Theme: HALF AND HALF (61. Coffee creamer option, or what can precede both parts of the answers to the starred clues)
16. *Sibling by marriage: STEP BROTHER. Halfstep. Half brother.
23. *Best Picture Oscar winner directed by Barry Jenkins: MOONLIGHT. Half-moon. Half light.
29. *Wee: PINT-SIZE. Half-pint. Half-size.
43. *Lengthy warranty period: LIFETIME. Half-life. Half-time.
50. *Retrace one's steps: BACKTRACK. Half back. Half-track.
Boomer here again. Susan is in Houston to take care of her mother-in-law. She'll be back next Tuesday.
Indeed I found out yesterday that my work was only HALF-finished. I think I earn time and a HALF for overtime.
Across:
5. Candy __ Saga: match-three game app: CRUSH. An Orange drink.
10. Fourth-yr. students: SRS. Also people like me. Over 70.
13. Org. with a Women's Rights Project: ACLU.
14. Small cap: BEANIE. Never had to wear one.
15. Split __ soup: PEA. I prefer chicken noodle.
18. Old tee, perhaps: RAG.
19. Can opener: POP TAB. I prefer bottles.
20. "Am __ time?": I ON.
21. Bad habit: VICE. The VICE squad will get you.
22. Barnyard bird: HEN.
25. Fictional wolf's disguise: GRANDMA. I had one GRANDMA as a kid. Never got to know my maternal Grandma.
28. "Get Smart" crime org.: KAOS. Maxwell Smart fought KAOS.
31. Floats on the wind: WAFTS.
35. Pretend: ACT. I had a lead in a high school play.
36. Video game princess: ZELDA. Legend of Nintendo.
39. Early ISP: AOL. America on Line.
40. "Such a tragedy": SO SAD. England is sharing their loss.
46. __ hog: ROAD. Keep to the right!
49. Played the lead: STARRED. Yup, I was NOYE. Benjamin Britian spelled Noah wrong.
54. Fin. neighbor: RUS.
55. Mid-month date: IDES. Beware in March.
56. "__-ching!": CHA.
57. Leash: TETHER.
60. __ & Perrins steak sauce: LEA. I never tried it.
63. Trains that rumble overhead: ELS. Or golfer Ernie.
64. "Murder on the __ Express": ORIENT.
65. "Just teasing ya": I KID.
66. Match, in poker: SEE. Just pay a little. Do not raise.
67. Raise a glass (to): TOAST. Cook some bread.
68. Salty expanses: SEAS.
Down:
2. Prefix with -plasm: ECTO.
3. Tusked animals: ELEPHANTS. I guess I'd see about everything when I see one fly.
4. Small camping shelter: PUP TENT.
5. VIP with a corner office, perhaps: CEO. Corner office is a lasting tradition.
6. Mathematical comparison: RATIO. A batting average.
7. Loosen, as a bra: UNHOOK.
8. "Burnt" crayon color: SIENNA.
9. That woman: HER. She fits too.
10. Parsley piece: SPRIG. Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.
11. Get through to: REACH.
12. Bob who had a recurring role on "Fuller House": SAGET.
14. Texter's "Gimme a sec": BRB. My son's initials.
17. Music groups: BANDS. Not rubber
21. Travel document: VISA. Or credit card.
23. Pencil puzzle with dead ends: MAZE. In Minnesota, the farmers make a big one in their fall cornfield.
24. Fan setting: LOW. All ballparks have upper decks.
25. Honor roll figs.: GPAS. Grade Point Average.
26. Puerto __: RICO. Will it ever be a state?
27. "Les __": musical nickname: MIZ.
30. Shape of some building additions: ELL. Also aluminum and galvanized pipe.
32. Equal chance: FAIR SHAKE. I prefer chocolate!
33. Heavy book: TOME.
34. Iditarod vehicle: SLED. Every Minnesotan owns one at one time of their life.
37. Floppy __: DISK.
38. Toward a boat's rudder: AFT. I think I just called it the back.
41. Boats like Noah's: ARKS. 300 cubits, it shall be long.
42. "j" topper: DOT. Ditto's sister.
44. Dog-__: folded at the corner: EARED. I only have Doug ears.
45. "To be honest ... ": TRUTH IS. And that's the truth!
47. Hall of Fame jockey Eddie: ARCARO.
48. National flower of Mexico: DAHLIA. My Mother grew these annually.
50. Olympic gymnast Simone: BILES.
51. "Rolling in the Deep" singer: ADELE.
52. Halt: CEASE. Nope - keep going.
53. Sidewalk eateries: CAFES. Incredible number of these at the Minnesota State Fair.
57. Demo stuff: TNT.
58. Director Kazan: ELIA.
59. Country mail rtes.: RFDS. Rural Free Deliveries.
61. Like habanero peppers: HOT. Some like it HOT!
62. Picnic pest: ANT. They don't eat much.
Boomer
28 comments:
The main thing I want to say about this puzzle is that, as I went along solving it, I had no clue what the reveal was going to be,but when I saw it, suddenly all the themed answers made perfect sense. FIR, so I’m happy.
"Can opener... POPEYE, that's clever" - not at all. "Oh, it's Tuesday, I shouldn't think too much outside the box". And then comes the ?-less "Demo stuff". I had FETTER for TETHER so it took me a second to get that clue. Easily my favorite in the puzzle.
Overall, not half bad (sorry, I had to).
Good morning!
Thought of "Burnt" UMBER, but the perps wouldn't allow it. Otherwise, this was a smooth slide to the bottom of the grid. Missed the theme -- so what's new? Thanx, Jerry, and our designated hitter, Boomer.
I'll spare you baseball talk today
SIENNA(St Catherine of) was our church south of Boston. We played NATICK in sports
I thought it was old tree hence oak/RAG. I also inked CRUnch but ran out of room
RICO Petrocelli would be too obscure as "former Redsox SS/3rd baseman "
Because I was familiar with ARCARO and BILES the proper names didn't bother me.
Thanks for pinch hitting Boomer
WC
FIRight. It's early in the week.
Good theme, despite my low record of seeing this kind. How do constructors do it. I accidentally read the reveal before I'd looked for the theme.
It's SO SAD, what happened to Thad
He wanted the ORIENT Express so bad.
He hitched a boxcar ride
That had OR on its side --
But Oregon has rail-ROADS. Ain't that rad?
The whole story of ZELDA and the PEA
Is a story that just shouldn't be!
But Vegans approve
So it stays in the brood
That green veggies are better for me!
{B, B-.}
FIR, but erased ___inlaw for STEPBROTHER, owl for HEN, leader for TETHER, and els for ELL. Knew almost all the showbiz/celeb stuff, but not ZELDA. Waited for wept/WEEP, i in/I ON, and disc/DISK.
We've discussed Anderson's split PEA soup in Solvang, CA ad nauseam, so I'll just say YUMMERS!
I wonder how many "kids" would believe that early aluminum cans had pop tops that would separate from the cans and injure barefooters everywhere. Or that throat injuries were widespread from people who put the pop top into the opened beer, even though that was more of an alcohol problem than a can problem. I remember that a friend "smuggled" Coors back to my native Kentucky from a vacation in Denver. The cans had one large and one small "punch out" circles that stayed with the can, but allowed air to go in and beer to go out. He also gave me a red plastic device for pushing in the circles, but they weren't really needed. POP TABs are better in many ways.
I think I've linked one of my favorite songs, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by the Eurythmics, so I'll just add some of the lyrics:
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I've traveled the world and the seven SEAS
Everybody's lookin' for something
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused
Thanks to Jerry for the fun Tuesday speed run, and to Boomer for the chuckles.
FIR. Interesting theme, but I have a small nit with half light.
Quicker than Monday run today - with our pinch hitter Boomer!
I had POP TOP before adjusting to POP TAB because of perps- otherwise smooth sailing.
Needed the reveal to get the theme - now I need the HALF AND HALF in my coffee - to charge the batteries!
Thanks Boomer and Jerry!
KS - I hadn't heard of HALF LIGHT much either - first known use according to the dictionary is 1577- so way old timers would have gotten it :) and there was a 2005 film starring Demi Moore that I haven't seen.
Finished this in 4:18, not quite half the time I allotted.
Agree with KS about "half light" being awkward, but appreciate inanehiker's explanation.
I had sisterinlaw before stepbrother.
Good Tuesday puzzle.
I'm sorry,
But when I got to "Kaos", all I could think about was "Him."
Oh yeah, right, the puzzle theme...
it really depends on the contents of your wallet...
Sadly, pull tabs have been relegated to the field of archeology...
Too bad really,
They used to be the raw materials for an art form.
"And", could have been useful in the upcoming apocalypse...
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Jerry and Boomer (thanks for pinch-hitting).
I FIRed in good time, and got the theme with the reveal. Nice work.
No nits here with HALFLIGHT. Perhaps it is more British, or from reading Agatha Christie books. This quote is from
The Witness For The Prosecution An Agatha Christie Short Story (not Murder on the ORIENT Express).
“In the half-light of early morning on October 7,. 1965, 17-year-old David. Smith called Hyde police from a telephone box on. Hattersley ...”
I noted HEN and HER, VISA crossing VICE, ELL and ELS, MIZ beside MAZE.
POPTAB crossing PUPTENT brought a smile (as did POP right under STEPBROTHER, plus GRANDMA two steps below).
TNT was a surprise fill for demo.
This Canadian required perps for RFDS. We have RRs (rural routes).
Wishing you all a great day.
Good Morning:
Hadn’t a clue about the theme until filling in the reveal, although I had a vague feeling that we might be looking for some double word entries. It’s fun to be stumped about a theme, especially on an early week puzzle, so props for that. I think my only w/o was Wept/Weep and the only unknown was Zelda, as clued. Eddie Arcaro was a blast from the past, living so close to Saratoga, I heard his name often.
Thanks, Jerry, for a an enjoyable solve and thanks, Boomer, for pinch hitting again. You are quite the trouper!
I have a question for our resident computer whizzes. How is it possible (and can I do anything about it?) that I receive email on my gmail account that is addressed to an AOL account. I cancelled my AOL account many years ago due to the deluge of Spam. Even more mystifying is that these current emails don’t even have the old correct address, just a haphazard variation, but why are they even delivered at all? 🤔
Have a great day.
Hola!
Not much time today. I'm watching my great-grandson because he can't go to daycare until he is potty trained. So guess what we will work on today?
The puzzle was easy enough and it filled quickly. My only wite-out wasPOPToP to POPTAB.
No HALF AND HALF FOR ME.
I love the name ZELDA and almost named my daughter that. When I told her she was grateful I hadn't because of the current use of ZELDA in a video game.
Must go now.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
Goo to hear from you Boomer.
Never noticed the HALF AND HALF theme but I buy it for DW to put in her coffee.
LIFETIME warranty?- they hope you forget about it.
LEA & Perrins- only know of the Worcestershire sauce
ELS & ELL; SEE & SEA.
My Hog had to change from a BOAR to a ROAD Hog.
POP TOP changed to POP TAB, a term I've never heard.
FAIR SHARE became FAIR SHAKE- too many whining pols.
7. Loosen, as a bra: UNHOOK. In teenage boys' dreams.
Delightful Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Jerry. And thank you for helping again today, Boomer--we always love your commentaries.
How nice that GRANDMA was kind enough to take care of that young family STEP-BROTHER. She got him some TOAST for breakfast, and then took him for a ride on a SLED in the afternoon. She also bought him a BEANIE and a PINT-SIZED PUP-TENT, to play with in the house until the snow cleared.
The young girl had such a CRUSH on her first boyfriend, that it made her SO SAD, and made her WEEP when he broke up with her. She'll have to re-ORIENT herself, and try to discover a new ROAD to REACH a new goal for romance for the rest of her LIFE-TIME.
Have a great week coming up, everybody.
Puzzling Thoughts:
Looks like Ray-O-Sunshine forgot to close his italics again ... ;^)
FIR with the same SISTERINLAW/STEPBROTHER mistake
I too could not see the puzzle theme until after solving the reveal
Back to packing ...
LHF for Ray: "Charter jet to see "Mark Twain" on Broadway - HAL FLIGHT.
Seems to me that Waffle House serves LEA & Perrins steak sauce instead of A1. I only go once or twice a year, and I almost never order steak, so I'm not too sure. Anyone go there often enough to know?
Do non-fictional wolves put on disguises?
A fine Edelstein XWD, with Boomer again filling in.
Were you really Noah, Boomer? I was the Voice of God in the Yale production.
Misty @11:47 ~ I enjoy your working all these fill-words into a story. Looks like good practice for your Jumble verses!
Yep, I can actually remember when Eddie ARCARO was news!
~ OMK
____________
DR: One diagonal, near side.
It offers a strange anagram (11 of 15 letters) that seems to commemorate the year 1547, when Ivan the Terrible was crowned.
It was the first time in history that a country ...
"WENT CZARISM"!
(And in a real throwback, the anagram favors the wrong [to cruciverbalists] spelling of Tsarism!)
CM @ 12:50...
Sorry. I deleted my post, hope that solves the problem. If I leave Italics open usually my printed post will be in Italics too ( my blog preview option is gone) and I delete and repost.
😫
Irish miss@9:11
I Googled your query and it returned this...
As I understand this gobbledygook,
(Googledygook?)
Yes, it was sent to AOL address,
But a copy was also BCC'd (blind carbon copy in the old days) to your Google address.
The misprinted aol address was probably undeliverable, but shows in the msg anyway. But the copy in the BCC addressed to Google went thru just fine.
Imagine! The nerve of these Spammers!
Write just one piece of spam, and send it to a million addresses!
Musings
-Back after 27 holes today
-Five themers on a Tuesday with a clever gimmick!
-The Omaha World Herald has cut the comics in half, made them in black and white instead of color, eliminated the easy puzzle and made the LA puzzle bigger. The end is in sight.
-I think my college freshman BEANIE is downstairs in a box somewhere
-WAFT always makes me think of Forrest Gump
-I was the “star” in our Senior Class Play and this is the script we used
-I’ve seen three iterations of Murder On The Orient Express and liked them all
-I remember how shocked I was when I heard Bob SAGET do his filthy standup routine.
-My Sunday birthday lunch was at the Green Gateau CAFÉ in Lincoln
I liked this puzzle. I believe it was fair and contained mostly real words and phrases, except maybe for POP TAB, which seems made up. Several years ago, a puzzle I submitted was rejected because, among other things, one of my answers was FAMILY SEDAN, which was deemed made up because "Nobody says that; they say FAMILY CAR." Same story with POP TAB, IMO.
Thanks for filling in for Hahtoolah, Boomer.
CED @ 3:09 ~ Thanks for getting the answer to my question. It makes sense now. 😉
HG @ 3:30 ~ If I was present at your Sunday birthday lunch, I’d be still sitting there, pondering that eclectic menu. It offers so many inventive and sophisticated dishes that making a choice would not be easy. I also enjoyed the video tour and the owner-
/chef’s back story. Thanks for sharing. (My initial thought was Green Boat is an odd name for a restaurant, until I remembered boat in French is bateau! OTOH, it’s no more odd than the correct translation of Green Cake. Or am I missing something? 🤔)
Husker Gary,
The newspapers, (& everyone else) are trying to save money to makes ends meet.
I'm not saying I had anything t9 do with it, but...
My Star Ledger recently omitted the entire Sunday color comics completely.
At first, I thought it was an error. But after several weeks, I contacted customer service, who claimed ignorance...
So I wrote them an email saying why I would not be renewing my subscription, and requested they lower the balance of my subscription rate to cover the missing material.
The comics returned that Sunday.
Jayce,
Yeah, I hear ya...
I grew up with these "thingies."
Then they switched (in an improvement) to pull tabs, until people started choking to death because they would pull them off and in a fit of recycling guilt, put them in the can, and then accidentally swallow them. The result? "Pop tabs."
Personally, I think more redesign is in order, because I am not he-man enough to stab my thumb thru the can wall, (and possibly cut it off). But good news! "coming to beer distributors near you in the near future..."
Thanks for stepping in, today, Boomer.
Recently, I received a birthday card with a picture of a pachyderm on the front and the following message inside: You're another year older. So what? Age is irrelephant.
Hi All!
Thanks go HALF to Jerry for the fine grid and Half to Boomer for the doin' the double-duty at The Corner.
WO: POPTop
ESPs: ACARO, DAHLIA, EILA, RFDS (FWIW, C,Eh! - I only heard of Rural Routes too)
Fav: KAOS from the minds of Buck Henry and "The Genius" Mel Brooks. [interview.
{B+, B}
Funny DR, OMK.
Thanks for info on HALF LIGHT, inanehiker. ibid. C, Eh!
Thanks for the laughs, CED.
Pull-TABs: One summer, I saved all of them from GRANDparents' beers (Old Milwaukee) and, linking them tab-to-hook, made an 8' peace-sign out of them for my bedroom wall.
Cheers, -T
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