hyPe with a Capital "P"
Believe it or not today's constructor Bruce Venzke got his start writing crossword puzzles in
the pool halls of Wisconsin. It's a very interesting story, but I'd
better let him tell it, as related in this
interview with C.C. back in February of 2011. His connections with the Corner run deep.
He joins us today to talk about marketing strategies, ways to
PUSH products and services to
customers. The first word in each of Bruce's themers, as well as the
reveal, begins with a capital P.
20A. Excel on the mound: PITCH A NO HITTER.
A no-hitter is a rare accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching
staff—only 314 have been thrown in MLB history since 1876, an
average of about two per year. Three stand outs in this
achievement are
Nolan Ryan
whose 7 no-hitters are the standing world record;
Don Larsen, who pitched a no-hitter for the Yankees in Game 5 of the 1956 World
Series; and
Roy Halladay, who pitched a no-hitter for the Phillies in Game 1 of the 2010 World
Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
25A. Increase the mobility of, as a checker:
PROMOTE TO KING. A game we
used to play a lot when we were children, but it seems to have dropped from
popularity in recent years. When a checker reaches the eighth row it
is PROMOTED or KINGED, after which it gains super
powers!
Here's how to play.
44A. Do a plumbing job:
PLUG UP THE LEAK. First a CSO
to all the handy men (and any women) who do their own plumbing.
I've done my share of it, but sometimes it pays to hire an expert.
Here's a Wiki article on
the work of a plumber
(check out "Other uses" for recent history for people who plug leaks). If you're looking
for well-paid, steady work.here are typical
licensing requirements.
It's not a job you can just walk into.
49A. Recommend, with
"for," and a hint to the start of 20-, 25- and 44-Across:
PUT IN A GOOD WORD. I think we
should put in a good word for Bruce for a fun puzzle.
Here's
the Grid:
Now let's PUSH on to the rest of the PUZZLE ...
Across:
1. Oktoberfest toast: PROST. A shortened form of PROSIT. The former is preferred in Germany.
6. "Atlas Shrugged" hero John: GALT.
Ayn Rand's Übermensch.
14. Object: DEMUR. Demur? Demure? What's the difference?
17. Patty Hearst alias: TANIA. The Nom de Guerre for
heiress
Patricia Hearst, who was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974, succumbed to
the Stockholm Syndrome (a medical condition apparently), robbed a bank and was later captured, tried for robbery, convicted, and
sentenced to 35 years in prison. Her sentence was commuted by
President Jimmy Carter, and she was later pardoned by President Bill
Clinton. I don't think the SLA ring leader, Donald DeFreeze, would
have seen eye-to-eye with John Galt.
18. Whammy: JINX. A CSO to our man in Norfolk!
19. Self-named 2000s sitcom set in Texas: REBA. Like Cher,
Adele, and Madonna, when someone mentions REBA you know
who they're talking about.
Reba Nell McEntire, (born March 28, 1955) is an American country music singer, actress and
businesswoman. She is often referred to as "the Queen of Country" (Dolly
fans might dispute that), having sold more than 75 million records
worldwide. Here's her You Lift Me Up to Heaven (lyrics):
23. Blow away: STUN. An alternative to the more frequently used verb
AWE.
24. Steam: IRE.
31. Reclusive sort: LONER.
32. Pin expert?: WRESTLER. Hands up if you thought this was a
BOWLER?
35. Cheerio morsel: OAT. The preferred food for the horses in
OATERS.
36. Court responses: PLEAS. A polite term for "Innocent, Guilty, or maybe Non Compos Mentis, your Honor". A CSO to Susan and Jason. See also 12D ROBE.
38. "Bravo!": OLE.
39. Not as well insulated: DRAFTIER.
42. Weasel cousin: SABLE. This link has NOT been approved by
P.E.T.A.
|
| Sable |
48. Dull-sounding beast: BOAR. A homophone to the noun BOOR: "a peasant or uncultured person; one who lacks in education, knowledge, refinement and social graces". Also to verb BORE, and related nouns and several similar sounding words as well. See also 36D.
56. Malevolent: EVIL. Yes Virginia, it does exist.
57. Equine control: REIN. A homophone for REIGN and RAIN.
58. "The Grapes of Wrath" migrants: OKIES. The Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962.
60. Fool on the ice: DEKE. There was a recent attempt to fool us on the ice at the Winter Olympics, but it wasn't a DEKE:
62. Surge protector?: LEVEE. From the Online Dictionary of Etymology ...
64. "The __ the limit": SKY'S.
65. Bowling unit: FRAME. One of my granddaughters likes to bowl and we often take her bowling on her day out. Nowadays most bowling establishments have an interactive computer screen at each lane to help you keep score. But if you ever go to an old fashioned establishment and have forgotten how to score, you can access this wikiHow through your cell phone.
Down:
1. L.A. is on it in summer: PDT. Pacific Daylight Time. Programming applications sensitive to TIME ZONES in multi-state networks can be tricky. We used to just call a library routine that had all the rules built-in.
2. Do a farm job: REAP.
3. High-end hotel chain: OMNI.
4. "I'm okay with it": SUITS ME.
5. Caterpillar, say: TRACTOR. If you're in the market for one, they've got 'em.
6. Demi Moore military movie: GI JANE. G.I. Jane is a 1997 American war drama film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, and Anne Bancroft. The film tells the fictional story of the first woman to undergo special operations training similar to the U.S. Navy SEALs. The film did not do well.
8. TV host with more than 300 vehicles: LENO. Jay's vehicles include about 150 cars, most of the rest being motorcycles. Here are some of his most interesting rides.
9. Unpopular raises: TAX HIKES.
10. Sign: PORTENT. Dark clouds often portend stormy weather. "Information on past performance, where given, is not necessarily a guide to future performance".
12. Judicial garb: ROBE. There are apparently lots of variations of "judicial garb" around the globe, with most taking their cues from the British tradition.
13. Go like the dickens: TEAR.
21. Castaway's shelter: HUT
22. Eye part: IRIS. And a song by the Goo Goo Dolls (lyrics). See 50D for more.
25. Walk tediously: PLOD.
26. Sign of crowd approval: ROAR. Or the sound of a crowd: AROAR.
27. Ready to draw: ON TAP. My DIL's brother made a small fortune designing and installing TAP systems for bars. This is one of his competitors.
28. Nobody: TWERP.
29. __ pro nobis: ORA. Latin for "Pray for Us". The congregation's response in litanies of intercessory prayers.
30. Golden __: GLOBE. The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the 105 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television.
 |
| Golden Globe Award |
33. "Boo'd Up" Grammy winner __ Mai: ELLA. A bit of bio about Ella Mai and here's her Grammy winner (lyrics):
34. Strongly suggest, with "of": REEK. See next clue.
36. Animal husbandry facilities: PIG FARMS. You are likely to find lots of 48As there.
37. Moldova currency: LEU. The Romanian leu is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 bani, singular: ban, a word that means "money" in Romanian. These 20 lei coins are likely to be worth much more than their nominal value:
 |
| 20 lei gold coin from 1870 (21mm diameter, 6.43g weight) |
41. __ loose: free: TURN.
42. Navy nuclear sub class: SEAWOLF. The Seawolf class is a category of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines in service with the United States Navy.
 |
| Seawolf Class Submarine |
43. "Today" weatherman: AL ROKER. Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, actor, author, and producer. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's Today.
45. Some gov't issues: T BONDS. Treasury bonds (T-bonds) are government debt securities issued by the U.S. Federal government that have maturities greater than 20 years. T-bonds earn periodic interest until maturity, at which point the owner is also paid a par amount equal to the principal.
46. Mason's carrier: HOD. The art of bricklaying can be found in every city across America. From homes to large buildings, bricklayers have made a difference to almost every skyline. The key to building such art is the teamwork that comes from the Bricklayers and their Hod Carriers
49. Crosswalk users, briefly: PEDS.
50. Iris layer: UVEA. The uvea (Lat. uva, "grape"), is the pigmented middle of the three concentric layers (Choroid, Ciliary Body, and Iris) that make up an eye. I find the structure of the eye and its integration with the visual cortex via the brain of the optic nerve to be nothing short of miraculous:
51. __ bar: Polynesian-themed spot: TIKI.
52. Many a techie: GEEK. A CSO to all the present and former GEEKS on the Corner.
53. Like many a mechanic's rag: OILY.
54. 1972 Derby winner __ Ridge: RIVA. Not only did he win the 1972 Derby, but owner Penny Chenery credits him with saving Meadow Stables and paving the way for Secretariat to win the 1973 Triple Crown:
 |
| Riva Ridge 1972 Kentucky Derby |
55. Think: DEEM.
59. Call in poker: SEE. I SEE that we've come to the end of this review.
waseeley
Thanks as always to Teri for proofreading and constructive suggestions.
Cheers,
Bill
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy 56th anniversary to our incomparable Husker Gary and his wife Joann. Here's a picture of them with their grandson Hawkin two years ago.
2) Happy birthday to Chairman Moe (Chris), our fun and witty Friday guide! So lucky that I asked you to blog, Chris!
 |
| Chris and his love Margaret |
DNF. Doubted what I had in NW corner, and still had some empty cells in the E.
ReplyDeleteNW -- TANyA < TANIA, which made SUYTSME gibberish.
E -- GoOsE < GLOBE, which left _RESTo_R and SAs_E unguessable as WRESTLER and SABLE.
Word of the Day: proem
ReplyDeletePronunciation: pro-em
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. The introductory section of anything, such as a prelude, preface, epigraph, etc. 2. A prose poem.
Notes: Here is the name of the category to which preludes, prefaces, forewords, introductions, preambles, and so forth belong. It is a clipping of prooemium. The second, more recent sense of this word comes from a blend of prose + poem. The adjective for today's word in its first sense is proemial. The adjective for prooemium is prooemiac, a word used as recently as 2002 according to the OED.
In Play: Proem is most often used in reference to things musical, written or rhetorical: "Farley introduced his remarks with the proem, 'Please take the following not injudicious remarks quite seriously.'" However, anything introductory is a proem: "The dinner guests found Benito's loud belching after the appetizer to be just a proem to his gross rudeness throughout the remainder of dinner."
Word History: In its original sense, today's Good Word was borrowed from Old French prohème for Chaucer's Clerk's Tale, written in 1395. Old French simply trimmed the Latin legacy word, prooemium, which Latin had borrowed from Greek pro(h)oimion "prelude" and applied it to anything introductory, but especially music and poetry.
See Alpha Dictionary for more info.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteThis one came together faster that yesterday...by a bunch. Need Wite-Out to change REND to PART. (Check the perps, d-o.) Hand up for thinking BOWLER. Managed to miss the theme and the reveal, as usual. But I got 'er done, so life is good. Thanx, Bruce and waseeley.
OATERS -- Finished watching Godless yesterday. Quite good. A little raw, and a lot violent, but still good.
MELD -- We used to play Canasta when MIL came to visit from Germany. We'll probably never play again.
REIN -- Tuesday night the college students all missed the Final Jeopardy! question. They guessed U.S. presidents, missing the word "reign" in the clue.
SEAWOLF -- USS Cavalla is a WWII sub parked at Seawolf Park in Galveston. Surprisingly, it's not a Seawolf-class sub.
Congrats on your endurance, Mr.and Mrs. Husker, and on your longevity, C-Moe.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteIt still seems strange to see the solo Bruce but it’s also a reminder of how much enjoyment Gail gave us for so many years. This was a fairly easy romp with only one unknown, Ella. While I got the theme, I was flummoxed about one of the themers until I read the expo, as I was parsing it as Promote Toking, which made no sense. Doh! Another day bursting with CSOs: Jinx (Jinx), Reba (YR’s Alan), Boomer (Frame), Lemony and Hahtoolah (Pleas and Robe), Seawolf (DO), Levee (BigEasy), and Geeks (You know who you are!). Bruce brought his A game with IKEA, Tania, Reba, Uvea, Riva, Ora, and Ella. Loved Deke/Geek/Leak/Reek, plus Reba/Riva, Pleas/Robe, and Iris/Uvea.
Thanks, Bruce, for a terrific Thursday and thanks, Bill, for your always entertaining and informative summary. The music from Swan Lake soothed my soul and the picture of the Sable tickled my fancy! Thanks, also, to Teri for her contributions.
Happy 56th, Gary and Joan, enjoy your very special day. 💞
Happy Birthday, Chris, hope you celebrate in style with Margaret! 🎂🎁🎉🎊🎈
DO @ 5:53 ~ I watched about 20 minutes of Godless and decided it wasn’t for me. Glad you and others enjoyed it, though. ACGAS is more my speed. I was sad to learn next Sunday is the last episode of the season. I hope there will be a Season 3.
Our temp today is supposed to be 60, or close to it, but the cold temps will return soon enough. So far, this has been a roller coaster of a winter, temp wise and also the minimal amount of snowfall. But, it ain’t over till it’s over, or, as someone said, we’re not out of the woodwork yet!
Have a great day.
FIR, but like OKL,erased goose and tanya. Also fixed stoat with SABLE and trod with PLOD.
ReplyDeleteI read "The Grapes of Wrath" in college. I thought it was very moving. My mother said that it was banned as obscene in our local state college back before I was born.
Caterpillar made the engine in my motor home, but because they no longer make over-the-road vehicles, they won't work on it. Fortunately, the local Freightliner dealer has a Cat-trained mechanic who will.
The SEA WOLF class was the wrong boat at the wrong time. We're building Virginia Class SSNs now. Main breakthrough was a new construction concept: build fully-equipped pieces of the hull, then mate all the pieces together into a sub.
Off to the RV store for our new washer/dryer. Gotta lower two antennas, shrink the rooms, and raise the leveling jacks, all of which are done by pushing buttons.
HBDTY, HG and C-Moe.
Thanks to Bruce for the Thursday-worthy challenge, and to Bill for the neat review.
Took 8:39 to hype this one. Got tripped up on Pacific something Time crossing "_emur". Didn't know the Grammy or the Derby winner, and I had Golden Goose before Golden Globe.
ReplyDeleteGood Thursday puzzle.
Oops, Happy anniversary, HG. I take back that HBDTY remark.
ReplyDeleteAutocorrect struck again! Gary and Joann!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of struck, recently a TV newscaster was reporting on some catastrophe and commented that the area had been “strucken” hard. It could have been in what another announcer referred to as Lime Rick, Ireland! 😈
Relatively easy Thursday. From comments here I've begun to watch Jeopardy. I see they missed "reign"(of terror) again last night. Talk about "missed"; boy do they miss Alex
ReplyDeleteIf it was Phil's vs Reds it was a NL playoff game and Larson's NO HITTER was perfect.
Wasn't familiar with PROST but perps locked it up.
Congrats Gary and hbd to C-Moe
WC
Oops it was Larsen with an E.
ReplyDeleteWC
Enjoyed the tight and clever theme by Bruce. Like others I didn't know PROST even after it filled. I knew Patty Hearst alias had an unusual spelling but took perps for TANIA to emerge after Tanya, Tonia, Tonya had worked their way through the line-up. Both of those made SUITS ME slow to fill! Needed perps as well for RIVA Ridge.
ReplyDeleteWEES about wanting Bowler instead of WRESTLER thinking of Boomer - but our state wrestling championships are today and tomorrow and I had just read the article about who was going from our local high schools, so it should have been on my mind. That fill was slowed down because I had PORTEND before PORTENT.
Thanks Bill and Bruce
Happy anniversary to HG and happy birthday to Chris!
OwenKL @3:59 AM Power outage? You always provide the "PROEM" to the party, but you seem to have been cut off in mid-post, and didn't follow up with your always delightful poems. I hope everything's okay.
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss @7:24 AM I was conflicted about mentioning Gail in the review. Despite still being saddened by her loss, I didn't want to rain on Bruce's solo outing. I'm currently working my way through an anthology of Newsday puzzles that I got for Christmas and Gail often appears in them.
"Promote Toking" would have been perfectly legitimate parsing if the clue had been "Timothy Leary's calling". 🙃
Hola!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Moe!
Happy anniversary, Gary and Joanne!
I immediately knew John GALT but not PROST. My knowledge of German is non-existent.
Hand up for GOOSE before GLOBE.
Oh, that ELLA. No idea.
At one time I was an Ace in CANASTA and other card games, especially pinochle but that was too long ago.
SEA WOLF just sounds sinister.
Well, I am almost finished collecting documents for my TAX filing. I'm waiting for the mail to bring a couple of missing forms.
Have a terrific Thursday, everyone!
If Leary is unavailable, Cheech and Chong are always willing to promote a toke. Leary may have been on a TRIP
ReplyDeleteThen, of course, there is Lawrence Welk's One Toke Over The Line from 1971.
ReplyDeleteNot too bad. Worked for me.
ReplyDeleteTWERP is not a nobody. She or he is an annoyance among other things.
ReplyDeleteTerrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Bruce and waseeley (and Teri).
ReplyDeleteI FIRed and saw the theme, but I had to work for it.
Several inkblots: Any time fit the clue better as SUITS ME. That corrected Tanya to TANIA (hi inanehiker).. Slog changed to PLOD. I waited for perp to decide Portend or PORTENT.
With only the final K in place, I decided the plumber was doing something to the sinK; .When PLUG UP appeared, I wondered who we had hired to do the fixing. Oh, LEAK. I will change my rating of the job!
My hand joins the throng for thinking of bowling before WRESTLING. Great clue.
I cannot say the same for the IRIS dupe. You know that I was aghast.
IM has already done a marvellous job of catching all the interesting duos, A-game, CSOs.
I had to parse GIJANE. I didn’t notice the alternate parsing of PROMOTETOKING. LOL!
Yes, those Jeopardy contestants have difficulty with the Canadian clues also.
Happy 56th Anniversary to Gary and Joann.
Happy Birthday to Moe.
Wishing you all a great day.
Looks like the Olympics is stealing expressions from the corner: "Mikaela Shiffrin's Beijing nightmare continued on Thursday with the US skiing star left reeling from a third did-not-finish (DNF) at the Games."
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary HG and Joanne. HBDTY Chris and in honor of your birthday here is my wordle today, my best ever
ReplyDeleteWordle 243 2/6
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
DM and you will see how you led me to the solve. My son was not pleased with my result; apparently we are competing.
Bruce is an accomplished pro but he like other long time favorites are presenting 3 themers and a reveal rather than 4 themers. Considering the alleged 6 month backlog of submissions at all sites, it seems odd.
In my limited constructing history, I am not sure editors are as open to newness as you think Chris.
Thank you Bs.
I guess the "E" was my birthday present...argghhh
ReplyDeleteFIR but missed the theme. ESP for GALT (I couldn't recall it), ELLA, RIVA and LEU, but perps were kind.
ReplyDeleteTWERP can mean a small or puny person; one regarded as insignificant, contemptible. In slang NOBODY can mean someone who is not important.
I know PROSIT as a German toast. I have been to several Octoberfests in the USA. I figured PROST would be a shortened form. EIN PROSIT
IM, thanks for remembering Alan's love of the REBA sitcom. He has had two sets of all her TV seasons and can't find them. He just bought another set of all the seasons. He does not return DVDs to their sleeves. David, a counselor and I have taken turns, sorting his DVDs several times. No more. It's a sisyphean task.
STOAT before SABLE.
A dull person would be more of a BORE than a boor, an ill-mannered person
Happy birthday, Chris. Happy anniversary Gary and Joann.
A good Bruce Thursday puzzle which I FIR! Like others I thought the clue had something to do with bowling before seeing the fill had to be WRESTLER. The correct spelling of TANIA was fixed by the perp and I had Golden Girls/GLOBE. In spite of having a BOND fund, l first thought of T notes and T bills. But the area that almost did me in was GALT, GI JANE, TAX HIKES, and JINX. (Hi, JINX!) Finally it came. The theme was fine with the reveal making it clear what to notice. Thanks, Bruce!
ReplyDeleteThanks, waseeley and Teri for your excellent work together on the review with all the extra information for us.
Happy Birthday to C Moe and Happy Anniversary to HG and Joann. We recently celebrated our 56th too.
FLN: Sympathy to AnonT for the chaos and disorder you are experiencing with the repairs at your home now. We know how stressful it is to live with and understand now why neighbors move out during lengthy renovations.
PROST to all. Have a grand day!
Musings
ReplyDelete-PROST and GALT to start?
-If a pitcher throws a no-hitter, the team wins 99% of the time but there’s that 1%
-Oh, that kind of checker. Fun clue
-It seems every class I teach, there is a LONER. Sigh…
-WRESTLER – Nebraska sanctioned H.S. girls wrestling this year and their state tournament starts today
-Farmers around here are usually Green (John Deere) or Red (Farmall) not yellow (Caterpillar)
-The Golden GLOBES are often said to be the best awards that money can buy. Ricky Gervais did a vicious and hilarious job of hosting them
-In all my years as a brick tender, I never used a HOD. Instead I used this device
-Thanks for all the good wishes for us. I heard the gasps when you read someone has tolerated me for that many years!
-Happy Birthday, Chris!
Husker@10:23 AM
DeleteFLN Thank for that remarkable video on on the Sandhill Cranes. Absolutely stunning!
And Happy Anniversary to you and Joann.
Challenging Thursday for me. W/Os GOOSE:GLOBE, LEK:LEU. DNK LEU, DEMUR(I only knew DEMURE), DEKE, RIVA. Pin expert = great clue. With many interruptions, still managed to FIR in 28. Thanx for the challenge BV, and for the terrific write-up, Bill. Happy BD and/or anniversary to those celebrating either today.
ReplyDeleteBTW, growing up in a family with German ancestry, PROST was an easy start!!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteNice Thursday level puzzle from Bruce. FIRed it today with a few changes along the way. Enjoyed Waseely's tour through the grid.
I did know PROST, but didn't know ELLA, LEU and GALT and I spelled TANIA wrong (TANyA). Perps fixed them and helped with a few other words along the way.
I wasn't sure about 32 Across, but perps prevailed here with WRESTLER. Wrestling at PSU (and the Big10) is very big. Ranks right up there with football. It's next to impossible to get tickets to many of the matches here. You can always find a seat at basketball games. Hockey is starting to get a following so that tickets are hard to get for Hockey now.
Happy Anniversary to Gary and his bride Joann.
Happy Birthday to C-Moe.
Rain and fog here today melting the rest of the snow still on the ground. However, I'm sure we will get more snow before winter is done with us.
Have a great day everyone.
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteFIR with w/o’s @ REND/PART; TORE/TURN; ORO/ORA; TANYA/TANIA
THANKS Bruce and Bill for another fun thing to do on my birthday
Hand up for having a ? @ 25-across; I read it as PROMOTE TOKING, too. And with AZ being a state that allows for recreational marijuana, I was all aboard! And as a person who was in college from 1970-1974, TOKING was something that was fairly common, despite being illegal
Happy Anniversary Gary! I was 13 when you and your bride tied the knot
Margaret and I are about to head out to Turf Paradise, a thoroughbred and quarter horse race track in Phoenix. I doubt we’ll see the likes of a RIVA Ridge run today, but it’ll be fun for sure
See everyone tomorrow; I’m up as the blogger … no spoiler alerts! 😀
Fun puzzle, though Thursdays are always a bit tough for me. But many thanks, Bruce. And enjoyed your commentary, Waseeley.
ReplyDeleteMy German background helped me get PROST instantly--even though I'm not sure I ever celebrated an Oktoberfest.
Kept thinking of weather for "the wind in the reeds" until I got ABET, and realized it was an OBOE! Very clever clue.
I may be a bit of a LONER in person these days, but not on the computer.
I still remember the anguish of that sad PATTY HEARST story unfolding.
Loved "The SKY'S the limit."
Have a great rest of the week, everybody.
Well,
ReplyDeleteKudos to Bruce for making me work for every tidbit of perpage I could find.
It was a long haul, but not a slugfest. Thank you for the puzzlement...
Which reminds me of FLN.
Bill G,
I share your frustration, but seriously doubt that as a teacher you would give up easily.
You used the word "arcane," perhaps it is fortuitous...
If you could teach your kin to be fascinated by "the mysterious"
With a few puzzle/aha moments, you could teach them much more
Than specific knowledge..
My attempts at this have been similar to Sheldons...
Oh, I got sidetracked before silly theme links!
I can't find a single good word in this sentence...
Happy Anniversary Gary and better half...
(She must be great considering your contributions to this corner)
note the label down below!
And Moe!
Thank you for this opportunity to say
I told you so...
Ack!
ReplyDeleteThe label below got cut off!
It said:
"grooms memorial stadium cake from our wedding!"
Trivia for guitarists:
Iris (the song) is famous for breaking more strings at gigs than any other song...
(Went looking for link...)
Ack!
I screwed up! It wasn't Iris,
It was "Name"
guitarists, save your strings!
I have also, for years wanted to play
Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel.
But my old fingers could not bend the way you tube videos instruct.
Then yesterday I found this guys method
Which opens up so many possibilities!
I found this way easier than yesterday's puzzle. Zipped through this one.
ReplyDeleteI had a little trouble with the puzzle this morning. For example, I had originally put "Golden Glove" but "savle" didn't make sense, so I finally realized it was "Golden Globe." Also, like others, "leu" instead of ""lek" and "hod" instead of "hob." "Riva" was a complete WAG. But, eventually, I FIR, so all is well.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, when my brother gets off work this evening, he's supposed to bring me my new smartphone. I sincerely hope it works better than that last one did! We'll see. Keep a good thought for me, folks.
Wowza! Hi! Yeah I was loving that Småland clue. Småland is one of 25 regions of Sweden, once somewhat administrative, now mostly landscape and identity areas. My ex comes from Småland, actually. He now lives in Florida! The kids (now 20 and 15) live with me here in the Västmanland landskap which is still a functioning governmental division, made the transition somehow.
ReplyDeleteSweden's Landskap
Loved this Venzke PZL! Just the right degree of toughness for my Thursday morn...
ReplyDeleteMy only write-over was the "I" in TANIA. (Started it as TANYA, the way she ought to have spelled it.)
Gosh, it has been forever since I played checkers. It seems such a boring game. But I suppose dedicated players see lots of patterns that escape my eye and interest.
I would like to teach my wife to play chess, but she just isn't interested.
It cooled off considerably yesterday here in SoCal. Today it will be in the 70s, very nice in the direct sunlight.
~ OMK
____________
DR: A 3-way on the far side.
The central diagonal yields a fine anagram (14 of 15 letters) celebrating the weirdest yet most commonplace of Jan. 6th showboaters.
This is the guy whose attempt at wearing horns could only sprout a pair of nubbins.
His message could be seen as a "false flag" for intelligent protest.
I refer of course to the...
"GEEKIEST RIOTER"!
Easy with an easy theme. Kinda.
ReplyDeleteInkovers: nerd/GEEK, PORTENd/ PORTENT, Tanya/TANIA (can't believe I remembered 😊).
Scoring in bowling.🎳 Always got confused by the last frame and had to have the shoe rental guy calculate the score.🙄 Even a TWERP is somebody.😔 Wasn't Ella Mai, Jed's niece?😆
Thought the German toast was "Prosit" 🍻
PROMOTE TO KING? We used to proudly yell "king me!" to our opponent😃
IKEA and OBOE in the same puzzle (Where's oreo?), but ruined my day with IRE back as a verb. I wondered if "Mason's Carrier" was CBS, the network that carried "Perry Mason" PIN expert, Boomer? oops, wrong "sport".
Cheerios, "Those little O's of OATs" (what ever happened to the Cheerios Kid?)
Checked my wallet, no Moldova currency.
The US military was ____ during the Nam years ____ DRAFTIER.
Rental car....LONER
What my tailor does.....SUITSME.
Thank you's partner....PLEAS
Thaw....MELD
Happy Anniversary Husker and Joann. Happy B day C. Moe...
Happy Birthday, Chris!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary, Gary and Joann !
Bruce and my lack of a V8 moment got me today, a DNF. The cross of ORA (unknown) and
ReplyDeleteT-A,E,I,O,U-KING had me stumped. My mind was stuck on a thieving TSA 'checker' either TAKING something out of luggage or TOKING a joint. Wilbur, Cheech & Chong wouldn't have helped this morning. TO KING? Didn't think of two words.
The PUT IN A GOOD WORD fills and everything else was easy with three unknowns-PROST, LEU, & ELLA Mai (Elly May Clampett comes to mind).
Couldn't remember if Patty Hears was SONIA, TONIA, or TANIA but PDT & REAP took care of it.
TWERP & GEEK- not nice to call people names, 'bless their little hearts'.
SwenglishMom @1:44 PM Thanks for stopping by! It was great to hear from you and we hope to see you again soon. As an enticement maybe we can PUT IN A GOOD WORD to a constructor to add some fill for my favorite tenor, who is from Borlänge. Maps show that it's not too far from you.
ReplyDeleteIs it mean to call someone a geek?
ReplyDelete"The word geek is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit."
These days I often hear geek used for an expert or enthusiast, i.e. non pejorative. It was different when I was in H.S.
Calling somebody a twerp or a nobody is more pejorative.
YellowRocks @4:11 PM GEEK is a label I wear with PRIDE, something that we knoweth goeth before a FALL. The latter is something that "comes with the territory".
DeleteBruce is a talented puzzle constructor. I liked this one a lot. Loved the clues for WRESTLER and LEVEE.
ReplyDeleteCED, can you play those two great guitar solos from "Sultans of Swing"? An ex-GF was a musical prodigy, and I'm sure she got it after about 20 minutes. We broke up about 5 years before it came out and I've always wondered. Not enough to contact her, though.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that calling someone a GEEK would be a compliment. It implies high intellectual ability.
ReplyDeleteCalling some one a geek might have been mean before TBBT,
ReplyDeleteBut after throwing Penny into the equation, people are jealous of geeks...
Jinx,
Sultans of swing?
I do mostly acoustic, working on oldies like
Allman Bros, Yes, Led zep, Jorma,
With side tracks to anything popular
(Think James taylor, Simon & Garfunkel)
Only just getting up enough courage to tackle the mighty Knopfer...
But your words are encouraging,
Except,
The 1st comment on this video is
this man single-handedly inspired me to stop trying to play guitar...
1st solo around 3 min. 2nd around 5
And all the while he is doing harmony and percussion???
Jeez!
I remember when Geeks were performers in carnival sideshows that bit the heads off chickens. And wrester Classy Freddie Blassie would refer to his opponents as "pencil-necked geeks."
ReplyDeleteAnother notable was Johnny Vander Meer who pitched two consecutive no-hitters for the Reds in 1938
Misinformed College Jeopardy clue tonight.
ReplyDeleteParaphrasing: "This Biblical character gathered corn, not known in the Middle East"
A meaning for corn, other than maize, is any of various cereal plants or grain especially the principal crop of a given region. In England it is wheat. In Scotland it is oats. In North American it is maize which we call corn here.
PS. It was most likely barley that the Biblical character gathered.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteThank you Bruce for the quick (for a Thursday) puzzle; had it done b/f meetings ended.
Bill, always a fun adventure w/ you at the helm. Of course, all our Expo'rs are great.
WO: ORE
ESPs: Did y'all see that NW corner?!? Miracle I REAP'd a FIR. And then there were names.
Fav: HUT (2, 3,4) next to GI JANE was (probably) unintended but cute.
I don't care if you call me a geek, nerd, dweeb, or dork. Just don't call me late for dinner.
// Ray J. Johnson Jr, right? :-)
Happy Anniversary HG. If DW sticks w/ me, I'll catch up in 23yrs.
And C. Moe, I hope your day was all of that and a bag o' chips. Happy B-Day BUD.
CED - read the 1st comment under this video.
//if you don't know this guy's channel, he's LOL with What Makes This Song Stink - look forward to wasting >hour LOL'in'.
Well, not much else to be SAID except it's nice to see you stop in Swinglish.
Cheers, -T
Hello, everyone! FIR today. Got the themers and the reveal.
ReplyDeleteBeing a retired “world champion beer drinker” I got off to a good start with PROST
Since I always start with the DOWN clues (after looking at the top row), WRESTING it was.
Needed a couple of perps (ELLA, LEU).
Gotta go get some sleep. Gotta get up early for work tomorrow, and then earlier for work Saturday.
Lucina @ 8:04 --
ReplyDeleteI used to go down to the local IRS office for forms, because I didn't want to wait for the mailed ones.
But we live in a new world ... just go to the website IRS.gov, and, Presto!, all the forms AND publications you need are there (but you might have to do some searching to find some items).
SwenglishMom @ 1:44 --
ReplyDeleteThanks for the landskap map, which I never would have run across otherwise. But a question: the map shows West Gotland, next to East Gotland, and then, perplexingly, Gotland by itself, as a separate island. Huh?
Michael:
ReplyDeleteThank you for that but what I am waiting for is personal information from OptumRX where I get my meds. They summarize all my purchases.