Theme: A made to ORDER puzzle. As you will soon see, there's a place for everything, and everything is in its place.
20 A. *Fried fare traditionally wrapped in newspaper: FISH AND CHIPS. A dinner ORDER at a sea food restaurant; typically breaded ocean fish served with French fries and coleslaw.
31 A. *Missing nothing: FROM A TO Z. Not only thorough, but in proper ORDER.
37 A. *With 40-Across, defenders of the Holy Grail: KNIGHTS.
40 A. See 37-Across: TEMPLAR. A christian military ORDER that was founded in 1119, headquartered on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages. They became rich and powerful, and King Phillip IV of France was deeply in their debt. He had many of them tortured to yield false confessions, and they were executed. Under political pressure, Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312.
47 A. *Monkeys, e.g.: PRIMATES. Not to be confused with British clergy, these are any members of an ORDER (Primates) of mammals that are characterized especially by advanced development of binocular vision resulting in stereoscopic depth perception, specialization of the hands and feet for grasping, and enlargement of the cerebral hemispheres, that include humans, apes, monkeys, the Librarian at Unseen University, and related forms (such as lemurs and tarsiers.)
54. "Do it now!," and what can be said about the answers to the starred clues: THAT'S AN ORDER! An emphatic statement from someone expecting obedience -- and the clever unifier for this puzzle. Each theme answer describes a type of ORDER, and each is quite different from the others.
Hi, Gang - JazzBumpa here to keep everything in ORDER as we wend our way through today's offering. Let's wee what we can find.
Across:
1. Monastery figure: ABBOT. The leader of an order of monks, not monkeys. Certainly a primate, but not necessarily a primate.
6. Move quickly, as clouds: SCUD. Move fast in a straight line because or as if driven by the wind.
10. Speak up?: PRAY. Assuming that up is the direction in which prayers go.
14. Jazz singer Vaughan known as "The Divine One": SARAH. Sarah Lois Vaughan (1924 – 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "The Divine One", she won four Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award.[2] She was given an NEA Jazz Masters Award in 1989. Critic Scott Yanow wrote that she had "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century".
6. Move quickly, as clouds: SCUD. Move fast in a straight line because or as if driven by the wind.
10. Speak up?: PRAY. Assuming that up is the direction in which prayers go.
14. Jazz singer Vaughan known as "The Divine One": SARAH. Sarah Lois Vaughan (1924 – 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "The Divine One", she won four Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award.[2] She was given an NEA Jazz Masters Award in 1989. Critic Scott Yanow wrote that she had "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century".
15. Despise: HATE. Feel contempt or a deep repugnance for.
16. Lingerie trim: LACE. A fine open fabric, typically one of cotton or silk, made by looping, twisting, or knitting thread in patterns and used especially for trimming garments.
16. Lingerie trim: LACE. A fine open fabric, typically one of cotton or silk, made by looping, twisting, or knitting thread in patterns and used especially for trimming garments.
17. Speak from a lectern: ORATE. Make a speech, especially pompously or at length.
18. "C'est la vie": ALAS. Oh, well . . .
19. Bronze, Iron, et al.: AGES. Distinct historical periods.
23. "Allow me": MAY I. Watch, and learn.
24. Pal: AMIGA. Female friend, in Spanish.
28. Rx: SCRIP. A doctor's order to provide a specific medication to a certain patient.
34. Colorful South Asian garments: SARIS. Garments consisting of a length of cotton or silk elaborately draped around the body, traditionally worn by women from South Asia.
35. Veer off course, as a rocket: YAW. A twisting or oscillation of a moving ship or aircraft around a vertical axis.
36. __ Dhabi: ABU. Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, sits off the mainland on an island in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf.
43. Golf hole meas.: YDS. Yards.
44. "Bingo!": AHA. Eureka!
46. Straight up: NO ICE. A way to serve hard liquor.
50. Pfizer rival: MERCK. Drug companies.
51. Lightens up: EASES.
52. Grocery cart unit: ITEM. Becomes easier or less strict.
61. __ carotene: BETA. An organic, strongly colored red-orange pigment abundant in fungi, plants, and fruits. It is a member of the carotenes, which are terpenoids, synthesized biochemically from eight isoprene units and thus having 40 carbons.
64. Travel aimlessly: ROAM. Wander about.
65. Clamor: NOISE. Racket
66. Depleted Asian lake: ARAL. An endorheic [having no outflow to other bodies of water] lake lying between Kazakhstan in the north and Uzbekistan in the south which began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up by the 2010s.
67. Journey: TRIP. Travel from hither to yon.
68. Familiar "Who's there?" reply: IT'S ME. Do you recognize my voice?
69. Jokes: GAGS. Jests, quips, japes.
70. __ cracker: SODA. A thin, usually square cracker usually made from white flour, sometimes yeast, and baking soda, with most varieties lightly sprinkled with coarse salt. It has perforations over its surface, as well as a distinctively dry and crisp texture.
71. Like dry mud on cleats: CAKED. Encrusted on a surface.
Down:
1. Starting from: AS OF. Beginning at a certain date or time.
2. Italian port on the Adriatic: BARI.
3. Garments with hooks: BRAS. A bra, short for brassiere or brassière, is a form-fitting undergarment that is primarily used to support and cover women's breasts.
4. Part of a swearing-in ceremony: OATH. The actual swearing part.
5. Community with barn raisings: THE AMISH. a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches, another Anabaptist denomination. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view neither to interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible, and a view to maintain self-sufficiency. [Wikipedia]
6. Suitable for hosta: SHADY. Shetered from direct sunlight.
7. Turn to stone: CALCIFY. Specifically, if it involves the presence or addition of calcium containing compounds. A more general term would be petrify.
8. Four Corners state: UTAH. The locality in the southwestern United States at the intersection of 37°N with 109°W where four states—Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah—come together, the only such place in the country.
9. Javier's "Being the Ricardos" role: DESI. A role in the movie about Desi and Lucy Ricardo.
10. Flat panel TV type: PLASMA. A television display technology in which each pixel on the screen is illuminated by a tiny bit of plasma (charged gas). The plasma is encased between two thin sheets of glass. Plasma displays are generally considered to offer better dark-room viewing and wider viewing angles than LCD.
11. Ride (on): RAG. Not sure I understand this. It might mean to harshly criticize someone. Help me out if I'm missing something.
12. Card worth four points in evaluating a bridge hand: ACE. Kings are 3, Queens 2, and Jacks 1. Traditionally it takes 12 or more high card points and a sufficiently strong suit to open the bidding.
13. "Bingo!": YES. You nailed it!
21. Snooze: NAP. Daytime sleep session.
22. Cooking spray: PAM. A mixture of vegetable oil and other ingredients intended to prevent cooking food from sticking to a pan or skillet.
25. Slanted, as some writing: ITALIC. It looks like this.
26. "Retreat!!": GO BACK. Withdraw from a position or location for strategic or tactical reasons.
27. Sky blue: AZURE. Bright blue in color like a cloudless sky.
28. Oh of "Killing Eve": SANDRA. Sandra Miju Oh [b. 1971] is a Canadian–American actress. She has received numerous accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and twelve Primetime Emmy Award nominations. In 2019, Time magazine named Oh one of the 100 most influential people in the world
29. Urgent event: CRISIS. A time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger.
30. Fix badly?: RIG. Cobble up a non-standard way of repairing or constructing something.
32. Tell (on): RAT. Sing, squeal.
33. Be in debt: OWE.
34. Zoom alternative: SKYPE. A computer program that you can use to make voice calls or video calls on the internet.
38. Tit for __: TAT. An English saying meaning "equivalent retaliation".
39. __ shed: SHE. Like man cave, she shed is a term used to describe a place a woman can escape to, usually a small building placed in the backyard. Never hear this term before.
41. "Super heroes must eat oats" for the Great Lakes, e.g.: MNEMONIC. A device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.
42. __ favor: POR. "Please" in Spanish.
45. "Let me repeat ... ": AS I SAID.
48. Bronze, iron, et al.: METALS. And a clecho!
49. Fire pit residue: ASH. Burnt wood residue.
50. Chaps: MEN. Dudes.
53. Super Bowl LV city: TAMPA. In Florida.
55. The "A" in many degrees: ARTS. As I'm B.A. or M.A.
56. Fatty tuna, at a sushi bar: TORO. A pale, fatty cut of tuna used for sushi and sashimi. Not to be confused with a lawn mower of the same name.
57. Personnel list: ROTA. A list showing when each of a number of people has to do a particular job.
58. Spine component: DISK. The soft pad positioned in between each of the vertebrae of the spine. The vertebral disc acts as a spacer, shock absorber, and part of the cartilaginous joints that allow movement in the spine.
59. "Twilight" vampire Cullen: ESME. Ported by Elizabeth Reaser. You can read about her here.
60. Wetlands plant: REED. A tall, slender-leaved plant of the grass family, which grows in water or on marshy ground.
61. Sack: BAG. a flexible container made of a strong material such as burlap, thick paper, or plastic, used for storing and carrying goods.
62. "It's the end of an __": ERA. A long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic.
63. Label: TAG. A small piece of paper, fabric, plastic, or similar material attached to an object and giving information about it.
We can always count on Jeff for a quality puzzle. Looks like this is Alexander's first entry in the L.A. Times - so congrats, good job, and we hope to see you again!
Cool regards,
JzB
FIRight, because the computer won't give me a ta-da until I do. Errors I had to correct: AMIGo < AMIGA and DISc < DISK.
ReplyDeleteThe theme got me, and I kick myself for not seeing it before TITT and looking at the reveal. So overall this one was a loss for me.
Awful lot of wordplay -- 2 clechos, ESME + IT'S ME, ITS ME/ITEM. PAM/NAP, NOISE/NO ICE (Hi, Tin!), ARAL/UTAH (Salt Lake is suffering the same fate as Aral, for the same reasons), TORO/ROTA, BARI/SARIs,
I take two double CSOs. I'm a Masonic KNIGHT TEMPLAR, and the KNIGHTS TEMPLAR was the magazine where I constructed Cryptic Crosswords for years; and UTAH, since New Mexico is one of the other Four Corners states, and I lived in Utah during my year at BYU.
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
IT'S ME!
It's me who?
It's me who lost my keys again!
I once knew a girl named SARAH,
She was my sweet-heart and AMIGA.
But, oh, ALAS,
Romance didn't last,
She eloped with a Mormon from UTAH!
I buried my sorrow in SANDRA,
A Florida beauty from TAMPA.
She baked me a CAKE,
The last thing I ate.
Now I'm playing a harp in Nirvana!
{B, B+.}
Thanks for your reveal, Jazz! I'm still struggling to get any of these done in less than 30 minutes, but gradual improvement is evident, at least in the first half of the week.
ReplyDeleteTo me, "rag" means light criticism with a hint of humor to it.
My friend and I took our DKW on a ferry from BARI to Corfu in Greece in the spring of 1970, part of our 5 month trek through Western Europe.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteFinished in good time. Saw the reveal, and that explained the theme. Yay, me. Not sure they still make PLASMA TVs -- less expensive OLED technology has replaced it. Nice debut, Alexander. Esoteric expo, JzB. (Andorheic? Bet you won't use that one in conversation today.)
We're headed toward triple digit temps again today. Alas, the A/C crapped out at dinnertime last night. I'm hoping I can find a repair guy who'll show up today. It's gonna be a hot time in the old house...
This took me 6:15 to get things in order.
ReplyDeleteI struggled to get "scud" and "alas" in the top-middle.
"Bari," "toto," and the vampire were totally unknown to me.
FIR. No erasures, but had to wait for amigo / AMIGA, rove / ROAM, and nmemonic / MNEMONIC. DNK BARI, ESME, that TORO was something other than a bull, and only sorta knew ROTA.
ReplyDeleteHad to be YAW; "pitch" and "roll" wouldn't fit.
I only know SHE shed because of the State Farm commercial in which one burns up. At least there aren't any talking animals in it.
JzB gave us a nice illustration of LACE. In fact, I'd like nothing better. BTW, while we're mentioning unmentionables, after DW's lumpectomy I got her a bunch of no hook, no wire bras that are a little like sports bras. She prefers them now.
Speaking of "nothing", that's what SANDRA Oh wore in "Dancing at the Blue Iguana".
Thanks to Alex and Jeff for the fun exercise, and to JzB for your always clever tour.
FIR in an award winning 26. DNK ROTA. W/Os CALCATE:CALCIFY, PAR:YDS. I, too, noticed the clecho. I always have to wait for the perp to see if it’s gonna be a DISK or a DISC. Nice CW, AL & JC, even though it took me a while, thanx. Thanx too to JzB for the terrific write-up. JzB you put the definition of 51A “EASES” after the 52A “ITEM”. Finally got my solar programmed and turned on yesterday. Good job the installer stayed a while to help dopey ol’ unclefred get the apps on my iPhone to monitor the system. Doing so he discovered the installers had not properly installed one of the panels and it was not connected to the system, so I was getting nothing from it. He fixed that. I spent much of yesterday afternoon hypnotized by the Tesla PowerWall battery app watching the electricity being generated by the panels streaming to my house, the battery, and the grid. Also went on-line to figure out how to read the fancy new bi-directional meter FPL installed. I’m told the system takes three days or so to fully integrate and function properly. The battery powered the house until 3am, when I had to start buying power from FPL again. I’m excited to see what it does today, with a full day of charging, as yesterday it didn’t get turned on fully until about 1pm.
ReplyDeleteFast again today. I loved the theme in retrospect. I forgot to go back and apply it to the theme answers, which would have been fun and easy.
ReplyDeleteMore commonly, for me, calcify can also mean "to make or become rigid or intransigent, as in a political position," which often leads to gridlock.
My grandmother made beautiful tatted lace. Her lace edged handkerchiefs were too beautiful to use to blow your nose. You carried them just for "show" as we used to say.
Rag is used to mean tease or taunt. Ragging can be light or merciless.
Although I know of soda crackers, the term is not used much here. "What's the difference between soda crackers and saltines? There's really no difference. They are most often called saltines in the United States and soda crackers in the United Kingdom." Google
There for a while I saw many mentions of she sheds, not much lately. Its counterpart, man cave, is still popular.
PAM "Using a nonstick cooking spray, such as Pam or Smart Balance, can damage your pan's nonstick finish."
I do not know why it does not show in the data base but this duo debuted here on October 22, 2021 on a Friday blogged by Moe. They have other publications and Alexander has 2 solo NYTs. Alexander is a recent graduate of Columbia University, where he studied Computer Engineering, Applied Math, and Political Science. He is currently a software engineer at a startup and an ORISE Research Fellow at the FDA. He is an Asian-American who promotes equality.
ReplyDeleteThank you JzB for a great review, and Jeff always brings us joy.
Yes! A pretty FIR today. Alexander and Jeff's Wednesday puzzle was a pleasure. The only adjustment needed was to change the O to A at the end of AMIGA. The theme was easy to see after the reveal, and the only question I had about the fill was RAG, but perps were solid and it seemed a little familiar. Thanks, guys, for an interesting puzzle.
ReplyDeleteNice review, JazzB. Thanks for explaining things. (Your including the Librarian on the PRIMATE list as a teaser led me to Google him/it.)
Still having some rain predicted but the temperatures are creeping up again. Exercise in the cool gym is preferred to walking in the heat for an hour. Hope you all stay cool today!
Jacques DeMolay was the last Grand Master of the TEMPLARS and was executed on Friday the 13th. I remember kids with DeMolay jackets. Owen might shed light on pre-Masonic Clubs.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, Dan Brown made a bundle on his Masonic tale about Templar skullduggery*
CSO to our NEAT Tarpon Springs guy, Tin Beni with NO ICE. NOICE? I thought???
Speaking of GAGS:
Knock, knock. WHO'S THERE
Shore.
Shore who?
Shore hope you like bad jokes!
Chesty Puller at the Chosin Reservoir refused to call it a retreat. "We're advancing to the rear"
We have a SHED we call the SHE Shed. About 300-400 sqft
We had Salinger's ESME(—with Love and Squalor) last week
I originally had garment BAGS (inked over to become BRAS)
WC
* Which he plagiarized from "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"
I never noticed the 'stars' in my newspaper because they are so small but I wouldn't have connected ORDER as a theme. No problems to FIR with just a few unknowns filled as they were clued. But BARI, ESME, and TORO were unknown. Had to change AMIGO to AMIGA. 'OZURE' skies wouldn't get it.
ReplyDeleteCALCIFY- only if you're talking about limestone. Petrify, mineralize, or even magma cooling.
MERCK- I wouldn't consider it a 'rival' of Pfizer. I've dealt with hundreds of drug manufacturers and other than generic companies I don't remember any of them competing 'head to head' company wide.
d-otto- PLASMA televisions are no longer made by any company. Last made 2014. They were fabulous but expensive. Does anybody really want to pay $5-10,000 to watch reruns of some show that was 'filmed' digitally?
GoodMorning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a pleasant, smooth mid-week solve. Toro and Esme were unknown, as clued, and Amigo was quickly corrected to Amiga. She Shed brought the commercial to mind which, in turn, made me wonder why some of the silliest, most annoying commercials are for insurance companies. We had some fun pairings today with Rag/Tag/Bag, Ace/Lace, and Rat/Tat. The Pam entry reminded me of the Emmy’s blatant snub of Renee Zellwegger and The Thing About Pam series. Boo, Hiss, Emmy’s! 👎
Thanks, Alexander and Jeff, for a Wednesday winner and thanks, JazzB, for the alway informative and entertaining exp.
Anon T, check your email/spam. Ditto to Ray O, going back over a month.
Have a great day.
Nice 'n' easy humpday puzzle with yet another fun theme....but the final kicker was...is it PRAY perped with RAG...or PLAY perped with LAG? 🙉🙈🙊 . I see I chose correctly for a FIR! 😃
ReplyDeleteIt's "script" in these here parts (prescription), have never heard the term SCRIP .. a SCRIP(t) is a kind of order too...n'est-ce pas, AMIGA? (My Spanish gal pal).
Inkovers: amigo/A, shade/Y
THE AMISH have settled in large numbers in Oneida/Herkimer county. They put a new roof on our house and built us a covered lawn double-glider swing plus 2 Adirondack chairs.. Run a wonderful Mohawk Valley country store.
BARI: Where Santa Claus San Nicola is buried:
"Becoming The Ricardos" Nicole Kidman as "Lucy" was perfect, Javier as "Desi".. Meh
Yesterday we would have TITTERED over "Tit for TAT" (the Limerick) 🤭 ..And how you s'posta remember how to spell MNEMONIC (is there a mnemonic?)
🔥 Sheryl's SHE shed is on firel 🔥 (Jinx, IM)
Arthur Kent, the "SCUD Stud" A journalist during the Gulf War and a Canadian Eh!
SANDRA of "Killing Eve"....OWE.
Yell for your female sib...CRISIS
Best spouses...PRIMATES
What bad Dad jokes provoke...GAGS
Clamor...NOICE
"Travel aimlessly" but all roads lead to ____ ROAM
JzB quite an elaborate revral...thanks. 🤗
The KNIGHTS TEMPLAR were formed to protect pilgrims in palestine, and made their wealth being bankers for them, but as far as the Holy Grail the connection should be classed with legend, fiction, and conspiracy theories.
ReplyDeleteYes, RAGGING on someone, especially in sports, abd Riding them (as if you were on a horse whipping them) are forms of taunting. Baseball players who do it from the dugout are known as "bench jockeys."
Of course TORO could also have been another Spanish lesson today.
Thanks Alex and Jeff for a Wednesday that seemed like what Monday should have been.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks JzB for explaining the theme, which I didn't attempt to figure out, as I didn't need it for the solve.
Some favs:
6A SCUD. Also a Russian missile used in the Gulf War. They weren't very accurate, but even a loose cannon can do serious damage.
10A PRAY. Clever clue.
14A SARAH. Divine indeed.
20A FISH AND CHIPS. One of my favorites (except for the bad CARBS of course).
46A NO ICE. A CSO to Tinbeni.
61A BETA. Like my 2012 truck. I call it the Ford 150 BETA Edition.
5D THE AMISH. I'd always thought that the more liberal Mennonites had broken away from the AMISH, but it turns out that the latter had broken away from the Mennonites because they didn't consider them conservative enough. BTW, if you've wondered what the Old Testament Tabernacle looked like, you can visit a scale model of it that the Mennonites have built at their center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
11D RAG. I think it's a synonym for NAG, which wouldn't perp with PRAY.
29A CRISIS. Sorta like now.
Cheers,
Bill
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Alexander and Jeff, and JzB.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time, and saw the ORDERs.
One inkblot to change PNEUMONIC (wouldn’t fit and refers to lungs!) to MNEMONIC. (I live between eat and oats)
I’ll take a CSO with SCRIP, and a secondary one with MERCK. (I remember when they were Merck, Sharp and Dohme.)
Can I beat IM to noting RAG, BAG, TAG. Also NOISE and NO ICE. LACE and BRAS.
My battery is getting low.
Back later,
Wishing you all a great day.
Musings
ReplyDelete-The wonderful gimmick escaped me but did not diminish my enjoyment!
-What gourmet Poirot says after he condescends to have FISH AND CHIPS
-Immediate association: SARAH Vaughn - Broken Hearted Melody, Peggy Lee - Fever, etc.
-I will ORATE/demonstrate about Bernoulli’s Principle today for 50 YMCA Camp kids
-I repeat, spaceships, boats and airplanes can YAW and stay on course.
-ITEM in a cart – How does Wal~Mart control shoplifting at self-checking stations
-I wonder if Longstreet ever called out GO BACK to George Pickett at Gettysburg
-HOMES is the perfect MNEMONIC for the Great Lakes
The silly theme link of the day will be slightly delayed...
ReplyDelete"Spine component: DISK. The soft pad positioned in between each of the vertebrae of the spine. The vertebral disc acts as a spacer, shock absorber, and part of the cartilaginous joints that allow movement in the spine." Notice DISK but "disc" in definition.
ReplyDeleteNotice "christian" is misspelled in review.
Forgot to thank Husker Gary for reminding about that wonderful "Broken-Hearted Memory" which as a boy I bought for my collection.
ReplyDeleteIM, I do like one current insurance commercial. It is a send-up of the cloying PSA showing the little kid that comes out on stage and plays chopsticks on the grand piano, with the support of the star pianist. In this commercial, a look-alike kid comes out, sits at the piano, and plays nothing, to the standing ovation of J. K. Simmons. Point is Farmer's rewards customers for doing nothing, especially for not filing claims.
ReplyDeleteALAS, nope... DNF
ReplyDeleteI could not get SCUt, wanted RIKI (D'oh! DESI) and I had _romato_(?) & AMIGo. After 20 minutes of working the area, I TITT and looked to JzB for aid.
Thanks Alexander & Jeff [Jeff, you're one of the best!] for the grid - a fun distraction during the change-control meeting.
Thank you JzB for stopping the bleeding. CALCIFY - why could I NOT see that? Great LACY expo.
//RAG on someone is to nag-harshly and kinda a pejorative implying menstruating women in 'that mood.' At least, that's what I infer -- Kazie's connotation is different.
Also, how did you miss this (never mind, Ray-O beat me to it) SHE Shed commercial? #Lucky
WOs: uRAL, ROle.
FIW: [see: above]
ESP: SARAH | BARI
Fav: the word MNEMONIC is always fun. It's also a great day with the local sushi joint gets TORO in -- sells out so fast yous gots to be there on the right night [Thursday]
Anyone think of Weird Al's parody of Coolio 5d?
{A, B+, what's there? ;-)} //#1 & 68a made me think of Cheech & Chong ["Dave's not here man" history]
D-O: Oh No! re: A/C.
Folks, not only is it gonna be 101F today, it's as humid as hell ain't. We got a bit of rain yesterday and that made it worse. Good luck, AMIGO.
IM - Blame Warren Buffet & GEICO for the proliferation of annoying ads [cite NPR/APM's Planet Money].
Oh boy. There's work. Back at it.
Cheers, -T
It was interesting how the clue "bronze, iron, et.al." could be solved in two different ways. Other than attempting to spell "Skype" with an "I." at first and having a little trouble with the spelling of "mnemonic," I didn't have much problem with this puzzle. FIR, so I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how autocorrect has trouble with me using a small "i" for things. I guess it's just one of autocorrect's many little "cute" (read "annoying") quirks!
ReplyDeleteDelightful Wednesday puzzle, many thanks, Alexander and Jeff. Always enjoy your commentary, JazzB, thanks for that too.
ReplyDeleteThe ABBOT took an OATH to PRAY for the AMISH. (Probably in Lancaster, PA, where my family lived and still lives).
SARAH HATEs wearing BRAS with LACE--she would much prefer SARIS like the ones SANDRA wears.
Hey, NO ICE in the SODA I requested to go with my FISH AND CHIPS--and THAT'S AN ORDER or you'll have to GO BACK and fix it.
Have a fun day, everybody.
Hola!
ReplyDeleteAlexander Liebeskind (sounds German or Dutch) must be Jeff Chen's latest prodigy. Good job, anyway.
It's so sad about the ARAL Sea and many other bodies of water around the world.
On one of our road trips with my late B-I-L we drove to Lancaster, PA from Charlotte, and toured the AMISH village then ate at their large dining room. We were treated to some really good food.
I met a now good friend from BARI on one of my trips to Italy. She and her husband live in Vancouver, CA where we visited them on a trip there.
One of my very best AMIGAs has a birthday this month so I need to send her a card.
Take good care, everyone! And thank you, JazzB, for the excellent expo.
Misty, I enjoyed your post today. You are in a humorous mood! Very creative.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThank you Alexander and Jeff, and JzB
Jazz, you have your 51A comment placed by 52A. No big deal. Fine job as always !
D-O, he probably won't, and he probably won't use the word endorheic either. Also, I checked the National Weather Service records for Temple. Since June 1st, 43 days, the new all time daily high temperature record has been set 17 times. Within that span, there were many days where they were just a degree or two from tying all time highs or setting new ones. On July 4th, the temp rose to 99. Every day since then has been over 100, peaking (so far) at 107 on the 10th. The 11th and 12th were 105, and they are reporting today's high will be 105. Incredible. Hope you are able to get your puffer repairman out there quickly and they don't have to order parts. Get a room at the Omni or Houstonian and call it a vacation.
Dash T, google Houston dew point. Right now it's 76. That's incredibly oppressive. Temple is 70 and that dew point is also graded as oppressive. Background: Dew Point vs Humidity.
"Get off my back !" "Quit riding on me every day !" "Stop ragging on me all of the time !"
Doc told me some years ago that that my sacroiliac was starting to CALCIFY. Some days I think the process is fully complete. I wonder if drinking CLR would help. Dr Birx, is that something we can look into ? :>)
You got scuds ? We have Patriot missiles. And much, much more.
Dash T, check out this Twitter feed. . Someone in NoCal named Jessica captured this landscape company and posted the image with a funny quip. Then look at the response by the singer herself. I 'bout fell out my chair ! Those funny Canadians !
Gotta run.
As our old friend Spitz might point out is Alexander Jeff Chen's "Leibeskind"?? 🤭 😳😉😆
ReplyDeleteMisty! Too fun a post! You nailed it :-)
ReplyDeleteTTP - a dude from So.Cal viewed the house toady (he has to fly back b/f my Kid is over Covid (DW isn't swell either - took off work to sleep(?)) and commented why didn't he come in November when it's BBQ weather. It is an oppressive heat.
Where was I? Oh, yeah. Dew point et. PV=nRT is all I learned in Thermo (that & converting imperial-maths so Jules to BTUs came out right -- damn Civ-E majors].
Spitz [R.I.P. Pal] could explain it.
Lucina - you make sure to send that card. Random acts of kindness and such mean so much.
Cheers, -T
Thank you for the kind comment, Lucina! And how nice that you had a pleasant visit to an Amish area near Lancaster, PA.
ReplyDeleteAh, BARI!
ReplyDeleteI recall arriving unexpectedly in that city back in the early '70s. I say unexpectedly because my then-wife and I were improvising a vacation tour, and at this juncture we had made the decision to abandon the eastern side of the Adriatic (where we had been roaming from Greece up through then-Yugoslavia).
We had hopped on a ferry leaving Dubrovnik--that beautiful city where we had spent a week. We were aiming now for Italy but had NO idea where we were going to land. That was BARI.
We arrived on an afternoon with no idea where we might stay. We had changed some money on the ferry so we would not be without any lire when we docked. We grabbed the first taxi we saw and used guide-book Italian to ask the driver to take us to a hotel he would recommend. We were nothing if not trusting souls.
He took us to a pleasant mid-priced hotel. On the way there I calculated the tip I would proffer upon arrival. I thought I had reckoned it pretty well. But when I handed it over, I realized--too late!--that I must have overdone it.
The driver thanked me profusely. He blessed me and my wife.
He took the luggage from our hands and carried it into the lobby, all the time nodding and bowing to us, and by this time I figured he was blessing not only us but our children, our parents and siblings, and perhaps our ancestors and progeny for several generations.
It was only later that I re-did my calculations and at last reckoned I had given him the down payment on a new cab.
We were far from the stereotypical "Ugly Americans."
~ OMK
Hey, Misty!
ReplyDeleteWith those concise linkages among today's fill-words, you show a real ability to ferret out their underlying unity.
It is quite a knack. Maybe you should try your hand at haiku!
~ OMK
I liked this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAnonT:
ReplyDeleteNot to worry. The card is already sealed and stamped; however, I dread walking out to the mail box as it's now 108 degrees. After dinner it will be a mite cooler.
She is one year older that I am so it's a milestone birthday, 85. Sadly she is in danger of losing her eyesight. One eye is already affected.
Enjoyed the THAT'S AN ORDER theme. Each type of ORDER was different, making it an extra challenge.
ReplyDeleteSHE SHED seemed utterly impossibly wrong and I held off to fill it. I suppose it is a learning moment. Another day of no crossed unknown names. SARAH/BARI OK only because SARAH was known. ROTA utterly unknown except we saw it here recently. HOSTA unknown, but I think we saw it recently.
Here is my short article with photos and video of a ROCKET launch here on Sunday.
The ROCKET launch was at sunset, looking into the sun, making it a challenge to view. But please check out my video. One minute into the video the entire contrail suddenly appears all at once! I have never seen anything like it before.
We still have a PLASMA TV. I think the image quality is the best technology. Very subtle gradations of hue and brightness. Not sure what I will do when it needs to be replaced.
From Yesterday:
ReplyDeleteLucina, Jinx, Tante Nique, PK, AnonT Thank you all for the very kind words about my pet TREE FROGs and my video of them eating!
Lucina I am a bit mystified that you referred to my "photos". Were you able to see my video?
These are native to Australia and are called White's TREE FROGs for the biologist who first recorded them. It is illegal to export them now, so these were bred in captivity in the US. They can change to different colors. What is most unique is when they can change to an AZURE color when they are really happy. A very rare color for a FROG.
PK Thanks for asking about their food. They are eating crickets which I buy at the pet store. A couple of dollars a week takes care of them!
Jinx - I found this SUPER BOWL Budweiser commercial from 1995 with frogs.
Is that the one you meant? Thanks for the tip!
Anon-T, I had to chuckle at your "house toady" -- now just which congressman is that?
ReplyDeleteA/C guy has come and gone, as has my $550 -- the lion's share for a top-off of R22 freon. But at least it's cool inside once again.
ReplyDeletePicard, my Samsung PLASMA TV failed. I replaced it with an LG OLED. Sony, Panasonic, Vizio and a couple others also sell OLED TVs, and they are all made with the LG OLED Panels. The LG OLED TVs were the highest rated picture quality of all the current TVs of any technology. The rest of the electronics matter. A bit pricey, but worth it for the 4K Ultra HD picture quality. Amazing.
BTW, Samsung sells what they call QLED TVs, but they aren't OLEDs. I guess they were hoping that most people wouldn't notice the Q and might think they were buying an OLED. They have beautiful pictures as well, but as you noted, the blacks are not as black and the hues are not quite as good as they were on the plasma or on the OLED.
Picard - Thanks for the memory. Yup, that was the ad that kicked off the whole campaign. I had forgotten the whole sequence with the lizards but it now seems it was more about them than the frogs. Thanks for inspiring me to look for more.
ReplyDeleteD-O: so, you're saying I can't multitask re: typo ;-) Glad to read you're cooler; sorry to read you're $0.5k down.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else listening to the economists on the radio telling you we've not seen this type of wide-spread inflation since '81?
First, D'uh! Pump $4T in 3yrs into the economy - what do you expect.
Second, I was 11yros old then and remember penny candies at the c-store were suddenly $0.03. I had to man up and get more paper subscribers ;-)
I don't like the rice-beer (Bud) but their amphibian mascots were funny.
Picard / TTP - I've seen the high-end TVs at Costco. If I were watching Nature or Cosmos, perhaps I'd appreciate the picture quality.
But then I'd have to watch News Hour in hi-def and, well, um... how do I say I don't need to see Judy's pores?
And, M*A*S*H re-runs won't be any better quality anyways.
//want a quick story?
(Army) Bro just (last weekend) got himself a huge HDTV. Pop helped him get it setup. After pulling it from the box, they put the feet on it and then tried to put on the console table. It had a wide stance [there's another house-toady, D-O ;-)].
Pop said, "Well, you have 8' sheet of plywood in the garage."
Bro was incensed he'd have to put $$TV on a plank of wood - but that's what he ended up doing.
Me? I can't afford bigger than a 44" (diag) set 'cuz then I'd need a new armoire to house the dang thing.
108F? You keep cool (in all ways) Lucina. Cheers!
-T
I finally made it back. And I see that Irish Miss did beat me . . . and OwenKL had noted NOISE/NO ICE first thing. I will have to get up earlier LOL.
ReplyDeleted’o- glad you got your AC fixed. Those temps sound awful to this Canadian.
YR- my grandmother made tatted lace and those fancy handkerchiefs too.
And I say SODA crackers.
Ray-o- yes I am more familiar with SCRIP with the T.
TTP- gotta love Alanis
Picard- great video of the rocket launch!
Anon T same thing happened to me. Thought the wide screen would have a center stand. Instead it had two legs on either end too far apart for the old TV stand. Gotta piece of plywood and found a similar matching finish..looks OK for camp...😊
ReplyDeleteDash T, my LG 65" OLED model C1 came standard with a pedestal base that fits easily on the 42" corner TV stand that held my 50" with legs. This Pinterest pic shows the stand but not the TV:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/235524255485344597/
So, if you buy the right TV with a pedestal stand, you can get that bigger picture w/o buying another piece of furniture. Generally speaking though, the ones that come with pedestal stands are the higher end TVs.
But wait, there's more ! And an aftermarket solution !
For your bro's dilemma (you too, Ray-O), get one of these and ditch the legs, and save the plywood for shelves in the garage:
Swivel Universal TV Stand Mount .
Just verify the VESA size before ordering. That's probably what he needs.
I don't hear the T when the medical people say scrip. Do they intend to say it or not? Google likes the T.
ReplyDeleteWe had two spindly legs far apart on our last TV purchase. We bought a sturdy stand on Amazon. It was easy to attach to the TV, lets it sit on the table and works well.
The stand for my TV set was "available" when I bought it and so of course, I needed it so paid the extra $$. That was a long time ago and I can't even recall how much it cost. In fact, the store where I bought it is no longer there. It was Best Buy but that location closed and is now home to Conn's Furniture.
ReplyDelete