30. London fashion street: SAVILE ROW.
39. Leaving the state without permission, perhaps: PAROLE VIOLATION. Nice grid-spanner.
46. Goal at a film audition: MOVIE ROLE.
64. Dickens orphan, and what is found in each set of circles in this puzzle?: OLIVER TWIST.
Melissa here. Adrian is clever to think of this. The circled letters can be TWISTed to spell OLIVER. Crossword constructor's brains must be always ready to ROLL, to notice names and common phrases that could be used for crossword themes.
Across:
1. Rapunzel's abundance: HAIR.
5. "Finally!": AT LAST.
11. Fashion monogram: YSL. Yves Saint Laurent.
14. "What __ is new?": ELSE. Yawn.
15. Dazed state: TRANCE. For Scorpions fans.
16. Punk subgenre: EMO.
19. Chem class: LAB. I loved my high school chem class.
20. Link to another story?: STAIR. Love this clue.
21. __ Sutra: KAMA. An ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life.
22. Botch: FLUB. D'oh.
23. Station with an eye on the TV: CBS.
25. Words of regret: APOLOGY. The Five Worst Ways to Apologize. My pet peeve is #3.
27. __ and reel: ROD. Fishing.
33. Big Apple?: IMAC. Once I went Mac, I never went back.
35. Audio jack abbr.: MIC. I don't refer of the jack itself as a mic - maybe it just means related to the jack?
36. "It's a Wonderful Life" director: CAPRA. Frank Capra on making It's a Wonderful Life. I know one person who hates this movie. I think there might be something wrong with her.
43. Low joint: ANKLE. My first thought was a seedy bar.
44. Outer: Pref.: EXO. As in, exoskeleton.
45. Tizzy: SNIT.
50. Country quartet __ Young Band: ELI. Hadn't heard of them. My brother and I were having lunch at a restaurant where the tv was tuned to a daytime talk show doing a segment on celebrity gossip. I did not recognize ANY of the faces shown.
51. Trattoria frozen dessert: GRANITA. Semi-frozen dessert, like a snowcone for adults. What’s the Difference Between Sorbet, Sherbet, and Granita?
53. Delay: LAG.
55. "Darn!": RATS.
59. Goes it alone: SOLOS.
63. Be in the picture?: ACT. Nice.
66. Gym shirt: TEE.
67. Wee: MINUTE. Minute (my NOOT) is an adjective that means very small, tiny, infinitesimal, insignificant. Minute vs Minute.
68. Mardi Gras locale, familiarly: NOLA.
69. Pour hamster food into the dog's bowl, say: ERR. That's not the worst. Once I walked into the kitchen to find my aunt (with dementia) filling the coffee maker with water from the dog's bowl!
70. Guy who writes jokes: GAGMAN.
71. Elitist sort: SNOB.
Down:
1. Like everything in a she shed: HERS.
2. Boatloads: A LOT. The alot is better than you at everything.
3. Land in the agua: ISLA. Spanish agua = water; isla = island. Lucina, can you confirm this: in slang aguas means be careful or look out!
4. Ancient artifact: RELIC.
5. Off-roader, for short: ATV. All-terrain vehicle.
6. Long slog: TREK.
7. Fictional archaeologist Croft: LARA. From the movie and video game Tomb Raider.
8. Critter: ANIMAL. My Texas-born aunt referred to all our pets as critters.
9. Minor injury: SCRAPE.
10. Steeped beverage: TEA.
11. Evergreen wood used for flooring: YELLOW PINE. From lumber.com: Southern yellow pine wood is one of the principal sources of softwood products in the United States. Not only is it strong, stiff, and dense, but it also has the ability to hold nails and other fasteners particularly well, which makes it a great choice for residential and commercial construction.
12. "The Hobbit" dragon: SMAUG. LOTR fans: 16 Things You Didn't Know About Smaug.
13. L, in a hotel elevator: LOBBY.
18. Planets, to poets: ORBS.
22. Ice cream concoctions: FLOATS.
24. "Ditto": SAME.
26. Killer whale: ORCA.
27. TV host Kelly: RIPA.
28. Mideast sultanate: OMAN. 1: a state or country governed by a sultan. 2: the office, dignity, or power of a sultan. Oman.
29. Hypothetical cosmic stuff: DARK MATTER. Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Wikipedia.
31. "Tom & __": biopic about T.S. Eliot and his first wife: VIV.
32. Less approachable: ICIER.
34. Analogy punctuation: COLONS. The colon stands for the phrase is to. Example - hammer : nail :: comb : hair.
37. Make muddy: ROIL. I'm more familiar with the meaning, to make someone annoyed or irritated. But the first definition is make (a liquid) turbid or muddy by disturbing the sediment.
38. Against: ANTI.
40. "Shazam!" actor Zachary: LEVI. Levi was praised for his performance as Billy Batson's alter ego Shazam. The sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods is scheduled to release on June 2, 2023.
41. Good Grips gadget brand: OXO.
42. Lounge around: LOLL. Funny word.
47. Napoli's home: ITALIA. "In Napoli where love is king, when boy meets girl, here's what they say ..."
48. Out to lunch, say: EATING.
49. Sunrise locale: EAST.
51. Rub harshly: GRATE.
52. Indy entrant: RACER. The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, or simply the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Scheduled this year on Sunday May 29th.
54. Prom wear: GOWNS.
57. Fertility clinic egg: OVUM.
58. Like a podcast about recording a podcast: META. Greek for beyond or transcending. Pertaining to or noting a story, conversation, character, etc., that consciously references or comments upon its own subject or features. Sometimes called "breaking the fourth wall." Ten Incredibly Meta Films about Films Within Films.
60. Detroit pro: LION. NFL team.
61. Capital city served by Gardermoen Airport: OSLO. Capital of Norway.
62. Wild guess: STAB. Good one.
64. "!!!": OMG.
65. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rapper MC __: REN. From Compton. First name LoRENzo.
55 comments:
FIRight. It's Wednesday, mid week, mid difficulty.
With the bubbles, I found the letters okay, but after numerous attempts, I was unable to de-anagram them to get OLIVER until the reveal. So this one is only a partial loss, since I did get that anagramming was involved. Not a great theme, especially with circles, but not a Thumper either.
Yance's HAIR was Shoulder Length,
He wore it long to show his strength.
When trimmed AT LAST
He used some craft,
And wove a handbag, tagged YSL!
A GAG-MAN once had an easy job.
Ethnic jokes didn't offend a mob.
Now he pussy-foots
Around such hooks,
For fear of upsetting a "woken" SNOB!
{B, B+.}
I wasn't familiar with the term "granita" and I certainly didn't know the name of T.S. Eliot's first wife or any rapper named "Ren." Also, like Owen I had no idea what the anagram was until the reveal. FIR, anyway so I'm happy.
Good morning!
Zipped through this one, even faster than yesterday's. That OLIVER was one mixed up kid. Only needed my trusty Wite-Out to correct EMIR to OMAN. (Read the clue, d-o.) Saw the CSO to our NOLA contingent. Wasn't familiar with GRANITA -- sounds like it's made with oats. Fun romp, Adrian. (Yo!) Enjoyed the tour, Melissa. (Methinks MIC would be the label on that jack. Couldn't view your link to A LOT due to a Trojan warning from Malwarebytes.)
YELLOW PINE: We've got a half dozen Loblolly pines in our yard (and another 60 or so in our half-acre wood lot). It's a fast-growing tree.
FIR, thanks to a good guess at GRANITA x LEVI. The theme saved me from guessing VIV x SAVILE ROW. In spite of my vast (or half-vast) knowledge of rap "music", I didn't know REN.
CBS ain't a station, it be a network. In Norfolk, Channel 3 is the CBS station. (It is actually broadcast on channel 16, but its alias and trade name is channel 3).
When a young lady shops for a prom dress, it is important to consider the fabric. She wants something that doesn't wrinkle too badly when it's stuffed into the glove box.
Low joint evoked this Garth Brooks classic.
Thanks to AJ for the fun. It wasn't easy for me, but that's fine. And thanks to melissa B for another entertaining review.
Took me 4:09 today to unTwist this one.
Like the prior posts, I didn't know: granita, Viv, or Ren. Despite taking time to remember "Savile Row," thanks to many prior puzzles, I entered "YSL" right away for "fashion monogram."
"Gagman" seems forced to me, but otherwise an ok Wednesday puzzle.
Good Morning:
I made a half-hearted attempt to parse the circled letters, but gave up and let the reveal do the work. (Two 6:00 am wake-ups in a row is two too many for this night owl. 😴) All of the unknowns are proper names: Smaug, Levi, Viv, Ren, and Eli, all easily perped, resulting in an eas solve. Some fun pairings were Capra/Movie Role/Act, Lab/Atom, Exo/OXO, and Flub/Err. CSOs to Louisiana Crew (NOLA), Ray O and Anon T (Granita and Italia) and dear CC (Tea).
Thanks, Adrian, for a mid-week treat and thanks, Melissa, for the informative summary.
Ray and Tony, are either of you watching Searching For Italy with Stanley Tucci? I’m learning so much about the regional differences in culture, geography, cuisine, life style, etc. I find Tucci’s narration and interaction with the natives unpretentious and genuinely warm.
Have a great day.
FIR, also after a good guess on granita and Levi. And the circles? Well, this puzzle would have worked just fine without them.
Well Wilbur, I EcO your comments. - Mr. Ed
A wonderful Wednesday CW, FIR in 18, faster than yesterday. DNKs VIV, GRANITA, REN. Like others mentioned, I did not untwist OLIVER until the reveal. Thanx for the fun, AJ. Terrific write-up, Melissa Bee, thanx. And also thanx for clearing up for me the difference between sherbet, sorbet, and granita. Now, gelato fits in there somewhere, too, I’ll hafta look it up. How’s Boomer?
This was so good, it deserves two silly links...
so, here ya go....
Been very busy of late, Daughter#2's wedding is in 9 days!!!
(I post this only to remind me I have to get my rear end in gear and write a speech.)
(And make sure the old Tux still fits.)
(And get a haircut!...)
(and Aaaaack!)
Lemonade714,
I read what you said late Monday.
Would I be being presumptuous in replying "I don't mind?"
(Actually, you gave me quite the belly laugh...)
Melissa,
Thanks for the informative write up,
I have several links of yours I need to view while I try on my Tux.
To save time, let me just say "I like this Blog Alot..."
Good morning and this old RELIC from NOLA didn't notice the TWISTed OLIVER until the reveal. The top half was A LOT easier to fill than the bottom with the unknowns GRANITA, META (Facebook's new name), REN, OSLO, & LEVI. SMAUG, ELI Young, and Tom & VIV were other unknowns.
Melissa- your explanation of META reminds me of all the televised 'awards' shows. They get together to tell each other how great they are with the real motive of trying to get more people to watch their shows or buy their recordings.
GRANITA- lots of Italians in NOLA. After eating at Venezia's Restaurant we walk down the street to Brocato's, which has SPUMONI, GELATO, CANNOLI, BISCOTTI, CUCCIDATI (fig cookies), CASSATA cake and about various baked cookies. I'll look for some Granita on the next trip.
Fun puzzle, not too many names. Tried Gelato instead of granite. Rain instead of roil, Ren was unknown as was Viv.
A nice FIR Wednesday, with circled letters to puzzle out. No idea what was jumbled up until the clever reveal. Thanks, Adrian, for today's offering that kept me entertained during breakfast and coffee time.
My WOs were on opposite corners: Level/LOBBY and nuTS/RATS. Perps cleared that up and the rest went smoothly. Thanks, Melissa B, for all the additional information in your review. It's helpful.
For years I have made ice cream and sorbets in my ice cream maker. I made some easy vanilla ice cream just yesterday, but I have never tried making GRANITA, which isn't made in a machine. Have you looked up gelato yet, unclefred?
I liked how ITALIA and GRANITA crossed. Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday plus a frozen treat if it's hot where you are!
C.E.D. You know we love you.
The theme, reveal, and write-up were all great. As long as the unknowns can be discovered from perps I am happy and learning new things. I must work to keep my title as pop culture guru. Thank you Adrian and Melissa
Musings
-A fun puzzle by AJ where the gimmick jumped out at me
-A new-to-me Italian dessert crossing an obscure actor was a pretty easy STAB in the dark
-APOLOGY in my classroom – “I did it, I’m sorry and here is how I will fix it”
-Lindberg – First SOLO flight across the Atlantic. Earhart – Second SOLO and first woman
-It took a while to realize that a button with a 1 on it in a European elevator would be a 2 in America
-Fran Drescher made a living having a voice and laugh that GRATED on people
-Kevin Bacon’s MOVE ROLE as REN McCormack is more familiar to me.
I enjoyed the puzzle and theme - similar to IM all the unknowns were perpable. I have heard of GRANITA but haven't ever eaten it- we have a gelato food truck that shows at many outdoor events but I don't think they ever serve it.
I did this crossword on Sporcle this morning - interesting the different approach to solving when one only gets "Down" clues.
https://www.sporcle.com/games/rorriMgnizamA/its-all-down-clues-from-here
Thanks Melissa and Adrian!
A nice, twisted start to the day. Thanks for recap and for the link 'splain' granita, Melissa.
I'm back. After mastering the NYT wordle, spelling bee etc., I felt hungry for more, so tried the LAT again yesterday for the first time in at least a couple of years, got through it, and today’s was even quicker, so here I am, back at the Corner.
Glad to see some of the old hands still here. Like some of you, my social trivia is sadly lacking, so quite a few guesses were needed. ELO had to be changed after coming here, since SLAUG was also obviously wrong. This kind of thing, along with my total ignorance of sports news, was partly why I lost patience with it before.
Meantime, I'll try to be patient with those. If anything, doing it online makes it easier for me than on paper.
AtlGr @9:11 Yes, I did. The online dictionary says it's ice cream with less air churned in, making it denser and more intense in flavor. I've been to Ibiza several times, and couldn't even find shops selling ice cream. It was all gelato. I assumed at the time that "gelato" was the Spanish word for ice cream. Apparently, as with most assumptions, I was wrong.
Apparently it also has less butterfat, less sugar, and no egg yolks usually, so it's a "healthy" choice. Yum!
Liked the twist of this puzzle. Going to send a screenshot of the completed grid to my 12 y o grandson Oliver. He's a gamer but has lately gotten into WORDLE and all its variations. Want to start him on easier CWs soon. His middle name is Reed. My SIL is a comic book collector. Named him Oliver for Oliver Queen the "Green Arrow" and Reed for Reed Richards, "Mister Fantastic" (Justice League Marvel comics). Unfortunately I had to point out to him that Oliver Reed was a binge drinking alcoholic hell-raising English actor who died at 61 during a drinking competition..🙄
Inkovers: sprain/strain/SCRAPE, spumoni/GRANITA (stony hard gelato?)
ROLLO VERIRA: A Brazilian soccer player player?⚽️🤸♂️. 😅
Almost put arks for ALOT, the largest of all "boatloads". "London fashion street" not Carnaby. Dive bar too long for "low joint". (Mel: I see we think alike)...Our frequent 3 letter perps pivoting on X EXO-OXO.
I believe CRITTERS derives from creatures like "vittles" (food) from victuals. REN and VIV unknowns, LEVI too, though I saw "Shazam" (shoulda waited for the credits?)
IM, watched Stanley Tucci first season. Thanks for alerting me about the second. His family like mine (both sides) originated in Calabria so am a bit surprised that hasn't been one of his culinary destinations.
Non-disclosure enforcer....GAGMAN
Losing Tic Tac toe entry....OXO
Funeral transport....HERS
Good Queen Bess 2 is one...ROIL
Sunny Day..finally stopped raining...the grass is as high as an 🐘's 👁
That's the only definition of ROIL that I use, to make someone angry is to Rile them.
Unlike the link, I pronounce MINUTE as MY NYOOT. Wiktionary says minyoot is UK and min(y)oot (whatever that means) is USA.
Only MC I know is Hammer
I'd recognize M.C. Escher. Ren? Like Ren and Stimpy?
Hi All!
The Theme won me VIV (is that Tom & 9 [IX]?) so I'm good today.
Thanks Adrian (LOL Yo! D-O) for the puzzle to noodle on.
Thank you mb for the mighty-fine review [more links to click!] and who doesn't like "It's a Wonderful Life"? Something's wrong there.
WOs: ISLe & I was thinking of the Rev. RuN DMC
ESPs: SAVILER ROW(?), GRANITA | LEVI, ELI
Fav: NOLA. I know the natives don't like the abriv but they live in the best city in America to visit.
{B, A+ //George Carlin would agree}
IM - I'm not watching Stanley's show. Thanks for the heads-up.
D-O: have you been to the MC Escher exhibit at MFAH yet? Hahtoolah highly recommended it too.
Speaking of things to see in H-Town - LeoIII will give you the tour even with his NFL lanyard on :-)
CED - I have that book!.
Back to work. Cheers!, -T
Enjoyed this new TWIST on a recurrent theme of scrambled letters in circles. Hand up for the unknowns SMAUG, REN, VIV, GRANITA, LEVI, ELI. WAGs to FIR.
Love any science reference, so happy to see DARK MATTER. Fun to see KAMA SUTRA after the TANTRA discussion.
Here are the members of our META Lab at the University of California. You can see me peering out of a cave.
Our ring leader Jonathan Schooler is a master of clever acronyms. He is in the 1% of researchers who have made the "Highly Cited Researchers List". He created META long before Zuckerberg. Perhaps we should demand royalties? META implies self reference, but it also implies getting to the hidden universe beyond surface appearances.
Anon-T, no I don't intend to go to the exhibit. I enjoy Escher's work, but it's very geometric. I think I can enjoy it just as much in a book, or online, as I would in person. It's been over five years since I visited Houston. I'm going for a record...
From Yesterday:
Vidwan Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and detailed reply to my TANTRA comments and Borobudur photo. So frustrating to have it deleted. Thank you even more for taking the time to write it and post it all over again. I have things set to email me a copy of all posts, so nothing gets lost. I did indeed dig back and found your original post.
Yes, way cool about the additional ancient TANTRA and KAMA SUTRA erotic art. I went to a museum in Peru that showcased similar art from this hemisphere. Without the joy of sex, none of us would be here. Even those who are uptight about sex.
Wilbur Charles Thank you for explaining that "Mr S" is "MISTER Stupidity". We are often harder on ourselves than we are on other people. You are definitely not stupid and I very much appreciate your encouragement regarding my posts.
TTP Or whoever moderates: I just made a post thanking Vidwan and Wilbur Charles and it was never posted. Can you please retrieve it and post it? Ironically, it was about having posts deleted!
Picard, I'm not sure what's going on with deleted posts but TTP (I assume it was he/she) got your post about deleted posts (meta?) back so everything is fine now. FWI.
Sorry, that should be "FYI" of course.
Delightful Wednesday puzzle, Adrian--not easy but very doable, perfect for this day of the week--many thanks. And very helpful commentary, as always, Melissa-thanks for that too.
Fun to see OLIVER everywhere.
One of the few items I just couldn't get was STAIR. Of course I thought of "story" as narrative, not as a group of steps. Cracked me up when I saw the answer.
I loved the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" back in the day. Hope I get to see it again
sometime.
No I suppose a dog wouldn't like hamster good.
Have a great day, everybody!
Hola!
Home again! Home again! I do love that cool, breezy northern California weather, though.
Thanks to Adrian Johnson for a welcome back puzzle that was easily solved and no problem with the circles. It's a fine TWIST.
Even though I studied the poems of T. S. Eliot, I did not know he had a wife and I was convinced he was gay. My ERRor.
Also, not only does ITALIA cross GRANITA, but EATING as well. Nice.
Melissa, I'm sorry to say that I haven't kept up with Spanish slang and in fact, I hardly speak it at all now that my mother is gone. Once in a while I turn on the Spanish TV channel to make sure I still understand it.
I'm invited to the ordination of a priest in June and don't know if I should wear a GOWN. The invitation states: FORMAL.
It's so good to read you all. Thank you, Melissa, for your informative narrative. How are the granddaughters?
Warm greetings to you all! It's already 88 degrees at 10:05 this morning.
Picard at 11:16 AM
"Our ring leader Jonathan Schooler is a master of clever acronyms. He is in the 1% of researchers who have made the "Highly Cited Researchers List".
You mean the "HICIREL"...
😃
Delightful puzzle today. I usually begin these types of puzzles with the gimmick and this morning Oliver Twist showed up quickly, so the rest easily fell into place. I had never encountered the word granita before. This dessert seems similar to sorbet. There’s always so much to be learned following this blog. I love it.
Am I the only one here who does the puzzle on paper? My local newspaper publishes it every day, so it’s more convenient that way for me. But I’m not good enough to do it in ink, so my pencil eraser gets a good workout.
Thank you Adrian for a wonderful, just write Wednesday word wander, through which I successfully found my way to the exit. You are an adept at what Adrienne Raphel calls Thinking Inside the Box.
And thank you Melissa for an excellent review. Loved your musical recap with Stevie Winwood's steamy video. Other highlights to follow.
Some favs:
15A TRANCE. DNK the Scorpions. Now I do!
19A LAB. I loved chem lab too, but I have vague recollections of getting into a lot of trouble there.
27A ROD and 37D ROIL. These clues brought to mind a famous song by Franz Schubert called "The Trout" ("Die Forelle") depicting a scene in which a fisherman, tired of waiting for the wary trout to fall for a hook in the clear stream, "roils" the water, confusing the trout who is taken at last. A short, sad tale sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. (2 min. with lyrics and translation).
36A CAPRA. MB, I'd call your acquaintance a MS POTTER.
56A ATOM. Interesting definition for an ATOM, which I'd never heard before.
68A NOLA. And, as I'm sure someone has already pointed out, a CSO to our George.
2D A LOT. Loved this explanation. I knew the grammar, but didn't know ALOT was an actual 8D.
7D LARA. Also a tasty snack bar.
12D SMAUG. While I've read the Hobbit to my son and grandchildren several times I knew nary a one those 16 things about Smaug, including how to how to pronounce his name, which is really just standard German.
47A ITALIA. One of my favorite restaurants is NAPOLI in Dean Martin's hometown of Steubenville, Ohio. If you're ever in the area it's definitely worth looking up. They don't take reservations, but they have tavole abbondanza.
Cheers,
Bill
BTW, Teri solved this puzzle and she's come up with a new ending: FWH ("Finished With Help"). I told her lots of us Cornerites do this from time to time.
Tante Nique, I always try to solve on paper -- especially after learning what a mess Wite-Out makes on my monitor screen.
ATL granny
Healthy and ice cream were never meant to be used in the same sentence...🍦
Ugh...need to get outside and start cleaning up at camp. Bought a battery powered chain saw to cut up fallen trees trunks and branches
(One of our nurses told me the use of a chain saw is "contraindicated" cuz I'm on blood thinners, told her I had no plans to excise any body parts). The stump grinder guy left a mess and the shoreline needs a good raking..
Much more fun to hang around here and make the usual nuisance of myself 🙉 but..those logs ain't gonna stack themselves..🙄
Tante Nique - I print out the puzzle at the LAT web site.
I'll add my restaurant plug: Chefs of Napoli in Wildwood, FL. Very near the Brownwood section of The Villages (America's favorite home town).
Ray - O @10:10 AM In addition to being a wastrel Reed was also a great actor. "Women in Love" (which I've seen 3 or 4 times) and "The Devils" are two of my favorites (although the latter is a toughie, which I've seen only once). As for "Meta" films I think I've seen "8 1/2" 8 1/2 times!
Also, I think you'd enjoy "Signor Volpe" streaming on ACORN, which as been described as "escapist" fantasy. It takes place in Umbria which is absolutely beautiful. It stars Emilia Fox, and even though she's aged a bit, she is still very much a Fox.
Note to Lucina: I suggest a tasteful gown. After all, ordinations are celebrations.
desper-otto - label ... that make sense.
lucina - s'okay, thanks anyway. granddaughters are great, thanks for asking, ready for summer. already 106 where they are (az)!
big easy - agree about award shows.
kazie!!
Jinx in Norfolk. I too print it sometimes when the newspaper misses a delivery and on Sundays when the print is too small in the newspaper.
WAZ ...I agree with you, I also saw "Women in Love" and "The Devils" was a terrifying horror film for it's time.
Ironically he was the the malicious "Bill Sikes" in the 1968 version of the musical "OLIVER"
I also switched to an iMAC years ago, Melissa B and "never went back."
But I am not entirely happy with the latest desktop. It is slower than my previous model and spends far too much time idling behind that *#@! rotating color ball.
Nor would my local outlet transfer my old files for me. They just said they "no longer do that."
Geniuses.
Yep, I tried for GELATO before GRANITA. Just could not make it fit!
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals today, all on the near end.
The central diag offers us an anagram (10 of 15 letters) of a phrase that once served as the caption in official Chinese newspapers under a photo of the country's president blowing kisses at a group of uniformed girl guides.
The label praised ...
"BILABIAL XI!"
Lots of participation today
In France the bottom floor is the Rez de Chausee*
Tante Nique, I'm a P&I** guy.
There's a method to the madness of ink, no wite-out , especially on a Saturday. Many letters can be changed without inking over. I heard that someone published an article on how to alter letters for xword purposes.
WC
* Une chaussée is another word for "road," and rez is Old French for ras, meaning "flat" or "level" (think of the word "razor"). The ground floor is called le rez-de-chaussée in French because it is level with the road.
** Pen and ink guy. Yes, redundant in the ballpoint pen era. Ink on paper is a phenomenon in the Tao of xwording.
Ol' Man Keith, i upgraded to the new iMac a few months ago and love it except that all the sudden the keyboard does not work unless the charging cable is plugged in. PITA because that means i can't charge the mouse without unplugging the keyboard. i'm sure there's a fix just haven't wanted to spend the time to figure it out yet ...
Puzzling thoughts:
FIR; only hiccup was having SUV/ATV
I enjoy this kind of puzzle; don't think it needed circles, though
Thanks MB for the recap
Welcome home Lucina!
The painters in my house speak Spanish. Fortunately, Youngest has Latina friends and can translate. I understand when they ask for cervesa //gotta keep the crew happy :-)
Tante Nique - Where are my manners? I've forgotten to welcome you to The Corner. Welcome. I hope you stay & play.
I too am ink on newsprint. My solving is sloooow (esp. compared to SpeedySolver) because I don't put pen to paper until I'm fairly sure perps work.
LOL white-out on the CRT, D-O. //there was a Blond Secretary joke to that, right?
Fun DR, OMK.
Wasseley - I was never a big fan of the Scorpions. Back in the day, a buddy tried to get me to listen to Rock You Like a Hurricane [I was big Beatles/Stones/Who fan - no patience for 'modern' stuff - you know, like, when you're 12yrs old :-)].
Then he put on his brother's RUSH Signals ('cuz he knew I was a nerd)... Chemestry from the album seems LABpropos. (hmm, joke seems forced :-))
Hey! Guess what? My NPR Planet Money's MicroFace Comic Book came in today. If you're a fan of 'how things work' the whole series is a hoot.
Gotta run for another fan to outgas the house. Seriously, I don't know how those guys don't pass out. I had to take my laptop to the garage to work 'cuz the fumes... Oy!
Cheers, -T
I’m glad to see some brave people use ink on paper. Wite-out on computer screens is a nono of course. Thank you Anonymous T for thé warm welcome. Wilbur Charles, Mr P&I, how does that method work?
For me, pen and ink are the only way! The Sunday puzzle in the AZ Republic used to be minuscule but they suddenly enlarged it! yea!
Thank you for the welcome back!
I liked this puzzle and everyone's comments.
Ray - O @1:50 PM Here's the trailer for Signora Volpe.
WAZ ..Looks interesting.
Thanks..I see it's on Amazon prime.
Melissa,
Thanks for the great blogging, and noticing my return!
DNF. I worked about two-thirds of the puzzle before I went to sleep early this morning, and then I finished all but one square at work today. I didn’t know 16A/12D, so after I finished proofreading, I came here to the Corner, not noticing that I had left the M blank where they crossed. It really didn’t matter, because I had earlier figured that I would just slap an L in that square, so mox nix. As soon as I got 17A, I figured out the reveal and the circles.
Thanks, Adrian and Melissa! Nice puzzle and expo!
As usual, I didn’t know a few of the proper names, but the perps got them for me. I DID know RIPA, because a few years ago when I had to go to my doctor’s office every weekday morning to get a new bag of foo-foo juice to chase away a staph infection, “Kelly and Ryan” was on in the waiting room.
GAGMAN reminded me of Rob Petrie on the old, old DICK VAN DYKE SHOW.
Anon T @ 4:46, thanks for the introduction to MicroFace.
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