Puzzling thoughts: FIW
I know, that's hard for me to do, for as bloggers we get the answers ahead of time, and our blogging "software" allows us to reveal the answers whenever we want to
But my "promise" when I was asked to recap every-other-Friday puzzle, was to solve the puzzle without hints; just as you do. I don't open the email attachment with the answers until I've solved the puzzle
Today, I had to open the attachment early and often
In fairness to Stefan, I'd like to dissect this puzzle as I had both success and failure. Let's go!
Today's puzzle has four "themers", each 14 letters in length for a total of 56 "spaces". There are 42 "blocks" (black spaces), so that means that almost 44% of the puzzle = themers + blocks. That's a lot. Stefan managed to keep the number of 3-letter words to a minimum, but had 35 4-letter word entries, if I counted correctly. That's a ton
The theme entries share a common "question" in their clues: " ..., abridged?" So of course, I knew this probably meant book, movie, or play titles
Confession: I may be the least well-read person here. This wasn't going to go well for me ...
I approached the grid from several spots, and solved the first of the themers: 20-Across. Play about the shortcomings of capitalism, abridged?: SALESMAN'S DEATH. The familiar title - and one I DID know - is "DEATH of a SALESMAN" by Arthur Miller. It seems logical, then, that the other themers are missing the words "of a", and are thus, "abridged"
Next entry: 25-across. YA (abbr for Young Adult perhaps?) series about an insecure preadolescent, abridged?: WIMPY KID'S DIARY. This is one screen event that I did NOT know about. The main Wimpy I know was the character from the Popeye comics who enjoyed hamburgers. And for those of you who lived or visited Pittsburgh, you may be familiar with this hamburger chain. Wimpy's Burgers used to have a very iconic ad on radio and television touting all of the places where you could enjoy their fare, though they made a point of saying that "There's no Wimpy's in Wilmerding", but I digress ... after watching this short trailer, I may try to find Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and watch a few episodes
The penultimate entry: 42-across. Film about a crime in a small town, abridged?: MURDER'S ANATOMY. Per Wikipedia: "Anatomy of a Murder is a 1959 American courtroom drama and crime film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Wendell Mayes was based on the 1958 novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker under the pen name of Robert Traver. Voelker based the novel on a 1952 murder case in which he was the defense attorney. It has a star-studded cast and includes an appearance by Duke Ellington, who also wrote the musical score
And last but not least: 49-across. Novel about a Japanese entertainer, abridged?: GEISHA'S MEMOIRS. IMDb describes "Memoirs of a Geisha" as: "In the 1920s, 9-year-old Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) gets sold to a geisha house. There, she is forced into servitude, receiving nothing in return until the house's ruling hierarchy determines if she is of high enough quality to service the clientele -- men who visit and pay for conversation, dance and song. After rigorous years of training, Chiyo becomes Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang), a geisha of incredible beauty and influence. Life is good for Sayuri, but World War II is about to disrupt the peace"
According to Merrium Webster, the term "of a" is described as an idiom, and is used to indicate that someone or something is a particular type of person or thing; as in the expression "son of a gun". In today's puzzle, Stefan is abridging "of a" in its possessive form; all of the titles have been shortened to the object (SALESMAN, KID, MURDER, and GEISHA) having an apostrophe. Pretty clever. My stumbling block was not knowing three of the four entries by their more common title. And throughout the puzzle a number of clues had me guessing incorrectly as well
Since my opening statement was quite long, I am going to "abridge" the remainder. As always, comments are welcome and appreciated!
Here is the grid:
Across:
1. Steinbeck surname: JOAD. "Grapes of Wrath" - I knew this one
5. Russian assembly: DUMA.
9. Overdoes the fandom, in slang: STANS. Not familiar with this definition
14. Liqueur that water turns cloudy: OUZO. I know OUZO but did not know it made water cloudy. I usually drink mine with three coffee beans floating on the surface. Does anyone know why this is?
15. NASDAQ newbies: IPOS. Initial public offering, plural. Not to be confused with: 48-across. Apple gadget: IPOD
16. Convent outfit: HABIT. Nuns wear them
17. Inadequate Wikipedia entry: STUB. Not familiar with this definition
18. "Cool it!": STOP. "Cool it" sounds less severe than "stop". Kinda like "be quiet" is not as harsh as "shut up!"
19. Things: ITEMS.
23. Capital of Iran: RIAL.
24. Stately tree: ELM.
32. Nutrition bar marketed to women: LUNA.
33. Acorn trees: OAKS.
34. University of Pennsylvania swimmer Thomas: LIA. Made the news recently
35. "Love __ Open Door": "Frozen" duet: IS AN. Never saw "Frozen". Here is the duet:
46-down. With 36-Across, "Big" star: TOM. (36-Across, See 46-Down:) HANKS. We recently had "TOM" when the clue was Forrest portrayer
38. Savor the sun: BASK.
39. Poke tuna: AHI.
40. Garment worn with a choli: SARI. Choli was an unknown to me, but the word SARI made sense. Here is a choli; the SARI is the wrap I'm guessing
41. Annoys: IRKS.
47. Sci-fi aviators: ETS. Extra-terrestrials
56. Nursery supply: MULCH. Good entry and clue
57. SALT weapon: ICBM.
58. Bubbly name: MOET. CSO to Chairman Moe. Anyone surprised that it's his favorite bubbly??!!
59. Hunter-gatherer diet: PALEO.
60. Hill partner: DALE. "Chip" partner would be another way to clue this
61. Craftsy etailer: ETSY.
62. "Hacks" Emmy winner Jean: SMART. Jean Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her comedic roles, one of the best known being her role as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the CBS sitcom Designing Women. She later gained critical acclaim for dramatic work, with her portrayal of Martha Logan on 24. I watched neither of these shows, so this was an unknown to me
63. "Preach!": AMEN.
64. Gratify: SATE.
Down:
1. "You Had Me" singer Stone: JOSS. I whiffed on this. Again, not someone with whom I am familiar
2. "I'm __ here!": OUTA. I am more familiar with and would use OUTTA
3. Un color primario: AZUL. Blue in Espanol
4. El Diablo of "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," e.g.: DOBERMAN. Again, a film I never saw. DOBERMAN didn't easily perp as I didn't know STUB, WIMPY, or IS AN
5. Consternation: DISMAY. I don't think this defined the puzzle for me today; more like "frustration"
6. Rise in pitch that can make a statement sound like a question: UP TALK. Inhersight dot com describes UP TALK: "What is uptalk and why is it unprofessional?" Uptalk, also called upspeak, is a linguistic term usually associated with how women speak. Many professionals advise women to eliminate the style of speaking entirely in order to be taken seriously in and out of the workplace, but this ill-advised guidance stems from patriarchal, sexist beliefs
7. Apollo theater?: MOON. I'm guessing - now that I've had several days to think about it - that this clue refers to the Apollo NASA missions that traveled to the MOON. Meh
8. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" snakes: ASPS.
9. Claressa who is the only American boxer to win consecutive Olympic gold medals: SHIELDS. I wouldn't want to mess with her!
10. Woven floor mat: TATAMI.
11. Lie for, say: ABET.
12. "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of __": NIMH. Another book title with which the Chairman was unfamiliar
13. D and C in D.C.: STS. We had this recently identifying STreetS in NYC
21. Sample: SIP.
22. Newsroom bureaus: DESKS.
25. Chinese martial art: WUSHU. A very seldom used entry; just once before at LA Times, and thrice at NY Times
26. "... bombs bursting __": IN AIR.
27. Ancient Greek region: IONIA.
28. Black Hills terr.: DAK. How about a clue for us sports fans? For example, "Dallas Cowboys QB, Prescott"
29. Chili rating unit: ALARM. I knew this, because I have participated in a few chili cook-offs. The "ALARM" is measured in the "heat" - or spiciness - of the chili dish. One = mild; five = you'll need a fire fighter to assist extinguishing the flames in your mouth
30. Like junk bonds: RISKY.
31. Shaggy Himalayan locals: YAKS.
32. Payne of One Direction: LIAM. Not a band I listen to. Liam Payne is a vocalist
36. "Don't __ my mellow!": HARSH. ????
37. Rolling Rock openers?: ARS. It's what pirates drink - ARRR
38. Closed ecosystems: BIODOMES. Used once before in crossword puzzles
40. Basket made without weaving?: SET SHOT. FINALLY! A clue for us sports fans!! I got this right away. More people would recognize the term "jump shot". So, what's the difference between a SET SHOT and a JUMP SHOT?
43. Severe cold remedy?: DE-ICER. Ha!
44. Agile: NIMBLE. As in Jack when he jumped over the candlestick
45. Zaius, Thade, et al.: APE MEN. From the movies in the series "Planets of the Apes"
49. Island in Micronesia: GUAM.
50. Fashion designer Emhoff: ELLA. Ella Rose Emhoff is an American model, artist, and fashion designer. As the daughter of U.S. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and stepdaughter of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, she is a member of the Second Family of the United States. Another "learning" moment for Moe
51. Turturro of "The Sopranos": AIDA. She played Janice - Tony Soprano's sister - on the drama series "The Sopranos"
52. Con job: SCAM.
53. Whit: IOTA. If the "thesaurus-saurus" agrees, then it is so!
54. Take ten: REST. If someone tells you to take five or to take ten, they are telling you to have a five or ten minute break (REST) from what you are doing
55. Ocular malady: STYE. Eye problem
56. U.K. lawmakers: MPS. Members of Parliament, abbreviated and pluraled
54 comments:
DNF. The SW corner was messed up because I couldn't spell GEISHAS - the proper names didn't help; the NE corner I WAGed sHIELDS, but still couldn't figure out sTANs + sTS. I started out with oTANi, thinking of the South Korean/Japanese OTAKU. STANS is unknown to me. Maybe STS too, the expo hasn't been posted yet as I write this.
I liked the theme, and got it with the first themer I uncovered.
The I-POD is dead, it's been around for years.
The iPod is dead, oh who will shed some tears?
I didn't even know
It was still around, to go,
Their hair remover, I-NAIR, will be next I fears!
Do you prefer MOET or OUZO to drink?
Is ELM or OAK shadier, do you think?
Does LUNA loom
When we see the MOON?
Would a GEISHA wear a SARI as she serves a drink?
{B+, B.}
Whew! I know this is a Friday puzzle, but it had way too many obscure names and phrases to suit me. For example, what is "stans"? It seems beyond obscure, to me. The four themed answers seemed fair, but that's about the only fair thing about this puzzle. FIR,. somehow, but it wasn't a very enjoyable ride.
Good morning!
Crashed and burned. Too many current culture references were outside my ken. Was familiar with three of the four themers; that helped considerably...but not enough. Learning moment: A STAN is an overly enthusiastic fan. Yeah, I had to look it up. Was familiar with HARSH as a verb, but not WUSHU as a martial art. Tried AGUA (thinking aQua, d'oh, d-o was all wet) and AZUR before AZUL elbowed in. This one definitely made me stretch -- I'm probably at least an inch taller, but not much wiser. Thanx, Stefan, I enjoyed the challenge. Great title, C-Moe. Better you than me to tackle 'splainin' this one. (I have no idea why you put three coffee beans in your OUZO.)
GUAM -- I'll take a CSO. Spent the pleasant portion of my naval career on that island. "Hafa adai" (pronounced "Half-a-day" means "Hello" in Chamorro). It's Guam's official greeting, and we joked it was also the work ethic on the island.
Ouzo clouds up because there's a relatively large amount of oils from the anise seeds dissolved in the alcohol. But when you add additional water, the oils are less soluble and drop out of solution as tiny droplets, making the resulting mix a bit cloudy, much like milk! (And I, too, never heard of wushu or "harshing ones mellow"!) Thanks as always for the explanations!
I enjoyed the challenge. I caught the theme quickly and heard of all the movies. Three bad cells. The other unknowns were solved by perps and wags. One bad cell was caused by my failing memory WOAD instead of JOAD. V-8 can moment. Dang. A natick clump did me in, the LU in LUNA crossing WUSHU and LIAM. An ABC run would have suggested the L for LIAM and led to LUNA, so a FIR would have been possible.
I have seen DON'T HARSH MY MELLOW. DAK was a gimme.
CSO to me. I live at the OAKS.
C-Moe warned us. I didn't "cheat" but had several bad squares in this paean to Natick- not to speak of "The new xword schtick".
Having run through the alphabet I inked w and SwANS. Similarly I had WaSHU/LaNA. If I was smart I'd have caught the TAT(AMI), WU(SHU) sounds. FIR would've been neat.
I had a vague idea of the Grapes character but messed up on the color. Yes, STUB and AZUL with the U not A.
I see there's a Chip and DALE Movie coming
Jean SMART was on last week's cover of Parade but I'd already forgotten but it seemed vaguely familiar
I inked Over/OUTA;bleu/AZUL and needed massive inkovers.
When DOB on top of ERMAN popped it was the big breakthrough after an hour staring at NW. The back LOBE was slow warming up.
My mega achiever niece was an UPTALKER but I was unfamiliar with the term.
AHA, that/the MOON,Apollo. I was thinking theater or god.
Vaguely recalled NIMH from somewhere. No Sports* at all in the new schtick(along with HARSH)
Give me No-ALARM in fact hold the chili altogether
LIAM , another WAG/Perps.
Bump up #2 to an A- , Owen
Being familiar with 3 of the novels was a bit help once I figured out that S="of a".
Replacing dipPY with WIMPY got #4
3 bad squares
WC
* Except for SET SHOT which is back thanks to 3pter. Also back is the running one hander which was a favorite Bob Cousy at .07 is the famous West one hander. Cousy's one hander is at 7.07 AA. Lots of SET DHOTS in this clip.
WoW, definitely a Friday worthy challenge! Somehow I fumbled and stumbled and slogged and perped my way around, culminating in an A-run WAG to get the N in the STANS/NIMH cross. FIR in 42:48, surprising myself cuz the puzzle was replete w/DNK’s, especially the proper names which I knew none, except for TOM HANKS. All in all, I really enjoy a difficult solve like this one, thank you Stefan and Patti for this Friday the 13th morning mental workout! I managed to suss the theme when completed but it took several minutes before the aha moment.
I will take personal CSO to Anatomy of a Murder, because it is based on a true event that occurred in 1952 in the small town I live in, Big Bay, Michigan. A GI who was stationed at a nearby army camp walked into the local bar, the Lumberjack Tavern, and calmly shot the bar owner 5 times at point blank range, killing him instantly. The defense attorney in the case (who also authored the book the movie is based on), used the defense of “temporary insanity” for the first time in the state of Michigan, which ultimately led to the defendant’s acquittal on the murder charge. The reason the defendant was so enraged was because his wife had come home beaten and bruised and swore on a rosary that the bar owner had sexually assaulted her. Hollywood eventually came to town to film the movie in various local locations, the courtroom scenes filmed in the courthouse the actual trial took place. 70 years later people still come to town to experience the locale, especially movie buffs. It is a very good courtroom drama, rather risqué for the times, with an all-star cast that included James Stewart, George C. Scott, Lee Remick, Ben Gazarra, Katherine Grant and Duke Ellington. Was nominated for Best Picture but lost out to the epic Ben Hur in 1959. On a side note, I have spent a few stints bar tending in the bar in which the shooting took place, which is still in operation today (and hoping history didn’t repeat itself). I had to tell the story countless times to the curious, the most asked question being “did the bar owner really assault the defendants wife”? Which I could never answer other than to tell them that the jury believed it and thus the acquittal.
C-Moe ~~ a very fine review as always, thanks for your time and effort, very illustrative and informative!
STAN has been around since Eminem coined the term in a song released in 2000. I used to debate rap with my sons. The Italians here put the coffee beans in their SAMBUCA for luck, past, present and future. I used to go to a restaurant to drink OUZO and watch the belly dancers.
The theme was cute and Fridays often have 'remove or add letter(s)' themes. No WUSHU for me either.
I read ANATOMY OF A MURDER while I was in law school, writing motions for a group of criminal defense lawyers. I really enjoyed and ran out to by his follow up Trilogy which began with LAUGHING WHITEFISH about a real conflict between native Americans and the courts. The topic was of great interest to me, but I found the book unreadable. It is unforgettable as the first book I did not finish.
Moe thank you for getting out of your comfort zone and delivering the write-up. I think this is a debut publication for Mr. Pastis who is a Scrabble expert and writer. Thank you both.
No mention of Friday the 13th? I hope it is a lucky day for all.
ALARM is a CSO to my Thai wife and all the other Thai chefs who go for 7 Alarm! They often make it too hot even for themselves. I will stick with 3 ALARM or less, which may make me a WUSS but not a WUSHU.
Did I FIR? Hell no. I managed to fill the right side and WIMPY KIDS DIARY but there were too many unknowns to get toeholds. DEATH, ANATOMY, and MEMOIRS was on my grid but there were just too many unknowns on the left to get started. STUB,LIAM, AIDA, OUZO, LUNA, SMART, AZUL, WUSHU, ELLA ...etc. Somehow I managed to fill APE MEN, NIMH, and STANS just because they fit.
DEICER- none of that in S. LA.
If LIA wants to think he's a girl maybe HE should face SHIELDS but that wouldn't be a fair fight, just like his swimming , only in reverse.
When I saw the name Stefan Fastis I was thinking "Pearls Before Swine" but that's Stephan Pastis.
DNF. The NW and NE destroyed me. Too many totally unknowns.
DNF, getting 47 fills (43 correctly), then giving up.
FLN:
Michael, you're right about the big caps in the flyback circuit. Many had bleeder resistors, but the wise tech would still ground them with a pair of needle nose pliers before touching.
-T, I've added "Skunk Works" to my list. I have read "SR-71: the Complete Illustrated History of the Blackbird, the World's Highest, Fastest Plane" by Col. Richard Graham. Interesting read, including the terrifying description of an "unstart".
I used to live in California's Antelope Valley and would sometimes drive to Palmdale. Once I drove by the airport there and there were tons of people on both sides of the highway sanding on ladders and taking pictures over the barricade. I later found out that they were rolling out the F-22, before the AF admitted it existed but after Revell introduced a plastic model kit of it.
I threw in the towel at 20:00 today with about 4 blank squares as I struggled with the top-left and top-right, and by that time whatever fun there was had been sucked-out.
The very first cell is "Joad" crossing "Joss". I should've stopped there.
Didn't know "wushu" (or whether it's wu shu), "Nimh," or the "Doberman." Although it's not exactly what I refer to as a "foreign cross", "azul" crossing "ooza" is awfully close.
A tough one this morning. Lots of perp-ing. Lots of WAG-ing. The themers did help once the deletion and reversal was figured out. Fortunately, this occurred at the first themer I was able to figure out.
Ultimately, the screen said that the puzzle was successfully completed even if the head scratching was not. The current trend seems to be the use of more and more oscure jargon. Please don't get me wrong. I certainly do not miss the days of snood and other words of that ilk from the days of Maleska and Weng but I am not a fan of this style or, as WC put it, these paeans to Natick.
Thank you, Ch. Moe, for shining some light on this one for us.
A Friday FIW by two wrong squares, but not so bad as I thought while I struggled with it. My KID was gIMPY rather than WIMPY. And I had seen that title before. Dang! WUSHU was too far in the recesses to bring up from its last appearance here to help. My other error was putting DEICEs and not thinking about it needing a noun form rather than verb. Of course SMAsT was a weird-looking last name but..... Thanks for your challenging debut puzzle, Stefan. The "aha moments" were fun.
I sympathize with your solve today in preparation for the review, C Moe. And I found your entries and comments very helpful. Well done! As far as the themers go, I got the last two easier than the first. Past of my problem with the NW corner was entering Over/OUTA and rosa/AZUL early (Hi, WC). Changing them took a while, but I finished the puzzle (wrong) without having to spend all day on it.
Friday the 13th? That explains a lot! Hope you all have a lucky day in spite of it.
Tried with pen and paper and got stopped dead right from the start. I know JOAD but couldn't bring it to mind, and didn't know JOSS. So I went online to work the CW with red letters turned on. It took OUTA, AZUL and DOBERMAN to finally dredge JOAD out of the recesses of my brain. I managed to FIR in red letter mode, but even then took 36 minutes. This was a real toughie for me. DNK JOSS, BIODOME, STANS, CHOLI, APEMEN (as clued), HARSH, or WUSHU. "Convent outfit" HABIT reminds me of the old joke that it"s O.K. to flirt with a nun, just don't get into the habit! Thanx SF for the thorough mental workout, and thanx C-Moe for your, as usual, outstanding and entertaining write-up. If this was the Friday CW, I am DOOMED tomorrow.
Frantic Friday. Thanks for the fight, Stefan and CMoe.
Officially a DNF today. I nearly threw in the towel completely, but decided to visit Google for some of my unknowns.(JOSS, WUSHU, LIA, AIDA, NIMH, SHIELDS - some Canadian disadvantage too!).
I will echo WC’s “paeans to Natick” statement. I did NOT enjoy this one!
I noted MOON and the Latin LUNA. I debated between ELM and Oak at 24A; we needed OAKS at 33A.
ALARM fit, Scoville didn’t.
Oh, it’s mulch at the nursery, not diapers (too long).
Canada has MPS too.
Can somebody explain how D.C. (District of Columbia) is STS (streets)? I think the NYC one was more understandable?
Another beautiful day. Off to enjoy it.
I’m OUTA here.
Disaster!
I frequently see STUB on Wikipedia pages, referring to a short article that needs more information. Readers must be skimming right over this term to get to the info. I trust those articles less, as not being fully developed.
Being an elementary school teacher, I knew of "The Rats of NIMH."
I have been reading a book a day since my fall, mostly on Kindle and mostly free. Not walking well, I could never have gotten my hands on that many paper books. Since I downsized I have no room to keep stacks of unread books hoping to read them later.
Abridged in the clues means shortened. I was surprised the titles were shortened so little, but I got the gist and that was helpful. Death of a Salesman, reverse the order and use " 's" instead of "of a." Good thing the titles were common.
STANS and WASHU gave me fits.
36D. "Don't __ my mellow!": HARSH. ???? -- A hold-over from the 60's... said by a pot smoker objecting to another's vocalized negativity threatening to interrupt his/her theretofore enjoyable high (<= "mellow"). Don't ask how I know.
Perhaps someone with admin privileges can delete "Big Easy"'s comment on swimmer LIA Thomas. It's hateful and prejudiced. Reasonable people can disagree on whether or not she should have been allowed to compete, but there's no call for disgusting comments on this blog. Let's do better!
Good Morning:
I had no problem with the titles as I was familiar with them all. I loved Memoirs of A Geisha and was impressed by the male author’s authentic depiction of an exclusive female community. In addition to the unknown Wushu, Nimh, Aida, and Ape Men, other “unknowns”, due to proper name cluing, were Stub, Joss, Shields, and Doberman, all of which could have been clued without resorting to pop culture references. This seems to be the new norm but I dislike it very much because it’s frustrating and I, personally, think it trivializes the solve experience and satisfaction. I don’t think I’m the only one who feels this way and, if so, I hope our collective voices are heard.
I was pleased with the low (8) three letter word count and, also, the mini creature theme with Ahi, Doberman, Asps, Yak, and Ape.
I also like the duos of Elm/Oaks, Lia/Liam, Luna/Moon, Tatami/Ahi, and IPOs/iPods. I went astray at Lara/Luna, Azur/Azul, Asti/Moët, and Uptake/Uptalk. CSOs to Moe (Moët), Vidwan/Sari, and, in absentia, Lucina (Dale and Habit).
Thanks, Stefan, for a tough but ultimately doable Friday and thanks, Moe, for your candid and very informative review. Will return to see the many visuals that didn’t show up.
YooperPhil @ 7:11 ~ Thanks for the background on Anatomy of A Murder, a movie I thoroughly enjoyed. I agree about the stellar cast, especially Jimmy Stewart and Ben Gazzara. I never knew it was based on a true story, though, so thanks for filling us in.
Have a great day.
C Eh @ 9:27AM
I googled and learned that some streets in D.C. are named after letters of the alphabet, for example C and D. That's what I had suspected when I filled STS.
. . . and the (in)famous K Street where all the lobbyists are said to gather. Recalling K Street was one way to figure this out.
Thanks for the puzzle and the blog. I got it all done, but “sts” and “stans” didn’t mean anything to me. But now I get it - “D Street” and “C Street” in W, DC (doh!). AND I got to learn from a “Bustle” article that
“stan” = “stalker + fan” = “st’an” (abridged)
I always spelled it "outta".
I failed to mention that even after working the CW on my laptop, with red letters turned on, and taking 36 minutes to complete it, I STILL did not get the theme until I came here and had C-Moe 'splain it. I might still have a bit of brain fog from the Covid.
If "stan" = the abridged version of stalker + fan, then it's a portmanteau
Musings
-STA_S/_IMH – I guessed wrong. L_NA/W_SHU – Got it! I can live with one bad cell but hate to resort to guessing. [STANS – Nixon Commerce Secretary and LUNA – Moon in Roma?]
-JOSS, WUSHU and SHIELDS filled themselves
-Completion anxiety aside, I really enjoyed Stefan’s puzzle!
-Netflix’s ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL is about the sordid doings of an MP
-We drank the Italian version of OUZO, sambuca, at an Italian wedding. DW said I had a good time.
-COOL IT - Great line in Plaza Suite
-Apollo theater/MOON? Fabulous!
-The Cleveland Indians got TOM HANKS to voice the video announcing the change to Guardians
-Except for free throws and some 3-pters, SET SHOTS have given way to mostly jump shots and dunks
-UPTALK is very common in JH girls
-Nice job, C-Moe and great story Yooper!
Lots of super lucky WAGS got me thru. APEMEN was one of the last and finally gave me the Mid South
Yesterday it was clear that Lynn Lempel was one of us boomers just based on her clues....Was hoping for some bio or generational info on today's author based on clues like..."One direction", "fandom", "singer Stone", "Don't __ my mellow", "preach" I looked up "Stefan Fastis" and found someone else named Stefan Fatsis..until I clicked on his http name "Stefan" in C-Mo's comments which brought me to the same individual Stefan Fatsis.. Is this today's Stefan? 🤔
The theme takes the "of a" and converts it to the common English "Saxon Genitive" possessive.
I was fairly sure I knew the first two theme titles but didn't understand the abridged thing till DIARY. Though it took awhile for the last two. Changed "story" to ANATOMY at the end of the third long clue then perpwaited to fill the rest. Didn't notice the (") around "Big" star for awhile, (astronomy?)... "you are kidding me!!!???? there's a word, UPTALK? (kyna like that? 😉 )
BTW Jean SMART was terrific in "Mare of Easttown"
Inkovers: over/OUTA; agree with C-Mo about "outta"
"Bubbly name" was not Mike, (singer Michael Bubblé)
So yes I bought a buncha annuals 💐🌸🌼which ain't gonna plant themselves...so I'm OUTtA here.
Edward here, from Los Angeles.
Easy peasy.
49D: I am a retired civil engineer, I was the resident engineer with the FAA , for a year on this interesting island. Great experience for this boy born and raised in a desert!
Anonymous@10:37 - Thank you for giving me the meaning of "stan." In the dim recesses of my mind, I had some vague memory of an Eminem song but that it actually referred to a person named "Stan." D'oh! Thanks for clearing that up.
Friday the 13th disaster for me. Too many unknowns. I need to get out more.
More thoughts:
Lemonade - I considered using a Friday the 13th reference, but thought the puzzle was bizarre enough! ;^)
BigEasy - I got stuck similarly, and also saw the similarity in the names Stefan Fastis and Stephan Pastis
I was thinking Sambuca, not Ouzo with the three coffee beans 🫘. Maybe Dash T, or another of our resident posters of Italian descent, will confirm it's to represent the holy trinity
Irish Miss - not sure a collective voice will make a difference to the new changes, but maybe the editors are reading this blog and will tone it down some. We'll just have grin and bear it, or give up. Thanks for noting the CSO's, especially to my "neighbor" Lucina at DALE and HABIT
Barry T - thanks for the "HARSH my mellow" explanation. I was a college student in the early 1970's. I don't recall hearing that phrase, but your explanation - regardless of when used - seems plausible. Maybe if the clue added a vague reference to being high
Yellowrocks - thanks for explaining STUB/Wikipedia connection. I'll have to look for it the next time I blog
Had this been another blogger's day to recap, I might've gone all Thumper in my reply to them
Enjoy your weekend, all
Got it but wore a bald spot scratching my head over and over.
JB2
I enjoyed this Friday romp. Challenging but very doable. I recommend watching Eminem’s Stan video ft. Dido, the uncut version. Crazed fans are scary.
Friday toughie, but still some fun moments--thanks, Stefan. And very helpful write-up, C-Moe, many thanks for that too.
Trouble getting the theme answers did give me some DISMAY.
But going to Catholic schools helped me to remember all those nuns' HABITs.
ELM trees show up a lot in puzzles, don't they?
Nice to see both names for TOM HANKS.
My first thought for 'Nursery supply" was DIAPERS. Oh, MULCH--that type of nursery.
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody.
TITT
This was challenging but do-able. When I got the first themer with SALESMAN'S DEATH - I was actually able to fill in the other themers and then the fill. I am usually solving the other way around
I had a slowdown at the top when I put ODEA for Apollo theater before the aha moment of theater of operation for NASA's Apollo missions.
Also had LARA for the bars before LUNA- both healthy nutrition bars- before perps required the switch.
My dad was stationed in GUAM at the end of WWII the war was soon to end but even after there were some Japanese still in the hills who hadn't gotten the communication that it was over!
Like Agnes, I thought that MEMOIRS of a GEISHA was excellent- and was amazed by the male author's accurate viewpoint from a female protagonist. The movie was well done - but glad I didn't see it for a few years after I read the book- so I couldn't compare as easily.
Because one of my life mottos is "The book is always better"
Thanks CM and Stefan for an interesting morning.
A tough Friday puzzle. I finished with a lot of errors but did figure the theme out. Surprisingly, I knew that STANS is from Eminem and is a mash-up of Stalking/Fans. A fan that obsesses over their idol.
Inanehiker, Shoichi Yokoi, the last Japanese soldier on Guam, was still "in hiding" when I was there. He didn't come out until 1972. He returned to Japan as a hero, and later returned to Guam on his honeymoon.
ChairmanMoe Thank you for enduring this Natick Fest and writing it up. Hand up OUTTA here is the correct spelling. Hand up only knew SALESMANSDEATH. Got the theme, but hard to get a toe hold without knowing the theme references. STANS/NIMH was only possible for me because I grew up in DC.
In the end, it came down to two sets of crossed Naticks: LUNA/WUSHU/LIAM and ELLA/SMART. WAG to FIR. I was afraid that "SEVERE COLD REMEDY" was going to be something violent. Glad it was just DEICER!
The only thing worse than a TLA (Three Letter Abbreviation) is a TLA (Two Letter Abbreviation). What is YA?? Google gives up on such a hopeless search. Using an abbr in a clue should imply an abbr in the answer?
here I was inside the BLACK HILLS of DAK inside Wind Cave National Park.
I will concede that the theme concept was clever, even if the specific titles were mostly unknown. And I will concede that it may be of value to know these unknown pop culture words/names: STANS, LIA, HARSH.
From Yesterday:
Bill Seeley and Jinx Thank you for the VACUUM TUBE comments. I mercifully started my electronics hacking in the 1970s and mostly avoided these things. But my first TV had them and I was able to repair it. And I did have some VACUUM TUBE surplus equipment, including power supplies and an oscilloscope. And... I used one to rectify very high voltage that would have been unaffordable for me with a solid state diode.
It is scary to see how expensive they are now on EBAY. I feel sorry for people who need them. I guess no one is making them anymore.
A curious PZL from Mr. Fatsis, well-expounded by Chairman Moe.
Almost FIR, but was thrown by the first theme answer, the one I truly shoulda had!
But I was guessing that 1D was JOSH, so that kept me from seeing the "S" needed to begin 20A.
Otherwise, this was a relative cakewalk--for so late in the week.
~ OMK
_____________
DR: Three diagonals, far side.
The main line offers an anagram (13 of 15 letters) of a quaint expression, used perhaps upon a reluctant encounter, a patient's first meeting with a medical staff of Victorian psychotherapists...
"ALAS, ALIENISTS!"
The mystery lingers...who is the author of the puzzle?
Stefan Fastis?
Stefan Fatsis?
Stefan Pastis
Or maybe my favorite Stefon of all
🤣🤣🤣
Natick Natick Natick. Eg: Unknown to me STANS crossing unknown to me NIMH so I resorted to the mechanical process of doing an alphabet run until I stumbled across the right letter, in this case the N. Another case in point: the U crossing WUSHU and LUNA, both of which were also unknown to me. Third case in point: the L crossing ALARM and LIA. The gaps in my knowledge of trivia prevented me from solving this puzzle without resorting to mindless alphabet running. Was it a learning experience? Did I learn anything? I think the only one of those I might remember is WUSHU; the others are eminently forgettable by me. So no.
Thanks ATLGranny for explaining those DC STS. This Canadian has not been to Washington since I was a child, and all I remember is Pennsylvania Avenue.
My interests in comics may make me more attuned to YA (yes, that is Young Adult fiction) than most here. The 16 Diary series books are pretty much what you'd expect.
From Wiki: "The Rats of NIMH is a trilogy of children's books, the first one by Robert C. O'Brien, and the second and third by his daughter Jane Leslie Conly.[1] They tell the story of a society of rats rendered intelligent by scientific experimentation."
NIMH is the National Institute for Mental Health/
YooperPhil thanks for philling us in on Anatomy!
I'm all in favor of neologisms. But I do notice STANS dates to 2000, and BarryT informs us HARSH MY MELLOW dates back to the '60s. There are annual lists of new words added to dictionaries. It would behoove us to pay attention to them!
Hi All!
Crash & Burn in the NE & SW - wish 63a was clued "Get __" :-) I had SMeRT | ELLe.
NE was only 1/2 inked.
//D'Oh! I loved Rats of NIMH as a child... Mrs Frisby in the clue through me off.
Thanks Stefan Fatsis [When I read your name*, I thought "NPR guy? Or a mash up of Pearls Before Swine's authors name?" Funny that the WikiP page C. Moe linked has the Pastis disambiguity link at the top :-)] for the puzzle that beat me.
Looks like this is your LAT debut - Congrats!
C.Moe - Thanks for the expo. I never heard STANS (for Stan Lee? - I'll listen to Eminem if I must**) as clued either.
Coffee beans in OUZO is like Sambuca in coffee - one is Greek the other Italian.
//there is nothing better after a fine meal than coffee w/ anise-booze to go with a Creme Brulee.
WO: "I'm 'Over' Here" at 2d (Hi Ray-O!)
ESPs: Did anyone else notice all the A&E names? TOM HANKS & Planet of the Apes intellects I did know.
Fav: DESKS xing (made of?) ELMs & OAKs
{C+, A}
"Ha Ha" DR, OMK
@6:45a - you must not watch many stoner movies... Chong HARSH's Cheech's Mellow [:42] //HARSHing one's mellow is making them 'think' when they're trying to chill.
I was going to quibble about one 'T' in OUTA but... Back to the Future did use it.
UPTALK? I was thinking UP Speak or Vocal Fry [NPR].
Or, the predecessor(?), Valley [MOON Unit Zappa]
Ray-O: I had! that Revell F-22 model! On the back of the box was a sat-photo of Groom Lake [Area 51] that was purchased from the (newly capitalist) Russians. //at least that's the story I heard.
You recommended yet another book for my queue; Bill Hader's Stefon is LOL.
Well, final inspection on 'new-house' is complete. We dropped our bid by $10k to cover pending repairs (~15k?) and the seller accepted. They're cool people - we all had fun chatting whilst awaiting results. So, it looks like we are about to own another home.
Cheers, -T
*I see others did too :-)
**nope. 1min in, and, just, no.
Only half of the answers clicked until I cracked Wimpy Kid's Diary." And then Murder's Anatomy" fell into place because the book and movie are set in Michigan, my home state, a rare setting. The one that totally went by me is "stans," new to me. "NIMH" I recognized from the animated "Secret of NIMH" and its lab rats, plus the wild kind.
I had a young woman supervisor who was guilty of "uptalk" or upspeak. Maddeningly annoying. I can't imagine anyone being taught to use it, since it sounds like they're looking for confirmation of everything they say and indicates complete lack of confidence. I take it as just a bad habit, to be overcome at all costs. Some seem to use it for punctuating long lists: upspeak for commas, then a "downspeak" for the period. Again, don't.
Yep, it is indeed Friday the 13th, AND a full moon to boot! (Now if the IRS would only get my tax refund out today, it would be a trifecta.)
**nope. 1min in, and, just, no.
-T, thanks for my new motto! Trouble is, it doesn't always take 60 seconds to hit the decision point....
Going back to find & write down the book...
Sorry Jinx - it was you that recommended "SR-71: the Complete Illustrated History of the Blackbird, the World's Highest, Fastest Plane"
Cheers, -T
Whew... I am back.
First, I point you all to SEPTEMBER 27 2021 LAT a puzzle explicated by Boomer to fill -14A. Clif Bar brand marketed to women: LUNA. Was it a Natick?
I also wanted to commend Moe on his write up; not only did he address a puzzle he did not like, but he kept his humor and his entertainment. He also continued to expose all the behind the scenes aspects of blogging here. The Moe has been here at the Corner for many years, and I believe appreciated all that he learned about what we do each week. Like the visitors to the Emerald City, there is magic, just not what you think you will see.
What has made this so much fun is C.C.'s uncanny ability to keep such variety and perspective in her group of performers.
Speaking of which have any of you seen OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL ?
I think I'm just the age to remember NIMH and to have learned STANS, but that makes me still too young for HARSH (thanks for the explanation Barry!)
Finished it all in black except the northwest square and the one below it!
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