Good Morning Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with the Thursday recap. Our Princess of Power friend She-Ra, above, is having a tough time. We all know what that can be like. That said, the fact that this puzzle seemed to be a bit more difficult to solve than most Thursday puzzles is certainly a "first-world" problem. I will try to remember to point out the ROUGH PATCHes that I encountered as we go along.
Today's puzzle is a collaborative effort from Mark McClain and Robert Wemischner. Mark's first puzzle was published in the LAT in October, 2014. Robert had a puzzle reviewed here in February 2020. There may have been others too, and you can find several of his puzzles listed on the Crossword Fiend site.
Let's begin with the themed entries - all of which were starred for our convenience. At four places within the grid, the puzzle-setting team has placed answers within which can be found adjacent, scrambled letters that form the word PATCH when they are unscrambled.
18 Across: *Supply on a gift wrap station: SCOTCH TAPE. Often use it.
27 Across: *Messaging app: SNAPCHAT. Never use it.
39 Across: *"Some Enchanted Evening" musical: SOUTH PACIFIC. They don't seem to make 'em like this anymore. Okay, so it's not the best version of the song, but did you know that Jay & The Americans (Western Union, She Cried) recorded it in 1965? This rendition is from 2019:
Jay & The Americans
54 Across: *Second game of a doubleheader: NIGHTCAP. NIGHTCAP, obviously, has a couple of other meanings, too.
The reveal comes at:
66 Across: Difficult time, or what is hidden in each of the answers to the starred clues?: ROUGH PATCH. I suppose that we are supposed to interpret ROUGH to mean something along the lines of "approximation". In this context I find ROUGH to be a bit of a stretch. But, hey, we're talking crossword puzzles, here. We're not drafting legislation. Hmm, perhaps the pols should consult puzzle creators for editing assistance.
Here is how this looks in the completed grid:
. . . and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
1. Fountain output: SODAS. Not the Trevi Fountain or something similar.
6. Basics: ABCS. Today's "let's pass on the Jackson 5" moment.
10. Cause a scene: ACT UP.
15. Join forces: UNITE.
17. Old Scottish landholder: THANE. We've seen it before but it was still a bit of a rough PATCH.
20. Cancels: VOIDS.
21. As suggested by: PER. ALA, anyone?
22. Cratchit boy: TINY TIM. A Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol reference. God bless us, every one.
God Help Us, Every One
24. Drink that may cause brain freeze: ICEE.
25. Go by: ELAPSE. From Casablanca, "As Time ELAPSEs". Play it, Sam.
29. Verne captain: NEMO. He preceded the clownfish.
30. "Lion" Oscar nominee Patel: DEV. DEV has been visiting us often recently.
33. Zesty Twirls maker: ORE-IDA.
34. Constellation near Ursa Minor: DRACO. A rough PATCH for this solver. Some familiarity with the word DRACO helped. Most of that familiarity came from a dive into the history of Vlad (The Impaler) Dracul. Dracula = son of Vlad the Dragon.
36. Chicago suburb: CICERO. The site of a race riot in 1951.
43. Mato __: third-largest state of Brazil: GROSSO. A rough PATCH for this solver. "Largest" helped. A bit of Romance Language knowledge helped.
44. Flower holders: STEMS. Hand up for first going with VASES. Commander Cody would not have made that mistake.
Asbury Park, New Jersey - August 5, 1977
47. First name in mysteries: AGATHA. AGATHA Christie, nee Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller.
51. GPS heading: ENE. East North East. The answer to this type of clue can be any one of the many secondary intercardinal directions denoted by the first letter of North, South, East and West.
53. Congeal: CLOT.
57. Stick (to): ADHERE. I tried to start the Church of Teflon . . . but I couldn't find any adherents.
59. "Thanks for explaining": I SEE. "I SEE," said the blind man as he spit into the wind. "It's all coming back to me now."
60. Barbecue spot: TERRACE. A rough PATCH. PATIO was too short. I guess that I will have to move to a high-rise condo.
63. The way things are usually done, for short: SOP. Standard Operating Procedure.
64. Learned league?: MENSA. A rough PATCH. Would they revoke one's membership for being stymied here for a while?
68. Wood used in guitar-making: ALDER. Many other types, too.
69. Beachy vacation spot: ISLE. Beachy? That's almost as bad as PROSY.
70. Minimal amount: TRACE. Rough PATCH. Hand up for LEAST, initially. It would have gone well with 71 Across.
71. Paper for a pad: LEASE. Cute. Pad as in beatnik slang for the place where you live.
72. Examined: EYED.
73. Sports: HAS ON. As in wears.
Down:
1. Hang: SUSPEND. SUSPEND me from the highest tree?
Roger Miller - 1978
2. "The Lorax" voice role for Ed Helms: ONCE-LER. A rough PATCH. Thanks, perps. I know some of Geisel's characters but not this one.
3. Grade school exhibits: DIORAMAS. Three-dimensional models.
4. NFL passing stat: ATT. ATTempts. At least it wasn't pluralized.
5. Splinter groups: SECTS.
6. Env. directive: ATTN. ATTeNtion.
7. Sound like an ass: BRAY. After watching too much TV leading up to last Tuesday's primaries, my mind initially went in a different direction.
8. Egyptian Christians: COPTS. The largest Christian denomination in Egypt and the Middle East.
9. Biergarten vessel: STEIN. A German theoretical physicist walks into a bar. He orders himself ein stein.
10. Off-rd. rig: ATV. All Terrain Vehicle
11. First-class: CHOICE.
12. "Meditation in motion" discipline: TAI CHI. I wanted to do TAI CHI but I ended up with chai tea.
13. Like zombies: UNDEAD. I prefer this type of Zombie:
2019 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
14. Coin replaced by the euro: PESETA. Spanish. Neither Pound nor Franc nor Lira was going to fit.
19. Made haste: HIED.
23. Haka dancers of New Zealand: MAORI.
Kapa Haka
26. A bit, in music: POCO. Italian. . . or . . .
2015 Colorado Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
28. Faculty figs.: PROFS. PROFessorS. Not the worst plural-y abbreviation that we have come across.
31. Amazon gadget: ECHO. Amazon's smart speaker.
32. Celebs given the red-carpet treatment: VIPS.
35. Should, with "to": OUGHT. What did the librarian say when the books were in a mess? We OUGHT to be ashamed of our shelves.
37. Word in many Encyclopedia Brown titles: CASE. The boy detective series of books.
38. MBA course: ECON. ECONomics. B'school reference. UCLA GSM class of '79, here.
40. Piece of land: TRACT. "Sherlock, what do you know about the gastrointestinal tract?" "It's alimentary, my dear Watson."
41. Hankering: ITCH. URGE?
42. Keyboard instruments that sound like glockenspiels: CELESTAS. A rough PATCH. Thanks, perps.
45. "Casablanca" setting: MOROCCO.
46. Composer Sondheim: STEPHEN.
47. Twisted balloon shape, often: ANIMAL.
48. Supermodel Bündchen: GISELE. A bit of a rough PATCH. Thanks perps.
49. Board meeting outline: AGENDA.
50. Dissertations: THESES.
52. Per item: EACH.
55. American Eagle Outfitters loungewear brand: AERIE. A rough PATCH. Usually clued with an avian reference. Thanks perps.
55. American Eagle Outfitters loungewear brand: AERIE. A rough PATCH. Usually clued with an avian reference. Thanks perps.
56. Unlike poetry: PROSY. We kinda guessed that PROSE would be a likely jumping off point but PROSY?
58. Pool statistic: DEPTH.
61. Wear the crown: RULE.
62. Like some dried meats: AGED.
65. "__ you decent?": ARE.
"Me? Sure, I'm decent."
67. Coach Parseghian: ARA. University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach from 1964 to 1974 and occasional visitor to our puzzles.
That wraps things up for today. May your day be without much in the way of rough spots.
Robert and Mark, you are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever in the Comments section. We'd love to hear from you.
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44 comments:
SCOTCH TAPE
SNAP CHAT
SOUTH PACIFIC
NIGHT CAP
FIWrong. All along the bottom. Trivially, I misspelt CELESTeS. More serious, I had SEEN < EYED. The three perps all made sense with either word. A brand name I'd never heard of, PROSE < PROSY, AGEN < AGED.
I did better with the theme. I'd identified the 5 scrambled letters before I hit the reveal, so all it had to do was save me the simple trouble of figuring out the scrambled word was PATCH. I rate this a win!
There once was a fellow named STEPHEN
Who decided to marry for a season.
His wife had a kid,
Whom he treated as his,
And a pet chicken, which he called his STEP-HEN!
McBeth was a wealthy Highland THANE
Who sought for more prestige and fame.
We know his words today
Both because of a play,
And the recordings on SCOTCH TAPE of the same!
{A-, B+.}
Our esteemed editor continues the recent tradition of using more obscure clues in place of more commonplace ones, just to make the puzzle more challenging. I refer to the crossing of "echo" and "Cicero" among others. But through a number of WAGS and sheer dumb luck I managed to FIR so I'm happy
By the way, Owen. It's so great to see your poems again. Maybe your "dry spell" is over. I hope so, anyway. Your poems are one of the high spots of my day!
Good morning!
Found this one to be pretty easy for a Thursday. Only went wrong with inT/ATT and that A in CELESTAS (Hi, Owen). D-o even read the reveal clue today. Wow. Thanx, Robert, Mark and Mal-Man.
CICERO -- When I lived in IL one of my assigned distributors was located on CICERO Ave on Chicago's south side.
And the heat goes on. We've been experiencing two-outfit days for more than two weeks. Walk early, then shower and change clothes for the remainder of the day.
Thank you Robert W and Mark McC for a challenging Thursday CW puzzle. I had a good time and enjoyed it.
Thank you MailMan for your rebiew blog and your pubby riddles and jokes ... enjoyed them, very much.
Thank You OwenKL, for your wonderful limericks, todays 2 were especially delightful. Glad you are over your rough spots and the creativity has started flowing again. Best of Luck for the future.
Hope Boomer and CC are also doing well, and things are resolving and issues are receding into the distance.
I have along journey ahead, first time this year.
Have a freat week, you all.
Unclefred flashes to a FIR in a stunning 32 minutes, leaving all others in the dust! LOL! DNK ONCELER, DRACO, GROSSO, or AERIE. Encyclopedia Brown? Prosy? Didn’t get the theme, but probably would have had I looked. I was just pleased I managed to complete this CW. Thanx, RW & MM. thanx too to MalMan for all the time and effort put in for our entertainment. I hope Boomer is weathering HIS rough patch well, and c.c. is coping.
Xxxxxxxx FIW on DRAgO/POgO cross. POCO makes sense. I think Drogo was a Dwarf character of Tolkien's. Or was it Frodo's father who drownded..
That "STEP HEN" may have been nothing to crow about but…
It seemed like the "easy" constructor composed the top and the hard grader the bottom. My mental alpha run should have stopped at C for POCO.
I had REaD, replaced the a for the E in RULE and was stymied until PROSY/EYED dropped.
We sermon to be back to Rich style Wednesday, Thursday xwords.
WC
Xxxxxxxxx is filler. I have to copy, go back to top then bottom then paste and immediately publish else error occurs
FIR, but erased ala for PER, ceder for ALDER, and prose for PROSY. Guessed my FOUR Natics correctly - must have been more SWAGS than wags.
Sounds from my ass are more like...oh never mind.
Where I grew up, OUGHT meant "should" and "zero". "We OUGHT to return our Coke bottles for our $0.02 deposit, just like we did in "ought six."
For the Bundchen fill I wanted "MRS GOAT", but it wouldn't fit.
I knew POCO, not from music but from my tiny Spanish vocabulary.
As a kid, I remember going to Crosley Field to see the Reds play a twinight doubleheader. We would stay in one of the grand old hotels in downtown Cincinnati, then go to the horse races at River Downs on the way home.
Thanks to Rbt and Mark for the fun challenge, and to our MalMan for delivering the PUNishment.
FIR, but quite a slog. Lots of unknowns, and a few WAG's got me through. Phew!
I believe the word ROUGH in the reveal was referring to the word PATCH was roughed up by being scrambled. Just a theory.
I echo D-O today - but I could usually just ditto what D-Otto says :) This filled quite smoothly - I had to wait for perps on DRACO. I'm surprised it wasn't clued as Harry Potter's nemesis DRACO Malfoy if they wanted to put a younger spin on that clue.
I did start with LAIRD for Scottish landholder - but then remembered THANE from MacBeth when the perps weren't allowing the first word.
Thanks MM and Robert & Mark!
We're headed to visit friends in Wisconsin and then on up to Duluth for my DH to run Grandma's marathon on Saturday. I'm glad the storms have already gone through!
I managed to patch this one together in 7:02. Just a tad ahead of our dear unclefred.
Missed the theme, until reading the fine review here. I agree that "rough" is a stretch.
Unknowns for me today were Cicero, Stephen, and Grosso (the "3rd largest state..." - I get a kick out of some of those attempted justifications for obscure clues).
I got tripped-up by first entering ACCT instead of ECON for the MBA class, and with Cicero, Grosso, and "ENE" as 3 of the 4 crosses, I found that to be a ... rough patch.
FIR, but it took awhile to get a seed to grow in this PATCH.
I agree with the clueing, it will take some getting used to after so many Rich years.
Thank you Mal! I haven't thought of Commander Cody since my college days. I have fond memories of afternoons enjoying "Hot Rod Lincoln". And, The Zombies were a favorite of mine.
Stay Cool and enjoy the day.
Vid @5:55 AM One thing you can say for MailMan - he always delivers. 🙄
Rough Patch?
Musings
-I HIED through this puzzle (ONCELER the only TRACE of obscurity) but needed the reveal for the gimmick.
-The SODA fountain of my misspent yute generated a lot of Cherry Cokes and Green Rivers
-TINY TIM’s marriage to 17-yr-old Miss Vicki hit a ROUGH PATCH and they eventually divorced
-My astronomy teacher said DRACO the SNAKE-O wends its way between the dippers
-We put up fencing because the bunnies were eating Joann’s Stargazer lilies down to the STEM
-SCOTCH TAPE ADHERES to a lot of surfaces
-I love She’s Not There, but the voices have not aged like Jay Black’s, who did not appear to be in that number they sang
-FORE! Early today which will beat the heat.
The ROUGH PATCH for B.E. was GROSSO & CASE, both unknown. Was it ENE or NNE? Guessed Grosio & Cain. Never heard of either ONCELER or DRACO but guessed right. But I never noticed the PATCH until the reveal. A DNF today. If I don't know it and can't figure out the cross with and ABC run and nothing seems reasonable, I leave it blank. I try to learn from mistakes, the best teacher. AERIE was also unknown but it was easy after 5 perps were in place.
Doubleheader? I don't think MLB would do that without emptying the stadium so they can charge for a new ticket for the NIGHTCAP.
GISELE, aka Mrs. Tom Brady.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Robert and Mark, and MalMan.
Officially a FIW, as I WAGged an N instead of a S in SOP (I wanted Normal), giving me a Celenta.
Ah well, my other WAGs for the R in DRACO/ONCELER cross and CICERO/CASE/ECHO almost-Natick crosses turned out to be correct.
I did get the PATCH theme, although I too am not sure how ROUGH fits (maybe Brian is correct?).
Hand up for thinking of Vases before STEMS.
You wear that American Eagle loungewear in your AERIE. Nice marketing!
Her Majesty (not HRH, as I mistakenly posted previously) Elizabeth II just celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of her RULE. Thanks for the picture MalMan.
Yes d’o, we are warm here too. Hopefully no rain for the concert in the park tonight.
Wishing you all a great day.
FIW, spelt it MORaCCO thus SaP ("Soon As Possible?). And while I'm at it why should I break my "I don't get the theme" streak..(TAPE used to PATCH? The PACIFIC can be ROUGH??? wha?)....Inkovers: laird/THANE, (inaneh), VAHSE/STEMS (hand up)
Took a while to sink in that the 4-letter answer for the clue "basics" is almost always ABCS. "Fountain output" chocolate? champagne? Speaking of "drinks" ISEE I'm gonna hafta try an ICEE since it keeps poppin' up in puzzles. But not while working on one, bad time for a "brain freeze". DRACO Malfoy (MALAFEDE, Italian & Latin from yesterday), Harry Potter's "bad faith" nemesis.
Oscar winner Rami Malek is COPTIC Orthodox Christian. There's is also a COPTIC Catholic Church in communion with Rome.
If Zombies are "undead" then they must be...alive? (There's a fun zombie rom-com 2013 flick about a guy zombie who falls in love with a live girl: "Warm Bodies")... "BBQ spot", TERRACE?
What is Gisele "Bünchen" about now??!! 😏 (probably the word PROSY 🙄)
"South Pacific", one of my classic favs, was ahead of its time dealing with racism. "You've Got to be Taught". 1958 version about inbred prejudice would likely be banned in some states today.
Pursued...TRACT
It's Craig's list, just place your ____ ...ADHERE
Move quickly...TERRACE 🤭.
🎼 "I'm gonna wash this puzzle right outta my hair" 🎶
Puzzling thoughts:
FIR - didn't require any red letter assistance. I, too, thought that the "theme/reveal" has something to do with the letters P A T C H being "roughed up/scrambled"
Didn't see the reveal until the end
Was it stated already, or did anyone else notice that this was a 16x15 puzzle grid?
MM, I enjoyed all of the musical clips today
Of course, I HAVE to unearth an old limerick I penned several years ago; it involves one of the crosswords du jour (As others said, it's good to see Owen back creating his poems)
Amish couple rode by in a carriage.
The town's preacher was heard to disparage:
“Something doesn’t seem right;
She grew up Mennonite,
And I only perform same SECTS marriage."
Enjoy the weekend. Thanks Robert and Mark; and you too, stinky sea cow! ;^)
I agree with Subgenius that there are now more obscure answers with the new editor, especially proper nouns. Puzzles are somewhat more difficult. I don’t mind them being a little more difficult, would just prefer it be by word play vs trivia.
Hi Y'all! Interesting puzzle, thanks, Robert & Mark. Thanks for hitting us out of the ROUGH, MalMan.
Yay! after several days of not seeing a theme, I'm happy to get PATCHed in.
My ROUGH spot/aka natick was mid-puzzle with DEV, CICERO, GROSSO, ECHO. Also DNK: ONCELER, PESETA, DRACO, CELESTA, GISELE. GISELE sounded familiar after I filled it. Much of the puzzle fill was perps & WAGs.
SOP & ATT perped in without reading til I came here.
Owen, glad your Muse finally awoke. Sometimes it just isn't there.
This puzzle was right up my alley; few rough patches that easily fell into place. I used to be able to sing most of the songs from South Pacific. I loved Stephen Sondheim’s music.
Chairman Moe liked your “modern” poem.
I hope everyone can stay cool or safe from floods. I’m already tired of summer.
Good Afternoon:
Late to the party as I had busy morning. I liked the well-hidden theme and I agree with Brian @ 7:56 on the meaning of Rough. There were many unknowns, to wit, Draco, Grosso, Once-ler, Celestas, and Aerie, as clued, but perps did their job and all was well. I also liked the low (8) three letter word count and the O parade with Nemo, Draco, Cicero, Grosso, Poco, Echo, and Morocco. CSOs to Jinx (Unite), All Academics (Profs), and Lucina (Peseta).
Thanks, Robert and Mark, for a challenging Thursday and thanks, MalMan, for the funny and punny recap. Yes, I went with Ala before Per. Thanks for the much needed and appreciated humor!
FLN
Anon T, I just recently received my supply of Gibble’s, so all is well, thank you.
Have a great day.
Bit of a Thursday toughie, but still a lot of fun--thanks Robert and Mark. And many fun comments, thanks for those, MalMan.
Owen, delightful poems this morning, many thanks.
A treat to remember AGATHA Christie. Was she a MENSA member?
Nice to get SODAS and ICEE and maybe a STEIN or two while enjoying snacks on the TERRACE.
Since I was one of the PROFS I had lots of experience with THESES, and was always thankful when they weren't too PROSY.
Have a great day, everybody.
Forgot to add: SOP is kinda a general category. GTE had GSPs - General Standard Procedures, and Lucent/AT&T had MOPs - Method of Procedures. Same difference. In any case, an important part of quality management is that everyone knows where to find those SOPs, and that everyone follows them (unless they get a waiver). SOPs don't guarantee that quality objectives will be met, but they make it more likely. In addition the SOPs provide a repository for the lessons learned while following the SOPs.
So nice to have a FIR on Thursday. Thanks, Robert and Mark! The puzzle didn't seem so hard, though I made the common missteps as posters before me getting EYED, PROSY and AGED. Tried VetoS before VOIDS was perped. And I definitely needed the reveal to find the theme. Recently read about the Lorax so Once-ler looked familiar.
Thanks also to MalMan for an extensive review. Very interesting!
Nice to see your verse today, OwenKL.
Lots of hair washing these hot days. Hope everyone is staying cool.
Thank you Robert and Mark. I liked this puzzle. I'm beginning to get accustomed to the "New Thursdays" and all this took for a FIR was Patience and Perseverance (the new "P&P"?).
And thank you mellow MalMan for all of your insights and humor, which compensate (just a bit) for the Hahtoolian hiatus. I think that the reveal is a pun on PATCH with "difficult" riffing on "approximate". While I did eventually see it in the themers, it wasn't much of a help with the solve, plus I never no where to fill it in. Liked all of the Internet Bling too.
Favorites:
39A SOUTH PACIFIC. This musical was way ahead of its time.
43A GROSSO. My favorite is the CONCERTO GROSSO, a common instrumental form used in Baroque Music, e.g. Bach's Six Brandenburg Concertos. Here's the third movement of his 5th.
8D COPTS. This community is being severely persecuted throughout the Horn of Africa.
26D POCO. One of my grandchildren's cats is named POCO LOCO. Actually I think they should have named it MUCHO.
Cheers,
Bill
I learned just now that the slightest unaware movement of the mouse can erase the entire post.Grr!
Hola!
I let too much time ELAPSE on this but finally finished and enjoyed it. Thank you, Robert and Mark.
Barbecue on the TERRACE, er, patio, would not be advised in this extremely hot weather. It's 102 at the moment. SODAS sound tempting to drink right now.
My favorite song from SOUTH PACIFIC is Some Enchanted Evening.
When traveling in Spain, a side trip to MOROCCO is appealing and a 20 minute boat ride across the Strait of Gibraltar.
CSO at THESES to our PROFS, Misty and OMKeith. Anyone else?
I recall many shopping trips to American Outfitters when my daughter was a teenager.
Yes, the PESETA has been replaced by the euro.
In Hawaii we saw many groups doing TAI CHI in the parks and on the beach.
Owen, it's great to read your poetry once again. Please continue.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
Come back Rich.
Did I oversleep and it's Saturday? Oy!
Hi All!
Nope... I tossed the towel in the SOUTH. Sam's Bar(?) was right-out at Casablanca.
Fun diversion while I virtually attended a conference in Vegas, directed the contractors, attended another meeting, and walked a dude through my home. Thanks Robert & Mark.
MManatee - excellent expo and some fun music. #Props
I went straight to The Cranberries at Zombie.
Alimentary? Dear, every read Mary Roach's Gulp?
WOs/ESPs/Flat-out-wrong: Know what? Here's my mess. Go ahead -- point & laugh at my ROUGH PATCHES.
Fav: I'll go with COPTS. Muslim buddy of mine took me all around an ancient city in Egypt where the COPTics built beautiful shrines.
{A, cute}
SSolver - yep. I put ACCT in too.
Anyone try RTE@51a? Or the ush[ual] [double-sic] @63a going for the modern slang that's been soup-du-jour?
So the guy from Seattle came this morning. I think he was 'meh.' We'll see what his SNAPCHAT [actually Facetime] significant-other thought about the joint.
Play later! Cheers, -T
No, I didn't read GULP but I've read other of her books and she humorously describes some human body functions. She also used to have a regular column in Readers' Digest to which I once subscribed but then, what to do with all of them.
Late to the party today. LW and I have been glued to the TV screen for 2 1/2 hours.
I liked this puzzle. I usually like Mark McClain's puzzles.
Because I had PROSE as the answer to 56 down, I had -EED at 72 across, which made no sense no matter which letter of the alphabet I tried out in that blank square. So DNF. I suppose I could have maybe sussed AERIE from the "American Eagle Outfitters" clue, but by then I no longer gave a darn.
I researched possible answers to the question I posed last night (which was "How does raising the interest rate lower the price of food and gasoline") and it basically boils down to this: Raising the interest rate, as we already know, makes it more expensive to borrow, and this eventually trickles through the cause-and-effect chain to basically make us all poorer (because the dollar buys less), and thus by effectively taking money OUT of our pockets we supposedly buy less, thus supposedly reducing demand, thus resulting in lower prices. It seems to me there are less hurtful ways of getting prices down, and I suppose writing a letter to the CEOs of 7 big companies begging them to take smaller profits is maybe a sensible first step. It worked for JFK, who actually invited CEOs to the White House for meetings where he browbeat them and "shamed" them and threatened to heavily regulate them. Now THAT is thinking outside the box!
MalMan, great write-up. Thanks.
Good wishes to you all.
Lucina, I too while traveling through Spain many years ago crossed the strait of Gibraltar to Morocco but my crossing was done on a ferry. We spent several hours in Ceuta, then back to Cadiz late that night.
A solid Wemischner/McClain PZL, well adjudicated by MalMan...
The grid design blocks the diagonals.
I missed the theme answers until MM made the effort to 'splain it all. Thanks for that!
The clue for 17A is a bit of an understatement. THANE is not merely an "Old Scottish landowner," but a VERY old one.
We're talking about the 11th century when that antiquated title was retired.
In act V, scene 8 of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the new king, Malcolm, says:
" . . . . . . My THANEs and kinsmen,
Henceforth be Earls, the first that ever Scotland
In such an honor named."
Notice that Malcolm chose the English title "Earl," avoiding the favored Continental equivalent, "Count."
Over the centuries, the guys were happy enough to keep their titles and to rule their Earldoms.
Their wives, however, never went with "Earless," perhaps fearing their subjects would believe they'd have to shout at them to be heard.
An Earl's wife is a Countess.
~ OMK
Jace, I think that the thought behind the interest rate increases is simpler than that. Inflation is too much money chasing too few goods. Trump and Biden flooded the country with made-up money in response to the covid-19 crisis. Whether they should have done that is subject to debate, but what was done is done. All that liquidity, coupled with a shortage of all kinds of goods due to the reluctance of many in the work force to return to a job and the continuing lockdowns in China, have caused a sudden spate of inflation. The Fed can't control supply, but they can influence liquidity. Raising interest rates will reduce the amount of money in circulation, making it more expensive to borrow and reducing the demand for borrowed money. Although this (almost certain) recession hurts everyone, runaway inflation is much worse. When I worked in Venezuela, their inflation rate was 15% - per MONTH!
Remember that the Fed held the prime at near-zero for years. The sub 5% 30 year home mortgages were nice, but there were bad side-effects. Corporations undertook ventures they wouldn't have under normal economic times, and seniors often made riskier investments than was prudent because the return on government securities and AAA-rated corporate bonds was nearly zero.
I cringe when a president tries to force activity in corporate America by threatening even more regulations or taxes. I can't remember one time when those worked.
Late to the party today. Thank you all for your kind comments.
Thanks, Jinx. Informative.
Xxxxxxxx The Fed also can increase or decrease the money supply which it probably did in tandem with the interest hike. That wasn't mentioned.
Tax hikes and decreased government investment are other techniques.
WC
Yellowrocks @ 1:18 -- That's why twitching isn't allowed around computers.
Dear -T : I wish it was only in my head.
Late as usual, but at least I made it. Been busy, busy, busy. Now that school is out, we’ll have kid tours almost every day at the museum. Of course, we always have an increase in visitors in the summer months too. It’s great for the museum, but wreaks havoc on my downtime to work on the puzzle.
Had another one-square FIW today; I didn’t know DEV/ECHO. Other than that, it was a bit of a struggle in places, and I needed a few perps and more Wite-Out, but I eventually figured out the rest of it. NIGHTCAP was my first fill (naturally), and SCOTCHTAPE and SOUTHPACIFIC fell soon thereafter, which gave me the reveal, which then begat (finally) SNAPCHAT, which I’ve never used.
I knew DRACO was the dragon; I just couldn’t remember whether his name was DRACO or DRAGO, and POCO didn’t fill in until toward the end, for some reason.
My former bride was a member of MENSA at one time, but I don't think that she has kept up her membership. My younger daughter told me that she has never joined, nor does she think her sister has. All three are much smarter than I am. The younger daughter proves it every time she watches me do a crossword puzzle:
“Do you want me to tell you that one???”
“NO!!!”
Thanks, Robert and Mark and MalMan!
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