TIT FOR TAT
In the brief trailer to their 1935 film Tit for Tat, Stan and Ollie open their new electrical store next door to Charlie
Hall's grocers - unfortunately they'd previously fallen out with him on a
trip to the mountains (in Them Thar Hills) and Hall was not ready to forgive and forget. They spend the rest of the
film trading hostilities, TIT for TAT until a local cop puts a
stop to their shenanigans. If you want to bring back some chuckles
from a bygone era,
here's the complete 19 min. video.
Today's team of constructors David Taber and
Laura Moll invite us to their own game of Tit for Tat, with a theme about
people in different jobs trading their services. Dave
and Laura have had three previous puzzles published in the LA Times, the most recent
on
June 22, 2022 blogged by MalMan. David also posts puzzles on the
Alloquest site.
I found the first Across clue to be particularly troublesome (see below), and I have to confess that afterwards I actually had to TITT and look at the answer list before finishing. I'm looking forward to hearing other solvers' success stories on this, for me at least, Friday/Saturdayish puzzle.
[Not mentioning any names, but] some people will be happy to hear that there were no asterisks, circles, or reveals in the clues, with all of the themers identifiable by being questions starting with the words "Trade between" and then filled with common idioms containing the words FOR or FOR A. Here they are:
17A. Trade between a football coach and a candymaker?: PLAYS FOR A SUCKER. PLAYS being the coach's game plans for getting the ball over the line, and SUCKER being hard sugar candy on a stick. For reasons described below this was one of the last clues I got.
22A. Trade between a hairstylist and a computer retailer?: BOBS FOR APPLES. It was here that the light bulb began to glow a bit. There are a lot of variations on BOBS. Here's a medium:
Here's the APPLE from
last Thursday's puzzle. If she held out for one of those, I think the stylist got the better
deal.
37A. Trade between a lingerie shop owner and a utility manager?: JOCKEYS FOR POWER. Sorry, no pictures or Blogger might bust us, however it's not smart enough to go down this link. But with today's energy crisis it will take a lot of undies to generate all the HEAT we're going to need to keep warm this winter.
45A. Trade between an opinion writer and a bus driver?:
TAKES FOR A RIDE. The subtlest of the themers IMO. An op ed writer gives us
her/his TAKES on various topics. But any bus driver who
trades his services for most of today's opinions is the one being
TAKEN FOR A RIDE.I found the first Across clue to be particularly troublesome (see below), and I have to confess that afterwards I actually had to TITT and look at the answer list before finishing. I'm looking forward to hearing other solvers' success stories on this, for me at least, Friday/Saturdayish puzzle.
[Not mentioning any names, but] some people will be happy to hear that there were no asterisks, circles, or reveals in the clues, with all of the themers identifiable by being questions starting with the words "Trade between" and then filled with common idioms containing the words FOR or FOR A. Here they are:
17A. Trade between a football coach and a candymaker?: PLAYS FOR A SUCKER. PLAYS being the coach's game plans for getting the ball over the line, and SUCKER being hard sugar candy on a stick. For reasons described below this was one of the last clues I got.
22A. Trade between a hairstylist and a computer retailer?: BOBS FOR APPLES. It was here that the light bulb began to glow a bit. There are a lot of variations on BOBS. Here's a medium:
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|
Medium Bob |
37A. Trade between a lingerie shop owner and a utility manager?: JOCKEYS FOR POWER. Sorry, no pictures or Blogger might bust us, however it's not smart enough to go down this link. But with today's energy crisis it will take a lot of undies to generate all the HEAT we're going to need to keep warm this winter.
56. Trade between a plastic surgeon and a game store owner?: A NOSE FOR TROUBLE. In the movie Roxanne based on the French play Cyrano de Bergerac, fire chief Charlie Bale, played by Steve Martin, definitely has what you might called a TROUBLED NOSE:
Oh and here's a last minute clip, suggested by CrossEyedDave:
If Charlie could get a NOSE JOB for a game of
Trouble, I think he'd definitely come out ahead:
Here's the grid:
Now let's swap some Acrosses and Downs:
Across:
1. "The Absinthe Drinker" painter: MANET. A dangerous drink and my undoing (the clue, not the booze). I figured the painter must be MANET, as 1D MAPS have legends, but couldn't make everything around it work. Then I made the mistake of Googling "The Absinthe Drinker". With my dumb luck it turns that there are two 5 letter artists who created paintings with this title:
6. Parodied: APED.
10. Highway division: LANE. And as we all know, also the proper name for the long flat surface upon which the game of bowling is played ...
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Bowling Lane |
14. 2012 winner of six Grammys: ADELE. Here she performs one of those award winners, created for the James Bond thriller Skyfall.
15. Activewear retailer named for a South American region: PATAGONIA. Some of the things Patagonia is famous for. And here's how the retailer came by that name.
19. Go unused: SIT.
20. Roofing choice: TILE. Some pros and cons of tile roofing.
21. Grows tiresome: PALLS. A simple word with a lot of meanings.
26. Twist facts: LIE. A whole lotta twistin' goin' on these days.
27. Exciting escape room discovery: KEY. ESCAPE ROOM was one of the fills last Thursday. Here's what one is in case you missed it.
28. Turn on an axis: PIVOT. PIVOT is also a metaphor for major life changes and for skating maneuvers. Here's a book by Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno called Hard Pivot. We'll meet Apolo again in 6D.
31. Mystical glow: AURA. Again this word has multiple definitions. Definitions no. 3 and 4 might apply to this:
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Inside the World of Auras |
Serious people don't place much stock in this however.
33. Tranquil: CALM. "If you remain cool, CALM, and collected, while everyone else around you is losing their heads, then maybe you don't understand the situation." - Anonymous
Prior to to WWII the British did understand the situation they were in and did their best to prepare for it. Keep Calm and Carry On was a motivational poster intended to raise the morale of the British public who were threatened with widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities. Although 2.45 million copies were printed, the poster was only rarely publicly displayed and was actually little known until a copy was rediscovered in 2000 at Barter Books, a bookshop in Alnwick. It has since been re-issued by a number of private companies, and has been used as the decorative theme for a range of products. We saw one recently in a tea room in the Hamilton neighborhood of Baltimore:
40. Certain: SURE.
41. "Smack That" rapper: AKON. Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up" (featuring Styles P), the first single from his debut album Trouble (2004), followed by the second single "Lonely". "Smack That", written in collaboration with rapper Eminem, was released on Akon's 2006 album Konvicted.
.jpg) .
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| Akon |
42. Twist-top snacks: OREOS. The daily cookie clue.
43. Bout ender, briefly: TKO. Technical Knock Out. The refs decide to call the bout so they won't have to call an ambulance.
44. Moderate running pace: JOG.
52. Showed again: RERAN. A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated.
53. Pranks: GAGS. Something to watch just for laughs, a Canadian "Candid Camera", and a CSO to CanadianEh!
54. Sprite: ELF. An elf is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. In medieval Germanic-speaking cultures, elves generally seem to have been thought of as beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty, ambivalent towards everyday people and capable of either helping or hindering them. Elves also play major roles in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings saga. Here is Galadriel, Queen of the Elves, played by Cate Blanchett:
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| Galadriel |
61. Set free: UNTIE. A CSO to Jinx.
62. Birmingham baby buggy: PRAM. British shorthand for PERAMBULATOR. American composer John Alden Carpenter wrote a short 6 movement tone poem about a PRAM called Adventures in a Perambulator recalling childhood dreams. Here's the third movement, titled Hurdy-Gurdy (2:30 min):
64. Sheds: LOSES.
Down:
1. Places for legends?: MAPS. Typical symbols on MAP legends:
2. "Stick to the script!" elicitor: AD LIB. The clue is a quote of a director to an actor. And when the actor ignores the director, sometimes her/his lines are better than the script. And one of those lines was ad-libbed by 49D.
3. "How cool!": NEATO. Hand up if you know anyone who says this?
4. Nevada copper town: ELY. A bit of the history of Ely, Nevada.
5. Proving ground: TEST SITE. Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Edgewood, MD is the U.S. Army's oldest active proving ground, established on 20 October 1917 (the year my Father was born), six months after the US entered World War I. Its location allowed design and testing of the larger ordnance materiel required in that war and it was near contemporary industrial and shipping centers. As years went by the nearby town grew to a 17 sq mile suburban area and the wastes generated by APG weapons testing have become potential sources of water and soil contamination.
6. Skating gold medalist Ohno: APOLO. This is considered one of the greatest moments in Team USA history, even though OHNO didn't win the Gold Medal for the race:
7. Kitchen accessory: PARER. A very useful tool. I'm the official PARING sous chef in the house.
8. Sked info: ETA.
9. Court figs.: DAS. District Attorneys.
10. Tourist helper: LOCAL. Who better to ask? And they all speak English, right?
11. Bracelet place: ANKLE.
12. Physics Nobelist Bohr: NIELS. Dane Niels Bohr was one of the most important physicists of the 20th Century, another being his colleague and close friend German Werner Heisenberg. In the 1920s the two laid the foundations for the revolutionary science of Quantum Mechanics, which forever changed the way that physicists look at the world. The motto of Bohr's family crest is Contraria Sunt Complementa (Latin for Opposites are Complementary). The motto summarizes Bohr's "Copenhagen Interpretation" of Quantum Physics and also his sometimes difficult relationship with Heisenberg.
That relationship was the subject of the 1998 2-act play Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, which concerns a meeting in that city that the two physicists had in 1941 after the beginning of WWII, when Denmark was a nation now occupied by Germany. The play, which has only three characters, became the basis for this film made in 2002, starring Daniel Craig as Heisenberg, Stephen Rea as Bohr, and Francesca Annis as Bohr's wife Magrethe. Here's the trailer ...
13. Disney souvenir feature: EARS.
16. Fishbowl fish: GUPPY.
18. Wind similar to a piccolo: FIFE. Similar, but not the same. Here are the differences.
23. Chap: BLOKE. English men.
24. Birthplace of LeBron James and Steph Curry: AKRON. LeBron James and Steph Curry:
28. Attire for a Zoom game night, maybe: PJS.
29. Note from one who's shy?: IOU.
30. Blockbuster player?: VCR. The Last Blockbuster (2020), now streaming on YouTube:
31. Want from: ASK OF.
32. Airborne mystery: UFO. The majority of UFO's are NOT mysteries, once they've been identified. But a relatively small percentage of sightings that have been made by trained observers have not been explained, and they still remain mysteries. Due primarily to national security concerns NASA has recently assembled a team of experts to investigate what it now calls Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs). The use of this new descriptor is an effort to remove some of the stigma associated with the previous term in the past and to encourage responsible reporters, primarily aircraft pilots, to step forward with their observations. I've been reading the literature on UAPs for over 50 years and the most credible study of them that I've found is by investigative reporter Leslie Kean in her 2011 book UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record. It's definitely worth a read.
33. Welsh dog: CORGI. Queen Elizabeth II had more than 30 Welsh Corgis in her lifetime and her recent death put a spotlight on these adorable dogs.
34. Transfix: AWE. IMHO a much abused term.
35. Summer sign: LEO.
36. "__ Dalloway": MRS. Mrs Dalloway is a novel by Virginia Woolf, published on 14 May 1925, that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional upper-class woman in post-First World War England. It is one of Woolf's best-known novels.
38. Jabbers: YAKS.
39. Sympathetic case: POOR SOUL. A hint of condescension?
43. Words to live by: TENET.
44. Jaromír who scored the second-most points in NHL history: JAGR. Jaromír Jágr (born 15 February 1972) is a Czech professional ice hockey right-winger (a bit about hockey politics) for, and the owner of, team Rytíři Kladno of the Czech league Extraliga. He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames, serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers, between 1990 and 2018. Here are his stats.
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| Jaromír Jágr |
45. Barbershop part: TENOR. Not a hair part, but a voice range in a Barbershop quartet. Here's a new rendition of an old song by a different quartet:
46. Scent: AROMA.
47. Casey who voiced Shaggy on "Scooby-Doo": KASEM. Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably American Top 40. He was the first actor to voice Norville "Shaggy" Rogers in the Scooby-Doo franchise (1969 to 1997 and 2002 to 2009) and as Dick Grayson/Robin in Super Friends (1973–1985).
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Casey Kasem |
48. Folklore beasts: OGRES.
49. "Midnight Cowboy" hustler: RATSO. Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. Set in New York City, Midnight Cowboy depicts the unlikely friendship between two hustlers: naïve sex worker Joe Buck (Voight), and ailing con man Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo (Hoffman). I've not seen it and it sounds kind of noir to me, but apparently it did very well with the critics and the box office.
50. Financial obligations: DEBTS. E.g. 29D.
.
51. Kemper of "The Office": ELLIE. Another occasional ad-libber, Elizabeth Claire Kemper (born May 2, 1980) is an American actress and comedian. She has been nominated for a Critics' Choice Movie Award, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Satellite Awards, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards. Here she is on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert describing an early dramatic role she played:
52. Talk hoarsely: RASP.
55. They may be flat: FEES. Had FEET, but they didn't perp.
57. "Phooey!" of yore: FIE. Here's Fie on Goodness from the days of yore in the Court of King Arthur (lyrics):
59. Card game with a Moo! version for preschoolers: UNO.
Cheers,
Bill
As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
David Taber and Laura Moll, you are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever, in the Comments section below. We'd love to hear from you.
Notes from C.C.:
Happy 76th birthday to Husker Gary's loving wife Joann (right with a vest) and her twin sister
Joyce. Here they're with their mom Martha.
Personally, I found this puzzle easier than yesterday’s. One reason for this is that I figured out the gimmick with the first themed answer. Other than that, I don’t have much to say about this puzzle. FIR with no resort to red letters, unlike yesterday, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteTried TEST AREA/SITE, but that was my only Wite-Out moment. Managed to get 'er done in good Thursday time, and even saw the theme. Amazing. I used to own that Camelot Broadway cast album with Julie Andrews as Guinevere and Richard Burton as Arthur. Nice outing, David and Laura, and esoteric expo, Waseeley.
PATAGONIA: "Patagonia: Life on the Edge of the World" was an interesting docuseries. CNN, IIRC.
AURA: Used to get them as a precursor to a migraine. Haven't had a migraine in over 30 years, but recently I've started seeing the aura without the ensuing migraine. It starts as a small jeweled circle that grows over a period of minutes until it's expanded out of the field of vision.
VCR: Used to own a pair of VCRs, so we could record two shows while watching a third. They were hifi units which still had the crappy VHS picture, but decent quality stereo audio.
I was looking forward to a respite from political emails, but they're still flooding in from Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. Gimme a break!
D-O @5:53 AM. Yes, "esoteric" might be a good way to describe my reviews. I do tend to free associate just a bit. As for AURAS, that's one definition I hadn't considered. I've experienced the visual phenomenon you describe for many years, but have never had headaches associated with it.
ReplyDeleteFIR, but erased loose for UNTIE! (I have to admit being a bit abashed by this error.) I also found today's puzzle to be easier than yesterday, and a lot more fun too.
ReplyDeleteIIRC, Midnight Cowboy remains the only X-rated movie to win the Best Picture Oscar. I saw it, and it was tres noir.
Today we have a wind instrument that isn't an oboe! Mark this date; Haley's Comet may arrive before it happens again. But trite-fill lovers everywhere, don't despair - ADELE returns.
I'll bet that most Cornerites don't know that in the NHL, goals+assists=points. JAGR is second in points but forth in goals, behind Gretzki, Howe, and Ovechkin. Ovechkin recently broke the record for goals scored for a single team.
Thanks to David and Laura for the fun Thursday challenges, and to Bill and Teri for the interesting review.
FIR, despite a WAG at gags because I'd never heard of Jagr and thought it couldn't be right.
ReplyDeleteTook 5:55 today, but enough about me, how about a trade between a numismatist and a philosopher?
ReplyDelete(A penny for your thoughts?)
Manet was an educated guess, one I had a few perps in place. Luckily, I knew Jagr and Ellie.
I don't care for "barbershop" without "quartet" as a clue for "tenor," but debts & IOU in the same puzzle is, um, neato.
ReplyDeleteGood morning. Thank you, David and Laura, and thank you, Waseeley
Wow, 5 themers ! Excellent !
FIR w/ no typos today ! However, with FEE_ in place, I read the clue "They may be flat" and entered the t for FEEt. Then saw the crossing answer was LOSEt. I rethought the clue.
Will have to get back to some of those links later today. Full schedule of activities.
Gotta run.
Anonymous @7:47 Your sixth themer is very clever. I predict that you'll solve next Thursday's puzzle even faster, but certain features of the grid may not be to your liking.
ReplyDeleteThe link for laurel and hardy, tit for tat, 19 minute version went awry.
ReplyDeletehere it is again if curious...
(Being CED, I have to follow "every" link.)
( and I've already seen it before,..)
Waseely,
What wording did you use to create that hot link to 53 across Canadian candid camera?
It goes directly to the channel site and not an individual video!
(Someth8ng that has eluded me...)
"Pivot" will forever remind me of this Friends scene...
And finally, (tit for tat?)
While the trailer for Roxanne is a great way way to introduce this very good movie,
this scene cannot be left out...
Definitely easier than yesterday’s CW. I really liked BOBS FOR APPLES. I had to erase a few first choices like let go for UNTIE and feet for FEES and Ritso for RATSO. There were several names I didn’t know but manage to fill them in anyway. I fell in the trap of oboe for FIFE.
ReplyDeleteThis morning DH pointed out that he was wearing PATAGONIA pants. How’s that for coincidence or small world, or whatever.
Then there is AKON and AKRON in the same puzzle.
Another beautiful cool sunny day.
I FIW!! 😲..put FEET for "flat" and couldn't make sense of LOSEt...for LOSES.. A superb misdirection.
ReplyDeleteI quickly got the repetitive FORA/FOR part of each clue answer, Best theme in a while 🙂... I know JOCKEY makes "lingerie" but not the first company I think of... Inkovers: Rizzo/RATSO, Monet/MANET (actually the same guy just a sloppy signature 🎨).
From Husker's comments: not crazy about changing UFO to UAP (Whaddyah think Anon Tony? 😆)
What puzzle would be complete without an unknown rapper clue. 🤨: AKON (not from AKRON)
ANKLE: "bracelet place" to hide that ugly tattoo from yesterday. Actually a "bracelet" should go only on the bras French for "arm"...anklet...Now that it's acceptable to "twist facts" we know the urth doesn't "turn on an axis" cuz it's flat. 🌏
"Disney souvenir feature"...Overpriced wouldn't fit. "Talk horsely" Shouldn't that be neigh?
Forgive us our DEBTS: tear up the IOU....or our trespasses ("hey get off my lawn and I'll stay off yours"). As a kid that's what I thought it meant 😄
If I'd waited for PATAGONIA I woulda not reversed the I and E in that "Bohrs" 🥱name...'member when you hadda rent the VCR along with the VHS movie?)
Matchmaker...PARER
If ____ could talk they'd probably never shut up....YAKS
The Baja ("aha!!)....LOCAL
Bullfight "souvenirs"....EARS
Elven beverage....SPRITE
Can't launch the flight, no one to ____ MANET.
HBD to Husker's wife Joann. Great picture of her Mom. ....Is that Carol Burnett?
🎁
First I must say: absolutely fabulous write-up today, you’ve out-done yourself, Bill. Thanx for all the time and effort. As to the CW, I never took an art history course; all my training and jobs were science oriented. So art clues usually are totally out of my wheelhouse. But when I saw 1A I thought, “Wow! Finally a question about art that I know the answer to!” and gleefully wrote in DEGAS. When the perps showed me this couldn’t be correct, it turned into the dreadful mess of a W/O DEGAS:MONET:MANET. Oy. I did get the theme with the very first themed clue, which was a help, but of 13 proper names I only knew 6, so needed lots of perps. All in all, a FIR but took 23 minutes with an incredible mess in the NW. Clever CW, managing to work in 5 themed answers. Well done and thanx, DT&LM. Nice sunshiny day here now that the storm has passed.
ReplyDeleteCED @9:10 AM Thanks for the bug fix and for the suggestions. I fixed the Laurel and Hardy clip, and just made a last minute update to the review with the Roxanne "jokes scene". Thanks for the URL. ROTLF!
ReplyDelete28A PIVOT. I started out with the Friends clip, but went with Apolo's book in the end, as 6D was a a tie in.
Future readers will thank you!
Bill
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteNo stumbles and only one unknown, i.e., Akon. Jagr was easily remembered from past puzzles. I thought the theme was very clever and fresh although Jockeys For Position is the phrase I’m more familiar with. Bobs For Apples was my favorite.
Thanks, David and Laura, for a fun solve and thanks, Bill, for an outstanding review. I spent three times as much time reading/viewing the links as I did solving the puzzle and I still have more to peruse. You outdid yourself today, much to our benefit and appreciation. Thanks to Teri, as well.
SS @ 7:47 ~ Love your suggested “trade” and the subtle humor. Neato, indeed. 😉
Happy Birthday, Joann, hope HG gives you Queen For A Day treatment. 🎂🎁🎊🎉🎈
FLN
Anon T, thank you so much for the Golden Stocking Award which I shall gladly share with ATLGranny, my fellow Sock Sleuth!
Have a great day.
Musings
ReplyDelete-My lovely bride catches up to me again today as she becomes my age like she does every year!
-She’s opting for a birthday lunch in Omaha for today.
-A fun diversion on a cold (38F), drizzly morning after a record high of 78F yesterday.
-1 Across – AD LIB solved the MANET/MONET quandary.
-SIT – College athletes no longer do this; they simply enter the transfer portal and go where they can play
-Complete and partial LIES – The campaigns are finally over
-APOLO – Skater: one L, NASA: two L’s. I wonder if Ogden Nash could use this? :-)
-Billionaire Jerry Seinfeld continues to rake in big bucks when his TV show is REAIRED
-I wonder if any director yelled, “Quit AD LIBBING!” to Robin Williams
-Andrew Lloyd Weber’s fabulous All I ASK OF You from Phantom
-Even JAGR filled itself in. ELLIE Mae Clampett would probably not appeal to Patti or our constructors
-KASEM as Scooby? Another worthless piece of trivia I now have!
Oh and another thing Dave - I've linked directly to the "Just for Laughs" video. I believe it's updated daily, so it didn't have same the GAGS as when I wrote the review, but it should work now. I don't think it's quite as funny as last week.
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss @10:29 Thanks for the kudos, but take the time to read all of CED's bug fixes and suggestions (2 of which I've used to update the review) before you look at it again.
ReplyDelete3 days and counting to the next Magpie Murders episode.
Hello All,
ReplyDeleteI very infrequently stop by here, like everyone else, too much going on. Enjoy the puzzles very much except for the proper names. I don’t know who most of these people are. However I manage. I totally enjoy reading this blog so very much! Best wishes to everyone especially our veterans. Happy Veterans Day.
Hola!
ReplyDeleteThank you David, Laura and Bill for today's fun-filled activities.
MANET and ADELE are two names I know but not JAGR and had all but forgotten RATSO. It's been too many years since MIDNIGHT COWBOY. The MOVIE WAS MY INTRODUCTION TO Jon Voight and I believe to Dustin Hoffman as well. The music from MC is an earworm and it just now came back to me.
TEST SITE reminded me that many years ago the city of Chandler provided a proving ground for General Motors (I think) to TEST their cars. Now the area is completely developed so no testing there. Interestingly, Intel has a plant there and many executives who live in the area have hangars as well as garages for the small planes parked there. A runway exists parallel to the homes. My daughter and her family live nearby so I'm familiar with it.
I liked this puzzle and had no problems with it. Long fill usually helps to complete the puzzle quickly once the span is filled. JOCKEY is a nice brand of underwear.
CSO to the late Queen Elizabeth at CORGI.
Hand up for flat FEET before FEES.
Yesterday I was gone most of the day so did not complete the puzzle until very late. In the morning I attended a funeral and saw many relatives that I don't often see. They are from my late brother John's first marriage. His daughters, my nieces, are well into their 40s and 50s with children and grandchildren of their own. It was a nice reunion.
Then we went to lunch and met up with my friend, Kathy, whose car had been in the repair shop. We took her to retrieve it and return the rental car she had been driving. Consequently I never got here to post.
I hope you all had a good day yesterday and wish you fabulous day today! It rained yesterday!
Happy birthday, Joann and Joyce!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if ADELE likes OREOS. They both show up here a lot. FIR with no erasures or Wite-Out. Did y’all know Monkee Mike Nesmith’s mom invented - and made a ton of money from that stuff?
ReplyDeleteActually Ms Nesmith-Graham called it “Liquid Paper”
ReplyDeleteGreat fun for a Thursday. After 17A I hit the rest with a laugh. Enjoy clever puzzles !
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle for a Thursday, thank you Waseeley for the interesting links.
ReplyDeleteMy husband retired from Yuma Proving Ground here in AZ It encompasses 1,307 sq. miles.
“Yuma Proving Ground is a United States Army proving ground and one of the largest military installations in the world. It is a subordinate command of the Army Test and Evaluation” Wiki
Remember this POOR SOUL?
ReplyDeleteI saw a TV Guide trivia magazine and paged through. I knew Nada
I APE the kudos for this entertaining xword. Find the FOR and perp it together. Nothing obvious. I saw the CSO to Jinx on UNTIE.
Happy birthday to my fellow Marines like Presley O'Bannon
of Shores of Tripoli fame
WC
Hbd Joann (and sis)
WC @12:03 PM What an exciting story and a stirring tribute to Presley O'Bannon, just in time for Veterans Day tomorrow.
DeletePuzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteFIR with no cheats or lookups
Thanks to the pair of constructors for a playful puzzle, and to Mr. Bill for a complete, informative, and entertaining recap
See y'all tomorrow ...
HG @ 10:35 ~ Thanks for linking All I Ask Of You. I never knew that Patrick Wilson and Gerard Butler could sing so well. I saw Phantom twice and loved it.
ReplyDeleteBill @ 10:49 ~ I just finished checking all the links so I saw the corrected versions. I loved seeing the Queen’s Corgis and her pony. You could almost sense the Corgi’s loss. On the lighter side, Just For Laughs provided lots of them! I also enjoyed the clip of the famous Ad libs. The Joe Pesci of Good Fellas vs the Joe Pesci of My Cousin Vinny never fails to blow me away. And any snippets of Steve Martin and Dustin Hoffman are always a treat. (I, too, am anxious to see what twists and turns Sunday’s Magpie Murders has in store for us.)
Hi Y'all! I was on David's & Laura's wave-length for this interesting challenge. Thanks. I knew all the names on the top tier including PATAGONIA. YAY me! The theme entries were mostly filled with perps.
ReplyDeleteWhen I knew the MANET painting, I thought I was off to a good start. A big poster of that painting was one sent out by the college extension dept. for me to present to 5th & 6th grade elementary students when I was the "picture lady" one year. It was the only painting they sent that I didn't present because I thought it was too dark for that age group to understand and I di Fdn't like it.
Basketball fan that I am, I knew where LeBron & Steph were born. They do great charity work with kids there.
At the bottom, KASEM, RATSO, ELLIE took a few perps to jar my memory. DNK: AKON, JAGR, FIE.
Thank you, Bill & Teri.
Thank you, Veterans.
Happy Birthday, Joann.
Picture correction: I DIDN'T like it. I have a run-amok curser today.
ReplyDeleteDelightful Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Dave and Laura. And always enjoy your commentary, Bill, and tell Teri we thank her too.
ReplyDeleteHard not to get a little nervous when you see PLAY FOR A SUCKER who might TAKE you FOR A RIDE in a puzzle--a bit of a NOSE FOR TROUBLE. But it's important to just stay CALM and don't let any BLOKE play any GAGS on you. That way you'll not have any IOUs and stay out of DEBTS. You can be SURE to trust me, I would tell you no LIE. So just put on some PJS and go to your VCR and put a speaker in your EARS and listen to a TENOR or two.
Delightful picture of those three sweet ladies.
Have a good day everybody.
ReplyDeleteTerrific theme -- I enjoyed this very much. Thank you, Dave and Laura!
Happy Birthday, Joann and Joyce! Love the picture!
Yay! waseeley brings us a delightful Taber/Moll XWD this Thursday morn...
ReplyDeleteThis is a fine-themed PZL, with several clever plays-on-words. Finished it in good time, enjoying it throughout.
My only hesitation was with the fill for 44D. JAGR is not a familiar Anglophone name.
But the perp, GAGS, solved it, for a happy ending.
~ OMK
___________
DR: Three diagonals, all on the back end.
The main diag has an anagram (11 of 15) that points a finger at a 1930s' "Joe College" guy whose hat is not an authentic flattened, upbrimmed fedora.
He is a poseur, and his chapeau is a sham, a mockery of the real thing.
It is a...
"FAKE PORKPIE"!
Finally it's time to report my FIR today. I finished earlier this morning and enjoyed the themers, which were clever as well as unmistakable. Thanks, David and Laura!
ReplyDeleteWOs included oboe/FIFE, guide/LOCAL and Niles/NIELS. The funniest was caused by trying to prefill FOR in the wrong place resulting in fatso/RATSO.
Thanks waseeley for another extensive and entertaining review, assembled with Teri's help. (I also proofread and make suggestions for DH when he writes things. Fresh eyes....) I appreciated hearing about your trouble getting the first corner of the puzzle filled since I get frustrated by my careless mistakes. Perps were helpful when I took the time to check them before filling squares.
Happy Birthday to Joann (and her twin today)! Enjoy your outing. We too are having cool and rainy weather today, due to the approach of tropical storm Nicole. We need the rain but it got here earlier than I expected, the early sprinkles catching me walking home from Publix with a few groceries.
As I mentioned earlier, it rained yesterday and in anticipation of going to the funeral I went to the car wash the day before. Of course it rained!
ReplyDeleteTerrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, David and Laura, and waseeley (and Teri).
ReplyDelete(Great catch on NISE crossing AROMA.)
I FIRed in good time and saw the Traded themes (favourite was BIBS FOR APPLES!).
Several inkblots. Oboe went in by muscle-memory. What! It’s FIFE.
My nectar was Mead before PEAR.
And I had to correct Bohr’s name to I before E.
I wanted the bracelet to go on the wrist, but it was on the ANKLE (like yesterday’s tat.
I noted AKRON and Akon, FIE, LIE and UNTIE.
We had an O game today with LEO, UNO, TKO, ESSO, APOLO, UFO, RATSO, and the plural OREOS.
Thanks for the double CSOs. Don’t you just love those helpful Canadians and their shock at the GAG.
Happy Birthday to Joann and Joyce.
Wishing you all a great evening.
Waseeley, today, Marines (anniversary of the founding in 1775) and tomorrow all vets
ReplyDeleteHere's a story for a dull day. There was a book "A Man Called Intrepid" In it is recounted the extraction of NEILS Boht. Here's an account
Not mentioned is the code name given to Bohr. Mr Underhill. When Strider extracts Frodo from the Shire his pseudonym is also Underhill. Hardly a coincidence
WC
FIR. Thanks, David and Laura for the fun puzzle! It's a good one!
ReplyDeleteI did not know 1A so I had to PIVOT to 1D, which turned out to be one of my favorite clues. Five themers meant I knew F-O-R would be in the remaining long, across fills -- very helpful!
55D They can be flat. I had bEES (like in music) before FEES.
Thank you for another informative write-up, Waseeley!
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fun, Dave and Laura. And it was stretched out fun; puzzle seemed to take me forever. But the themers were worth the noodlin'.
Thanks for the link-laden expo, waseeley. Nicely done.
Thank goodness I didn't know Degas did an "Absinthe."
Mom says "NEATO."
WOs: coRER, cASEM, CORGy, bah->FIE, FEEt->FEES (hi, TTP!)
ESPs: AKRON, AKON, JAGR, ELLIE
Fav: NIELS Bohr - his classical model of the atom made inorganic-chem a snap.
Pass along a Happy Birthday to Joann for me please, HG. LOL Nash and two-L APOLLO.
Unclefred - I'm glad to read you're safe & sound after the storm.
Ray-O: Re UAP. I think it's military taking it seriously but doesn't want the baggage of 60 years of UFO silliness.
//plus, addressing UFOs, they might have to say what US aircraft == Roswell ;-)
Scooby Doo - I always wondered how that hippie Shaggy wound up with the rich-kids until I leaned his real name was Norville. He was just rebelling against the money, man.
VCR - for our 1st Anniversary, I got DW a high-end VCR (well, highest-end two broke just out of HS students could afford) so she could record her soaps while working.
The thing had slo-slo-motion, I mean all the bells & whistles for an '89 model.
I told her how cool it was and she replied, "You got this for you didn't you?"
Last time I didn't buy her jewelry ;-)
Cheers, -T
-T, glad you finally checked in along with Sumdaze.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow we have Patti herself. Theme is clever but that's all I can say.
Also, check out two early posts on jumblehints blog from this morning. Anybody.
Re. VCR. I remember watching General Hospital with Betsy circa 84-88? The character Frisco had just become the goto character. We must have taped it and watched it over dinner on Said VCR
Okay post 85, that's when we bought condo; prior to that no VCR
WC