Saturday Themeless by John Ewbank
Today we welcome John Ewbank from "across the pond." John is a technical writer in the U.K. and constructs puzzles as a sideline. He told me he has been to America and visited Colorado but doesn't know where Nebraska is. Yes, I did send John a map. 😊 Of course if I did visit Highclere Castle in the county of Hampshire (where a lot of Downton Abbey was filmed), I probably wouldn't realize I was very near the county of Surrey, so there is that. John seems like a very nice person and here are his notes for us:Hi Gary
- I’m from the UK and mainly a setter of cryptic crosswords for the Times of London, but got into setting US puzzles during lockdown. This is my first published themeless but I’ve had a couple of themed puzzles published in other papers. A cryptic background isn’t a huge amount of help, but it does make it a bit easier to come up with sneaky clues.
- I originally had “Small talk” for GOOGOOGAGA and “Dan’s speciality” for MARTIAL ART, both of which I thought were rather good. Ah well. [Dan is a ranking system in martial arts - hg]
- I seem to remember that the north east was the toughest, although I’m happy that PIN SETTERS made it in. Not the most exciting entry but it’s a fun clue.
1. Brew orders: CREAM ALES - What is CREAM ALE?
10. Rest of the day?: NAP - Fun!
13. Baby talk: GOO GOO GA GA.
14. Actress Polo: TERI - I remember seeing her in Meet The Parents
15. "No worries": IT'S ALL GOOD - Substitute Saul for "IT'S ALL" and follow GOOD with Man and you get Jimmy McGill's name when he became a shady lawyer
16. Actor McGregor who's a UNICEF ambassador: EWAN.
17. Big ask, sometimes: NEED.
18. Criticize: DISS - Slang for disrespect
19. They're minimal in a keto diet: CARBS.
20. Killer __: BEE.
21. Its common tuning is known as "My dog has fleas": UKULELE - My first instrument
27. "The Big Bang Theory" regular: RAJ - RAJ's reply to Leonard
28. Net judge's call: LET - Tennis serves that touch the net but make it over.
29. Moving pictures?: OP-ART - I'll post just a link because these can be disorienting
30. Music genre term coined by Nigeria's Fela Kuti: AFRO BEAT
33. Young partner: ERNST.
35. Put in a hold: LADE - Ironically this shows the hold of a ship being LADED with grain in Odesa, Ukraine
36. Beholden: INDEBTED - In a recent book, Paul McCartney said he and John Lennon were INDEBTED to the Everly Brothers for their influence on Beatles music.
38. Canadian put-down: HOSER - The McKenzie Brothers made Canada proud
39. "__: Vegas": CSI - Another cog in the CSI TV franchise
40. It might be bitter: END.
41. Post office inquiries: TRACERS - The USPS once lost a three foot long tube that was sent to me and a TRACER turned up nothing
43. Iberian titles: SENORAS - Spain and Portugal make up Iberia
45. Sound often heard at Cirque du Soleil: OOH - Our Wisconsin constructor Carly Schuna is skilled at these German Wheels
46. LPGA golfer Yani, the youngest to win five majors: TSENG - Why Asian women dominate the LPGA
47. What players sometimes miss: CUES - I was in 1776 when a man missed a CUE and, poof, two pages of my best dialogue got skipped!
49. Big party: FETE.
53. Not for the prudish: RACY
54. Combat tradition: MARTIAL ART.
56. Format favored by big-shot directors?: IMAX.
57. Church staple: ORGAN MUSIC.
58. Signature piece?: PEN - This A.T. Cross pen was a favorite of Barack Obama and sells for $110
59. Chucks: DEEP SIXES - Could be from six fathoms when something is thrown overboard or the depth of a common grave.
Down:
1. République de __ d'Ivoire: COTE - Now the the Ivory Coast. Yesterday we had Ghana that used to be The Gold Coast in its colonial past.
2. Symbol of Lancaster or York: ROSE - The War Of The Roses in the 15th century
3. "Yikes!": EGAD.
4. Internet pioneer: AOL.
5. Crumble: MOLDER - An alternate spelling
6. Texas A&M athletes: AGGIES.
7. Only landlocked country in Southeast Asia: LAOS.
8. Tries to find oneself?: EGO SURFS.
9. In need of perking up: SAD.
10. Latest movie, say: NEW RELEASE.
11. Oman's Haitham bin Tariq, e.g.: ARAB LEADER.
12. Ones working after strikes: PIN SETTERS - Before it was done by machines
13. Part of a Bond order: GIN - Why James Bond wants it "Shaken, not stirred"
14. Turquoise kin: TEAL.
19. King work: CUJO.
20. Sonar operator?: BAT - Oh, not a human one
22. Mario __: KART.
23. Regular line in a newspaper: COMIC STRIP - This line has been a regular for decades
24. Password that's weak by modern standards: OPEN SESAME.
25. Rush hour metaphor: SARDINE CAN.
26. Baobab, for one: TREE - Disney modeled this "Tree Of Life" in the Animal Kingdom park on the African Baobab TREE that can live for over 1,000 years
31. Group working together: BLOC.
33. Peak also known as Mongibello: ETNA - Ways to clue ETNA
34. It led to the blacklisting of Trumbo and Chaplin: RED SCARE.
37. Notable unsinkable ship sinker: BERG - After hitting the iceBERG, the Titanic radio operators sent out the Marconi distress call of CQD. They then joked, "Well we might as well try this new SOS message because we'll probably never get to use it again!"
 |
| A reproduction of Titanic's radio room for the movie Titanic |
41. Keep the beat, in a way: TOE TAP - Even at 99-yrs-old my MIL's TOES TAP when I play YouTube polkas for her
42. Bow applications: ROSINS.
44. Banded gemstone: ONYX.
48. Hard-to-resist thing: URGE
49. Continuous movement: FLUX.
50. Little difficulty: EASE.
51. Shailene's "Divergent" role: TRIS - It seems to be de rigueur for these young women to be wielding a firearm
52. Space-saving letters: ETC.
54. One who might delete a Reddit post, briefly: MODerator
55. "__ to believe ... ": AM I.
Thanks! Didn't get why a mod would be in charge even though I've been a MODerator in a chat room way back in the day. Jeez the things one forgets. Very enjoyable xword and write-up, thanks again!
ReplyDeleteThe only problem I really had was trying to put "flow" instead of "flux". Other than that, pretty smooth sailing. FIR, so I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteWow, this one came into the station a full five minutes faster than yesterday's -- must've been on John's wavelength. Needed perps for TRIS, but didn't need the Wite-Out at all. Enjoyed your LAT debut, John. Interesting expo, Husker.
PINSETTER : I'll take a CSO. My first paying job was as a pinsetter at the local bowling alley...oops, lanes. We didn't set the pins by hand, though. There was a rack above the lane with ten pin slots. We'd pick up the pins by the neck, four at a time (two in each hand) and pitch then into the rack. We'd populate the slots where the pins had already been knocked over. Then, if the bowler "whiffed," all we had to do was push down the rack to complete the ten-pin set. It took a certain amount of skill, and the job was very dangerous. It paid the princely sum of 10¢ per line (game). On a good night you could earn $3.00.
I agree that this is a very nice doable introductory puzzle from John E. who manages to slip PIN SETTER as a SO to himself as a puzzle setter. I enjoyed the big shot clue for IMAX, did not know but didn't need to know the the new (to me) clue for ETNA or the spelling MOLDER . I also was surprised BERG did not hint to an abbreviation.
ReplyDeleteHG was his entertaining and educational self and the day is off and running; thank you both,
DNF. I filled 29, 27 of them correctly.
ReplyDeleteDNK that SOS was once CQD. CQD must have been for "seek you - distress" or something similar. Shorter and easier to send SOS:
CQD -.-./--.-/-..
SOS .../---/...
Thanks to John for the interesting puzzle, albeit one that was beyond my capabilities. And thanks to Gary for another interesting narrative.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI finished this in 20:40 which, by my Saturday standards, is a below average time. I found some of the clues not quite in sync with the answers, at least from my interpretation. This may be explained by the setter’s (constructor’s, to us) nationality. The long fill was mostly easy to discern which helped the solve greatly. My only w/os were Opal/Onyx and Flow/Flux. (Hi, Subgenius!) Perps were needed for Tseng and Tris. I was surprised at the Martial Art and Op Art dupe. CSO to Boomer at Pinsetters, CEh at Hoser and Lucina at Senoras. Fun duos were Bat/Bee, Red/Teal, Need/Urge, Ooh/Hah, Organ/Ukulele, Music/Afro Beat, Goo/Good, and the triple, Raj/Co Stars/Comic.
Thanks, John, for a jolly good solve and for sharing your thoughts and thanks, HG, for the dazzling visuals and informative expo.
Solving the puzzle this morning was a challenge because I’m still regaining my equilibrium from last night’s birthday party for a niece at my sister Peggy’s house. There were 28 Adults, 3 young children, and three babies. Despite the noise level and hubbub, a good time was had by all! There will be a sequel (with several more attendees) at tomorrow’s Easter Brunch.
FLN
Lucina, hope you’re feeling better today.
Have a good day.
The eastern side filled first but the lower west side almost made me give up. Finally COMIC STRIP filled, then OPEN SESAME let SARDINE CAN in, and I was done. As I read Husker Gary's review, I was dismayed to see I had misspelled UKeLELE and didn't notice CeJO didn't make sense. EGAD. Another FIW today! Thanks, HG, and welcome, John. I look forward to your next challenging puzzle.
ReplyDeleteFLow before FLUX was one of my few WOs on the eastern side, Subgenius. I'm glad you are happy with your result today. I'm satisfied I finished at all.
Nice pictures, Big Easy!
FLN I hope you are feeling better, Lucina, and that you don't have COVID, Jinx. Hope your test arrives soon.
Rainy Saturday here, but the dogwoods look bright. Have a good day, all.
FIR, but it was a rough workout that at one point looked like an all white grid. Phew!
ReplyDeleteAnother barely pubescent constructor to challenge his elders. (sheesh)... like I tell my techs, I'm not getting older you guys are getting younger.😉
ReplyDeleteCananda eh ETC you almost got me with HOSER (bah or HAH?),😲 otherwise FIR with EASE speshly for a Saturday. 😊
Inkovers: resin/ROSIN, gala/FÊTE, Las/CSI (I read the clue too fast).
Didnt get MOD (reddit) till the reveal MODerater?. Master EwIbank, as an Brit there's an English 1960s style term "MOD" but waaayyy before your time. 😕DEEPSIXES, (one of my favorite old series, "Six Feet Under"). MOLDER more akin to decay. "That's how the cookie MOLDERS?" Hope it's not one of our Oreos.
I bring this up to annoy everyone but just once I'd like to see the same accented vowel used both across and down..CÔTE, FÊTE. 🤨
Never heard EGOSURFS, but makes sense. Thought it was dis not DISS. You betray your advanced age if you still have an AOL email account (like mwah)😁
Cocktail glass table protector.....COSTAR
Fellows who make up a Native Canadian tribe...CREAMALES
Lease....LET
Matt Dillon's paintings....MARTIALART
Adult nit....LAOS
Nice friend of Nancy....AMI.
Might have a White Easter, yikes..🐰
I finished this one in 8:29. Quickest Saturday in a long time.
ReplyDelete"Flow" before "flux," and not knowing "molder" were the trickiest for me.
Good puzzle. Great debut.
I started this puzzle at a quicker pace than usual - but then slowed down considerably as I worked my way south.
ReplyDeleteAmusing clue for OPEN SESAME. Had to change BOT to MOD on 54D. Thought of Boomer with PIN SETTERS!
HG- my first instrument was a UKELELE too. My granddad could play all sorts of stringed instruments including fiddle and mandolin and he taught me to play the ukelele when I spent a few weeks one summer with them in elementary school.
ORGAN MUSIC timely with Easter tomorrow. I had a friend sing in her church choir John Rutter's "Requiem" last night and I could listen to it hundreds of miles away at my home - that's one of the positives of the Internet!
Thanks HG and John!
We bought this poinsettia TWO Christmases ago. After losing its flowers back then it stayed green and healthy since so we have maintained it in our kitchen "garden" window.
ReplyDeleteIt started to flower a couple weeks ago.
"an Easter Poinsettia. "
🌺🌺🌺
By the way, I went on the USA Today puzzle website to try my hand at the crossword this morning. It turns out it was constructed by Zhouqin Burkinel, our own C.C. A fun puzzle, which I managed to solve. Sorry, I didn't record my time. But I think it was around 10 minutes. Thanks, C.C.!
ReplyDeleteOh, one more thing. Not too brag on myself, but I solved C.C.'s puzzle in expert mode, with no help from red letters or anything like that. Like I said, loads of fun!
ReplyDeleteRay-O,
ReplyDelete2 Xmas' ago?
that poinsettia is an amazing rejuvination!
(hmm, methinks my PC does not have auto-correct/spellchecker)
(maybe i should go back to the Ipad...)
Anywho, back in NJ, I found a really soft sprouted onion in the fridge.
So instead of chucking it, i planted it in the backyard. (fingers crossed...)
The Puzzle?
My best Saturday attempt yet!
I got very lucky with a bunch of long answers that "I just knew..."
(hmm, maybe knowing "GooGooGaGa" is not the best knowing for my ego...)
Learning moment, Uke Tuning? My Dog Has Fleas?
(I always tuned my guitar to "My Dog Has Fleas, So what.")
But it bears no relation to the actual notes...
I am afraid the universe has conspired today to defeat my usual better sense of non-self flagellation. (& i really do try not to play "the song that never ends" like yesterday...)
Last Sunday, I test posted a self made Youtube of me "cheat Tuning" a guitar.
(no one seemed to care...)
I would normally never repeat such a mistake, but todays "Uke Tuning", combined with
"Ego Surfing" has convinced me to play the song that never ends, again...
Here is How to cheat tune your guitar (for kids)
again. Pls note that at the end, I play a snippet of Joni Mitchells "Big Yellow Taxi" in this open "D" tuning that I am looking for feedback on.
Note,note (or P.P.S.)
If you really want to self flagellate, you can watch the intro, "how to tune your guitar (for kids)" on the same YouTube Channel.
CED - I did watch your "cheat tuning" when you last posted it. But I failed to comment on it. Impressive. Your Big Yellow Taxi was good, too.
ReplyDeleteThis one solved clockwise starting in the NE. After going "What!?" (actually a similar three-word question) for a brief moment after perping MOLDER John Brown bubbled up through the tar here also.
ReplyDeleteThank you John for a Saturday challenge, which I found easier than yesterday's, and came to the Corner thinking I'd had a FIR, but not quite (see 38A below). I did have some difficulty closing the SE, but got it done.
ReplyDeleteThanks Husker for another excellent review. And thanks for introducing us to this clever Brit!
Some favs:
1A CREAM ALE. New to me. I'll have to give some Genesee a try now that Lent's just about over.
29A OP ART. The pictures are actually static, but their geometric patterns trick the eye into thinking they are moving. As such they are related to "trompe l'œil", literally "deceives the eye", although the latter uses images that appear realistic, but actually play tricks on the eye. My favorite master of this form was Salvador Dali.
41A TRACERS. I initially read the clue as "Post Office" and couldn't make it work. Later noticing that "office" wasn't capitalized I read "Post" as a verb. Finally got it when 41/42D were filled correctly.
I tried tracing a UV light I'd ordered during the pandemic and was told that it was delivered to the wrong house. Apparently the actual deliveree then denied receiving it.
54A MARTIAL ART. John's "Dan" is also a term used to rank GO players, on a scale of 1 to 9 and can be used for handicapping.
13D GIN. Had "NOT", but it just didn't taste right.
24D OPEN SESAME. Change this to 0P3N$3$@M3 and you'd have a pretty good password, still easy to remember, substituting special characters (usually required any) for look alike letters.
38A/38D HOSER/HAD. Eh! my first Canadian NATICK! FIW with BOSER/BAH. I'm sure Spitz would have approved of this "alternate fill", as "Böser" is German for a "bad person", and Bah is "humbug". Oh well.
Cheers,
Bill
Word of the Day bunny
ReplyDeletePart of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. A term of endearment for rabbits and, sometimes, for girls and women. 2. A lump or swelling.
Notes: The plural of this word is bunnies. There is a rare diminutive, bunnikin, which centuries ago was used as the name of an early spring flower.
In Play: As with Christmas, the ancient Church combined its celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with local customs, giving us the rich mélange of symbols we enjoy today. The Easter Bunny is a holdover from an ancient Anglo-Saxon celebration of the goddess of spring and fertility, Eastre, from which we also derive Easter. The impressive birthrate of bunnies made them the perfect symbol for the goddess of fertility. The egg is also a symbol of birth, new life, and fertility. So, Easter egg hunts are remnants of our pagan ancestry that were later related to the story of the Resurrection. The coloring of Easter eggs originated with the Slavic peoples, and is still preserved today in the elaborate Ukrainian egg designs (pysanky).
Word History: Today's Good Word should mean "a small bun", and guess what—it does! The origin of this word is Celtic bun "stump, bump", which was extended to the tail of a bunny when it was borrowed by the English. From there, it went on to name the entire rear end of the rabbit, at which point the variant bum arose. Finally, it came to refer to the entire rabbit.
For more info see Word of the Day
Bill's comment: He'll be here in less than 24 hours kids! Hey Husker, does NASA track the Easter Bunny like they do Santa?
It is my belief that Bond always has a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred. No gin.
ReplyDeleteOn further research, he drank both gin and vodka martinis, and also the vesper, which uses both.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of CREAM ALES, MY DOG HAS FLEAS, MARIO KART, EGO SURFS, TERI POLO, TRIS. Some interesting learning moments. Proud to FIR.
ReplyDeleteHusker Gary Thank you for the cool OP ART!
I think we have seen HOSER before. I assumed that this relates to the similarity between a HOSE and the male sex organ. But a Google search indicates other roots and there may be many streams that feed this term.
I definitely gave an OOH when we saw this unicycle performance at CIRQUE DU SOLEIL.
The last time we went to a performance they hassled me for using a camera, but they allowed people to use their tea kettles and telephones all they wanted to take photos. I cried foul for discrimination as I do not carry a tea kettle or a telephone. It was quite unpleasant.
From Yesterday:
Subgenius Thank you for the LITTLE NELL explanation. A Google search brought up many other references ahead of Dickens.
Vidwan Thank you for the kind words about my LOON Point photos and about my life activities. I never heard of "Goose Neck Clams". I looked at the photos again. Perhaps you are referring to the mussels? Yes, I eat them sometimes. But we often have a posted ban due to red tide conditions. That can kill you.
AnonT Thank you also for the kind words about my LOON Point photos. Gerry finds the most unique places for us to hike. Some of the best hikes I lead were "stolen" from him!
Picard, how does one take a picture with a tea kettle? I assume that's a slang term for some sort of electronic device?
ReplyDeleteI used my laptop to FIR, and still took 24 minutes. Since it’s a Saturday, and I’m not that good a solver, I decided on the laptop (with red letters turned on) instead of my usual pen and paper. Just for kicks and grins I printed it out a few hours later to fill, just to see how much I’d recall from doing it on the laptop, and it STILL took me 10 minutes, even though I’d already done it on the laptop! And I see Anon @9:08 did it in 8:29, beating my already-knowing-the-answers fill time. Oy. DNK TSENG; W/Os UKELELE:UKULELE, POSER:HOSER, PAH:HAH. Thanx JW for this mental exercise, which I obviously need. Thanx HG for your terrific write-up.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteCED@10:33AM
Like DO I too watched your guitar tuning link on Sunday and enjoyed seeing you in action. (I'm a UKULELE dropout with minimal experience in tuning.) I listened again to your song today with pleasure so please don't feel ignored when not commented on.
Jinx Sorry for being unclear. "Tea kettles and telephones" was just my alliterative way of referring to inappropriate tools for the job of taking photographs. Thanks for asking!
ReplyDeleteFrom yesterday: In addtion to the Billy Joel Passover bit that the Chairman posted if you go to Youtube and enter Six 13 you will find Passover-themed take offs by the same group taken from such other sources as pirates, Bohemian Rapsody, Westside story, Frozen (Chozen), Star Wars and Lion King. They're all pretty entertaining. My favorite being the pirates (Red Sea Chanty). Thanks for the lead, Moe.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteThank you, John Ewbank (I've only seen Eubank here in the U.S.) This proved to be a worthy Saturday challenge which took me too much time. I like to sip my coffee while mulling over an answer. Hosever, I finished sans assistance and only looked up TSENG to insure it was correct.
EGOTRIP took me too long to remove it and once I had SURF, UKULELE emerged.
I have heard of CUJO but never read it. Horror is never an option for me.
CSO to Boomer at PINSETTERS. Only for the bowling aspect, of course.
My great-grandson is almost out of the GOO GOO GA GA stage and attempting to say actual words.
Our church musicians alternate between piano and ORGAN MUSIC. Our longest serving musician recently moved to another town and there have been several others alternating their time. I'm sure the search is on for a permanent organist/choir director.
IrishMiss: thank you for asking. I feel better today though I still have a rasping cough. Last night I took two Ibuprofen and slathered VICKS around my nose and that cleared some of it.
I hope you all enjoy this Holy Saturday (for some). My Easter egg dying days are past but I will take deviled eggs to the feast tomorrow at my niece's home. With a coupon for one dozen free eggs, I am well stocked with them.
Puzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteFIR after my normal number of Saturday look-ups and write-overs. Some might call that cheating; I prefer to use the term "self-informing"
Thanks John and HG for your contribution to my Saturday morning
Misty and Moe can take a CSO to "ROSE", as clued. Misty's a red rose from Lancaster PA, and I'm a white rose from York. Back in the '50's when each of those cities had a minor league baseball team, their respective nicknames were the Lancaster Red Roses and the York White Roses. Imagine the fear that THOSE names struck into their opponents!! 😂😂
Happy Easter and Happy Passover
Picard:
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand. What inappropriate tools would one use to take photos?
Hi Y'all! Interesting puzzle, John! Great expo, Gary.
ReplyDeleteWords I never expected to find in my crossword: GOOGOOGAGA? CREAM ALES? Fela Kuti? HOSER? MOLDER? TRIS? MOD? TSENG? FLUX? Don't think they speak my language "across the pond".
Not complaining, just surprised. Like D-O I filled this 5 minutes faster than Friday's, but I used more red-letter hints & runs.
MOLDER: because of John Brown's song, has a smellier meaning than "crumble" in my mind.
I filled in GOOGOOGAGA after some perps suggested that, but was expecting it to be wrong. Nope.
This well-constructed puzzle defeated me.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteLate to the game, as usual .... I completed the CW this morning, but I had to rush out for more pressing engagements.
Thank you John Ewbank, for a challenging puzzle, that i thought more than once that I may not complete ,,, but I finally finished it ,,, with some lookups ... so I'm happy / delirious / amazed and satiated.
Thank you Husker Gary for a charming and comprehensive review. While some names may not stay with me, as actresses etc., hopefully some of the cluing ideas will.
Lucina, ... as above ...probably Picard had mentioned, is a satirical tone, ... as inappropriate instruments, to take pictures ... those of mobile phone variety, which also take pictures. Since they are primarily communication devices, you cannot ban them from Halls, or shows,.... but they can be ( and are used - ) used to surreptiously take pictures, and even short videos.
Picard, I have seen youtubes of men collecting / harvesting long and short goose neck clams or such other seafood, for a living. I personally have not had anything of that genre, but to each, his own. One must, ofcourse, paid heed, to their occassional toxicity, at certain periods.
BTW, your pic of Soleil was very detailed,.... I wonder how the unicyclist pedaller, knew were he was going ? His face was covered up by his partner passenger.
CED, I too, looked at your video of the earlier, Cheat at guitar tuning, but a) I dont play any musical instruments ... and b) since I am not at all familiar, with musical notation, I was more fascinated by your explanation and your personalty... Since I am totally at sea with the musucal notations, I felt it woud be onappropriate to comment.
Have a Happy Passover and a Happy Easter, everyone, and a great weekend.
A tough but do-able Saturday PZL from Mr. Ewbank, who is courteously welcomed and answered by Husker G.
ReplyDelete†
I favor the white ROSE. Because I loved the two Yorkies who were part of our family, and because in modern times it has become a venerable anti-Fascist emblem.
Back in the day, I suppose I would have preferred the Lancaster red variety. Although Henry IV was a usurper, that string of Henrys seem to have been more effective (or at least, with #6, less malevolent) monarchs.
†
OK, I admit it. If there is any platform for coming clean, this is as good as any.
I used to be a Bond fan. Back when book-reading was more the thing than movie-going. And I used to drink martinis. Bond's Vesper martini included vodka, so over the years I tended to increase the vodka and decrease my gin.
Nowadays whenever I feel like a drink (which comes in spurts) I skip the finer points, and pour chilled vodka, maybe w/ a little olive juice, straight into my (also chilled) martini glass.
That's it. No shaking OR stirring required.
And I will sometimes use the edge of my napkin to lift the stem of the glass -- because who needs frozen fingers?
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals on the far side.
The center diag gives us an anagram (11 of 15 letters) to keep the family matriarch in bed by 11 pm.
"Check in time. Nighty-night!"...
"NANNA CURFEW"!
Anon @11:48 AM. I wonder if that third martini was named after Bond girl Vesper Lynd. I start having visions after the third one.
ReplyDeleteI had a late start today after our annual Easter Egg Hunt that we host for the neighborhood. But it was a crash and burn in the SE. TRIS was a complete unknown and the brain was stuck on FLOW; FLUX was never a thought. MOD for moderator would have never happened; Never logged onto Reddit. ORGAN MUSIC didn't have a chance.
ReplyDeleteIn the NW I had to stare at MOLDER for a long time; complete unknown the the perps were too solid, so I left it. AFRO BEAT was an easily filled unknown in the NE.
My dad had a job as a PIN BOY back in the Roarin' 20's when he was in HS.
My neighbors are Agnes, Ping, and C.C. TSENG.
"38. Canadian put-down: HOSER - The McKenzie Brothers made Canada proud " About as proud as 'Swamp People" & 'Duck Dynasty" make LA proud.
My mom and I protest the spelling of UKULELE. Does a UKE not exist?
ReplyDeleteThere's my FIW right off the bat. For the Bond order I confidently inked bId. I preferred GOOGOO.. but DEED seemed as good a "Big ask" as anything. Second day we had a clue referring to James. We also had ERNST recently. Aha, we were alerted to this(by C-Moe?)
ReplyDeleteAnd Paul mentioned Phil and Don here
I was thinking golf(CUp or CUt) and Tour Players like Yani. Why Korean women? Because pro golf is a lifetime endeaver: Tiger was putting on Johnny Carson at 3.
Here's an another MOLDER(Mulder)
WC
Ps, Picard, my son shares your disdain for cellphones as cameras. Ironically, many base their choice of cellphone on picture clarity
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteWhoot! I got a Saturday, unaided by any outside source, in ink! Sure it took all day (we went neighborhood visiting in Tomball, got Youngest @IAH [her teem took tops at Model UN] from NYC, and watched a 'meh' movie w/ DW), but I got it!
Thanks for the fun puzzle, John. Do wish I knew you think in Queens' English; things may have solved quicker ;-). I did enjoy your cluing and the grid was clean upto OOH xing HAH. Congrats on the LAT debut.
Thanks, HG, for confirming 100% grid! Fun expo too - BOND link was interesting. I've always had my martinis shaken & dirty.
//Curious Q: Posters, what's your favorite GIN? Mine's Beefeater.
WOs: COMIC Se[RIP] (was thinking serif b/f 'duh'), SEASME, IN DEBT to, EASy @50d
ESPs: TERI, EWAN, TRIS, TSENG, UKULELE spelling
Fav: There were so many great clue|answers but I'll go with HOSERS 'cuz Bob & Doug, eh? C, Eh.
Runner-up: the bane of CyberSecurity's existence: 24d's 'weak password' ;-)
//Waseeley - that's only 10 characters. Given computational power, you should shoot for no less than 12 characters. My main password (used to unlock my password vault) is 21 characters. MultiFactor is essential for banking, ETC.
LOL DR, OMK, if only because NANNA (MIL) doesn't go to bed until sometime between 3 and 5 am. And I thought I was a night owl!
Lucina - what about some allergy meds? Or are you like me and won't take 'em 'cuz they make you too tingly all over. //DW lives by them.
BigE - McKenzie Brothers was parody put on by Rick Moranis (Ghostbusters, ETC) and Dave Thomas (Stripes, ETC). Duck & Swamp, not so much.
ATLGranny - funny, I had the west done and the east stymied me for a long while. SE was last to fill after I finally! came up w/ MARTIAL ART w/ MA---A---T in place.
CED - I did watch the 'cheat-tune' video the other day. Seeing as I don't know squat re: guitar, I was unqualified to comment (Hey, Vidwan say same!).
//your Big Yellow Taxi was a bit fast but otherwise good. Also, I thought in the video you said it was an 'open E' not 'D' as stated @10:33a.
Again, though, I wouldn't know the diff :-)
WC - Loved X-Files. Unfortunately, some folks nowadays have glom'd onto fun conspiracy theories as 'fact.'
Waseeley - It's NORAD that tracks Santa 'cuz he moves ICBM fast.
The Easter Bunny, not being airborne (and having a vicious streak a mile wide!), is tracked by KNIGHTS [Python 5:18]
Well, I guess that's a day. Lurk tomorrow.
Cheers, -T
Hola!
ReplyDeleteTony:
Stinging Nettles is what I take for allergies but the downside is that they make me sleepy and I hate sleeping in the middle of the day. I'll take some before bedtime. This Nana retires around midnight or thereabout after reading at least a chapter or two of whatever book I'm into. Right now it's Maisie Dobbs, A SUNLIT Weapon, the latest in the series. I stayed up watching VERA tonight.