:
1. Project detail: SPEC.
2. Without feeling: NUMB.
3. European range: ALPS. The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range system
that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km across
eight Alpine countries: France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy,
Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia.
4. Wisconsin winter hrs.: CST. Central Standard Time.
5. Security system components: KEYPADS.
6. Game with rooms: CLUE. Colonel Mustard, in the library, with a candlestick!
7. Rapunzel's "ladder": HAIR. Ouch.
8. Play divisions: ACTS. Neil Simon has written two separate memoirs: Rewrites (1996), and The Play Goes On (1999), plus a combined version with both and some new material, Neil Simon's Memoirs. He writes about his brother and him learning to write three act plays in Rewrites.
9. __ Moines: DES. Des Moines takes its name from Fort Des Moines (1843–46), which was named for the Des Moines River. This was adopted from the name given by French colonists. Des Moines translates literally to either "from the monks" or "of the monks."
10. Panda's diet: BAMBOO. I thought it was eucalyptus but then realized that is Koalas.
11. Of no consequence: IRRELEVANT.
12. Parts of Hawaiian greetings: LEIS.
13. Get (into) carefully: EASE.
18. Attention-getting, in a way: SEXY.
22. Reactions to fireworks: OOHS. Ahhhhh.
23. Little piggies: TOES.
24. Winter Palace monarch: TSAR. The Winter Palace was an
official residence of the Russian sovereign from 1732 until 1917;
however, it was their home for little more than 140 of those years. The
last Tsar to truly reside in the palace was Alexander II, who ruled from 1855 to 1881, when he was assassinated.
25. Starting spots for some races: GATES.
26. Reversed on appeal: OVERTURNED. Very rare.
27. Treasure __: TROVE.
28. Blew away: WOWED.
29. Dark clouds, maybe: OMENS.
30. Internet destinations: SITES.
31. What a capital sigma symbolizes, in math: SUM. Sigma is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the
system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics,
uppercase Σ is used as an operator for summation.
34. Course standard: PAR. By definition, “Par” is the number of strokes needed to complete a hole in a golf course. Each hole in a course is given its own par rating.
36. Informal London eatery: CAFF. The Nine Best Traditional Caffs in London.
37. Gossip: DIRT.
39. Degs. for choreographers: MFAS. Master of Fine Arts Degree.
40. Campsite staple: FIRE PIT. Smores!
42. Familiar with: USED TO. Used is an interesting word. Used to. We all know what it means, but why does it mean what it means?
43. Unclear: HAZY.
46. Off in the distance: AFAR.
47. Rubik creation: CUBE.
48. Reveal: BARE. Verb not noun.
49. Almost never: ONCE. I guess.
50. Protest singer Phil: OCHS.
51. Children's author Blyton: ENID.
52. Returning GI's diagnosis: PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
53. Pallid: ASHY.
55. Considerable, as a bonus: FAT.
56. "Where __ you now?": ARE.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Congrats on your debut, Ed!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteThis one came together faster than yesterday. No Wite-Out required. No reveal required. Theme that even a blind squirrel could get. Yup, it was d-o's kind of puzzle. Didn't understand the ARCH c/a until Melissa 'splained it. Will probably forget it by lunch...oops...SNACK time. Nice debut, Mr. Beckert. Enjoyed the tour, Melissa Bee. ("Very rare." We'll see.)
I see D-O types faster than I do...anyway we get mb today as our guide and a SO to birthday boy Ron - many happy returns. Other than C.C., mb has been doing blogging here longer than anybody.
ReplyDeleteEd Beckert not only is new to the LAT, I find no puzzle history and a general search reveals on three so named, one in Wisconsin, one in Missouri and one in Florida. A mystery.
The puzzle itself was not, as it filled very quickly and like D-O, the ARCH fill was the only slow down.
Welcome and thank you Ed and thanks for the granddaughter story Melissa.
Double oops. Happy Birthday, Jzb. I imagine you and your "bone" will be busy at concerts this holiday season.
ReplyDeleteFIRight! Almost didn't. had to do an alphabet run on TA_, and when nothing popped, another alphabet run on SE_Y almost the entire alphabet to X.
ReplyDeleteSaw the progression SUITS, SHOES, SHIRTS,expected the next one to be skirTS. That and daDDY < TEDDY really slowed down that corner.
CAFF? Well, it is in a dictionary, but still...
"England and America, two nations separated by a common language."
There once was an elegant TEDDY
Who wanted to be extra SEXY.
But even with LACE,
She had to face --
The world, for a sexy bear, isn't ready!
{B+.}
Wow, zipped right through this one, and loved it! It seemed more like a Monday CW, and I was astonished to find my FIR time to be 19 minutes! It seemed to fill far faster than that. Did not get ARCH, all perps, and even after MB ‘splained it, I struggled to understand. Anyway, only W/O RARE:ONCE. VERY enjoyable CW, EB, and congratulations on your first LAT CW. AND HBD to JzB! Thanx too to Melissa Bee for the outstanding write-up.
ReplyDeleteYes, this puzzle did seem Monday-like. The only holdup was I carelessly wrote CDS for Wisconsin's winter hours, so the NW corner gave me fits until I woke up and changed it to CST.
ReplyDelete58A, puckish/arch needed only one perp to suggest it. Arch appears in many novels, mostly used to describe women.
Vocabulary.com says, "adjective naughtily or annoyingly playful
synonyms: impish, implike, mischievous, pixilated, prankish, puckish, wicked
playful
full of fun and high spirits"
I read a fascinating historical novel about Catherine the Great. The Winter Palace was filled with intrigue, spies and double dealing. Very cutthroat.
Happy birthday,Jzb.
Took 5:24 for me to get "dressed" today.
ReplyDeleteI see/hear arch more commonly used with archrival or arch nemesis.
Dagnabit Anon-T!
ReplyDeleteYou made navigate today's blog with
My eyes closed so as not to spoil today's puzzle
As I had to comment on your last nights post while
It was still fresh in my (mind?)
Zigzag bolt!?
That is amazing!
Don't get me thinking,
As it's a dangerous thing...
1st thought:
He's frying an egg in that disgusting frying pan!
Ee-ew!
2nd thought:
He made a furnace out of an old beer keg!
(This gives me lots of ideas...)
3rd:
I am watch8ng the casting/polishing process,
And for some reason it reminds me of Khafres statue.
Could it, and all those impossible bowls in the Cairo museum
Have been cast?
Has anyone even investigated the possibility?
Could the dynastic Egyptians found a way to
Melt and cast diorite stone?
(Mind boggled...)
Several cute clues:(14A)PULSE,(23A)TAX, (18D)SEXY
ReplyDeleteI had Bras/TEES and a FAB BONUS seemed OK. Perps fixed, FIR today.
WOW, it makes me want to live in London and CAFF around. Grease would kill me, though. In fact not to 'repeat' myself lunch at a local CAFF … Methinks it was the gravy*
Did anyone see this RUBIKs juggling trick?
Thanks mb, jazzb next week(hbd)
WC
* What a great xword clue/answer
Post traumatic STRESS disorder.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteI spotted the theme right after filling in Suits and Shoes, so the next two themers came easily. I thought some of the cluing was fresh and clever but I still find Puckish=Arch strange, despite some dictionary definitions. Caff was new to me, as well. CSOs to Ray (MRIs), USAF (Jace and PK’s son), All the golfers (Tees), Moi (Irish), and our resident Toaster, Tin (Booze).
Thanks, Ed, for a satisfying sartorial solve and congrats on your debut and thanks, Melissa, for a very interesting and informative recap. Loved the granddaughter anecdote!
We have a slight dusting of the white stuff on the ground and more coming down, but very sparsely. Not enough to cause any problems, though.
Have a great day.
Sorry, I forgot. Happy Birthday, JazzB, hope it’s a special day! 🎂🎁🎉🎈🎊
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Ed, our new constructor! Your puzzle was entertaining and doable, with fun themers. I was able to FIR with a few false starts: Aral/ALPS, CAFe/CAFF and IRRELaVeNT/IRRELEVANT (spelling!!). Thanks Ed for the puzzle. Come back soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Melissa B for your review and musical additions. ARCH didn't come to mind immediately for puckish, but like YR I was familiar with the word.
We're finally getting some rain this week, Irish Miss, but no expectations of snow here.
Happy Birthday to JazzB. Hope everyone has a happy day today!
Hola!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Ron!
I love seeing GOODY TWO SHOES in the puzzle!
My uncle Ted was in the USAF for more than 30 years though I don't believe he saw combat. He brought me a TEDDY bear from Australia or maybe it was a panda since it was black and white. I haven't thought of it in years.
I find the crew neck on TEES constricting so I don't wear them.
Yesterday it was HAZY here and rain was forecast but so far, nada.
MER, French. Mar, Spanish.
Coincidentally I am reading a book that partly takes place in CHAD. Its title is NEVER, written by my favorite author, Ken Follett.
Thank you, Melissa B. What fun hearing about your granddaughter.
Have a fantastic day, everyone!
Congratulations EdB on your debut CW, and a clever use of people/clothing metaphor! Seems to be a lot of new names in the bylines as of late, always with fresh new ideas, nice! Managed a FIR in a little over 11 minutes, which may be a little quicker than most Wednesday puzzles. A couple DNK’s like ARCH and CAFF, but easily filled by perps.
ReplyDeleteNice write up Melissa, always interesting and informative, I learn so many new things from reading these daily blogs. You’re right about USED TO, being somewhat of an odd term, and nobody really slows down to pronounce it phonetically correct, as it requires a pause between the D and T, seems it’s been shortened to YOOSTOO, or YOOSTA. Cute story about your granddaughter, kids DO say the darndest things 😊
Happy b/day JzB. Good day to all
"Goodytwoshoes" reminds me of many years ago I asked Karen, the love-of-my-life, "Where does the term "Goody two shoes" come from?" and she explained, "There once was a little girl who was SO poor she only had one shoe. Then one day as she was walking down the street she found an old pair of shoes that had been abandoned in the street, and exclaimed, 'Oh, goody! Two shoes!' So the expression means someone who is overly enthusiastic about something that would not interest most people." I thought, "Oooh, Karen, you are SO smart to know that!"
ReplyDeleteI always wonder why a newly encountered word or meaning of a word has to be wrong, suspect, strange or not used often, when in reality it is just new to the observer. I think of these words as open minded learning moments. Days and/or weeks later, many times I come upon a dissed word as I read.
ReplyDeleteOur common area was decorated beautifully by the staff yesterday, Decorations included a lovely huge tree. Last night we had a tree lighting with cookies and hot chocolate served to the biggest crowd I have seen. A quartet of carolers dressed in Victorian garb serenaded us with an hour of carols. Fun and Christmasy.
Great debut. Only issue was where the clue for Sigma and Debussy's sea crossed. Thanks
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Not only is CHAD landlocked, over half of its ACRES are the Sahara Desert
-I’ve used a screwdriver as a hammer, pry bar, chisel, scraper, doorstop, circuit tester, tire remover, punch…
-This site if full of crossword MAVENS and me too
-Arch = Puckish? Happy to learn! Last Saturday had a lot of college FB games between ARCHRIVALS
-This KEYPAD button provides security on my MacBook Pro. It saves a lot of typing too.
-Some people can simply choose to find any factual DATA to be IRRELEVANT
-Bogeys (+1) were okay when I started golf. Now I am only okay with PARS.
-In a recent Saturday puzzle, Steve Mossburg had TEA as modern slang for gossip
-HBD, Ron! You can use email to tell me how close your age is to the number of trombones in the Meredith Willson song! :-)
Thank you ED for a Wednesday that SUITED me just FINE. And congrats on your debut. Loved the theme, a theme that is what a theme should be (IMHO): an aid to the solve, rather than a riddle layered on a puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you MB for another fine review. I especially liked the music: Debussy and Ochs are two of my favs, and thanks for the intro to Winwood's FINER THINGS.
6A CHAD. Left me HANGING until I got at least one perp. It could have been MALI.
58A ARCH. MB, I got this with perps and I'm still processing it, despite your and YR's 'splanations.
59A IRISH. A CSO to IM. I like my Irish Coffee with Irish Whiskey.
62A TEDDY. MB, your story reminded me of that rascally GHOST from Family Circus.
3D ALPS. Funny I never think of the ALPS as a RANGE, as we hear the names of some many individual peaks, e.g. Mts Blanc, Matterhorn, and Jungfrau. I also didn't realize how many countries it spans.
36D CAFF. DNK that the Brits call their cafés CAFFS, despite having heard Brenda Blethyn grousing about it every time someone refers to her CAFF as a CAFÉ, in her hilarious series, Kate and Koji. I think you'd like this one Jinx.
HBD Ron! Your profile is my favorite!
CrossEyedDave @8:00 AM Diorite stone casting? If you heated it high enough (circa 2300F) it might melt into a viscous, moldable glaze like substance, but you'd need a helluva set of refractory WALDOS.
YellowRocks @9:39 AM Thank you for your contributions to this blog. And thanks for turning me on to vocabulary.com.
Cheers,
Bill
Earlier I was too sleepy to acknowledge the CSO to IRISH Miss!
ReplyDeleteAlso, wanted to say that the Winter Palace is now a museum where Catherine the Great's jewels, some of her clothes. many Faberge eggs, her jewelry and other souvenirs are kept. There is also a vast collection of Renoir paintings.
The summer palace, farther south from St. Petersburg, is available for tours.
Hi Y'all! Thanks for a great puzzle, Ed! Great expo, Melissa. Grandma's hear the darndest things.
ReplyDeleteI got the apparel theme. Last fill was the AREA with GATES/SAVES/UTES.
Hand up for Mali before CHAD. Haha! WASeeley on your hanging CHAD.
Took some relevant perps to get IRRELEVANT.
DNK: ENID, ARCH.
Happy Birthday, JzB & thank you for tuning the puzzle so many years.
One of my friends posted a meme yesterday. An employer hung up a sign asking his employees to "go home if you feel sick and CORN TEEN yourself." Giggle, giggle!
Enjoyed the puzzle -
ReplyDeleteBusy getting the house ready for new grandson James arrival at my daughter's house in a few hours. With COVID we can't go to the hospital - so excitedly awaiting his arrival. We spent the time with them there making soups to freeze and store for the future.
Thanks Melissa and Ed!
Happy birthday JzB!
Inanehiker: Are you going to have the pleasure of delivering your grandchild? How exciting!
ReplyDeletePK, I didn't read it that way at all. The way I read it, the baby was born in the hospital. Inanehiker has been unable to visit due to COVID restrictions, but in a few hours the baby will be coming home, and she looks forward to finally meeting her grandson.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the debut, Ed. Fun puzzle that played like a Monday in the north and finished like a Wednesday in the SE.
Wonderful expo, mb. Thanks for the reason (and today's learning!) behind ARCH; it was a leap-of-faith, me keeping it in.
//LOL - Your grand: 'I didn't see it but, let me assure you, it was nothing.'
WO: TAp -> TAX
ESPs: OCHS, ENID
Fav: ROMAS - perfect sauce tomato
{B+} //A SEXY lady in a LACY TEDDY may have WOWED :-)
OKL - X in SEXY was my last fill too. I filled TAp ('he was TAPped for a task') and didn't really like it. That was before GOODY filled. SEpY(?).
After finishing the SW, I went back to TAP: ♫A, B, C, D... ♬ ♭X
CED - I thought that about the egg too - until he stirred with a stick(?). Ah, a demonstration of the pan's heat... "Hot enough to fry an egg."
WC - impressive juggling! I can toss & catch upto 4 balls but manipulating an object in my hands during the fleeting moment I'm holding it...?!? No way.
CAFF or The CAFF - what Eldest calls the on-campus dining facility near her (former) dorm.
Adam Ant - GOODY TWO SHOES.
Happy Birthday Jazzbumpa! Can't wait 'till your busy season is over & we can read your reviews every couple of weeks.
Cheers, -T
Happy birthday Jzb!
ReplyDeleteSorry,
All the trombone cakes
already had names on them....
Dressed to the nines?
I dunno,
I prefer to be comfortable...
Re: overposting early because Anon-T got me excited.
Now that I think of it,
Dynastic Egyptians probably did not melt diorite,
As evidenced by the unfinished box in the serapeum.
But it is obvious they had some kind of technical skill
That made stone working look easy.
Anon-T,
That was some screwy video last night!
Fun theme! Hand up learning moment there are so many disparaging clothing metaphors. Hand up this meaning of ARCH utterly foreign. It seems to be an ARCHaic term. Thank you Melissa Bee for explaining! Hand up CAFF also alien. Any Brits here to verify this is in their language?
ReplyDeleteHere I was in FANCY PANTS as I unicycled in the Solstice Parade with my friend Danielle.
Very familiar with CAPITAL SIGMA to mean SUMmation. This is the discrete form. The continuous form of SUMmation is the integral. Seems backwards. Integers are SUMmed but continuous quantities are integrated.
From Yesterday:
ReplyDeleteVidwan Thank you for the very kind words and for explaining the Sanskrit breakdown of the Swami's name into Swami Sarva-Priya-nanda = universal love and elation.
Wilbur Charles Thank you also for your comment on what the Swami was saying.
After my experience with the Swami, a good friend recommended a book called Perfect Brilliant Stillness. It is an account by a very ordinary person who "woke up" to the true nature of reality without asking for it. He reluctantly wrote the book because so many people asked him to do so. It only had a limited run of printing and is pretty much impossible to buy now. But he explicitly did not copyright it. (Because he claims he does not exist.) And he offers it totally free online as a PDF file:
https://www.perfectbrilliantstillness.org/book/
He claims that no amount of meditating will help. Awaking, Realization or Enlightenment is very rare and it won't happen as a result of anything you do. Including reading his book. So he says.
However, what the Swami was saying can be understood quite easily at an intellectual level: Everything we see in the material world is just the stuff of dreams. There is just one dreamer. Call it Fred if you want. You and I and everyone else is actually just Fred. Fred is having a dream that includes our bodies and everything else in the universe. It may be totally wrong, but I find it refreshingly new. Even if it has been around for thousands of years.
I liked this puzzle. Pretty nifty theme. I liked the clues for PULSE, VIP, and BOOZE.
ReplyDeletePicard, your description of the Swami reminds me of a paragraph in the writings of the Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi:
"Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuangzi. Soon I awakened, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man..." (Translation by Lin Yutang.)
Good wishes to you all.
Fun Wednesday puzzle--great debut, Ed--congratulations! And helpful write-up, as always, Melissa, thanks for that too.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite toughie was finally getting PULSE for that wrist measurement.
But MER for Debussy's sea was easy. So was TOES for Little piggies.
I think that puckish ARCH was actually sort of fun.
I'm more of a coffee than a whiskey person, but I still got IRISH.
Happy Birthday, JazzB.
Have a great day, everybody.
ReplyDeleteThank you Picard, for that exposition ... I have 'tried to find myself', but I think I'm better off in this real world for now. It takes a person with special abilities and inner attitudes to experience the stuff that enlightened people talk about ... and forgive me, but I think, its not for me. But if it appeals to you, why, I would cheer you on and urge you to pursue it.
PK, when you thought that inanehiker would have delivered her daughter's baby, it reminded me of two instances... one, a gynec, who refused to even examine her pregnant married daughter, because it was too personal, and she might mess up.
Many docs will refuse to get involved with their own kith and kin, and the decision itself, is sometimes considered unprofessional. A close female doc relative, discovered her 3 yr old daughter's hernia, while giving her a tub bath ( ... I know, because I was there ...) but refused the pediatric surgeon's offer to even observe the surgery in the operating room, during the correcting procedure. This was over 40 years ago.
But, one of my oldest aunts, who was a gynec Ob/Gyn, performed a hysterectomy on her own mother ! She was the prof and Astt Dean of a Med School, and was utterly convinced that she could do the best job of all the surgeons she knew at the hospital. (It was a success. ) She was famed for her surgical skills, but our entire community was amazed at her courage.
If, I may end this sobering discussion, on a tacky note ...
Q. Why did the Pittsburg gynecologist's wife, serve him with divorce papers ?
A. Because she thought he was seeing other women.
Very enjoyable PZL. Thanks, Mr. Beckert! And thank you, Melissa B!
ReplyDeleteHappy B'Day, JzB!
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals on the sinister side.
The central diag delivers an anagram (14 of 15 letters) that suggests the modern equivalent of the "canary in the coal mine."
Imagine if you will that, like the birds at the Tower of London, a certain group of Ravens has been drafted.
They must now serve as COVID-19 experimental subjects, to lead the way into known areas of infection by being tested in advance of any human entry.
And imagine that they have been tested over and over again, until they finally screech, "Arrgh ...
SWABS, NEVERMORE!!"
ReplyDeleteThank you Ed Beckert for a very nice and interesting CW puzzle, and thank you Melissa Bee for a very clear review. I enjoyed both, very much.
Happy Birthday, Jazz Bumpa, best wishes for continued good health and spirits.
I had trouble with TAX ( but, not much ) ... and I couldn't understand ARCH or CAFF.
Tatting fabric ...could also have been SKIN. Haha.
On Sigma / SUM::: Picard's comment on the summation of Integers, and the integration of continuous functions ... Just Blew me Away !! He must be one hell of a mathematician !!
I am amazed at so many experts ( like Waseely, for instance ) we have in this blog community... I discover them almost once a day, in my readings.
I have never solved the Rubik's Cube, without a lot of cheating ... it is still on my bucket list to learn to solve the Rubik's cube, from first principles, before I pass on. I've seen kids do it, but I just can't get the heck of it.
Enid Blyton, was my most favorite author, in middle school, and I read almost a hundred of her books. It really pains my heart that she has been declared nonPC and such, and her books are not stocked, even in british libraries. She was my Nancy Drew.
have a nice day, all.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAZZ !!! My "First" Sunset Toast is to YOU !!!
ReplyDeleteNice, easy Tuesday Solve.
Cheers!
ReplyDeleteThank you Anon-T and CED for the link and the discussion on Making the Bolt with Zigzag threads. That was soo cool.
I had seen that youtube heading on the sidelines but never observed the entire video ... I'm glad I did.
CED, your cakes are always a delight to behold. I hope I don't get diabetes, just salivating over them. I have been told that the intricate shapes and cute designs are often obtained by using marzipan ( sugared almond paste putty ) ... but still, its all marvelous.
YR, methinks the thought percolates: "Why didn't I come here sooner." Glad you're enjoying yourself so much. Do youvthink you could organize some square dancing?
ReplyDeleteKate&Koji looks interesting.
Picard, great pic, great time,eh?
WC
Well, gee whiz! I thought it wasn't safe for the mama to go to the hospital for delivery during covid. But what do I know? I spent one teenaged summer working in a hospital on the delivery ward & saw my first births. One was a doctor who delivered his own wife of one of her seven children. I know of some other women who delivered at home with a family member assisting, including one husband with no medical training. I guess we can ask Inane Hiker when she gets back to the blog.
ReplyDeleteHospital deliveries are the norm in this day and age, but what about before hospitals existed? Weren't all births at home? It would be interesting to know when midwives became involved. That comes to mind because I love the PBS show, "Call the Midwife" and wonder about that.
ReplyDeleteI know from my mother that I was born at home and likely at least my next two siblings. By the time the fourth one of us was born, my sister, Marge, we had moved to Phoenix and the hospital was available. After her the rest were also born in hospitals.
It will be interesting to see what inananehiker has to say.
A midwife or a veterinarian couldn't do worse than the butcher job done on my wife when Phillip was born. They left poor Betsy in acute pain for hours while they fiddled and diddled around
ReplyDeleteThe key is to wait as long as possible before going to the hospital. Leave them as little time as possible to screw it up.
But we finally did have a beautiful baby by C-section
WC
Vidwan @2:13 PM What's Pittsburgh got to do with it? And maybe he was just dreaming other women, or they were dreaming him.
ReplyDeleteVidwan @ 2:41 PM I've never been an expert at anything (well maybe perl, but I've only dabbled with Raku). That's why I go by WAS, rather than BS. I wouldn't want to call attention to it. Gee, I think I just did. 🙄
Lucina @3:58 PM "Call the Midwife" - great show. We haven't watched it since the days of Jennifer Agutter (Teri found it a little too close for comfort!). And BTW, midwives still practice.
Misty, on St. Patrick's Day I like my coffee and my Irish whiskey mixed in Irish Coffee. Yummy.
ReplyDeletewaseeley@4:36
ReplyDeleteThank you for that article. It's good to know that midwives still practice! I've never known or seen one myself but I love hearing about them and seeing them on TV. Jennifer Agutter is still on the show. I love PBS dramas!
Finally I'm beginning to see the table top surface which means my wrapping is almost done. Just a few more gifts to wrap and I can start on my cards. Did I mention each of my grandchildren and grandchild receives at least 5 gifts (or more).
The high point of my day: I called out the Final Jeopardy answer and was right. All three of the professors in the special Jeopardy tournament got it wrong. Yay!
ReplyDeleteA CSO to moi -- my initials are MER (but LE, not LA).
ReplyDeleteIt is recorded (somewhere) that there are instances of pregnant Asian women working in the fields, giving birth there unassisted, and then going back to work minutes later... I don't recall if they had any help.
While I think about it, 'arch...' also means 'old' -- as in archives -- or 'senior', as in archpriest or archbishop.
Watching British TV shows made me familiar with the term CAFF. However, never having seen it in print, I thought it would be "caf."
ReplyDeleteLucina: Midwives have been around for a long time. The NIV uses "midwife"/"midwives" eight times in Genesis and Exodus. (Your version may vary.) You have to research it yourself.
>> Roy
Happy Birthday, Ron! Thanks, Ed and Melissa! I really liked the inclusion of the long down fills.
ReplyDeleteI did get an FIR today, but only because the H in ARCH/OCHS (didn’t remember Phil either) seemed to be the only letter that stood a chance of making any sense. Going through Melissa's expo, I had to check out that issue first, rather than worrying about it until I got down to the bottom. Other than that, it was a fairly smooth day.
I might not call this one a Monday level puzzle, but for me it was much easier than yesterday’s, which I still haven’t finished. I didn’t know CAFF either, but that one was easy, since USAF was already there.
Because I always test the theme clues first, EMPTYSUITS was my obvious first fill. The other three fell fairly early too. I didn’t quite come up with the same theme as Melissa did; I called it HIGH FALLUTIN’, but what the hey....
Didn’t remember that the UTES are now in the Pac-12, but I figured it out. I can’t keep up with all of the NCAA conference jumping. Got another one coming up for next year (Oklahoma and tu are going into the SEC), and that one makes absolutely NO sense at all! Oh, yeah! It’s all about the Benjamins!
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Ed and melissab.
ReplyDeleteI’m very late to the party after a busy day (and the same tomorrow).
I FIRed in good time and saw the theme (even without a reveal).
I saw a few Easter eggs to the clothing theme. TEES could be worn for casual Friday; and for our ladies, we have a PURSE (and even a TEDDY with LACE, although that might be too BARE and SEXY for the office). (I see OwenKL saw that last one!)
I wondered at first about EMPTY and then STUFFED in two of the themers, but GOODY and FANCY did not continue the interior sub theme.
This Canadian has never heard the term CAFF. I entered Cafe and wondered why a French word had a British clue. Perps fixed that. We haven’t imported all the British words!
Hand up for resisting ARCH, although I see the Puckish meaning now.
PK- I got the Final Jeopardy answer correct also. They all missed the timing.
Happy Birthday JazzB.
Congratulations on the new grandson, inanehiker.
(Yes, Lucina, we have midwives here.All my grandchildren benefitted from their care and expertise, except the youngest who was a high risk pregnancy.)
Wishing you all a good evening. We have a couple of inches of snow here. “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!”
Today has been a day of learning for me. Thank you all for your input re midwives.
ReplyDeleteSnow? Really? Hmmm. It is December. I should not be surprised.