Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers
Constructors Lewis Rothlein and Nancy Stark have both contributed puzzles to our Corner before, but I believe this is their first collaboration here.
The themers and reveal of their puzzle today describe a zero-sum game, which in game theory and economics is defined as a situation involving two sides, where the result is an advantage for one side and a loss for the other, e.g. the game of baseball. There are also non-zero sum games, e.g. cooperative ventures such as the stock market, where investors pool their resources in hopes of mutual gains.
I think we'll see that overall, this puzzle is really a non-zero sum, "win-win" game, in which Lewis and Nancy reward our efforts with a clever theme and lots of clever clues and fill. Let's start with the two part reveal:
68A. With 71-Across, possible result of my gain ... and what four long answers have undergone?: YOUR. and 71A LOSS. Each themer has undergone the LOSS of YOUR, resulting in fill with a different meaning:
20A. Psychiatry?: MIND BUSINESS. A metaphor for a profession involved in a non-zero sum game. While we tend to think of business in general as a competitive zero-sum game, it takes co-operation and a lot of hard work to MIND YOUR BUSINESS:
32A. A noble title and entrée into high society?: COUNT BLESSINGS. While the last few years have been rough on our society and tragic for some, it never hurts to look on the bright side and to stop and COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS.
42A. Passion of a well-trained city dog?: CURB ENTHUSIASM. I always thought dogs liked fire hydrants? Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American TV sitcom that has been produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000. It was created by comedian, writer, actor, director, and television producer Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. I reviewed quite a few video clips to insert here, but Larry's jokes all seemed to be at the expense of someone else, and that curbed my enthusiasm.
58A. Blue plumage, say?: SWALLOW PRIDE. I'm sure most of us have had to SWALLOW OUR PRIDE at some point in our lives. Eating CROW seems to be the metaphor for this favored by constructors. But the clue connotes FEATHERS that a SWALLOW could be PROUD of. SWALLOWS are in almost perpetual flight, and their blue plumage is not as bright as that of Jays and Bluebirds, so it's not as noticeable. But here's one proudly taking a brief rest on a fence:
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Tree Swallow |
Here's the grid:
Now let's see what other games we can find:
Across:
1. Goes on and on: JAWS.
5. Like storytelling: ORAL. In celebration of the recent start of the Lunar New Year of the Tiger, here's a children's story called There's a Tiger in the Garden:
9. Continued violently: RAGED.
14. Spiky succulent: ALOE. In addition to its utility to crossword puzzle constructors, there are at least 7 Amazing Uses for Aloe Vera.
15. Half a salon job: PEDI. The other half being a MANI.
16. Prize: ADORE. "That's not AJAR, that's ADORE!"
17. Failed to honor: RENEGED ON. In the view of some, Britain and France RENEGED ON their promise to Poland in early 1939 to provide military assistance in the event that it was invaded by Germany.
19. Like some diets: VEGAN. What's the difference between VEGAN and VEGETARIAN diets?
22. Like a pin?: AS NEAT. Unlike my office.
25. Hockey great Phil, to fans: ESPO. Philip Anthony Esposito born February 20, 1942) is a Canadian broadcaster, and a former professional ice hockey player, and coach. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time, and is the older brother of fellow Hall-of-Famer Tony Esposito, a goaltender. He also played for Canada in international competitions. A CSO to CanadianEh!!
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Phil Esposito |
26. Golfer's support: TEE.
27. L.A. commuter org.: MTA.
28. Remind over and over: NAG.
30. Neighbor of Greece: Abbr.: ALB. Albania, Northwest of Greece, is a small country with Adriatic and Ionian coastlines and an interior crossed by the Albanian Alps. Although she was born in neighboring North Macedonia, undoubtedly the most notable person of Albanian heritage was St. Teresa of Calcutta. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and from 1952 until her death in 1997, ministered to the dying in India.
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| Albania |
39. Jimmy Eat World genre: EMO. Here's everything you want to know about EMO. Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona (a CSO to Lucina, CMOE, and Yuman!). The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach Lind. Here's their first big hit, "The Middle", a place we all find ourselves from time to time.
40. R&B artist India.__: ARIE. India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), also known as India Arie (sometimes styled as india.arie), is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over 5 million records in the US and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album. Here's her breakthrough single "Video":
47. Alternative to email: FAX .
48. German grandpa: OPA. We miss you Spitzboov.
49. '60s war zone: NAM.
50. Speaker in a typical Swifty: TOM. Named for Tom Swift, the main character in six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. First published in 1910, the series totals more than 100 volumes and many are still in print.. Swifties are a form of humor Tom is credited with creating, but which seems to have fallen into disuse in recent years. But they're overdue for a revival and if nothing else, they're fun and "they'll help keep your mind sharp - as Tom would say, pointedly". I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of this.
53. Craft brew choices: IPAS. India Pale Ales. (see 2D). We seem to imbibe them regularly on the Corner.
56. How Mona Lisa smiles: SUBTLY. Certainly the most famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, if not the most famous in the world.
61. Many pop soloists: ALTOS. Our featured ALTO is
Adele singing the theme song from
the 2012 James Bond movie Skyfall:
62. Settings for hiking and running: GRIDIRONS. Could this be a reference to football?
66. In again: RETRO. “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.” - Oscar Wilde. But don't worry, it'll be back again in another 6 years. Teri tells me that these are back:
67. Comfort: EASE.
69. "The Dancing Couple" painter Jan: STEEN. Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humor and abundance of colour. The Dancing Couple was painted in 1663 and is currently in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
70. Place for pupils: EYES.
Down:
1. Mason __: JAR. We canned some Salsa Verde this past Fall. I hope I didn't put too much SRIRACHA sauce in the recipe.
2. It may be blonde or amber: ALE. See 53A.
3. Captured: WON.
4. Note below F?: SEE ME. Not a musical note. A note on your last math test.
5. Drinks may be put on one: OPEN TAB.
6. Funny Foxx: REDD. John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Probably best known for the TV series Sanford and Son.
7. Spanish for "mudbrick": ADOBE. Adobe is a building material made from earth and organic materials. While we associate it with the American Southwest, it is used throughout the world, e.g.in this Mosque in Djenné, Mali, Africa:
8. "House intellectual" in "Peanuts," per Schulz: LINUS. Schulz, has said of the character,
"Linus, my serious side, is the house intellectual, bright,
well-informed which, I suppose may contribute to his feelings of
insecurity."
9. Pockets usually stuffed: RAVIOLI. You can make your own!
10. Mideast port city: ADEN. Aden is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some 170 km (110 mi) east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb.
11. Fetch: GO GET.
12. Totally remove: ERASE.
13. Hard to get through ... or get through to: DENSE. Like some people?
18. Oracle Park player: GIANT. The home of the San Francisco Giants. Hand up if you're a Giants fan?
21. Places for 15-Acrosses: SPAS. A CSO to Lucina. Any other ladies who take a respite in these frequent crossword oases?
22. Old Ramblers, briefly: AMCS. Teri used to drive her spiffy AMC Rambler Classic over to my house to give me driving lessons. Unfortunately the lessons were in my father's '57 Buick Riviera with manual steering and it drove like a tank.
23. Stiff-upper-lip type: STOIC. Very British!
24. Tiny Pacific nation: NAURU. Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru is an island country in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. With only a 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) area, Nauru is the third-smallest country in the world behind Vatican City and Monaco, making it the smallest republic as well as the smallest island nation.
29. Scottish lowland: GLEN. While the word originated in Scotland, most English speaking countries also use it. A GLEN is a type for a valley,
typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides,
unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. It is also
used in place names such as Glen Burnie and Glen Arm not too far from where we live. There is also a Glen at the center of Towson University, Teri's and my Alma Mater.
31. "Sons of," in temple names: B'NAI. B'NAI is not only used in synagogue names, but other Jewish organizations as well. The most well-known of these is probably B'nai B'rith, literally the "Sons of the Covenant". B'nai B'rith is the oldest and largest Jewish organization in the world, with associations in many countries. It began in 1843 in New York and has its main office in Washington, DC. It is a cultural, social and educational organization that also supports hospitals and gives help after disasters. In 1913 it created the Anti-Defamation League to fight unfair treatment of Jews and others
33. Indoor ball brand: NERF.
34. Lifesaver, briefly: EMT.
35. Carnaby Street's district: SOHO. This particular district is in London, but New York City also has a district in Manhattan ("South of Houston Street") called SOHO.
36. Johnson successor: GRANT. A Civil War hero who, later went on to become President, Ulysses S. Grant succeeded Andrew Johnson who became President when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And BTW, Ulysses is actually Grant's middle name, the "S" having resulted from a clerical error on his application to West Point.
37. Scratching post material: SISAL.
41. Part of EGOT: EMMY. The others being GRAMMY, OSCAR, and TONY.
43. Abandons in a crisis: BAILS ON.
44. Fairly large fair: EXPO. The first international EXPO was the Great Exposition of 1851, held in the Crystal Palace in London. I have a personal connection to this event, as my great great uncle, potter Felix Pratt of Fenton, England exhibited this ceramic plate depicting the scene described in Matthew 12:1-8:
45. Silver linings: UPSIDES.
46. Medina resident: SAUDI. Medina, Saudi Arabia is considered the second holiest city in Islam.
50. Makeup of a long Russian line: TSARS.
51. Parliament newcomer?: OWLET. This was new to me. Until I looked it up I thought it was Brit slang for a new member of the House of Commons. but this "Parliament" is a collective noun for owls, and of course OWLETS are baby owls.
52. Photo finish: MATTE. A horse race? No, not even close.
54. "What a shame!": AW GEE.
55. Surf feature: SPRAY.
57. New Hampshire state mineral: BERYL. Beryl is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium cyclosilicate with the chemical formula Be3Al2Si6O18. Well-known varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine. Depending on impurities it can take a variety of other colors:
59. Stories to pass on: LORE.
60. Hike: RISE. A noun not a verb.
63. Castle queenside, in chess notation: OOO. Every thing you need to know about chess notation. See the TOC on the sidebar for how to notate castling, which involves two moves.
64. Xi preceders: NUS. Not the current Chinese premier, but Greek letters:
65. Prom gp.: SRS. And a lot of us folks.
48. German grandpa: OPA. We miss you Spitzboov.
49. '60s war zone: NAM.
50. Speaker in a typical Swifty: TOM. Named for Tom Swift, the main character in six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. First published in 1910, the series totals more than 100 volumes and many are still in print.. Swifties are a form of humor Tom is credited with creating, but which seems to have fallen into disuse in recent years. But they're overdue for a revival and if nothing else, they're fun and "they'll help keep your mind sharp - as Tom would say, pointedly". I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of this.
53. Craft brew choices: IPAS. India Pale Ales. (see 2D). We seem to imbibe them regularly on the Corner.
56. How Mona Lisa smiles: SUBTLY. Certainly the most famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, if not the most famous in the world.
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| Mona Lisa, circa 1506 The Louvre, Paris |
62. Settings for hiking and running: GRIDIRONS. Could this be a reference to football?
66. In again: RETRO. “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.” - Oscar Wilde. But don't worry, it'll be back again in another 6 years. Teri tells me that these are back:
69. "The Dancing Couple" painter Jan: STEEN. Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humor and abundance of colour. The Dancing Couple was painted in 1663 and is currently in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
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| The Dancing Couple |
70. Place for pupils: EYES.
Down:
1. Mason __: JAR. We canned some Salsa Verde this past Fall. I hope I didn't put too much SRIRACHA sauce in the recipe.
2. It may be blonde or amber: ALE. See 53A.
3. Captured: WON.
4. Note below F?: SEE ME. Not a musical note. A note on your last math test.
5. Drinks may be put on one: OPEN TAB.
6. Funny Foxx: REDD. John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Probably best known for the TV series Sanford and Son.
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| John Elroy Sanford |
7. Spanish for "mudbrick": ADOBE. Adobe is a building material made from earth and organic materials. While we associate it with the American Southwest, it is used throughout the world, e.g.in this Mosque in Djenné, Mali, Africa:
 |
Great Mosque of Djenné |
9. Pockets usually stuffed: RAVIOLI. You can make your own!
10. Mideast port city: ADEN. Aden is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some 170 km (110 mi) east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb.
11. Fetch: GO GET.
12. Totally remove: ERASE.
13. Hard to get through ... or get through to: DENSE. Like some people?
18. Oracle Park player: GIANT. The home of the San Francisco Giants. Hand up if you're a Giants fan?
22. Old Ramblers, briefly: AMCS. Teri used to drive her spiffy AMC Rambler Classic over to my house to give me driving lessons. Unfortunately the lessons were in my father's '57 Buick Riviera with manual steering and it drove like a tank.
24. Tiny Pacific nation: NAURU. Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru is an island country in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. With only a 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) area, Nauru is the third-smallest country in the world behind Vatican City and Monaco, making it the smallest republic as well as the smallest island nation.
 |
| Republic of Nauru |
31. "Sons of," in temple names: B'NAI. B'NAI is not only used in synagogue names, but other Jewish organizations as well. The most well-known of these is probably B'nai B'rith, literally the "Sons of the Covenant". B'nai B'rith is the oldest and largest Jewish organization in the world, with associations in many countries. It began in 1843 in New York and has its main office in Washington, DC. It is a cultural, social and educational organization that also supports hospitals and gives help after disasters. In 1913 it created the Anti-Defamation League to fight unfair treatment of Jews and others
33. Indoor ball brand: NERF.
34. Lifesaver, briefly: EMT.
35. Carnaby Street's district: SOHO. This particular district is in London, but New York City also has a district in Manhattan ("South of Houston Street") called SOHO.
36. Johnson successor: GRANT. A Civil War hero who, later went on to become President, Ulysses S. Grant succeeded Andrew Johnson who became President when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And BTW, Ulysses is actually Grant's middle name, the "S" having resulted from a clerical error on his application to West Point.
37. Scratching post material: SISAL.
41. Part of EGOT: EMMY. The others being GRAMMY, OSCAR, and TONY.
43. Abandons in a crisis: BAILS ON.
44. Fairly large fair: EXPO. The first international EXPO was the Great Exposition of 1851, held in the Crystal Palace in London. I have a personal connection to this event, as my great great uncle, potter Felix Pratt of Fenton, England exhibited this ceramic plate depicting the scene described in Matthew 12:1-8:
 | |
| Christ in the Corn Jesse Austin, engraver Victoria and Albert Museum | |
45. Silver linings: UPSIDES.
46. Medina resident: SAUDI. Medina, Saudi Arabia is considered the second holiest city in Islam.
50. Makeup of a long Russian line: TSARS.
51. Parliament newcomer?: OWLET. This was new to me. Until I looked it up I thought it was Brit slang for a new member of the House of Commons. but this "Parliament" is a collective noun for owls, and of course OWLETS are baby owls.
52. Photo finish: MATTE. A horse race? No, not even close.
54. "What a shame!": AW GEE.
55. Surf feature: SPRAY.
57. New Hampshire state mineral: BERYL. Beryl is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium cyclosilicate with the chemical formula Be3Al2Si6O18. Well-known varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine. Depending on impurities it can take a variety of other colors:
59. Stories to pass on: LORE.
60. Hike: RISE. A noun not a verb.
63. Castle queenside, in chess notation: OOO. Every thing you need to know about chess notation. See the TOC on the sidebar for how to notate castling, which involves two moves.
64. Xi preceders: NUS. Not the current Chinese premier, but Greek letters:
And thanks as always to Teri for proofreading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
Cheers,
Bill
47 comments:
Word of the Day: furbelow
Pronunciation: fêr-bê-lo
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. A flounce, a ruffle on a garment, curtain, tablecloth, or the like. 2. Anything unnecessary but showy.
Notes: A strip of fur on the hem of an overcoat would be pretty fur below but not a furbelow, which is a ruffle, a flounce. Still, while you may flounce into a room, your dress bouncing up and down, you cannot furbelow into a room. To furbelow a room, you would have to decorate it with ruffles and such.
In Play: See my furbelow? Furbelows are generally associated with women's dress: "Murine wore a polka dot jumper with flowery furbelows on the shoulder straps." But you may occasionally see them in unexpected places, "When McDowell turned up at the fete with a furbelow on his kilt and a flounce in his walk, the womenfolk shied away from him." Of course, furbelows need not be ruffles: "Rod loves to load his car with furbelows like oversized tires, mud flaps, and running board lights."
See Alpha Dictionary for more info.
Good morning! ("O crappy day!" Tom said icily)
When almost finished, d-o tripped to the act that YOUR was missing from the themers. Failure to read the full reveal clue provided no assistance. Hand up if you tried NIXON -- it it until it didn't. Did not know that "GLEN" was Scottish, but I am familiar with actor Scott Glenn. High marks to Lewis, Nancy, and Waseeley.
AMCS: My grandfather drove a Nash (pre-AMC). Every winter he'd make a sojourn in Tampa, and would arrive home suntanned with a crate stuffed with citrus.
Fact, not act. Fit, not it. I'm getting things all f'd up this morning.
Your wasn't the only thing at a loss today. Finished it, finally, in 18:42.
Spent a good chunk of time in the bottom-right. Beryl next to OOO was a death trap for me. Aw Gee took far too long to see/parse. A good struggle, but a struggle indeed.
Ms. Irish Miss: hardly speedy, I know.
I went to bed with several blank squares but ALTO fell and finally MATTE. Because of a jumble riddle I'd had swell/SPRAY.
I also thought of Niners. Right City wrong League. And I was out of same with NAURU. Thanks to a lot of perps I FIR
I remember in my Boston Globe Sports pages* day the BNAI Brith award.
Aha, so that's Owen's "Parliament of Owls". I thought it was a Chaucer reference
Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!! FIW. I had YOUR LeSS. Makes more sense but…
Since LBJ had been VP Owasso trying to remember Spiro Agnew.
WC
** The only decent Sports page I can find is in the Citrus Springs Chronicle. TBTimes has virtually abandoned the genre, preferring Bucs, Bolts and Rays talk.
Owen reference is in yesterday's Jumble blog
I FIR but was at a LOSS for a long time. The North filled fast but MIND BUSINESS sent my brain down a dead end direction. The unknowns EMO, MTA ARIE, BNAI & SISAL and my wrong spelling of NAURU (had NAHRU) kept the center full of white. The V8 hit when CURB & ENTH were in place and I noticed YOUR was left out. Oracle is a N. CA. company so GIANT was a WAG.
SW wasn't any easier. Didn't know owls could vote and TOM Swift was unknown, I'd always heard BAILS OUT ON, not BAILS ON and was glad the clue listed STEEN's first name. OOO- strictly perps for that fill.
AMCS- we called them NASH. Then they were Ramblers which were the first cars to have curved glass windows. Their only car to 'survive' was JEEP, which was sold to Chrysler.
Bill, did you Buick have an automatic transmission? My 60 Dodge Dart had one 'option'- a heater. No radio, no AC, no automatic windows, no power brakes or steering, standard transmission with a clutch very hard to push, basically a POS car after 50,000 miles. Went to the junkyard in 1969 without a scratch on it.
37 minutes! Oy! What a struggle to FIR! Nice theme, but Saturday seems to have arrived on a Thursday this week. Or, maybe I shoulda had my coffee before trying this one on for size. Anyway, almost gave up several times, and had too many DNKs to even list. I got the theme, which helped, but still had a few WAGs to complete. Why is “tsar” spelled so many different ways? Thanx (I think) for the challenge, LR & NS. And thanx too for the incredible write-up, Waseeley. Obviously, you put a lot of time and effort into your CW review. It is appreciated.
Good Morning:
Nancy and Lewis are well known to me as they are daily contributors to that other Blog which I’ve been reading for years. The cluing was extra devious and full of misdirections which made this an above-normal difficulty for a Thursday. I liked the theme but felt the only themer that hit the mark solidly, vis a vis its clue, was Mind (Your) Business; the others felt strained and stretched, to a degree. I went astray at Gamer/Giant, having never heard of that stadium and thinking Oracle was a video game and I also needed perps for Nauru, Saudi, as clued, and Beryl. Lots of cute duos: Espo/Expo, Spas/Pedi, Jaws/Oral, Ale/IPAs, Lore/Your, Rise/Up, and the triple See/Gee/Tee. Lots of CSOs, as well: Hahtoolah, Lemony, Picard and MalMan (B’Nai), Lucina (Adobe, Spas, Pedi), CanadianEh (Espo), Tee (All Golfers), DO and TTP (Tom), and Ray O and Anon T (Ravioli).
Thanks, Lewis and Nancy, for a challenging Thursday and thanks, Bill, for the detailed and informative review. I really enjoy learning new facts and being reminded of those I’ve forgotten, e.g., that Mother Teresa was born in Albania. I believe her given name was Agnes, but maybe with a different spelling. Thanks to Teri, also, for her contributions.
Speedy Solver @ 7:53 ~ You may not consider your time speedy, but it was a lot speedier than mine! 😔 On my first pass, I had a sea of white, thanks to the aforementioned cluing aspects.
We’re in for some very nasty weather so I plan to stay put and catch up on my taped shows and a Netflix movie I just received. It’s Dark Waters starring Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, and Tim Robbins and is about a lawsuit against DuPont’s contamination of a town with chemical waste. It was released in 2019 but I never heard of it until I saw it on Netflix. Speaking of shows, is anyone watching The Gilded Age on HBO? It was written by Julian Fellowes and several scenes were filmed in downtown Troy which is
known for its historic residential and commercial buildings. I don’t have HBO but maybe it’ll be available later on a streaming site.
Have a great day and those in the path of the storm, stay safe.
I have no idea why that odd spacing happened. Gremlins, perhaps?
A big challenge but FIR. I eventually saw what was happening with the theme, though like WC I put LeSS/LOSS first. Proofreading and second thoughts fixed that as the perp was no help to me. A sprinkling of WOs, but a worthy Thursday puzzle. Thanks, Lewis and Nancy.
Thanks to waseeley for his interesting and educational review today. My last fill was AS NEAT as a pin. NAURU was a learning moment.
Luckily for Atlanta, our groundhog predicted an early spring. Hope you all are keeping warm and safe during the latest storm in your area.
FIR, finally. Got a late start, stalled, did a couple of sudokus, then came back to it. Erased iris for EYES, and head business for MIND BUSINESS. Many unknowns.
JAR is now a verb. I heard a commercial for some Ragu competitor saying their sauce is "jarred" as soon as it is ready. And golf announcers sometimes say "he jarred it from 35 feet".
When I lived in LA it was the RTD, not MTA.
FAX is an alternative to email? I guess so. About as much as smoke signals.
I'll add to IM's clever duos with FOXX/FAX and EMT/EMO.
FLN -T, Neither the Wordle narratives or pictures are annoying to me, but I would like to know when to skip to the next contribution. My available time is shrinking for reasons I'll explain sometime soon, and I don't want to miss anything good by skipping to the next contribution prematurely.
Thanks to Lewis and Nancy for the Friday-hard challenge. And thanks to Bill for 'splainin' it all.
BE @8:31 AM IIRC it was an automatic on the column.
Yikes ..FIW 🙄....One letter did me in "L.A. commuter org" was not cTA (no California Transit Authority I guess). I remember "Ramblers" but recall no "models" or model abbrevs so the perp guess AcCs was incorrect, wrong even.
Very informative commentary Waz.😊
Clever theme, Larry David in CURB your ENTHUSIASM, a hilarious show you either love or hate. How is COUNTBLESSINGS (or count your blessings) an "entrée into high society"?
Other funky stuff...Didn't know OPA.
AWGEE 😖...awgee! what a shame this was even in the puzzle (makes OWIE practically Shakespearean).. Thought "scratching post material" was the bark on a tree. Who is Jimmy Eat World?🤔 Know nothing about "chess notation",the term OWLET or that Carnaby St is in SOHO. A "swifty"? ..a book about TOM Swift? SEEME for "Note below F" harder to suss than the same recent answer. I always always always forget the singer India's last name
Inkovers: coaster/OPENBAR/OPENTAB, Bens/BNAI, sos/EMT.
Uncle Miltie.....BERYL
Big cat female...LINUS
____ B. Demille ...SISAL
Forlorn exhaler...SIRE
All DW's sibs and their mates are now here with us save one sister. I must admit they're a lot more fun when they're drunk. 😉
This was a much harder puzzle to me than yesterday's was, with all kinds of misdirection as well as a number of abbreviations and foreign language words (who knew "opa" was German for "grandpa"?) Another word I didn't know was "sisal," apparently that it some kind of material that cats scratch on. On the other hand I did figure out the gimmick promptly and luckily I remember Jan Steen's name from previous CWs. Eventually, through P and P I did FIR, so I guess I should "count my blessings." And, by the way, one of the "blessings" of being a "count" (or countess) is certainly entry into high society. That's all, folks!
What was this puzzle about again?
Wow, Bill, terrific complement to Nancy and my puzzle, and the reaction here seems generally good, which makes me very happy, as that's my goal. Nancy's wit is astonishing, and adds so much sparkle to this puzzle. @Irish Miss -- very nice catches on those duos!
Musings
-The lower tier was fun but a challenge on this subzero morning, “wrote Gary coldly!”
-Australian troops liberated NAURU from the Japanese in 1945
-Jason Alexander played Larry David’s alter ego George on Seinfeld. On ENTHUSIASM he played himself
-It makes me so sad to think of all the ORAL history I never bothered to get
-The 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa was what made the painting so famous
-“Grape wine in a mason JAR, Homemade and brought to school…”
-Vacation in Yemen? Uh, no!
-BAILS ON and RENEGED in the same puzzle? What are the odds?
-Substitute teaching and grandparenting both have their UPSIDES!
-Celine Dione and Whitney Houston are referred to as mezzo-sopranos.
This was fun and had its challenges - but I got a kick out of the theme answers.
Some of answers were in my wheelhouse - which kept it moving. I like to play Sporcle quizzes and have learned a lot about Geography that I never knew, like the tiny nations in the Pacific: NAURU, Tuvalu, and Palau (actually all those Oceania nations are small except Australia and New Zealand). My college roommate's mom's first name was BERYL - which is much less common than Ruby or Pearl.
The Ramblers reminded me of the car I had my senior year of college - it was a 1964 Valiant I named "Prince" - this was the early 80s- ran great because I had a friend who had kept it in good condition as far as the engine - but it had no upholstery in the back. I just threw blankets for people to sit on- fine as a dorm RA to pack a bunch of freshmen in the back to drive to the beach (before there were seatbelt laws :))
If you haven't seen it, the BBC/PBS series "The Durrells in Corfu"- was so enjoyable and heartwarming. - where they lived was an island that was across from the Greek mainland one way on the water and ALBania was the other direction.
Thanks Bill and Lewis & Nancy!
Lewis is a joy to work with, too, and he's not exactly a slouch in the wit department either. Thanks, Lewis!
I'm so pleased by the enormous care and attention that's been lavished on the write-up of our puzzle. Every clue and every answer has been treated as though it's the Hope Diamond. Many thanks, Bill!
And many thanks to the commentariat whose positive reactions and individual "takes" on the puzzle are greatly appreciated.
The puzzle has been very well-edited. But one clue of mine -- wordy, yes, no question, but one I thought quite
funny -- was changed. I thought y'all might be interested in seeing the original:
For COUNT BLESSINGS: "A noble title, entree into high society, and maybe a castle thrown in if you're lucky"
Ray - O @10:00 AM COUNT BLESSINGS is like the blessing of getting your CPA. You are then accepted into the high society of acCOUNTancy 💰
Hola!
Thursday thrills! Thank you, Lewis and Nancy. This was actually a struggle for me in several places. Your word play was lost on me.
India ARIE is a frequent crossword fill so I'm surprised it wasn't recognized. NAURU often appears in Sunday puzzles which is how I learned of it.
Besides SAUDI, MEDINA is also located in north Africa. It seems to be an important name in Islamic culture.
Thank you for the CSO at PEDI. When I retired I decided my main gift to myself would be a bi-weekly mani and PEDI.
I wonder if Charles Schultz named LINUS after the great scientist, LINUS Pauling?
Oracle Park is unfamiliar to me but GIANT perped easily.
Many, many years ago I met someone named BERYL.
Today I have to go for the final capping of my teeth which was started three weeks ago.
Have a great day, everyone! Tom, you are too swift for me!
I love the Durrells of Corfu and can't wait until it returns to PBS. One of the actors is also in All Creatures Great and Small which is also a wonderful series.
IH @11:10 AM And thank you Nina for reminding me of "The Durrells in Corfu", a really great story based on the lives of real people.
Thank you, Lewis, Nancy and Waseeley.
Noticed that YOUR was missing in CURB ENTHUSIASM. Didn't read that clue because I had enough perps to "see" both CURB and ENTHUSIASM. Then read the clue and looked at the other long clues and letters that were already filed. "They filled rather quickly", Tom said hastily. As did the rest of the puzzle.
The clues for theme answers were fun. Easily parsed "YOUR LOSS" from the operative words of "my gain" in 68A for the reveal. It was then just a matter of which word went into 68A and which word went into 71A.
"Parliament newcomer" was a great clue, and I knew the answer with only the OW in place. Some of the guys at work used to have an ongoing game of trivia at lunchtime where you either had to name the group or the animals. You know, covey of quail, murder of crows, pod of whales, pride of lions, pack of dogs etc. Gang of turkeys has always amused me.
I also liked SEE ME for "Note below F" - grades weren't the problem for me. It was the other disruptions I caused or the pranks / practical jokes that caused me to have to "go to the office".
The song "The Middle" has a catchy sound that drew me to it before I ever paid attention to the words. "The official music video is more revealing", Tom said suggestively. Dash T has linked Jimmy Eat World songs here a few times.
My mother had a Rambler, sometime in the early 1960's I think. All I remember is that it was white, and that when you shut the doors, there was a distinctive thud sound.
Thank you, Nancy and Lewis for sharing your thoughts. Constructors are always welcome here.
Unclefred, for future reference, in the LA Times crosswords, the Russian rules are always TSARS, and business magnates/leaders etc are CZARS. Not so in other venues, but Rich has been very consistent here.
Irish Miss, you must have inadvertently pressed the enter key. That caused the new line mid sentence. I can see the "break" in the text.
ACK !
I forgot my greeting:
Good morning. "I didn't sleep too well", Tom said tiredly.
Played in the snow yesterday. I think we only got four or five inches. I spent about 5 hours cleaning driveways, walks and pathways. For me, it's not a chore. It's fun.
Unfortunately for him, the UPS driver brought my new (refurbed)* cell phone before I got outside and cleared the path. Turns out it is a Galaxy A51, not an A52 as I thought, but that's fine by me. I'll get it setup and play with it later today or sometime in the next few days. Looks good. Seems to be about twice as big as the old Alcatel Onetouch.
* Yes, Yellowrocks, you were correct. The accompanying paperwork indicates refurb. I hope I have better luck than you and David had with your refurbed cell phones.
Dang, that was a tough one! Especially since it's only Thursday.
As usual, the theme went right over my head.
Thanks for all the clips and graphics that accompanied your explanation. (Is there a real word for that?) I especially enjoyed the How to Succeed in Business clip. I grew up listening to the Broadway cast album - or "vinyl," as they say these days! Fun to see the visual of that song.
Well, I'm proud of myself, I FIR.It took me a really long time and a very long time to suss the theme. What an absolutely wonderful puzzle!
For those of you who love reading, I highly recommend The Lincoln Highway. I read it for a book club, they said to get a head start on it because it's a long book. I read it in one day! So now everyone knows I have no life.
By the way, Leo III, if you've been watching reruns of SOAP, you've been watching reruns of me! When I was young and skinny and funny. One of my favorite jobs ever.
Becky
Puzzling thoughts:
“AW GEE, they cancelled The Three Stooges!”, Tom moaned
FIR after one lookup: BERYL. I couldn’t think of a mineral that ended in “YL”
Thanks Lewis and Nancy for stopping by. Thanks Bill for the opening link which reverted to one of Rothlein’s puzzles I recapped
I literally flew through the top 2/3 of the puzzle. I knew that “YOUR” would be part of the reveal; however, I usually hear MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. So when the other three entries required no “OWN”, I was thrown for a loop
The bottom 1/3 gave me all kinds of fits. W/O’s galore. CURTLY/SUBTLY; SWELL/SPRAY; YARN/LORE; DIVAS/ ALTOS
Lots of fun and difficult clues today
The Tom Swifty’s are up my alley; I was bowled over
Moe ku:
“Today I achieved
A personal pool record!”
She said, swimmingly
By the way, I highly recommend the book "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century" by Thomas L. Friedman. Although I'm not a techie, like Anonymous T or TTP (or my brother, for that matter) I found the subject matter, which is the effect of the internet on the global economy, to be absolutely riveting. It, in essence, is about the empowerment of the individual person to have an effect globally based on the new technology. A fascinating subject!
Lewis and Nancy: Thanks for dropping by. It's always a treat when constructors join us. Becky, I had no idea we had a Hollywood celebrity in our midst. That's very interesting.
Becky = Rebecca Balding?
A tough Thursday PZL from the Rothlein/Stark team. Well posted by waseeley...
DNF. 50%-60% on my own, then gave myself a break.
Today's the day our Golden goes in for spinal surgery. The vet predicts full recovery, but Maggie is nearly 13, so our fingers are crossed for her.
Big Easy & desper-otto remember! And I too recall the Nash Rambler. I barely remember that AMC took it over.
This boxy car was indeed built by Nash until 1954 when it went defunct. It was afterward that AMC took over the model.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Two diagonals, one to ea. side.
The nearside diag gives us an anagram (14 of 15 letters) in tribute to a hot fusion dish, a combo we don't usually expect to taste.
Stand back, folks, for this balance of a smooth umami slickness with burn-worthy spicing has to surprise the buds!
I mean the...
"JALAPEÑO HUMMUS"!
So, does Atlanta have their own groundhog? Punxy saw his shadow, No? Yes?
I believe if a notarization is involved the autosign feature won't work. So FAX is necessary unless you want snail
Thanks for the milk said the cat Saucily
To paraphrase Fats Domino
"Pick guitar, fill MASON jar and be gayo,
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou."
The Islamic hajira was the prophet's journey from Mecca to Medina
Nancy and Lewis thanks for the kudos. We take the write-ups for granted sometimes. Glad you dropped in and yes, wit galore today.
WC
Though my dental place is called Gentle Dental, it is not so. But then, how can poking into someone's mouth with steel instruments be gentle? My mouth is slowly starting to "thaw".
One thing I can say is that the dentist continuously asked me in sweet tones "is everything all right?" I grunted an answer.
Thank you Lewis and Nancy for the kind words. A lot of credit should go to C.C. Burnikel, who started this blog and encourages creativity among all the bloggers and solvers. In my particular case though, some readers might say that he "1A".
TTP @11:58 AM As I predicted in 50A "we haven't seen the last of this", Bill said presciently. I've given up tallying the swifties today, Bill said resignedly.
My favorite collective noun is "a Murmuration of Starlings"
I didn't use the "official video" for "The Middle" in the review because I didn't think it I could get past my editor. I don't think she's looking just now, so I think I can "slip" it in. It gives a whole new meaning to the term "flash mob".
Lizlee @12:27 PM I think that the official term is "Clue annotations". I prefer to call them "Internet Bling".
MOE @12:59 PM and you too WC @ 2:35 PM As I suspected, Lewis and Nancy have started a trend, Bill said faddishly.
Subgenius @1:23 Here ya go. A LOT of interesting people hang around the Corner.
OMK @2:30 PM My favorite snack is "SRIRACHA HUMMUS
WC @ 2:35PM
Yes, we have General Beauregard Lee in Georgia. Starting in 1991, he or his ancestors have been predicting the end of winter, obviously different from other parts of the country.
Lucina ~ I wish we had mouths like horses'.
When I watch Dr. Pol sawing away at their teeth with a heavy rasp, I get all gooey inside...
~ OMK
Maggie's surgery has been postponed until tomorrow. The vets want to double check some problematic ultra-sound marks on her liver.
waseeley @3:12 ~ LOL, Good luck finding the anagram for that!
~ OMK
Hi everybody. I have been solving and enjoying the puzzles and reading all your explanations and comments every day but not posting here because LW and I have been pretty busy these days.
Loved the puzzle today and I think it is extremely well constructed. For example, unknowns such as the chess notation are gettable because the perps are fair and gettable. I smiled at the theme and feel it is quite clever and original.
Good wishes to you all.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Lewis and Nancy, and waseeley (and Teri).
I FIRed but I had to work at this CW. Several inkblots too.
But I got the missing YOUR theme with 20A, and that sped things up.
Yes, I fell for the music trap and had E Flat, before SEE ME perped.
I was Neat As a Pin but perps required me to reorder it to AS NEAT.
My Jewish sons were Bens but B'NAI perped.
This Canadian was thinking of LBJ for Johnson; I required a few perps to get GRANT.
And I smiled at the OWLET in Parliament. I knew the term applied to a group of owls, but sometimes I wonder how wise our members of Parliament are (whether new or old). No politics (even if it is Canadian).
OK, I will take a CSO with ESPO (and ORR, and Gretzky et al.).
We had SIRE and OPA today (plus those "Sons of").
Surely we could have had our PEDI yesterday, while we were getting our Mani at the Spa.
I smiled at the clue for DENSE.
Quick post, as it is time for supper. We have been shoveling more snow.
Read you all later.
Wishing you all a great day.
Not as easy as most Thursdays. I needed the reveal to understand the theme. Gridiron was devilishly fun. Thanks for the challenge, Lewis and Nancy.
I didn't understand count blessings, but I filled it in. Being named a count is your entree into high society, yes. But where do the blessings come in?
We had a Rambler station wagon in the early 60's.
Retro - I had pants like that decades ago. Too bad I gave them away, but they wouldn't fit me now. I was very slim then.
After a light breakfast I ran errands and missed lunch. Now I am very hungry, said Yellowrocks, ravenously.
I often wonder how the group names of animals came about, a murder of crows, a parliament of owls, etc.
Remember this?
Nash Rambler
I just got a Galaxy A52 TO REPLACE me old phone that wouldn't work on th he T Mobile 5G Network. Very fast and it was FREE because I owned my other phone. I always BUY the cheapest ANDROID that has decent memory. They work just as well as the most expensive phones.
Took all six lines again today, dang!
Wordle 229 6/6
🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Hi All!
Louis & Nancy beat me - DNF at squares 31 & 40. Thanks y'all for the neat puzzle, though; cool theme.
Thanks for stopping by The Corner yous two.
Thanks Waseeley for the fine EXPO and explaining TOM Swiftly and the chess notation link (I forgot en passant's notation).
WO: sepia -> MATTE
ESPs: OPA, TOM, NAURU, BERYL, STEEN
Fav: Clue for SEE ME.
Runners up: DENSE's clue and I do love RAVIOLI, Irish Miss.
OMK - I think I'll make some of your DR; sounds yummy!
Let us know how Maggie does after postponed surgery.
SpeedySolver - I don't know how much time a solve takes me (I do the puzzle in bits of down-time; e.g. if my computer is doing something for me and I have 10 seconds, I'll ink some fill) but I know the bottom half (below SIRE, EMO, _RIE) took 2x the time it took the top to fill.
Ray-O: did you see Subgenius @10:28a -- COUNT is a title of European nobility / high-society; YR - I assume the BLESSING is when the title is bestowed(?)
Subgenius - I read Friedman's 'Flat' back in the day; good book. So is his 'Flat, Hot & Crowded.' In the former, there's a good argument for how one thing, Y2K, created India's tech sector.
We're expecting ~10 hours of below 32F (0C) temps tonight. With the afternoon rains, many businesses closed around 3p so we could prep for the cold [plants are protected]. Friday is WFH or, for DW's school, a day off.
And that's Winter in Houston :-)
Cheers, -T
The new (refurbed) A51 Samsung cell phone is pretty neat. Maybe I'll actually use it. Getting it setup and updated was easy. Getting my stuff from the old phone to the new one was problematic, but I got 'er done. Everything was fine as long as I didn't want to use it to make calls or send texts.
Getting it activated to make calls was a different story. A real PITA. Hours, and I mean hours. After an hour or so on hold, I got the trainee in the call center in India who talked way too fast and far too quietly. He must have had his headset mouthpiece too far away.
At first he seemed really pleased with himself that he could look in the system and see that my line was activated. Did I need any other help. I finally got him to look closer and understand that he was probably looking at my old Alcatel phone, and that I was trying to get the service transferred to the new Samsung phone.
He kept making statements that sounded like questions, and made questions sound like statements. It was easy to tell he was reading steps from a script and guessing ("turn your wifi off and try again") but eventually after about 40 minutes a supervisor must have started to listen in. Then another 30 minutes of (him, them ?) trying different things at their end and repeatedly asking me to try to make a call. We got nowhere fast, very very slowly, one painful step after another.
Eventually, he questioningly said he updated "the system" and that someone would be calling me back within the next half hour. Then he thanked me and said that he was happy to get my phone working, and stated again, did I need any other help.
Except that I tried again, and it still wasn't working. By that time, I was finally able to get logged into "My account", and saw that no telephone lines were active, and my talk, text and data minutes were all now reset to 0.
I was too exhausted to go on. I had to go to the bathroom. The battery in my handset was getting low. The cell phone battery was getting low. I figured I'd try again tomorrow or the next day or never. Or take it to one of their local cell phone stores to see if they could make it work.
No one ever called back. But about an hour or so later as I was nursing my wounds with my second or third cold one, and as the phones were charging, the cell phone made a sound. I looked at it and it was doing an update. Maybe because he had me pull the SIM card at one point ? I don't know. The update lasted about 10 minutes, and then it turned itself off and back on. I tried calling my home line and it worked !
I have no idea whether it worked because of him or in spite of him.
I always thought that xfinity/comcast had the worst remote customer support in the world, but now my vote would be for this Tracfone, Straight Talk, Verizon company. I guess that for these behemoths, putting unskilled warm bodies in call center seats in India who take hours to solve a problem while alienating customers is much better for the bottom line than hiring in-country support people that can be understood and who can solve problems expeditiously. Their customer service mentality must be "Goodwill be damned. If we lose customers, we'll just do more promotions and get new ones"
The phone is pretty neat though. Can't hardly wait until it starts getting spam phone calls and smishing texts.
Where is that Luddite sign-up sheet ?
"But the Luddites themselves “were totally fine with machines,” says Kevin Binfield, editor of the 2004 collection Writings of the Luddites. They confined their attacks to manufacturers who used machines in what they called “a fraudulent and deceitful manner” to get around standard labor practices. “They just wanted machines that made high-quality goods,” says Binfield, “and they wanted these machines to be run by workers who had gone through an apprenticeship and got paid decent wages. Those were their only concerns.” - Richard Coniff, in Smithsonian Magazine.
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