google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, October 22, 2022, Mary Lou Guizzo and Brooke Husic

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Oct 22, 2022

Saturday, October 22, 2022, Mary Lou Guizzo and Brooke Husic

 Themeless Saturday by Mary Lou Guizzo and Brooke Husic

Mary Lou
 and her retired  science teacher husband met at The University of Dayton and now live in Oakwood, OH which is a suburb of Dayton. Last time she told us: 
Mary Lou and Grandson
I am a retired medical technologist with a Specialty in Blood Banking (SBB). I’ve worked in hospitals, private labs and the Community Blood Center for many years. She further said she knew of C.C. and knows our moderator is a "rockstar constructor!" 


She told me how her collaboration with Brooke came about: I think I contacted Brooke via FB Messenger to let her know how much I enjoyed the Saturday, December 12, 2020 NYT puzzle she and Sid Sivakumar constructed. We chatted with each other and she asked if I’d like to co-construct a puzzle with her. She has exploded onto the cruciverbalist scene and is bursting with good ideas for constructing. She is a great person to collaborate with. I was honored that she asked me to work with her. Jim Horne wrote a nice piece about her here: https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/18/2022.

Brooke Husic is from Glastonbury, CT and is currently doing post doc work in Berlin in computational chemistry and machine learning work on molecular kinetics. I previously blogged a collaborative puzzle she made with Michael Lieberman last month. 


Across:

1. Address to a fella: BRO and 29. Address to a fella: GUV.

4. Lone star group?: PANS - Fun wording. A collection of restaurants or movies that were PANNED by getting only one star would be a group of PANS.

8. Green fruit: LIMES.

13. Marshmallow bird: PEEP - My teeth hurt just looking at them.
14. "Let Me Down Slowly" singer-songwriter Benjamin: ALEC - He has a very distinctive high voice


15. NAACP __ Awards: IMAGE Marsai Martin won three this year


16. One hanging out along the wall?: EAVE - Did anyone else think of wallflowers at a dance

17. [Not again!]: SIGH

18. Colorful bulb: TULIP - The Tulip Festival in Pella, IA is worth the trip.


19. Achebe novel whose title comes from a Yeats poem: THINGS FALL APART.

The beginning four lines of the Yeats poem The Second Coming are referred to as a preface of the novel by this Nigerian author:
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,”


The centre is having trouble holding these days as it was in 1919 when Yeats wrote this poem.

22. Part of an opening line?: SESAME.


23. Rat tail?: TEE - raT

24. Sportswear brand: FILA.

25. Ain't equivalent?: AREN'T - You AREN'T Nothin' But A Hound Dog? That just ain't right!

26. Cosmetic invented for the movie industry in 1930: LIP GLOSS - The inventor Max Factor applies it below


28. Sondheim's "Sweeney __": TODD - The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street who seeks revenge for a terrible injustice.


30. Suffix with gazillion: AIRE - MillionAIRE, billionAIRE and then...

31. Masala chai, e.g.: SPICED TEA What is masala?


34. __ Rub: anti-chafing product: CHUB.

35. Jazz intro?: NEO A sample of NEO Jazz

36. Procedural that spun off from "JAG": NCIS - Two Saturdays in a row for NCIS

40. Mollusk considered a living fossil: NAUTILUS.


42. Comedian Cenac: WYATT.

43. Feature of a fitted blouse: DART.

 

44. On the __: LAM.

45. Cupcakes-to-be: BATTER.

46. Stadium cry: ICE COLD BEER HERE.


49. Dirty sort of person: CHEAT.

50. Himalayan cryptid: YETI - Disney's animatronic version of the YETI prowls the Expedition Everest ride at Animal Kingdom.


51. Vehicles that may roll over: IRAS.

52. Trunks: TORSI - Torso plural

53. __ queen: DRAG.

54. Makes: NETS - Can you find the NET pay on this stub?

55. Jennies, e.g.: ASSES - A Jenny and her foal


56. Dot on a map: ISLE.

57. Hurdle for a future Ph.D.: GRE - I took the Graduate Record Exam when LBJ was president


Down:

1. Come to the rescue: BE A HERO.

2. Amended: REVISED.

3. Court coup: OPEN AND SHUT CASE - We have the empty porridge bowl, the broken chair and she is still in one of our beds.


4. Not retro yet: PASSE - That outfit is so 2020 but at least it's not 1990

5. First letter of the Urdu alphabet: ALIF  - Since Urdu is read right to left, ALIF is in the top row on the right.


6. Figures whose squares are positive: NEGATIVE NUMBERS.


7. Haul: SCHLEP.

8. Ford whose debut album was "Out for Blood": LITA.


9. "No, really, you decide!": I'M UP FOR ANYTHING.

10. Lassitude: MALAISE.


11. Some zoomers with an emo aesthetic: EGIRLS What are they?


12. Commuter syst. that crosses the Delaware: SEPTA - Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority 


13. Tended a lab?: PET SAT - DOG SAT clogged up this corner for a while

20. BBC clock setting: GMT.

21. Staccato opposite: LEGATO.


26. "Star Trek" captain Jean-__ Picard: LUC - We have one here as well at our site


27. Tell tales: LIE.

29. Benefits act of 1944: GI-BILL provided 
34. Vocations: CAREERS for WWII soldiers

32. Place: PUT.

33. Some French?: DES Je vais acheter DES pommes (I'm going to buy some apples).

37. Hospitality professional: CATERER - A service used in fancier H.S. graduation parties.

38. Go over again: ITERATE 
39. Go over again, say: STRESS.


40. Ballpark snack served in a helmet: NACHOS.


41. The People's Princess: LADY DI - A lovely person who got caught up in a loveless royal marriage which is shown so well on Netflix's The Crown


42. "All the Light We Cannot See" backdrop: WAR.


43. Judge-y remarks?: DICTA.
dictum noun
dic·​tum ˈdik-təm 
plural dicta ˈdik-tə  also dictums
1
a noteworthy statement: such as
a
a formal pronouncement of a principle, proposition, or opinion
awaiting the king's dictum
45. Neutral tone: BEIGE.

47. Redding who wrote "Respect": OTIS - This is a version of the song sung by OTIS that he wrote but playfully says, "A girl stole from him". I'm pretty sure we all know who that girl was.


48. Abbreviation for a name dropper?: ET AL  - Fun cluing for when you don't want to list all the names and merely say "and others".


40 comments:

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

No chance. Zip. Nada. Tried DOGSAT rather than PETSAT, GUY rather than GUV. Didn't remember FILA (if I ever knew it), and screwed up its anagram ALIF as ALEF. I'm pretty sure this Texas transplant has never heard of SEPTA, at least not in this context. This one whooshed right over my head. The five grid-spanners were very nice and helped with the non-solve...just not enough. Thanx, Mary Lou, Brooke, and Husker.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

DNF. Filled 46 entries, 42 correctly. Hand up for GUy, but my big fail was lilac instead of TULIP, which also broke LIlA and IM in FOR ANYTHING.

Nice, difficult puzzle, Mary Lou and Brooke. I'm glad that our more accomplished solvers will have a challenge today. Didn't have enough filled to read Gary's comments closely, but did read the definition of DICTA.

unclefred said...

After a struggle I threw in the towel and took a big DNF. DOGSAT clogged up the NW, and just too many things I had no clue of. This CW is just far above my abilities. Oh well. Ya got me, MLG&BH.

unclefred said...

Oh, I forgot to say thanx to HG for the terrific write-up.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

When I was a kid, the vendors strolled the aisles of Crosley Field intoning "Ice Cold Hudepohl Here" while I watched The Big Red Machine. The beer was in longneck bottles, and poured into paper cups before being served. When I got old enough to drink alcohol, we called Hudepohl "baseball beer". You know when you are old when you realize that the "new" stadium (Riverfront) was imploded 20 years ago.

Anonymous said...

This puzzle took me 17:49 to finish, which at first seemed highly unlikely.

I enjoy themeless puzzles, even this one, despite several eyesores: some Urdu letter, some French, and some unknown [at least to me] comic.

Didn't someone here say "GMT" wasn't a thing anymore?

I didn't know chub or dart as clued.

Malodorous Manatee said...

FIR according to the app but ALIF, LITA and SEPTA all dropping from the top row seems a bit much even on a Saturday.

ATLGranny said...

Today I am in the DNF group. After getting very little fill, some of which proved wrong, I began reading Husker Gary's explanation. Then I would put some words in and see if I could continue on my own a bit. This way I finished, seeing what Mary Lou and Brooke intended. A definite learning experience today.

Thanks, Husker Gary, for leading the way. There were a few words I had an inkling about (TULIP and NCIS) but hadn't written in. That was encouraging, at least.

A slow start to Saturday, but we have pretty fall weather here and fun plans. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

DNF, but of the 22 I filled, 21 were right! Analyzed the rest (red pen) & could have gotten a few more but I wasn't close enough to finishing to GID. Too many unknowns and not enough perps to help.

KS said...

DNF. Had to look up legato, and only then was I able to finish up north. Once that went in everything seemed to fall in place.

Lee said...

This was a CW that solved like a hard Sudoku one letter (number) at a time. I got my foothold in the SE and went from there. Tried indianTEA for Chai, but it didn't perp. Changed to SPICED which worked much better. Picked up CHEAT and ASSES which opened the SW.

Entering TULIP got 9D and LIMES opened the NE. PEEP started my conquest of the NW. Perseverance filled the rest. I agree with all that it was one of the tougher Saturday puzzles recently,

YooperPhil said...

Seeing the byline was intimidating in itself, especially a Saturday themeless from Brooke and Mary Lou, two very talented constructors, highly educated and brilliant, as one must be to make a career in their chosen fields. I really enjoyed today’s solve as it required a LOT of thought and had some really good clueing also, just as it should be on a Saturday. Managed a FIR but it took me 33:53 (about my average of double the time it takes Anon SS to complete a grid). Thanks Mary Lou and Brooke for the truly fine challenge! Not being a constructor I’m not familiar with how two people create a puzzle together, is it a combined effort on both the grid and the clues, or does one do the grid and the other does the clueing? And thank you HG for another stellar review!

Big Easy said...

A slow start to an ultimate DNF today. Brooke looks like a very smart young woman. Mary Lou ain't no slouch either.

I couldn't get the NE with LITA, E GIRLS, and SEPTA (multiple septums?) as unknowns. It took 30 minutes to grind out the rest. I guessed PTA for the Penn Trans Authority but was thinking D for Delaware and didn't think of 'Fruit' as plural and didn't know a 5-letter fruit that ended in D. Not knowing the meaning of Lassitude didn't help either. At least IMAGE and TULIP were correct. LIMES never had a chance.

LIP GLOSS and THINGS FALL APART I didn't know but they fell in place
CHUG Rub, ALEC, WYATT, WAR- all perps
I Guessed ALEF and the perps changed it to ALIF.

OTIS Redding- I saw him in concert just a few months before he died in the crash. Tickets were $3.00, if I remember.

Picard said...

Oh, wow. I thought this might be a DNF for me. I remember from childhood that most ALPHAbets begin with letters that sound like ALPHA. Allowed me to WAG ALIF. Had no idea what PANS meant until coming here. Happy to see PICARD!

NE seemed impossible. But I have ridden on SEPTA and knew that. Amazed to FIR.

Here we were at the LADY DI memorial last month in Paris.

The flame is actually a replica of the one gifted to the US for the Statue of Liberty.

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

FIW with my red letters at the crossing of FILA, EGIRLS, and SEPTA (I grew up in PA but was totally unfamiliar with this acronym)

I had to look up two words (THINGS FALL APART, LITA), but most of the rest filled in as a result. After "cheating" I solved in under 25 minutes, which is pretty good for me for a SATURDAY

Kudos to MLG and BH for the difficult themeless puzzle (5 15-letter entries!) and to Husker G for his always spot on review

From yesterday: Might have been a first for this blogger to not have replied to y'all or provided additional thoughts on the puzzle. As always, I appreciate your comments. Sumdaze; kudos to you, Renee, for figuring out my hidden (subtle) humor in the half-marathon result (ACHE) comment! I almost wrote: "I ran a half-marathon and had an AC; two weeks later I ran another half-marathon and had an HE ..."

For those curious, the unpacking is going well. Margaret and I are still smiling at each other! Today's project is hanging a TV on the living room wall, connecting the BluRay and Roku, and moving a rather large (though empty) piece of furniture. We do have a helper. Last night we sat and listed the remaining items/projects for the house. They're manageable but will take time (and expense) to complete. I guess the term "money pit" for a house still applies ...

Question for those who've read my post this far ... are any of you familiar with or have installed a whole house water softener/filtration system? We were looking at the "traditional" separate water softener and reverse osmosis units, but have seen systems from Aquasana and Pelican that have a single unit which treats water for the entire house, and does not use salt. If you have some thoughts please send me an email ... my email is in my "blue" ... thanks

jfromvt said...

Not having as much success with the Saturday puzzles with the new editor. Got much of this one but a DNF. Challenging but fair, though 19A was a Natick IMO, which set up the upper part of the puzzle.

Anonymous said...

Masala = spice blend; used in India/South Asian cuisine. “Egirl(/boy)” - “active internet language users, emo styling, anime and gaming fans … trying for … social media attention” (per Dictionary.com).

Anthony Gael Moral said...

"Some in France" for DES would be better than "Some French." Only sayin'.

"Lone star group" is too far afield from PANS as we don't see PANS (for criticism) used as a collective.

"Turn over vehicles" for IRAS is particularly clever --- gave me trouble.

BTW, ballpark beer is never ice cold, and it's over-priced, and it's lousy.

waseeley said...

Well don't say I didn't warn everybody! Patti has been leading us on with late week gimmies and then, WHAM! But I did manage a FIR on this, but it was only because of PURE PIGHEADED STUBBORNNESS, and a willingness to take however much time it took, which was WAY TOO LONG.

BUT ... Thank you Mary Lou and Brooke for an interesting ride and thanks Husker for explaining several clues which I perped, but was clueless on.

And oh what clues they were:

42A PANS 23A TEE. Needed ESP and Husker to explain these.

19A THINGS FALL APART. A Nigerian friend in my Church is a Literature Professor she turned me on to this novel. I believe she actually knew Achebe. Also my favorite Yeats poem. I did a paper on it in college. Here's the rest of it - very prophetic of the situation we're currently facing.

5D ALIF. ALEF is the first letter in Hebrew (which we see here fairly often) and I figured as URDU is a Semitic language ... [SIGH] ..., it might have an I and not an E.

6D NEGATIVE NUMBERS. POSITIVE NUMBERS work too, but not with 19A.

12D SEPTA. The only reason I knew this is that I rode on it once or twice when one of my sisters was living outside of Philly.

43D DICTA. My favorite. TSK TSK was too long and I suddenly realized that the clue was in Hahtoolah's and Lemony's bailiwick.

Cheers,
Bill

Anonymous said...

Edward, Los Angeles
40D some parks also serve ice cream

Team Joy and Bill said...

Michigan did us in. Lone Star is a band. So band instead of pans. Rat tail was cue [possible pool reference].

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Groan, Mary Lou & Brooke. I filled it but it was a pain in the donkey. Too many unknowns & weird clues. The good thing was it kept my mind off some bad news for a while. (My two-month-old cell phone went dead last night.)

Thanks, Gary, for another fine expo.

I knew Max Factor invented pancake makeup around then which revolutionized life for women with skin blemishes. I tried both the name & product which didn't fit. LIP GLOSS. Pretty insignificant.

Been to Pella for the TULIP fest one long ago Mother's Day with my girls & their husbands. Great trip.

EAVE was ESP. Wasn't Humpty Dumpty or all the king's men hanging around that wall.

Misty said...

Fun Saturday toughie, many thanks, Mary Lou and Brooke. And always enjoy your commentaries, Husker Gary, thanks for this one too.

I figured we might have a food and drink theme in this puzzle, with SPICED TEA and ICE COLD BEER. And, okay, we did get LIMES right on top. But you can't eat a TULIP, as far as I know, but wait, wait, I just saw some NACHOS down the line. Yeah! That'll work pretty well, and we won't even need a CATERER now.

SIGH! There were also some real NEGATIVE NUMBERS in this puzzle, even though it did encourage us to BE A HERO. Tough to do if you're suffering from STRESS and MALAISE, and having to watch THINGS FALL APART. And I bet some of those A---S are even going to CHEAT. What a DRAG. Hey, let's just leave this sad stuff and go back and get some more BEER and NACHOS.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Got SAY SIT (instead of PETS AT) and IS NOT (instead of AREN'T)
before grokking that this one wasn't for me.

Ah well, sometimes ya gotta be man enough
(Whoops, the patriarchy slipped in there!)
to admit it's time for early closure.

Congrats to those who finish--my respects!
~ OMK
____________
DR:
And no diagonals either.
See ya next week...

Jayce said...

This well-constructed puzzle was way too hard for me. Even by looking many things up I couldn't get it done and had to resort to "reveal word" several times. Well done, Mary Lou and Brooke.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Yikes, my first secure guess wasn't until I got to TODD, then only a smattering of answers. For most I didn't even have a Guizzo (Italian: "flicker" or "flash") of a clue.

Attended a memorial service this AM, a great nephew's 3rd birthday party at 1PM and a wedding reception later at 5. Good excuse to put the puzzle aside but "Ain't" no way I woulda ever finished.🙄

Kudos to those who FIRed. 🙂

Plus it's a glorious cloudless sunny fall day, unseasonably pleasant at 72⁰. 🌞.. Leaves just past peak.....Old growth Forest from our back deck. .

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

🍂🍁




sumdaze said...

DNF with 4 empty lots in Michigan. Still, I enjoyed the puzzle and was impressed by the five 15-ers!
I had countingNUMBERS before NEGATIVENUMBERS but just did not get PANS until reading H-Gary's excellent write-up.
PEEP gave me PETSAT then "edge" seemed right for 16A so it did not take much to change "edge" to EAVE.

Subgenius said...

Like just about everybody else, I struggled with this puzzle for a while. However, I finally got the three grid spanning down answers and the two grid spanning across answers. Didn’t understand “pans” for “lone star group “ at all till I saw the blog. And did a list WAGing too, especially at “Septa” and “Fila.” Eventually, I managed to FIR so I’m happy but, gosh, what a slog!

Lucina said...

Hola!

Whew! I see that I'm not the only one who struggled with this puzzle. I absolutely hate to look up things but it was unavoidable. First, my knowledge of modern music and singers is weak so LITA never had a chance until it perped. Luckily some low hanging fruit like TULIP, LIME, SESAME, LIP GLOSS and others were there to help. I also knew SPICED TEA (which I love) and NCIS, NACHOS, though I had no idea how they are served.

And I would have known WYATT Earp but not Cenac.

I worked out the very long answers and was able to hinge some fill onto them. And BATTER is one thing with which I am familiar and have made often. DART on a garment is another one. Though I am sorry to say I had to CHEAT a few times and kept my cell phone nearby for that purpose.

Thank you, Mary Lou and Brooke for the opportunity to learn new things. The language of the young generation often baffles me.

However, my nail tech, Tony, is back from visiting his parents in Florida and now my mails are in good shape so there's that for which to be grateful. While he was gone the salon was closed for remodeling and it looks smart!

Picard, it looks like you had a lovely time on your travels. Thank you for sharing your photos.

I hope you are all enjoying yourselves this lovely Saturday! It's a beautiful autumn day here at 86 degrees.

Lucina said...

Oh, no! Not mails, NAILS.

inanehiker said...

I agree this was a challenge. I had two missteps that were first entries as usual, so I had trouble solving those sections until I could unstick myself!

1. 4A - I thought I was so clever thinking the Lone Star Group? was MAGI - BZZT
2. I put in STARFISH on 40A before NAUTILUS. Fortunately I had just been to see the STL Baseball team a few weeks ago and the only thing I remembered seeing in a plastic helmet was NACHOS- so out came the starfish.

Minor hang-ups was IS NOT instead of AREN'T and 29A GUV was originally bud and I wasn't quite sure where the Delaware was but I did remember WAshington crossed it at some point - so I had METRO crossing with POLO which perps changed to SEPTA crossing FILA. Only knew septa in noses and hearts- which would have been a clecho to TORSI

Have a wonderful weekend - we are at peak and went from our first freeze middle of the week to high in the low 80s this week - never boring here!

THanks HG for the amusing blog and Mary Lou & Brooke for the challenging puzzle!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Inane - Washington crossed the Delaware starting at what is now Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania and ending at what is now Washington Crossing, New Jersey. Went to a wedding once at the PA end.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Nachos? I don't think so. Ren's helmet was served to Eldest with a SUNDAE.
Oh, it's a NYY helmet, HG? - not even real Nachos, I bet ;-)
//lots of extra ink in the SW.

Thanks Mary Lou & Brooke for the SaturdAE diversion while running errands. I got a DNF (SEPTA? I rode the (ink'd) Metro (Hi Inanehiker!) in DC... Oh, wrong state (and DC's not one)) but I did enjoy the noodling.

Great expo, HG! Thanks for letting me peek at your paper for some extra play. I also liked learning a bit more about the constructors. Funny SESAME comic.

Mary Lou - I was just a lowly SPC phlebotomist in the Army. I worked at the blood bank at Ft. Hood during Desert Storm. We processed so many donations during the lead up... And, 28 days later, when it came back from ToO, spun it down for the freezer. They say it lasts for 30 years in cold storage. That means it expires in next year(?). //And Jinx feels old? ;-)

Um, Booke - I hold an MS in Computer Science and I can honestly say I have no idea what you're studying. I got the machine learning bit but...
If you visit today, do explain.

WOs: SUNDay->SUNDAE->[cheat (the dirty sort #GridPeek)]->NACHOS.
ESPs: Nope. I DNF'd/Cheated
Fav: WYATT Cenac. He was great on Jon Stewart's Daily and is nerd-funny. His stand up [Star Trek comes around 3:02]

IRA's clue was cute too. //Jeeps were right out.
Name dropper==ET AL was LOL.
Lassitude had nothing to do with Ted Lasso... //DW & I binged S1E1 through E5 last night. If you have Apple TV+, check it out [Trailer].
I had 'vouge' @4d so that didn't help either. It's got to be hip before it's square and then hip again. //Seriously, y'all ought to see what my kids e-girl at the second-hand shops - and they love those old-school blouses & slacks. (and yet, DW want's me to toss my clothes from the '90s :-))

NEGATIVE NUMBERS was a +

TULIP bulbs - I was watching something on PBS last week and they said during the bulb bubble (1634 - Feb '37) one bulb could go for the price of a brownstone in the city. AND!!! - as people negotiated prices at pubs, some walkerby would mistake a bulb on the table for an onion, cut it in half, and take a bite. OMG!
It was also the introduction of market options. Tulips' bubble should be a lesson to all but then there's CryptoCoin & NFTs.

Misty - LOL. #BeAHero!

Cool pix, LUC Picard. I love traveling vicariously through your snaps. Thanks.
Beautiful trees, Ray-O. What a lovely vista you have.

YooperPhil - In my experience, it's a combined effort. There's the idea for a theme (or, for themeless, seed-fill), grid building, and then cluing. In my collaborations, I had the idea, C.C. did the grid (she's a ninja!), and then I clued. She cleaned up any mistakes I made.

C.Moe - I feel you re: moving. Our project this weekend is unboxing books and making the bookshelves look pretty (DW's doing). Can't help you on the softener-system but I can reach out to a buddy who did one last year if you need.

Well, Astros are up 2-0 in the 5th and this game ain't going to watch itself.

Cheers, -T

Wilbur Charles said...

Wow, the whole N and NE was all perps and WAGs but I apparently got it all. PANS made no sense, I thought LONE Star might brew beer or ALE.
Other UNKs were IMAGE,ALEC,LITA…
SIGH was a big breakthrough

I see a few bad boxes; SHLiP/SHLEP;pART/DART??
I see it but still don't get it

23A, in such a well crafted xword why would they meh it up with TEE as clued

NAUTILUS was Cap'n Nemos SUB

In retrospect mulES/ASSES was dumb

Diane/a didn't fit but she was the only Princess I knew

I'm OK with DICTA but DART??? As clue??? What happened to the barroom game? But the name dropper clue was great. Lots of good ones

Yes, I too, was able to grok the "grid-spanners"

Yes, DI and JFK Jr should have been warned; both walked where angels should never tread. Picard, thx for pix of memorial

Thx anon@1118 for expo. Agree with AG. on #1. At Fenway where beer at the seats was taboo I grab a popcorn thingy and put beer up in that.. Ushers were wise to the trick. . I didn't care about coldness nor taste(nor what was going on in the field)

Waseeley, yes take as much time as needed. Two squares which don't bother me c. Above
MAGI for "LONE Star group. Excellent Inaneh

I suspected this one would be found universally difficult. I have the advantage of being able to sleep on it but finished at 9Am but got busy and sleepy

It's late enough that the length of this post won't matter

Two square Wilbur


Re. Water treatment. System Beware, they want c$ / Mo. To maintain

TTP said...


Tough puzzle. Every day should be like this one.

The NE corner did me in, despite having I'M UP FOR ANYTHING down, and IMAGE and TULIP across. I couldn't think of a green fruit with 5 letters other than (the partial) apple, and LIME was too short. Should have realized it was LIMES, but after avocado watermelon crept in, it was too late. LIMES ! D'OH !

I can't recall a recent puzzle where I have used as many perps and as much guessing.

Thanks for the Jim Horne comments, Husker Gary. I agree with him, and like what these young whippersnappers are doing, aided and abetted by fine editing like Eric Agard is doing over at the USA Today. Shake it up, challenge the norms, and shift those paradigms. Seems like progress and growth to me.

I used the GI BILL to help pay for my CAREER education and later used the VA Loan to get the mortgage on my house with no money down and no PMI. Enlisting was one of the best decisions I ever made, and I got the added bonus of spending three years in Europe.

True. Otis wrote it, but Aretha owned the song “R-E-S-P-E-C-T and immortalized it. The song is said to be from where we get the term "props". William Safire wrote, “Her use of propers in the lyric was her own, not in the words originally written and performed by Otis Redding in 1965." This use of “propers” was later shortened to “props,” defined in the OED as “due respect; approval, compliments, esteem.” I love that song. "Take care, TCB. Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me"

Husker Gary, I like how you phrase a question in your link that has the explanation, and then some rando anon answers it. To both of your questions. Might be the same person that answers Melissa's rhetorical questions.

Gardens are all cleaned up for winter, the windows are all washed, and the driveway cracks are all sealed. Another exhausting but beautiful fall day here. More than a bit too smokey from all the neighbors that decided to burn leaves, but this too shall pass. Sunday is the day for resting.

From yesterday, Bill, thanks for the link to The Misery Index. Not my cuppa, but at least I know now what it's about.


Anonymous T said...

WC - Lone Star is a beer (founded in 1884). The WikiP page.

Me?, I find it meh. St. Arnold's is my go-to Texas brew.

Who said Maji? I like the thinking but there were three guys...
I was thinking VEGA 'cuz I inked vogue.
PANS is funny -- A One Star review, indeed :-)

Cheers, -T

Misty said...

Thanks, AnonT, but as you can guess, I'm not much of a hero.

Anonymous said...

The solution as given is not correct in French : je vais acheter des pommes means I am going to buy apples . Going to buy some apples would translate as : je vais acheter quelques pommes

Anonymous T said...

Misty - you slay me... LOL. You are a hero:
a) You are a Cornerite
b) You posts are wordplay puzzle fun (I copied you when I 1st got here)
c) you still teach lit
d) the Astros won...
Wait, that wasn't on you :-)

Cheers, -T

Anonymous said...

Hey, editor: count up the DNF'S here ....quite a few, right?? Actually the negative comments outnumber the positives! For me- filled less than half the clues. NOT FUN, GUYS. Even after looking at the answer I don't understand five of the clues. Has the policy of the editors become, "How many solvers can we frustrate?"