google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, December 3, 2020, Taylor Johnson

Advertisements

Dec 3, 2022

Saturday, December 3, 2020, Taylor Johnson

 Saturday Themeless by Taylor Johnson 


Taylor had this to tell us when he and Christina Iverson had a Saturday Themeless here earlier this year: 

I’m a 32-year old crossword constructor living in Minneapolis, MN. By day I work for a food co-op, and by night, (and really all the time), I hang out with a couple of small humans that call me dad.

I first got into solving crossword puzzles around five years ago. I began constructing around the time my daughter was born, in the spring of 2021. I strive to make puzzles that everyone can enjoy solving, from the seasoned vets, t0new sovlers just starting out. I want my puzzles to be approachable, fresh, full of life and zest, a healthy dose of pop culture, and a focus on representation and inclusivity. I want my puzzles to be

for everyone, and reflect the world we live in. Most of all, I just want people to have fun, that’s cool, right?


I had a picture of Taylor and Christina together for their collaborative puzzle and asked Taylor if he wanted to submit a solo picture and he sent this "way cool" one you see above.

Because I choose to work these advance puzzles online I get the Congratulations box when I put in the final correct cell. I was amazed and pleasantly surprised when I got that message where AM_RETTI crossed FL_ORISLAVA and I had correctly put in an "O". Yay me!


 Across:

1. Qdoba choice: SOFT TACO - I prefer the crunch of the hard taco


9. Some polytheists: PAGANS  - The Greek and Roman polytheists provide a lot of crossword content

15. Leia's message to Obi-Wan, for one: HOLOGRAM.


16. Spanish cheer: ARRIBA.


17. Little cherubs: AMORETTI Modern AMORETTI by Hans Market


18. Indulgent outing: SPA DAY.

19. Winds: SPOOLS - SPOOLS as a verb


20. Full of moxie: GUTSY.

22. Changes the pitch on a roof, say: TARS 😃 This took some time but finally hit me. Pitch is another name for tar so...


23. End: CLOSE and 
29. End: CEASE.

25. Calif. home of the Harvey Milk terminal: SFO.


28. Sushi option: AHI - Eel and Roe? Not so much.

30. Breezing through: ACING - I knew which kids would ACE my tests and so I corrected their tests first to make sure my questions were fair and the key was correct.

32. Big stink: STENCH.

34. React to sad news: TEAR UP.

35. Comedian who voices Spider-Ham in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse": MULANEY - John


37. Like a naked mole rat: FURLESS.

38. Goes with the flow: ADAPTS.

39. Ones waiting for bottle openers?: GENIES - Not lamp openers?

40. Old Chevys: NOVAS.

41. Subtle glows: AURAE - One AURA, two AURAE

42. See 53-Down: TAC and 53. With 42-Across, Wash. hub: SEA - Where you can take off with Mt. Rainier in the background


45. "Cherry Wine" rapper: NAS 


46. Namesake of Ohio State's track-and-field stadium: OWENS - Neither Hitler nor FDR shook this great athlete's hand in 1936.


47. Deep cut: GASH.

48. 2019 AP Female Athlete of the Year: BILES - Simone BILES of course 


50. Loath: AVERSE.

52. Mythical realm watched over by Heimdall: ASGARD Heimdall is described as all-seeing and all-hearing and is the sole protector of the Bifröst in Asgard. Okay...


55. Picked one: SELECTEE - Choosing up sides on the playground can be a traumatic event for some, especially if you are the last SELECTEE

57. "Brewski! Now!": BEER ME.

58. Snuggies, e.g.: SLANKETS - A portmanteau of SLeeve and blANKET


59. "Planet of the Apes" role for Andy Serkis: CAESAR - Talk about yer Saturday cluing for a common name!


60. Language of the Eddas: OLD NORSE - Edda is a crossword staple.


Down:

1. Drink that comes in California Dreamin' and Grapefruit Zazz flavors: SHASTA - They're both in here:

 
2. Oktoberfest blast: OOMPAH.

3. Netflix show based on a children's game: FLOOR IS LAVA - The kid's game and the Netflix game



4. Bilbao bulls: TOROS - The bullfighting arena in Bilbao, Spain 


5. Neutrogena product: T-GEL.

6. Cultural spheres: ART SCENES - The Omaha Art Show takes up several city blocks and has representation from about every ART SCENE you could imagine. 


7. Meowth of Pokémon, for one: CAT - The Spanish Mewoth Pokémon card


8. "Jeepers": O MI GOSH.

9. Product many stick with: PASTE - What, it's not edible?

10. Dadaist collection: ARPS - Hans ARP among some of his work of the Dada ART SCENE


11. Smartphone setting that may help reduce screen time: GRAY SCALE - Research has shown that switching your phone to GRAY SCALE as opposed to full color reduces your interest and therefore your screen time


12. Band follower?: AID.

13. Sixth Man of the Year Award org.: NBA - Back when I followed the NBA, I knew Kevin McHale won that award two years in a row


14. Utter: SAY.

21. Function: USE.

24. Like some gowns: LACY.

26. Drew Barrymore's third film: FIRE STARTER - 9-yr-old Drew had the 
27. Weight: ONUS. to carry this film of a Steven King novel. It made a very small profit and got a 38% Rotten Tomatoes rating.


29. Pennies: CENTS - Don't we all have some squirreled away? 

30. American Eagle Outfitters subsidiary: AERIE - AERIE is short for American Eagle lingerie and is an intimate apparel and lifestyle retailer and sub-brand owned by American Eagle Outfitters. You're welcome.

31. Travel guide: GPS - How a GPS would get you from London to Highclare Castle that was used in Downton Abbey



33. Spots to order calamares with un cóctel: TAPAS BARS - Fried calamare (squid) with a un cóctel (a cocktail).


34. Filling option for stuffed avocados: TUNA SALAD.


35. "Hoo boy": MAN!

36. Wheat noodle: UDON - There's this wonderful lady in Minneapolis we all know who really knows her Asian noodles...


37. "Charlotte's Web" girl: FERN - We just had Drew Barrymore in Firestarter and here is 12-yr-old Dakota Fanning as the human protagonist FERN Arable in Charlotte's Web. This movie made big money and got a 78% from Rotten Tomatoes.


39. "Sure seems like it": GUESS SO.

41. Reverence: AWE,

43. Financial heading: ASSETS.

44. Robert Cormier's "I Am the __": CHEESE The last line of a children's song is "The cheese stands alone." So by saying "I am the cheese", Adam is saying that he knows he is alone. Without parents, friends, or anyone who truly cares for him, he is by himself in the world, even in the world of his imagination.


46. More mature: OLDER.

47. Spokescritter with a British accent: GECKO - Adman David Hulin came up with the Geico gecko and sales for that company took off.

49. Cookbook writer Rombauer: IRMA IRMA is the author of The Joy Of Cooking

51. Logician known for overlapping diagrams: VENN.


52. Block letters?: ABC - Didn't we all have these in some iteration?


54. "Golly!": GEE.

56. Leader of Louisiana?: ELL - Ah, another meta clue. ELL is the first letter of Louisiana 




42 comments:

Subgenius said...

Zowee and Egads! This is one puzzle that I don’t think Ms. Irish Miss will call “too easy!” It was tough! So tough, in fact, that even I, the great Subgenius, missed a letter. True, it was just one letter- the difference between “Nas” and “Nes” - but I have to admit I FIW. So, while I can’t say I’m particularly “happy “ about the outcome, I’m happy I gave it “the old college try” and came as close as I did to FIR!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Whoo boy. This one took an inordinate amount of time to result in failure. It wasn't a soccer fan's OLE OLE, but Speedy Gonzales' ARRIBA. That S in SLANKETS made GUESS SO very slow to appear. In the end, I still had white space in the great northwest where AMORETTI and FLOOR IS LAVA needed to go. Crosswords and Jeopardy! have a way of humbling me with all the things I don't know or at least don't remember. Excellent challenge, Taylor. Thanx, Husker, for showing me the error of my ways.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

DNF. Filled 41, 36 correctly. Stopped an considered NOVAe, but stuck with NOVAS. But I filled the very next one AURAs, not even thinking AURAE as an option.

OK, OSU's mascot isn't ROARY. Penn State, maybe? (Not interested enough to Google it.) Guess I was off in thinking "namesake" ="mascot". Never mind.

Today will be my first visit to the Marion County flea market this season. Forecast is for temps to not quite reach 80 today. Afterwards, first lunch of the season at Mojo Grille, another favorite.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FLN - In your quest for fun crossword clues and fills, we had dinner yesterday at Lollygaggers, a fun sports bar with a great patio for Zoe.

unclefred said...

I usually time myself, but due to many lengthy interruptions I can’t really say how much time I spent on this CW before throwing in the towel. Perhaps an hour? NW remained the White Sea, with OMIGOSH the only inroads. I spelled ARRIBA as AREIBA, which buggered up the NE. DNK FERN, so FURLESS didn’t occur to me, my brain was stuck on HAIRLESS which of course doesn’t fit. All-in-all I got about half the cells filled correctly before giving up. Oh well, Monday is coming. Ya got me, TJ. Nice write-up, HG; reading it makes me wonder why I couldn’t see some of the answers. I don’t know QDOBA, I don’t believe they are in SOFLO, so had no idea what the clue for 1A referred to. Which is why SOFTTACO was not possible as an answer for me. Well, at least highly unlikely. If I have no idea what QDOBA is, …..

Emile U. Autuori said...

How did I dislike thee, let me count the ways.....
It started right off the bat -

Malodorous Manatee said...

Who knew that watching Speedy Gonzalez cartoons as a kid would be of help (decades later) solving crossword puzzles !?

Big Easy said...

In my knock-off brand SLANKET this 'Not So Great sub-Sub-genius" managed a DNF today . Not on Taylor's wavelength. No way; not possible. The NW was not doable. "Help me Obi Wan". I've never heard of Qdoba, FLOOR IS LAVA, MULANEY, or AMORETTI (only Amaretto liquor). SOFT TACO, SHASTA, and HOLOGRAM never had a chance.

I did manage to fill some other unknowns that I've never heard- FIRE STARTER, FERN, SLANKET, and CHEESE.

SEA-TAC, airport designation SEA- flew in on 11-5 and out 11-13 on a Sunday morning. Flight was 8:45 am and I thought the terminal would be empty. Was I ever wrong. I checked our luggage at 6:30 and it took 90 minutes to get through TSA and to the gate.

GRAY SCALE- didn't know it was a phone setting but I've always used it on my printers. Saves a lot of ink.

CHEESE- C.C.'s "The Big Cheese" here.

Great write up Gary and I see your Husker ex-coach got in a little trouble. It's the talk of my neighborhood. Mickey play HS football as Shaw HS, about two miles away and my son-in-law is the same age and was on the team with him. Daughter was on the dance team.

KS said...

DNF. So many unknowns for me. I had white squares in every section, especially the NW.

Anonymous said...

Took 17:55 for me to (like SubG) miss a letter. I had "o mY gosh" instead of "o mi gosh", and didn't (don't) know Amoretti, so Amoretty looked just as good.

I had blankets before slankets, but I took a wild, um, guess that "guessbo" was wrong.

46A should be "Namesake of THE Ohio State University...."

I was surprised that I confidently filled-in "Firestarter" with only the "f" in place -- I don't think I've ever seen the movie.

I flew (out and) in and out of SeaTac this summer.

desper-otto said...

Omigosh is never spelled with a Y, and has no spaces.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

You are 100 per cent correct, Subgenius, I would definitely not say this puzzle was too easy. I will say that on my first pass, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of unknown references, resulting in a sea of empty squares. I don’t ever remember solving a puzzle that had me stymied as much as and for as long as this one did. I needed perps for Soft Taco, Hologram, Amoretti, Asgard, Caesar, Slankets (Silly name, IMO), Shasta, Floor Is Lava, T Gel, Cat, Gray Scale, Fern, and Cheese. The NW corner was a real bear but, eventually, fell into place. I enjoy a challenge and Saturdays are supposed to present one, but I think, sometimes, the difficulty bar is raised too high, too many times throughout a singular puzzle. Just my own opinion.

Thanks, Taylor, for taxing my brain cells and testing my patience and thanks, HG, for rewarding my angst with your always cheerful and calming voice, not to mention the dazzling and delightful visuals. 👏

FLN

YR and ATLGranny, thank you for your concern and kind words. I enjoyed a lovely lunch and visit yesterday, enhanced by one of my beloved Bloody Marys! 🍹

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

SLANKETS
FLOOR IS LAVA

if I never see these two entries again, it will be too soon

thanks HG for calmly guiding us through the puzzle

Anonymous said...

WHEW!! This was an open book test for me!
DNK: AMORETTI (I/Y???), MULANEY, SHASTA (as clued), FLOOR IS LAVA, AERIE, GRAY SCALE, FIRE STARTER, FERN, NBA, SLANKETS.
Favorite clue/fill: GENIE
IRMA: I'm on my 3rd edition of Joy of Cooking. Me & IRMA go way back.
????: AHI/eel; ADE/fan; GPS/map.
Thanks, Taylor, for the challenge, and thanks H. Gary for your review.

JudyB said...

Omigosh I love the picture of Taylor with his glasses slightly tilted. This puzzle was fresh, fun, challenging yet doable. Thank you Taylor.

Monkey said...

DNF. I couldn’t come up with SLANKETS. For a while I had SEA TAC reversed, but got that fixed and through sheer luck all sorts of unknowns got filled. For AMORETTI, I wanted a form of seraphs. I like the liquor Amoretta. So for me too the NW was the last to fill in. SPOOLS is a nice tricky clue for winds.

See you Sunday.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Let me just say..."Jeepers", "Golly" ,"Hoo Boy"...Waaay too many Proper Names in an already difficult puzzle.

BEER ME? (who says that?) T-GEL? AERIE? BILES?, Cormier "CHEESE"?, "SLANKETS??" (c'mon, yer kidding !!) Et cetera, Et cetera, Et cetera..

Gave up early.

"Travel guide" I usually err putting in GPS instead of "map" ...but not today.

AMORETTI? (thought they were called putti in art) I prefer a good Amaretto. Leaned SEATAC from a puzzle but SEA first was wrong.

Dreary rainy weekend so far..50's...prefer ❄❄❄ ⛷

billocohoes said...

Sorry, not fun. Don't know QDOBA, don't watch Netflix, haven't read Charlotte's Web, don't watch infomercials for SLANKETS, DNK AMORETTI as cherubs.

But Ray, I have heard BEER ME

Misty said...

Tougher than usual Saturday toughie, but still, thanks, Taylor. And your commentary and pictures are always a help, Gary, thanks for those too.

OMIGOSH, what a toughie, but at least it was nice to get those little cherub AMORETTIs in the puzzle, though they could probably use some SLANKETS on a chilly day like this. Maybe someone should be a FIRESTARTER at the chimney and warm the place up. Hope any pets in the place weren't FURLESS, or they'd be cold too. But the TOROS have to stay outside in any case. Well, I haven't yet had breakfast this morning, or I might say "BEER ME" after struggling with this puzzle.

Still, have a great weekend, everybody.

waseeley said...

Thanks Taylor for a Saturday slog, which ultimately I FIW/DNF, but more on that later. It's still good to see you again, and BTW a feature of your anatomy will be featured in this coming Thursday's puzzle.

And thank you Husker for another entertaining and informative review. You set the bar for the rest of us bloggers.

16A ARRIBA. Had to let go of OLE OLE.

17A AMORETTI. R-O-S has probably already beat me to this, but it's Italian for SWEETHEARTS.

35A MULANEY. Would have got him on perps with a confirmatory Google LU (my favorite form of cheating), but ... see 24D.

39A GENIES. Old LAMPS are just BOTTLES with a wick Gary.

45A NAS. The constructor's favorite rapper.

55A SELECTEE. Didn't read the clue close enough. Had SELECTED and kept it.

3D FLOOR IS LAVA. DNK the show or the game. LAVA would have perped, if I'd known MULANEY, and it would have perped if I'd filled ...

24D LACY. ... instead of LACE.

26D FIRE STARTER. Drew is the granddaughter of John Barrymore. Her talent runs in the family.

37D FERN. I got this only because we watched the earlier 1973 cartoon version with grandkids this past Thanksgiving. The beautiful animation was by Hanna-Barbera. A real tearjerker, but then I TEAR UP easily.

Cheers,
Bill

TTP said...


Good morning. Thank you, Taylor and thank you, Husker Gary.

I seriously thought that an error had slipped past Patti and her assistant. GUESS SO had to be correct, and so did BLANKETS. So one or the other had to be wrong. Or so I thought. When I opened Gary's review, I went straight to SLANKETS. I have vague memories of a TV infomercial for those or something like them.

Knew MULANEY from SNL, but not that he voiced a Spider Man character. Had SPF before ABC for "Block letters"

Finally remembered from a previous puzzle that it was AERIE and that cleared up the final area because I originally had aegis. The key to making me see that error was that I had -ERN which meant Charlotte's Web girl was most lilkely FERN and not VERN, but FUGLESS made no sense. D'OH ! FURLESS.

I knew of FLOOR IS LAVA from the little girls across the street and their friends saying it, but am not familiar with a childern's song that ends with "The cheese stands alone."

I am amused by the GEICO commercial wherein the GECKO welcomes the new neighbors with a tiny plate of biscuits and won't give up the ingredients to the husband. "It's my mum's secret recipe." But the one I get the biggest kick out of is the Capital One commercial for "easiest decision in the history of decisions", featuring Slash auditioning for lead guitarist in a garage band. She's like, "Stop. You're in." Yeah, I'd GUESS SO !

Jinx, ROARY is the Detroit Lions mascot.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Tante, you don't want to land at TACSEA, but many folks get in line for a TACSEA after they arrive at SEATAC.

Ray-O, I don't summon a beer in any way these days, but back in my sailing days whenever anyone would go below deck for any reason, they would always ask "anyone need a beer?" The standard response was "BEER ME."

waseeley said...

SG @5:31 AM MAN! That's the first ever FIW I can recall for our resident solving genius.

Anonymous @8:27 AM One thing I did suss correctly was that 17A had to end in an I, since the clue was plural and probably Italian, since the latter pluralizes with an I. It all perped as AMORETTI, which is Italian for SWEETHEARTS, or "little cherubs".

MOE @9:53 AM Not likely that you will. Much of the recent fill consists of one-offs, not something that you can add to your store of crossword lore, thus improving your solving skills.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

When in a Cosumel cantina or Barcelona bar can one say .....

"Arriba! Ándale "Cóctel Me" 🍹

😄

Subgenius said...

waseeley@12:19 p.m. - You may not recall other FIW's of mine, Bill, but I can assure you I've had them. Not many, to be sure, but every once in a while...

Monkey said...

Jinx: I like your TACSEA pun. I do know about SEATAC, been there a few times. I just entered SEA for # 42 across and TAC for # 53 down.

Yes I agree, too many proper names.

Jayce said...

As soon as I took a look at the clue for 1A I could not stop myself from thinking, "Oh jeez." Skipping past that, the solve started off reasonably well, requiring some pleasant thinking and reasoning on my part. I.e. solvable. And then bam, I hit the brick wall and could not proceed any further. No way in heck I could swallow SLANKETS, and it still looks ugly. The clue for SOFT TACO strikes me as gratuitously obscure; how many of you have ever heard of Qdoba? So much is so far afield from my wheelhouse that the result was a crash and burn. Big fat CNF (Could Not Finish).

sumdaze said...

OMIGOSH, I have been spelling OhMyGOSH incorrectly all these years!

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Groan, Taylor! Thanks a bunch, Gary!

I started listing the DNKs of words/phrases while reading Gary's fine expo. I had 21. WEES plus. The NW corner was last to fill and only because I could use red-letter runs. Very disheartening. Not anything I'd forgotten. Just flat never heard of them. Bah humbug!

TTP: the children's song "The Farmer in the Dell" ends with the "Cheese stands alone." "Hi ho the dairy-o."

Ol' Man Keith said...

Only needed about 6 or 7 cheats to finish this Johnson-ian monster PZL. Par for the course of a Saturday.

No diagonals today. Bad week for 'em.
Just as well, as I have injured my right shoulder & can't write much. Even KB finger action sends pains up though the whole arm.
~ OMK

inanehiker said...

This was a fun challenge - WEES about the NW being the hardest. It didn't help that I started out with 1D being FRESCA instead of Shasta. The I put in 15A robogram with the R from Fresca.
Only filled with perps the AMORETTI and the FLOOR IS LAVA.

I'm not a big fan of SNL anymore - but I think John MULANEY is one of the most creative writers they've had more recently (he's no longer on the writing staff- but has hosted in the past few years.) Being a big fan of musicals - I love the parody of Les Miz(another crossword regular) - about not ordering the lobster in the tank of a NYC diner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj-D0jc17D0

Thanks HG for the always fun blog and Taylor for the puzzle!

waseeley said...

inanehiker @4:40 PM ROTFL!!!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Same struggles as the FIW/DNF crowd here. What's a Qdoba?

SW filled fine; SE is a mess of ink (but mostly right - SELECTEd too, waseeley); not much going north of SFO and TARS.
Cheating in earnest ensued.

Thanks Taylor for the grid (and pic!) and thanks HG for telling me what I don't know; good on you for a FIR.

SHASTA? - OMG!?, I haven't thought about that soda in 30+ years. Maternal grandfather would drink diet-Shasta 'cuz of diabetes but always left some sugary ones in the fridge for us kids. I didn't know it from the clue (what? Purple and Red aren't flavors anymore? :-))

John MULANEY is hilarious. He was a writer on SNL & Seth Meyers' show. Google his stand-up for a laugh [not Corner appropriate so I won't link]. //refreshed b/f posting say: I see inanehiker

FIRE STARTER - saw it an I fell in love w/ Drew Barrymore. Her role with Jimmy Fallon in Fever Pitch was fun too.

Ray-O: BEER ME is the first thing my (CEO) Bro says when coming over.

Anyone else keep wanting HUNGER GAMES @3d? I held off 'cuz Game was in the clue. Played it (the game with (CEO) Bro) but never heard of Floor is Lava as a TV show; just this Nest Cam Commercial //puppy for you IM!

TTP - Ooh, that's pretty good: SPF for 'blocking' letters. //Keep that one in your back-pocket puzzle-masters.
I always thought the Geico GECKO had more of an Aussie accent.
Capital One "Easiest Decision" fav features Derek Jeter.

Time to find some food (or play with that AI Chatbot again).

Enjoyed reading y'all!
Cheers, -T

Ace’s Deuce said...

My wife and I do the crossword puzzles at supper with iPad between us. Lowest score ever and food got cold. Toughest one ever even with two proper name reveals (which we consider fair game since we don’t watch TV).

TTP said...


PK, thank you. I never played the game Farmer in the Dell, and I guess I never heard the song. I looked it up after you wrote.

I also hadn't seen that SNL lobster bit with MULANEY (TY, Inanehiker), but seeing Pete Davidson in it reminds me that he cracks me up in that Taco Bell commercial that, after musing about it perfectly, says "I'll take that breakfast crunch thing."

There were a couple of Qdoba's near me and I knew what they were, but I never ate at one. I did stop at a Chipolte one time, but there are so many better locally owned places.

How about K-State's victory over TCU ? Great game. I was rapt !

TTP said...


Dash T, Jeter over Slash ? I mean it's funny, but c'mon !

Wilbur Charles said...

Phew, so far so good. Same perps as Gary in NW. This was an all day affair and NW was mostly white until Phillip gave me HOLO

UNKs: MULANEY,AERIE,FERN,FLOORIS LAVA

Oops, I had AURAs and BeLES(eRMA as in Bombeck)

Before McHale there was Havlicek but not necessarily the award. No wonder Celtics were so good

Jinx, they just closed the I75 flea market last Sunday. The MC Flea is down 301,eh?

AHA, maloman, that's where I heard ARRIBA

Talk about "Oh, the WEBS we weave when…"

TTP, it's starts right after "The mouse takes the cheese"(Farmer in the Dell*). I always liked that last line. And…
You knew it was Slash??? I get it now. Tony would know it,I'd guess

Les Miz parody

Qdoba had to be Mexican(Spanish) hence ?TACO. Spanish is the lingua franca in xword land

The ordeal finally is over. And, it's not just me. After filling NW I came directly here or perhaps I'd have noticed those two squares. I actually knew Simone BILES and AERIs made no sense

I wonder how Anon-T made out?

WC

**PK beat me to it


ATLGranny said...

FIW this morning with three wrong squares. My Natick was the crosses of FLOOR IS LAVA (never called the game that), MULANEY (unknown), and LACY (where I had lace). But I did finish with patience, though I found the puzzle daunting. Thanks Taylor and Husker Gary for creating and clearing up my puzzle questions. I feel like I'm being drawn into the modern world by the younger constructors, not that there's anything wrong with that....

After doing the puzzle this morning, I took a long break to watch the US team lose the World Cup game, followed by a fun afternoon cookie party at the neighbor's place. Holiday fun to cheer me up after FIW.

Hope you all had a great day!

TTP said...

Wilbur Charles, yes, I knew it was Slash.

It's a generational thing, but my top five would be, in no particular order, Tony Iomni, Jimmy Page, Slash, Eddie Van Halen and Eric Clapton. Tony Iomni created some of the best rock riffs ever, but you'd have to like the genre to appreciate them.

Of course, on another day, it might be Joe Perry, Brian May, Angus Young, Kirk Hammett or Tom Petty.

Then of course, there's Tom Petty, Alex Lifeson, Mark Knopfler, Keith Richards and Pete Townsend.

Wait, there's more ! "Put another dime in the juke box, baby. I love rock and roll." - Joan Jett

Anonymous said...

Wow! Toughest puzzle in ages (if not ever?) I DNFed in all sorts of ways and had to guess half my correct answers.

There are only 10 Qdobas in all of California including ones in Camp Pendleton, Travis AFB and Loyola Marymount - so I'm not too surprised I've never heard of them.

Slanket seemed so wrong I went with Guess Bo 'cause I couldn't bring myself to write Slanket (not that 'blanket ' made sense).

I would perhaps carp that Slanket is a trademark though.

Thank you Taylor (for reminding me how fallible I am 🙂)

Anonymous T said...

TTP - I had to Google the Slash commercial; I guess I never saw it. +1 over Jeter :-)
WC - Any rock'n'roller in a top-hat... That's Slash //plus he was playing the intro to Welcome to the Jungle.

But, greatest (rock) guitarist: Alex Lifeson, hands down (but I'm biased #RUSH!).
//I classify Blues & Jazz separately.

Slash's mom designed their costumes - WWDTM [ff 8:46].

I should get a nap. Busy day playing with toys, a little work, some chores, and hanging w/ DW.
Cheers, -T

TTP said...

Dash T, I shoulda linked the commercial. The other guys waiting to audition... and then "the look" from the second one to the first one... as Slash leads into the opening riff of "Sweet Child O' Mine... then them walking out, and then she's walking back to the drummer, and they are both ecstatic...

Capital One Commercial.