Puzzling thoughts:
Today's puzzle size is a 16x15. Billy Bratton needed the extra row of cells to make (38-Across. *People born during the Era of Good Feelings?:) UPBEAT GENERATION fit into the grid. The puzzle has rotational symmetry - which is good - but it also has a plethora of 3-letter entries; 22 of them, to be exact. That's generally more than most Friday/Saturday grids, which tend to be more difficult to solve. But difficult clueing can overcome that obstacle
Bratton chose four phrases that are punned by adding the word "UP". 38-Across took BEAT GENERATION - defined as "a movement of young people in the 1950s who rejected conventional society and favored Zen Buddhism, modern jazz, free sexuality, and recreational drugs - and added "UP" to fit the clue chosen for this entry. The Era of Good Feelings - also called Era of Good Feeling - described the national mood of the United States from 1815 to 1825, as first recorded by the Boston Columbian Centinel on July 12, 1817. The US had just exited the War of 1812. Wikipedia gives a detailed report
18-across. *Occasion to pin back one's coif?: UPDO TIME. "DO TIME" is a phrase common to convicted prisoners; as in serving a period of time to atone for your crime/felony. "UPDO" is a word known to persons who choose to pin or contain their long hair to the top of their head
26-across. *Catchy part of a virtuous song?: UPRIGHT HOOK. I have absolutely NO CLUE what was meant here. UPRIGHT as an adjective means virtuous. UPRIGHT (noun) can also refer to a type of piano. A RIGHT HOOK in boxing is a way to throw a punch with your right hand. A HOOK could refer to a barbed wire that is used on the end of a line of a rod or pole to "catch" a fish. But where does the word "song" fit in? I'm confused; and I'm your blogger du jour
47-across. *Evening spent downloading the latest OS?: UPDATE NIGHT. OK, I think I got this one! DATE NIGHT is a newer term, used to describe - wait for it - a night on which you go on a date! Well, maybe a bit more subtle than that! Margaret and I define our "DATE NIGHT" as that night of the week where we literally disconnect from society and reality. No cellphones; no computers; no TV (well, maybe a movie, but definitely no news channels). We often play cards, have adult beverages and/or other legal recreational "goodies", listen to 1970's music on our Bluetooth speaker, and have a wonderful time together. Downloading the latest Operating System? Not on DATE NIGHT
Here is the completed grid:
Across:
1. Kilauea flow: LAVA. According to Hawaii-Guide dot com: "Kilauea volcano, on the Big Island of Hawaii, is currently erupting at its summit - flooding the floor of Halemaumau Crater with fresh LAVA flows." Closely related to 68-across. Mauna __: LOA. They actually are "related" geology-wise, though Mauna LOA hasn't spewed LAVA in over 35 years. They are about 22 miles apart (see map below)
5. Clear dishes from: BUS. This website defines the word BUS, as clued
8. Jammies: PJS. What do you call YOUR bedroom attire? Jammies? PJS? Nightgown? Nightshirt?
11. Hosp. figures: DRS. RNS also fit. That slowed me down some until the perps came to the rescue
14. Longest, as odds: SLIMMEST. This one came to me immediately. And while I don't ALWAYS root for the underdog, I often look at the odds for a horse race, for example, and try to choose a horse to bet that has longer odds. This can result in a hefty payout. This year's Kentucky Derby winner, RICH STRIKE, is an example. The horse was originally set at odds of 30-1 to win the race. At the start of the race, RICH STRIKE had odds of 80-1, and had - according to the bettors - the SLIMMEST of odds to win. But the horse did, and rewarded those who bet on RICH STRIKE handsomely
16. Like many Berbers: SAHARAN. Berbers are the indigenous people of North Africa - where the SAHARA desert is found
19. Like village roads: TWO LANE. UNPAVED also could fit
20. Mediterranean country: ISRAEL. GREECE also fits. Most folks don't always think of ISRAEL first when referring to a Mediterranean country. But the image below shows that it clearly lies on the SE shores of the Mediterranean Sea
And somewhat related, we have 5-Down. Capital in the Levant: BEIRUT. The Levant is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia
22. Mixed martial artist Rousey: RONDA. A welcomed sports clue! Knew this one. Here is her website
23. Girl of the fam: SIS. Fam:Family; SIS:Sister
29. Shortly: IN A BIT. I put "IN A SEC" into this space at first, which again slowed me down until perps appeared
32. Arboreal marsupial: KOALA. A KOALA (native to Australia) exists by eating the leaves of eucalyptus trees; which oddly enough are poisonous to most other species. KOALAs are a favorite food of pythons, owls, crocodiles, dingoes, and foxes; and oddly enough are not poisonous to other species ... as far as I know
33. "You betcha": NATCH. Slang term for "naturally"
34. Garage door opener brand: GENIE.
Garage Door seller's
Favorite '60's sitcom?
"I Dream of GENIE"
35. Org. that includes the TSA: DHS. Department of Homeland Security
42. Digs in the mud: STY. Clever clue; probably Patti's. Digs (noun): living quarters. "Pigs digs" could also fit as the clue for 42-across, but that might be too obvious for a Friday puzzle
43. Battery measures: VOLTS. Battle Born Batteries dot com has a pretty simple description for battery measures: "Battery voltage is the amount of electrical potential a battery holds, measured in VOLTS. Batteries vary from a few hundredths of a volt to many hundreds of volts, depending on battery size and construction. To simplify, think of a battery as a pipe. The voltage of that battery is the water pressure in the pipe"
44. Biblical mount: SINAI.
45. Bernie in his mittens, Keanu playing with puppies, etc.: MEMES. These:
46. "Yeah, that's old news": "I HEARD".
52. Manhattan option: RYE. Manhattan, as in the name of a cocktail; RYE, as in the name of the whisky that is the preferred choice for this cocktail. I do enjoy a Manhattan. Two parts RYE to one part Sweet Vermouth; a dash of bitters (I prefer Orange Bitters); garnished with a Maraschino Cherry. This cocktail should be served "UP", so it is a fitting drink choice for today's puzzle
53. Mind: SEE TO.
54. Qualifying events: TRIALS. Another sports clue. Time TRIALS are a popular way to "select" the cars that will run in the Indy 500, for example
57. Calm: AT PEACE.
64. Brings in: GROSSES. Nice to see the word "GROSS" used in a non-derogatory meaning! In this case, GROSSes is the amount of money one makes in their job. For the record, Chairman Moe GROSSES $0.00 for writing this blog
65. "You can guess the rest": ET CETERA. According to Wikipedia dot com: "ET CETERA, abbreviated to etc., etc, et cet., &c. or &c is a Latin expression that is used in English to mean "and other similar things", or "and so forth". Translated literally from Latin, et means 'and', while cētera means 'the rest'; thus the expression translates to 'and the rest' "
66. Put away: EAT.
67. Keystone bumbler: KOP. Some poetic license here? The normal spelling of this group of bumblers is Keystone Cops. I guess that Patti allowed this spelling of "COP" so that 31-down ("Tell me if this is too personal, but ... ": I HAVE TO ASK) would fit
69. Monumental: EPIC.
Down:
1. "Geaux Tigers!" sch.: LSU. A "slam dunk" for Chairman Moe, as my daughter is an LSU alumna. This is also a CSO to Big Easy and Hahtoolah, but I might be missing other Cornerites who are from Louisiana. Their iconic fight song:
2. High point of a trip to Europe?: ALP. Notice that many of today's 3-letter words are clued cleverly and/or with more difficulty
3. YouTube clip, for short: VID.
4. Mine, in Montréal: AMOI. Frawnch
6. Many an election night graphic, for short: U.S. MAP. This map probably appeared at some time during the 2020 elections
7. Direct: STEER.
8. LAX setting: PST.
9. Yak: JAW. Yak (as spelled) could also mean the animal, but I could only think of the meaning in the image below once I got PJS for 8-across
10. Limited autonomy, so to speak: SHORT LEASH. What we bloggers were put on when it comes to contacting the LA Times puzzle constructors, prior to their puzzle being published. Maybe Billy Bratton will stop by today and offer a few comments
11. Pipe cleaner: DRANO, and 12-down. Internet stranger: RANDO. Forget about what the two words are or what they mean. Did anyone else notice that both words use the exact same letters? And if anyone cares to help define for me what a "RANDO" is, feel free
13. Quarterback maneuver: SNEAK. 3 sports-related clues today? Patti, did you know that Moe was going to be CC's blogger today??!! ;^)
15. The Colorado fourteeners, e.g.: Abbr.: MTS. The entry would be obvious if you knew what a "fourteener" is. In this case, it refers to the mountains (MTS) in Colorado that are over 14,000' in elevation
17. Hana Airport greeting: ALOHA. Hana is on the eastern part of Maui, and would not be the logical arrival airport if you plan on visiting Kilauea or Mauna Loa
21. Compares: LIKENS.
Dermotologist
Makes money comparing zits:
LIKENS the lichens
23. Facial cavity: SINUS. My SINUSes have been less active since moving to the desert
24. Unsuitable: INAPT. Something I hope I'm not when it comes to blogging
25. Watched from the sidelines: SAT BY. Sports clue #4? I guess this could refer to what a back-UP or reserve player does, as they sit on the sidelines (bench) at a sporting event
27. Left: GONE. Past participles: Leave:LEFT; Go:GONE. DEM'S could also fit with this clue
28. Locks: HAIR. Friday clue for a Monday word
30. Letters in ancient history: BCE. [from some website I found on Google] "People ask: Is BC and BCE the same era?" Answer: "They're just another example of the evolution of human time-tracking and mean exactly the same thing as AD (anno Domini) and BC (before Christ). Simply put, BCE (Before Common Era) is a secular version of BC (before Christ)"
34. Understands: GETS IT. SEES IT works, too
35. Currency of Serbia and Jordan: DINAR. The DINAR is also the main currency in six other countries formerly belonging to the Ottoman Empire: (from west to east) Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, (the aforementioned Serbia and Jordan), Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain
36. White with frost: HOARY.
Prostitutes are known
To be cold and uncaring,
Or perhaps, HOARY??
37. Biting: SNIDE. Was that last Moe-ku a bit SNIDE?
39. Large volume: TOME.
40. Singer Campbell: GLEN. He liked to use state and city names in his song titles; and he always seemed to be leaving them or heading towards them. "I am a lineman for the county ..."
41. Draw: TIE. Sports-related clue #5, but who's counting?
45. Two socks, hopefully: MATES. Ha Ha! This is something quite real in our household. And even though Margaret is going to proof-read my notes, she cannot refute the fact that several of her socks have no MATES!!
46. Mississippi source: ITASCA. Another gimme for Moe. Lake ITASCA is in Northern Minnesota - close to the city of Park Rapids - and is considered the source of the Mighty Mississippi. The elevation at Lake ITASCA is just under 1,500' above sea level. The Mississippi river also passes through Baton Rouge, LA - home of 1-down (LSU) and also the state capital. The river's length is just under 2,350 miles
From Wikipedia Dot Com: "Lake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately 1.8 square miles in area. Located in southeastern Clearwater County, in the Headwaters area of north central Minnesota, it is notable for being the headwater of the Mississippi River. The lake is in Itasca State Park"
Fun Fact: When Chairman Moe worked for 3M he got to see this area UP close
47. Linguistic practices: USAGE. A CSO to Yellowrocks, who probably rolls her eyes at my butchering of the English language!! ;^)
48. Violinist/singer Haden: PETRA. Confession: This was the only clue I HAD to google. The other words all seemed to mesh together once I confirmed this person: [Wikipedia] PETRA Haden (born October 11, 1971) is an American musician and singer. She has been a member of That Dog, Tito & Tarantula, and The Decemberists. I couldn't name a song of hers if my life depended on it ... maybe someone who does will link one for us to hear
49. Light rail stop: DEPOT. Here is a description about Light Rail
50. Slop: GRUEL. Despite the negative connotation of this clue, GRUEL is not defined as something unpleasant or inedible - as per [Wikipedia]:"GRUEL is a food consisting of some type of cereal—such as ground oats, wheat, rye or rice—heated or boiled in water or milk". Slop, to me, sounds like something you'd feed the occupants of 42-across
51. Aware of: HIP TO.
55. Cell service letters: LTE.
56. Appease fully: SATE.
58. Citigroup's Jane Fraser, e.g.: CEO. Chief Executive Officer
59. Super vision?: ESP. As opposed to "supervision"; for which I couldn't find a 3-letter word to fit into this space
61. Set component: REP. Yet another sports-related clue?? A REP (short for REPitition) refers to one of several motions performed by a weightlifter, for example
62. Tetra- minus one: TRI. Tetra: from Greek, from tettares ‘four’; TRI: from Greek treis 'three'
63. __ bunt: SAC. For those non-sports (baseball) solvers: "A SACrifice bunt occurs when a player is successful in their attempt to advance a runner (or multiple runners) at least one base with a bunt. In this vein, the batter is sacrificing themself (giving up an out) in order to move another runner closer to scoring."
Not sure if Billy offered this clue or one of the editors ... but I'm going to call "foul"! Rarely do baseball players, managers, coaches, reporters/broadcasters, or even fans refer to it as a SAC bunt. The full word "sacrifice" is more common. Now, if the clue had been ___ fly, I'd be fine with the word "SAC"
Ok, folks. Now it's your turn. Comment away. See you in a couple of weeks
34 comments:
FIRight, tho I've no idea how. Going away for a little certainly helped.
Problem words? Well, there was this entire grid, you see...
I caught part of the theme, the UPs, very quickly. But I neglected to dig deeper and see phrases in what followed. A good theme I probably would have gotten if I hadn't been so frustrated with the rest of the puzzle.
Chairman Moe the “hook” is the catchy part of a song that sticks in your head. This is a big DNF for me. After 15 minutes I had seven clues filled. I’m not sure if it was the extra column (not row) that killed me, but I didn’t wanna spend an hour on the CW, so quit.
Cmoe, I have no idea what a "rando" is and even Wikipedia was no help. I do understand "hook" though, as unclefred said, it's the part of the song that some people call an "earworm." This puzzle took a long time for me to solve, but I finally did FIR, so I'm happy ( not to mention relieved.)
FIR by erasing uptight hook for UPRIGHT HOOK.
I remember the HOOK for GENIE jingle:
"[blah, blah, blah] - The GENIE Automatic Garage Door Picker-Upper".
For a while I was sidetracked by that famous carpet - Berber.
Our light rail system doesn't have a DEPOT. But we do have a distinction that yours does not - ours is the most expensive light system in the USA. Taxpayers subsidize every ride by $8.
I know ITASCA (IL) very well. GTE used to train at a hotel there. The hotel had a cook-your-own steak restaurant called Vulcan's Forge. My boss told me to cook a steak from the grocery, and just buy a baked potato at the restaurant. I didn't. DNK the other ITASCA.
I thought this one was easy for a Friday, which I suspect means that I'll get my butt kicked this weekend. Thanks to Billy for the fun, to Patti for not ruining it, and to C-Moe for the giggles.
Good morning!
Late to the party today. Had to spend an hour with BofA -- my credit card got hacked...again. Oh the joy of notifying all those auto-pay accounts that my card number has changed...again.
Got 'er done, Wite-Out free. I call that a winner. Got the theme without noticing the reveal. Some things never change. Thanx, Billy and C-Moe. (Methinks a RANDO is just some random person. I've always seen Keystone Kops spelled with two Ks.)
RYE: In Wisconsin (and apparently only Wisconsin) the "Manhattan option" would be BRANDY.
DEPOT: Jinx, I think Houston's Light Rail could give your system a run for the money as the more expensive boondoggle.
MATES: I've previously mentioned that I ditched all of my old socks and purchased a dozen identical pairs. No more sorting. Being color-blind I often had to ask dw if my socks matched. On one occasion she replied, "Yes, but your shoes don't." D'oh.
I got up in 7:51 today.
Found that the long answers all started with "up" made for an easier than usual Friday, to me.
I didn't know Petra, Itasca, or that in Keystone, Kops wasn't spelled that way.
Hook, as they said above, is the catchy part of a song. Check out "Hook" by Blues Traveler, which proves the point, as the lyrics say "it doesn't matter what I say...."
Also, "Rando," I believe, is short for "random person." I don't think it's specific to internet, but I really can't be sure of that.
Hana is on the island of Maui, and it's probably much safer to fly there than drive there. The "road to Hana" is an adventure, but beautiful. One of my favorite hikes is near Hana.
FLN: "~" is a TILDE:
(1) an accent (~) placed over Spanish n when pronounced ny (as in señor ) or Portuguese a or o when nasalized (as in São Paulo ), or over a vowel in phonetic transcription, indicating nasalization.
(2) the tilde symbol as a part of a URL.
(3) a symbol similar to a tilde used in mathematics to indicate similarity, and in logic to indicate negation.
FIR. It was a struggle, and the perps saved the day a few times. Got the theme early tho.
Rando is internet shorthand for a random person you don't know.
Only eleven days until summer and the days getting shorter. As e a few publication others have said an easy Friday with a add letters theme .
Me Bratton has had quite a few publications since his debut here in January
Moe I remind you this is a family website and your birthday suit reference might be misunderstood.
Enjoy all
Lemonade714 @ 7:40: Changes made and saved
Found it impossible.
this puzzle left a lasting impression in me...
I liked the UP theme, Billy. Easier than yesterday for me.
RONDA and RANDO were new to me. RANDO makes sense and was a good wag.
As a waitress when the diner did not specify the liquor, martinis automatically used gin, Manhattans used rye and so did old fashioneds. These days more and more people have a preference, so it's safer to ask.
Many places where I worked we had to bus our own tables. We were warned never to go into the kitchen empty handed. With every trip we removed some empty dishes from our own diners' tables or someone else's. In the end there were fewer dishes left to bus and diners were happy to have the extra space free of unwanted clutter.
I used to lose sock mates and throw the solo ones into a drawer. Eventually I would go through them and could pair many of them up.
Keystone KOP seems legitimate to me. That was how they spelled their name. Keystone Kop is now an idiom for a bumbling and inept person.
I try to avoid autopay. I have only two such arrangements which I couldn't avoid.
As a child and as a mom we never said jammies or PJs. As an an adult I find pajamas with long legs confining. I prefer nighties or, occasionally, shorty pajamas.
Moe, your grammar does not make me cringe. Ogden Nash played with syntax and pronunciation. But I am stricter about meter and the sound of poems when read aloud.
Interesting blog today. PS, birthday suit seems innocent enough, That term is even used with toddlers
CED, Let's hope that impression was made from muddy water, not a sewage overflow.
FIR but really a DNF, the D crossing RANDO and RONDA was a WAG never heard of either one. (Agree with Subg. When the puzzle was done I googled "RANDO" and "RANDO internet" and got nuthin'). The SW was tricky and the last to fill...slowly. (HOOK is like a "earworm" song, right?)
Theme: give UP? I like repeating themes where once you get the gist it helps with the rest of the themed clues.
Inkovers: nomadic/SAHARAN, UPRIGHT hymn/HOOK
KOALA dinner time: "Mom, Eucalyptus leaves AGAIN!!!😫
Inept, but INAPT? (Yeah, I know,, we've had it before)...One cow to another: "Don't listen to his bull, he'll STEER you in the wrong direction"....Canada eh, do you sleep in Pajamas or Pyjamas? 😉
A CSO to VIDwan. 😀
ISRAEL crossing BEIRUT ? Yikes!! ..and 57a is still quite a distance away. "Levant" (levante Italian: "rising") the Eastern Mediterranean from which the sun rises (in the east). ....GRUEL is a watery soup. Think the pigs would prefer a heartier "slop"
Growth on rocks....LIKENS
Berber covering: _____ Wrap...SAHARAN
Mr. Whiplash to friends...SNIDE
Sch. near LSU....TWOLANE.
"Her RIGHT HOOK is knocking the stuffing outta me." "HELP ME _____!! RONDA
So Billy Bratton's part of the puzzle is advertised as edited by Ms. Varol but not Christina Iverson's. 🤔 Unfortunately they are forbidden to tell us why.
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Billy and CMoe.
I FIRed in good time and saw the UPSTART theme.
Some inkblots to shorten UPBEATNIK, change IN A Sec to Min to BIT, cop to KOP, and decide between Rea or LOA, DRS, MDS, RNS.
A MOI reminds me of Miss Piggy. No STY for her. (I queried Digs plural vs. STY singular, but “accommodation, lodgings” can be both I suppose.)
There were fair perps for unknown to me names (Levant, Jane Fraser, DHS, PETRA, RONDA). LOL, Campbell was the old GENERATION GLEN!
Another busy day.
Read you all later.
Enjoy!
LOL, I just read CMoe’s explanation for MTS (not an ALP). It perped for me. I thought the fourteeners were a team like the 76ers.
Ray-o - Jammies are Pyjamas for this Canadian, NATCH.
I think that digs is like scissors and pants, in that it refers to a single object. People seeing your home for the first time might say, "nice digs." This term seems old fashioned to me. I never say it, seldom hear it and seldom read it, but I remember it.
The UP in the theme answers was helpful, even before I got START.
Once I figured out the spelling of BEIRUT it was an easy puzzle for a Friday. After UPTIGH HOOK the UPSTARTS were easy fills.
RANDO was an unknown but the NE had three fills with the same letters- DRANO, RANDO, & RONDA.
PETRA was the only other unknown than the CEO guess.
All bunts are sacrifice-SAC- bunts. Like the 'perfect circle'. To me SAC is the Strategic Air Command,
LSU- Chairman, that may be the official fight song but two songs are played more, especially Garth Brooks "Callin' Baton Rouge". Check out this video from last month in Tiger Stadium. Only 102,000 people attended and I missed it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQn4bBYQins
Calling Baton Rouge. C Moe as anonymous
Thank you Billie for a Friday challenge, which I futzed round and round with until I got a FIR. I must confess however that the landscape looked pretty HOARY for the longest time. Got the theme fairly early and it helped.
MOE, thanks for another excellent review. Billie is certainly an UPSTART among constructors.
Some favs (INAPT that most of them are DOWNS):
35A DHS. Wanted (T)ransportation in there somewhere. This held me back for quite awhile.
3D VID. A CSO to our Vidwan.
25D SATBY. An adjectival form of SATB? But CHOIRY was too long.
30D BCE. I've often wondered how the year between BCE and CE was chosen.
36D HOARY. RIMEY didn't perp.
40D GLEN. An EPIC number of HOOKS in this guy's songs. Here's one of my favorites. A CSO to Jinx?
48D PETRA. Swagged the R as it the A led me to believe it was a woman's name. PETRA is also a place that I've read a lot about, but have never visited. I think a few folks here have though.
Cheers,
Bill
Cheers,
Bill
Neat puzzle. Nothing left undone. I too used to like Manhattan up cocktails, however some places didn’t understand what I meant by “up”. Why is it up for Manhattans and neat for other drinks?
LSU fans are truly fanatics.
Whew! That was not a walk in the park... SW was a bugger. My grid.
Hi All!
Interesting puzzle, Billy. Lotsa language USAGE in there. I had (hours of (while attending class)) fun though.
Thanks for confirming my grid C. Moe. Great expo!
To add to unclefred & @711 - the HOOK-song connection: Blues Travelers went meta with their song Hook.
WOs: [see: grid]
ESPs: Oy!
Fav: I do say "I gotta ASK" 'cuz... curiosity kills the cat.
Rando - some Random Idiot on the Internet; usually with trolling opinions.
LOL, D-O, our toy train in Houston is silly - esp. at grade-level.
Ray-O: LOL KOALA complaint. CED - great 'impression'
Class starts again IN A BIT. Gotta finish the lab.
Cheers, -T
Hi Y'all! Interesting challenge, Billy, thanks. Thanks, CMoe, you really dug UP a lot of good stuff.
I got the theme early and plugged in the other UPs which helped. As for the rest of the puzzle, I thought it was hard with a lot of unknowns. I perped along as long as I could before giving UP and resorting to red-letter runs. 35:30 minutes to fill it.
Left = went before GONE. He left. He went. Not He GONE. He "is" GONE.
As an old water-shed studier, I was excited to learn that ITASCA is the source of the Mississippi. How come I never knew that before, I wonder. Took ESP here.
With all the night storms we've had lately, I've been sleeping in my day clothes a lot. I want maximum coverage if... Tuesday night tornadoes went thru within blocks of several relatives in the KCKS area. They escaped damage. No wind here. Hard rains tho.
Looks like unclefred was the first among others to advise the Chairman of the musical meaning of HOOK.
My problem with the UPRIGHT HOOK fill, requiring a re-write, was that my first version ended with HYMN.
I mean, what else do you associate the words "song" and "virtuous" with?
I did pretty well on this Friday challenge, but gave it over when I saw that the grid is asymmetrical (16 x 15) and therefore lacking in diagonals.
Too bad, as I thought Mr. Bratton and I were onto something!
~ OMK
I liked this puzzle. I wrinkled my brow with amusement at DRANO and RANDO side by side, crossed by RONDA.
Huey Lewis and The News taught me it's HIP TO be square.
Our iPhones used to show LTE as our cellular connection, but my new one shows 5Ge and her new one shows 5G.
We have to buy special light bulbs made by GENIE for our garage door opener even though it is not made by GENIE, because regular LED bulbs produce so much RF noise they interfere with and prevent the proper operation of the remote control.
So, if "someone's in the kitchen with Dinah" would someone be in Kitchener with DINAR?
We have light rail in San Jose; I have ridden it numerous times to go to the convention center downtown. If there was decent parking downtown, I'd drive there, but as it is I had to drive all the way out of town, to Campbell, and take the light rail into town from there. The result was my burning more gas and driving ever farther in order to take public transportation.
Happy Friday and good wishes to you all.
Hey Ol' Man Keith, have you heard of the Meisner technique? I am asking because I noticed that our granddaughter has recently added "Meisner trained" to her résumé.
Musings
-Back from a great 18 holes with grandson who is on track to become a DR.
-After that we crossed the Platte River to the Bottom Road Bar at Morse Bluff, NE (pop. 117) to EAT two huge hamburgers and great fries for $14.80. I gave her a $20 and told her to keep the change. Great Day!!
-One great Beatles HOOK was simply, “Yeah, yeah, yeah”
-H.S. dating found me on many unpaved TWO-LANE roads
-Glen Campbell as a temporary part of this famous group in 1965 singing Help me R(H)ONDA
-Dickens’ miserly Scrooge claimed he saved money by eating GRUEL
Jayce,
Yes, Meisner is a well-regarded training technique for actors. It came into prominence after my time, so I am not well acquainted with it (although a couple of directors used it on me in my day).
Your daughter can be proud to claim it among her credits.
~ OMK
OMK, thank you.
DNF today for me. Left the space blank at the crossing of RONDA and RANDO, rather than entering my WAG, which would have been D. Another mistake was putting W instead of R in SHORT LEASH, thinking early on that the word was going to be "show" something and never checking it later. So not a perfect solve, but the rest of the puzzle came together nicely. Thanks, Billy, for entertaining us.
C Moe, you added so much to the puzzle experience today, which I appreciated. We are on a road trip this weekend so my schedule has been different and my visits today to the puzzle world more irregular, but the learning moments here are important to me. Hope everyone has an interesting weekend!
Thank You Billy Bratton and Christina Iverson for a rather challenging puzzle, that I was barely able to finish, only, with a couple of lookups. The theme seemed to be sorta obvious, and helped with the lower answers.
Thank you Chairman Moe for an engaging and involved puzzle review blog. I enjoyed reading your explanations and learnt a lot.
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The word 'pyjama' is etymologically derived from the hindoostani** ( precursor of both Urdu and Hindi - ) word. The prefix of the portmanteau .... 'py' or 'pie' means the singular for foot ... ( paay )...
... the second half 'jama' ( no, not the Journal of the Amer Medical Assn -) simply means covering / dress / or apparel. Even today, a plain jama refers to a loose shirt often worn in everyday life, during the day or night.
I really should show gratitude and indebtedness to Bill Butler, editor of the LAX Crossword.com , for this information.
** Lest someone misunderstands, .... Hindoostani / Hindustani was the language of Hindustan - the olden name for India. Although it would mean 'land of the hindus', it was never interpreted as such ( the ruling Mughals were not hindus - but very much muslims, ) - but more as in,... a land where the hindus reside.
However, in any case, that word is offficially frowned upon today, specially by the government, for being nonsecular, chauvinistic and discriminatory.
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Fave a nuce Friday evening, you all and a great weekend.
Thank you for the CSO for me, for Vid. a short nickname i seem to have engendered here on the blog. Actually, the etymology of Vidwan, meaning a learned person, is from the sankrit word, vidya, meaning knowledge.
About 8 years ago, I adopted that avatar, in a moment of recklesssness, when I was pontificating about something on the blog. It also helps keeping my conscience clean, since I realize, that if I cannot contribute something useful, it is better to say nothing. With the passage of time, .... words on the internet, are permanent on ether space, and as such, can never be erased...
Ray O Sunshine, ... talking about Koalas, I have learnt that they rarely, if ever, drink any water ... their kidneys are so super efficient at recycling the water which would otherwise have been expelled. ( Just having had a kidney transplant, I should be in a position to greatly appreciate that fact .... ;-o) ) Also since they are such slow moving animals, that they would be at great risk from predators, while down on the ground,... hence all their lives are spent on the tree limbs.
Eucalyptus trees, on the other hand, are noted for their prodigous usage of soil water, altho their leaves dont carry much of that water. Euc Oil on the other hand, is a very strongly flavored oil and perfume, that is simply overpowering to the senses ... it has also been used to treat certain types of dermatitis and skin diseases.
Hola!
Whew! I almost missed the party! It was a long, hot day today while attending two funerals. For the second one my sisters and I decided not to go to the grave site since it was 109 degrees by then. I'm sorry I missed the 21 gun salute for the 102 year old man, husband of a distant friend (from my previous parish).
So I finally got to the puzzle just before dinner and then finished afterwards. However, my computer was blocked but Mark managed to unblock it.
So all I can say is, I finished the grid!
LAVA at the top and (Mauna) LOA at the bottom and ALOHA all look interesting. The UP- theme was obvious but not until the reveal did I get the whole picture. I liked it.
PETRA as clued gave me fits though I've known it as a personal name, my mind is filled with PETRA in Jordan.
I hope you all have enjoyed a pleasant day though it sounds like rain was in the picture for some.
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