Theme: WELL WELL WELL (56. "What have we here?" and 20-, 36-, and 42-Across) - Three definitions of "well".
36. "Any time now!": I'M WAITING.
42. Gathering spot for thirsty animals: WATERHOLE.
Across:
5. Periodontist's concern: GUMS. Minnesota's Judy Garland's given name was Francis GUMM!
9. Brand of facial tissue: PUFFS. "The Magic Dragons".
14. Sign on for more service: RE-UP. Not me. I did two years and flew home. Now I get decent medical care.
15. Indiana neighbor: OHIO. Home of the Redlegs and Guardians. Shoutout to my penpal Janice!
16. Facing the pitcher: AT BAT.
17. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" actor Samberg: ANDY. Sheriff of Mayberry.
18. Decomposes: ROTS.
19. Milk seller: DAIRY. DAIRY Queen sells great Sundaes.
23. Taken care of: SEEN TO.
24. Play-__: kids' clay: DOH. It kind of smelled. I never liked it.
25. That girl: SHE.
28. Pixie: ELF. Santa's helper.
29. Native of Pre-Columbian Peru: INCA.
32. Reacted to a surprise, perhaps: GASPED. Too hot!
34. Muscles worked by crunches: ABS. Too hot to exercise.
38. __ and for all: ONCE. And all for one!
40. African country on the Gulf of Guinea: GABON.
41. "If all __ fails ... ": ELSE.
44. NCO below sgt.: CPL. Two stripes.
45. "You're not alone in that": I DO TOO.
46. Hockey Hall of Famer Phil, familiarly: ESPO. Career with Boston, Chicago, and New York.
48. Pair: TWO. What ever happened to the TWO dollar bill?
51. Gift for music: EAR.
52. Hunted for fossils, say: DUG. I never hunted for fossils and my name is misspelled!
54. Mixed nuts nut: CASHEW. One of my favorites.
59. Strictly forbidden: TABOO. So, don't do it!
62. Very small bit: IOTA.
63. Great Plains natives: OTOE. My history book did not mention them.
64. Distant and cool: ALOOF.
65. Lacking color: DRAB. New cars are never DRAB
66. Sit for a spell: REST. Okay. Wake me up in a half hour.
67. Employees: STAFF.
68. Long, wriggly swimmers: EELS. Have you heard about sharks close to shore? Maybe they have eels for lunch.
69. Satisfies the munchies: EATS. Trick or treat.
Down:
2. Bulb with an aniselike flavor: FENNEL.
3. Exaggeration allowance in estimates: FUDGE FACTOR.
4. Watch secretly: SPY ON.
5. "If You Could Read My Mind" singer Lightfoot: GORDON. What a tale my thoughts would tell.
6. "This looks bad!": UH OH. Here comes more hot weather.
7. Teeny plant pest: MITE.
8. "Such a pity": SO SAD. This gun violence in Uvalde and shopping malls.
9. Noodle dish topped with crushed peanuts: PAD THAI.
10. Six-sided state: UTAH. One of three four-letter states.
11. "Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity" org.: FBI. I thought it was Federal Bureau of Investigation.
12. Distant: FAR.
13. Pen with a trough: STY. A home for pigs.
21. __ Spunkmeyer: cookie brand: OTIS. Elevator guy.
22. Boston airport: LOGAN. Never been there, I got to New Jersey once.
25. Share juicy gossip: SPILL THE TEA. Beans.
26. Farm cluckers: HENS. Uncle Bill had many. Eggs for breakfast every day, then sold the rest.
27. Microsoft's web browser: EDGE.
30. Breezy goodbye: CIAO. See ya!
31. Stroll along: AMBLE.
33. Escalator part: STEP. Just stand on it! You'll get there.
35. Borscht base: BEET. My mother grew them and we ate them as a vegetable.
37. Nagging troubles: WOES.
38. Cut covered by a Snoopy bandage, e.g.: OWIE. Only kids under 5 get them. We older folks call them by a different four letter word.
39. Zilch: NADA. Not this four letter word either.
40. Grave-robbing demon: GHOUL.
43. Departed into the sunset, say: RODE OFF. I hate driving into the setting sun.
44. West Virginia natural resource: COAL. Santa may put it into your stocking.
47. Tech training sites: PC LABS.
49. "The other team clobbered us": WE LOST. Twins say that a lot.
50. Big-eyed nestlings: OWLETS.
53. Coast: GLIDE.
55. Used cusswords: SWORE. My language driving into the sunset.
56. Husky's "Hello": WOOF.
57. Had on: WORE. She WORE a yellow ribbon.
58. "And some other people" abbr.: ET AL.
59. Prof. helpers: TAS. Teaching Assistants
60. __-country music: ALT.
61. Constricting snake: BOA. A big BIG snake, I have never seen one and never hope to see one.
Boomer
43 comments:
As is usual for a Monday, this puzzle was pretty much a walk in the park. The only thing I want to remark on is that I wasn’t expecting the reveal to be what it was, but after solving it, it made sense. Other than that,no problems. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning,
This weekend I had green beans on my lunch plate both Saturday And Sunday. I have to admit that CC is a better garden grower of veggies than I was. Have a good week everyone !!
Still awake. Oy. Anyway, a typical marvelous Monday. No problems, no W/Os. Although it did take 17, more than usual, perhaps because I’ve been up all night. Not familiar with SPILLTHETEA. SPILLTHEBEANS, DISHTHEDIRT, many other ways of saying it, but SPILLTHETEA is a new one. Thanx JD for the very nice, fun CW. Thanx too to Boomer for his usual terrific write-up. I hope you continue to get better!! My Tesla PowerWall battery ran the whole house until 4:00am, then the system automatically switched to the grid. I must remark on the Enphase system that manages the whole solar system: it works flawlessly. I cannot tell when it switches from solar panels to battery to grid powering the house. Last week I sold more power to FPL than I bought from them. Now …. to close my eyes again and see if there is any sleep forthcoming. Have a good week, all.
FIR, nice easy Monday!
Good morning!
This was a walk in the park...until it wasn't. In Big Bend ATOM/IOTA and PALE/GRAY/DRAB just below it bogged things down for a little while. Good one, Joe. Enjoyed the tour, Boomer. Hope you get good news on the cancer front.
Unclefred, does that PowerWall have enough juice to run your A/C? How many sq/ft of solar panels vs how many sq/ft of house?
WELL, WELL, WELL, this reveal was a surprise. Well done, Joe. A FIR for me today, as confirmed by Boomer. Thanks!
I noticed all the double letters in the puzzle, starting with FF at the top. My WO occurred when I realized a ghost is not a GHOUL!
Nice to hear from you last night, Bill G. We sympathize with you.
Nothing ELSE to say. CIAO!
Very few erasures - ghost became GHOUL and her became SHE. It took me awhile with perp help to put BRAISE in. PAD THAI is my go to order at a Thai restaurant.
I'm with Boomer - as much as possible - when I drive to my mom's in KC I try to drive there in the morning and drive home in the afternoon to avoid the sun being low in the horizon.
Off to start the morning - it rained today - hooray- so I didn't have to go out and water the garden!
Thanks Boomer and Joe!
Good Morning:
Nice, easy, breezy Monday with a very surprising reveal. No unknowns and only one w/o with Adam before Andy, getting Sandler mixed up with Samburg.
Thanks, Joe and Boomer, for a smooth entry into a new week, and the end of July, if you can believe it! Continued best wishes, Boomer, for positive medical news. BTW, I love fresh green beans and wax beans, although I think we have a Cornerite (or two, maybe l HG and DO?) who don’t share my liking on the wax beans. Congrats to CC on her “green” thumb. (I also love beets!)
FLN
Bill G, so good to hear from you. Please don’t be a stranger.
Have a great day.
I was done with the ink well in 4:20 today.
Her before she, and ghost before ghoul - just like inane hiker.
UncleFred, please keep providing updates on your solar project.
Hola!
Wow! This was quick! I barely had time to breathe. WELL done, Joe! And I enjoyed your remarks, Boomer. You are a WELLspring of energy and it's wonderful that you are doing so WELL.
I love CASHEWS! They are my favorite nut and something I can eat. Yea!!
It's really great to see Bill G posting. I hope he continues. I miss his "mind how you go."
My biggest error was SHORE before GLIDE. Different coast.
SPILL THE TEA is new to me, too. I've also only heard SPILL THE beans.
It's amazing how many people are named OTIS. OTIS Redding; OTIS, the elevator guy, etc.
Have a magnificent Monday, everyone!
Cincinnati did indeed change to REDlegs in the 50s to keep HUAC happy but is back to simply REDS again
I borrowed DAIRY to start Wordle last night
The Bruins got ESPO FROM Chicago. He's a revered icon in Tampa now
Britney Griner violated a Putin TABOO*
Speaking of … UH OH
Speaking of…UH OH, methinks I had mote. But I can't find the xword. I MITE have FIR after all
Re. LOGAN.. BOOMER you should Come to Boston when you're healthy again. CC would love it and you can see our Redsox
Speaking of Twins how Scott Piercy make out in your Golf Tournament? Tbtimes ignored it completely, what an horrific Sports page
WC
* If there's NAE vodka there's NAE high
DO @5:30: The house is 2,100 sq Ft. I don’t know the sq ft of the solar panels but there are 27 of them, 7 on the south facing side of the hip-roof, and 20 on the flat roof, mounted flat. The house has a central A.C., a large 240v wall unit booster in the great rm., and a small 120v wall unit in the back bedroom. If I leave all three A.C.s running at night, the PowerWall battery will get to 16% around midnight and the Enphase controller will switch to the FPL power grid. If I turn off the main unit and the great room unit and run only the small A.C. in the back bedroom, where I sleep, the PowerWall battery will run the three fridges, the outside landscape lighting my A.C. unit in the bedroom and all the little power-suckers like the clock-radios, router, p.c., etc., until about 3am usually. That depends on when the battery has to take over. If it’s a cloudy late afternoon and the solar panels don’t make enough power to run the whole house and the battery kicks in to assist early (5:30, 6:00) then it runs flat early, too, as you’d expect. I have a second Tesla PowerWall battery ordered, which I anticipate will run the whole house (minus the central A.C. and great room booster all night. The system only got programmed and turned on July 12, so I’m still learning about it. I’ve discovered that I can get a pretty good estimate of how much juice something draws by looking at the Tesla app which shows what the house is drawing, and turning off one item. So far, since the system was turned on, I’ve sold more power to FPL than I’ve purchased from them. A great feature of the Enphase controller is it monitors the National Weather Service and if a hurricane is forecast it will use the grid if needed to make sure the batteries are fully charged before the hurricane hits. When I get the second battery it should run the whole house minus the two A.C. units all night if the grid goes down. When the sun comes out the next day after the storm passes, the panels will charge the batteries. So I should never be without power. We’ll see, I guess.
BTW, $48,000 for the whole system including the second Tesla PowerWall battery. I look at it like this: if I invested $48,000 in a stock on the stock market, and got back $175 dividend every single month (my previous average FPL bill) that would amount to about a 4% annual dividend. Plus THIS $48,000 gives me power when the grid is down. AND I’m doing my part to help address global warming, by using solar.
Hi! I'm at a different computer than the one I usually use, and am just trying to see if, if too, will allow me to post something. (Don't mind me.)
WELL (x3) this was a fair Monday. Only one inkover : wags/WOOF.
Theme: "What we have here" (is a failure to communicate? Guess not..😆) came together with the reveal. (We had a DUG WELL at camp which dried up one hot summer replaced with a drilled WELL decades ago). Otherwise no unfair P names..I knew ANDY Samberg from SNL and his fun Brooklyn 99 series.
OWIE ...(D'OH!!!) once again rears it ugly head 🙄 sheesh. Forgot the expression SPILLING THE TEA (which must be regional, never heard it b 4 doing CW's) so perwaited.
STEP, comedian Demetri Martin: "I tripped on an escalator and fell down the stairs for 2 hours"
SWORE, swearing is taking an oath in vain, "by god" etc. not using profanity (cuss) words. In Italy they still swear by the Roman gods depending on the region, different deities: perbacco "by Bacchus", perdiana "by Diana", pergiove "by Jove" thus avoiding more offensive Judeo/christian references.
Saw one of the most str8forward clues for OREOS in the 2 week old NYT Sunday puzzle in our local rag yesterday.."Cruciverbalists favorite cookies"
Ass speak....BRAISE
Me but not Anon T....FBI
Monopoly money....PLAYDOH
Brand of smokes: Old _____ GHOULS
Commands to halt....WOES
Strep's cousin STAFF
Small cut covered by a Snoopy bandage...OWLET 🙄
Thanks for the write up Boomer
One of our colleagues is out so our work load has increased.and the grandkids are here from Massachusetts...no time for puzzles for awhile...(wha? is that a collective sigh of relief I hear 😲)
Thanks for the write-up, Boomer.
Valerie has been growing tomatoes so those were on my plate this weekend. "Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." - Miles Kington.
Enjoy the visit with the grandkids, Ray-O.
Good morning.
Cute puzzle. Thank you, Joe, and thank you, Boomer.
Just finished it even though I started it shortly after 3 AM. Caught up on sleep between the beginning and the end.
Good morning, everyone! I just had to stop by and say how much I enjoyed this bright-and-breezy Monday puzzle courtesy of Joe Deeney, followed by Boomer’s entertaining write up. Thanks to you both for the fun outing. Glad to hear you’re hanging in there, Boomer. I’ll continue to keep you and CC in my prayers.
I got a real kick out of the WELL, WELL, WELL! reveal, since I immediately pictured Chief Inspector Japp coming onto the scene of yet another Poirot mystery. SPILL THE TEA is a newish twist on “spill the beans”, but was not unknown. “Departed into the sunset, say” = RODE OFF brought a smile.
I couldn’t help but notice a number of references to my hometown and state (Cincinnati, OH) over the last week or so. Our poor Reds are struggling, but at least we have our regional Oktoberfests to look forward to. Anyone for eine Bratwurst und ein Bier?
DH and I are headed for a cruise to Alaska in about a week. Hope to spot lots of wildlife and eat lots of salmon!
Take care all!
Boomer: You should go to the DAIRY today and celebrate National Hot Fudge Sundae day.
Thank You Joe Deeney for an easy Monday puzzle, that i finished in good time, ... and enjoyed.
Thank you Boomer ( misspelt DUG, ha ! ). Glad to know youre doing better and best wishes for continued good health, and even better news, to come.
I love green beans but speaking from experience, the only benefit of shopping for vegetables ( and fruits - ) is that you buy only what you need, and you dont have to consume it 'because it is there'.
FLN Nice to read from Bill. G. I hope slowly and surely he comes back to join the blog and contribute his wisdom.
I still dont see how WELL WELL WELL relates to, I'M WAITING.
A meeting in a half hour, I better leave.
Have a good day all.
As a boy growing up in Canada, I had that Phil Esposito hockey card. I had completely forgotten that he only wore the jersey and you could see his very 70s dress pants. I thought it was funny when I was a kid.
Delightful Monday puzzle, many thanks, Joe. And always great to have you get our Monday morning off to a good start, Boomer. Hope you have a promising medical week coming up--we have you in our thoughts and prayers.
A few negatives here and there, UH OH, SO SAD to see that WE LOST, and I don't like having people SPY ON people--that should really be TABOO. Makes a puzzle DRAB.
But at least we got a few EATS here and there, with some DAIRY food, and CASHEW, and a bit of FENNEL. Anything we might BRAISE for lunch? Oh, and of course, my favorite: FUDGE.
Some geography too with OHIO and UTAH and GABON.
Have a great week, everybody.
FIR, but erased shore, then slide, for GLIDE. DNK ANDY or PADTHAI.
I tell my project management students to instruct their estimators not to add a FUDGE FACTOR. Ask them to provide "most likely", "pessimistic" (95% probability it won't be any worse) and "optimistic"(95% probability it won't be any better). These give the project manager an insight to the risk of what's being estimated. The second half of the deal it that you won't hold the estimator to the"most likely" figure, but the "a little over" and "a little under" estimates should approximately even out over the multitude of estimates submitted for the project. If they don't, it shows that estimating procedures need to be investigated.
WC - Piercy fell apart yesterday. He was 7 over for his last 11 holes. Not the 7-11 ya want on Sunday. Tony Finau was 2 under for those 11 holes, to win by 3. Piercy tied 4th.
Thanks to Joe for the nice, polite Monday puzzle. And thanks to DUG for the chuckles.
Vidwan827@11:41 a.m. - Vidwan, when people in America are tired of waiting, they often say “Well…?” as in “Well, are you ready to go, or not?” FWI
I GLIDEd through this Monday puzzle, feeling Hale & Hearty. My compliments to Joe and to Boomer.
Is anyone else a fan of that giant Rube Goldberg machine at LOGAN Airport? Absolutely mesmerizing!
Sorry,that should be “FYI” not FWI”
Sumdaze, I wasn't familiar with any Rube Goldberg machine at Logan Airport, so I went Web Hunting.
desper-otto @ 1:09. Thank you for the link. Yes! That is the one. I just now did a quick Google. George Rhodes is the artist. Apparently he has created several. The one at Logan is titled, "Exercise in Fugality"
A fine Monday PZL from Mr. Deeney, dissected by our Boomer.
I join with Lucina, unclefred ET AL in expressing surprise at SPILL THE TEA. I've noticed this expression in other recent XWDs, so I believe it is a case of the constructors learning from each other.
I don't believe they picked it up IRL!
~ OMK
___________
DR: One per side, for a total = TWO diagonals
The near side yields a naughty anagram of 9 letters, a word which can be matched with several smaller intros, depending on one's mood.
the key word is...
"BAWDINESS," and it can be paired with...
"POT BAWDINESS," or with
"POET BAWDINESS,: or even with
"BOP BAWDINESS," if it reminds you of your date for the high school dance.
Musings
-A lovely puzzle from our Massachusetts supply manager after 18 holes on a 77oF day!
-Joe's theme is a favorite PP&M song of mine (Not PUFF!)
-There are several ways a batter can be AT BAT but never get credit for it
-If all ELSE fails, read the directions
-$2 bills were big in Omaha when Ak-Sar-Ben horse race track was one of the biggest in the country
-Irish, I love beans, waxed or unwaxed :-)
I liked this puzzle and all your comments. Learned the phrase SPILL THE TEA from this blog. Depended on perps to know whether it was HER or SHE. I am not familiar with PUFFS facial tissue but judging from the name I suspect it would not be a good idea to wipe one's glasses with it. I like anise and licorice but not FENNEL. Good wishes to you all.
D-O / Sum, your tax dollars at work. "Exercise in Frugality"? Wouldn't you like to know how much we paid for it? Neal Boortz used to say if you are trying to find a government building in a major city, just drive around until you see a big, ugly sculpture. (It IS interesting, though.)
HG @ 2:42 ~ Sorry, I’m either misremembering the wrong person and/or the wrong vegetable. ðŸ¤
Spill the Tea originated in the Black drag community, specifically in the novel Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil, per Mr. G.
RIP, Paul Sorvino.
Hi everybody.
From late last night, thank you for all the kind words. It feels good to be missed and appreciated.
I don't think anybody uses "Spill the tea" except crossword constructors who find themselves painted into a corner.
Soon after we got married, Barbara and I were up in northern California at one of the national or state parks and experienced a beautiful dark sky like these. I just laid on my back and looked at the sky for several hours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FXJUP6_O1w
Hey Lucina and everybody,
~ Mind how you go...
Bill G
DO @ 5:30 I had to apply to FPL to be an energy supplier to their power grid before they would change my meter to a "Net Metering" model. I know FPL built a huge solar farm somewhere in north-central Florida, then took the power produced and put it up on high-voltage towers to distribute to the rest of the state, ala the plan designed by Thomas Edison in the 1880's. Not near as efficient as a disseminated system which would generate power WHERE IT'S NEEDED. Anyway, I Googled "fpl solar farm locations" today and discovered they list MY HOUSE on their map as "Florida Power and Light Company"!! Hilarious!!
Good to hear from you again Bill G.
Here is a direct hot link to Bills "where are the stars."
Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Joe and Boomer.
I FIRed in good time and smiled at the WELL, WELL, WELL theme.
I’m back after a busy weekend camping with some of our kids and grands at a provincial park on Lake Huron. Beautiful beach for sunny, warm days. Spent most of today recovering!
Hand up for Her before SHE.
I learned SPILL THE TEA doing CWs.
I smiled at UTAH, OHIO, and then UHOH!
There is a 4-letter CW cookie that isn’t Oreo. I have never eaten an OTIS.
No comments about Canadian icon, GORDON Lightfoot. 83 years old and still touring. I would have picked The Wreck if the Edmund Fitzgerald for the clue.
We are picking beans, lettuce and cucumbers. Tomatoes are sizing up but not ripening yet. We had a BLT with a hothouse tomato today.
Wishing you all a great day.
WELL, talk about crossword coincidences !
No, the editors had to be in cahoots. Maybe. Judge for yourself. Solve (or at least read the theme clues) for today's July 25th Universal at Merriam-Webster.
Hi All!
WELL, that was quick fun. Thanks for the Monday puzzle, Joe.
Excellent expo, Boomer -- LOL OWIE comment. I love BEETs but no one else in the house does. I sometimes get them just for me anyway. Same w/ Sardines ;-)
WOs: SP_ (Specialist) -> CPL, Dull->DRAB
ESP: GABON
Fav: ANDY Samberg - his running gag w/ Seth Meyers cracks me up.
Ellen had a game called SPILL THE TEA on her show.
OMK - Triple-play w/ the DRs today.
UncleFred - a) good nap? 2) thanks for the info re: solar panels. III) LOL on being 'part of the grid.'
ATLGranny - I was also WAITING to see if the 'FF's were going to be part of theme.
IM - Yellow (waxed), Green, & kidney + some onion, sugar & vinegar makes a wonderful 3 Bean Salad.
Jinx - +/- 5%. I'm impressed. I'd usually estimate, added 10%, and then tell the client +/- 10%. That way, I could toss in a small change or two 'for free.'
Bill G - we were coming down from Yosemite late one night. I pulled over and got the girls out of the car. None of us had ever seen so many stars IRL..
Now to watch the Sumdaze/D-O link.
Cheers, -T
Thank you! This is beautiful and a sad commentary on air pollution!
I thought a Rube Goldberg was supposed to do something useful like Wallace & Gromit style or Doc Brown's dog feeder [@2:08]in Back to the Future. The machine takes a simple task over-engineer'd (ok, hand-up - guilty as charged)
I mean, LOGAN's contraption is one -- if you call that music ;-)
FLN - TTP: Now I'm curious, do your's & her's (first) initials sound-like her name?
Vidwan - Did Subgenius complete your query? If not:
Pop: "You played ball in the house and broke the <insert broken thing here>."
Me:
Pop: "What do you have to say for yourselves?" [Implicating Bro too]
Me:
Pop: WELL? [I'M WAITING]
//clear as mud now?
Completely random: I saw this movies b/f CGI [:58] on Twitter today.
Cheers, -T
Hi, everyone! Pretty much what everyone has said already. Thanks, Joe for an easy opener for the week, and thanks Boomer for the expo. Glad to hear your good health update.
Busy week ahead, but I hope to get back here later.
Dash T, you mentioned her name one time and it stuck. 'cause they sound exactly the same :>)
I still can't get over how similar the LAT and Universal crosswords were to one another on the 25th.
The reveal clue for the LAT ("What have we here?") is the reveal answer for the Universal.
The reveal answer for the LAT (WELL, WELL, WELL) were the theme clues for the Universal.
Co-inky-dink ?
I think Patti and David did that on porpoise. :>)
Thank you both.
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