Title: After Thoughts
Welcome back Taylor to the LAT where we just solved your Saturday themeless collaboration with your mentor, the prolific Christina Iverson. Let me tell you some more about our little patch which our werowance (Zhouqin "C.C." Burnikel) dubbed Crossword Corner when she premiered this site on January 8, 2008. It started as a blog about the Tribune Media Daily, switching to the LAT on March 23, 2006 with this PUZZLE.
I enjoyed solving your debut puzzle on December 4, 2021 in the Universal site. Your wordplay there helped prepare me for this write-up. Also, you have launched your own site which has since become a pay to view site, but the first puzzle was great.
You included some tasty long down fill, ORANGE SODA, SKEDADDLE, IT's NO RUSH and OSCAR PARTY joining the across fill BEER NUTS and and DEAD LAST to make this a Friday puzzle. It did have many 3 and 4 letter fill but I enjoyed. So let's get to work on the theme.
17A. Teacher's request, literally?: CLASS SEE ME. This took a while to grok (see 23A below) See Me AFTER Class.
47A. Note to a spy, literally?: READING BURN. Burn AFTER Reading.
63A. Enticing ad words, literally?: REBATE FREE. Free AFTER Rebate.
You have to use your imagination, or at least I did. Maybe Taylor will comment here on her puzzle process. On to the rest.
Across:
5. Common bugs: COLDS. Nice misdirection; is that all COVID is?
10. __-bitty: ITTY. Had itsy-bitsy/
14. Weird sensation before some migraines: AURA. I have read about the sensation, never experienced it. For me migraines were just pain.
15. Sag: DROOP. A n aggressively mean word.
16. Cuisine with green curry: THAI. Wow, thanks for the Coincidental Shout Out, Taylor. (see explanations to the right).
19. Part of many a lunch special: SOUP. I used to like the soup and 1/2 sandwich at Panera Bread.
20. Belief: TENET. Synonyms.
21. Bar bowlful: BEER NUTS. Beer Nuts is an American brand of snack food building on the original product, peanuts with a sweet-and-salty glazing. The ingredients include peanuts, coconut oil, corn syrup and salt. various.
23. Grok: GRASP. This is a word I did not know until C.C. taught it to us years ago and it really comes in handy.
26. Corp. head: CEO. Chief Executive Officer.
27. "That's all __ wrote": SHE.
35. "The Handmaid's Tale" Emmy winner: MOSS. This ACTRESS has had a busy and successful career.
37. Taj Mahal city: AGRA. Can I still say, Man's greatest erection for woman?
38. Binds: FUSES. They are shown as being synonymous but this had me going.
39. "Star Wars" critter who lives on Endor: EWOK.
and doesn't40. Stare angrily: GLARE. Though he may suggest you...
42. "Make tracks!": SCAT.
43. Helped: AIDED. Ms. Iverson has helped many in the puzzle world.
45. Sister who sings "Into the Unknown" in "Frozen II": ELSA.
46. Abhor: HATE. I recall ABHOR as my first grown up word.
50. Eggs in a chirashi bowl: ROE. LINK.
51. Drink that may be brown, blonde, or red: ALE. Once again my sons and their extensive and continuous involvement in the liquor field made this easy.
52. Eat inelegantly: SLURP. This seems a bit regional and judgmental.
54. Bringing up the rear: DEAD LAST.
59. Coped (with): DEALT. It has been a year for many of us, none more so than C.C. and Boomer.
62. Enthusiastic: AVID. From the Latin avidus meaning to crave.
66. Cash drawer: TILL. noun (1) \ Λtil \ Definition of till (Entry 4 of 5) 1a : a money drawer in a store or bank also : cash register. b : a box, drawer, or tray in a receptacle (such as a cabinet or chest) used especially for valuables.
67. Short on flavor: BLAND. Is it true about British cuisine? Bill, Joseph, anyone?
68. Like some emphasized text: Abbr.: ITALicized.
69. Option word: ELSE. Or...
70. Fabric measures: YARDS. At least here in the US...
71. Kind: TYPE. If you are kind, you are more likely to find someone your type, so says Confusedcious.
Down:
1. Agreement: PACT. Pact sounds so much more serious like you have to bleed.
2. "No cellphones at dinner," say: RULE. A wonderful rule never to be followed.
3. Fizzy ingredient in a Creamsicle float: ORANGE SODA. This just needs you to close your eyes and imagine where you put the vanilla ice cream that would make you think of a Creamsicle.
4. More wicked: BASER. Another fill that took perps and an open mind.
5. Low-risk IRA components: CDS. Certificates of Deposit.
6. Some Minecraft blocks: ORE. My sons play, but I never have but with that name this was easy.
7. "Feel What U Feel" Grammy winner Lisa: LOEB.
8. Planetarium roof: DOME. So you can see the big sky.
9. Address: SPEECH.
10. "At your leisure!": IT'S NO RUSH. I think more of "There's No Rush" but this was not hard.
11. The old you?: THOU. I really liked this misdirection, not me but the word's history.
12. At a breaking point, maybe: TAUT. Taut is tight
13. Pound sounds: YIPS. We have many animal rights activists here.
18. Fantasy league no.: STATistics.
22. Colorful ecosystem: REEF. The Coral reefs from here through the Bahamas are amazing and you do not have dive deep to see a show.
24. __ carpet: SHAG. A perfect reference for our age group. and 33D. "Groovy!": NEAT-O.
25. Stereotypical pirate feature: PEGLEG. Long John Silver? I liked their battered fish.
27. Spread messily: SMEAR.
28. Singer Dorough who co-founded the Backstreet Boys: HOWIE.
30. Sonicare rival: ORAL-B. Ah, the toothbrush wars...
31. Ankle bones: TARSUS.
32. Awards night gathering: OSCAR PARTY. There are more and more events each year and is you get to go you leave with a swag bag loaded with goodies, Back in the day...
34. Big name in cosmetics: ESTEE.
36. Make tracks: SKEDADDLE.
41. House of Lords figure: EARL.
44. Egg salad herb: DILL.
48. Close: NEARBY.
49. Hose shade: NUDE.
53. Provide new equipment for: REFIT.
54. Palm fruit: DATE. If it is a date palm.
55. Pernicious: EVIL.
56. Feels crummy: AILS.
57. Ward of "Gone Girl": SELA.
58. Way up the slope: T-BAR.
60. Big advance: LEAP.
61. Start to commute?: TELE.
64. "Your point being ... ?": AND.
42 comments:
FIWrong. Couldn't spell TARS?S, and I CAN NOT FIGURE OUT THE THEME OR GIMMICK! First time that's happened in recent memory!
Good morning!
Took me way too long to figure out what "literally" meant. D'oh. Still, it was a quick solve -- good news on a Friday. Isn't TARSUS singular, but with a plural clue? Thanx, Taylor and Lemonade (Werowance? From what cranial recess did that emanate?)
AURA: My younger self suffered from migraines, but none in the last 40 years or so. I still occasionally see the AURA, but the headache no longer follows. My AURA is a small sparkly circle which slowly expands until it disappears beyond the field of view. I mean really slowly -- the expansion takes about 20 minutes.
I sussed out the gimmick with the first themed answer, so that made the rest of the themed answers easier to get. There was a Natick that gave me a little difficulty, the intersection of “Howie” and “Moss” but fortunately I remembered the Ewoks of Endor and got through it. FIR, so I’m happy.
FIR, but erased shoo for SCAT, trailing for DEADLAST, yaps for YIPS, and orangeaide for ORANGE SODA. Didn't get the theme until reading Lemony's review. Guess my brain's AFTERburner flamed out a long time ago.
If you hire -T to DJ your wedding reception, you may want to tell him "NO RUSH!"
Took a minute to realize that "House of Lords" wasn't a video game or a movie, and I confused Backstreet Boys for Bowery Boys for a second.
Thanks to Taylor for the fun challenge. My favorite was "make tracks" for SKEDADDLE, mainly because it's such a fun word. And thanks to Lemony for authoring the review before SKEDADDLing off to Thailand. Never been there, but would love to go.
FIR, but did not get the theme until coming here. I take exception with ankle bones, plural; should be tarsi, not tarsus, which is one ankle bone.
Took me 8:45 to finish, but the
Theme
Head
Didn't get the theme until coming here, and struggled with "Tarsus" and "baser." I didn't know "Howie," and guessed at "Moss."
KS, take exception if you want but you are wrong.
"Tarsus - a group of small bones between the main part of the hind limb and the metatarsus in terrestrial vertebrates. The seven bones of the human tarsus form the ankle and upper part of the foot. They are the talus, calcaneus, navicular, and cuboid and the three cuneiform bones."
Musings
-AFTER jumped out at me at THE OTHER ONE from this fine puzzle by MINNEAPOLITAN Taylor
-Joann fills out every REBATE forms and gets checks for them. Retailers hope most don’t.
-SLURP – Do “elegant” diners ever even use a straw?
-There was no money in the TILL where we played golf yesterday. They allowed no one to use cash.
-One hole yesterday had a 606 YARD hole. We played the tee box that was 150 YARDS closer.
-The invention of the laser by Dr. Harold Maiman was a giant LEAP but at first he said it was “a solution looking for a problem.
-I’m a little grumpy today because I have to fast for our “wellness checkup” with my my doctor who was a former student
Good Morning:
I eventually understood the missing After from the themers, but I think the “Literally” in the clue was too vague. IMO, a revealer was needed to solidify the theme. Ore and Howie, as clued, needed help, as did Ewok. Halo came to mind before Aura, inexplicably, and Stat before Scat, but Stat did make an appearance elsewhere. I found Oscar Party confusing because they are usually referred to as an After Party which, in turn, was confusing vis a vis the theme. But perps demanded Oscar, so be it. I, too, like Skedaddle and, somehow, I’m sure Taylor had to check the dictionary on its meaning.
Thanks, Taylor, for a Friday challenge and thanks, Lemony, for explaining it all so clearly. Best wishes to Oo’s mother on her special milestone birthday. Enjoy your trip, safe travels.
Yesterday was an absolutely perfect Fall day and today promises a repeat. ππ I love it!
Have a great day.
@Husker, you can still have black coffee. That's what gets me through the morning on annual physical day.
Give me BLAND over spicy any day
We had an obscure Long John SILVER clue two Saturdays back. I gave my friend's 6th grader a book of "spook" stories by 19th century authors including RLS. He hadn't heard of Treasure Island. It's a great movie(BEERY*) but a greater book
Between NUDE and the earlier erection at AGRA this write-up was liable to be censored. Equipment not so censorious.
Owen, nor I, re. "gimmick". AFTER just wouldn't GROK
L, That's a lot father than my 1300 miles to Boston for my uncle's 100th two weeks ago
So… D-Otto, what DOES literally mean? Agree on TARSUS. There really is such a thing as migraine AURA?
FIR minus missing the theme. Got half of it. I had wanted TARSae and the A got stuck so I had BAR?. But READING BARN wasn't cutting it
I had a mini RnR to Thailand. Took a rickshaw taxi
WC
* Wallace BEERY was also clued recently
Finishing was easy but the theme fills flew over my head. Never noticed the AFTER because it wasn't there. READING BURN was all perps. Was thinking TARSI, filled TARSUS, and learned from Dr Scholl that I in had a lucky guess.
REBATES-i don't buy anything that'requires filling out a form and mailing it in. With the price of a stamp it's usually not worth it
Wow!
Thank goodness for the Blog for Esplanations...
(Learning moment:baser?)
This one got me, I could not see the tree in the forest...
Ok, teachers request could have been class see me,
and (to me) rebate free means hassle free sale item,
but spy notes and falling dominoes left me in total oblivion.
Sorry to say, but a mediocre solver like me desperately needs "after" to be in a reveal somewhere.
What do "you" think?
Was I out puzzled,
or was I hosed...
A surprise to nobody, it took 22 minutes of trial and error answers for me to eventually FIR. Some spelling mistakes did not help. Never did catch onto the theme til Lemonade ‘splained it. Lots of W/Os including ROSS:MOSS, in an area of the CW full of proper names. A real nasty patch. Quite the Friday challenge, thanx for the workout, TJ. Thanx too for the write-up, Lemonade.
I enjoyed finishing this puzzle, even though I didn't figure out the theme, the perps saved me.
Maybe I've been rewatching too much entertainment television, because I tried AFTER PARTY instead of OSCAR and got lost for a while. I think I tried something different starting with ITS for ITS NO RUSH too. Challenging!
I finished the puzzle fairly quickly and then stared at it for a while before "groking" the theme. Thanks for the write-up, Lemonade. I hope that you, and Oo and her mother are very much enjoying your visit to Thailand.
Why isn't the clue given except on Sundays?
Sorry, meant theme not clue.
Frantic Friday. Thanks for the fun, Taylor and Lemonade (safe travels and great celebrating!).
I was stuck in the mid- north, and finally came here. As soon as I saw the After title, the theme dropped with a thud.
I had to Google LOEB. Since this Canadian has no clue about American IRA components, my bugs were molds (without the U- ugh!). Oh well. I’ll blame it on whatever bug AILS me, causing me to DROOP.
Hand up for fighting entering TARSUS (could have clued as birthplace of Saul, Apostle Paul) but it is technically correct. I think the confusion lies with one of the ankle bones being named the Talus (plural tali). TARSUS refers to the collective bones in the ankle joint.
Hand up for loving the word SKEDADDLE. Love seeing it with SCAT.
I noted ELSA (not Anna today) and ELSE, BLAND crossing AND, TDS crossing YDS (thanks Lemonade for recognizing other countries!), and ITAL over TYPE.
I find it very interesting that this year, the Cornerites have celebrated four 100th Birthdays - HG’s MIL, WC’s uncle, my mother, and now Lemonade’s MIL. Any more to come?
Wishing you all a great day.
Anonymous at 10:11 -- our bloggers assign a title if they wish. Only the Sunday LA Times puzzle comes with a title. That said, Lemonade's title for today's puzzle might have helped me GROK the theme! FIR but never got it. Thanks, Lemonade! Enjoy your travels!
Golf musings
-Yesterday we played a “world-class” golf course three hours NW of here built on Native American ground. It is called The Tatanka Golf Club which is the Lakota word for bison (there are no buffalo in America except in zoos). It was a very hard but rewarding course and it reminded me of crossword puzzles. Hang on, there are two actual points here.
1. The Saturday puzzles are very hard and very rewarding when the last cell is filled but I would not want to work them every day and so I enjoy recreational puzzles too.
2. Also, I never thought a 3-hr drive to anywhere would be worth the time but I was so wrong. Playing that course was a treat where the cart paths wound through the sandhills with amazing vistas in every direction. Plus, there were actual tatanka roaming next to the course in a huge field.
HG - I thought of Jimmy Buffett's Frank and Lola:
"So they strolled along the highway, they walked along the beach
They stopped at several raw bars where they SLURPed a dozen each
Bought a bunch of popcorn from the fat man on the dock
Baby turn back the pages, turn 'round the clock."
How does one elegantly eat an oyster on the half shell?
Seems like the Sears-branded Citicard folks have the best REBATEs now. Just finished a "charge $50 three times in a calendar month, get a $60 REBATE that month". It ran for 3 months, and I got my $180 REBATE. Now they have a "charge $50 six times in a calendar month, get a $50 credit" promotion. Not nearly as generous, but it still beats the 1, 2 3, or 4% REBATEs I get from my Costco card. (I try to use the Sears card only where the Costco REBATE is only 1%.)
Musings 3
-Back from my “wellness checkup”. My blood pressure was 120/70 and so my doctor is taking me off a blood pressure medicine. I found I was getting a little light-headed when I stood up suddenly after working in the dirt.
-D-O, I wish I had read your comment earlier. I am just now having my very strong McDonald’s coffee which is sold a block away from the doctor’s office.
-Our local hardware “box store”, Menards, offers 11% back on every purchase and we (read Joann) get them every time. They help pay for the bird seed we buy out there.
-Taylor seems like a very nice young man and had this to say when I blogged his and Christina’s collaborative puzzle: I’m a 32-year old crossword constructor living in Minneapolis, MN. By day I work for a food co-op, and by night, (and really all the time), I hang out with a couple of small humans that call me dad.
Tarsi is the plural of tarsus
Hi All!
Clever puzzle, Taylor. More clever was SpeedSolver's (@8:10a) reply how we "mediocre solvers" [CED] didn't suss the theme. #Whoosh
But, a FIR is a FIR (and on Friday!)
Thanks Lem for the expo. Enjoy your trip.
WO: I was thinking sped b/f SCAT so there's a 'C' inked over 'P'
ESPs: MOSS | HOWIE
Fav: SKEDADDLE is a fun word (and Jinx put a kibosh on RUSH :-()
C, Eh! - no complaints on BLAND's clue lacking a 'U'? ;-)
HG re: demonym. New term for me and I like it. Now, about Carbon Copy... ;-)
And, I want to say, your description of your time at the links sounds like heaven. Live in the moment. I get the same feeling when I'm out fishing with Pop enjoying everything my senses can absorb.
REBATEs - I was talking with Pop Sunday and we were talking about the Lowes' Vet discounts... Pop said re: Menards that their %-back purchases are reflected in the shelf-price and Lowes' shelf-price was usually cheaper. Add the 10%-off for Vets and a FAT WAD OF CASH adds up.
Cheers, -T
Anon -T, I thought "demonym" was another word for Satan.
Blogger should really have a feature to 'add reaction' to a post 'cuz I'd give D-O a crying-laughing-out-loud emoji for his @12:36 post. -T
Hi Y'all! I enjoyed the puzzle, Taylor, but got the theme only AFTER Lemony 'splained it. Thought it was a major stretch as a theme.
Thank you, Lemonade, for a great expo despite preparing to SKEDADDLE. Oo must be older than she looks in your pictures to have a 100 yr. old mom or else mom made history having her.
Fred, you beat me by a minute working the puzzle.
Problems with the puzzle = WEES.
Spent another exasperating session with Verizon this morning. I soon will have enough negative experiences with them to write a book. Maybe I will share these with you if I ever cool down enough to write coherently. I didn't intend to continue with them....
Tough but fun Friday puzzle, many thanks, Taylor. And thanks for your helpful commentary too, Lemonade.
Except for the theme answers, this puzzle wasn't much of a PROB for me--I actually GRASPed most of the rest of it, and I've seen far BASER puzzles. Nope, there was nothing to HATE or GLARE at in this BLAND one.
When I saw there was going to be an OSCAR PARTY, I got all excited, hoping for some great snacks, with maybe some THAI food. And there was some pretty good SOUP to SLURP, followed by some BEER NUTS along with some ORANGE SODA. Altogether a pretty NEATO event.
Have a good Friday, everybody.
FIR but did not GRASP the theme until AFTER reading Lemonade's review. Now that I see it, I like it very much. Well done, Taylor!
Hand up for afterPARTY before OSCARPARTY. If only that mistake would have pointed me towards the theme....
FAV: The old you?
If you print out this blog, please READINGBURN
Hola!
Late to the PARTY after taking my friend, Kathy, to return the rental car and retrieve her own. Long story but the driver's side door on her car is still punched in and the new one won't be ready for another week or more since they sent the wrong one. She drives a Prius.
Taylor's puzzle was fun but not too easy which is typical for Friday. SOUP and a sandwich often constitutes a nice lunch. My favorite is tomato SOUP and a cheese sandwich wishing it could be followed by an ORANGE SODA but not allowed for me.
In our complex we have 67 PALM trees but none of them have DATES. They are trimmed of DEAD fronds every year in August.
My daughter suffers from severe migraines and she has told me about the AURA that precedes them.
There is a THAI restaurant very NEAR BY me and it's a good place to take visiting guests.
Wishing safe travel for Lemonade and Oo and congratulations to her mother for 100 years!
And wishing you all a fabulous Friday!
Waiting now for a phone call from the hospital to tell me my wife is out of surgery--for her knee--and is ready to be picked up.
All should be well. But because I no longer drive, I must arrange for a car to come and pick me up, so I can go to pick her up. We have learned not to trust Yellow Cab.
In our culture, as we age, some things get a little more complicated!
~ OMK
____________
DR: Four diagonals, three on the inside track.
The central diag gives us an anagram (11 of 15 letters) that tells of a failure in the British constitutional system. In their original plan for Parliament, the House of Lords was to serve as a (very rough) parallel to our Senate, a smaller and presumably wiser body that ought to serve as a check on the larger and more impetuous Commons.
But when the Lords jump on a hot issue, they sometimes fail their purpose, and then they become a...
"RASH PEERAGE"!
Buffalo are on Catalina Island. Seen them!
Jinx @ 11:28 asks:
How does one elegantly eat an oyster on the half shell?
With pinkie extended, of course...
here's the best example I could find....
I enjoyed solving this puzzle even though I didn't get the "after" gimmick until reading Lemonade's write-up. I really like the word SKEDADDLE and loved seeing it in a puzzle. Don't particularly like the word BASER, though. Re TARSUS, some medical terminology totally escapes me.
Good wishes to you all.
Whee! Finished the puzzle, admired the delicious side fill, stared at the grid and then -- BAM -- the theme hit me on the head, which I bet is what Taylor wanted! Thanks, Taylor, for the fun solve, and Lemonade for the expo -- enjoy your trip!
Anon-T: I appreciate the shout-out, and knowing that my attempt to be clever made enough sense for someone to suss.
Anonymous from 8:10 (aka the one who does not like circles).
Thanks, CED. She should have confiscated that cell phone.
The exact same happened for me with the theme. Also, 31D is plural -- "ankle bones." Shouldn't the answer be tarsae or tarsi?
Those are not buffaloes on Catalina Island.
This is an actual buffalo.
Woke up this morning, the 17th, in Chiangmai. No computer access yet but my phone works so Lemonade here says sawadi krup
More later
Heads up my site isn’t pay to view!
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