google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 Judy Hughes

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Feb 23, 2022

Wednesday, February 23, 2022 Judy Hughes

Theme: Do you have the will to win? Let's see what it takes, starting with the unifier.

54 A. Work really hard for victory ... and a hint to the start of 20-, 31- and 39-Across: HAMMER OUT A WIN.  Not sure that this is an in-the-language phrase, but the meaning is clear enough.  I associate HAMMERING OUT with completing a difficult negotiation.  Presumably that is win-win.  Anyway, it does set the stage for for some dramatic winning situations.

20 A. Train vigorously: WHIP INTO SHAPE.  I've been exercising religiously for the past few months; so I guess I am doing that to this old body.  To WHIP an opponent is to decisively win the competition.

31. Show eager anticipation: LICK ONES CHOPS.  As if in anticipation of a hearty meal - or anything else earnestly desired.   To LICK an opponent is to soundly thrash them.


39. Search everywhere: BEAT THE BUSHES. To conduct an exhaustive search.  This term originally alluded to hunting, when beaters were hired to flush birds out of the brush. [1400s] Also see beat around the bush.

To BEAT an opponent all you have to do is score more points.  Unless you're playing golf.

Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here.  Let's dive into the puzzle and see if we can emerge victorious.

Across:

1. Pierre's st.: S. DAK.  This city is the capital of South DAKota.

5. Retro ski area sight: T-BAR.  A type of ski lift named for its shape

9. Sounding amazed: AGASP.  In a state of gasping for breath.

14. Dance at Jewish weddings: HORA.


15. Slippery: EELY.  

16. Not exactly a company person: LONER.  A person who prefers not to associate with others.

17. Like a GI doing dishes: ON KP. Kitchen Police - enlisted personnel detailed to help the cook by washing dishes, peeling vegetables, and performing other kitchen duties..

18. It starts the pot: ANTE.  A stake put up by a player in poker and similar games before receiving cards.

19. Former Portuguese territory in China: MACAO.  Macau is an autonomous region on the south coast of China, across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong. A Portuguese territory until 1999, it reflects a mix of cultural influences. 

23. Obscure: NO NAME.

24. Worldwide cultural org.: UNESCO.  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialised agency of the United Nations aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences, and culture.

27. Part of a play: ACT.

29. Like wee bairns: SMA.  Spelling the Scottish dialect for small.

30. Street-paving goop: TAR.  

35. Citrus drinks: -ADES.  A CSO to our own Lemonade?

37. Brazil __: NUT.  Someone who is crazy about Brazil.  Or, alternatively, the edible seed from a large, long-lived tree in the Amazon valley.



38. Cookies-and-cream ingredient: OREO.  The crossword world's favorite cookie

44. Timeworn: OLD.

45. Paddle relative: OAR. Canoe mover.

46. Honor society starter: PHI. Then Beta, then Cf 4 d.

47. Subject of the Book of Proverbs: WISDOM.  The Bible says in Proverbs 4:6-7, "Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding."

49. Neither early nor late: ON TIME.

58. Classic mother-and-son statue: PIETA.  a work of Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. 


60. Pub projectile: DART.

 


61. Yellowish green: LIME.  the color, not the fruit.

62. Primp: PREEN.  Spend time making minor adjustments to one's hair, makeup, or clothes.

63. Geometry product: AREA.  Calculation of the space enclosed by a given shape.

64. Techie, say: USER.  I think of a Techie as someone who helps a typical user of computers or apps.

65. Cline of country: PATSY. (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; 1932 – 1963) was an American singer. She is considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music.  She died tragically in a plane crash in bad weather near Camden, Tennessee.  


66. Sail support: MAST.  Big pole in a ship

67. "Get lost!": SHOO.  Go away.

Down:

1. Exhibited, as a home for sale: SHOWN.  

2. Hawaiian singing legend: DON HO.  Donald Tai Loy Ho (1930 – 2007) was an American traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.


 

 3. Alan of "Argo": ARKIN.  Alan Wolf Arkin [b 1934] is an American actor, director and screenwriter. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award.

4. Honor society ender: KAPPA.   Completing 46 a.

5. Town where the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets played home games for their first year: TEANECK.  A township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, and a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 39,776

6. Twisted: BENT.  Crooked.

7. The "A" in SATB: ALTO.  Along with soprano, tenor and bass.

8. Bar shelf lineup: RYES.  American Whisky made from a mash containing at least 51% rye grain.

9. Annual fact book: ALMANAC.

10. Act bonkers: GO APE.  Melt down, lose it.

11. Family tree members: ANCESTORS. Your grand parents' grandparents, free.

12. North __: SEA.   A sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying on the European continental shelf between Great Britain and the continent.

13. Play-for-pay: PRO.  A PRO is anyone who makes a livelihood performing an activity.  As an adjective, which is what I take to be the intent here, it describes such an individual, typically involved in sports.  But the clue makes it look like a verb, so maybe I'm missing something.

21. Apple desktop: iMAC.  

22. Sings without lyrics: HUMS.  The Black Eyed Peas can sing us a song.  The chick peas can only humus one.

25. Common superhero garb: CAPE.  Though not always.



26. Estimate qualifier: OR SO.  Circa, more or less.

28. Printer supply: TONER.  A substance (such as a thermoplastic powder) used especially to develop an image (such as a latent xerographic image) on a piece of paper

29. Prep: SET UP.  Get ready

31. Bare bones musical notation: LEAD SHEET.  The manuscript of a song consisting of the melody, words, and indication of the basic harmony written in simple form.


32. Loyal end?: IST.   Cutsey suffix clue.  Meh!  A loyalist is one who is or remains loyal especially to a political cause, party, government, or sovereign.

33. Heart: NUB.  As, free., of a matter.

34. Garden tool: HOE.  A tool with a thin flat blade on a long handle used especially for cultivating, weeding, or loosening the earth around plants.

35. Take __: acknowledge applause: A BOW.  

36. Business with a slicer: DELI.   A store where ready-to-eat food products (such as cooked meats and prepared salads) are sold.
 
40. More than needed: TOO MANY.  An unnecessary surplus.

41. Soccer great Mia: HAMM.    Mariel Margaret Hamm, (b. 1972, Selma, Alabama, U.S.), American football (soccer) player who became the first international star of the women’s game. Playing forward, she starred on the U.S. national team that won World Cup championships in 1991 and 1999 and Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004. 



42. Call to from a distance: SHOUT AT.  In my experience, this was mainly an expression of anger, but as indicated also works.

43. Clue: HINT.  

48. Sources of high school jitters: DATES.  Agreements to go somewhere and do something as a couple.

50. Anklebone: TALUS.



51. "If only": I WISH.  

52. Old copy machine: MIMEO.

53. Four before mayo: ENERO.  January and May en Español.

55. Dutch cheese: EDAM.  Cross words favorite cheese.

56. __ avis: RARA. Literally, a rare bird; used to describe someone outstanding of unusual. 

57. Mining targets: ORES.  Pay dirt.

58. Very softly, in music: PPP.  Abbreviation of pianississimo meaning "very, very soft."  A trombonist in this aural region would be a RARA AVIS.

59. Sr.'s nest egg: IRA.  Individual Retirement Account.

That's all, folks.  Hope this puzzle didn't beat you up.

Cool regards!
JzB




39 comments:

Lemonade714 said...

Golly, we start the day with a furniture company.

I think this must be a first publication for Ms. Hughes and it played easy for a Wednesday with many CSOs for the Corner Community. It also had many music related items just waiting for Ron to expound upon. It did include an "A" word - AGASP and a not well known New Jersey city TEANECK crossing one of the themers which probably slowed down our midwest and west solvers but it was fun.

Welcome Judy and thanks for the tour Ron

OwenKL said...

FIWrong. I had LICK Of ESCHOPS. It didn't make sense, so I erased all he words crossing ESCHOPS and redid them, and it still came up to the same strange word. I had needed to go one letter farther back.
I also got the theme wrong. I thought it would be about cake or frosting making -- WHIP the mix with a BEATer, and LICK it off. Well, it coulda been.

Not feeling well yesterday or today, and after that one poor l'ick then, I'm not going to bother today. On the Jumble today, I had to cheat on 3 out of 4 words. Cheating on one isn't unusual for me, but not three! (I do the Jumble on the Chicago Tribune site that comes available at 6:00 pm with the next day's puzzle.)

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased hub for NUB, too much for TOO MANY, and memeo for MIMEO. Sniff the stack, take one and pass the rest backward. DNK TEANECK, MACAO, LEAD SHEET, and only sorta knew TALUS (tried to crowbar in tars-something). I knew Proverbs was a book of the Bible, but had no WISDOM about its subject matter.

If you have the pleasure of driving down the Overseas Highway to Key West, make it a point to stop at NO NAME Pub, fittingly located on NO NAME Key, outside of Marathon. Great pizza and chili, and the other stuff is probably good too. Wallpapered with dollar bills. But if you are in a restaurant that has Key LIME pie and the filling is LIME-colored, pass it by.

22d brought to mind Elton John's Tiny Dancer:
"Looking on, she sings the songs
The words she knows, the tune she HUMS"

Thanks for the fun, Judy. My favorites were the clues for LONER and OREO. But I wasn't so fond of "techie" for USER, echoing Jazz B's thoughts. And thanks to JazzB for the fun. Those DART players were much better than me. At least they hit the board every time. 'Course I haven't tried the game since I quit drinking alcohol, so who knows.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

This was the quickest so far this week. Missed reading the reveal, but got the theme, so life is good. Nice debut, Judy. Enjoyed your always esoteric tour, JzB.

LICK ONES CHOPS: For some reason that expression always evokes images of the Big Bad Wolf. Perhaps a memory remnant from Disney's Three Little Pigs.

ANCESTOR: I've done the family tree thing, but get stuck in update New York. Great grandfather was born there in 1820. (Generations in my family are widely spaced.)

Went in for my annual physical yesterday. No surprises, no drama. Even got the doctor to prescribe my meds for a year rather than her preferred 6 months. I'd say I hammered out a win.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I saw the relationship of the theme words but the reveal was a big surprise. Lots of duos today: Lime/Ades, Nub/Nut, Phi/Kappa, Oar/Mast, Ham(m)/Edam, Area/Rara, Oreo/Or So, On KP/On Time, and Oar/Ore(s). We also had another O parade with Macao, UNESCO, Oreo, Shoo, Alto, Or So, Go (Ape), Mimeo, Pro, and Enero. Lots of CSOs, too: Lemony (Ades and Hora): Hahtoolah, Picard, and MalMan (Hora), Lucina (Enero), YR and CED (Teaneck), and Keith (Act). No w/os but needed perps for Lead Sheet, a new term for me.

Thanks, Judy, for a mid-week treat and thanks, JazB, for enlightening and entertaining us, as always.

DO, congrats on your clean physical.

FLN

Anon T, sorry, no canollis left over. Actually, they were for the birthday girl as my sister and I are not into sweets. Carole was too full after our meal so the canollis went home with her. Her children took her to a very expensive upscale steakhouse last Saturday night and one of her daughters ordered Alaskan King Crab Legs without asking the Market Price, which turned out to be $120.00. The final celebration is tonight with the whole family going to a restaurant that gives you free wings to match your age which, in Carole’s case is 80.

Vidwan, so sorry to hear of your lengthy ordeal and hope you’re on the mend and can rejoin the Corner Camaraderie.

My niece is bringing me fresh haddock from Maine today so I’m looking forward to a yummy dinner.

Have a great day.

KS said...

Got the theme early and FIR.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi, Gang -

It does look like this is a first for Judy in the L.A. Times - so: congrats on your debut!

Cheers!
Ron

Anonymous said...

I forged out a win in 9:24 today.

"Sma" and "nub" weren't impressive, and I hadn't heard of Teaneck.
I confidently entered "Enesco" instead of "Unesco," but "hums" righted that wrong.

Funny review - I immediately thought of Edna's "no cape" speech too.

billocohoes said...

SATB is new to me. Soprano and alto are usually female voices, tenor and bass are male, and it omits baritone, mezzosoprano, contralto and probably other voice types.

ATLGranny said...

A new day, a new constructor and a FIR. With a theme nicely revealed, a fun puzzle from Judy. Thanks!

Some missteps led to WOs: ales/RYES, ola/IST, and tests/DATES. All fixed easily with perps. LEAD SHEET was a learning moment. Thanks, JazzB, for a helpful review this morning, plus some smiles. Are you back to performing?

FLN Sorry to hear why you hadn't been posting recently, Vidwan. Hope you feel better soon!

I'm thinking this is a no CAPE day for everyone. Enjoy!

Yellowrocks said...

SATB, A musical term that is an acronym for “Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass.” This is the standard make-up of a chorus with mixed male and female voices.
TEANECK is well know in North Jersey. Finally our turn. Some of the CA cities are difficult for me to name. Thanks for the shout out, IM.
SHOUT AT, I might shout "Watch out !"at someone from a distance, when I see them step in front of a moving car. If I spot a friend walking down the block, I might shout at her to wait for me.
I remember the smell of the mimeo sheets in grade school. From my early years of teaching I remember the blue hands I got from reproducing them. Don't get the blue on your clothing.
A techie is "a person who is expert in or enthusiastic about technology, especially computing." A techie may help or teach, but not necessarily. Techies might be working on projects for their boss or for their own satisfaction.
Wee bairns. In Scottish wee is small and bairn is baby or young child. SMA is also small in Scottish.

Subgenius said...

A good puzzle, but I still don't quite understand what the reveal means in relation to the theme answers. Other than that, it was a pretty straightforward puzzle, and I FIR, so I'm happy.

Yellowrocks said...

Subgenus, to hammer out a win you must work hard for victory. You must whip, lick or beat the opposition. The reveal referenced "the first word" in 20, 31 and 39. Congrats on FIR.
DO, congrats on your great results on your physical. I agree with your usage of hammered out a win.
Vidwan, sorry to hear you were ill and hope your further recovery is uneventful, Welcome back

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Nice fast Wednesday.... Theme: "Waze of winning?"
Inkovers: ipad/IMAC, MACAu/O, TOOmuch/MANY

Is there a TBAR in TEANECK where you can order Earl Grey, ANTE off. GO APE 🙈🙉🙊 is simian shaming implying all primates have anger issues. BEATTHEBUSHES! what happened to "no politics?" 😡...LEADSHEET, new term for me ....The book of WISDOM must therefore contain proverbs. 😮. Never heard it called a MIMEO. (Sal's last name variant?)

HAMMER perpendicular to HAMM, clever. (Wished Ms. Hughs used "Jon" as the clue. I always forget the female soccer player ⚽️)

I just finished "Inventing Anna" on Netflix.. She fooled many a PATSY....Netflix "Down to Earth with Zac EFRON" was surprisingly good.🌎

Librarian or bank...LONER
Middle of a giant mantra....PHI
Canada Eh's standard clock zone...ONTIME
The cops are trying to ____ ...TALUS.
"We try harder!!" cheer " ____ !... Avis"...RARA

Vid..Renal transplant? serious stuff, glad your doing better. Welcome back.😊

waseeley said...

Thank you Judy for a Wednesday WIN and the beginning of a brand new STREAK and I even got the theme. And OLE to JzB for another ROUSING review.

A few favs:

1A SDAK. Wanted RUE. Nope. Wanted ETAT. Nope. Oh "Pierre" is this side of the pond!

47A WISDOM. The "Wisdom Books" are a section of the Old Testament, which in addition to Proverbs includes Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, and Sirach. Wisdom is also personified as a wise woman, who was present at the creation of the Universe.

64A USER. Well technically TECHIES are users of computers but USER was a bit of a stretch.

4D KAPPA. PHI. What happened to "If it doesn't work, it's only a test": BETA?

33D NUB. Was smack dab in the HEART of the puzzle. Was that a SET UP?

Lots of hidden FOOD references today, e.g. WHIP (cream, mashed potatoes), LICK (ice cream), CHOPS (meats), NUT, OREO, LIME, and ADES. This reminded me of a book called 100 Things to Know about Food that one of my granddaughters got for her birthday recently. It's an amazing book and actually contains THOUSANDS of things to know about food. Very informative and entertaining with great illustrations. I started reading it while she was here and promptly one-clicked a copy from Amazon.

Cheers,
Bill

And congrats on your debut Judy and CSOs to Lemony and JzB for pointing that out.

waseeley said...

Word of the Day hassle

Pronunciation: hæs-êl

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. Harassment, bother, nuisance, annoying complication, irritating trouble. 2. Argument, angry dispute, quarrel, wrangling.

Notes: Here is an old word revived in the 1960's to enjoy its heyday. It may be used as a verb meaning "to cause either of the noun's two senses". Otherwise, it is a lexical orphan.

In Play: A hassle is an annoying complication: "It was too much of a hassle to get Anita Job to do the work, so they just fired her." Hippies of the 60s made it a common everyday term: "Homer failed to convince the judge that filling out tax forms was too big a hassle to carry out successfully."

Word History: The origin of today's Good Word is still a matter of dispute. Some think it's a blend of harass + hustle. Others think it drifted from a Southern dialectal use of hassle "to pant from exertion, like dogs". Still others think it's of imitative origin or akin to British dialectal hassle "to hack at, saw away".

For more info see Word of the Day

Bill's comment: I think the hippies' found just about any effort a "hassle", due to the influence of what one friend used to call "foreign noxious substances".

Subgenius said...

Yellowrocks @9:15 a.m., Thanks! It does make more sense, now that you've pointed out the vernacular.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-BEAT THE BUSHES – Glad to see a reference to my golf game
-Does the denouement (how ‘bout that word?) always occur in the last ACT?
-ON TIME – That is the latest possible time for me to arrive.
-This man is being subdued after damaging the PIETA with a hammer.
-Finding the AREA under a curve is a fundamental of calculus.
-My daughters’ lovely ALTO voices meant she played Ado Annie not Laurie in Oklahoma
-My “bare bones” LEAD SHEET is sometimes just the lyrics with guitar chords above each line
-My first DATE with Joann was on a Friday the thirteenth and we ran out of gas in broad daylight.
-Oh my, Irish, shouldn’t the server have warned your niece about the $120 crab?
-YR, Alcohol memories of worksheets! . Our mimeo machine used real ink.
-Vidwan, I hope you have a strong recovery. Your perspective is missed here.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Congrats on the debut, Judy.
Good news, D.O., on the "review".
Thanks, JzB for a wonderful review.
Time, now, to head to the other side of the island.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Thank you, Judy Hughes. Your puzzle was quick and easy. That is just right for a Wednesday. I did not have to WHIP, LICK, BEAT or HAMMER to complete this grid. They all emerged nicely.

One of my cousins has traced our ANCESTORS to the 16th century. Most of them were with the Spaniards who came looking for gold.

Oh, boy, do I have memories of MIMEO ink, especially with the primitive machine of the 60s.

It's surprising how small and delicate the PIETA is.

Vidwan, best wishes for your complete recovery.

We had a much needed and welcome rain over night.

I WISH you all a beautiful Wednesday!

Irish Miss said...

HG @ 10:32 ~ Actually, HG, it was my friend’s daughter who ordered the crab legs. Personally, I think it’s the customer’s responsibility to inquire about a Market Price item on a menu. I know I would if I was ordering something that you know is expensive to begin with. 🦀🦞

CrossEyedDave said...

Teaneck NJ has an area of 6.25 sq miles,
from route 80, blink and you'll miss it.
(Unless you are stuck in traffic.)
(Also famous for the infamous Bridgegate...)

Nobody remembers the T bar predecessor,
the J bar, which did not work out due to improper placement...

IT guy=User?
Would you believe I still have Windows 8?
Sometimes the IT Guy is just a desperate user...

Misty said...

Fun Wednesday puzzle, Judy--many thanks. And enjoyed your write-up, Jazz B, thanks for that too.

Nice to see PATSY Cline and MIA Hamm in the puzzle.

ALMANAC and ANCESTORS near each other was a nice pairing.

Lovely picture of the PIETA. Always makes me sad.

Have to teach my Zoom class in a few hours.

Enjoy a good day, everybody.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Bill, your post reminded me that the wise woman Justitia is the lady holding the scales of justice. And I'll have to read Sirach to see if I can find some hot sauce tips.

unclefred said...

WMOS, I see a techie as the expert that helps the user, but I can see the other daffy-nition too. Several people mentioned restaurants and their pricing. Everyone should also keep in mind that your server will likely tell you the "day's specials" w/o mentioning the price. I have found the "day's specials" are often "special" for the restaurant when you ask the price. Never order a "Today's special" w/o asking the price. And, as mentioned, "mkt price" on a menu is similarly usually a special profit maker for the restaurant, so always ask before ordering. On the CW, DNK LEADSHEET or SATB, but perps gave me ALT and the lightbulb lit. W/O TOOMUCH:TOOMANY. Nice CW, quite enjoyable FIR but took 21 minutes. Thanx JH. Terrific write-up, too, thanx JzB. I read the whole story about the Pieta; quite interesting, especially the bit about the signature. My internet went down for a while this morning. Comcast reset it remotely. That didn't fix it so they called in about five minutes, but in that time the 'net came back. The call from Comcast was a bot with a menu: touch one to "talk to a rep", all the way to "touch 9 to cancel this callback". No matter which number I touched the bot said "Not a valid number" and would read the menu again. Touching "9" to cancel the callback was also "Not a valid number". Then the bot would say, "Goodbye!" hang up, then call me back again, with the same result! I finally thought to call Comcast myself and talk to a rep and explain my internet is restored, but the bot won't stop calling me! He laughed, and said he'd handle it....and he did. In the meantime could not come to the blog, so a bit late today.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Awakened early by birthday greetings from my Canadian niece. This is a niece I never knew I had until four months ago. DNA has united me with a whole new branch of my family!
Up in Maple Leaf land, no less, CanadianEh!!
What a brave new world, eh?

A delightful XWD today from Ms. Hughes, well answered by Jazzbumpa.

Off to a flying start with 1A. For some reason, the first state capitals I memorized as a kid were for the Dakotas.

My fave fill? SMA. Scottish accents are truly bizarre.
~ OMK
_______________
DR:
SIX diagonals today--six! I can't remember when we had so many! Three to each side.
The main diag on the near side offers a curious anagram (10 of 15 letters) that seems to be taunting me on this day-of-days.
I do love me some ice cream--
But just in time for my special day I am suffering a severe attack of GERD--heartburn--so cannot indulge at all, even though I am ...

"MOO PECKISH"!

Jazzbumpa said...

ALTgranny -

No, not back to performing yet. I was gong to play in church a month ago, but backed out when omicron surged. Both the big bands I play in are on hiatus until further notice. Maybe in the Spring - I hope.

Cool Regards!
JzB

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

IM et al..Isn't "Market Price" an oxymoron..Market price should mean what the price for the item costs in the Market, a lot cheaper if you bought it there than from the restaurant menu. 🥩 🦞

IM ...I didn't get a CSO on TALUS?..Saw two talar fractures this week "The Agony of de Feet" (no,not a broken seamstress)

desper-otto said...

Ray-o, methinks "market price" means whatever price the market will bear.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

🐻 Bear, at Market Price...expensive?

Or, restaurants should simply auction off their Market Price entrées to the highest bidding diner 😃

Big Easy said...

OMK- the niece you never knew? I have many first cousins I don't know. My mother's siblings had no children and my dad's parents died when he was young father in 1916; mother in 1928). My dad lived with an uncle; brothers and sisters lived with relatives, somewhere in Texas.

As for the puzzle, TEANECK was not known as clued but that was it. But it's Wednesday and puzzles are easy on Wednesday.

Irish Miss said...

Ray O @ 2:28 ~ Mea Culpa for missing the Talus CSO. 🤭

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

What a fun puzzle to HAMMER OUT mid-week. Thanks Judy and congrats on the LAT debut.

Thank you for the 'splain' (PPP, LEAD SHEET, RARA), JzB. I enjoyed the rest of the expo too.

WOs: UNICEF -> UNESCO, MeMEO
ESPs: TEANECK, MACAO, TALUS
Fav: ON KP - other than sick bay, those were the easiest days of Basic. Plus, you got to eat "off menu" :-)

Agreed: Techie ≠ USER -- at least not these days.

'SATB' looked familiar but I needed A_TO before the V8 hit.

OKL - I was baking a cake too! After the reveal, I went back to see what type of HAMMERs? :-)

OMG, IM - they were proud of their King CRABs' Legs. Will 80 wings be enough to go-'round? Wonder if the restaurant thought about the "octogenarian loop-hole"? :-)

Ray-O: LOL BEAT THE BUSHES & no politics. I got another laugh from Unclefred's annoying call-bot.

A Horse with NO NAME [America] has been playing in my head all day.

FLN - Anyone curious as to which "god would be hanging around terminal two of Heathrow Airport trying to catch the 15:27 flight to Oslo?"
HINT: He has a HAMMER. :-)

Cheers, -T

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

FIR, but I had to recall both Pierre and Bismark before putting SDAK in one across. I've never been to N DAK, and only visited S DAK once. We had plans to stay in Bismark ND last summer, but a change in plans cancelled the trip. Maybe this summer. N DAK (and Wyoming) remain the only two of the 48 contiguous US States I've not toured. Alaska is the only other and I'd love to see that on a cruise

Pretty easy and straightforward puzzle for a Wednesday - good solve for me whilst it was raining here. No golf for me today for the second consecutive week. My golf partner is only free on hump day, and when it was barely 50 degrees and raining ...

Thanks to Judy and JzB for the entertainment today!

I thought the theme might have something to do with baking a cake from a mix. I have some vague memory of our Mom WHIPping the batter with BEATers, and then my sister and I LICKing the beaters afterward. I/we never gave much thought to the fact that there were raw eggs in the batter ...

Don't be AGASP; Moe has no new 'kus or 'l'icks today, but he just submitted two more puzzles for publication. They consumed much of my Tuesday and today. This makes 7 new solo puzzles accepted for 2022; plus there are 6 more awaiting approval (including one collaboration with a fellow blogger). Hoping a few more show up here but I know that Rich is backlogged like crazy

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle. I spelled MACAO as MACAU and had AGAST instead of AGASP, so couldn't figure out what TRU had to do with "Play-for-pay." It took me about 179 seconds to sort that all out. Like Jinx I tried to crowbar in tars-something for TALUS.
Stay well, all.

unclefred said...

Oh yeah, true. As Jayce @5:00 said, I too had the W/O TARSI:TALUS. Forgot about that W/O.

ATLGranny said...

Happy Birthday, OMK. I hope you are feeling better and can celebrate with a big bowl of ice cream soon!

CrossEyedDave said...

Happy Birthday OMK!

Irish Miss said...

Anon T @ 4:41 ~ I don’t know what “octogenarian loop-hole” means.

OMK ~ Happy Birthday, hope it was a special day. 🎂🎁🎉🎈🎊