Title: Help, I have a DOC sticking up from my side! Am I covered by medicare?
I am back and so is Jeffrey for another Friday this time with a visual theme that is very creative but also a type not always appreciated here at the Corner. And frankly, it was not immediately apparent to me even after writing up so many of his efforts. My first notion was the removal of the letter OC from each of the long fill. That really made no sense with the reveal. I also had fixated on the down fill starting with COD.
Going back to look at the grid, it became clear these two concepts interesected. Add that observation to the never accidental use of the word UP, the reference to "direction," and the theme jumps out. You can see the words pivoting on the D.
It features three themers and a reveal leaving much room for other sparkly fill - RESEALS, ATTUNES TO, ENEMY LINE, LAUNCHPAD, OVERUNDER REST MODES and WORRISOME. To make his reveal work, he pairs three long across fill with three appropriate down fill which I will put together to finish the explanation.
Themer 1:
17A. *Guide for Smithsonian visitors, say: MUSEUM DOCENT.(10). Is DOCENT a known word? Certain to a curator like JW, but you? Paired with: 9D. Indulge: CODDLE. This is the up DOC to which the reveal refers, as each long theme answer has DOC sticking out and going up.
Themer 2:
22A. *Ken Burns specialty: DOCUMENTARY FILM (13). KEN is quite famous for his work. His CIVIL WAR and Baseball films are great. This is paired with: 16D. Eccentric old guys: CODGERS. My hand is up not down the front of my pants. The second of the reverse DOC going up.
Themer 3:
Now we are ready for the rest of the story:
Across:
4. Dred Scott decision Chief Justice: TANEY. Even after C.C. foreshadowed this very famous and awful decision by the SCOTUS, it took my brain too long to pull out the name of this controversial man who served for 28 years. Incidentally, he was from Maryland and a Roman Catholic. Remind anybody of anybody? JK Bill.
9. Leg section: CALF. I never thought of ordering a thigh and a calf.
13. Two-digit sign: VEE. For victory.
14. Thrifty to begin with?: ECONO. A well worn prefix for inexpensive.
15. Central Plains tribe: OTOE. Many Os to begin this puzzles; this LINK is a glance at this word's xword history.
16. "__ la vie": C'EST. A very French phrase which can used in many different situations, from Frank Sinatra's THAT's LIFE to
20. Hardly libertine: PRIM. I stumbled for a bit when I put in PRIG.
21. Pithy saying: ADAGE. Pithy goes back to the 1300s, "strong, vigorous," from pith meaning "full of substance or significance" is from 1520s.
26. Fairy tale figures: GNOMES. In modern times they are lawn ornaments. Or a famous song, gnome, gnome on the range where the hobbits and the orcs do roam. gnome (n.1) "dwarf-like earth-dwelling spirit," 1712, from French gnome (16c.), from Medieval Latin gnomus, used 16c. in a treatise by Paracelsus, who gave the name pigmaei or gnomi to elemental earth beings, possibly from Greek *genomos "earth-dweller" (compare thalassonomos "inhabitant of the sea"). A less-likely suggestion is that Paracelsus based it on the homonym that means "intelligence" (see gnome (n.2)).Popularized in England in children's literature from early 19c. as a name for red-capped German and Swiss folklore dwarfs. Garden figurines of them were first imported to England late 1860s from Germany; garden-gnome attested from 1933. Gnomes of Zurich for "international financiers" is from 1964.gnome (n.2)"short, pithy statement of general truth," 1570s, from Greek gnōmē "judgment, opinion; maxim, the opinion of wise men," from PIE root *gno- "to know."
27. Mother __: LODE. Lucy is it likely this is a translation of Mexican Spanish veta madre, a name given to rich silver veins?
28. Money with hits: EDDIE. This is funny Money. He left us in 2019.
29. Retreats: LAIRS. From Roget. SYNONYMS.
31. Word with bonds or games: WAR. An all too real reference today.
34. Line holder: REEL. Fishing line.
35. Barely detectable: FAINT. The magic clue that solves the crime is often...
36. Tiny particle: MOTE. Likely from Dutch mot "dust from turf, sawdust, grit."
37. Future H.S. grads, probably: SRS. Seniors, hopefully.
38. Volcanic eruption sight: PLUME.
39. Nested supermarket array: CARTS. I never thought of them as nested.
40. Nana: GRAN. Sunday, C.C. added Nai nai.
41. "Amen to that!": SO TRUE.
45. Earth's volume?: ATLAS. Ha ha, a book- a volume about Earth. I like it.
47. Mandlikova of '80s tennis: HANA. She will always be remembered with NAVRATILOVA. Hana's MEMORIES.
48. Mexican pinch?: SEL. More Mexico, this time the Spanish word for salt.
51. Office figure: BOSS. Often just a figurehead. Can you name them all? They have become...
52. Legends and such: LORE. We have had this word often lately.
53. Cloth-dyeing method: BATIK. I was dying to think of a pun but could not.
54. Pro using a siren, perhaps: EMT. Emeregency Medical Technician. Do all the drivers get licensed? I guess if not they would be...
55. Went after, in a way: SUED. IMO, the court system has become unwieldly and too expensive.
56. Objects of worship: IDOLS. As long as they are not GRAVEN? I guess photos are fine.
57. Earth opening?: GEO. Fun clue for the word that derived from the Greek, gē earth, covering everything from GEODISIC domes to GEOMETRY. Also a nice way to end part I.
Down:
1. With 3-Down, sportsbook option based on the final score: OVERUNDER. 3D. See 1-Down: BET. This based on total points scored by both winning and losing teams and with it is greater than or less than. An important part of parlay betting.
4. What a siren does: TEMPTS. An A-LIST of sirens. A deliberate use of siren after (54A) and its other meaning.
5. Lexus competitor: ACURA. Honda's luxury car.
6. Polite denial: NO SIR. Yes sir. No Ma'am, yes ma'am.
7. Combat demarcation point: ENEMY LINE. Behind Enemy Lines is the name of a few movies, as well as the plot.
8. "__ busy?": YOU. You know I am, we all work hard of these write-ups. Geez, Louise!
10. Starting players: A-TEAM. See 4D.
11. Sleep-inducing, maybe, as a lecture: LONG. I had trouble with this as it seemed too easy.
12. Fancy party: FETE. Not a gala, or a ball. Made easy this week.
18. "Downton Abbey" personnel: MAIDS.
23. Man's name that becomes a measurement when one letter is moved: EMIL. MILE. I wonder if that is how Miley Cyrus got her name?
24. Once called: NÉE. Miley was born DESTINY HOPE CYRUS.
25. The Alamo, e.g.: FORT. Another deceptively simple clue/fill.
29. Starting point of many modern missions: LAUNCH PAD. A timely CSO to Husker Gary who I signed up for a future Blue Origin launch as a birthday surprise.
30. Intention: AIM. It is my intention to fulfill his dream of looking down on all Earth.
31. Unsettling: WORRISOME. I hope Joann does not find it so.
32. Puts in sync with: ATTUNES TO. Doing my part to improve your life here are my tips in a romantic relationship:
35. Rich dessert: FLAN. Where does Flan make its money? It is just custard, sort of. Speaking of which WORDS ENDING IN TARD
36. Subject with shapes: MATH. I prefer ART.
38. First Amendment concern: PRESS. Freedom thereof...
40. Like Romano, often: GRATED. I have watched Everybody Loves Raymond a few times and thought he played a very irritating character, but he did not grate on my nerves.
41. Chips, say: SNACKS. Unless you are in Great Britain.
42. Emergency device: FLARE. Not to be confused with FLAIR, though both can be quite dramatic.
43. Couldn't not: HAD TO. The old double negative manuever.
44. How tuna may be packed: IN OIL. Or water, but not both at the same time for oils are hydrophobic (not homophobic) or “water fearing.” Instead of being attracted to water molecules, oil molecules are repelled by them.
45. Hole makers: AWLS. Almost a Shakespeare quote, AWLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL.
46. "O Julius Caesar, __ art mighty yet!": Brutus: THOU. This quote is uttered by Marcus Brutus as he stands over the dead bodies of Cassius and Titinius, another soldier who was fighting to kill Caesar. Brutus is suggesting even dead JC was able to bring retribution to the conspirators. And JW gets to bring us a quote from Act V, Scene 3.
50. Where, to Brutus: UBI. Just the Latin for where. You are not his chariot driver. As most of us who studied Latin for years, the fake phrase SEMPER UBI, SUB UBI was always good for a laugh.
51. Entreat: BEG. They did not beg for their lives but all committed suicide. Is suicide a cowardly act? Are you begging for mercy to be done with ths write-up? You win, Lemonade has left the building beaten and exhausted once more ridden around the mind of Jeffrey Wechsler at dizzying speeds needing to step back, regroup and soldier on.
I loved the challenge and look forward to all of your comments.
No grid here, see above.
52 comments:
FIR without erasure. A Friday JefWech no erasure day! Wouldn't have gotten the Ken Burns fill without the theme - I thought he was a Jeopardy hero of some sort. Also DNK TANEY, HANA. REST MODES, or UBI.
CSO to me and a few other Cornerites at CODGERS.
The Alamo was a church before it became a FORT. IIRC, a lot of the old missions were built to be defensive havens during hostilities.
Thanks to Jeffrey for another fine Friday challenge, albeit a little easier than most. And thanks to Lemony for your clever comments.
Good morning!
This one took me longer than any recent weekday pzl -- felt more like a Saturday than a Friday. Got the theme when MUSEUM DENT appeared (yes, DOCENT is a known term), but like Lemonade thought OC was simply missing. Didn't notice the upness until DUMENTARY showed up. Very nice, Mr. Wechsler. You outdid yourself today, Lemonade. (I didn't recognize anybody in that BOSS illustration. Who are they?)
Once I caught on to the missing "oc"s I made headway. Never noticed the COD swimming upstream.
My last sports bet with a Bookie was Cinci vs SF I. I'd won the earlier playoff games and tossed it all on Cinci. The curse of Wilbur
I had to overwrite Math on Anat although the latter would be an abbreviation. The former abbrev. has become common usage
FLARE/alert was another.
I'm more with D-O than Jinx on Difficulty. If I can perp, I can solve. So… FIR
WC
I am volunteering tomorrow as a docent for our annual Plantation Tours (Georgetown SC).
Took me nearly 20 minutes to see the doc today.
I agree that it seemed more like a Saturday, except for the theme (which we don't need on Saturdays, just like we didn't need them on Fridays).
I appreciate the complexity of this puzzle, but it wasn't my favorite. Two is two many Brutus references. Hana, Batik, orb, ort are too crosswordese (which should be avoided). Econo and geo were clued overly cutsey (not sure how else to put that).
On the bright side, I could name everyone in that photo of "The Office," except for the woman standing behind Jim.
Good Morning:
I could be wrong but I don’t remember Jeffrey ever doing this type of theme before. If that’s the case, this debut is a resounding success. I was bewildered until I filled in the reveal and then I was embarrassed that I didn’t figure it out right from the Museum Dent entry. The three themers are very strong in-the-language phrases and the reveal is not only perfect, but comical. My only w/o were Gram/Gran and only unknown was UBI. CSO to Lucina (Sel and Flan). Some cute pairings include Orb/Ort, Lore/Lode, Maids/Mode, and Cod/CoddleCodgers. I’m curious to see SS’s solving time today; I’ll bet it was a lot faster than my 22 minutes. (I’m not a speed solver, more like a sashay solver. Hi, Lucina).
Thanks, Jeffrey W, for a clever theme and rewarding solve and thanks, Lemony, for your always spot-on deconstruction of Jeffrey’s puzzles. Will return later as some of the links didn’t come through.
FLN
Yuman, belated congratulations on your new, adorable Cady. She’s a lucky Lab to have found you!
Owen, I hope your devastating situation resolves itself soon, and as Michael said, it’s not venting when you’re among friends. We are always here for you. Please take care of yourself.
Vidwan, I hope you feel better and continue on the road to recovery.
Have a great day.
FIR. But did not get the up part of Doc. Just noticed "oc" was missing in the starred clues. Oh well.
SS @ 7:22 ~ I was still typing when you posted. Your comments prove the old saw that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. For example, I agree that Orb and Ort are crosswordese but I wouldn’t say the same about Batik or Hana. Also, I didn’t think any of the clueing was overly cutesy as I found much of it clever. In your favor, though, I’ve never watched The Office and only know Steve Carrell and one or two others. To may toe or To mah toe? 🤣
FLN Am I the only one who perceives that C.C.'s USA Today puzzles are trending more difficult?
Friday FIR today though not a fast fill. What helped was instantly getting the reveal while wandering around the grid looking for something I knew. The other themers were not so quick to figure out but I did notice the CODs nearby. Oh sure, read DOC rising up. OK.
Thanks, Jeffrey, for a challenge today that I managed. And thanks, Lemonade, for your thorough and helpful review, explaining the intricacies of the theme. I too thought the fill interesting with some new words and some twists. PLUME needed perps as did VEE. EDDIE was my last fill. Oh, that Money!
On to the chores of the day. TGIF, everyone!
Well I managed to shred this DOC in 12:57 which is a good time on any Friday, but a Jeffrey W puzzle??? When I saw his byline I figured it’d be at least a half hour slog with a possible dreaded FIW but for whatever reason the whole grid was pretty easy for me. Also for the first time in recent memory I took less time than SS, not like there’s any competition or anything 🤣. Like others I just saw the missing OC and not the up DOC until I saw the reveal. Only unknown was UBI. Thank you JW for another clever construction, always enjoy your offerings!
Lemonade ~~ another outstanding review as I’ve come to expect on Fridays, and thanks for the tips on how to maintain marital bliss! 👊🏼
FLN ~~ TTP, I emailed OREIDA inquiring about the shortage of TaterTots, seems to be nation wide, but they didn’t respond to me, so like you I started buying the Grown in Idaho brand which are just as good.
Wechsler never makes thing easy. I had trouble all over the North and center but knew it was FRENCH INDOCHINA and noticeD the missing OC in COD. Went back and changed the unheard of unknown REST CODES to MODES to fill DOCUMENTARY FILM, _____STUDENT to MUSEUM DOCENT, and filled in the rest. TANEY, UBI, & THOU were other unknowns in Jeffrey's puzzle with his usual lack of proper names. Only EDDIE, TANEY, ACURA.
Over and out from this CODGER(S).
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
Like ATLGranny, I “wandered the grid looking for a foothold”. But finally things came together. I saw the missing OC in INDOCHINA, got the theme, and went back to fill in the other themers. I smiled at the brilliance!
But actually a FIW since I had Rein instead of REEL, Modes instead of MOVES, did not get that Money was a person - that area was a mess!
Mini-earth theme with ORB, ATLAS, GEO, but we can leave at the LAUNCHPAD. (Did you really sign up HuskerG???)
I noted Retreats clue crossing ENEMY LINES.
I smiled when I got SEL.
Cuff changed to CALF, Attaches (too long)to ATTUNES.
We discussed the differences between our FLANs a few weeks ago.
Wishing you all a great day.
The NW made for an inauspicious beginning. I left that and moved along, wondering about the missing letters in the theme answers. That had to be DOCENT and INDOCHINA. ???? The reveal let me see the DOC going Up, after I saw the COD swimming down. AHA! But the NW was still a bear. Having vaguely heard of OVER UNDER and wagging the D in EDDIE Money I FIR, a mental ABC run. I don't know him.
Nice puzzle and a really puzzling theme until near the end. Thanks for the interesting review, Lemonade.
ORT is archaic. I have seen it only in puzzles and the dictionary.
I liked carts for nested when I finally thought of it.
Yes, most long lectures are boring. "You made your point long ago." Years ago I listened to a man who was spellbinding for an hour and I could have listened longer. The whole audience was rapt.
Musings
-Another fabulous Jeff Wechsler offering that was full of clever cluing to compliment the wonderful gimmick where I needed my friend Lemon to show me it was more than just an “OC” omission.
-When I hear PRIM my first thought is of a schoolmarm in an old western
-FAINT – The murderer in the Poirot BBC TV shows is barely seen before the reveal
-SRS roam the halls indiscriminately this time of year
-The PLUME from the Mt. St. Helen’s eruption in Washington state could be seen in South Dakota
-Sometimes those shopping carts are reluctant to leave the nest. Love the clue!
-Modern day MAIDS and butlers
-I always think of the alamo as being a mission that only briefly became a FORT
-Thanks, Lemon, I’d punch that ticket tomorrow if I could! :-) Yes, Joann would worry!
-Jason, I loved that pretentious sounding Latin phrase that even I could suss out!
-Carpet layers are done! Household and kitty are back to what passes for normal.
Could someone please explain why SEL was the answer to "Mexican pinch?" when the Spanish word for salt is "sal"? What am I missing?
Anon@10:05, it looks like an editorial fox pass.
Definitely made up for yesterday. No Way Joseph could I suss those jumping COD. 🦈🦈🦈
Inkovers: gram/GRAN, atom/MOTE.
liked "Earth's volume" ...supermarket CARTS are not only often nested but sometimes they won't let go 😠
Lemony I think many people would know the word DOCENT if used in context (like of museum, docenti [ital. for "teachers"]) OTOH who would remember the name of the judge in the Dred Scott case? Didn't know HANA either. Lemony, get Husker to do the puzzle while in outer space. 👽
Speaking of RC's from Maryland: Officially the colony is said to be named in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I. Some Catholic scholars believe that George Calvert named the province after Mary, the mother of Jesus. The name in the charter was phrased Terra Mariae, anglice, Maryland.
Canada Eh is it true the best laid FLAN Oft goes awry?. BTW SEL is français.
First Amendment concern: Freedom of the PRESS
"The agony of de ____ "....FÊTE.
"You caught that big fish with that little rod?".."Get ____ " REEL
Short term workers....TEMPTS
Lem..great write up. 😉
The sun is peaking out today...wait, wait come back!!🌤 🙄
Constructors seem to be trying to outdo each other with missing-letter "cleverness." Not really fun...mostly annoying.
Yet again a winner, unclefred stacks yet another booby prize trophy for longest time to FIR on his sagging Booby Prize Trophy shelf, with an embarrassing time of 40 minutes. I absolutely HATE CWs that omit letters in the fill answers, since the answers make no sense w/o those letters. MUSEUMDENT told me this was one of those much hated CWs, and, stupidly, I didn’t remember the word DOCENT so thought the missing letters were STU, as in MUSEUMSTUDENT, which pretty well buggered up my figuring out the other theme fills. In addition, exactly the same as Jinx@6:07, DNK TANEY, HANA, RESTMODES or UBI. W/Os FEINT:FAINT, GRAM:GRAN, SOBEIT:SOTRUE, NOTE:MOTE. That NOTE one I knew was wrong but I kept thinking GEOM for 36D, and even then NOTE made no sense. Took a long time to finally have the V-8 moment and see MATH (DOH!!) for 36D, then that area finally fell into place. Having both FEINT and GRAM in there gave me LEUM????? For 29D, really slowing me there. Last Friday’s miracle is a distant dream with this discouraging slog. I never saw the DOC theme until Lemonade ‘splained it. Reading his review and looking at the finished CW I have to very grudgingly say it’s an imaginative construction, even though it IS my least favored kind of CW. Terrific write-up, Lemonade, thanx.
Caught on to the COD/UP DOC theme with FRENCH INDOCHINA. Very clever! Must have been a challenge to construct! Hand up PRIG before PRIM. FIR.
My father's name was EMIL. Many photos, of course. And he was the source of many photos that I share.
But I was thrilled to see that I have a photo of KEN BURNS. I was very impressed with his speech here at UC Santa Barbara. The title was "The National Parks: A Treasure House of Nature’s Superlatives".
Here is my photo of KEN BURNS in 2016.
From Yesterday:
OwenKL Very sorry to hear that Bren was taken in to give away your money in such a transparently fraudulent way that has no way to be recovered. No need for GoFundMe which takes a cut. If you have a PayPal account and have your email address listed on the Blog anyone can send you money at no cost. Do you have a PayPal account tied to that email address?
Vidwan I am very sorry to hear of your unpleasant situation. Honored that my photos can offer a bit of a bright spot in that darkness.
I have to admit, I was struggling with this puzzle at first. So I decided to do the reveal early in hopes it would help me figure things out. I did that, and then fully understood what was going on. After that, it was only a matter of replacing "mite" with "mote" and the puzzle fell into place. FIR, at last, so I am both happy and relieved.
What a fun, clever theme - I hadn't filled in the top theme, but I definitely knew of Ken Burns's expertise in DOCUMENTARY FILM- so that helped with the others. Before knowing that, I had FRE CHI - so I went down a rabbit hole of thinking FREE CHINA was the beginning before being reigned back into FRENCH INDOCHINA.
I did know TANEY - mostly because of TANEY County, Missouri which is the county Branson, MO is- which was named after that SCOTUS justice.
I also had the LAR in FLARE- but thought it was ALARM before perps forced the change. As Splynter would say - well it was 60% right!
I'm having fun with all the upsets in March Madness this year - go St. Peter's
Thanks Lemonade for the blog and JW for the excellent puzzle
Tough Friday puzzle, but hey, it's a Jeffrey Wechsler--and that makes it a treat! Thanks, Jeffrey. And always enjoy your commentary, Lemonade.
Got off to a great start with ORB--which TEMPTed me to keep going.
Figured the Alamo might have been a FORT, and that helped with the middle.
My GRAN was German, and we called her MAMA, not NANA. My mother in turn was called MUTTI (from the German Mutter/Mother).
Owen, let us know how things are going with you. What a tough week you've been having--our hearts go out to you.
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
I enjoyed this Wechsler PZL, as well as Lemonade's follow-up. I managed most of it w/o difficulty, becoming aware of the theme's trick while filling 42A, FRENCH INDocHINA.
The only part that required cheating was just above the SE corner. I had BAR instead of WAR and SO BE IT for "Amen to that!"--and I wasn't able to give that one up.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals on the far side today.
The distribution of vowels v. consonants makes it tricky to find a decent anagram. I will focus on one that can be found in the lowest diag of the 3-way.
This anagram (12 of 14 letters) needs some explaining. We all know that certain childish behaviors may be used as emotional displays, even as aggressions during arguments.
We also know that some ploys are unethical, to the point of being described as "underhand."
Keeping those points in mind, take a look at today's ...
"UNDERARM SNIT"!
Hola!
This is also not my favorite kind of theme but JW makes it fun complemented by Lemonade's superb analysis. Thank you for that. Much of the puzzle, however, GRATED on me. I'm not fond of those kinds of tricks, clever as they may be.
First, as has been noted, SEL is French not Spanish which is SAL and vein is VENA.
UBI reminded me of the hymn, "UBI Caritas".
What's more, to start 1D with a sports related clue just undoes me.
CSO to my daughter who loves GNOMES.
I love FLAN and have made it many times.
Wishing you all joy and good health, especially those of you that have been ailing.
A cute, and very worthy Friday challenge!
Unfortunately, I am already challenged. For instance, I keep misreading things, like Romeo for Romano, and even thought I was sure the Loony Tunes phrase had to be "that's all folks." Which happened to fit perfectly in one of the theme answer spaces, only it was the wrong space....
Never heard of a "docent," and while "coddle" is not unknown, I can't help but feel I have been Naticked somewhere...
(The perps crossing museum were quite tough, imho...)
Lemon, a couple of your links went back to old blog pages, not sure what to do with them.
But I did love the learning moment the "codpiece" link gave.
(And I quote:)
Codpieces also functioned a useful little purse for storing precious items like coins, or jewels, and tradition claims this as the origin of the expression ‘a man’s family jewels.’
Hmm, makes me wonder why there are not similar words referring to Women's Bras.
(Although, knocker locker is an honorable mention.)
Also, your link to sirens was interesting. Somewhere they mentioned "the riddle of the Sphinx" and when I researched discovered there were actually two riddles. scroll down if interested
Sel/sal?
Desperotto,
Not sure if your fox pass was a faux pas of a faux pas,
But from now on, whenever I make a typo, I will be hearing the sound of
a little fox laughing at me...
And finally,
While no reflection on the puzzle,
when I saw this I just had to post it...
Housekeeping 1:
CED I always enjoy your comments and links and I am glad you included the second riddle for Oedipus, but why did you not tell me immediately and directly about the bad links?
I Eliminated the GNOME link and included the information to which I referred and changed the -tard link. I apologize to all, but the others worked for me.
Lucy, thank you for bringing your training and knowledge and the reference to Ubi Caritas which as I understand leans toward love rather than charity. I think the word CARITAS has been subsumed by may Christians to mean Christian charity rather than any other. I may be wrong, but as I have said before, we cannot avoid the mention of religious matters.
Gary, if they will fly William Shatner to space they must be able to do it for you. I will sontinue my mssion
Sorry to disagree here but I intensely disagree. "Split-word" puzzles aren't a challenge ... they're just plain silly. I do crosswords to sharpen my word-meaning and historic knowledge skills. These sorts of puzzles are not helping me in neither of these areas. Sorry to disagree folks!!
I hope it’s OK if I post a comment. I’ve been visiting this blog for several years and thoroughly enjoy all the comments and the wonderful people who add their thoughts and reactions to the puzzles. I especially enjoyed today’s puzzle since I usually fail miserably at the split-word ones, but got this one right away.
I hope you all have a nice weekend.
Sorry, but 25 down is just plain wrong. The Alamo was never a fort. Spanish mission and church, yes; site of an infamous battle, yes.
But a fort? NEVER
I enjoyed solving today's puzzle, as well as yesterday's and Wednesday's puzzles.
Puzzling thoughts:
Gonna be brief, as im typing this one-handed. Early this morning, about 1:00, i woke up to what felt like a bee sting on steroids. Turned out i was stung by a scorpion! On my left hand middle finger, of all places ... triaged in ER ... my entire left arm feels like your hand or foot when it "goes to sleep" ... not at all pleasant
FIR (the puzzle)
Got the theme
Made afew mistajkes
Wearing just a COD piece today (TMI?) as it's above 90 degrees - first +90 of the year
JC, you did a fine job of blogging JW's "rebus"
Anon @ 3:52: I sympathize with your feelings, but offer that -- in addition to their two-dimensionalness -- there is a third 'dimension' possible to crosswords, something beyond the obvious in a puzzle, an extra frisson . Sometimes this effect can be too much, but when it works, we have the famous "V-8 Can" feeling.
According to my computer, it is 94 degrees at this moment. It's too early for that!
Lemonade:
In the hymn, "UBI Caritas Deus ibi est" I believe the translation is, "where love abides, God is present" That is my own translation without looking at an official one.
NativeTexan, I found the following on Thought.com. It must be true, after all it was on the internet:
"Martin Perfecto de Cos at Bexar arrived in late 1835 and put the Alamo into "fort fashion" by building a dirt ramp up to the top rear of the church wall and covering it with planks. He installed an 18-pounder cannon and mounted a half-dozen other cannons."
Although it wasn't called "Ft. Alamo", it sounds like a fort and walks like a fort. IMHO, the clue is fair for a Friday grid.
As soon as I saw D(oc)UMENTARY I immediately checked the author. Aha, it's our Friday fav, Jeffwesch. I perked up but with a sense of DREAD
WC
Lucy and Lemony, I can't read "Caritas" without thinking "carnitas". I was introduced to fajitas carnitas while in Florida this year, and I can't get enough of them. (I like carnitas dinners and fajitas pollo, but these are my new faves.)
Ray-o- I recognized SepEL as French for salt, and assumed the Spanish word was the same. But if Lucina confirms that the Spanish is Sal, we do have a “fox pas”.
I will let AnonT and our other Texans decide if Alamo= FORT is another.
OwenKL- I am saddened to hear of your misfortune.
CMoe- Scorpion! This Canadian would never dream of that happening here. Feel better soon.
Auto correct or poor proof-reading? I meant SEL and “fox pass” as coined by d’otto.
Ray-o. Big groan at “best laid FLAN”.
Welcome aunt Monique. I just finished watching St. Peters become the first school in NCAA history to be seeded 15 or lower and make it to the Elite Eight. All clues in the printed puzzle are approved by editors, whether the constructor wrote is always a question.
Hi Y'all! Thanks for the challenge, Jeffrey! Lemonade, my hero, explained the COD part to reveal that I didn't know the theme altho I was sure I did. GROAN!
I started fine filling in ORB but didn't know sportsbook or game system terms for 1-2-3 downs. Eventually filled them.
Knew DOCENT & INDOCHINA so saw the missing OC. Looked underneath for missing parts but not up.
I've been to the ALAMO & watched their documentary at the site. Only a FORT for that infamous siege.
My daughter brought me a plant for my birthday that neither of us knew what it was. She emailed me later that it is an ANTHURIUM house plant. I googled it and learned it is poisonous to humans & animals. Oh great! Does anyone know whether it is poisonous to the touch or you have to eat it? Google didn't say. I don't need another WORRISOME thing in my life.
In Spanish the word for charity/love is "caridad" which I'm sure must be related to "caritas".
Jinx;
I'm so happy for you that you discovered "carnitas". They are a favorite of mine and so versatile for use in many dishes. Yum, yum.
Yay, University of Kansas won! I watched the game but kept going to sleep during the timeouts/commercials then missed the most exciting parts. Think all the replays remedied that but not in any sequence.
This was really fun as someone who can't usually finish a Friday puzzle independently or guess thematic answers at beginning of a solving session.
I got WHAT'S UP DOC quickly and DOCUMENTARY and DOCENT quickly came to mind. It was really frustrating that I couldn't find any way for DOCUMENTARY to work with Ken Burns and a DOC theme...
Until I got the theme of course, then I felt like a pro. This was the second puzzle like this I've seen after the Feb 27 SPILL THE TEA puzzle which I also enjoyed. So I guess I'm a fan of this gimmick!
PK,
The Anthurium plant is indeed toxic if ingested,
but as a houseplant, its beauty may outweigh its dangers...
According to the internet, (Abraham Lincoln says it's OK) it is the sap of the flower that can be irritating.
The so called toxic component is oxalic acid, which I have studied (but never eaten) as a component
Of survival foods. The infamous swamp cabbage is a survival food because the oxalic acid can be rendered
Inert by very slow heating. So (I assume) you must be able to handle the plant (minus sap) in order to heat it...
Note however, swamp cabbage is the plant that killed famed survivalist Yule Gibbons...
Hmm, maybe you should toss this plant. ( wearing gloves...)
Lemonade714,
I do apologize for not alerting you sooner to something I did not know was broken link.
( I thought you were referring us to something in an earlier blog)
But, if you read my posts, you would have known I am late to the party
due to scooter madness and excessive Florida heat...
In fact, I have been tempted to detail my woes in excruciating detail
Just in case some one might find my fight against Murphy's law amusing...
Oh frack,
Don't tell me, I know, another broken link...
Murphy's law wins again...
Thanks, CED! When ones future caregiver gives her a poisonous plant, what does this foretell?
PK:
As long as you don't EAT it, it's simply to admire its beauty. Lucky you to be a recipient of such a lovely plant.
FIR, would have been a good puzzle without the goofy theme gimmick. I figured out the missing OCs but didn’t bother to figure out the up Doc part.
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