Title: This is no laughing matter! It is a puzzle, so solve it!
It is interesting that a constructor with at least 400 published puzzles is back at the LAT with 5 or 6 new ones this year, but who is counting. It is worth revisiting his INTERVIEW with C.C. back in 2008, a year when he had 11 published here alone. He was an influence on C.C., I am sure.
Today we have a "remove letter" theme to create new and whimsical phrases clued for silliness. This makes the puzzle a gem as its title is opposite to the apparent intention of the puzzle. Brilliant. Doug excises HA from the four theme answers with the central reveal. It is a 16 letter phrase, so the puzzle becomes a 16 x 15 grid which adds to the solving fun, more words, more fun. While the puzzle is dominated by the themers and the reveal there are some sparkly fill, BRAGGARTS, ELDORADOS, POTENTATE and SAUCEPANS. It is unusual to have three with plurals. Let's start with the themers.
18A. Nana who deciphers coded messages?: GRA
24A. Skirmish between rival hives?: BATTLE OF
52A. Horses now tame enough to ride?: CREATURES OF HABIT (14). This is a real stretch for me. While it is true they are taught ride with a bit controlled by a rider, the phrase does not resonate. A mini CSO to our favorite Nun (Lucy), except maybe Sally Field. How many bad habits did you have Lucy? You know I mean outfits.
And the reveal:
40A. Serious business, and a hint to four answers in this puzzle: NO LAUGHING MATTER (16). I love that a puzzle designed to make me laugh is billed this way. A good set-up for the rest, but don't rest yet.
1. Symbol in the center of Cameroon's flag: STAR.
5. Sentence server: INMATE. Once the perps led me here it was easy. Been there done that.
11. Retro-hip beers, for short: PBRS. Pabst Blue Ribbons. My first beer was a Pabst which convinced me beer was not for me.
15. Quaint sigh: AH ME.
16. "Mad About You" co-star: REISER. Paul has resurrected his career with his stints in STRANGER THINGS, THE KOMINSKY METHOD and even a 35 year sequel to the original show.
17. Baseball analyst Hershiser: OREL. A very successful player for the LA Dodgers.
11. Retro-hip beers, for short: PBRS. Pabst Blue Ribbons. My first beer was a Pabst which convinced me beer was not for me.
15. Quaint sigh: AH ME.
16. "Mad About You" co-star: REISER. Paul has resurrected his career with his stints in STRANGER THINGS, THE KOMINSKY METHOD and even a 35 year sequel to the original show.
17. Baseball analyst Hershiser: OREL. A very successful player for the LA Dodgers.
20. Finger food, in Zaragoza: TAPA. Zaragoza is the capital of northeastern Spain's Aragon region, but to me it was just a Spanish sounding name and there are many restaurants in South Florida offering Tapas. Though. I have never tried the fingers.
21. Colleague of Amy and Elena: SONIA. Out of 115 justices that have served on the court, only five have been women. Three are currently serving: Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Amy Coney Barret, who replaced RBG who had before her death suggested 9 women would make a good court.
22. Novelist Jaffe: RONA. Ms. Jaffe wrote a book called The Best of Everything describing her four years working at Fawcett Publishing. As show in this Encyclopedia.com ARTICLE it has spawned many successful books, movies and tv series.
23. Showbiz grand slam: EGOT. I think this makes three write ups in a row for this answer in one form or another.
28. Used a rocker: SAT. A specific sounding clue hides a general answer.
29. Black Sea resort: YALTA. The Yalta Conference was a meeting of three World War II allies: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. The trio met in February 1945 in the resort city of Yalta, located along the Black Sea coast of the Crimean Peninsula, an area very much back in the news.
30. Functions: USES. See, some are easy.
34. ESPNU topic: NCAA. Colleges are the focus for both.
37. Boot camp barker: SARGE. A CSO to Tom from Wednesday?
44. "The Masked Dancer" panelist Paula: ABDUL.
45. Serious locks: MANE. More horsing around.
46. Name in a Salinger title: ESME. A short story in a book he published before Catcher in the Rye. Our academics can expound here.
46. Name in a Salinger title: ESME. A short story in a book he published before Catcher in the Rye. Our academics can expound here.
47. The planets, e.g.: OCTAD. Can you name all eight, or do you hang on to Pluto?
50. Masked caller: UMP. A really fun clue/fill. Not easy but inferable.
58. Smack: SLAP. A common form of discipline when we were young at home or in school.
59. Evian et Perrier: EAUX. The French word for water, and two waters from France.
60. Like some Windows errors: FATAL. You do not want to see that message. A fatal error is a type of error that forces a computer program to close or the entire operating system to shut down suddenly. This type of error is commonly associated with the blue screen of death in Windows, but less severe fatal exception errors only cause a single program to close. Lifewire.
62. Best Picture Oscar winner directed by Siân Heder: CODA. Siân, despite the exotic spelling of her name was born in Massachusetts and began writing and putting together movies at an early age. Her IMDB.
67. Coffee cup insulator: SLEEVE. I think this is backwards, as the sleeve insulates the hand buying the drink.
68. Consequently: THEN. People can buy and drink hot coffee.
69. Snafu: MESS. Ooh, ooh! Bad words implied here.
70. Shadow canvas: EYELID.
71. Org. scheme: SYSTem.
Down:
1. Gives a little: SAGS. I hope we are talking pillows not bodies.
2. Pulsate strongly: THROB. Is it just me or does the Scottish porn star Throb Roy come to mind? See 24A, supra.
3. Maker of the first refrigerator with a dry-erase door: AMANA. Wow, but what do I do with all the free calendars and note pads?
4. Mail payment: REMIT. When did I MIT the payment? Do I need to pay a late charge?
5. Like some vbs.: IRRegular.
6. PBS benefactor: NEA. National Education Association.
7. Smaller than small: MICRO. A clecho. 9D. Smaller than small: TEENSY.
8. Request from: ASK OF. Yes JFK, good question.
10. Collected goofs: ERRATA.
2. Pulsate strongly: THROB. Is it just me or does the Scottish porn star Throb Roy come to mind? See 24A, supra.
3. Maker of the first refrigerator with a dry-erase door: AMANA. Wow, but what do I do with all the free calendars and note pads?
4. Mail payment: REMIT. When did I MIT the payment? Do I need to pay a late charge?
5. Like some vbs.: IRRegular.
6. PBS benefactor: NEA. National Education Association.
7. Smaller than small: MICRO. A clecho. 9D. Smaller than small: TEENSY.
8. Request from: ASK OF. Yes JFK, good question.
10. Collected goofs: ERRATA.
11. Sovereign: POTENTATE and 12D. Self-promoters: BRAGGARTS which balance...
32. Cadillacs manufactured for 50 years: ELDORADOS and 33. They often hang around kitchens: SAUCE PANS all nine letter fill...
13. Bank actions, briefly: REPOS.
14. Crate piece: SLAT.
19. Pets who may squeeze into shoeboxes: CATS. CED, help.
25. Lana of Smallville: LANG. Kristen Kreuk is one of the early exotic actresses who blend the delicacy of Asian women with the strength of European men.
13. Bank actions, briefly: REPOS.
14. Crate piece: SLAT.
19. Pets who may squeeze into shoeboxes: CATS. CED, help.
25. Lana of Smallville: LANG. Kristen Kreuk is one of the early exotic actresses who blend the delicacy of Asian women with the strength of European men.
26. Mark for good: ETCH. Using acid will make it forever.
27. "Casablanca" role: ILSA. Lauren Bacall, shall we play it for her?
30. Telemundo article: UNA. One in Spinach, oops Spanish.
31. Blubber: SOB. He spilt some milk.
35. Point: AIM. Then fire.
36. Santa __ winds: ANA.
38. Bit of finery: GEM. The favorite of my comrades says no!
39. Palindrome in stanzas: ERE. Poetic enough for you all, Owen, Misty, Canadian Eh, Moe?
41. Sephora rival: ULTA. Would you like some COMPARISONS?
42. Veld grazers: GNUS. M-W tells us this is a grassland especially of southern Africa usually with scattered shrubs or trees. Do they look for new velds?
43. __ pad: MEMO.
48. Relaxed: AT EASE. Yes sir!
49. Pickup truck with four rear wheels: DUALLY. A dual rear-wheel truck (DRW) – often referred to as a dually – is a heavy-duty pickup truck with two rear wheels on each side, allowing more road contact and width for greater stability, balance, and traction while driving. A favorite for some of our players.
51. "Hah, right!": PFFT. The interjection PFFT (pronounced "pufft") is used to dismiss something that someone has said or typed. In Thai it is PFFT.
52. Mulled wine spice: CLOVE. Also our new friend Star Anise. RECIPE.
53. Karachi currency: RUPEE. This CURRENCY; not to be confused with the RUFEE a strong benzodiazepine.
54. Run out: EXPEL. The bad guys out of town, not the cornmeal for the pone.
55. Heckles: BAITS. Baits seems too specific, as you heckle to upset someone, to interfere but usually not wanting a real response. I see it more as badgering.
56. Like wool, for many: ITCHY. Just wear underwear there.
57. Lore: TALES. Spoken legends.
58. Grifter's game: SCAM. Grifter is an American invention, dating back to the early 20th century, but appears to be based on the slightly older slang term “grafter,” also meaning “swindler,” “con man” or simply “thief.” Some authorities believe that grifter is actually a combination of “grafter” and “drifter." The Word Detective.
61. Temporarily provided: LENT. Wrong time of the year.
64. Prefix for the birds?: AVI. That sounds rather judgmental, it seems like a fine prefix to me.
65. Rare color?: RED. I guess it is time to go eat some meat, seared on the outside and rare on the inside. This makes for an excellent time to bring this write up to a close and thank Doug, C.C., Patti, Cristina, Moe, Heart Rx, all the current bloggers, and all of you outstanding readers, writers, commenters, thinkers, poets, who make this experience what it is. I also appreciate the understanding of my computer skills, and lack thereof. Until next time. Lemonade out.
57. Lore: TALES. Spoken legends.
58. Grifter's game: SCAM. Grifter is an American invention, dating back to the early 20th century, but appears to be based on the slightly older slang term “grafter,” also meaning “swindler,” “con man” or simply “thief.” Some authorities believe that grifter is actually a combination of “grafter” and “drifter." The Word Detective.
61. Temporarily provided: LENT. Wrong time of the year.
64. Prefix for the birds?: AVI. That sounds rather judgmental, it seems like a fine prefix to me.
65. Rare color?: RED. I guess it is time to go eat some meat, seared on the outside and rare on the inside. This makes for an excellent time to bring this write up to a close and thank Doug, C.C., Patti, Cristina, Moe, Heart Rx, all the current bloggers, and all of you outstanding readers, writers, commenters, thinkers, poets, who make this experience what it is. I also appreciate the understanding of my computer skills, and lack thereof. Until next time. Lemonade out.
Oo and I are starting the 4th month of our beach cleaning walks which are part of my health regimen. Today was very successful with two bags full. Nobody was fishing so it was plastic bottles, cups, paper a single 16EEE basketball sneaker and a hypodermic with needle still attached. They were not near each other so don't worry about Shaq.
There also was the interesting return to our car and this truck delivering to the Briny Pub
59 comments:
DNF. I still had a lot of white in the SE when I checked the red.
Didn't get the theme because I'd only filled one themer before I gave in and looked at the reveal. It was good.
There was a maniac of late,
Wanted to become a POTENTATE.
He recruited some guys,
Wild looks in their EYES --
In an asylum they will soon be INMATES!
Be assured, it's NO LAUGHING MATTER!
Electors have so much on their platter!
Now there are threats
Causing more distress,
The whole human race couldn't be madder!
{A-, B+.}
Another difficult Friday but I'd 've* FIR if I didn't get impatient and check the answers. I had hastily inked REfiS / REPOS and TAfAS, EGiT blew it. And…
I knew EGOT as does my spellchecker. Zaragoza? I thought it my be in Uzbekistan
Never heard it called a PBR but as someone said, "Why would anyone drink any beer except Bud"
AlaS/AHME. Anybody recall this Pete REISER?
Masked caller? Was indeed a clever clue. Needed two perps. EYELIDS 4. I had dropped the X on EAU(s) (making EXPEL difficult to find), CATS not rATS.. LANG/LANe
Of all the gin joints…
Nice to see the l'icks are back in fine form, Owen
WC
There were a couple of points when I didn't know if I had the correct answer or not. "Clove" crossing "coda" is a good example of that. OTOH, the gimmick was clear from the start, so that made it easier. FIR, so I'm happy.
Good morning!
Nice puzzle. Cute theme, not too many proper names, cleverness here and there, what's not to like? Rufees and Scottish porn stars -- where have you been hanging out, Lemonade? Effective yesterday there are four female justices on the Supreme Court. This one seemed easy. D-o finished five minutes faster than yesterday. Thanx, Doug and Lemonade. (Lauren Bacall?)
YALTA: That old photo is all I know about that place. As a kid, I thought it was a typo of MALTA.
PBRS: In my ute you had to be 21 to drink liquor, but could drink 3.2 beer at 18. A state ID card was required as proof of age at the beer bars. You could be 75 years old, but no card, no entry. The Milwaukee brewers -- Schlitz, Miller, Pabst, Blatz, Meister Bräu, ad nauseum -- were a strong lobby promoting beer drinking. Hook 'em early, and they'll be life-long beer drinkers. Guilty, as charged.
"As Time Goes By" is swirling through my brain ie. Earworm. Isn't Ingrid beautiful?
WC
Gotta share this. I bought a rear-view mirror on a gooseneck for my bicycle. The large print on the box says "bicycle hose reflector."
Yay, there's water falling from the sky this morning. Strange sight. June was 100% rain-free.
FIR, but it was a heck of a workout. Never got the theme until I got here. I stared at my finished puzzle and just couldn't see it. Doh!
Me thinks NEA stands for National Endowment of the Arts.
FIW, missing EAUs and not catching it by reviewing EsPEL. Got the theme and it was pivotal in getting the reveal entry, kinda opposite of the usual. Since three "ha"s prepended or appended a word, I didn't understand GRAhaM CRACKER 'til I came here.
I get very few BSOD episodes on Win10. Maybe all its predecessors were beta releases.
Point and AIM aren't the same. You point a shotgun, and you AIM a rifle.
FLNs:
Vid and Jayce - Know the difference between the probes used in a colonoscopy and an endoscopy? The taste.
Vid - Pedestrians and golf don't mix. Even golfers don't mix with other golfers. Golfsupport.com reports that 40,000 people a year receive emergency treatment for being hit by a golf ball or clubhead. Another 15,000 are injured in golf cart accidents. Some say that drunk golfing isn't just allowed, it is encouraged.
Thanks to Doug for the fun, challenging workout, and to Lemony for the funny and interesting review.
Yes, yes, yes! I got a Friday FIR after a struggle with MANE and UMP, my last fill. I'm glad I kept trying. Thanks, Doug, for the challenge. A big fan of GRA(ha)M CRACKERS, I saw the theme easily when I filled the reveal. Interesting word choices, I thought.
I wanted to put SAUsages/SAUCEPANS, but it didn't fit. Neither hang in my kitchen. OCTet/OCTAD slowed things down in that area as did anisE/CLOVE. Finally, budS/PBRS for beer. Perps to the rescue and much appreciated. As you are, too, Lemonade! Thanks for your cheery review. Well done!
IT'S Friday and July. Rain again last night so we're in good shape for now. Hope you all have a great start to the long weekend.
I forgot, eh? Happy Canada Day to CanadianEh! and all its other residents.
Good morning.
Doug can make them easy or tough. Easy peasy for a Friday.
Six female Supreme Court Justices have been appointed. Sandra Day O'Connor was the first in 1981. She was confirmed by a Senate vote of 99-0. That's the most all time without receiving a single No vote.
Too many proper names. Took umbrage to 3 clues: heckles, run out, and bit of finery. The foreign clues always stump me.
Musings
-After getting my newspaper in a plastic sleeve on my covered porch almost every dry day, today it was uncovered on the driveway in a rainstorm. Hello, online!
-I wonder if there was a GRAM with Alan Turing in Hut 8 at Bletchley Park
-My memory of PBR
-YALTA – This picture of FDR was taken nineteen days before he died
-UMPs may soon go the way of the button hook and be replaced by robots
-Am I the only one who first made EAU plural with an “S”? Chat is Fr. for cat and its plural is chats.
-Physics question I asked my kids, “Do telephone wires SAG more in summer or winter?”
-I’ve been part of organizations whose plan is, “Ready, Fire, AIM”
-Jinx, I have had two golf balls whistle by my head but never hit me.
Wow...
(Just wow...)
I will never feel bad about using red letters again, as even with them this was quite the challenge for me.
Learning moment: dually?
Also PBRS. I always thought of them as old man's beers, now I know why...
I got the theme at GramCracker, even with the error of thinking Nana was the Darlings dog. (Peter Pan)
"Hastings" took forever to decipher...
I got the "bit" even if it tasted weird...
And, I was so happy to finally get "Alp particle" that I for got to look for the missing "ha."
Pfft is in the dictionary?
Rupees was easy for me as I was always searching for them playing Zelda.
Although, why they called them "Rupees" was never satisfactorily explained.
why cats in a shoebox?
Re; no laughing matter...
it's important to drink beer, because the cat needs a new place to sit...
HG, I am glad you are free of golf ball injury. I have a bit to the end of the write-up
Smoke 'em if you got 'em
it might help if i added "added" but it might not. Hi marti.
Husker Gary@9:44 a.m. - I first tried "eaus" too, and just barely came up with "eaux" to solve the puzzle. Those Frawnch!
Not as difficult as a lot of Friday’s as I managed a FIR in 19:25, not my usual half hour or more. Clever theme and some nice clueing, thanks Doug for the not too strenuous solve!
Lemonade ~~ thank you for another fine picturesque review. I’ve always referred to those four rear wheeled trucks as “DOOLIES” but didn’t realize the correct spelling DUALLY, makes sense!
Wishing all in this country a great 4th of July weekend 🇺🇸, and to CanadianEh etal north of the border, Happy Canada Day 🇨🇦!
Lemonade: I noticed a blooper in your commentary. It wasn't "Lauren Bacall" in Casablanca, it was "Ingrid Bergman." Sorry to have to correct you, but I wanted to set the record straight.
Ingrid Bergman
Plays Ilsa
SunG
DUH. I am being careless
Thank you for the correction
Creative puzzle - which at times was quicker than a usual Friday but other areas bogged down.
Favorite theme answer BATTLE OF (HA) STINGS
WEES about EAUS before EAUX. I haven't studied French - but words I have been exposed to many add an "s" for a plural but the words that end in EAU singular, add an "x" for the plural like chapeau/chapeaux (hat) and chateau/chateaux (castle) which have been added into English with a plural "s", but with the clue in French then the answer is in French.
I really enjoyed CODA which was this years Academy Award Best Picture winner.
Thanks to Lemonade and Doug - for a fun Friday
Good Morning: (Now, Afternoon, I got sidetracked)
I enjoyed the solve and the easy to spot theme but thought some of the cluing was a tad odd but, then again, I guess Friday’s allow all sorts of leeway. Not a complaint, just an opinion. No w/os but, like ATLGranny, was itching to get Sausages in before Sauce Pans materialized. I, too, thought of Lucina at Creatures of (Ha) Bit.
Thanks, Doug, for an entertaining and enjoyable solve and thanks, Lemony, for the detailed and clear expo and the fun puns.
FLN
PK, congrats and best of luck to your great niece in her future golfing endeavors.
Have a great day.
This is my kind of challenge. I had to work hard on this puzzle, but I eventually triumphed. Not too many proper names, but many clever clues. Nice Friday challenge.
Subgenius: I know, us Frawnch have a complex language. Think of little French kids having to learn it.
Finally rain, however too much and there’ll be flash flooding throughout the city. Bummer.
OwenKl: you’re in great form today. Loved your poem.
Manageable and enjoyable Friday puzzle, many thanks, Doug. And very helpful commentary, Lemonade, thanks for that too.
OREL was my first answer, even though I don't know much about sports. But I remembered his name for some reason.
Also remembered RONA Jaffe though I've never read her work.
Not only remembered ESME, but instantly thought of her "with love and squalor."
But the item that stumped and annoyed me a little was that 'Shadow canvas': an EYELID. C'mon.
Still, fun puzzle all around. Did it make you happy, Subgenus?
Nice poems, Owen.
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
Misty @ 11:35 - Yes, it did make me happy to solve the puzzle, Misty, especially on a Friday! (And I don't expect Saturday to be anything but a real poser, either.)
If I remember my H.S. French, nouns ending in al are also pluralized with aux: cheval/chevaux, journal/journeaux, animal/animaux.
Fun theme! Hand up OCTET/OCTAD. Not sure why these separate words exist as they mean the same thing. Hand up CLOVE/CODA puzzling. Putting a spice in wine seems like a bad idea.
If people are interested:
Here was my quick first article on Solstice with a few videos.
Here was my following article on Solstice with lots of photos. Photos take much longer to edit!
From Yesterday:
MalManInquiring minds want to know about the missing grid?
From Wednesday:
PK, CanadianEh, AnonT, Subgenius Thank you for the kind words about my niece Hannah and her refrigerator art. And for the good wishes on COVID recovery. The Paxlovid seems to be keeping the symptoms mild. I saw in the news that Dr Fauci had a rebound effect when the Paxlovid treatments ended. I have some apprehension about this. My treatments end tomorrow.
From days past:
Vidwan Regarding STEM education in the US. You thought US students do poorly in STEM because of too much arts and music in school. Sadly, US students don't even get arts and music in many places. They also don't know history or geography. Except for some immigrants who excel at everything.
Hola!
Well, Doug Peterson's puzzles are always challenging and this one was as well, though I did manage to finish most of it. I got bogged down on POTENTATE/BRAGGART and was not able to complete those. Sadly, my energy level now wanes too quickly.
PFFT. No way was I going to finish this! Yet, UMP was cleverly clued!
LENT to me means something else entirely.
No, I did not see the movie, CODA, but it perped.
Picard, mulled wine with spices is delicious especially on a cold winter's day. I used to make it regularly during the holidays when company came. And I so enjoy your photos of the parades and other happy occasions at your vibrant city.
Happy Canada Day to our northern neighbors!
Have a lovely day today and a wonderful holiday weekend, everyone!
A forty minute slog to FIR. Started right off filling PALM for 1A. I was SO SURE that was correct! Other W/Os include DACHA:YALTA, DRED:MANE, and OCTET:OCTAD. I need to take more time to look at the perps before I put in my wags! Also, it was a lotta thinkin’ before the perp filled EYELID made any sense for SHADOW CANVAS. Very clever, as is MASKED CALLER. I will not be sorry to see umps replaced by computers to make the calls. Too many missed calls, especially Strikes/Balls, which I don’t blame the ump for, it is tough to call with a 100 mph pitch. I count 8 or 9 proper names. Thanx for the mental workout, DP. Thanx for the write-up, Lemonade. Picard, I too had symptom rebound after treatment. Retesting showed negative for virus, but for some reason all the symptoms came back for about a week. Weird.
I notice the missing HA at GRAM CRACKER and the BATTLE OF STINGS IN 1066 confirmed it.
I had a little trouble for the plural French waters, changing EAUS to EAUX.
CODA- I'm not familiar with that movie, perps.
PBR is not retro, it's always been available. But I don't see Schlitz making a comeback.
STAR was an easy guess for Cameroon flag.
PFFT for "Hah, right- don't like that fill but got it, removing I BET.
RED- yesterday DW and I had med-RARE filets and shrimp at Ruth's Chris' for the $39.00 Prix fixe lunch. She upped the bill by ordering the crabcake appetizers.
$39.00 X 2 + $161.94 + Tip. Something wrong in the math.
Hi Y'all! Thank you, Doug, for a not-impossible challenge & Lemony, for making it more fun.
I caught on to the theme okay, but had no idea where the HA was missing from the BATTLE OF STINGS. I missed that part of history, I guess.
"Hah right" = PFFT? Not in my mind. Kept trying to connect Hah to the missing HA. Always over-thinking.
DNK: PBRS, REISER, TAPA, CODA.
Hand up for struggling with the long downs, especially POTENTATE & BRAGGART. Tried 'copper pot' long before SAUCEPANS. (I hung my copper-bottom pans when they were new in one apartment that had minimum cupboard space.) Also tried "sausages".
Blubber wasn't "fat" but SOB. (S.O.B is derogatory so not that.) EAUs B4 EAUX.
Managed to fill this right with only one red-letter run despite all the mistakes that turned red at first. So I guess I'm happy too.
I was impressed because I thought my sis-in-law had walked the golf course for 4 days as GRAM to my niece. GRAM informed me today that they let her have a golf cart because of her age. Those girls at the national invitational did not have caddies or coaches on the course. When I watch golf, I see the pros getting necessary info from caddies. The fact that each girl pulled a little cart to wheel those clubs & did all strategies themselves on a strange course raised my level of admiration.
Thank you Doug for an easier than expected Friday puzzle, although it had its moments. The most difficult of which was patting myself on the back for UMPS, hieing here expecting a FIR, and finding a FIW due to a FTPR. Had I seriously questioned what "PBDS" for 11A meant I might have filled REPOS for 13D instead of DEPOS (short for "deposit"?). But it was still a fun puzzle.
And thank you Lemony for another fun, fine review. However despite sussing the theme gimmick, I'm still missing how "NO LAUGHING MATTER" specifically reveals it?
A few favs:
15A GRAMCRACKER. I'm married to a NANA who made a career deciphering the vagaries of IBM's Job Control Language (JCL), the CODE used to control the execution of Big Blue's mainframe batch operations. BTW JCL is still widely used in banks, insurance companies, and asset management systems.
24A BATTLE OF STINGS. As history is written by the winners of wars, you have to go to Bayeaux, Normandie to see the story as told by the victors of the Battle of Hastings. There you find the "Bayeaux Tapestry", which I'd always thought was just an "enormous rug". But it turns out to be the world's first "slide show", containing 70 finely embroidered scenes of the major events of the battle: all the preparations, the journey across the Channel, and the victory at Hastings, all displayed behind glass panels along a low-wall 230 feet long.
Cheers,
Bill
Edward in LA
first read through, I thought this one would be impossible. Too many names. Orel and eaux kicked it off and it was an easy fill all around the perimeter. The middle of the continent settled itself.
PK @ 1:42PM
Congratulations to your great niece on her golf tournament experience! Your extra information today makes her success even more to celebrate. Best wishes to her.
Good news from you, Subgenius. When you're happy, you make me happy.
Wapwaseeley ~ no HA HA HA ?
Hi All!
Thanks Doug for the dead-pan puzzle. I didn't figure out no "HA" until CREATURES of BIT. THEN I saw Graham & Hastings.
Thanks for the Friday expo, Lem. Cleaning the beach sounds like a great way to keep your mind off you're exercising.
WOs: aHME, BRAGGeRTS, OCTet, LANe->LANG, ASFI [sic - as if] b/f PFFT, EAUs, ALPS ARTICLE
ESPs: AHME, RONA, CODA, POTENTATE
Fav: Shadow canvas had nothing to do with pollsters quietly re-polling parties but EYE LIDs for the V-8
Some of Paul REISER's early stuff. [5m]
{A, B+}
YooperPhill - I thought it was DOOLIE too ;-) Mom's got one w/ a flatbed.
Cool about your niece's golfing, PK. And you're right the girls have to do more than the boys in most sports.
Fun photos, Picard.
Thanks for the comix, CED.
Unclefred - I disagree re: UMP - electronic balls & strikes takes the humanity from the game.
Y'all have a wonderful afternoon.
Cheers, -T
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Doug and Lemonade.
I FIRed in good time and saw the missing HA theme. I smiled broadly when the light dawned re NO LAUGHING MATTER.
I filled in Trained to start 52A and those tame enough horses. Big inkblot to straighten out. (We had MANE too for those horses!)
Teeny for 7D became TEENSY at 9D. MICRO perped.
This Canadian knows her French EAUX.
OTOH, TAPA, UNA took a perp or two.
Rain and thunder storms threatening our fireworks tonight.
Thanks for the Canada D’eh wishes, Lemonade, Jinx, YooperPhil, Lucina et al. Our national holidays bookend this weekend.
Wishing you all a great day.
-T @3:03: Well, sure, we all want to keep 'humanity' in baseball, yet some recent 'umperial' bloopers should lead to improvement in MLB.
I liked this puzzle. Sorry, but the gimmick did make me laugh; I especially like BATTLE OF (HA)STINGS. Every time I come across the word Hastings I think of Hercule Poirot, as played by David Suchet, saying it.
It took all 4 perps to get PBRS and I still didn't know what that meant until reading the explanation here. SOCHI was my first thought at "Black Sea resort" but the perps revealed that was not the resort. When I see a 4-letter answer and the clue contains the word "Hershiser" I automatically put in OREL. It took me quite a while to get UMPS and PFFT. And yeah, I waited on perps to reveal whether it would be OCTET or OCTAD, THUS or THEN, and RICK or ILSA.
Our son is a cat lover and has much experience with them. He attests that they do indeed seem to be naturally attracted to anything square or rectangular, such as a box, and will even bask in the rectangle formed on the floor by the light of the sun through a window.
The SLAP at the Oscar ceremony was overhyped by the shiny-object-obsessed media as much as The Lunge is now.
Jinx, ew!
Glad to see happy people here. Good wishes to you all.
Can't we all just share a box of Crackerjacks at the ball park and get along? How about a compromise? Put the autoump in the American League. Since they have already taken away half of the manager's tactical responsibilities by implementing the DH, why not remove the responsibility for AL pitchers and batters to adjust to the home plate ump's strike zone du jour? Oh, and why not quit chalking the back line of the batter's box? The first batter of the game is required by custom to erase it anyway.
That way the old farts like me can see the game in what we consider its purer form (OK, no corked bats or spitballs), while the tinkerers will have their league, too. OTOH, I haven't bought a ticket to a MLB game in more than 30 years, so the market for such tastes may be less than robust.
Dang.
Could not, for the life of me, think of "Ha" as the missing syllable. Thanks, Lemon, for straightening me out!
The asymmetrical grid chased all diagonals away. Nothing to see here. Move on, move on.
†
Still saddened here, by the loss of our little rescue chihuahua, Nacho. He was basking in the sun in our rear patio on Tuesday afternoon when a coyote leaped over the fence and snatched him up. Our mother was nearby, but everything happened suddenly.
Nacho was blind-sided, no time to even scream.
We lost our Yorkie last year to a coyote in an after-dark attack. None of us expected this latest raid in full daylight.
Our hearts are broken.
~ OMK
Jinx, the National League also uses the DH now.
D-O, we had a 50% forecast of much needed rain today. It has stayed south of us, mostly below 1-88. Similar to you needing it, but it all staying below 1-10. Disappointing for a person that likes to garden.
Oh, my gosh, OMK. How horrible to lose your precious little dogs like that. I’m so sorry. These things happen so quickly. Last year I was walking when a hawk descended right in front of me and took a cardinal under my nose. I was shaken from the experience, so I can imagine your shock both times.
Sherry at 9:28, the Roman Empire called and they want their UMBRAGE back. Umbrage seems like a very dramatic reaction to a clue/fill. The dictionary tells us it means: Feel resentment, take offense, as in Aunt Agatha is quick to take umbrage at any suggestion to do things differently. This expression features one of the rare surviving uses of umbrage, which now means “resentment” but comes from the Latin umbra, for “shade”
Subgenius, the comment to SunG was for you. If I am wrong which happens more and more, please correct me
OKL, very sorry about your doggies.
OMK, I"m so sorry to hear of the horrible experience! Loosing a pet is bad enough, but to taken by a wild animal is traumatic! You are in my thoughts.
We had to euthanize our dog yesterday. It was done in our home, quietly and peacefully. The cancer finally got the upper hand.
I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!
OMK: those dastardly coyotes are pretty bold to jump your fence. So sorry for your loss. We couldn't keep cats very long on the farm -- especially light colored ones who showed up better in the dark. Our dogs were usually bigger than the coyotes, but the nasty things would run up to the dog pen and taunt them, knowing they couldn't chase back.
Jayce, cats also like round receptacles. My last cat liked to curl up in a big flower pot on my porch. He startled a lot of arriving guests & squirrels by jumping out at them.
Thank you for all the nice words about my golfing niece. She is such a surprise to a non-golfing family. She's a feminine girl who went out for the boys football team in jr. high when she wasn't yet 5 ft. tall. She quit after she realized she was going to get bigger bruisers piling onto her when she caught a ball. No dummy, that girl, just adventuresome.
Phil @2:48 PM V8!
OMK, I feel for you. I've lost a lot of dogs, but never to a predator. Closest was walking an Irish Wolfhound off lead at the top of Topanga Canyon. He stopped and stared down a pack of coyotes about 100 feet away in the brush. I thought he was going to run over to them to play, but I was able to get to him and leash him up before he made his move. it was quite a stare down. He was a lot bigger than any individual coyote, but wouldn't have had a chance against the pack. I still get chills thinking about that day.
Pat, I'm so sorry about your loss as well. We lost our first greyhound Zephyr to bone cancer. We also had the vet make a house call and put her out of her pain. Turns out that greyhounds are the most susceptible breed to that awful type of cancer.
TTP, thanks for the heads-up about the DH in the NL. I can now face facts. My love affair with the game will never be rekindled. She's not coming back, and I've got to move on. Unless my grandson goes pro after college.
5:40 PM Wow Lem. Thanx for that connection. 🕶️
Oh my goodness OMKeith, so sorry Nacho got snatched. He was a cool fella.
PK, allow me to add my congratulations to your niece.
OMK - I'm so sorry to read about Nacho. My condolences.
Pat - sorry you lost your pet too -- though, it sounds like it was less of a shock and more peaceful.
Jinx / TTP - and the Ghost Runner is still a rule :-(
Jinx - baseball might just lose me afterall. I was going to turn on the game and I couldn't find it on the dial. The paper says it's only on Apple+. WTF?!?
I'll listen on AM radio -- this time...
Cheers, -T
OMK, sorry about your dog. You too, Pat. Cancer took both of my GSDs.
Jinx, I presumed you weren't following MLB.
Anon-T - yeah, four Astros games were on Apple+. I think this was the last game. Don't stream, don't want to, never will. So what's this all about, Apple+, et al. taking over America's favorite pastime? Sounds and smells like $$$$. [rant over]
Enjoyed the puzzle - got the theme right off the bat with GRAMCRACKER which helped with the other clues. PBRS filled in with easy perps, so I didn't go back and question it - ah, Pabst Blue Ribbon - not a beer drinker. Hand up for EAUs, until I realized _SPEL didn't make sense.
OMK - horribly tragic! I'm so sorry. And also to Pat for her loss, and to all others. I know the heartbreak of losing a pet - had to put two to sleep. After the last one 20 years ago, I vowed I'd never go through that again.
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