Happy Thursday! A certain aquatic mammal took off to Europe so y'all are stuck with me again.
Today we have a bit of a rebus. The words that fill the circles are only connected to the theme by the letters in the circles.
Let's just look at the theme-reveal and the grid and not clutter the LEDE with shoe-fitting fill.
63a. Stack at Famous Footwear, and a hint to the sets of circled letters: SHOEBOXES.
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| The Grid |
If you didn't have the circles, finding the BOXES of SHOEs would be another puzzling challenge. Here they are, color-coded, for later discovery:
BOOT - Hopefully after today's Blog, C.C. won't give me one.
FLAT - An apartment in London
PUMP - Gets water out of the ground
MULE - Beast that comes with 40 acres
HEEL - C.C., if she gives me the BOOT ;-)
Ok, we all know that's not what Catherine was going for...
All the 'boxes' contain, read clockwise, types of shoes the Famous cobbler-shop offers.
Wait a minu... The store's not Famous; it's that it sells Famous-branded footwear, right?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Across:
1. Isabel Allende's "In the __ of Winter": MIDST. A 2017 novel about three people who find themselves together during a winter storm and tell of their tragic pasts. That's all the internet would tell me in less than 10 minutes.
6. Albumen container: EGG. Albumen is the white of a egg. It contains Albumin.
Albumen is the white of an egg. It contains albumin proteins. It is the scientific name for the white of a cooked egg. Albumin is a class of several hundred proteins. #Learning
9. Blades on a small 12-Down, for short: PROPS. PROPellerS. It took me a while to figure out what type of blades (grass?, rotors?, knives?) we were looking for.
14. Words said with a shrug: I'VE NO IDEA. I never do.
16. Biathlete's equipment: RIFLE. Ski then shoot. Rinse & repeat.
17. Tosses a monkey wrench into: SABOTAGES.
Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench
18. Site for a rite: ALTAR. I like the clue's alliteration.
19. Catch or latch follower: ONTO. When I catch onto that she latched onto another fella...
20. R&B's Boyz II __: MEN. Clue/Answer says it all.
21. Like some auctions: SILENT. I won a baseball signed by Lance Berkman at a silent auction.
I got home, Googled, and found I paid >1.5x what it was worth. Oh well, it was for charity (and I have a cool ball).
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| Lance Berkman |
22. Grandpa Walton, to Grandma Walton: ZEB. I inked Paw (? should be Pa, no?) first. I don't remember watching The Waltons. His name is Zebulon. #Learning
24. Tag sale reminder: AS IS. No refunds.
26. Teachers' org.: NEA. National Education Association.
27. Apprised (of): ABREAST. ONTO.
31. Accordion fold: PLEAT.
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| Weird Al |
33. Like some chins: CLEFT.
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| For Irish Miss |
34. Word with history or hygiene: ORAL.
36. Puerto __: RICO.
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| Let's not forget these US Citizens after Ian |
39. Crass: RUDE. I thought "blue" at first.
40. San Antonio team: SPURS. Texas has 3 NBA (National Basketball Association) teams: [see: c/a], Dallas Mavericks, and, The Houston (my fair city) Rockets.
41. CGI birds in Liberty Mutual Insurance commercials: EMUS. Don't make me link one.
42. Important stretches: ERAS. What separates an ERA from an AGE? An ERA has an epoch (definative start date).
43. Tach stats: RPMS. A Tachometer measures RevolutionS Per Minute.
44. Puff up: SWELL.
Lois Lane mocks Kent for saying SWELL
45. Announce: STATE. I live in the "Announce" of Texas?
47. Argentine novelist Sabato: ERNESTO. Ernesto Sabato (June 24, 1911 – April 30, 2011) was an Argentine writer, painter and physicist. #Learning
49. Wanted poster letters: AKA. Also Known As. The Wanted's alias(es).
51. Fill with freight: LADE.
53. __ française: A LA. In the style of the French.
54. Luxury furs: SABLES.
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| Cute little Critter |
56. "90 Day Fiancé" cable channel: TLC. The Learning Channel. I can't think of one lesson you can learn from that show.
58. News article intro: LEDE. Lois never buried hers.
62. Gather wool from: SHEAR. Not the SABLE!
63. [See: theme]
65. Put in office: ELECT. Fingers crossed this still holds...
66. Topic of a note home, perhaps: TARDINESS. Been there. School wouldn't ALERT my parents until I was late 8 times. But!, they only tallied per class. Lots of library time...
67. Big name in rain gear: TOTES. Macintosh was too long.
68. Terminus: END. End? I'm not even getting started... ;-)
69. Reptile with sticky toe pads: GECKO. Another insurance mascot.
Down:
1. Soybean paste: MISO.
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| Yum! -- And it's easy! |
2. Catcher Rodríguez inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017: IVAN. AKA Pudge. He had a stint with the Houston Astros in 2009 but made his name with the (Dallas) Texas Rangers (1991-2001) and, IIRC, was part of the Florida Marlin's World Series winning team (2003). //I had to lookup the year(s).
3. Credit report item: DEBT. Make sure you have some debt or FICO dings you.
4. Total yawner: SNOOZE-FEST. Ok, Ok, I'll move it along...
5. Little one: TOT. Kid, child, snot-nosed brat.
6. Perimeter: EDGE. Also, with The, U2's guitarist.
7. __ Davis Institute on Gender in Media: GEENA. Geena Davis (Jan 21, 1956 -) is an actor / producer who founded the institute at Mount Saint Mary's University in Los Angeles to research gender representation in media and advocate for equal representation. #Learning.
8. Fuel for some grills: GAS.
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| Hank Hill's Goth Phase |
9. Extol: PRAISE. Hallelujah!
Leonard Cohen
10. Tiny stream: RILL. Rill? I looked it up: "A small stream." Um, OK. #Learning
11. Frequently: OFTEN TIMES. Redundant? Doesn't 'often' imply time?
12. See 9-Across: PLANE. PROPS to me for finally suss'n' the NE corner.
13. Mattress choice: SERTA. The brand with the out-of-work "Counting Sheep."
15. Sonnet line quintet: IAMBS. Poetry. I'll let someone smarter address this 'cuz I never understood counting syl-LA-bles.
21. Opera virtuoso Beverly: SILLS. Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929 - July 2, 2007) was a soprano. [Read more]
23. Put away: EAT. Nom, Nom, Nom.
25. Few and far between: SPARSE.
27. 43,560 square feet: ACRE. AveJoe surveyed a LOT of these. //See what I did there?
28. Make fuzzy: BLUR.
29. Visibly embarrassed: RED AS A BEET.
30. Bested: TOPPED. Won.
32. Question for an astrobiologist: ARE WE ALONE? Also a question for a significant-other.
35. Ingredient in many tropical cocktails: RUM. If yes to the above, start with a Piña Colada(?)
37. __ classic: CULT. What's your favorite? A) UHF, B) The Kentucky Fried Movie, C) The Rocky Horror Picture Show, D) Other (please elaborate).
38. Norwegian home of the Fram Museum: OSLO. You had me at Norwegian...
40. Misses overseas: Abbr.: SRTAS. Spanish abbreviation and an 'E' short of a mattress maker.
44. NBC show that inspired "30 Rock," for short: SNL. Saturday Night Live. It's had it's ups and downs since '75... The new cast's premier (10/1) was pretty good. Let's see if it holds.
Yeah, I *totes heart* Tina Fey.
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Tina Fey (head-writer SNL & 30 Rock) with some guy. |
46. Warns: ALERTS. I hope the above caption doesn't alert @jimmyfallon.
48. Sped: RACED.
49. Plus: ASSET.
50. "Four Inhabitants of Mexico" painter: KAHLO.
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| Frida Kahlo's Self Portrait with Grandparents, Parents & Me - Four Inhabitants of Mexico |
52. Actor Hawke: ETHAN. I briefly met him one morning in New Orleans on the balcony next to ours. I had NO IDEA. He was just a dude cleaning up after a party / having his coffee. Later I was clued in.
55. Valentine trim: LACE. *looks for links* Um, no. This isn't Splynter's expo :-)
57. "Downton Abbey" title: LORD. Extol, er, PRAISE the?
59. COO, e.g.: EXEC. Chief Operating Officer - a C-Suite suit.
60. Work place: DESK. The COO's DESK is BIG. Mine ain't.
61. Standard Oil brand: ESSO. Hey, Canadian, Eh!, eh?
63. Abbr. in some vineyard names: STE. Some French (wo)men name their vineyards after Saints. I guess(?) C.Moe?
64. Important: BIG. Really important: HUGE [See: COO's DESK]
Well, that's it. Here's the TL;DR:
Thanks Catherine for the fun puzzle. Stop by The Corner; maybe give us some inside-baseball.
The theme helped me break the cross-reference in the NE corner... Gotta be FLATs(?)... Ah, yes, a Biathlon has guns!
WOs: Paw->ZEB, ATE->EAT
ESPs: ZEB, MIDST, RILL, GEENA, KAHLO | TOTES
Fav: SNOOZE-FEST. Something I hope today's expo wasn't.
//To be openly honest with y'all, I FIW. I had KAHLa | TaTES when I put my pen down.
Just 'cuz I get to expo (my honor, C.C.), doesn't mean I'm Mensa-smart.
Cheers, -T
Coda: I found some bonus SHOEBOXES in the reveal and surrounding fill: OXEN (why not?; there's MULEs), HORA (what you wear to a wedding dance?), and, um, SHAT...
30 comments:
I got “Zeb” and “Ernesto” through a combination of WAGs and ESP. Other than that, I don’t have too much to say about this puzzle. Everything else pretty much fell into place, and I had a feeling the reveal was going to be about shoes, and I was right. FIR, so I’m happy.
Better clue for "Sabotages" would have been "Throws a shoe into." A sabot is a wooden shoe. There is a popular myth that Belgian workers would throw their sabots into their machinery to cause a work stoppage or other disruption. Hence, the word "sabotage."
Good morning!
Started 1d with TOFU, 2d with A-ROD. Wite-Out, please. Have I ever mentioned?... ZEB, because GEER was too long. I've often said "often," but don't believe I've ever said OFTENTIMES. Once again, d-o had the circles, but failed to look at 'em, and totally missed the theme. HEEL is part of a shoe, or is that "code" for high heels? Dunno. Thanx for the outing, Catherine, and for the sterling expo, Anon-T.
FICO: We have no house or car note. We do have plenty of credit card debt, but it gets zeroed out monthly. FICO dings us anyway.
Sorry to intrude on crossword discussion, but Tony, we really need you to come over to the JumbleHints blog and straighten it out. Too confusing to explain here, you'll have to see for yourself. I don't have my laptop here in the rehab facility, just my phone, so I can't make corrections myself.
I need 6:25 today to unbox my shoes.
Had no idea about: Midst, the Argentine novelist, or the opera virtuoso.
Oh joy, circles.
Good thing I didn't pay attention to those pesky circles, because "mule" would've thrown me off track.
FIR. Not to pleased with the crossing of Kahlo and Totes. I do not believe proper names should intersect. Guess I'm old school.
Off to Europe? There's a WAR going on over there. Hello. I thought this would be a tough puzzle when I didn't know 1A, 1D, and 2D and the only fills in the North & NW were EGG, tot, GAS, and MEN. I was thinking I'VE NO IDEA about what the circles could be but OFTEN TIMES it just works itself out. I flew through the rest, noticed the SHOE BOXES after FLAT, MULE, and PUMP. IVAN, MISO, and MIDST were unknowns that worked themselves onto the grid after guessing BOOT from the 'OO' in SNOOZEFEST.
Two changes today. ONLINE to SILENT auction and STOLES to SABLES.
Astrobiologist- how can a supposedly smart person study something that he doesn't know if it exists.
ZEB. KAHLO, GEENA, and ERNESTO were other unknowns.
Tech thieves are getting craftier and slicker. I got a call from one of my credit card banks because someone charged $200.00 at a truck stop in Chester, Virginia. I guess they knew it couldn't be me because I had used the card only an hour earlier in NOLA. Anyway I looked up the truck stop and called the manager. He looked it up and told me that the transaction was done with a card with the CHIP. I told him I never let go of my credit card. He said the crooks' latest thing is copying the card through RFID without ever physically touching it. I'm buying a new RFID wallet.
Hola!
Well done, Tony! You filled all the BOXES nicely.
This is my kind of puzzle! I love SHOES though I no longer wear high HEELS! How I rocked them in times past. Now I have a great collection of FLATS.
ERNESTO was also Che Guevara's name.
I cannot abide TARDINESS in myself especially.
At this moment my DESK is really cluttered and needs to be cleaned and cleared of excess stuff.
Frida KAHLO was a disturbed woman and I believe her art displays it somewhat. Yet her CULT followers love her.
It's really chilly here this morning! I do believe fall has arrived.
Have a thrilling Thursday, everyone!
I figured this was about shoes after filling two boxes.
Anon T, thanks for filling in. What you said about ERA is true about a geologic era. In most usages eras don't have definite beginnings
In miso soup the miso is a paste mixed into the dashi broth. The cubes are tofu.
Zeb was ESP. I finally realized it was Grandpa's name.
KAHLO was also ESP. Seeing that painting, I haven't been missing much.
We have progressed from using shoes for sabotage. I am reading novels about the WW II resistance in French, especially about women spies and saboteurs.
Oft times is more common than often times. Oft times is more frequent than sometimes.
My Country 'Tis of Thee
I love thy rocks and rills
Thy woods and templed hills
My heart will rapture fills like that above
As Ed Sullivan would say, this puzzle was a really good shoe.
"Topic of a note home": send money was wrong. Then I thought the answer was sardines huh? 🙄...RILL, LEDE, IAMBS learnt only from previous puzzles. I thought they RACED, but a "biathlon" has RIFLES! (First one to shoot all opponents wins? 😲)
"Grandpa Walton to Grandma Walton" I wanted sib cuz I already had the B (hey, they're moutain folk right? 😆)...ABREAST...I will let others have fun with that 🤗, LORD (not Lady, perpwaited)
ARE WE ALONE?.....an Astrobiologist hesitant musical reply 🎵....
Wha? Those EMUS aren't real? 😳... next thing yer gonna tell me.. the GECKO 🦎 can't really talk 😮
When asked by the judge the defendant ____ innocent....PLEAT and ____ ...PRAISE he won't go to prison.
Word with history or hygiene or Roberts....ORAL
Gentle boxing bouts...SPARSE.
Got my "Old Person" flu shot just now. Expect my arm'll be an ACRE tomorrow. 😬
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun Catherine and AnonT (great job today).
I FIRed and nearly forgot to check the boxes. Ah, look at those SHOEs.
Great catch re possible Easter Egg with SABOTAGE, Anon@4:59am
I just finished reading Allende’s newest book, Violeta, but had to wait for perps for MIDST.
Jeb changed to ZEB.
Perps were required but fair for IVAN, ERNESTO, KAHLO (I WAGGED the O), ETHAN.
This Canadian did not know the cable TLC, but I’ll take the CSO at ESSO (even though we don’t see it any more).
Yes, I thought of Irish Miss with CLEFT.
Wishing you all a great day.
Shoebox?
Actually,
that gives me a great idea!
(I could swear my girls took lessons from Imelda Marcos...)
Wait! She used bags, not boxes?
(That's not a bad idea either...)
Good Morning:
Like others, I saw the shoes early on but the reveal was still a cute surprise. As usual, the unknowns were proper names, i.e., Zeb, Ernesto, and Ivan and, as usual, there were way too many unnecessary proper name references in the cluing. I believe my only w/o was Mist/Rill. AKA/Ala, Gas/ESSO, and Emu/Gecko were fun duos.
Thanks, Catherine, for a smooth solve and thanks, Anon T for substituting for our missing mammal. Your review was informative and humorous and your CSO re Cary’s cleft was smile-inducing. Thank you for brightening my day.
Uncle Fred, apparently my emails aren’t getting to you, for some reason. What I wanted was to ask if you had any recommendations for an upscale restaurant near Lauderdale By The Sea. 😉
I had an unusual experience yesterday. I was placing an online order from the liquor store that I’ve been patronizing for 10 years and
the store gift card I tried to use was not accepted. After trying 3 or 4 times and getting the same refusal message, I gave up and called the store. I was told they were very busy and short-staffed and that it would be a time consuming task to determine the problem, so someone would have to get back to me. I called back late in the day and received the same response. I can’t figure out why their plastic card with a bar code, card number and PIN number would be rejected. I envision more phone calls on my part to settle the matter.
Have a great day.
This September I have greatly enjoyed reading Isabel Allende's novels, "In the Midst of Winter" and "Violeta." Now I must read her much praised "House of the Spirits." Seeing a book by her lying on the table speaks to me, "Read me now!" I stay up until dawn finishing it.
I am surprised that the translation from Spanish to English maintains Allende's lovely lyricism.
Fun Thursday puzzle, Catherine--really enjoyed it, many thanks. And also neat commentary, Anon T, thanks for that too.
Interesting to find LORD and EXEC near each other. Are they in the MIDST of working together on a project? Maybe organizing a SILENT AUCTION? Their ORAL skills wouldn't be much of an ASSET in that case, but I bet they'd avoid any TARDINESS. Let's just hope their project has a good END.
Don't think I'll get much PRAISE for that silly commentary, so I'll wish you all a good day.
Fun puzzle. At first the NW was blank, then one letter was enough to put everything in place. I had read some Ernesto Sabato works when I studied South American lit. Candianeh: I just checked out Violeta. Looking forward to reading.
Anon@4:59. Thanks for the sabotage definition.
AnonT Thanks for the Weird Al and Foo Fighters (Monkey Wrench learning moment) links along with the rest of your tireless work today.
Frida KAHLO is a frequent puzzle visitor and her art is widely seen on TOTE bags here in California.
TOTES was FAMOUS for their pull over boots. Now discontinued. Am I the only one who still uses pull over boots in the rain to protect his SHOES?
This Leaf Tailed GECKO was one of our favorite finds in Madagascar.
Can you see it? At the very start of the video it raised its right front foot. Of course, we also saw plenty of Day GECKOs, made famous in the GEICO ads.
Ray O @ 11:23 ~ I prefer to think it’s just the latest manifestation of Murphy’s Law which has been the story of my life recently, from my grocery order being delivered to my neighbor, to the item I ordered from Wayfair arriving missing a key component. 😂
Catherine's puzzle and AnonT's tour made for a fun morning. Thanks!
Hand up for needing the theme in the NE. PLANE not PLANt = PROPS then fingers crossed that a RILL is real-y a thing for a FIR.
I liked this puzzle and T's write-up.
Yellowrocks @ 9:33. "novels about the WW II resistance in French, especially about women spies and saboteurs"
It sounds like you prefer novels, but you might be interested in reading Lynne Olson's "Madame Fourcade's Secret War" (non-fiction). It's a well-researched account of "the daring young woman who led France's largest spy network against Hitler". I learned so much from that book!
Lots o' fun -- love the reveal! (Also the write-up)
Picard:
If it ever rained enough I would use pullover boots, but, alas, rain is too infrequent a visitor here in the Southwest desert. However, when it happens it can be deadly, causing flooding in the dry washes.
BTW, it's good to see you back. I look forward to your travel photos.
Puzzling thoughts:
No time to work on the puzzle but it must've been a fun solve! Dash Tony, you are truly getting the hang of recapping the puzzles. Enjoyed it and the links
To Irish Miss:
If you are looking for a good restaurant near Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, try Blue Moon Fish Company @ 4405 W Tradewinds Ave, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, FL 33308. It's located on the intercoastal. Great views. If I recall accurately, their Sunday brunch is quite the feast.
If you don't mind traveling further north (Deerfield) to dine, check out Oceans234. The Gen'l Mgr there is a friend of mine. Mention my name to him and that I recommended his restaurant; I would expect you'll get some great attention! Have fun!
See y'all tomorrow
A Cetta PZL, by way of Anon T..
OFTENTIMES is strange, no? I agree with desper-otto: I have never said the word. We hear (and use) "often" often enough, and I have seen "Ofttimes" in writing, but never with the additional "en."
LADE is a word that appears ofttimes in crosswords, and maybe in the shipping industry, but not IRL.
And we have all learned how to spell LEDE through XWDs.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Two diagonals, each to a side.
The near hand (NW to SE) presents an anagram (10 of 15) referring to those good fellows who fight for the right, striving against odds that usually favor sin & corruption.
I refer, of course, to those gallant...
"SOUL BOXERS"!
Musings
-18 holes today on a very cool day behind incredibly slow players!
-A fun puzzle where I saw the connection immediately but needed the clever reveal
-SABOTAGE was a big function of the French underground in WWII
-ERNESTO (Ernie) was a lovable flunky at HHM in Better Call Saul
-Bury the LEDE - Lincoln spent the night across the street from Ford’s Theater
-SNOOZE FEST – Speakers either don’t know it or feel no need to do anything about it
-Impresario Ed Sullivan was as likely to have Beverly Sills as The Dave Clark Five
-Fire ALERTS go off frequently at MIL’s nursing home but no one gets upset
Moe @ 5:33 ~ Thank you so much for those recommendations. I especially like the menu at the Blue Moon, although I’m not going to be dining there. My brother and spouse are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary later this month and as they winter in Lauderdale By The Sea, I thought a gift card to a local restaurant there would be a pleasant and welcome surprise. (The setting and views bring back many happy memories of my many Florida years. 😉) Best wishes for a smooth closing and an angst-free move.
Thanks to the cartoons on the Big Brother Bob Emery show I. 50s I worked my TARDINESS up to three weeks of detention. Cartoon ended at 1255 and last bell was 110pm . The shortcut took me past "Smoky's pen" where I crept inches from his drooling jaws.
The morning delay was Laurel&Hardy
Ironic that FICO likes DEBT. But not late payments which are a goldmine for lenders
SRTA and a SERTRA
I one-up'd ya, RayO, I got a cortisone shot in the butt. Different kinda hurt
Picard, I don't have enough Wi-Fi to view your gecko. Any WOMBAT* pix?
WC
* was that latimes or Joseph clue?
Jayce @2:00PM What Jayce said.
My parents lived with dad's sister's family in KCMO for a while during WWII. The adults spent a lot of time listening to the radio and discussing the war. I was two years old. One day they were discussing a neighbor at the dinner table. I said, "That man is scary. I think he's a SABOTEUR." That statement cracked everyone up and was a family statement for years. It was immortalized by mom in my baby book. My uncle even was telling my kids years later. My kids didn't know what a saboteur was.
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