Puzzling thoughts: Friday puzzles are now officially categorized as "wordplay". It seems that the last several puzzles that I (and MM) have recapped are all based around play-on-words/puns. Not sure if this is by design, but it sure seems like more than a coincidence. And I have no complaints! I much prefer recapping these, as puns are in my "wheelhouse". Let's see how Jeff Stillman created today's entries:
17-Across. Preference for the center of the road?: MEDIAN BIAS. Playing off of the more common and popular phrase, "MEDIA BIAS". MEDIAN is the center part of a divided highway. This clip shows "The Bandit" and his "MEDIAN BIAS" (check the scenes from 1:42 to 1:48 of this trailer)
29-Across. Where a Met singer reclines between arias?: OPERA DIVAN. "DIVA" has become a crossword "staple" (along with ARIA), so the phrase "OPERA DIVA" makes sense. To my ear, DIVAN and DAVENPORT (a less often used term for "sofa") sound alike. But according to [wiki diff], a DIVAN is: "A couch- or sofa-like piece of furniture made of a mattress lying against the wall and either on the floor or an elevated structure." It doesn't have to have a back support. Either way, a clever play-on-words
46-Across. Cereal that has amazing health benefits?: WONDER BRAN. Drop the "N" from this entry (great clue, BTW) and you're left with ... well, you can figure it out! But since I am not going to post a picture of that piece of lingerie, I'll add a Moe-ku instead:
Not wanting implants,
The lass stuffed some Wonder Bread
In her WONDER BRA
61-Across. Hotel choice leading up to Eid al-Fitr?: RAMADAN INN. First off, the clue/entry is pretty darn clever. However, not all would know that Eid al-Fitr (according to [Wikipedia]) is: "the earlier of the two official holidays celebrated within Islam. The religious holiday is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. RAMADA INN hotels have been owned by Wyndham since 2006.
Fun fact: The first RAMADA INN was built on the old Route 66 in Flagstaff, AZ, back in the early 1950's
And the entry that didn't make the cut (too many letters to fit): "What does Sally (from Peanuts) call her pet primate?" Answer: MY SWEET BABBOON [sic]
Here is the grid, and then off to the rest of the words/clues ...
Across:
1. "Likewise": SO AM I. DITTO fit, too
6. Oft-misused pronoun: WHOM. This seems to be a good explanation
10. Scholastic nos.: GPAS. Grade Point AverageS
14. Labor alliance: UNION. Hoping that the collective UNIONs that are involved with the Railroad industry come to an agreement by the time this blog posts [spoiler alert: I am writing this on Tuesday Nov 29th]
15. Icicle spot: EAVE. Moe-ku 2:
Where icicles form
December the 24th?
On Christmas Eve EAVE
16. "If all __ fails ... ": ELSE. Drop back 10 yards and punt
19. Significant other: MATE. MARGARET didn't fit into this spot, but she's MY MATE
20. Neruda's "__ to Salt": ODE. [as copied from some random Google result I saw on the Web]
"This salt in the saltcellar I once saw in the salt mines.
I know you won't believe me, but it sings,
Salt sings, the skin of the salt mines sings with a mouth smothered by the earth.
I shivered in those solitudes when I heard the voice of the salt in the desert"
21. Sport: WEAR. "Sport" is also a nickname for a guy
22. Slopes topper: SKI CAP. Also worn by football players ...
24. APB subject: PERP. We here at the Crossword Corner prefer THIS clue: "Word that avoids having a Natick?"
25. Biblical possessive: THINE. Fun Fact about quotes (from the Bible or not?) [from adefiniteplan dot com] Does the Bible say "to thine own self be true"?
"I commonly hear “Be true to yourself.” It's most commonly misquoted as coming out of the Bible as “To THINE own self be true.” It's NOT in the Bible. It comes from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Sometimes we get confused about Shakespeare's quotes because he used over 2,000 Bible verses in his writings"
26. "Pumice-powered" soap: LAVA. A manly soap ...
33. Valuable violin: AMATI. You want one? Visit this website
35. Hang out in a hammock: LOLL. LAZE fits, too
36. "Odds __ ... ": ARE. Odds ARE "even money" that Moe will give you a song video! From the group that had the theme song for "The Big Bang Theory", Barenaked Ladies ... enjoy!
37. __ cit.: footnote notation: LOC. [from proofed dot com] "How do you write loc cit?"
“Loc. cit.” is an abbreviation of loco citato, which means “in the place cited.” It is used when citing the exact same part of a source as in a previous citation:"
38. Response producers: STIMULI. "Groans" are the STIMULI that follow many of my Moe-kus and R-O-S's daffynitions
41. Paris article: LES. "THE" could fit, if the clue meant Paris, KY
42. 2010 health law, for short: ACA. Affordable Care Act. Thumper
43. Pests treated with Nix Ultra shampoo: LICE. I wonder if LAVA soap works???
44. Needle: TAUNT. TEASE fits, among other 5-letter words here. How about these? ANNOY, BULLY, CHAFF, FLIRT, GOADS, HAUNT, JESTS, JIVES, PUT ON, SCOFF, ARROW, STING, and I'm sure many more. One-word Friday clues should always have some vagueness
50. Wasabi __: PEAS. Spicy little devils ... FYI, I watched this until the bloody end ... I suggest you fast forward through most of it, but listen to the last couple minutes. This is just an example of what we bloggers do to keep you solvers amused!! ;^)
51. Carved symbol: TOTEM.
52. Wall calendar span: YEAR. WEEK fit, too
54. First woman Speaker of the House: PELOSI. Soon to be replaced by Kevin McCarthy - not a woman, but also a representative from CA
56. Hit or miss: VERB. Nice clue to provide a little Friday "diversion". The phrase "hit or miss" is more common to our brain than to break the words down to being either a noun, a verb, et al
57. Hon: BAE. I'm adjusting to the new words/expressions that are finding their way into crossword puzzles; slowly, but surely
60. Run __: AMOK.
64. Moreno of "West Side Story": RITA. She appeared in both movies; the 1961 and 2021 versions. The imbedded video is an interview of RITA as well as some clips from each movie
65. Jazz singer Anita: O'DAY. Here she is singing "That Old Feeling"
66. Govt. investment: T-BOND. Moe-ku 3
Roger Moore said this,
When asked about investing:
"T-BOND; not James Bond"
67. Crafty website: ETSY. I actually bought a couple of things from this website - back when the pandemic first hit I found some sports-themed facemasks from various craftspersons
68. Plane part: NOSE. WING also fit
69. Alleviates: EASES.
Down:
1. Sport with referees called gyoji: SUMO. Haiku, of course:
Japanese wrestler
Has legal issue, with Stooge.
He wants to SUMO
2. Linear: ONE D. "ONED" looked funny; ONE "D", not so much. Short for one dimensional (linear)
3. Assistant: AIDE.
4. "Pretentious? __?": MOI. Who else but Miss Piggy??
5. Flabbergasted: IN AWE.
6. Google Docs, e.g.: WEB APP. APP is another of those words - like "BAE" - that is becoming a crossword staple
7. Bun contents: HAIR. I suppose BRAT could fit if it were referring to a type of bread/roll
8. Egg cells: OVA.
9. Private eatery: MESS HALL. Ha ha; "private" as in a soldier's rank
10. NASA's second human spaceflight program: GEMINI. Could've been clued as: "One who is born between May 21 and June 20"
11. Mathematical concept based on a digit's position: PLACE VALUE. I found this interesting novelty on-line; it's a PLACE VALUE placemat! ;^)
12. Hammett dog: ASTA. Nick and Nora's pet
13. Permeate: SEEP. When the water table's high, perhaps?
18. Adopted son of Claudius: NERO. Who knew? Not I. Always a learning experience doing crossword puzzles
23. Judy Blume books, e.g.: KID LIT. Margaret helped me with this as I was solving the puzzle, otherwise I would have had to look it up. Here is a link to her website. I'll ask my daughter if she had any of Blume's books as a kid, or if she has bought some for my less than 3 year-old grandson
24. Butter square: PAT. This made me think of when butter PATs were actually used in restaurants. Probably back when they last used sugar cubes ...
25. Slangy slacks: TROU. An even slangier term is for boxers/briefs: "U-TROU"
26. Dey-time drama?: L.A. LAW. Another "groaner" clue, as you need to see that DEY is used, not DAY. Susan Dey is the actor who starred in L.A. LAW
27. BP subsidiary: AMOCO. Hard sometimes to keep track of all the mergers within the oil and gas industry
28. Developers' purchases: VACANT LOTS. Here in our part of AZ there have been a huge number of developers buying VACANT LOTS (aka, "the desert") to create new housing; mostly rentals
30. Cartoon hunter who tries to take a vacation in "Wabbit Twouble": ELMER. I knew this was "ELMER FUDD" as the word "Wabbit" gave it away. So, Moe, how about a video?? OK, since you asked! Wabbit Twouble
31. Boxing venue: ARENA.
32. Egg holders: NESTS.
34. Archipelago units: ISLETS.
39. Flat-changing tool, once: TIRE IRON. Once upon a time, for most readers here. Ever since tubeless tires have become the norm, and ever since hubcaps disappeared, a TIRE IRON is not normally used to fix a flat. But I am guessing that the wrench end of one could still remove the lug nuts ...
40. Disarmament subj.: ICBM. Crossword staple abbr
45. Spring mo.: APR. Crossword staple abbr - MAR or JUN could have fit, too
47. Just get by: DO OKAY. Anyone else try "EKE OUT" in this spot?
48. "Understood, cap'n": AYE AYE. Yes, yes
49. Young Sheldon, e.g.: NERD. One of Margaret's and my favorite sitcoms
53. Lessen: ABATE. I suppose - in a stretch - ERODE could work here, too
54. Peel: PARE. Does anyone PARE a pear?
55. Discharge: EMIT.
56. MTV statuettes with an astronaut holding a flag: VMAS. Total PERP to get this one. I don't watch MTV so the acronym was not familiar; nonetheless, getting VMAS (short for Video Music AwardS) was pretty easy
57. Many Wiki entries: BIOS. Wiki, as in [Wikipedia dot com]. They are back on their "request for $ kick", so today's blog has been void of any links to them
58. Queen played by Olivia Colman in "The Favourite": ANNE. Read all about it, and play a trailer if you're so inclined
59. Concludes: ENDS. My blog is almost over!!
62. Big fuss: ADO. Much ADO about nothing
63. Slam Dunk Contest org.: NBA. National Basketball Association. Some of the all-time greatest dunks, IMO; number "4" was sick ...
Please enter your comments/questions/thoughts below. See you in a couple weeks ...
42 comments:
I got the gimmick with the first themed answer, so that helped me solve this fun puzzle. Other than that, I don’t have much to say except that it seemed relatively easy for a Friday. FIR, so I’m happy.
23 minutes to FIR is very good time (for me) for a Friday CW. I seemed to be on the wavelength for this one. No W/Os for once. I even knew most of the proper names, of which there were not too many today. I even saw the theme! Anyway, an enjoyable CW, thanx for the entertainment, JS. Thanx too to C-Moe for the terrific write-up.
Good morning!
Started right off with ME TOO at 1a. Have I ever mentioned....? Also went wrong with UNE/LES. Got the theme, for a change. Well done, Jeff, well explained, C-Moe.
"Flat-changing tool" -- No longer provided in many vehicles. Spare tires are also no longer provided.
BP AMOCO -- A friend and former AMOCO employee was "downsized" after the merger. He got a super severance package.
NERD -- I expect that Young Sheldon will be ending soon. Those kids are no longer young.
FIR, but erased island for ISLETS. When I miss clue numbers it makes me tense.
Wasabi PEAS? What's next - jalapeno flan?
Kinda like C-Moe's cartoon, I once saw a bumper sticker declaring "I want to be a muck operator". Ya had to think a little for the rest.
The only times I have heard some say TROU has been in conjunction with "drop." You may have to do that if you have a discharge.
A buddy's sister was a bartender at a RAMADA Inn in LA. The LA in California, not Lower Alabama. Since they owned the Tropicana, she was able to get rooms there at a deep discount. She happened to have a suite there one weekend when my friend and I were in town, and had told her brother that we should get together for breakfast. We went to her room about 10 Saturday morning and knocked. She answered the door in a robe, rubbing sleepy eyes. About a minute later, a guy came out of the bedroom in gym shorts and a tee shirt, rubbing sleepy eyes. She introduced him, and explained they had a long night of partying. About a minute later, another young woman came out of the bedroom, rubbing sleepy eyes. We didn't get an introduction, and later he and I decided that his sister couldn't remember her name. (His sister had quite a life. At one point she was the assistant (and we thought girlfriend) of the then-richest man in the world. Many great stories about that period of her life, but those will have to wait.)
Thanks to Jeff for the very enjoyable puzzle. My favorite was "Dey-time drama" honoring my former crush. And thanks to C-Moe for the clever review. BTW, Paris and Versailles flank Lexington, KY. Tourists mock locals for pronouncing "Versailles" just like it is spelled, but they think the way we say "Paris" is fine.
FIR. Got the theme right off, but got bogged down with Ramadan Inn. I kept trying to make Riyadh work, till I suddenly saw the light.
Good morning. Thank you, Jeff, and thank you, Chairman Moe.
SKI hat before SKI CAP, rind before PARE
Favs ? "Dey-time drama" and "Bun contents", and the theme answers. Great job, Jeff.
I liked how ABATE intersects with EASES. Six of one, two trios of the other.
Hand up for the une/LES trap.
Drop TROU ? - Let's get to the bottom of this before Cross Eyed Dave puts his spin on it.
ELMER - I'm getting a real kick out of watching "Toon in With ME" on METV. Weekday mornings from 6 to 7 central. I especially like seeing some of the really old cartoons from the 1930s and 1940s.
WONDERBRA(n) - DW was prepping to run the Chicago Marathon. I mistakenly called her sports bras "training bras". She didn't think that was as funny as I did.
Moe, my thoughts were, "If all else fails, punt!" I'll have to look up that phrase to see why it's known.
Nice 22A image for SKI CAP. He's steadily improving. I'm hopeful.
At 2D we have ONE D. Or, is it 1D, the pop boy band group ?
That guy eating the Wasabi peas said they are gross ! He looked to be in pain. I can relate, but from horseradish.
I have an AMATI down in the basement. Pretty confident that it's a fake Amati, but has been passed down through the family and is over 100 years old. So you think you have a Stradivarius.
Time to make coffee.
This Friday puzzle took 5:56 toN finish.
I had originally entered Judo instead of sumo. Have I ever mentioned ... 1D? (apologies to D-O).
I had stumbled at the LA Law, Loc, Amoco section of this one.
Did I miss our daily dose of an obscure female author or poet?
Wow! Such an easy Friday puzzle. FIR. The theme sped things along. It seems most Fridays the theme is add or subtract a letter.
Only VMAS was totally unknown. I used perps as memory joggers for others.
I love wasabi peas, but not 5000 at a time. Healthline.com says, "What is a wasabi pea?
Wasabi peas are known for their crisp texture and spicy taste. They are a popular snack in Japan and around the world. Wasabi peas are dried and roasted green peas covered in a mixture of oil, salt, sugar, and wasabi, a thick paste with an intense flavor." They have long been very popular here and are sold in supermarkets, as well as other places.
In multi-ethnic North Jersey, Eid al-Fitr and Ramadan are often featured in the local newspapers.
Although the old grammar rules still apply, WHOM is often replaced by WHO in colloquial language. I predict that some day this will be the new norm.
Good Morning:
As Moe pointed out, word play themes seem to be the norm now on Fridays. There’s nothing wrong with this change, but I miss the more challenging themes and higher level of solving difficulty. I look forward to Friday and Saturday puzzles with the anticipation of exercising a greater effort and, therefore, achieving a greater reward. That said, I enjoyed Jeff’s offering. I went astray at Ditto/So Am I, Your/Whom, and Laze/Loll. Nero and VMAs needed perps but everything else fell into place quickly and smoothly.
Thanks, Jeff, for some Friday fun and thanks, Moe, for the fun review, especially the numerous Moe-kus and links. Hope you’re over the Covid curse!
Thanks, everyone, for your sympathetic words and wishes about my unnerving experience yesterday. (Subgenius, you’re very kind). So far, I haven’t seen any mention of the incident by the news media, so the details remain unknown. I’m having guests for lunch today, so maybe a post-scary-ordeal Bloody Mary or two is in order! 🍹🍹(Years ago, I was involved in a much more threatening and dangerous encounter which I’ll relate at another time.)
Have a great day.
TTP, I guess one of the benefits of being a moderator is being able to "approve" a Mooning in the Moovies video link!! 😀😀 Best line was Mike Myers describing Mini-Me's butt as "two eggs in a hanky" ... and I agree; eating that many wasabi peas is definitely "gross"!
I checked in here early yesterday and did not return. IM, I just now read of your harrowing experience. How scary! I am glad you were not hurt. I hope your lunch with friends today is soothing and uplifting. Yellowrocks to you.
Chairman Moe, I really don't consider myself a moderator. I don't recall who started throwing that term around. C.C. gave me a title of sysadmin, but I don't do much in that arena. I'm more of a spam deleter, doing my best to keep it out of the comments so that readers don't get hacked or scammed. Or occasionally deleting comments that are too far out of bounds.
What I mostly don't like about trying to help here is people calling me out for what they assume my role is, and for what they think I should be doing or not doing. There's a reason my email address is not in my profile. I try to explain what is going on when Blogger does strange things, but I sure don't want to start getting emails every time somebody gets their feelings hurt. I'm not Blogger. I don't own it. I don't represent them. If there is defect that affects the blog or the steps involved in blogging, I'll report it to Blogger and hope they fix it. But I'm danged sure not going to waste my time getting involved with anyone's objections to what Blogger does or try to change Blogger's policies.
Hopefully you are feeling better. DW is home from work for the second day with the flu.
So I'm going outside to get fresh air and chase leaves.
See all y'all later n'at.
Hola!
Ole! Ole! for this lovely puzzle which took very little time to complete. It's a good thing, too, because I have to start cooking the meat for the tamales.
Oops. Big DNF at BIOS/RAMADAN!
Thank you, Jeff and Moe.
I've learned BAE only from crossword puzzles.
I like Olivia Coleman. She was outstanding as Queen ANNE and is equally good in the PBS series Broadchurch.
Just thinking about LICE makes me shudder.
VACANT LOTS non longer exist in Scottsdale. All have been developed into single or multi-housing. Apartments have multiplied like rabbit warrens!
Time to go cook the meat. Have a fanastic Friday, everyone!
Wow! Fine CW this morning. I agree not the usual level of difficulty for a Friday, but satisfying nonetheless.
C-Moe: loved the shoes for running AMOK. I want some.
This morning turning lovely with mild temps. What’s not to like?
Well Mr. Chairman, I see you have an 'N' when it comes to the wordplay. I would like it better if it weren't the same letter. Too gimmicky. I don't think I'm the only person finding Friday puzzles easy to fill. I'm with Agnes on wanting a challenge. But I'm IN AWE of those who think them up.
Who or WHOM? Who cares.
VMA and KID LIT were unknowns filled by perps today.
LOC cit.- don't remember that one but how often does a person have to use footnotes after he/she/it/they/them gets out of college.
TROU and BAE- two sucky words that I wish would disappear.
TTP- a very old, blind, distant cousin who lived in El Paso had a very old violin that was marked Stradivarius. Her mother bought from a gypsy sometime in the 1800s. About 50 years ago she wanted it evaluated and wrote to a specialist who happened to live in NOLA. I got stuck taking it to him- I knew it wasn't a real Strad- and he confirmed my suspicions. But when he played it and said it was a fabulous violin worth a lot of money. I shipped it back to the cousin and never heard another thing about it.
Actually, the Officer's MESS was private. Food was better in enlisted MESS
Claudius pretended to be retarded to avoid the purge
We had ELMER for ____ Gantry recently
TIRE IRON was used(is) used to jack-up the car
Wow, YS has come a long way since Shellie was in Grammar School
Does anyone peel a pear?
So just how do those locals pronounce Versailles(VER-Sales?)
C-Moe said "easy" but it was a slog for me nut lack of pop-cul saved it
WC
Thanks Jeff for a not too tough Friday FIR. The theme was Nice, a hint that there'll be some French coming (2 words by my count). But I didn't see it until I got here. The themers seemed like perfectly acceptable phrases to me - the problem with wordplay is that you have to play to get it.
Thanks MOE for the entertaining explanations, especially the theme - loved your POEtic PADDING of WONDER BRAN.
Some favs:
17A MEDIAN BIAS. MEDIA are BIASED? Who knew?
29A OPERA DIVAN. These athletes need all the rest they can get. There's even an operatic ODE to "The Sofa".
21A PERP. Couldn't suss what this had to do with AP BIO. The only fill I got on PERPS. Oh, the irony of it.
47A DO OKAY. Couldn't figure out what DOOKAY meant, but I DID OKAY.
56A VERB. Clever clue.
4D MOI. Très mignonne!
30D ELMER. Farmer MCGREGOR wouldn't fit. That's what the little girls next door used to call me when I'd chase rabbits out of our garden.
54D PARE. I used to PARE PEARS when I made smoothies. Now I just take my pile of morning pills with cranberry juice.
Cheers,
Bill
The locals in KY pronounce it ver-SALES
A FIR Friday! How sweet it is! I EASEd down the puzzle grid, filling in squares as I went, until I got to the last themer where I got the trick of adding an N. Clever! Thanks for the fun, Jeff!
My WOs were entering Tease/TAUNT (did that recently too), gO OKAY/DO OKAY, and getting mixed up where the answer for 59D should go. Put "ebb" in 63D but perps cleaned that up soon. My almost Natick was the crossing of ODAY and VMAS. The astronaut was misleading for me so I just now LIU. OK....
Thanks C Moe for a multifaceted review with your usual creativity. I'll enjoy reading more throughout the day.
FLN: Irish Miss, I'm glad you are OK after your scare yesterday. Having guests for lunch today will be helpful to distract your mind from it. I was ushered to the basement of a hospital to wait out a tornado warning once but at least knew what was happening, unlike you.
TGIF and hope everyone is feeling safe and gemütlich!
Why wasn’t 59 down: Ends (or “ens” phonically) clued as the reveal?
Musings
- RAMADAN INN has to go into my Top Ten fills! I wonder if it was the seed entry to this gimmick.
- Like saying, “MOI?”, using WHOM correctly can sometimes make you sound pretentious.
- If all else fails, try the truth
- I love horseradish but remember my first encounter with “how bad can it be?” wasabi. Yikes!
- It could be argued that Clint Eastwood was a one-dimensional actor, but it sure worked
- I was all over GEMINI which carried two astronauts. Gemini VIII nearly killed Neil Armstrong
- Our town is very flat with a very high water table. SEEPING is common.
- Some will remember the opening scene in War Games which featured two men in an ICBM silo and one refusing to ”Turn your key!” (6:01)
- I’ve heard of Queen ANNE furniture but have no idea what it looks like
- Some tried to turn Huskers into ‘skers. It didn’t work and I don’t think TROU will either
Hi All!
Great puzzle 'title', C. Moe!
Thanks Jeff for quite the enjoyable Friday solve. Took me a bit of bouncing around to undo my original thoughts (i.e. 'your' | "you're" @6a, iceCAP, op cit) but it all came out in the EnDS.
C. Moe (aka Dr. Gross) - Bare Naked Ladies, classic (not antique) LAVA commercial (sponsored by NRA, I guess), comics, ELMER link, and all the other goodies in this expo made my morning. Though, I was unsure whether to LOL or <groan> at SUMO[e]-Ku :-)
//Give to WikiP. They, this site, and EFF are my go-tos for end-of-year donations.
WOs: Mercur[y]->GEMINI->GEMeNI | iceCAP->GEMINI | SKI CAP; op[s?] cit->LOC, AYE sir
ESPs: RITA, ODAY. ONE-D took a bit to parse.
Fav: Oy! hard to pick today. What about GEMINI Dreams [Moody Blues]
NIT: Two Ns in WONDER BRAN... What's WODER BRA? A bikini-top that filters water? [loc. cit.]
Judy Bloom (@8:08 Anon) was Young-Adult [pubescent teen] LIT. Girls in 7th grade were reading "Are You There God? It's Me, Margret" so I did too so I had something to talk about with them (girls). I also recall Fudge and a few other titles. Moe's link shows she's targeted an even younger audience.
For a fascinating read about NaCL and macro-economics (tangentially), read SALT.
I grew up on MTV when they only played music (and The Young Ones late Sunday nights). The VMA statue is based on MTV's early ads planting the MTV flag on the moon. The National Air & Space Museum has one.
HG - You know War Games is in my Top 3 movies... I know the scene nearly verbatim. //Remember Verbatim 5.25" floppies?
D-O: a buddy of mine in SCADA / ICS was at AMOCO when BP bought them. He stayed on w/ BP for a few years before jumping ship to join us.
TTP - LOL Drop TROU ("just because it's not your faces [...] FBI has ways of identifying..."). Let's see what CED comes up w/ :-)
WC - Then Officer's MESS musta been awful ;-) //That c/a was even more sparkle in Jeff's offering
BigE asked, so...*
Cheers, -T
*footnote.
Theme, wandering N's (but what is WODER BRAN)... oh!! WONDER BRA. (Worn by Lynda Carter or Gal Gadot? 🦸♀️)
Judy Blume? Hamlet had a dog?(a Great Dane?) what? oh, nevermind...."ASTA as ASTA" in The Thin Man...
I only remember drop TROU, a college term for mooning.😄🙈
Just the opposite: a Bible quote some believe is from the Shakespearean play Julius Cæsar. "Render to Cæsar what is Cæsar's"
Inkovers: laze/loaf/LOLL (finally 🙄)
Groan worthy? C.moe? To WHOM are you referring?? MOI?
Hindu religious teacher....SOAMI
Falsehoods...LICE
What you do with carry-ons....TOTEM
Like buttonholes...ISLETS
Mire....AMOK.
Location! Location! Location...PLACEVALUE
Busy morning...after a procedure a new RN asked me. "Do you wanna strip?"
What?? Huh?? 😳😲
"Do you want an (EKG) strip?"
Oh 😁
TGIF
Can anyone help anon@11:55? I never heard of this problem...
TTP, Anon-T,
I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole!
The furthest I would dare go, would be a Halloween scarecrow simulation...
Speaking of wasabi,
I never heard Fran Drescher speak so clearly...
Delightful Friday puzzle, Jeff, many thanks for that gift. And always enjoy your commentary, Moe, thanks for that too.
Well, as soon as I saw UNION and MATE it was pretty clear that there was a marriage afoot here, probably scheduled to take place in an ARENA or at a RAMADA INN. Wouldn't matter where, as long as the the location had PLACE VALUE. Some music would be needed as STIMULI, maybe melodies sung by an OPERA DIVA and accompanied by someone playing an AMATI. And if they could get Nancy POLOSI to conduct the ceremony, that would make the event a brilliant experience for everyone.
Have a good weekend coming up, everybody.
Fab Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeff and CMoe.
I thought I had FIRed, but arrived here to see that I missed going back to 1A to replace Ditto. I had corrected to S_A_I
But I did get the Add an N theme. Favourite was that cereal.
Almost a Natick with the A in the unknown ODAY VMAS cross. Hello ATLGranny
But I remembered your ACA,
I had Sno, then Ice before SKI perped. Oh, the CAP is on the person, not the mountain.
I noted APR crossing YEAR, HAIR crossing the rhyming WEAR.
ENDS finished off that SE corner appropriately.
We had a big ADO, (with STIMULI) perhaps requiring LA LAW as PERPs ran AMOK carrying TIRE IRONs. (Appropriately located under PELOSI). Excuse this Canadian if this is considered political.
I have lurked here for several days. Busy time of year, and I may miss posting now and then.
IM- glad you are recovering from your harrowing experience yesterday.
Wishing you all a great day.
Nice Moe-ku, all 3 of 'em, Chairman M!
And thanks for giving us the lowdown on today's Stillman PZL!
A tricky but do-able XWD, just right for Friday.
I swear I did not see the inserted "N"s. Except for RAMADAN INN, they did not stick out for me, and that one seemed a solitary joke.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals, far end.
The center diag gives us an anagram (12 of 15) in honor of the kind of truce supervised by Amnesty International.
Choosing to abbreviate, it is...
"A.I.'S ARMISTICE"!
And CED did not disappoint - just the right amount of silliness to pass the censors.
TTP - I probably labeled you as moderator. I know your gloves are Kid when it comes to whacking a 'blatently violates C.C.'s rules at the corner' ... You shouldn't get crap for keeping us in our lane. //and you do a pretty damn good job at it unlike *cough* Musk *cough*
C, Eh! Glad to read you - yes, busy time of the YEAR. Did you read FLN? I even spelled colour rite [sic].
Nice catch on APR (April OR Annual Percentage Rate) xing YEAR - thanks for the extra smile.
Cheers, -T
Didn't refresh before posting say...
OMK - your DR report is LOL considering the NERDs nerding in the Twitterverse yesterday. An AI was released (upgraded) that will write what you ask in the style you request (link if you want to sign-up and play). It has some pretty LOL results.
Here was my 1st crack at it:
Me: what does the bible have to say about the Infinite Improbability Drive? Please describe in King James version.
AI: I'm sorry, but the Infinite Improbability Drive is a fictional concept from the science fiction series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. It does not appear in the Bible. The King James version of the Bible is a translation of the original Hebrew and Greek texts into English, and it does not include any references to fictional technology.
The Ghost Machine knows things!
//I, for one, welcome our mechanical overlords ;-)
Cheers, -T
FIW. A?ATI / AM?CO. I liked your challenging puzzle, Jeff! Nice work putting ENDS in the bottom right. FAV: Private eatery
Fun Moe-kus. Keep them coming!
もく (That's Moe-ku written in hiragana.)
Is "whom" oft-misused or is "who" oft-misused when it should be "whom"?
Jayce, I hope we hear from you today....
WC - As C-Moe said, locals say verSALES. The out-of-towners wanted versEYE.
TTP, what WERE you thinking? What did you think she was trying to teach them, with the help of her training bra?
I don't think that L-shaped lug nut wrench is a TIRE IRON. IIRC, the person needed two IRONS, one to kinda mark the place where the tire bead started being popped up, and the other to pop up more bead.
IM, I have been too close to two fatal shootings, both in the early 1970s.
The first was after work in a bar that featured sports on TV and swimsuit-clad women dancing kinda like gogo dancers. (No nudity was allowed.) A guy came in and sat down at a booth, and one of the dancers sat down across from him. I didn't pay any attention, and they weren't loud, but suddenly I heard a gunshot and looked over. She was slumped over, and he put the gun to his head and fired. Since I didn't witness the first shot, I got out of there before the police were summoned, but learned that the woman was his wife and had died. He lived, and after a full year in the hospital, he was tried and convicted of her murder.
The second was at a local pizza joint near Marshall University. I had walked there to get a couple of slices, and a guy walked in and shot a woman, then fled. Again I left before the police got there (since I didn't see or hear anything helpful), and I don't remember them catching him. The woman died. I don't remember whether there was any connection between killer and victim, and if they didn't know who did it the authorities probably didn't have a connection either. It didn't seem random.
Thanks for the fun Jeff and CH. Moe.
Jinx, remind me to never go to a bar or get pizza if you are in the area. Just download the Life360 APP, add your phone number, and I'll know your location and make sure to avoid it like the plague.
Puzzling thoughts 2:
Jinx @ 2:52 --> I spent many an October - and an occasional April - weekend at Keeneland betting the ponies. Know all about Ver-SALES and Paris
sumdaze @ 2:27 --> good stuff that hiragana. Maybe we need to write an entire blog in that script someday to appeal to our Japanese readers ... ;^)
OMK @ 2:05 --> glad you enjoyed the 'ku's'
CED @ 1:13 --> that Fran Drescher "Nanny" skit was hilarious
IM --> 16th day since the Covid symptoms hit me; still feeling a bit crappy - as I told MM in a text message, I am about 66.7% ...
Enjoy the weekend, all. I'll try to work on the Sat and Sun puzzles
BE - Yeah, for a while I thought I was the personification of Joe Btfsplk, the character in Li'l Abner. He was well-meaning but was "the world's worst jinx", bringing disastrous misfortune to everyone around him (adapted from Wikipedia). These events happened just a few years apart, but in different states.
I liked this puzzle. I often like the Friday puzzles because they are traditionally add-a-letter, subtract-a-letter, or change-the-sound pun puzzles. I haven't posted this week because I had nothing to say or add. I have enjoyed reading everything you all have posted. LW and I have been avidly watching the World Cup soccer games and I have been re-acquainting myself with Fleetwood Mac. Have also been silently grieving for Boomer.
PT3:
Saturday puzzle solved; 18 red squares - I might have something good to say about it tomorrow, but for now, Thumper
We know that it was an easy Friday puzzle, if I finished it! Unfortunately, FIW. I had AMADI/PAD, instead of the T. I wasn’t sure about the former, and I’ve heard the latter both ways. Hey! I’m not complaining. I actually finished a Friday puzzle!
Sorry, grammar stickler that I am, I cannot condone the misuse of WHO/WHOM, nor any of the other similar grammar sins that one must face communicating via computer these days. IT’S NOT MY FAULT!!!!! First, it was the NUNS. Then it was a couple of the (choose an adjective) high school English teachers in the world, and then my historiography professor at Turtle U, who promised that any and all grammatical errors would be dealt with accordingly. Finally, I spent thirty-some years writing stuff that had to be kicked up the chain of command, and nothing got approved that was grammatically incorrect.
I have a speed wrench (four lug tire tool) in both of our vehicles. Mine came in very handy a few months ago, when I got a flat tire driving home from the museum on one of the toll roads. The young guy who pulled off the road behind me to help me --- well, his eyes lit up when I pulled it out of my car. He insisted on changing it for me. Guess I looked to old to do it myself. He said he was a mechanic for Metro, so he was able to do it much faster than I would have. Tried not to take any money, but I forced it on him. Oh, I gave one to my granddaughter when she got her driver’s license on her 16th birthday.
Really, fellow crossword friends, some of your stories are so interesting! They could never be made up. I'm so glad I belong to this community.
Right now I'm just exhausted from cooking tamale meat most of the day. Too much time on my feet and though Mark helped me, it is a tiring activity. The cooking itself is not tiring as the stove does it all. But then it has to be shredded and stored. And after that, clean up. The bottom line is, I'm getting too old for this. I need an apprentice I can train.
Jayce, I understand that you are grieving, and I am sure all of us will be in the same state very soon. I just don't have the time right now.
Lucina - Tamales are not my heritage but I'd gladly be your apprentice, sous, chief Kitchen-Cleaner-Upper to learn how to do build tamales right.
LeoIII - Being of the Italian persuasion, I have different uses for a TIRE IRON ;-)
I'm still playing with the chat[.]openai[.]com/chat bot. I've found it's 'default response' (get emotional or really philosophical with it) but overall, it's intriguing:
ME: Let me be more specific: I need a theme idea for a standard 15x15 weekday cross-word puzzle.
AI: A common theme for a standard 15x15 crossword puzzle is a popular saying or phrase. For example, you could use the phrase "once in a blue moon" and use the letters in that phrase to form words in the puzzle. Other ideas could include using words related to a particular season, such as "autumn" for a puzzle in the fall, or using words related to a holiday, such as "Thanksgiving" for a Thanksgiving-themed puzzle. You could also create a puzzle with a food or beverage theme, using words related to a particular type of cuisine or drink. Finally, you could use a sports or outdoor activity as the theme for your puzzle, using words related to a particular sport or outdoor activity.
CED - if this isn't a fertile playground for you...
Cheers, -T
//note it didn't say LADY GREY [8]
OK, so could you give me a solid theme with two 11-letter words and two 10-letter words. Each word or phrase must connects
Sure, here are a few possible theme ideas that fit your criteria:
"Winter wonderland" - this theme could include words related to the winter season, such as "snowflake" and "skiing."
"Cup of tea" - this theme could include words related to the popular beverage, such as "earl grey" and "afternoon tea."
"Road trip" - this theme could include words related to traveling, such as "highway" and "roadside."
"Summertime" - this theme could include words related to the summer season, such as "sunshine" and "beach day."
"Foodie heaven" - this theme could include words related to the culinary arts, such as "gourmet" and "restaurant."
Remember, these are just suggestions and you can come up with your own theme based on your personal interests or preferences. The important thing is to choose words that are interesting and challenging, and that fit well within the grid of the crossword puzzle.
I'll (try to) stop now :-)
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