Title: Shh, I am trying to think, and I lost an H.
Jeffrey is back with a puzzle that mostly plays very easy for a Friday. I do remind you that all final clue/fill pairings are up to the editor(s) so don't heap too much praise or too many complaints on JW. It is nice to know we will still get puzzles from our veterans like Jeffrey, Doug Peterson, Rich Norris, Gary Cee, and others. Today is a Friday staple, adding letters to a word in a phrase and cluing the created combination with wit and charm. Today we have a bi-gram (2 letters) added- SH.
RABBIT SHEARS and HOCKEY SHRINK are both laugh-out-loud fill. The puzzle is also has conventional symmetry with 13/12/12/13 themers. We have no really obscure fill; FARRO and CORUNDUM are not easy but it is a Friday. We also have ALTAR BOY, FACING OFF and MISS A BEAT as long fill .
I have been doing puzzles since I sat in my parents' bed and watched them do the Sunday NYT and all the other delights in the Sunday magazine starting in about 1955. I have seen many changes in all puzzles when editors move on. Everyone has the right to present the puzzles they want; but relax, they all also need to sell ads, I am encouraged for the future no matter how brief, especially if I get to blog a JW now and then. It may be only once a month, or even less but it will always be fun for me, and a joy to discuss with you all. On to the theme...
19A. Storage area for Christmas toys?: SANTAS SHELVES (13). I think it is perfectly natural that Santa's helpers who are all elves, would store their work product on SHELVES. We do not even need to debate whether Santa himself is in fact an elf.
24A. Clippers used by Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail?: RABBIT SHEARS (12). If you not know Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail from the Beatrix Potter books you might be stumped, but I imagine all would recognize a cotton-tail as a type of rabbit.
40A. Analyst for Ducks and Penguins?: HOCKEY SHRINK.(12). This challenged my link finding ability and made me cry "oncle." Are there psychiatrists for hockey players? Would they work to make them meaner? You, my reading audience, are welcome to find a perfect link and make me look foolish.
46A. Earthquake-resistant?: FIT FOR SHAKING (13). This a very cerebral fill, which made me think before getting the clue/fill. FIT FOR A KING is a very common phrase and the only themer to change. Many new tall buildings are constructed to withstand major tremors. More than half of the world's 7.8 billion population live in cities and urban areas, and 2.5 billion more are expected to join them within the next 20-25 years.(arch daily). (Various architecture magazines). The world has had the horror of the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York City and in SoFla, we had Champlain Towers South, a 12-story beachfront condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside, Florida, United States, partially collapse. Ninety-eight people died.
Now that Jeffrey has lightened the mood, or was it me? Let us examine the rest.
Across:1. __ Cass: MAMA. Cass Elliot was a member of the successful 60s band The Mamas & the Papas. They only were together from 1965 to 1968, but since that was the end of high school and start of college for me, I recall them fondly. As far as who I would have fondled...never mind.
5. Some Sappho poems: ODES. JW has brought his whole artistic side to this puzzle, first music then poetry, though I doubt he was in high school when she was writing.
9. Not great, chancewise: SLIM. And his partner, NONE.
13. Malicious: EVIL. MAL is a root word in many languages for bad and has been used by writers, poets and movie makers forever. Oo loves musicals, so we recently watched the Disney series of movies called the DESCENDANTS which were based on the premise that all of the DISNEY villains had children who were equally bad. Or were they?
14. Ruminant with striped legs: OKAPI. The okapi, also known as the forest giraffe, Congolese giraffe, or zebra giraffe, is an artiodactyl mammal that is endemic to the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. Although the okapi has striped markings reminiscent of zebras, it is most closely related to the giraffe. Wiki.
15. Locks in a stable?: MANE. Staying in four legged mammals for $800 Alex, where do horses mainly live?
16. Chimney concern: NEST. Birds however can live anywhere, except maybe in a...
17. Horror movie locale: CRYPT. Which freedom...
18. Rankles: IRKS. the bees.
23. Prepped: READY. Past participle? This not getting ready but already ready.
29. Cookies that once came in collectible tins: OREOS. This is a replica of a 1918 can.
30. Flying things: WINGS. Cute misdirection as wings are very often integral to flying.
31. Basic nutrient: FAT. Despite what Jack S. thought fat is important in a human diet. What HARVARD RESEARCHERS found.
34. Hors d'oeuvres carrier: TRAY. Not the waiter but his instrument, but not a
35. Hand-picked instrument?: BANJO. Very cute visual clue.
36. Arrived: CAME. Boomer told me NOT to comment on this though it might be...
37. Very popular: HOT. No pictures, sorry.
38. Canine that preys on red kangaroo and swamp wallaby: DINGO. I know nothing of the RED KANGAROO or the SWAMP WALLABY I know DINGOS are from Australia and like to eat babies. "A dingo ate my baby!" is a cry popularly attributed to Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, as part of the 1980 death of Azaria Chamberlain case, at Uluru in the Northern Territory, Australia. The Chamberlain family had been camping near the rock when their nine-week-old daughter was taken from their tent by a dingo. Maybe?
39. Après-ski drink: COCOA. Ahh. chocolate.
42. Initial phase: ONSET. I am waiting for this to be the WORDLE word. (I wrote this Monday, August 28 at 8:13 PM, life can be amazing!)
45. Cy who pitched the first perfect game of the modern era: YOUNG. Again I could find no film of this all time great (511 victories!) but here is a retrospective on Cy and other baseball greats.
51. Touched down: ALIT. Like a mosquito on your arm.
52. Still in the game: ALIVE. It is imperative to be alive to play the game.
53. Dish (out): DOLE. Bob failed in many tries to become President. RIP Bob.
56. Inheritance factor: GENE. My first wife's uncle Gene was not nice.
57. Records, in a way: TIVOS. All you would want to know and more as TiVo has its own site. TiVopedia.
58. Aerial enigmas: UFOS.
59. Set up: Abbr.: ESTD. ESTablisheD. Good for businesses and buildings.
60. Pour out forcefully: SPEW. I use this word with rhetoric or vitriol not volcanoes.
61. Some lit. degrees: MFAS. Masters of Free Association? I recall when I used to get lit my mind wandered; and it is doing it again.
Down:
1. Guys: MEN.
2. Hail, in a hymn: AVE. Do you think of Ave Maria? Or Avē Imperātor, moritūrī tē salūtant ?
3. Falter: MISS A BEAT.
4. Assistant in Mass production: ALTAR BOY. The capital M gives it away; Boomer was an Altar Boy, not just for the wine.
5. Pod that may be fried or pickled: OKRA. Such a debated food, but I married a woman raised in Birmingham who loved it. Maybe try this RECIPE.
6. Diary pages: DAYS. So simple it was hard.
7. Actor Omar: EPPS. He has had a good career for a young man. His IMDB.
8. Order of Darth Sidious: SITH. There are many here who scoff at the STAR WARS epics, and there are many who love them. Sidious is a most central character but he died. Or did he?
9. Shows satisfaction: SMILES. There are happy smiles. relieved smiles and satisfied smiles which are not all nice.
10. Silk source: LARVA. You probably all know silk comes from a silkworm. Bombyx mori, the domestic silk moth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth.
11. Tatted up: INKED. I grew up in a religious home where marking your body was s sin, because you had to be arrogant to improve on the perfection your creation had been.
12. Out of order?: MESSY.
14. Chamber group: OCTET.
20. CBS military drama with regional spinoffs: NCIS. This first location in Virginia was a spin-off of s series known as JAG. They both were created by DONALD P. BELLASARIO who must be a real Giglionaire by now. From Virginia NCIS went to Miami, New York, LA, New Orleans and now Hawaii. They also had some Doctors without Borders and a Cyber division.
21. __ on the side of caution: ERRS. DONALD clearly did not. Of course. I meant Bellasario. No politics here.
22. Grain of emmer, spelt, or einkorn: FARRO. This refers to the grains of three wheat species, which are sold dried, and cooked in water until soft. It is eaten plain or is often used as an ingredient in salads, soups, and other dishes. That will make you lose weight.
24. "Divergent" novelist Veronica: ROTH. Veronica Anne Roth (born August 19, 1988) is an American novelist and short story writer, known for her bestselling Divergent trilogy.
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25. "Boys Don't Cry" Oscar winner: SWANK. Hilary has won two best actress Oscars, also winning for "Million Dollar Baby" with Clint Eastwood.
26. Trunk hardware: HINGE. The trunk of a car? The piece of luggage? DKDC.
27. "Have a ball!": ENJOY. My new life motto/
28. In the past: AGO. Up until weeks ago, in fact. I was always...
31. Going head-to-head: FACING OFF. with everyone, but now I know we are...
32. "You're __ friends": AMONG.
33. Deck chair wood: TEAK. Teak weathers beautifully.
35. Shaving brand: BIC. They were just cheap ball points when Boomer and I were young; of course we sill wanted them.
36. Mineral in abrasives: CORUNDUM. Corundum is a crystalline form of aluminum oxide typically containing traces of iron, titanium, vanadium and chromium. It is a rock-forming mineral. It is a naturally transparent material, but can have different colors depending on the presence of transition metal impurities in its crystalline structure. wiki
38. Inflict upon: DO TO.
39. Woo-shik of "Parasite" and "Train to Busan": CHOI.
40. Hoisted: HEFTED.
41. Wanda who plays Dr. Karl in the "Bad Moms" films: SYKES. Her IMDB.
42. Old enough to vote, say: OF AGE.
43. "Frasier" role: NILES. David Hyde Pierce and his 40 year RELATIONSHIP.
44. Stretch: STINT. I relate it to a prison sentence; why not?
47. "Phooey!": RATS. They got us boss, time to go.
48. Intimate apparel item: SLIP. Finally a picture...
50. State openly: AVOW. AVOW = AVER another APEX ACME choice.
54. Mauna __: LOA. I tried for years to get my clue, "it's higher than LOA" in a puzzle, no chance.
55. Start of spring?: ESS. Silly end to the puzzle but the word SPRING does start with an S.
DNF. It started so easy, but the center left had 6 empty cells that I couldn't even WAG. None cutting a themer, so the theme didn't help.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was simple but well-executed -- I think. What does HOCKEY have to do with waterfowl? Oh, I see it now! the capitals should have tipped me off they are hockey teams!
He'd been ALIVE before that EVIL
Designed for some AGO medieval
To scare the SH..
Out of some SITH,
And leave their guts in upheaval!
When he ALIT from the roller coaster
He was still ALIVE, but death seemed closer!
He lost his heart
In that little cart!
And his brain and stomach did concur!
{B+, B.}
Hi Y'all! Oh yay! A doable fun puzzle from JeffWex that took me 12 minutes less to fill at just under 18 mins. than yesterday's beast. Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteLemonade, thank you for a fine expo. We don't really need any more than you are able to give. Every blogger is different and appreciated.
DNK: FARRO (is that the same as Farina?), ROTH, CHOI, CORUNDUM. Perped in okay.
I liked the theme which I got early and helped the others.
FIT FOR SHAKING: had an earthquake a few days ago out in the middle of Kansas where I used to live. A friend wasn't sure if she was disappointed to sleep through the only trembler ever known to happen there.
DOLE: a current candidate for governor of Kansas is claiming to be endorsed by Bob Dole who is dead and hadn't really lived in the state after becoming Senator many many years ago. Strange? I wonder if young voters even know who he was. As a newspaper writer, I met him.
After swapping “okapi” for “zebra”, “TiVos” for “tapes” and “facing off” for “face to face “ ( which wouldn’t have fit, anyway) I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle. In fact, I thought it was one of the easiest Friday puzzles we’ve had in some time. The gimmick was obvious from the first themed answer and that made the other themed answers easier to get. FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteNo struggle, no Wite-Out, no problem. Even d-o managed to get the theme, so it must've been super-obvious. Enjoyed the excursion, J.W., and the expo, Lemonade.
BANJO : Can't see that word without thinking of the Kingston Trio's Dave Guard or Country Music's Earl Scruggs.
FIT FOR SHAKING : Never experienced a real earthquake -- just minor tremors, very minor. In our little house on Guam, the water in the toilet bowl was never completely still.
ReplyDeleteGood morning. Thank you, Jeffrey, and thank you, Jason
No sweat Friday. At least as far as the crossword. Venturing outside later today may be a different story.
Started in the middle and entered sitar, anchored by latch. That didn't last very long. Too many obvious answers there, with AGO, SWANK and DINGO.
Solved up through the NE from there, figured out SANTAS SHELEVES, noted SANTAS ELVES with the added SH, and assumed we were adding SH.
The NW corner's "NEST" answer was first soot, tying in with hes for the clue guys. Then I looked at 1A. Certainly MAMA. What a powerful voice. Perfect harmonies on stage for that group. Off stage, maybe not so much.
Hardly your typical Jeffrey Friday. AFAIC, that's ok if they lob us a softball Friday every once in a while.
39D was the only one that I had absolutely no clue about. ESP to fill that one. Had it been "PGA golfer KJ ___" it would have been easier for me. I guess that's the thing about puzzles. One man's meat is another man's Achilles heel. :>)
"There are many here who scoff at the STAR WARS epics, and there are many who love them." --- And, there are some of us here who don't care one way or the other, except as answers in crossword puzzles.
Thanks, Lemonade. Don't sweat the small stuff or get concerned that you aren't measuring up. You are as thought provoking as any of the other bloggers.
FiniSHed in 8:59 today.
ReplyDeleteHad no idea about "corundum," "Choi," "Roth," or "farro."
Good Friday puzzle, if a tad on the easy side (except for those aforementioned unkonwns).
*unknowns.
ReplyDeleteFIR. Got the theme early, and this helped with the solve. Several unknowns throughout, but they were filled by both the perps and the theme.
ReplyDeleteWhat PK said
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteWhat a very nice surprise to find a JW puzzle here on a Friday! Thank you, Jeffrey and thank you, Lemonade. Regardless of how you feel about your blogging, I ENJOY your width of knowledge and wisdom.
CORUNDUM could have been a conundrum, but perps rescued me and I do know of Cy YOUNG and of course, the ever-amusing Wanda SYKES. SYKES is also the dog in one of the Midsomer Murder series.
BEE FLAT is clever.
My feelings about Star Wars is neutral but as I've said before, my daughter and her husband are passionate about the entire series.
The movie, Parasite, is still a mystery to me of why it won an Oscar. To me it was just ok, not spectacular or extraordinary.
ENJOY your day, everyone!
When I saw it was a Friday JW CW, I almost didn’t even try. But when I saw MAMA for 1A I thought, “Is this a trick? Could it be an easy start?” and was hooked to try it, and I’m glad I did. Eventually FIR in 25, which is VERY good time for me for a Friday. DNK ROTH, CHOI, SYKES or SWANK, but most perped easily enough. I wonder: if you couldn’t choose which grade of corundum to use, would that be a corundum conundrum? I had no W/O for once. Thanx JW for giving us a Friday CW that was doable. Thanx Lemonade for your fine write-up. Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteAll is right with the world, at least my world, for the time spent solving this puzzle. My favorite Word Wizard gave us a fun theme, a clean grid (only 8 three letter words and no dreck), minimal proper names/nouns in both the fill and cluing (Hallelujah!), and a sprinkling of Literature, Music, Entertainment, Sports, Animals, and Food. The only unknowns were Choi, Roth, and Corundum, all easily perped, and the only w/o, short lived, was Aver/Avow. My favorite C/A was Assistant in Mass Production=Altar Boy, and my favorite themer was Rabbit Shears, simply because it’s so cute to visualize.
Thank you, Jeffrey W, for one of the most enjoyable and satisfying solves in a long time, a fine example of what crosswords should be, IMO, and thanks, Lemony, for the excellent review. I truly enjoy and appreciate your symbiotic relationship with Jeffrey and your blogging skills shine just as brightly as his puzzling powers, IMO. Thanks for the links, especially Pavarotti’s powerful rendition of Ave Maria, a most beautiful piece of music.
Have a great day.
I loved this puzzle. What clever clues. Lucina: I too find bee flat particularly fun.
ReplyDeleteSeveral unknowns but taken care of easily.
Have a nice Friday everyone. It’s TGIF for those who still work for a living.
1st time I really got Jeffrey's puzzle. Had to look up: order of Darth, Woo-shik, and Wanda.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise clear sailing. Have a great weekend.
Musings
ReplyDelete-What a treat to see our old friend Jeffery back and reviewed by “our old enough to vote” Lemon who always does a superb job!
-FITFORAKING went from “Huh?” to “Wow!”
-Servers carrying multiple TRAYS will probably have to plié to set them down.
-Teachers are among the first to see what is HOT and then a year later NOT
-Cy YOUNG threw 749 complete games. Today’s active leader, Adam Wainwright has 27
-Don Bellasario’s abrupt end at NCIS
-FARRO – Farina is a cereal and was a character in 105 Little Rascal short films
-Boys Don’t Cry is a tragic story that actually happened in Falls City, Nebraska
-I swear, there are hundreds of BIC pens in every school for every pencil
Hmm,
ReplyDeleteFinding silly puzzle theme links on days like this can be a real chore...
a perfect example of why on some days I don't post...
Thank you JeffWech for taking us back to the future to 2 days AGO. I almost thought this was Tuesday. But should we be giving credit to Patti? Theme? What theme?
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you Lemony, our alternate Friday poet and raconteur. Love your SEGUES ...
Some favorites:
29A OREOS. Well, my second favorite. My favorite is this hometown confection.
35A BANJO. My favorite plucked instrument, and here's my favorite plucker.
58A UFOS. People who believe in UFOs are crazy. But people who believe in these are perfectly respectable. What a difference an acronym makes.
4D ALTAR BOY. I retired from being an ALTAR BOY only recently.
36D CORUNDUM. Hardness 9 on the MOH'S scale (1 less than DIAMOND). If you dress 'em up a bit they become RUBIES and SAPPHIRES.
44D STINT. Also a STRETCH in the MILITARY.
50D AVOW. Here's WikiDiff on AVER vs AVOW. Sounds like splitting HARES to me.
Cheers,
Bill
FIR on Friday. Fun puzzle. Getting the theme was a big help in solving. Favorite clue today was bee flat.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your blogs, Lemonade. I find the difference in blogger styles delightful.
The okapi in the pic looks like he is wearing pajamas.
When I was in elementary school we had a phone like the one in the Oreo pic. No dial. There was also a ringer box which contained the bell to alert us that we had a call and a crank which facilitated connection to the operator. We had to tell her the number we were calling. I later learned these were called candlestick phones. Our number was 78.
Alan watches reruns of Two and a Half Men. Not my cuppa. I either leave the room or bury myself in a novel.
My grandson loved Star Wars. He had several light sabers to use to battle with his friends. He had several books with Star Wars stories which I used to read to him. I was glad when he chose to read them by himself as he got older.
Yesterday's procedure went well. It was done in the surgeon;s office with little trouble. A wisdom tooth and the molar next to it were removed. There was bone loss and pus underneath. The sockets were cleaned and I was prescribed a course of antibiotics. The doctor thinks this solves it. There will be a follow up visit next week. Nothing about my teeth has ever been simple. We will see. The first day pain was greatly eased by ibuprofen. I paid $600 which was less than I expected.
The CAT scan showed a nodule on my thyroid. I have to get that tested soon.
The DINGO ate your baby
ReplyDeleteTIVOS without the E today
NILES is part of an HBO Series on Julia Child
And a LOA Kea choice too
Neat l'icks Owen, you haven't lost a step
Halfway through I looked up and saw it was a jeffwesch. And I agree with SubG that it was easy and the SH gimmick made it easier
What IM said and YR as well re. Lemonade's sparkling write-up. I'm with Alan re. 2 and ½. Hilarious
WC
BTW, I push for percoset as I had excruciating pain which advil wasn't touching
I don't chime in here too often anymore but had to today. A JW puzzle and Lemonade expo. Just doesn't get much better.
ReplyDeletePuzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteFIW, as the last of JW's puns (FIT FOR SHAKING) threw me off - needed the old red-letter reveal
Glad to see that the JW puzzle fell on Lemony's normal "turn", and we didn't have to swap weeks!
Jason, your blogs are ones that I always try to read - thanks for you being you
I should know by now that a Fri FIR for me only means the experienced solvers thought it a bit easy for a FRI puzzle. Seeing the theme early helped move things along today.
ReplyDeleteSeveral favs today: assistant in Mass production, fit for shaking, bee flat, and hand picked instrument (-T @ 11:12. I saw Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers with Edie Brickell perform at Wolftrap. Excellent show!).
When my parsley plants get ahead of me, I make Tabouli Salad with FARRO.
Yellowrocks @ 10:39. I am glad you got through yesterday OK. I hope you will be SMILE-ing soon.
Thank you for another excellent review, Lemonade. Just as each day of the week has a certain type of puzzle, the Corner's bloggers fit each day. Your style is a perfect fit for the Friday puzzles!
Woohoo! A Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle--what a treat! I think yours were among the first puzzles I ever did on this blog--how many years ago? At least ten, or more, I think. And they are always a delight. And I always love your great commentaries, Lemonade--thanks for those too.
ReplyDeleteWell, it was fun to get OREOS AND COCOA, along with a bit of OKRA on a TRAY for breakfast this morning. Hope it didn't give us too much FAT--we want to stay SLIM. But even if it did: ENJOY!
Bits of diverse art and literature in this puzzle--do you have an MFA by any chance, Jeffrey?
Great to see those ODES right at the start, followed by an OCTET that was INKED in, before the mood changed and we got a FARCE. Wonder what kind of art SANTA likes best?
Few critters this morning, and I hope the DINGO doesn't hurt the RABBITs. But it's okay if he wants to eat some LARVA. Do they have WINGS? Hope the OKAPI stays away from the bunnies too.
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody.
Odd but fun theme once I figured it out.
ReplyDeleteI learnt OKAPI from CWs. (They are not real animals, someone painted stripes on an antelope's back legs, got caught before they could finish the job . Like the guy who put a fake beak on a beaver and called it a platypus, How ridiculous.!!
OREOS "once came in collectible tins"? 1918?, that's some old cookie. I kinda like the package with the reclosable peel back top they come in now. Easy to sneak some unnoticed. ROTH, a typical unknown proper name. It's Friday so Goodbye, Columbus "Philip" would have been too easy, "Woo-shik"?, "Wanda/Dr. Karl/Bad Mom films"? FARRO?..Took a sec to notice Ducks and Penguins were capitalized (sorry, that's now called upper case 🧐). With girls participating it's ALTAR servers. Well, the trunk of a car does have a HINGE,
"Inflict upon" is negative, (Inflict pain)..DOTE is positive (DOTE on my grandkids)
DO, the water in the your Guamian toilet was never completely still? ...ohhh from earthquakes 😊
"Cankles" of the wrists....RANKLES 😄
Give it ___ ....AGO
Prohibit DiMaggio or Pesci ..BANJO
Where movies are often made...ONSET
Went on a STAR WARS (I don't follow the series) themed Disney cruise with DD, SIL and grandkids a few years ago. There was actually an hour long course on the films' characters and militia . Have forgotten everything of course. DW being led away to a galaxy far far away, told her for me to resist was futile and Princess Leia, granddaughter Eve,
Enjoy the long weekend
Finally, what a pleasure to see a Wechsler puzzle. No EVIL Gen XYZ clues. But he had more than his 'normal' number of proper names with CHOI, SYKES, ROTH, SWANK, EPPS, and YOUNG. The unknowns ROTH and FARRO beside each other was my biggest obstacle to finishing; SYKES and the unknown CHOI came in 2nd. But it was a fast finish for one of Jeffrey's puzzles.
ReplyDeleteCORUNDUM- rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. Second hardest mineral. Diamonds are the hardest.
FLN- ANON-T- 40 years AGO I took DW camping in a tent for the first AND last time. Not only did she bring a hair dryer she also brought Hot Rollers and plugged in both in the campground's bath house. Camping in a rented motorhome doesn't count as camping.
Gary- not only was Farina in The Little Rascals there was also Buckwheat. Not too PC these days. Another plant was Alfalfa. Froggy and Porky were the animals.
A wonderfully do-able Friday Wechsler! --SHaken out for us by Lemonade...
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the SH theme, especially unpacking them.
The only write-overs today were in the bottom middle, with AVER changing to AVOW and TAPES to TIVOS.
~ OMK
___________
DR: Two diagonals, one per side.
The near diag gives us an anagram (12 of 15 letters) to celebrate older citizens (including yrs trly!) during Winter Carnival.
I refer of course to...
"SNOWMAN COOTS"!
DNF. I had AVER for AVOW. I could see TIVES and SPER were wrong but some mental block (or rank stupidity) kept me from reconsidering AVER.
ReplyDeleteI'm very loyal to my answers - even when they are wrong. :-(
Cross Eyed Dave,
ReplyDeleteI love your funny jokes, but I also enjoy your take on the puzzle and on life. I like to hear from you regardless. Please don't stress yourself to be funny every minute. That's impossible.
Yellowrocks to you.
MFA = Master of Fine Arts
ReplyDeleteBob
Thanks Yellowrocks,
ReplyDeleteYesterday was 3 weeks since I had my abscessed tooth removed, and I am finally eating on both sides without concern. So I know what you are going through, and commiserate with you.
Interesting (to me) was that tooth would blow up from time to time, but what I didn't realize was that all the problems I was having with my ear were directly related to the abscessed tooth. Apparently these things can fester a long time if you let them.
Feel better.
FIW, carelessly filling SeTH x OKAPe. Erased soot for NEST (hi TTP), mete for DOLE, and adult for OF AGE. DNKs were already mentioned, as were the "wait for its".
ReplyDeleteGreat c/a would be "how many separate BANJOs were played on the hit song Dueling Banjos from the movie Deliverance?"*
I'm such a nerd that I stood in line to see Star Wars, not because it was an action sci-fi flick, but because it was the debut of a much-heralded sound innovation called Dolby.
YR, so glad you're dental problems are on the path to resolution. Just watched an episode of Below Decks that featured a yacht steward that had an emergency removal of two teeth because of debilitating pain and swelling.
-T: Maybe an aftershock of "the big one", when an earthquake on the New Madrid Fault made the Mississippi reverse course for a period. I lived through two scary earthquakes when I lived in Cali. During the first one I was stopped at a light on my way to work in my '72 VW microbus. The bus started shaking so badly while I sat there idling that I thought the engine was coming apart. (It was New Year's Day, so i wasn't really sure it wasn't the D.T.s) The second one happened while I was sitting at my desk on the 17th floor of the Lawrence Welk building. Later I found out that the building was on giant rollers, and they had done their jobs. We had a handfull of windows pop out, but no real damage. I remember that when the building stopped swaying, the 15-foot tall vertical blinds kept on oscillating, and I got "seasick" and nearly threw up.
Last February one of the heat pumps failed while we were wintering in our RV in Florida. Since the one that was still working was also 17 years old, I ordered two replacements. They were on backorder until yesterday, and are being installed today. I'll pick up the coach tomorrow and take it to another shop for its yearly state safety inspection.
Thanks to JefWech for another fun run. I was starting to think that Patti had run you off. And you ARE appreciated by your fellow Cornerites, Lemony.
*Only one banjo was played in that version. Beats the usual "till fill" to fill ONE.
BE @12:41 PM I BTD. Emeralds are gussied up BERYL.
ReplyDeleteJB2 that is high praise, thank you. I am happy you all had as much fun as I did. You are all very kind. Most of us have been together more than 10 years. Cool.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, we did not live in a PC ERA and did not know it.
I thought I was having an abscessed tooth not long ago. Turned out to be a little flat red hot pepper flake was stuck under my gum between two teeth. It came out when I was flossing and gave me immediate relief. The pepper flakes are in Jimmy Dean sausage patties which I love, but now inspect before eating.
ReplyDeleteI liked this puzzle. Jeffrey does such competent work! WEES.
ReplyDeleteRe earthquake waves:
There are primarily two kinds of "waves" produced by an earthquake, called "P" waves and "S" waves. (There are other kinds of waves, too.) P waves are compression waves and cause the surface to move from side to side. We colloquially call these "rockers," and they cause things (buildings, light fixtures, shelves stocked with wine, etc.) to sway back and forth. This the motion from which the rollers and other quake-resistant structures protect tall buildings from toppling over. Then there are the S waves, called transverse waves (odd name because they are up and down, not transverse), that make the surface rise and fall. We colloquially call these "bouncers," and they typically cause less damage because things are shaken up and down rather than from side to side.
When a bouncer occurs, we usually experience a short-lived, sudden "boom" and then look around going "What just happened?" When a rocker occurs, there is less noise and the rocking can go one for many seconds. The reaction is often, "Whee! Ride 'em cowboy! This is good 'un!" This reaction only lasts until your refrigerator falls over or the glassware and dishes are ejected from the kitchen cabinets or half the water in your swimming pool splashes out and washes the mud off the wall of your house.
During the strong 1989 Loma Prieta quake I was working in my office on the 3rd floor of a three-story building when it first struck shortly after 5:00 PM. As I recall, it was first a bouncer followed by lots of rocking, and I remember trying to grab hold of the desktop computer and monitor so they wouldn't slide off the desk. I was dumb enough to stay and try, unsuccessfully, to keep stuff from scattering all over the office, while everybody else had beat a fast retreat down the stairs (not the elevator!) and out to the parking lot. I'm lucky a window did not shatter. Later, as I was stuck in traffic driving home, an aftershock (basically another somewhat smaller earthquake) occurred, and I felt the car rocking forward and back. I thought the guy behind me was bumping my car with his. He wasn't. Finally, when I got home, my wife and I did a little inspection of the premises. We were lucky. No dishes on the floor, nothing amiss. However, we did find that our pool was half empty because, you guessed it, the water had sloshed out and, you guessed it again, washed a surpisingly large amount of dirt off of the wall.
And so began my career in earthquake research.
Living my whole life on the East Coast I have never felt an earthquake but the prospect is pretty frightening. Even the tornadoes I have been through gave a little warning. I am impressed with your choice to study them Jayce. Thanks for sharing your story.
ReplyDeleteI learn ever week from you all..."A beryl by any other name would be: emerald (green), aquamarine (blue), morganite (pink), heliodor (yellow), goshenite (colorless), red beryl and pezzottaite (pinkish-red to pink). Each colored stone comes with its own name, coloring element and sometimes unique physical properties."(gem-a-com).
ReplyDeleteIf I may, I echo Lemonade714 in saying I learn so much from all of you and am grateful for it.
ReplyDeleteWhile working in a data center in Bowie, MD we experienced a "tiny" earthquake that lasted all of ten seconds. The raised door we worked on seemed to "float", but didn't rise up or down. It took us only a couple of seconds to realize that it was an earth tremor. All of the systems we managed continued to operate normally. A careful inspection of all of our equipment found no damage. It was more eerie than frightening. It was detected by the local seismic center and made the front pages next day.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, earthquakes.
ReplyDeleteI've experienced more than I can count, growing upon San Francisco, and living my last forty years in SoCal.
The only one that really scared me was in SF in '56 or '57.
I was eating lunch in the Commons at SF State. We found out later our campus was on a major fault line.
What I remember was a rumble building to a roar over the first 10 to 15 seconds. At the peak, a giant plate glass two-story, floor-to-ceiling window came crashing down over several tables. I was just out of its range.
Like everyone around me, I headed for the doors to get outside. The quake continued to shake as we tried to stay upright and run. I still recall thinking "Is this how they felt on the Titanic?" (I know, a strange connection to make...)
When I reached the doors, we were partly blocked by the idiots outside who had turned around and stood in the way yelling, "Don't panic; don't run!!"
~ OMK