Theme: SHOP TALK
19. Items sold in a pop-up shop?: CHAMPAGNE CORKS.
24. Items sold in a pop-up shop?: TOASTER WAFFLES.
41. Items sold in a pop-up shop?: FOLDING CAMPERS.
46. Items sold in a pop-up shop?: JACK IN THE BOXES.
This is about as straightforward of a theme as it gets. Each theme answer is something that pops up. I anticipate some complaints about unknown or too many proper names. Melissa here, happy Wednesday! Pop-up shops are sure getting popular, even in my little town of 5,000.
Lots of fun and colorful fill today.
Across:
1. Creature in the 2019 animated film "Abominable": YETI.
5. Break sharply: SNAP. We've got pop and snap, all we need now is a crackle.
9. Owlet's home: NEST.
13. Smartphone border: BEZEL. A guide to bezels.
14. Fine-tune over time: HONE.
15. German spouse: FRAU. Wiki: Fräulein is the diminutive form of Frau, which was previously reserved only for married women. Frau is in origin the equivalent of "My lady" or "Madam", a form of address of a noblewoman. But by an ongoing process of devaluation of honorifics, it came to be used as the unmarked term for "woman" by about 1800.
16. Aquarium decoration: CORAL. Not chest.
17. Kate Middleton, to Archie and Lilibet: AUNT.
18. Tree trimmer's target: LIMB. Ouch.
22. "Geez!": MAN.
23. "Insecure" actress/writer Issa: RAE. HBO comedy series.
32. Game with a numbered board: DARTS.
33. "The Fiddler of Dooney" poet: YEATS. William Butler Yeats.
34. Actress Mendes: EVA. Longtime partner of Ryan Gosling.
35. Stage award: OBIE. Off-Broadway Theater Awards.
36. Tigger's creator: MILNE.
37. Home of Iowa State: AMES.
38. Nemesis: FOE.
39. Corral, as cattle: PEN IN.
40. Floors: STUNS. Verb, not noun.
44. Post-ER place: ICU. Intensive Care Unit.
45. Animated Olive: OYL. POPeye's girl.
55. Lawn care brand: TORO.
57. "I Dream of Jeannie" star: EDEN. She celebrated her 91st birthday this past August.
58. Nefarious: EVIL.
59. Take one's sweet time: TARRY.
60. Pizazz: ZING.
61. Start of something big?: MAXI. MAXImum.
62. Give a hand?: SLAP.
Down
1. "Everything Everywhere All at Once" star Michelle: YEOH. Malaysian actress.
2. Old Testament scribe: EZRA.
3. One wearing a matching jersey: TEAMMATE.
4. "None for me, thanks": I'LL PASS.
5. Layered style: SHAG. Haircut, or carpet. This is Shaggy, from Scooby Doo.
6. Life or death: NOUN.
7. China __ McClain of "Black Lightning": ANNE. Actress and singer, 24 years young.
9. TD caller: NFL REF.
10. "The Devil in the White City" author Larson: ERIK. The movie adaptation is in development.
11. __ Club: Costco rival: SAM'S. Sam's Club vs. Costco.
12. Oleo container: TUB.
13. Email field: BCC. Blind carbon copy.
20. Tiny member of a collective: ANT. Cute.
21. Big galoots: OAFS. Clumsy people.
24. Party game "of unspeakable fun": TABOO.
25. Projecting window: ORIEL. An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground.
26. Looking over: EYING.
27. Shrine artifact: RELIC.
28. Sheryl Crow's "All I __ Do": WANNA.
29. Madagascar primate: LEMUR.
31. Smart talk: SASS.
32. Tip: DOFF. Remove, or get rid of.
36. Restaurant option: MENU ITEM.
37. Had a farm-to-table meal, say: ATE LOCAL.
39. Guitar accessory: PICK.
40. Malicious trackers: SPYBOTS.
42. Prep cook's forte: DICING.
47. "Too true!": AMEN.
49. Cereal whose flavors include grapity purple: TRIX.
52. Surname at the O.K. Corral: EARP. Wyatt.
53. Artful: SLY.
54. "__ who?!": SEZ.
45 comments:
I’m a little surprised we get spam on this blog, but whatever. There’s spam everywhere, I guess. Anyway, as regards this puzzle, it seemed pretty straightforward. I’m not familiar with what a “folding camper” is (some kind of recreational equipment, I imagine) but I knew all the others. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Cute gimmick. But is it JACK IN THE BOXES or JACKS IN THE BOX? Went sideways with A LA CARTE/MENU ITEM and CAPO/PICK. That's why I keep Wite-Out at my desk. Thanx, Doug, Christina, and Melissa Bee. (Your grands are always so cute.)
OCTAL: My first computer was a Heathkit H-8 -- an 8-bit (OCTAL) computer. The computer, itself, wasn't too expensive, but you still had to add diskette drive(s), green-screen monitor, keyboard, and serial/parallel ports (all extra kits) to make it minimally useful. A fully equipped H-8 could easily run over $3,000.
Oops, forgot to mention that the computer came with only 8K memory. To do any useful work you needed to up that to the maximum 64K memory. And if you wanted the Z80 processor, rather than the standard 8080A, that'd be extra too.
FIR, but erased tony for OBIE, zeal for ZING, and deal for SLAP.
I've read a couple of Erik Larson's books, starting with The Devil in the White City. Highly recommended.
I belong to Costco and Sams. Shortly after I joined Sams, they closed the store nearest to our Norfolk home. I keep it because there usually aren't Costco warehouses near the places we stay in Florida.
Thanks to Doug and Christina for the fun, tough-for-Wednesday puzzle. Just barely within my capabilities. My favorite was DOFF, which took me forever to get. Could have done without the pop-cult stuff, but that seems to be de rigueur these days. And thanks to Melissa for another fun review. Sweet grands.
D-O, I also remember that you couldn't buy the Heathkit computer software. You leased it but didn't have recurring payments, IIRC. Lots of legalese for a consumer-goods catalogue. I waited and decided to buy an Apple II, with the Radio Shack TRS-80 being my runner-up.
One of my least favorite types of crosswords. Way too many proper nouns. Counted 23. Yikes!
Took 8:51 for the "congratulations" to pop-up.
I agree it seemed like a tougher than usual/lately Wednesday puzzle.
I didn't know bezel or that Anne, I guessed at Yeoh, and I don't like foreign words in our crossword puzzles (I'm looking at you, Frau).
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Doug, Christina, & especially Melissa. Cute kids.
I guess it is a new phenomenon but I don't know what a Pop-up Shop is. Please explain.
The theme entries had a few perps in place, but I didn't get the gimmick until JACK IN THE BOXES showed up. Then I went back and rapidly filled in the other theme entries.
Thought the whole puzzle was more difficult than a usual Wednesday. Like Sherry, I didn't like all the proper nouns. I knew but couldn't remember Barbara EDEN's name. Too long ago.
SLAP startled me for that clue instead of cLAP.
DNK XTRA was a detergent. I mute ads & do something else while they're on.
Took me way longer than a typical Wednesday, just because of the NW. I had ALGAE instead of CORAL at first. When I switched to CORAL the whole corner fell into place.
Tedious puzzle this morning.
Subgenius and PK, I also was "puzzled" by the Folding Camper fill until it occurred to me they might be referring to a "Pop-Up" camper. These are the trailers you haul. Once you park it, you use a crank to fold out the bed areas and raise the canvas top.
An odd item to have in a Pop-up shop but it fits the theme.
Happy Wednesday, all.
PK, "popup stores" are a trend for deliberately temporary sales locations. I suppose Christmas tree lots were an early example, but lately has expanded to other seasonal goods, or marketing and testing new products.
FIR, but the SE gave me fits. Not familiar with the detergent Xtra, and the clue for 62A was a stretch; expected "clap", got "slap"?
Doug and Christina's SLY puzzle only lacked a Q to be a pangram. I enjoyed working through this puzzle, catching onto the theme with CHAMPAGNE. Thanks to you all, and to Melissa B for her review.
One of my WOs was caused by forgetting how to spell YEOH, a name we had in Sunday's puzzle. Another was next door, figuring out the Old Testament scribe. Oh, EZRA. Sure. SPYBOTS and MAXI had some WOs, but the rest of my grid was pristine. Yay!
My book club has read several books by Erik Larson and found them interesting. Hope you all have an interesting day!
Hola!
Oh, now I get it. One of my friends had a POP-UP CAMPER many years ago. Also many years ago, JACK-IN-THE-BOX restaurants had figures (clowns) emerging from the roof.
Thank you, Melissa, for the excellent expo and for the lovely photo of your grands.
I've never watched The Simpsons but the characters are familiar to me from Xwords.
Very likely Wyatt EARP never considered himself a marketing tool but in Tombstone, AZ that is exactly what he is along with Doc Holiday and the Gang.
TORO=bull
Thank you, Doug and Christina for your creative efforts. I had fun with this.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
FIR in more than normal Wed. time. I think the plethora of names slowed the solving down. I liked the theme.
The Grammarist says, "The plural form of jack-in-the-box may be either jack-in-the-boxes or jacks-in-the-box. Note that the name Jack is no longer capitalized in the word jack-in-the-box."
Since we are not talking about just the jacks but the entire item, I prefer jack-in-the -boxes.
Mb, I agree about cats in a crate. It took much P&P to get my cat in his carrier to go to the vet or the sitter. Did he know where he was going?
I thought of the pop up camper for folding camper. I preferred almost a life time of tent camping. Now it's B&Bs.
I see hat doffing only in vintage movies. It was then abbreviated to just touching the brim. Very retro. I believe that only certain types of hats, like fedoras and straw hats, were doffed. Some say the military salute came from the idea of hat doffing.
Cute picture of Jaelyn and Harper.
I too discovered the gimmick with JACK-IN-THE-BOXES, then I went back and got the others. I did not know that these temporary shops are called pop-up shops. I’m familiar with pop up campers, not folding campers, but easy to figure out they are the same thing. I can’t make waffles without messing up the kitchen counter, so I use TOASTER WAFFLES. Let go my EGGO.
Yes, this felt a little harder than a usual Wednesday puzzle, probably because of all the proper names.
Cold morning but only one more, then a warming trend for us. Yea!
Musings
-Fun gimmick on the toughest hump day puzzle I can recall. Among the blizzard of names, we seniors got EDEN, EARP and OYL
-I’ll ask again: Does the fact that we never see younger people complain about older cultural references seem odd to you? Does it mean that they are more tolerant, not many do crossword puzzles or our site does not have many younger commenters?
-I love how Christina gets her hometown of AMES into many of her puzzles.
-I know nothing of Ms. YEOH but I’ve seen her name here enough recently that any four-letter name starting with Y…
-Did anyone else flash on FRAU Blucher?
-OCTAL – Last month I turned 114 years old
-Refraining from saying the actual word in a game of TABOO is maddening
-While once trying to EVEN out a hedge I was trimming a lot of unintended greenery fell to the ground
I don’t time these puzzles to the minute but this Wednesday took Friday time, if that makes sense. NW corner was last to fill but fell into place easily once I sussed out 19A. 39 down was a problem because I tried to fit “capo” instead of “pick” - and I’ve played guitar for well over 50 years…
Once I figured out the last pop theme clue, the others were easier to suss, those perps helped with the rest, for a FIR... 🍾
Black Lightening?, author Larson?, "fiddler", Just the "owlet" uses a nest? What about his feathered folks? 🦉🦉. Never heard of the game TABOO. ORIEL used to be commonly found in CW's...been awhile, needed perps.
Knew BEZEL from a watch face but not XTRA detergent (how much extra do they give you)
The first syllable of TEAMMATE is an anagram of the second. (There is a puzzle theme for yah, but prolly been used). At first I thought it said (our old friend) oreo and put Tin..other Inkovers: Anna/Anne, spycams/BOTS, Esra/Z,
SLAP: an Oscar Night event
Dieted....ATELOCAL
Frozen sheep?...ICU.
If car is moving too slow for me ...ILLPASS
___ is a Hindu ____ day..HOLI
Recent road repairs....TARRY
Happy Hump day 🐫🐪
Learning moment: bezel
I always thought it was the metal cap on the back of your wristwatch...
Strange how a storefront can go empty all year because the rents are too high, yet every halloween it turns into costume shop.
Will the cost of everything going up,
pop up shops are getting smaller...
Hat doffs...
(When did hats turn in to baseball caps, and why are they backwards?)
My favorite old movie hat doff has to be the honeymoon scene in Its a Wonderful Life.
Not the one at 45 seconds, the one at 53 seconds...
Why do we no longer wear, of doff hats anymore?
I'm not sure, but I think it had something to do with The Susquehanna Hat Company...
Only the baby owlets sleep in the nest, the same as for most bird species. Nests are just nurseries.
"Do Owls Sleep in Nests? No, the place where owls rest is called a roost. Owls use a nest during breeding season, that nest is where the eggs are laid and the babies are born, but they do not sleep in the nest. They sleep near the nesting site."
HG, we all know of about cultural references from before we were born. I am sure some of the younger generation do so too. But many of them are not as up on the past as one might surmise. For instance, I worked with teens and "twenty somethings" who wondered who Bette Davis was, forget about knowing that Betty Davis eyes are alluring and seductive, and maybe false.
Have you ever watched shots of random young people trying to dial a phone or use a hand held can opener?
Got only one of the themers (46A), partials on the others but could not come up with the leading words. Ergo, DNF NW or MW. Also Stop for SNAP (5A). UGH!! I thought this was a hard puzzle for a Wed. Linkster called it "tedious." I'll second that!!
A cute theme and a couple clever clues. However the editor is so set on allowing too many names that it is becoming a real “drag” to complete these puzzles. I suppose the regular contributors to this blog are ok with the diminished quality and boring clues. I think I will look elsewhere for a daily crossword as the L. A. Times has become boring.
I have taken to reading through all the clues first to see how many proper names there are, then deciding whether I want to try to do the CW. Sherry says 23; I count 14. Different definitions of proper names, I guess. Anyway almost chose to NOT do today’s CW, but then went ahead. Discovered I had to Google a few things so although I did FIR in 25, not sure if I can call it FIR since I looked some things up. W/Os NED:MOE, DALLY:TARRY. Really wanted to write ABET for Give a hand, but held off since I do the CW in ink on paper and I already had two W/Os. Was surprised when SLAP appeared where I was wanting to put ABET. Cute theme to this more-difficult-than-most-Wednesdays CW. Thanx DP&CI for the entertainment, and thanx too to MB for the fun write-up. You were right: lots of comments about the number of proper names. I did not know most of them: there’s where the Google cheats came in.
A pause in your Blog for some PSAs...
Please drink your Champagne responsibly.
Do not drive with your pop-up "popped."
"personally," I love hash browns, but never have the time to make them.
However, if you have a waffle iron, you have a quick and easy hash brown maker, using leftover mashed potato's, French fries, or whatever else you dare to squish in it...
"Unfortunately," I do not have a traditional waffle iron. What I do have is a Bella Cucina Circus Waffle Iron that daughter #2 left in the cabinet above my fridge when she got married. It's makes tiny little circus animal waffles... not wanting to ever throw anything away, I found a use for it by filling it with three, tater tots, and squishing them. I have found it makes just enough hash browns for one person, eating one egg...
And finally,
Because no-one asked for it,
I give you a repeat post related to jack in the boxes...
Here is the entire 30 minute goes wrong show called 90 degrees.
Pls refer to time index 8:30 where an inadvertent conversation with Ruffles the dog, reveals that the reason some of the sets are sideways is because the Director hired an old jack in the box maker to build the sets, to save money.
At time index 23:15, after a very silly joke, the first jack in the box is revealed...
At the very final scene, it is revealed that the entire set is filled with jack in the boxes...
If you like these links to the goes wrong show, I will link other episodes upon request. (Peter Pan was best)
If you don't say anything about my favorite silly show, I will keep on linking it until you beg me to stop...
:)
Delightful Wednesday crossword, many thanks, Doug and Christina. And your commentary is always a pleasure, Melissa.
Many German families have a FRAU who is an AUNT, and this one has a daughter EVA who is an actress lucky enough to win an OBIE this year. That called for a CHAMPAGNE celebration where they popped CORKS to cheer her on, and where she proposed TOASTs to her favorite authors, including YEATS. It was a great event and EVA hopes she gets another award next year.
Have a great week, everybody.
A PZL from the Peterson/Iverson team, shepherded here by melissa bee.
Did well enough throughout today's grid--until I hit the lower left sector. I forgot the paradisical surname of the TV star, and entered EGAN instead. That screwed things up for a while.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals, all on the far side.
Th central diag gives an anagram (14 of 15) that could well be the unofficial title of the famed Anastasia, the woman who was allegedly assassinated by the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution.
Although her claim has been disproved, there are still those who insist she was legitimate.
In any case, she was a notable...
"CZARINA CLAMANT"!
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Doug and Christina, and melissa bee (great photo of the grands).
I FIRed and saw the Pop Up theme with the first themer. JEDI crossing EDEN was almost my Natick, but then things fell into place.
Was that “stellar explosion” NOVA an Easter Egg (pop up star)?
Hand up for clap before SLAP.
And for being misdirected by “true”. I was trying to decide between Aver and Avow.
DH and I had one of those Pop-Up CAMPERS. (It looked like the one in CED’s link (but not on the truck LOL). We travelled from coast to coast in Canada (not all in one trip!) with three kids. Lots of great memories. Fortunately we were blessed with good weather in our travels.
Wishing you all a great day.
I did not dislike this puzzle. At least I was able to solve it without needing to look anything up, which is how I prefer it. Wasn't sure about the poet, so I put in -EATS and allowed EYING to fill it. Almost totally goofed up the top because I mistakenly thought CHAMPAGNE was spelled CHAMPAIGN.
Proper names as answers, not including place names:
1. YETI
2. RAE
3. YEATS
4. EVA
5. MILNE
6. OYL
7. EDEN
8. YEOH
9. EZRA
10. ANNE
11. ERIK
12. MOE
13. EARP
Proper names in clues, including book, song, and movie titles:
1. 2019 animated film "Abominable"
2. Kate Middleton, to Archie and Lilibet
3. "Insecure" actress/writer Issa
4. "The Fiddler of Dooney" poet
5. Actress Mendes
6. Animated Olive
7. "I Dream of Jeannie" star
8. "Everything Everywhere All at Once" star Michelle
9. China __ McClain of "Black Lightning"
10. "The Devil in the White City" author Larson
11. Sheryl Crow's "All I __ Do"
12. Rey of the "Star Wars" films, for one
3-letter answers:
1. MAN
2. RAE
3. EVA
4. FOE
5. ICU
6. OYL
7. TUB
8. BCC
9. ANT
10. MOE
11. SLY
12. SEZ
The first computer I ever owned was the Radio Shack TRS-80, though I had played around on the Altair 8800 by MITS and the KIM-1 by MOS Technology, Inc. The next computer I owned was a Commodore PET, which I dearly loved, and from the use of which I learned a lot. Then, when IBM came out with its first PC, I just had to have one, so I paid the price to get one with the monochrome monitor. Frankly, it was a bit of a disappointment, performance wise, but again I learned a lot from it and the really good documentation for it. After that it was various brands of Intel-processor, Microsoft Windows machines, including several made/sold by Dell. When my current one dies beyond repair, I am thinking seriously of getting an iMac.
Good wishes to you all.
I agree that this was tougher than what we've come to expect from Wednesday. Then again, I looked up and everything was inked in, came here and found I FIR
Ivie clues in a very interesting way plus she doesn't leave low hanging fruit like OREO and ONO.
The theme was easy to grok, er SUSS, giving 14*4 boxes filled which made perps easy. I didn't find pop-cul obscure as it was Boomer oriented (EDEN,OYL…)
Finally, this is the level of difficulty I enjoy. My new newspaper, the Citrus Chronicle has two which are not even Monday level. Interestingly, a reader wrote that the Sunday xword was an LATimes thus way too difficult.
But I get the TBTimes because it contains the entire week of xwords. The chronicle has a much better Sport page using AP reportage eschewing Sports gossip which has become the usual fill
Speaking of…
I see it's Yankees vs 'Stros. I'd bet the Yankees since they had that tough Eastern div. vs the Rangers, Royals ilk that Houston faced
WC
CEh!
That sounds like a wonderful trip! I'm sure you are happy you had that opportunity.
When my sisters and I traveled across the country to visit our sister who lives in Charlotte, NC, we stayed in motels where we had a chance to use the swimming pool. It was a good way to relax, unwind and be ready for the next day's travel.
I may have mentioned that at one hotel they failed to give us a requested wake-up call and so did not charge us for the night. We also have some good memories from those trips. Most memorable was one when one of my nieces fell asleep in the back and pushed out the window pane! We had to do some emergency repairs with card board and of course, encountered rain on the way. In New Mexico we stopped to visit some relatives and were able to have the window repaired.
Another time my niece, Michelle, left a pillow at the hotel. On our return trip we stopped at the same hotel and retrieved the pillow! They had saved it for us because, of course, we called about it. Those AAA travel guides were really useful in providing all those details like telephone numbers.
OMK, the claimants claim to have NOT been assassinated by the Bolshies
To me Windows was a step backwards ie. separating me from using the data
WC
WC: The Royals are in the AL Central, which was won by Cleveland.
Seattle won 90 games in the AL West, but still finished 16 games behind the Houston Cheaters.
Enjoyed the POP UP theme. SPYWARE before SPYBOTS.
I will take a CSO for LEMUR after our MADAGASCAR adventure.
Here I was giving water to LEMURs in MADAGASCAR.
Feeding them is strictly prohibited.
Picard,
Giving the lemurs water video was awesome!
But why is feeding them prohibited?
All I could find was:
1)they make bad pets
2)they cannot metabolise anything but their natural foods
And 3) a California zoo reports their Lemurs are having an outbreak of tuberculosis!
Pls advise...
Also,
No one responded to The Goes Wrong Show.
so I'll keep trying...
(Must spread the silliness...)
Picard:
That is fantastic! What a great experience for you. Thank you for posting.
They look so much smaller than I thought of them.
What is a folding camper? This puzzle leaves much to be desired.
DNF. I, too, found the gimmick with JACK IN THE BOXES. Nevertheless, a massive fail on the West Coast. Thank you, Melissa for explaining things!
Ray-O @ 10:43 a.m. I like your puzzle idea. I hope one of the clever constructors reads your post!
Picard @ 5:25. Your trip pics just keep getting better and better! Thanks for sharing!
Anonymous@6:54
A folding camper is a small trailer topped with a collapsible camper. When it's parked and ready to be used, the shell is raised and ready to be slept in. Possibly someone with more capability than I have can post a photo.
Hi All!
Cute theme, Doug & Christina, and perfectly Wednesday-hard.
As I kept reading the theme clues, I thought Jack-in-the-box would be a cute answer. And then, there it was!
Thanks for the expo, mb. Beautiful Grands!
WOs: Slay->STUN, kEATS->YEATS, started Mosey->TARRY
ESPs: ANNE, ERIK, RAE, TARRY, ORIEL (thanks mb!)
Fav: SLAPS c/a
We played TABOO with our other married friends in college. One of my buddy's wife wasn't so swift. The 'get them to guess' was orange... She started with "The color of an orange." Bzzzt! Another time, 'crosswalk': "Something you walk across." Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
CED - I love the Goes Wrong Show and have seen everyone that one of my streaming services offered. Funny stuff.
WC - the reason I'm so late tonight is a vendor took us to a Happy Hour. The ALCS game was on every (save one for basketball) TV in the joint. After the vendor left, boss-man / buddy & I stayed through the last out. 'Stros won one. On the way home, Houston's sports radio said Astros in 5. We'll see.
@5:06 - look it up. Houston wasn’t the only team... Just the only one to get caught first.
Y'all have a good eve. I won't have much time to play tomorrow as I have meetings all morning and HouSecCon all afternoon.
Enjoyed reading y'all's travel adventures.
Cheers, -T
Coda: I'm fluent in Binary, Octal, and Hex. D-O: The Z80 was a great chip. I never had a Heathkit but read about them.
Jinx - the Apple ][e was the second computer I programmed; State of IL's mainframe was the 1st (in Fortran - Computer Merit Badge worthy).
Picard - I just watched the video. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, -T
I stans corrected, Anon@5:06 pm. Substitute Angels and/or Oakland
Stros got off to a good start tonight. If it keeps raining in NY the Yankees could see Verlander three times
WC
Forgot to mention, that it was snowing on the CN line in Waupeca, Wisconsin, Monday evening. This courtesy of Visual Railfan.
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