20. Extremely expensive fungi: BLACK TRUFFLES. TRACK
35. Injury-prone area for pitchers: ROTATOR CUFF. COURT
43. Novelist known for legal thrillers: JOHN GRISHAM. RING
52. Request from a trial attorney, and a hint to this puzzle's circles: CHANGE OF VENUE.
Melissa here. The circled letters can be rearranged to spell a type of venue. Racing TRACK, tennis COURT, and boxing RING. See?
Why is it called a boxing RING, even though it's a square?
Across:
1. Wished, as a farewell: BADE.
5. Gently waters using a spray bottle: MISTS.
10. Leave flabbergasted: DAZE.
14. "The Hurt Locker" setting: IRAQ.
15. Natty neckwear: ASCOT. Natty: (of a person or an article of clothing) smart and fashionable. Also, slang (bodybuilding): someone whose muscle gains are natural and not aided by the use of steroids.
16. "Night Sky With __ Wounds": poetry collection by Ocean Vuong: EXIT.
17. Triple Crown of Surfing locale: OAHU. Have not heard of this before now. A specialty series of professional surfing events that have been held annually since 1983 on the North Shore of Oahu, a coastline whose winter swells can reach 50 feet (15 m) feet in height. Wow.
19. Pond plant: ALGA. Alga is singular form and Algae is plural. Algae have a nucleus. The differences between plants and algae, many algal species are closely related to plants, but the algae are very diverse. The term Algae covers many different organisms capable of producing oxygen.
23. __ Cruces, New Mexico: LAS.
24. Quaint "Tsk!": FIE.
25. Dice game: CRAPS.
28. PX patrons: GIS. PX = Post Exchange. Commissary on a United States Army post. PX was chosen to differentiate it from BX (Base Exchange) used on Air Force bases. "In the US Armed Forces, BX is a common name for a type of retail store operating on United States military installations worldwide.
31. Iowa senator Joni: ERNST.
38. Raw bar need: ICE. A raw bar is a small restaurant or a bar within a restaurant where live shellfish are shucked and served.
39. Without purpose: IDLY.
40. Advisory group: BOARD.
41. Vineyard measure: ACRE.
42. "Give __ break!": ME A.
45. Old West crew: POSSE. "Posse" started out as a technical term in law, part of the term "posse comitatus," which in Medieval Latin meant "power or authority of the county." As such, it referred to a group of citizens summoned by a sheriff to preserve the public peace as allowed for by law.
47. Mobile network std.: LTE. In telecommunications, Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals.
48. Fitbit units: STEPS. I see lots more Apple Watches than Fitbits any more.
49. Fannie __: mortgage company nickname: MAE. The Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise and, since 1968, a publicly traded company.
51. "Mr. Blue Sky" gp.: ELO.
60. Bright light: GLARE.
61. Calligrapher's supplies: INKS.
63. Polish prose: EDIT.
64. Slow-cooker brand: OSTER. Not limited to slow-cookers, OSTER produces many kitchen appliances.
65. Slow-cooker dish: STEW.
67. Fits (inside): NESTS.
68. Vacuum attachment: HOSE.
Down:
1. Playbill paragraph: BIO.
2. Many a Qatar native: ARAB.
4. Workplace compensation concern: EQUAL PAY.
5. Snorkeling needs: MASKS.
6. "__ it ironic?": ISN'T. I thought of this.
7. Emotional trauma consequence: SCAR.
8. Vegan protein: TOFU.
9. Fill up, as a pillow: STUFF.
10. Casino employee: DEALER.
11. Bar in a limo: AXLE. Sneaky.
12. Sharp turns: ZIGS.
13. Itinerary info: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.
21. Theatrical ensemble: CAST.
22. Feudal domain: FIEF. An estate of land, especially one held on condition of feudal service.
25. Pinch together: CRIMP.
26. "This ain't my first __": RODEO.
27. Country album?: ATLAS. Nice clue.
28. Dave of the Foo Fighters: GROHL.
29. "Sorry, no": I CAN'T.
30. Sudden power increase: SURGE. Most power strips now come with built-in surge protectors to protect electrical devices from voltage spikes
32. Like specialty markets: NICHE. 6 Weird, Niche Companies Making Good Money.
33. Remnant: SCRAP.
34. Abounds (with): TEEMS.
36. "Price negotiable," in ads: OBO. Or best offer.
37. New Deal pres.: FDR. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
41. Really wow: ASTONISH.
43. "Bridgerton" actor Regé-__ Page: JEAN. Anyone watch this series? I've heard good things but haven't watched yet.
44. 17-Across, e.g.: ISLE.
46. Hurts a lot: SMARTS.
50. Goad: EGG ON.
51. Civil rights leader Medgar: EVERS.
52. Give up: CEDE.
53. Next in line: HEIR.
54. Otherwise: ELSE.
55. Granola grains: OATS.
56. Fingerboard ridge: FRET.
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57. Golden Rule word: UNTO.
58. Squeezes (out): EKES.
59. Annoy: VEX.
62. Nor. neighbor: SWE.
36 comments:
Good morning!
Only problem zipping through this one was changing GENX to XERS, but that's what Wite-Out is for. Thanx for 'splainin' LTE -- always thought it meant "Lite." Figured that the circles were scrambled words, and CHANGE OF VENUE confirmed it. Thanx, Susan and Melissa Bee (Wasn't able to read your 6 weird companies link).
Didn't know Sen. Ernst and barely remembered Dave Grohl, so the latter was a bit of a WAG. Other than that, no problems. FIR, so I'm happy.
FIR, but erased is not for I CANT. DNK EXIT or the author, that BLACK is a type of TRUFFLES, DAHL, JEAN, or EVERS. But I did know Cubbies Tinker, EVERS and Chance, of course.
Joni ERNST says she grew up helping to castrate hogs, so she knows how to cut pork in Washington.
My 16 year old grandson is a 6'3" fireballing lefty. Hope he avoids ROTATOR CUFF problems.
IIRC, LTE allowed carriers to claim 4G connectivity without meeting 4G throughput standards. "Long Term" bought the carriers time to bring their networks up to speed, literally.
The USN equivalent of BX/PX is NEX. I have had the privilege of doing project management training for a group of their staff, NEXCOM. Bright and motivated people.
Thanks to Susan for the fun, easy puzzle, and to Melissa b for the interesting review. I'll come back for the "weird companies" link.
FIR, despite never hearing of Dave Grohl. I thought the theme was a stretch, but then again, circles aren't my thing in puzzles.
Took 5:44 for me to INK Right through all the squares. (That's for the hockey fans out there. I type, not write the answers.)
I got tripped up on the spelling of fief, which crosses fie. I didn't know Senator Ernst, the actress of the silver screen, nor the poetry collection.
Yay! Another FIR. Saw the scrambled words in the circles, but needed the reveal to verify their connection. Fun puzzle, Susan.
Melissa B, you did a fine job with your review. Most of my WOs were in the NE corner: ueyS/ZIGS caused the most trouble making me doubt the other entries. But perps saved me there as well as roE/ICE and awrY/IDLY. As I said, it was a fun puzzle.
Jinx, thanks for explaining LTE. Like DO, I assumed it meant lite. My favorite was the crossing of FIE and FIEF.
Looking forward to the day ahead. Hope you all are, too!
Thank you Susan for the mid week pangram, always nice to see those! Not too difficult, about par for mid week, managed a FIR in 10:30 with only a few unknowns.
Thanks Melissa for providing the expo on this one!
Good Morning:
I saw where the theme was going early on but I was impressed and surprised by the perfect revealer. Unknowns, as clued, were Exit, LTE, and Jean. Grohl is one of the few contemporary musicians that I’ve heard of, but I couldn’t tell you what instrument he plays. 🤭 My only w/o was Stun/Daze. Our daily duos were Exit/Edit, Isle/Oahu, Veer/Zigs, Arab/Iraq, Craps/Dealer, Fie/Fief, and Oster/Stew. CSOs to Misty (Mists), Keith (Casts), and Lucina (Inks). My favorite C/A was Country Album=Atlas which, as a seasoned solver, didn’t fool me a bit.
Thanks, Susan, for a very clever theme and an enjoyable solve and thanks, Melissa, for an informative and entertaining review.
FLN
Bill G, it’s always nice to hear from you.
Last night, my sister Eileen, her daughter, Michele, and another niece, Laura, and I spent the evening catching up and enjoying a delicious meal from one of our favorite Italian restaurants. My leftovers will be tonight’s dinner. 🤗
Have a great day.
Good morning. And a S. LA shout out to honorary Cajun Susan. I never pay attention to the Circles and after TRUFFLES & CUFF were in place my first thought was almost fortissimo. But JOHN GRISHAM perished that thought. After CHANGE IN VENUE was filled I went back and noticed them.
OHAU- didn't know about the Triple Crown but it was an easy fill
LTE- 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G...what's next. My cheapie Android always shows 5G or the WiFi symbol for WiFi calling.
XERS- what are they called in Canada or the EU? We are in a new Roarin' 20s. What will those kids be called?
GROHL, EXIT, JEAN & Bridgerton, Joni ERNST- all unknowns solved by perps.
Musings
-What a clever idea and there were only had two obscure-to-me proper names. I know and admire Joanie ERNST from next door Iowa.
-Natty is also sports slang for a National Championship
-Looney Tunes’ Private SNAFU voiced by Mel Blanc and cowritten by pre-Dr. Suess Theodore Giesel.
-Isn’t ICE always raw? Oh, it’s the bar!
-Teaching has always had EQUAL PAY for men and women and great and poor teachers
-Do you pronounce NICHE as NEECH?
-I don’t play violin but the FRETS on my guitar make me think it is easier to play
-Irish, have you ever seen this movie?
Wow! Speedy Solver! Your name really applies today! Very impressive time, I must say. Like I've said before, I don't keep track of my own time, but I know it's not nearly as fast as that!
DNK EXIT, GROHL, DAHL or JEAN, but managed to FIR in 17, same time as yesterday. For a change, I got the theme before reading Melissa Bee's outstanding write-up. Thanx SG, for the fun, do-able Wednesday CW. And thanx Melissa Bee for the terrific write-up. Today I did the CW on my laptop, instead of pen and paper. It does go faster and of course there will be no W/Os, but I will do the CW tomorrow on paper. I just like it better.
Center was a Natick cluster fest for me. ?TE/GROH? a WAG to FIR. Got CHANGE OF VENUE at the start, but it took awhile to understand that the VENUEs were not legal COURT VENUEs but sports VENUEs. BLACK TRUFFLES sound yummy but out of my price range!
Oh, I am also very familiar with JONI ERNST and let's just plead a Thumper here. If she had her way, my wife and I would lose our health care.
Here is the ferry we took from the train to Stockholm to the island of Djurgården SWEDEN.
Apparently Djurgården is now home to the ABBA Museum!
From Yesterday:
Wilbur Charles, CanadianEh, AnonT Thank you for the comments on my EMU video. No, I have not been to COMIC CON. I see that it is taking place in San Diego which is about five hours from here. It might be an interesting cross-cultural experience!
I also enjoyed the Blazing Saddles video and the learning moment about what happens if you don't shear a EWE.
I didn’t get the theme because I came up with grin instead of ring. Otherwise, nice and easy fill.
Perfect Wednesday puzzle, Susan, with a combination of tough and easy items. Many thanks for that. And Melissa, your commentaries are always helpful and interesting, thanks for those too.
I got the TRUFFLES pretty early on, but it took a while for the BLACK to fall into place.
Once I got CUFF, I figured we were going to have double FF words as the theme--but 'twas not to be.
ERNST was the name of several of my family members, but never heard of the Iowa Senator.
All those slow cookers on the bottom were fun.
Thank you, thank you, Irish Miss for thinking of me in relation to MISTS--very kind of you. And so glad you had a lovely evening dinner with family members last night.
Have a good day, everybody.
Hi All!
Excellent Wednesday puzzle, Susan. NE took me a few extra minutes but the aha! was worth it.
Thanks for the expo, mb. I enjoyed boxing 'square' link.
//FYI - your NICHE link is broken
WO: ROTATeR CUFF
ESPs: DAHL, EXIT (as clued), ERNST, EVERS; JEAN was a WAG supported by perps.
Fav: ATLAS's clue was great but Dave GROHL [18 reasons he's the nicest guy in Rock & Roll] wins.
IM - Grohl plays guitar for The Foo Fighters and was Nirvana's drummer. However, he can play many instruments (he did everything for his first Foo Fighter's album before putting the band together)
Picard - That ferry looks a bit sketchy!
Nice catch re: pangram, YooperPhil. I saw the Z & J but forgot to 'make sure' after I finished.
HG - NEE(t)CH. Thanks for the Private SNAFU 'toon.
Cheers, -T
Hi Y'all! Enjoyed the puzzle & expo, Susan & Melissa. Thanks.
Last fills were G & L in GROHL. Never heard of him. Also DNK: ERNST, ELO, OBO, JEAN.
Musing on today's vocabulary: If you VEX someone, they will GLARE at you & FRET & STEW about it.
I got the theme before the reveal despite a short sidetrack seeing GRIN before RING like Tante Nique.
Hola!
A good day to you all! This was a good one from Susan Gelfand and a pangram, too. It didn't take long to fill.
Of course, I thought of Misty at MISTS. And of my OSTER blender.
IrishMiss, thank you for the CSO. These days the only calligraphy I do is addressing greeting cards for my family and friends.
I had a Natick at GROHL/LTE, both of which are unfamiliar to me. I do remember that David Letterman always liked the FOO Fighters but I didn't know their individual names.
I have been reading the Bruno Correges series by Martin Walker set in southern France where a lot of hunting for TRUFFLES takes place.
JOHN GRISHAM's books are very good reading but after awhile the repetitive formula gets old.
Have a wonderful day everyone!
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Susan and melissa b.
I filled this CW in good time, but forgot to go back and confirm the L in the cross of GROHL and LTE. I had a G lightly entered.
Like Big Easy and Misty, I saw RUFF and CUFF and thought we had a UFF theme happening (we did have OF in the reveal). But then I saw the circles and unscrambled to find the VENUES.
Of course this Canadian did not know ERNST as clued (what happened to Max?), but perps were fair. I did know FDR and Fannie MAE. I didn’t remember the meaning of PX until GIS perped.
I already had the S in MISTS or I would have entered PTSD before SCAR. (But maybe Patti is reverting to the no dupe rule.
Yoooer Phil beat me to commenting on the pangram.
I changed Zigs to ZAGS (either fit the clue).
Let me add DAZE/ASTONISH to Irish Miss’s list of duos.
My hand is up with hers for favourite clue “Country album?=ATLAS”.
My graduating class was the first one at our Faculty to be 50/50 male to female. I sometimes had ASTONISHed looks when I established my credentials in what had previously been a male-dominated profession, but I never had to fight for EQUAL PAY!
Wishing you all a great day.
This neat PZL from Ms. Gelfand might have been daunting, but it is beautifully clued to guide the solver.
Just the right balance between obscurity and handing it over.
~ OMK
Anon-T@12:39,
I really want to read your link about 18 reasons to like Dave Grohl,
but the "cookie acceptance" formality scared me off...
Can you confirm that it is safe to accept "all" the crap they insist I accept before I can see their site?
In the meantime,
I really like Dave Grohl because of this video of their song Learning To fly,
Where he play 6 different characters. See if you can ID them all...
Hmm,
Turns out I was wrong,
Dave Grohl actually plays 7 char@caters as according to Wikipedia,
he also plays the arresting FBI officer at the end of the video...
CED - I accepted them and my computer ISNT dead yet :-)
If it really scares you, right-click link, copy the link URL, go into Incognito mode [in Chrome Ctrl-Shift-N], and paste. All the cookies go away when you close the Incognito window.
There's a lotta good STUFF in the article. My fav was 1,000 Italians playing/singing Learning To Fly to get GROHL's attention and ask him to put on a show in Cesena [and he did!]
Cheers, -T
Here's the 1000 Italians video.
I always liked Dave Grohl but when he & Taylor Hawkins inducted RUSH into R&R HoF [TV-MA], well, I just had to love 'em.
Cheers, -T
Thanks Anon-T, but I am using Safari on an IPad.
Right click is not available.
Note,
For others in this situation, IPad / Safari has another option called "private viewing."
here is how to turn it on and off.
Note:
It was easy to turn it on, but not so easy to turn off.
A one letter FIW (s instead of L) for GROH _ / _ TT. 🙄 .. Like Lucina .. A Natick n'est-ce pas?
Plus the Theme can't be Track Court Ring? oh wait it IS...lol... was thinking legal court like Picard
OBO isn't our mispelt trusty CW musical instrument ? 😁
Inkovers: pens/INKS,
The BLACKTRUFFLES I prefer are the chocolate ones. 😋. I wasn't ASTONISHED thatastound wouldn't work. Injure your ROTATOR CUFF and you can't lift STUFF. 😨 Erle Stanley Gardner wouldn't work for JOHN GRISHAM ("Perry Mason", so long ago its all a Raymond Blurr 😄) ....ISLE object that OAHU isn't small enuff to be one....it's an island.
Polish prose? I only know swear words in Polish learnt from my late inlaws.😳
Inquire of Mr. Baio.....ASCOT.
___ culpa....MEA
Intellect...SMARTS.
How I often felt at "advisory group" meetings....BOARD.
Embarrassment: _____ your face....EGGON
Late day, super busy...😷
Hi Dave, just because a site puts cookies on your computer is not an indication of good or bad. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee you that you have thousands of cookies on your computer. You just weren't asked if you wanted them. There are different cookie laws in different countries.
That website that Dash T linked is in the UK. Almost always, when you first visit a website in the EU or in the UK, you will get a message asking you if you "Accept Cookies ?"
European Union (EU) laws require that websites give EU visitors information about cookies. Often, for various reasons, anyone visiting EU sites are going to initially see that message, even if they aren't visiting from a country that is not in the EU.
The UK then left the EU with Brexit, but have enacted their own laws:
"You must tell people if you set cookies, and clearly explain what the cookies do and why. You must also get the user’s consent. Consent must be actively and clearly given.
There is an exception for cookies that are essential to provide an online service at someone’s request (eg to remember what’s in their online basket, or to ensure security in online banking)."
Thus, the option to accept cookies or not. Accepting cookies doesn't indicate that there is anything dangerous about a website. Your security software and search tools are your main defense against malicious websites.
In the US, you are getting the cookies without being asked if you want to accept and continue. Except possibly in California. Canada does not have a specific Cookie law.
If interested, you can read more about it in Cookie Law Guide for Businesses: EU, US, and the UK, but you'll have to accept the cookies to read it.
HG @ 10:54 ~ No, I never saw the movie but was aware of it because of the teasing that ensued every time, as a young lass, I spoke the words, My Sister Eileen, to my more-worldly, older co-workers.
Anon T @ 12:39 ~ Thanks for the info on Mr. Grohl.
CEh @ 1:49 ~ Good eye on Daze/Astonish.
I enjoyed solving this puzzle. I had to do a "Check grid" to discover I had incorrectly entered IVERS and ILO. STUN --> DAZE. UIES --> ZIGS. LILY --> ALGA.
I say "neesh."
Take care, all.
For anyone still wishing mb's NICHE Markets link worked... There you go.
//send dead flowers to your Ex? LOL.
TTP - I didn't even notice my Grohl link was .uk / GDPR controlled. Otherwise, I'd have had your better explanation for CED / cookie notice.
I've had BLACK TRUFFLE pasta once. Very earthy but yummy.
Not sure if it was worth the $$$ though.
//a scoop of dirt from the garden might have the same flavor ;-)
Cheers, -T
Ray, yule want to check out the Emerald ISLE. It might be nearly as large as Oahu, Laddie.
Jayce, I say "neesh" too.
Dash T, thanks for that link. Good read about Dave Grohl. I think you may have linked it before, or I just came upon it and read it one time, but the subject matter was all familiar. Good guy.
I've never had black truffles. Speaking of earthy umami flavors, it's prime time for hunting morel mushrooms in Illinois. Maybe tomorrow or Friday.
kneesh.....Brought to mind "The Knights Who Say "Ni".... 🤺
Good point Jinx, like the British Isles.🇬🇧
FIW. Didn’t know GROHL or LTE, so I stuck in another G. Perps got ERNST and JEAN for me, and I saw the theme, although it took me a little while to find COURT.
Thanks for the nice puzzle, Susan; very nice expo, Melissa.
Melissa, I may have forgotten to thank you for your efforts in bringing us the expo with fine illustrations. I now thank you.
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